Rune stared at the door which a practically naked Dragonlord had just walked through and into Rune's bedroom.
"The Dragonlord?" he mumbled. "He's in my room. And he's naked." Rune shook slowly, the colour draining from his face. "I need to go lie down."
With his hand on the doorknob he snapped back to his senses.
"The Dragonlord's in there!"
He jerked back as if scalded.
"I hope he didn't hear me."
After an uncomfortable moment's fidgeting, Rune placed his ear to the door and listened. He heard nothing at first, then what sounded like the Dragonlord mumbling. His heart started thumping in his chest and he found it hard to make out what was being said. Then he heard a second voice, a female one and it stopped cold.
"Two of them," he whispered. "I don't know if I could fight off the Dragonlord, but I definitely couldn't get away from two with my body ..." He gulped. "What if there's more inside? What if there's a gang of them waiting to rape me?" He backed away from the door. "I bet the woman was Cernozura and I bet Ruwalk's there too. And Tetheus!" He ran off.
Racing pell mell through the passageways of the ancient castle, Rune barely looked up from the narrow patch of ground in front of him. He skidded around a corner, corrected his balance and crashed into Cesia, the sweet-tempered fortune-teller that Rath always gave out about.
"Cesia! I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" babbled Rune, clambering to his feet. He reached out a hand to help her up and was surprised when she clamped onto it with an iron grip.
"Rune," she said. Somehow the fortune-teller had gained a dark and forbidding aura. "I've been looking for you."
Rune noticed that her jet black dress emphasised her assets and backed away. "Maybe we can talk later," he mumbled. "I've had a stressful day and I need to rest right now."
Cesia held on and was pulled along with him. "No, Rune. We need to talk now."
"Argh!" he screamed, lashing out with a weak punch. She let go and he stared at her. "I hit a girl," he muttered, before turning tail.
Gathering her skirts, Cesia gave chase.
Rune was much faster than Cesia, yet somehow she never lost sight of him. Every time Rune ducked down a corridor, or into a secluded room, he screamed and ran back out again, followed by confused yelps and on one occasion a disgruntled Dragon Fighter with tousled hair and no shirt. He also blundered into dead ends and tripped at least once on every set of stairs. His squeals and gestures became ever more frantic as the pursuit wore on.
He ran out of room when he breached the attic. Only one set of stairs led into it and although it was a maze of boxes, they were only piled chest high. Rune glanced around the room, his head twitching back and forth, desperately hoping to see a hidden door, or hole in the floor caused by a previous pursuit, but there was nothing. The sound of footsteps came up through the door. Rune squeaked and fled into the maze.
"Of course," he whispered. "There's a huge amount of boxes blocking me from her. All I have to do is circle around her and flee back down the stairs. If I'm quiet enough, she'll spend an hour searching this attic while I find a hidey-hole."
That was when Rune spied a case big enough to hold him. It creaked when he opened it, but luckily, it was empty. Rune heard the doorknob turn and flopped into the case, pulling the lid down on top of him. It was dark and it was smelly, but it was safe.
After what must have been a good five minutes, Rune couldn't take the pressure and decided to sneak a peak out of the case. He pushed against the lid, but it stayed closed. He flexed his muscles and tried again, but still failed. His heart-rate shot back up.
"Water?" he whispered, feeling at his clothing. "Damn, I left my sword behind. Of course, why would I need it in the DRAGON CASTLE!"
He fumbled, feeling around in the dark, trying to find the catch on the lock that would free him and thought that he'd succeeded, when he heard a click and air rushed in. The smile faded, when long, wavy hair fell onto his face. He looked up to see Cesia, glaring at him.
"Rune," she said. "I'm a fortune-teller. I knew where you were hiding as soon as I walked into the room. You can't hide from me."
She backed away and let him emerge from the case.
"C-C-C-Cesia," he stuttered. "I-I-I don't think of you that way. I..."
"Rune," she said, coldly. "Shut up before you make a fool of yourself. If that chest wasn't sound-proof I wouldn't have to repeat myself and that makes me grumpy."
Rune clambered out, closed the chest and sat on top of it. Cesia remained several feet away.
"I've been away on business and only just come back," she said. "I started to do auguries for the Dragonlord, when I got nearby and the results were disturbing. They all showed that there was something terrible affecting the castle."
"I know!" squealed Rune, suddenly smiling. "Everyone's been acting oddly, all loved up or something and they've been throwing themselves at me."
"Throwing themselves at you?" Cesia asked, her eyes widening.
"Yes!" exclaimed Rune, counting them off on his fingers. "Rath, well, not Rath, but possibly Thatz and Tetheus, probably Ruwalk, definitely Cernozura and scariest of all was the Dragonlord." He shook his head and sighed. "It makes me very uncomfortable and I thought that you were affected, but you're not, are you?" he asked, tensing up again.
"I'm not affected," stated Cesia, "But I think that there's something you ought to know."
She peered closely at Rune and he started to sweat.
"What, do you know what's happening?" he replied, leaning closer, despite his previous fear.
She leaned back in and whispered to him. "I did a final augury when I got to my room. There's been a spell cast on the castle and Rune, you're the cause!"
What's she talking about? Is this just a plot by Cesia to get with Rune? Review, that includes you anonymous guys and you may get a final chapter.