Complete Darkness

"Please?" Diana begged, "Just this once come on!"
"Yeah we have to learn how to be a mage somehow!" Cassandra pleaded beside her.
"I am not going to teach you to be a mage unless the king says so!" Tara responded pursing her lips. "And that's final!"
They both sighed defeated and retreated back to their room to contemplate another plan.
"Well we could always get someone outside of the palace," Cassandra suggested.
"How we aren't aloud to leave!" Diana grumbled.
"Well," Cassandra said, "I heard that a new servant came to work here."
"What are you saying?" asked Diana raising and eyebrow in interest.
"Father said that she was not to come anywhere near us and do you know what I think?" Cassandra asked smiling. "I think she knows magic!"
"That's perfect!" Diana gasped, "What part of the castle is she working in?"
"That's the best part!" Cassandra said hopping up and down. "She works on making things for around the castle."
She paused for a second to give emphases.
"In the basement."
Diana smiled mischievously.
"We've got to check this out!" She said.
They quickly sneaked through the secret passages they had come to know through the many years in the castle. It was pure luck that the one that lead straight to the basement door was in their room beneath Diana's bed; it was a trap door. They quickly slipped through the long slide like tunnel that led to the basement. They figured it had been used as a launder chute at one time but made a great slide. When the finally came out the other end they both fell onto the floor.
"I forgot that was the one that always ended before we were ready," Cassandra groaned under the weight of her sister.
"It's not that bad," Diana answered standing up and brushing herself off. "I had a cushy landing."
"That's cause you fell on me!" Cassandra said angrily.
"Well either way we're here!" Diana announced looking at the door to the basement "it's kind of spooky isn't it?"
"Way spooky!" Cassandra said shivering.
The door had rusty hinges, mold growing on the wood and was covered in stains that Diana could not identify what had done it. She slowly extended her hand and turned the knob. It creaked slowly open sending a cloud of dust into the air. Carefully she walked over to the doorway. The stairs were dark and the shadows flickered with a light coming from the bottom of the stairs. Diana gulped and took a step onto the staircase half expecting it to fall. She grabbed the guardrail and slowly began making her way down the stairs. She stopped for a second and looked back to make sure Cassandra was following behind her. Sure enough Cassandra stood on the step above her with her eyes flitting around the dark hallway they were descending down. Suddenly the door at the top of the stairs slammed shut. Diana just about jumped with the sudden noise. She turned around and Cassandra shrugged a scared look in her eyes.
"I didn't do it," she whispered.
Diana nodded and began to speed walk down the stairs with the urgency to get into the light. They reached the bottom and sighed with relief that they were finally in the light of a candle. The basement was dark and dingy with a lot of dust. Mold grew on almost everything. Doors were on all sides of the room. There were footprints in the dust beside the candle. Diana walked over to the candle and with her hand almost touching the metal to pick it up with, it blew out. Cassandra screamed and Diana whirled around looking in every direction but her eyes were only met by the darkness.
"Cassandra!" She cried feeling very frightened now.
There was no response to her call or even a shuffling of feet. She began to breath in quick short gasps. She felt cold. Much colder than it had been before. The darkness seemed to be pressing in on her. Her breath was slowly being taken away. Her eyes flitted in every direction. Something was telling her that she wasn't alone. She felt someone was here but it was not Cassandra. Not Cassandra's familiar presence that soothed and calmed it was something powerful and dangerous. She began to shake with fear and cold. It was a strain to breath. Diana suddenly felt someone was behind her. She didn't turn around but remained silent. Her fear held her in place as it moved around her, as if was considering her. Suddenly she felt a cold hand touching her shoulder. Its grasp was hard and felt like ice was touching her shoulder. Her feet seemed rooted to the spot even though every nerve in her body begged her to run. Her voice was stuck in her throat when any second now she knew she was going to scream.
"Welcome Diana," a familiar eerie voice echoed, "We have been waiting for you."
A shiver went down her spine as it spoke. Its words seemed to make everything colder. The whole room felt like ice. Every thought in her mind screamed for her to run, but her feet would not move. She held completely still even when the hand on her shoulder seemed to be giving her frostbite. She suddenly felt another hand touch her forehead. Her mind screamed in pain and yet she could not do anything. She was helpless to do anything but stay standing. Darkness began to pulse through her mind. She felt the hand grip tighter and pain rippled through her thoughts. Her eyes clouded and she began to feel like she could not keep conscious any longer. She screwed her eyes shut tightly as a voice suddenly rang through the room.
