Ice . . . lots of ice. My eyes studied the landscape as I rose to my feet.
A dry mist elevated off the ground, concealing much of the frozen surface. Here and there sharp rocks jabbed out above the fog. On either sides of me were two jagged walls of stone with about a three-hundred foot gap between them, forming a canyon. They narrowed at the top into sharp spikes that disappeared into the starless sky. Throughout the walls there were large crevices and holes that looked like they led to a maze of tunnels and caverns. As far as I could tell the rock was obsidian, the dark charcoal reflecting the purple sky.
“Where am I?” I muttered, realizing afterwards that I had just made the number one cliché statement for this type of situation.
“I must be outside in some mountains or something.”
Somehow talking to myself made me feel better.
Carefully considering my options, I decided that taking a look around was the best idea. I walked towards the large wall on my right and touched its surface.
“Ack!” I yelped, voice echoing through the canyon. Evidently the rock was sharper than it looked. It had given me a small cut in my finger. I rolled my eyes sarcastically. “Well, that was smar—”
Footsteps. There were footsteps coming from one of the caves in the wall.
I quickly surmised that whatever lived in a place like this was trouble. Besides I had always been pessimistic when it came to people and that wasn't about to change now. I searched for a place to hide.
Unable to find a spot in time, I was forced to duck behind a rock just as they turned the corner. Their skin was the same metallic purple as the man that had led me through Sharadeen. In a way they resembled him, only they lacked his inherit beauty. They were also much shorter, less featured, and notably thinner.
Although I felt the need to get far away from them, I kept still, watching silently, knowing that any movement might draw attention.
They seemed to be conversing, but as they got closer I realized I didn't recognize the words. It sounded like an Elvin language from a book I’d read once, only darker and distorted.
My heart was pounding now, they weren't more than twenty feet away from me. Fortunately they seemed to be moving towards the other wall of the canyon.
I lowered my head and turned my back against the rock. Curiosity grabbed at me, but I didn't want to risk being discovered.
Soon the voices faded away. I sat there frozen in place. My breathing was heavy and I was unsure about what to do next.
“At least those monsters are go—” Before I could finish my sentence I heard two heavy wheezes coming from behind me. Instinctively I stood up and swung toward the noise.
Maybe part of me hoped that I was only imagining it, but I soon realized that it was unwise to check. It was all I could do to watch as they gaped; perusing through yellow eyes. One gestured towards me as he spoke again in the dark language. The other’s response came in a disheartening moan.
I just stood, frozen.
As they wrapped around the rock, one reached out to touch me. My body forced backwards in disgust. He seemed not to care. Wearing a sickly smile he moved closer to me. His breath was hot and sticky. I turned away, sinking down in desperation as he rested his fingers against my cheek.
At that very moment a frightened yelp came from behind him. The closer one looked back just in time to see his friend’s head flung from its body by a fiery green sword.
A tall man now stood where the monster had been. With the weapon in hand he turned to the purple figure. “You should have known better keeper.” He raised his sword as he spoke. “Now you'll pay.”
In vain the creature tried to put up a defense, but with a final screech and a blade through the gut it dropped lifelessly to the ice.
I stared on wide-eyed as my mind swirled with what had just happened. Cold sweat was sliding down my face and my entire body was shivering. I looked up at the man and he stared down at me, this time holding his gaze. He was rugged, with dark leather-made clothes and peppered hair. Something about his eyes made me want to break down and cry. There was safety there, like he was assuring me that everything was going to be okay.
Suddenly his gaze shifted above me. “You can come over here now Cornelius.”
“Oh really?” came a sarcastic reply. “Are you sure it's safe for an incompetent defense artisan like myself?” I could hear the voice getting closer. “You come out here waving your big sword like you own the dimension, I swear you all think we can't do anything just because we don’t—” He cut off as he walked around the rock I was leaning against. He was much shorter than the other man, wearing a simple cloth robe that stretched to the ground. His features were soft, tender, I don‘t think he‘d seen me yet.
“What?” he questioned the other man, shrugging.
“I think I know why the keepers took such a risk.” The rugged man moved his eyes to me.
The short man followed them.
He seemed to practically faint at the site of me. “Oh my,” he exclaimed, the humor now gone from his tone. “What . . . but . . . how could she have gotten all the way out here?”
