by Talia Haze
“Back up, now!” Sean pulled Ryan back and Connie stepped away. Sean breathed in deeply before blowing a torrent of fire onto Angel. The heat blew my hair back, and Angel released me instantly. Ryan pulled me to my feet and helped me down the hall.
He yelled at me, but I didn’t understand his words right away. I still couldn’t see clearly, and my lungs burned from the sudden rush of air. I gently grasped my throat, my cold hands soothing the bruising. “Why? Why did you stop!”
“I thought it was Angel,” I finally gasped. Ryan pulled me faster than I could run, and I stumbled often. He had a good grip around my waist, however, keeping me to my feet.
“Are you daft? Did we not just get through telling Connie not to stop?”
That wasn’t fair. My trick certainly was far more convincing. Angel left in the middle of the night…surely, she didn’t have the clues that we did. Surely, it was completely possible that she was trapped. Oh Angel! Did she even come this way? I hoped she didn’t face all of it by herself.
“Are you listening, Gabriella?” Ryan repeated, shaking me in frustration as we ran. “You’ve got to listen, lad!”
We opened the front door and rushed out into the avenue. We were almost to the front gate when everything went black. We ran into each other when Sean stopped so suddenly. We stood in the darkness, in silence, save for my breathless gasps. Light soon illuminated our faces as Sean lit the lantern.
“I think it’s actually safe to stop now,” he whispered, carefully surveying the area. Ryan released me and I collapsed against the wall.
“I never want to go through something like that again!” cried Connie. She leaned against the wall and clutched her necklace. “This is absolutely horrid…!”
I just closed my eyes and trembled to the floor. Being tricked didn’t feel nearly as horrible as truly not knowing what became of my dear sister. How is it that I could even be tricked in such a way? Where were we, and how did it know that I even had a sister? Or my name?
A low scrape echoed through the room. Sean did not rest with the rest of us. He was far too anxious. He had been walking around, and after finding an engraving of a sun in the corner, he pressed it with his foot. The entire wall opened. An airy cave stretched before us with a clear river flowing through. A small rowboat bobbed nearby, tied to a rock.
“Take the skiff for a day or a night,” Sean recited, holding his hand out to the boat.
“That is the smallest skiff I have ever seen!” scoffed Connie. Ryan smirked and helped us into the boat. I bounced on the seat and gripped the rough wood. I had never been on a boat before, of any size. I wondered if the boat Hannah went on was similar.
Sean unwrapped the rope and Ryan used one of the oars to push us off. The stream flowed slowly and splashed softly. Sean and Ryan sat near the back on either side and, after finding rhythm with each other, rowed steadily.
Water trickled against the cave sides and made the rocks glisten in our lantern light. I leaned just barely to look over the edge. The water was clear enough; I could see a few feet below the surface. Perhaps, if we had another lantern, I would be able to see down further. Shadows danced on the water’s ripples and I sat up again in my seat. All the better I couldn’t see. The fair maiden Gabriella was in no mood to spot a mermaid.
I toppled to the boat’s floor when it lurched suddenly. Everything went black. The river flowed violently once we reached the center of it. Sean had grabbed Ryan, preventing him from falling out of the boat, but our lantern wasn’t so lucky.
“Sit on the floor!” Sean’s voice echoed. I was already on the floor. I shifted slowly to my bottom, trying not to tilt the boat. I could hear him and Ryan fumble around. “Do not touch the edges of the boat in case we bump something. I will row us and look ahead!”
“Doesn’t the poem say don’t look at something inside here?” Ryan was right in front of me, but he still sounded so far away.
“Yes, it does. ‘Do not look at the gems.’”
I clutched my knees to my chest as the boat traveled faster. How disorientating to be moving so quickly in pitch darkness!
The journey was not short. Each bump bruised my arms and knees, each splash choked me, and each drop left me trembling and cold. I leaned to my left just to make sure Connie was still at my side.
“Brace yourself!”
The warning didn’t come soon enough. The boat dropped suddenly, making us scream and sending my stomach to my throat. We landed hard and my whole body jolted. My cries were instantly silenced by the massive wave that fell upon my head.
