Chapter 17 Impending Fate

After searching the grounds, Marcus finally found an opening. Two doors built into the ground, with a ladder leading down into what he could only assume was some sort of basement. Now he just had to figure out how to get down there. With Julianna still out cold in his arms, it would be tricky for him to climb down without falling down himself or hurting her. He thought for a few moments then an idea struck him.

Placing Julianna down on the grass with the wall of the castle prompting her up, he focused all his strength and energy into one thing. Drawing on the power of the eclipse. It was a new skill that he would try to open himself up to when he had no other options.

As he did so, he felt himself beginning to change. His body twisting and contorting into that of an animal. This time around, the pain was dull, since the transformation was by choice.

Once in his wolf form, Marcus shook off the little pain that the transformation had left him with, went over to Julianna and nudged her up onto his back using his snout to get her securely up and then headed towards the opening. Without a sound, he slipped straight through, positioning his paws ready for landing.

He landed smoothly on all four paws, set Julianna down again before drawing on the same power to change back into his human form. The first thing he needed to do was find a way to get his Julie up and walking again since he would stand a much better chance at fighting off attackers with his arms free.

Kneeling down to where she was laid, he began assessing her injuries, this time much more thoroughly than the first. Realising how seriously hurt she was, he prepared to try the only thing he could think of. He only hoped that it would work.

Placing both hands on the wounded area, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he channelled his health and strength in the hopes that he could transfer enough health to heal her.

Surely enough he began feeling a flow of energy leaving his body through his fingertips. He began to feel slightly weaker than he had before. He only stopped when he heard her voice since he knew she would be good to go from there.

"Marcus.." She stammered, sounding a little disoriented.

"It worked!" He half cheered with a little smile escaping onto his face.

"How do you feel?" He asked, helping her into a sitting position.

"I feel..... stronger." She concluded, regaining focus and rising to her feet. It was a strange feeling that was completely foreign to her. It was a feeling of strength, and a surge of power that just was not draining.

"That's great." He replied, feeling a glimmer of hope for the first time since entering the shadow realm. Maybe they would be alright after all.

"Yeah, but how did you do it?" She asked curiously. She remembered the crack in her ribs cage, only now realising that there was no pain in the area. Unbelievable! It was like nothing had happened. Like it had never existed.

"We'll talk about that later. C'mon we have to keep going." He quickly replied, starting off down the tunnel ahead of them in a half run.

Without question, nor fuss, Julianna followed after him, quickly catching up. She hated this world and wanted out of it as soon as possible. On top of that she was worried about and scared for her brother and also for Marcus's sister.

She felt guilty for not trusting him when he said that something wasn't right. Especially now that she knew he had still taken care of her despite her stupidity. But right now she knew she had to brush all emotions aside in order to focus on surviving. It was necessary if they were going to save their loved ones.

Reaching the end of the tunnel, they were left with two concrete staircases. One on the left, and the other on the right. Unsure of which to take. They made the decision to separate, with Marcus taking the left, and Julianna taking the right.

As they headed in opposite directions, Marcus called out to her telling her to be careful just as she began climbing the right-sided staircase. Once she was half way up, he turned back to face the direction he was going, and half sprinted up the left-sided staircase. He was in a rush, and he wouldn't let anything slow him down. Not when it came to family.

Once at the top of the staircase, he turned the only direction he could go in and continued. The hall was almost pitch black, the only light being candles spaced very far apart. It wasn't hard for him to see, since his vision had been enhanced when he first turned into a wolf.

His footsteps echoed on the concrete as he progressed down the hall. It was very far from your usual hall. Reaching the end, he came across yet another locked room and unlucky for him, it was guarded by not one, but two shadow creatures. As his nails grew into claws going into defense mode, he got ready to fight. Leaping into action.