Free Prisoner of Darkhaven by EMMA PAUL Page A

there were only a handful of Boggart Demons left.
    Damien flashed himself to the study and began flipping through old
    manuscripts. He busied himself with the task of finding out the names
    of all the living Goblins left in Hell. Time was of the essence,
    particularly if he was to find Elise before any harm came to her. If it
    hasn't already.

    62

    Shaking the thought, he focused on the thousands of names listed in
    the ancient scrolls and began weeding through every netherworld,
    magical creature that ever lived.

    * * * *
Elise circled the small room for the thousandth time, pressing on
    stones, moving sconces and feeling every crevice and crack for some
    type of hidden doorway. It proved to be hopeless. Damien, she
    needed to warn him. Needed to tell him of what DeMumart planned.
    If only she had her pendant. However, that vile creature had taken
    it from her. He'd been gone for quite some time. Elise wondered
    what her fate would be at his hands. Whatever the demon had in store
    for her would be a certain painful death.
    She thought for a moment of alerting the king, but quickly decided
    against it. If his royal highness had ever been in his right mind, it was
    gone now. He was nothing more than a pawn in DeMumart's wicked
    plan. Besides, the King was well into madness by now and she
    doubted he possessed any semblance of rational thought. Tap, tap,
    tap.
    Elise startled to the knocking on the door. She moved away from
    the wall and sat on the bed, folding her hands in her lap to keep them
    from shaking.
    "Wh-who is it?"
    There was a brief silence and a click of the lock, like someone
    turning a key. The door opened to reveal, a petite brunette with pretty
    blue eyes. She smiled brightly and entered carrying a tray of food and
    water.
    She placed the tray on the side table next to the bed.
    "Milady, Lord DeMumart said you are to eat, I will return in an
    hour to gather the empty plates." She curtsied clumsily and nodded
    once, before turning and leaving the way she came in.
    Elise stared at the platter of food. A loaf of bread, some goat's
    cheese, an apple and a tankard of water sat on the plate. She did not
    have much of an appetite, however, should she managed escape, she
    would need her strength.

    63

    Ripping off a chunk of bread, Elise nibbled on it with a piece of
    cheese. Suddenly hope flared in her chest. She looked towards the
    door. In an hour, the woman would be back to claim the dishes. Elise
    lopped off another piece of bread and took a long drink of water. She
    knew exactly what needed to be done. Escape was only an hour
    away.

    64

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
    Boggarts were the lowest of all demon kind. Mainly tricksters and
    mischief-makers, they often made humans go mad before swallowing
    their souls. The more chaos they caused the stronger these demons
    became. Most had perished in the wars between the Ethereal and the
    Nether Realms.
    The ones who survived had become embittered with his father
    Lucien, claiming he did nothing to protect them. However, his father
    had little patience for the foul creatures and instead of pacifying them
    like they were contemplating; he exiled the Boggarts to live amongst
    the humans. Losing their status in Hell, even for the lowly Boggarts,
    was as humiliating to a demon as pissing ones trousers in public.
    This Boggart was quite powerful. It indicated he had been building
    strength for quite a while at the expense of mortal souls. Damien
    needed to find its name fast. Once he had that, he could conjure a
    binding spell and stop the demon from accomplishing whatever evil
    deed it plotted.
    He had narrowed it down to the names of all the two hundred living
    Boggarts. Now to narrow the list down to which ones were active
    within his jurisdiction. Damn, his fucking curse. Had he been free,
    the name would have immediately come to him the minute he picked
    up the demon's aura.
    Refusing to dwell on his problems, he focused harder on the
    registry of demons in his keep as the