https://youtu.be/Ljbl_oFAjUY

The hallway was eery and dark. Silent whispers could be heard from further distances but we managed to walk past all those and reunite with Rosario.

The room next to where we stood, was crowded with a few vampires who were talking about attacking the Elves. I frowned but Zephyr patted my shoulder to calm me down. Rosario placed his index finger on his lips, gesturing us to be silent to which we nodded back.

"Wait, you have to stay hidden. Or they'll sense your smell." Rosario told me in a small whisper and I stared at him as he cast a spell and gave me a purple rose. He took another one in his hand and slowly crossed the doorway on his tiptoes. Then he glanced at me and gestured me to do the same.

I slowly started fidgeting but Zephyr held my hand in his. 

"I'll go first." He whispered and slowly walked over to Rosario. 

"Irina, you have to come quick, the Rose's effect does not stand for too long," Rosario said and I looked at Zephyr. He gave me an assuring smile and I slowly nodded to myself, taking a deep breath along. I held the rose flower tight in my hand and managed to get to them without attracting the other vampires' attention.

But not too long after, a few vampires were coming in our directions from the front. We quickly hid in the shadows and covered our mouths tight, trying not to make any sound. I looked down for a second and gazed in shock as I saw that the rose was starting to wither. 

Rosario noticed the flower and looked shocked to see his rose already withered. I sensed that he could not cast any spell as it might gain the attention of others. He shared a glance with Zephyr who was staring back at both of us.

'What do we do now?' I thought and Rosario leaned forward a little to take a good look at the vampires who were on the way towards our direction. Then he looked back at us and smiled at me to which I frowned. 

'There's no way I'm turning myself as bait." I said firmly and he rolled his eyes at me.

"I was going to say that you should get to the basement with Zephyr while I distract them." He said and I slowly looked down, embarrassed.

"Okay," I said and held Zephyr's hand.  The footsteps were coming closer and we took a peek at the vampires from the shadows. Just then the vampire to the left scrunched his nose and arched his neck back which made me widen my eyes in dismay.

"I'll go now," Rosario told us before going straight in front of them. The vampires glared at his quick appearance but Rosario just bowed to them politely.

"What are you doing here, little prince?" One of the vampires asked.

"Oh, I was just looking for Damien. Can you please lead me to him?" He said and wandered his eyes around, full in the act. Zephyr chuckled at me slightly to see Rosario like that and I had to smile back instantly.

"Hmm, yes. He's in the courtyard which is on the far side of this hallway. But dare to carry out any funny tricks and you'll be facing an unfortunate fate, got it?" The man said and Rosario nodded with a gentle smile, pretending not to hear what he had just heard.

Then, he slowly walked away with the rest of the vampires who were leading him to the courtyard to meet Damien. I frowned to see him going but Zephyr assured me, saying that he'll be fine.  

After that, I started walking down the stairs with Zephyr to get to the others who were held prisoners in the dungeons. We took slow steps, one after and the other, looking back every now and then to look for any kind of danger.

The stairs followed all the way down to the dungeons and our feet dragged a bit as we made our way through eery and dark hallways.

Soon, we could see a few small rooms, the size of an attic, which was closed from all three sides while the fourth was closed by a transparent glass door. Bright lamps shone brightly on the sidewalls and guided us towards the rooms. As we moved furthermore towards one of the rooms, we heard heavy breaths.

I clasped Zephyr's hand tightly and shrieked in horror to see an elf in a brutally tortured state. It was a little girl who was trying hard to breathe with her hands hugging her chest. Her clothes were half torn and her whole body was covered in bruises. Her eyes had dark circles from too much crying and I stared at her helpless state.

My fists clenched as I thought about who could have had done that to her. I tried to move closer to her for a closer look but Zephyr pulled me back and shook his head.

"Don't." He said but I moved his hand away slowly and continued walking towards the girl. When she heard me near her, she got up and came to her door.

"Princess Irina, is that you?" The girl asked with great delight as tears flowed down her bruised cheeks. She stretched her hand towards our direction but cried harder when she realizes she couldn't reach us.

"There, there. I'm right here, child, please don't cry." I said slowly with a small smile and placed my hand over the glass. She did the same and sniffed her tears.

"What's your name?" I asked her as she traced the outline of my hand.

"Allison." She said slowly and I glanced at Zephyr. He nodded at me and looked around the room to find something useful to get her out.

I looked back to the girl and widened my eyes when I saw the girl glaring at Zephyr. I stared at her quick change of expression and wondered what's wrong but then it clicked on me.

"He won't hurt you, Allison. I promise." I assured her but she moved back from the glass door and shook her head.

"It's okay, just trust me. "I said again and this time, she came near to the door again and observed Zephyr closely with her penetrating eyes. Zephyr stared at her back and gave her a silly playful smile which made her chuckle slightly. I smiled at them both and was about to open my mouth again when I heard someone calling my name desperately.

"Irina..help..."

I pricked my ears towards the voice and started walking towards it.

"Irina, what's wrong?" Zephyr asked me and I gestured to them not to make any sound.

After a short while, the voice called again. This time, it was more clearer and I took out a lamp from one of the sidewall lampstands and directed the light towards the next room. A shaggy-haired man dressed in all black was making his way to the glass door by crawling on his knees. As I moved closer to him, the man looked straight at me and I lost my grip on the lamp as I realized who the man was.

"Lucas!" I gasped.