The tall man inhaled deeply as he sheathed the green sword. “This is Sylvanus' doing if ever I saw it.” He swore an oath under his breath. “He won’t get away with this. Not this time.”
The plump man suddenly adopted a drastically horrified expression. “Thoran! You know better than to use that language in front of a young lady. And frankly, I don't want to hear it either.”
As he rattled on, the other man, Thoran I guess, seemed to be deep in thought. “Where are you from, girl?” he asked me shortly.
I shivered under his hard stare, words eluding me.
“Kirne?” he pressed. “Rizenn? Tiver?”
My head bobbed to the last.
He took a breath, then turned to the other man. “We need to get her back as soon as possible. I’ll walk with you till the gate, and you can take her on from there.”
What?! That was it. I had kept my mouth shut to long as these men conversed about me and my fate. The last thing I wanted to do after all that had happened was go back home. My mind was racing with a million questions, and I had a feeling that these two men could answer them.
“Wait,” I finally said, drawing expectant glances towards me. “I . . . I can't go back now. So much has happened that I don't understand, I mean, I don't even know what those things were. And I really don’t think I’d be much good for a long journey.” I knew what I was saying was out of line and didn't make much sense, but I pushed the issue anyways. “If there was just somewhere close I could stay . . . please? I promise I won't be any trouble.”
I looked on pleadingly. The one called Thoran adopted a stone cold expression, but the stout one, Cornelius, his face softened. I knew I had found myself an ally.
He drummed his fingers together for a few moments before speaking.
“Thoran, I think she’s right. We can't just send her off after what she has seen, it wouldn't be fair . . . And no doubt she is frightened after her encounter with the keepers, not to mention Sylvanus,” he added quickly.
Thoran glowered at the man. “First of all, we don't even know if she came here with Sylvanus. And before I even question why her being scared should deter us from taking her home answer me this—” He paused for a brief moment. “Where else do you expect us to take her?”
Cornelius guffed. “Well to the lodge of course.”
Thoran nodded. “Ah, I see, the lodge full of what?” He obviously knew something Cornelius hadn't realized.
“Rooms?” he guessed, shrugging his shoulders.
“What else?” asked Thoran.
Cornelius scratched his head. “Well . . . there's the boys and . . . oh, the boys.”
“Ah-ha.” Thoran nodded. “And she is a . . .”
“Girl.” finished Cornelius flatly.
Now thoroughly confused, I decided I would have to make myself speak my mind if I didn't want to go home.
“Look,” I stated.
“I really don't mind staying in the same building as a few boys if that's what you think. I live with my brother in law.” I finished with a smile, thinking that that should explain everything.
Cornelius’s face melted again and he turned to Thoran.
After a few brief moments of silent conversation, Thoran's face turned stern.
“Fine, Cornelius. But let it be on your head. And for the love of God do not let her near Ikovos. And this is only for tonight.”
Cornelius nodded repeatedly and my heart filled with anticipation. I had no idea why, but I knew that there was something important about these men. Something I wanted to be a part of.
“Well my dear,” said the kind man. “I am Cornelius, as I'm sure you've already gathered, and that is Thoran.” He gestured towards the other man, but Thoran had already started walking towards the dark wall.
“. . . He's really much sweeter than he seems.”
I hid my skepticism out of respect, but maybe Cornelius was right.
“We had better get moving,” declared Thoran. “I'm going to have to go out early to scout tomorrow.”
Cornelius helped me up and we started towards the wall.
As Thoran led us through a series of dark tunnels, Cornelius asked me questions about the events that led to our meeting. Thoran seemed hardly interested, although every once in a while he would grunt or shake his head.
“And that's when Thoran came in with his sword.” I finished uncomfortably.
“Hmm, I see,” Cornelius murmured. “Well it seems it was indeed Sylvanus, Thoran, up to his usual tricks.”
Normally I was very quiet and reserved, especially around people I barely knew. But for some reason Cornelius made me feel comfortable. I made up my mind to ask him about one of the things I had been wondering about.
“Cornelius, when I first met . . . Sylvanus, he said he had control over water, or liquid rather, and then he juggled some around between his hands. I've heard stories of wizards such as this before. I was always very intrigued by it.” My voice gradually became more enthusiastic. “I guess what I was wondering. . . . It's real then, magic?”
