"These bushes seem undisturbed," Silas approached the shrubs and fondled a few leaves between his fingers, "If you came through here then there should be traces of it,"
"I understand," she nodded, "But I am positive we are right where we need to be,"
Arabella took her first step towards the shrub but was immediately stopped by Silas who'd raised an arm in front of her, barring her from moving forward.
"I shall go first,"
Slowly, he began to advance, pushing the thick greenery out of their way with one arm as the other hung behind him for Arabella to find support. The two weaved through those leaves, going on and on with utmost wakefulness.
Silas had cranked his hearing to its highest potential while his diamonds darted from left to right, watchful for anything or anyone that might leap at them.
The deeper they went, the more Silas had the impression that it was all a mistake, that neither of them should have ventured into those parts. It had started as small as a bean at his core but devolved and sprouted roots that creeped and crawled throughout his entire being.
"We must turn back,"
Silas flipped around only to be met by teary eyes, quietly pleading for him to spare them. Arabella's features had twisted into an expression the vampire found only searing agony to blame for it.
Breathing heavily, the young woman's left hand strived to free her wrist from his hold, but to no avail.
When the realization that he'd been gripping her so tightly it was a miracle her bones hadn't yet shattered, Silas couldn't release her fast enough.
Arabella massaged her reddened wrist, doing her best to compose herself, "We shall do as you wish, but I know I am not wrong. We are going the right way," she muttered, her voice cutting in between words.
Silas uttered no apologies and instead took a deep breath before looking ahead, "As I said before, our scouts left no rock unturned around this area," he explained calmly.
"It must be the precautions they mentioned in the ledgers," she whispered, following his gaze.
"Meaning?"
"The registries and ledgers kept with the maps said that there were precautions taken to keep the tunnels secret during the wars," her hands flew up to clutch her locket, "All this time, I believed they meant precautions to keep creatures of the nights from venturing through them, but I suppose it included repelling them away from the entrances as well,"
Silas' eyebrows furrowed, eyes on the still trembling figure of Arabella, "Witchcraft you mean?"
"Well, I distinctly remember reading in one of the history books that some members of multiple covens had been captured by the army of liberty during the great war and in order to avoid capital punishment, they were to give away the whereabouts of their sisters, but also perform a few favors for the army," she said, staring into the void.
"Go on,"
"They were never heard of again. I couldn't even find they names, not even the names of their covens which makes sense since, and from what I understand, only the witch that casts the spell has the power to annul it and if death claims her before that then the effects of her spell would live on forever,"
Silas sighed, "Not exactly," he stepped forward and landed an arm for Arabella once more, "In order to reverse a spell, a witch must learn of the exact steps taken to cast it, otherwise it becomes lost in time,"
A bit hesitant at first, but relenting at last, Arabella unclutched her locket and took his arm, "Is it repelling you?" she managed to ask.
"The further in we walk, the more the urge to leave and never return strengthens in me, but I don't fancy thinking about it either as though the sheer memory of it wishes to escape me. I am grasping at words to even formulate questions about it," he said.
"Then that must be why the scouts never took notice of it," her tone rose a little when she chirped, "They were repelled and the memories of this place were erased once they'd walked away," Arabella suggested, "Oh! Here we are! It is the entrance!" forgetting her rest, she clasped both hands around Silas' arm and shook it.
Looking from Arabella's twinkling eyes towards the cave entrance she'd pointed at, it was hard to imagine that a minute before, she'd been on the verge of crying. Though after her words, more questions racked his mind, "That is no tunnel,"
"Yes!" she leapt in her spot a little, "They used an already existing cave to dig up a path straight from Lustris. That way only those that know will know, even humans that didn't have the information wouldn't suspect a thing about it,"
"Let us go then,"
Without another word, Silas walked towards the entrance only to sense a semblance of resistance from Arabella.
Not that she'd been successful in stopping him, but he'd made the decision to halt and learn of the reason for her reluctance.
"Please be aware, the tunnel itself is crawling with deadly traps for your kind," she grimaced.
"What of the beginning of the cave?" he asked.
"No, it's safe to move through the first half of the cave,"
Silas looked at the cave one more time before turning back towards the young woman, a new quiz in mind, "I can see in the dark just fine. How did you manage?"