“I think we’re almost there,” Sean called out at last. “I can see light up ahead!” I looked up from my lap, instantly receiving another strong splash to the face. I wiped the water from my eyes and the boat finally slowed. The light ahead danced off the cave walls and became stronger as we neared. We rounded the bend and it became so blinding that it took a minute for my eyes to adjust.
Jewels! Thousands of shining jewels all around! They shone brighter than any lantern and dotted the rocky surface, casting the cave in an array of color.
“Don’t look at them!” Sean ordered, jumping to the floor next to Ryan. My eyes shut instantly. “Cover your eyes!” I returned my head to my lap. The light was so bright that I could see it through my eyelids.
“Oh!”
Connie’s voice. I felt her moving about next to me. I peered through my fingers and cried out as she stood up, staring at the gems in wonder. “They are so beautiful!”
“Connie! What are you doing?” I pulled hard at her skirt. “Sit down; you’ll fall out!”
She turned to me slowly and smiled, her awed expression frozen on her face. Her eyes shone like the rubies. I trembled back.
“Connie, you’re really scaring me!”
Her smile only widened. “Please, look at them,” she encouraged soothingly, taking my hand. “They are so beautiful.”
I jerked my hand from her. My heart thudded in my chest as she returned to her seat next to me, leaning into me with a huge smile. “Gabriella,” she called in a low voice. The boat rocked dangerously as I shifted away from her.
“Connie, please stop…”
As if she suddenly heard my request, she stopped where she was. Her smile vanished and her eyes became wide and blank, as if I were the one who startled her. Before I could ask, she opened her mouth wide and screamed. She could have shattered glass. My hands pressed hard against my ears as she screamed louder and shriller, no expression at all on her face. She seemed just an empty shell, her unblinking eyes staring at some unknown object past me.
“Stop her!” I begged. My hands alone could not keep out the horrible sound. “Shut her up!”
Sean pulled at her, but he struggled as if he were trying to move a boulder. “I can’t!”
I could barely hear him under Connie’s scream. He tried a few more times before reaching up to cup his hand over her mouth. She turned, suddenly, glaring at him with her glassy, unchanged eyes, mouth still agape as she screamed. Even he couldn’t remain composed and trembled away from her into Ryan.
What was that? Something had flown past my head. Another! Several! They were everywhere; white mists quickly dashing all around. A face? They were all faces! Faces of young, old, men and women alike. Summoned by Connie’s cry, they called back in return. I covered my face to no avail…my eyes were already closed. What did I see?
“Peace! Let us rest!” The faces called, begged. In the blackness, an unrecognizable mass appeared, occasionally blocked by the swirling visions. It grew bigger; it came closer. “Elaev hte rxi laoen!”
Even as it came right up to my nose, I couldn’t make out what the black, bulky mass was. Perhaps some kind of stone? I didn’t want to find out. I squeezed my eyes tighter, but it did no good. I shook my head, covered my ears and just prayed for it to stop. The mass slowly began to stir. The faces screamed and flew around faster in terror.
“He awakes! He awakes! Leave the Xri alone! Elaev hte rxi laoen! Let us
rest!” The faces shouted so loudly that they soon blended into Connie’s wail.
“Make it stop! Please! Make it…”
She stopped. All the flying specters disappeared as well.
I finally dared to open my eyes. Sunlight poured into the opening of the cave. Bird chirps greeted us as we approached the shore and the sounds of the day resonated. It was like nothing had happened.
“Bother all of that!” Ryan splashed into the water next to Sean, quickly helping him pull it to shore. “Let’s get on before something else happens!” I gripped the sides of the boat and shakily sat on my heels. I sat alone. Connie was nowhere to be seen.
“Sean, she’s gone!” I had my eyes closed, but I swear I didn’t hear her fall out…but I suppose she could have while she was screaming? Perhaps that was why she stopped so suddenly?
Sean stood upright, looking past our boat towards the cave, helplessly. “She must have fallen out,” he muttered, bending to untie his boots. “C’mon, Ryan, we’ve got to hurry…”
“Help me!”
