could tell Ellie was nervous. She was trying to hide it. I don’t think anyone else would have noticed but since I know her so well, I could tell.
She glanced at me and shrugged as if to tell me not to be concerned. Down in the dungeon, there were torches along the walls. I didn’t see anything in the cells although I didn’t look very closely. The entire area smelled musty and damp. It was cold down here too.
We stopped in front of a large door. The guard unlocked it with a gold key and we stepped inside. This area of the dungeon was a bit nicer – although that wasn’t saying much. It didn’t smell as badly and the cells were a lot larger. When we were almost at the end of the hallway, the guard stopped.
“He’s in the last cell.” He said to us.
Ellie looked uncomfortable so I walked down the rest of the hallway first. I didn’t want her to feel pressured to follow me so I tried to give her a thumbs up. All she did was scowl at me and follow me.
We stopped in front of Marketh’s cell. This was honestly the last person on the planet I felt like speaking to. This was a man who had allowed Ender Men to attack the End City. The same man who had wanted to take over the Over World.
He was sitting up in his bed, reading a book. His hair had gotten so long that it went down to his waist. He had a big bushy beard. Marketh looked like a hermit now – which I guess he sort of was.
“Marketh, you have visitors!” The guard exclaimed, snapping him out of his reading.
When he looked up and saw them, I could see the surprise cross his face. He shut his book and slipped off of the bed. Ellie took a step away from the bars of the cell as he walked over.
“Ellie…what a nice surprise,” Then he glanced at me, “You, not so much.”
“Likewise.” I replied coolly.
“Don’t get excited,” Ellie said and even though she had looked nervous, her voice was as strong as steel, “I’m here to ask you about my brother.”
“What about him?”
“When did you last speak to him?”
“Last week,” Marketh replied smoothly, “He had come to see me. He gave me the book that I am reading.”
“What did the two of you talk about?”
“What is this about? Has something happened with John?”
“Don’t pretend you’re innocent,” Ellie snapped, losing her cool, “Tell me what the two of you talked about.”
“Nothing interesting, I’m afraid. He asked questions about his mother.”
I couldn’t help but stare at Marketh and try to figure out if he was lying. I didn’t trust him, no matter what he said. John missing and the attack on the village…there was a lot going on here. Marketh had wanted to rule the Over World. What would have stopped him from trying something even locked up in a cell?
“What about our mother?” Ellie asked.
Marketh wrapped his fingers around the bars of the cell and smiled, “You haven’t come to see me once, Ellie. I’m your father.”
“Hardly. Our mother smuggled us out of the End City to get away from you. She did that to save us from you. On top of that, you try to take over the Over World and the End. So tell me what you said to John.”
“You’re a lot like her. Your mother, I mean. Determined. Stubborn.”
“Don’t talk about my mother. Tell me about John.”
Marketh looked annoyed that Ellie wasn’t going to fall for his bait and went, “I told him about your mother. When he came here three days ago, it was the only thing that he wanted to talk about. I can tell you the same things I told him, if you like.” He smiled.
But something caught my attention and I held my hand, “Wait. You said he came last week to see you and now you are saying three days ago.”
Marketh’s eyes turned to land on me. The corner of his mouth twitched but he didn’t reply.
“I can just check visitor records,” I said, taking a step back, “That will clear this up, I think.”
“Wait,” Marketh said as I turned around, “Fine. It was three days ago. John was here three days ago.”
“You liar!” Ellie exclaimed, “Tell me what is going on!”
“Why tell you when I can show you?” Marketh said and then he was smiling, “John came here three days ago, it’s true. He even left to go back home. What happened after that isn’t any of my concern, right? I can only see outside of this cell. For now, anyway.”
“Are you trying to tell me you’re going to escape?” I asked him.
But Marketh had apparently said all he wanted to say. He turned around and went onto his bed, picking up the book.
“Tell me what you meant by you will show us!” Ellie yelled, slamming her hands against the bars, “Tell me what you did to my brother!”
“Guard, we’re done here.” Marketh said.
We were led away from the cell with more questions than answers.
