Chapter Nine: The Game Of Hide And Seek

 The pair woke up all cuddled together under the trees. Motus stirred awake first and looked at Atzi with his icy blue eyes. He gave a kind smile and gently nuzzled her face.

 She woke up and blushed a bit red.Atzi sat up and stretched a bit. She stood up and looked at Motus.

 “Well, I think my music in my earbuds helped out. Instead of you scaring me, I'll keep at least one of these in my ears, just in case.” Motus nods to her in response and they head back into the woods. 

The other day before they arrived at the lake, Motus explained how this place wasn't very far from Damon’s castle. He said they could hike the rest of the way because a car can't get up the steep hill his castle is on top of. 

Atzi listened and was thinking of what could happen once they got to the castle. Would they see those guards again? Will they be able to get past them if they do see them? And if so, where from there?

 All these questions along with more swirled inside Atzi’s head as they climbed up that steep hill. Even Motus had a hard time climbing as the husky. They huffed and panted the higher they climbed up until they reached the top of the hill.

 Atzi was in awe of the sheer humongous size of Damon’s castle. “...who needs a place this big..?”  she thought to herself. The castle was made of old marble and granite stones. 

It had several towers and it was very tall and very long. They went around to the back side of the castle, careful to not be seen as there were guards around the castle standing watch. Motus led her to a cellar entrance and tried opening it but couldn’t because of his paws.

 So Atzi opened it and they slipped inside the dark room. The smell was of old wood and was covered in cobwebs. There was a maze of old shelves full of various jars, boxes, and other supplies.

Atzi followed Motus around as he guided her towards a door. On the other side, faint shuffles and mumbles could be heard by them both. They stopped and thought for a second on what to do when they heard the knob moving.

In an instant the pair split apart as the door swung open. A tall man in a dark coat appeared in the doorway. Motus hid under a nearby staircase while Atzi was behind an old wine barrel. The tall man entered the cellar and was headed towards Atzi.

Motus moved and purposely hit a bottle causing it to smash. The noise attracted the man and he headed towards it as Atzi watched Motus slip behind a tall shelf. 

She took this chance to move to a new hiding place. In the process of moving ,she tripped over an old bucket and caused a clattering noise. She scrambled up and headed to a tall cabinet that housed old fur coats. 

The man’s boots could be heard changing directions and going towards Atzi once again.

Motus watched and moved again, knocking a broom over as he jumped into a trunk and barely closed it. Atzi huffed silently and tried to ease out when her foot tripped on the long coat and made her fall from the coat cabinet. 

The man ran towards the noise just as he was about to open the trunk that Motus was in. Motus panicked and leapt out barking. The man turned to see Motus and gave a sneering grin. 

“Well if it ain't the lowly Motus? Good to see ya finally look as you need to be…a dirty dog. I'll show you how we handle pests like you.” 

Motus looked towards Atzi and gave a nod  to tell her to get out. He snarled as the man drew close.Atzi hesitated at first but nodded back and headed out the open door the man came in as she looked back to see Motus leaping in the air at the tall man. 

She heard voices and ducked behind a long tapestry curtain to hide from the passing group of men heading towards the ruckus. Atzi stood behind the dusty tapestry until the area grew silent. She peeked out and made a dash down the corridor.

 She came to the first huge wooden door and pushed it open then closed it behind her. She sighed in some ease as she thought she was safe, but then Motus popped in her mind and she became worried.

 Atzi looked up to see that she was in a huge library with areas that looked like exam tables and experimentation tables. 

“Where am I..?”  She thought to herself as she walked towards a table. It had many vials, full and empty ones; there also was various paper reports strewn about the tables.

Her eyes scanned the stuff as she continued towards the bookshelves. She remembered Motus said they needed a book. But he didn't say what it looked like.

 Nor did he say what curse to look for. Atzi sighed and pulled the first book she could reach off the shelf. She blew the dust off it and opened it. Atzi lightly sneezed and soon started to read through the book. 

As she read, there was a small pair of eyes locked on her watching.