Connie’s voice! We looked around in a panic. I didn’t see her anywhere. “Sean, please help me!” At each call, Sean looked more distressed; but we couldn’t find her. We searched the water, the shoreline…where could she be?
“Here!” Sean bent under the seat of the boat and held up a red ruby. Ryan and I squinted, and there! Inside stood a tiny person. “Connie!”
“Free me from this vile prison!”
“Well, she’s giving orders again, lads; it’s really her this time.”
“What did you do to us?” I demanded. “Why did you scream like that?” I trembled uncontrollably. The scene replayed every time I closed my eyes.
“I do not know what you are speaking of!” Connie replied, indignantly stomping her foot. “How dare you scold me when I have suffered such a horrible fate!”
“It is your fault! You disobeyed the clue! And we suffered because of it…!”
“You suffered? Can you not see what has happened to me? And I was not the only one to disobey a clue, Gabriella…”
“What’s done is done,” Sean broke in. “What’s important now is reaching the end of this quest and finding a way to get you out.”
Ryan shrugged and pulled the jewel from Sean’s hands. “Oh, never mind that, Sean! I think I might like her better this way.”
“How dare you?” cried out Connie. “Return me to Sean this instant!”
“See here, lad,” explained Ryan, “If ever you want her to shut up, you can just stuff her in your pocket!” He put her in the pocket of his breeches, immediately silencing her screams. Sean rolled his eyes before opening the scroll. “Leave when you see cave entrance light, walk down the road and ignore its whims.”
“We’ve left already.” Ryan looked back. “And we are walking down the road, but what the dumplings is a whim?”
“It’s a desire, I think,” Sean answered with a shrug.
“So, ignore our desires. Sounds easy enough.”
We didn’t walk for long. We rounded a bend to find a noisy marketplace set up along the road. Vendors called out, holding out their wares for inspection and busy shoppers nodded their heads in approval, or squabbled for better bargains.
“Young sirs, mistress!”
A vendor strategically placed in bend called out to us as we walked around his wares. He held a jug up so suddenly and so close to Ryan’s face that he stumbled back. “Would you be interested in the finest well water? Fresh and cool on this warm day?”
Did he sell water from the fountains of Atlantis? He sure made it seem like he did.
“No, thank you,” Sean answered for us and gripped my hand and Ryan’s shoulder. “We are fine.”
Other vendors tempted us without tact as well; we were offered moist chicken, gooey cheese puffs, savory pies, delicious candies and more. The temptation had fully gone. We had learned our lesson and wouldn’t be tricked.
I never felt so weary, even after cleaning for Aunt Beth. It was a different sort of weariness…a weariness of the mind. Reality had been turned on its head and I couldn’t decipher which way was up. Such an odd feeling, not being able to trust one’s own mind. How often had I placed myself into tales of adventure and wonder…now that I was actually in one, I couldn’t distinguish between what was real and what was lore.
“Gabriella, how did you find me?
My sister walked alongside me. Sean’s grip on my hand tightened, but there was no need for him to panic. I didn’t even turn to her. In that moment, the only thing real to me was the warm damp of Sean’s hand.
In a few more paces, we passed a smiling couple who greeted us with “Good afternoon.” Sean bowed toward them but didn’t pause. I could only remember Sean’s parents faintly...although I wasn’t even sure how real the memory was. Did I remember us sitting each in our own mother’s arms while our fathers laughed nearby? Or was that a memory that Uncle Harrison gave me?
My mind felt twice invaded. Now the road corrupted my thoughts. What was real? Who was real? How did it even know what to use to tempt us? How could it possibly know us deeper than we even knew ourselves?
I started when a bright yellow ball suddenly hit my leg. A tiny boy soon chased it onto the road before turning to look at us. His round, green eyes twinkled with excitement and his fuzzy blonde hair was dotted with leaves and twigs. A spray of freckles dotted his face and his thin lips curved up into an adorable smile. I reached out to him, but quickly returned my hands to my sides. No, I wouldn’t be tricked again.
“Want to play, Ryan?” the boy asked with a smile, revealing two missing front teeth. “Do you want to play?”
