The night watch guard's Arc

Chapter 2 of 4

The blue notes drifted past her in the tunnel, humming that sick, twisting tune. The guard clamped her hands over her ears and ran. Her boots pounded the dirt as she chased the last flick of a tail into the dark. The music would not stop. Neither would she. The tunnel spat her out under a huge gnarled tree, its roots curling like ribs around a black opening. At the foot of the trunk lay a jagged pile of tiny swords. Her guard cats had dropped them in pure panic. She picked one up, felt its weight, and set her jaw. She climbed into the hollow. The drop came fast. She slid past twisted roots, scraping her shoulders, until her boots hit cold stone. She stood up in a cavern lit by towering crystals. They pulsed pink and gold in time with the harp song above. Some were split clean through, their cracks weeping faint light. The music was breaking them. She pressed deeper, one hand on the wall. At last she saw them. Her six guard cats, shrunk back into kittens, huddled and shaking. They circled a pillar of dark stone. None of them looked at her. None of them came. The pillar bore Latin scratched deep into its face. A keyhole sat in its crown like a small black eye. She read the words aloud, slow and careful. Her heart has gone cold. Find the keys to open her stone cold heart. The harp's tune slid through the cavern and the kittens flinched as one. The guard knelt and scooped the smallest kitten into her arms. It did not purr. It did not know her. She understood then that no calling, no training, no patient sitting would bring them back tonight. She would have to find the keys. She tucked the little sword into her belt and stood, facing the dark beyond the pillar.