Day 4
After telling Liam what Marketh had said, we were shown to our rooms for the night. My room connected to Ellie’s. After we ate dinner and cleaned up, I could hear her pacing in her room.
I opened the door that connected our rooms and looked at her. She was pacing in front of the window and looked lost in thought.
“Did you tell Liam what Marketh had said?”
“Yes. He confirmed John had been here three days ago. We checked the books. Why lie? What did Marketh mean by saying he would show us?”
“I don’t know. I wouldn’t put it past him to have something to do with John vanishing though. We just have to figure out what he could mean.”
“He could mean anything,” Ellie grumbled, “I don’t like this. None of it. I feel as if…maybe I made a mistake going down to talk to him.”
“Why?”
Ellie had stopped pacing and was looking out the window to the courtyard below, “I don’t know. I just feel as if I stepped into a trap or something.”
The truth was that Ellie could be right. It could be a trap. Marketh was cunning and not afraid of trying something crazy. Even though we had told Liam about what he had said, what if that was what Marketh had wanted?
The mind games were making me tired. I told Ellie I was going to bed. It didn’t take long to fall asleep. With everything that had been going on, I was exhausted. I fell asleep in seconds.
When I woke up, I could tell instantly that something was wrong. It was still dark outside. Moonlight poured in through the windows that I had forgotten to shut. The door to Ellie’s room was swung wide open but I didn’t see her in her bed.
As I propped myself up, rubbing sleep from my eyes, I could hear something else too. It was a sort of ringing noise. It was familiar to me although I couldn’t pinpoint why I knew it. I got out of bed.
“Ellie?” I called out but there was no answer.
I went over to the window and opened the blinds, looking down into the courtyard. It was there I realized what the ringing noise was. It was steel on steel clanging. There were skeletons in the courtyard below me. The king’s men were fighting them back, trying to get rid of them.
Somehow, the castle was under attack and Ellie wasn’t here.
Quickly, I grabbed my things and dressed for battle. I had two thoughts: Marketh was behind this and I had to find Ellie.
I yanked opened the door out into the hallway. The torches had been put out and the entire hallway was dark. The sounds of battle were muffled over here. There was no sign of anyone.
Making sure I had my bow ready, even though I wasn’t as good as Ellie, I took off down the hallway. Throwing caution to the wind, I kept calling for her. Maybe she had gotten pinned down by a battle somewhere. I knew a skeleton could come out and attack me but I was willing to risk it for Ellie.
When I got to the staircase, there had been no sign of her. I could hear fighting on the floor below me. Had Ellie gone downstairs? This whole thing felt wrong. How had skeletons gotten into the castle? This place was supposed to be the most protected spot in the Over World. How could this be?
Knowing El
lie wasn’t on this floor, I took off downstairs. I ran into my first skeleton as I got to the floor below me. A guard was overwhelmed by three skeletons. The fourth had seen me and was hurrying over.
These weren’t wither skeletons, I noticed with a sense of relief. At least I wouldn’t have to worry about them moving quickly. They would be easier to take down. I fired my arrow at the skeleton that was running towards me. It crumbled into ash quickly.
I then fired two more arrows to help out the guard that had gotten pinned down. With one skeleton left, he took care of it easily with his sword. Then he turned to look at me.
“Are you okay?” I asked him.
“Yes, thanks. What about you?”
“Fine but I was asleep. My friend is missing. What is going on here?”
The guard took off his helm. I saw he wasn’t much older than I was. He wiped the sweat from above his eyes as he looked at me.
“You must be Lana, right?” When I nodded, he pointed to himself, “I’m Ian. Everything was normal until about fifteen minutes ago. Skeletons just started pouring into the castle. We have no idea how they got past our defensives. Communication is down. We are in the dark.”
“Did you see Ellie around here? My friend, I mean.”
“The king’s niece?” Ian shook his head, “Haven’t seen her. Why don’t we stick together and see what we can find out? I’m trying to get to the throne room.”
I agreed. Better to travel with someone than be by myself. Together, we went down the stairs. There were a few more skeletons on the staircase but we took them down easily. Once we got down to the main floor, the full chaos seemed to hit us in the face.