Sean shifted uncomfortably as he scanned Ryan’s face. Ryan just stared angrily ahead, clenching his jaw. The road went too far. The bright child had to be Ryan’s lost brother, the one we helped search for when we first met.
The little boy followed closely along Ryan’s other side, skipping and running to keep up with Ryan’s angry stride. “Why are you always leaving?” he whined. “Stay and play with me!” His face suddenly twisted up and he began to cry.
“Stop it!” Ryan screamed as he stomped the road. “Stop it, stop it!”
Everything silenced abruptly. The birds, the vendor calls…I gripped Sean’s hand tighter. All of the people we passed on the road simultaneously turned towards us, eyes aglow. The little boy’s eyes glowed green and he bared his teeth.
Ryan fell back as the boy’s large paw swiped at him. His eyes became huge and thick, and his skin became leathery and dark. A mane appeared around his face and he wrinkled his snout as he roared. A troll!
Sean was quick and shoved the troll away, pulling Ryan to his feet. The vendors and our families also changed into their true forms and howled as they chased us down the road. Their thick, stocky, gray bodies shook as they ran, and their various-colored manes blew back in the breeze.
“There’s the end of the road!” Ryan pointed to a green pasture, bordered with a splintered, wooden fence. The trolls kicked up a cloud of dust behind their long, waving tails. I ran hard, afraid to look behind for too long. They gained on us. Ryan leapt over the fence and disappeared before he could turn to assist. I tripped as I reached the fence, stumbling over it. Sean was close behind.
Whish. That familiar sound.
I looked over my shoulder. Everything was gone; we stood in the middle of a field with a lone tree, and no road at all in sight.
“We did it! We made it to the end!”
“Now what?” Ryan looked around anxiously. “Now where are we to go? What are we to do?”
“I don’t know, but for now, let us rest.” Sean collapsed, leaning against the tree. I nodded in agreement. My body and mind needed it.
Chapter Ten
Saramine
“Hello!”
Did the tree now speak to us? Try as I might, I couldn’t open my eyes. Exhaustion made me feel slightly nauseated, so I breathed in deeply, trying to blink the sleep from my eyes.
A hand gently rested on my knee. “Hello!”
I finally forced my eyes open to find myself staring into the dragon eyes of a girl. She was older than I, about seventeen. Her splashy, yellow eyes were made even more vibrant by her dark skin, and her plaited black hair fell to her waist. She carried a large basket full of pastries and apples and gently shook my knee.
“There you are!” she greeted in a cheery voice and wide smile. “Welcome!”
I couldn’t find my words. She stared at me with such a fond gaze that I felt uncomfortable. Even as I leaned back, her gaze didn’t relent. I tapped Sean, who still slept soundly. It took him a moment, but when he realized that we were not alone, he jumped to his feet, knocking Ryan over.
“Oi, lad…!”
“Hi. I’m so sorry, are we trespassing?” Sean brushed his hands off on his pants. The girl smiled broader and shook her head.
“Not at all!” she replied. “I am sorry to have given you such a start! I know you are weary after that fairy route, and I offer you a better place to rest.”
“A better place?” Sean repeated. I stood to my feet and brushed out my frock. “Why? Why us?” he remembered his manners and bowed. “Thank you. I’m Sean. This is Gabriella and Ryan.”
“Pleasure! My name is Saramine…oh! Such a gentleman,” she added as Sean gently kissed her hand. “Yes, I shall offer you a place to rest, if you would follow me.”
Perhaps another trick. I pressed my lips hard as she turned back to me. Her smile just widened.
“It is fair to not trust me,” she said. Sean looked at me over his shoulder. “Perhaps you will trust your sister’s word. I will lead you to her.”
My heart skipped a beat. But twice I had been tricked. I didn’t want to believe it. I wanted to believe it. But we were at the end of the clues! I had to believe it.
“I am true, Gabriella,” Saramine said, setting down her basket and taking my hands. “You are no longer facing trials in the fairy route. I know you because I know your sister. You are twins! You seek Renard and Syrah of Tashin, do you not?” I unconsciously nodded. “I know this because Aira is about to make the same journey…”