"Get away from her!" someone screamed.
Diana felt the hands quickly disappear and her knees buckled sending her to the ground. Her face pressed against the cold floor, which brought a shock of reality to her mind. Footsteps rang through the room and neared her. She could barely keep conscious as a pair of hand grabbed her. She was dragged into another room and set down beside a crackling fire.
"Do you think she's still alive?" asked the voice.
"I don't know," another answered. "She's freezing."
"I hope we got there in time," the voice said. "What of the other girl?"
"I think I startled her but she's fine," the voice responded. "She's in the bedroom right now."
"Well lets see if we can find out who these girls are," the voice said.
"Good idea," the other voice said.
"You know I..."
Diana felt herself slowly drift and the voices faded from her mind as she went unconscious.
"Wake up," someone said shaking her gently. "You have to wake up!"
Diana slowly felt herself regaining her consciousness. Her head pounded with a splitting headache. She groaned and opened her eyes. Everything was blurry for a while but they slowly sharpened.
"Ah so you are not dead," the girl standing over her stated.
"Who are you?" Diana asked weakly.
"The question is who are you?" she retorted.
"My name is Diana," She responded.
"Well, well, well none other then the princess," said the girl. "That does not matter now. What does matter is that you drink this."
Diana sat up and the girl handed her a cup. Diana considered not drinking it but she seemed to be able to trust this girl since she had saved her life. Diana drank it then handed the cup back. Her blood seemed to warm up and she took in her surroundings. She seemed to be in a small room with a bunch of woodchips littering the floor. There were a few chairs, a cabinet full of eating utensils such a plates and a roaring fireplace. There were two doors leading out of the room. It was lit by a large amount of candles littered around the room.
"Why were you down here?" asked the girl.
Diana suddenly noticed that the girl had been watching her as she looked around the room.
"I was here with my sister," Diana said avoiding answering the question. "Where is she?"
"She's in there," the girl responded pointing towards one of the doors.
Diana stood up which seemed an incredible effort. She was weaker from that ordeal than she had thought. She walked over to the door and opened it. Inside was a small bed placed in the corner and a bunch of rags were in the other corner. Diana looked at the rags and noticed that the imprints showed something big had been sleeping in it. Diana looked at the bed and saw Cassandra sitting there.
"Cassandra?" Diana asked taking a step closer.
"Diana?" she exclaimed suddenly coming out of deep thought and looking up at her. "I was so worried!"
She ran over to Diana and hugged her tightly. Diana almost fell under the pressure of her sister and had to grab the side of the doorway for support.
"What's wrong?" asked Cassandra furrowing her eyebrows.
"Nothing," Diana lied smiling half-heartedly. "I'm just a bit shaken up."
"Me too!" Cassandra exclaimed.
"Why did you scream?" asked Diana her memories suddenly running back over what had happened.
"I felt something furry touch my leg when the lights when out," she answered, "Boy did it ever scare me! But Megan came and took me into this room and told me not to move then went back to get you."
"Megan?" asked Diana. "Is that the girl in the other room?"
"The one and only," Megan replied from behind Diana.
Diana turned around to see Megan smiling behind her.
"Glad to see you two get along," she said.
"Yeah," Diana answered awkwardly.
She stepped out of the doorway and into the other room. Diana sat down at the table accompanied by Cassandra and Megan.
"So again I ask what brought you two down here?" she said.
"Well we were wondering if you could teach us magic," Cassandra said, "Because were both supposed to be mages."
"Well I guess so," Megan replied, "Since I am a mage myself."
"How old are you?" asked Diana.
"Fourteen why?" she asked raising and eyebrow.
"I'm fifteen," Diana said, "I was just curious."
"I'm fourteen," Cassandra piped in.
A growling was suddenly heard from the corner and Diana turned to see a black wolf lying on the ground with its head raised. Cassandra screamed and the wolf jumped up and walked over to her.
"Jake enough!" Megan hissed at the wolf and he backed away from Cassandra.
"Megan, is that your pet?" asked Diana.
"No," Megan answered, "He's his own master."
"What do you mean?" asked Cassandra.
"She's mean that I am not an animal but a human," the wolf answered. "Well close enough to human anyways."