I saw Thoran look back at Cornelius with a stern glare.
“Well, you see—” Cornelius started, but was quickly interrupted by a voice above us.
“Identify yourselves.”
I realized we were now at the edge of a very small opening. After the maze of tunnels we had traveled through, I was positive that there was no way I could find my way back outside.
Thoran replied to the voice soundly. “Master Thoran, order first-rank. And Master Cornelius, second-rank.”
“Proceed,” came the response.
It was now that I first realized just how important these men might be. But before my mind could consider what exactly I had gotten myself into, I saw a familiar light reflecting off the cavern walls. It was the same glow that I had seen earlier that day, in a different cave. The memories of my previous encounter made me shutter.
Sure enough, as we rounded the tight corner an orb-like portal hovered above the ground. It was at the back of a large cavern, the same black-metallic softly glowing orange from the light.
“No doubt this isn’t the first one of these you’ve seen today,” said Thoran as he stared at the rift. Before I could respond he turned to me and started again. “This is a Meoden portal. It leads between the Meoden dimension, where we are now, and the other dimensions, in this case ours. Which is yours as well.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but he interrupted.
“There is no point in trying to figure out how it works, just know that it does. Naturally if you jumped into one of these you could end up anywhere in the conjoining dimension, but we have altered ours to arrive at a specific point.
“So all you need to do is walk through. Understand?”
Oh yeah, sure, that makes complete sense, I thought to myself . . . but I did have the basic idea, and I could tell Thoran wasn't really asking.
“Yes sir.” I said, so officially that any fool could tell I was intimidated.
“Good,” he replied. “Cornelius you go first, followed by . . . hmm. Did you tell us your name?”
I bit my lip. “No . . . you never asked.”
“Well I'd say in this case shy is an understatement,” he grumbled. “Are you ready to tell us now?”
My eyes narrowed at him, squinting slightly. “Eve, Eve Avest.”
“Well, that's a beautiful name, such a curious last name to. You know I know someone that has a hobby of studying the origin of names, I'm sure he'd love to look that one up. His name is—”
Thoran stopped him with a side-ways glance. Evidently this man didn't want me to know about anything beyond what was necessary.
“Anyways. Eve, you'll go after Cornelius so he can meet you on the other side. Cornelius, I want to check on Boron, so I'll meet you back at the lodge in an hour or so.”
He turned towards me. “If everything goes as planned I probably won't see you again, so—” he held out a hand “—it was a pleasure meeting you.”
I shook it firmly, inexplicably disappointed by the thought of never seeing him again.
And then, as quickly as he had appeared, he vanished through one of the tunnel passages.
*
It wasn't long before I found myself with Cornelius on the other side of the portal. We came in amidst a clutter of trees: tall, rich green, much less foreboding than the last forest I had been in. The sky above was a deep blue, nearing dusk.
Has it been that long?
“Better than the last time I hope?” asked Cornelius.
Not much. I opted for courtesy. “Yes it was, thank you.”
“Good,” he said. “Now if I can figure out which portal we came in at, we can start heading for the—”
“Master Cornelius is that you?” came a shout from one of the trees above us, it was a boys' voice.
Cornelius started to look up then froze. “Oh no. Not good, what is he doing here?” He mumbled nervously as he started to pace. “Thoran is going to kill me, this is the first thing he told me not to let happen.” He turned his face upwards again and yelled. “Ah, no. It's not Cornelius just some, umm, other person. No need to come down Ikovos, I mean, person I don't know.”
Cornelius looked at me and gave a do-you-think-that-will-work shrug.
I sure didn't know what was happening, so I shrugged as well. Obviously Cornelius and I shared an inability to stay calm under pressure.
“Master I can tell by your voice,” said the boy again. “Besides I can see you, hey, who is that with you? I'm coming down okay.”
“Oh God, we're dead,” said Cornelius as he paced.
“We're dead?!” I started to pace myself.
“Yes, dead! What are we going to do?”
“What can we do?”
“He's going to kill us.”
“He is?”
“You've got to calm down.”
“You calm down, I don't even know what's happening.”
“I've got it!”
“What?”
“Hide!”
“Where?”
“There!” He pointed to a bush next to a tree and pushed me down behind it.
Seconds later I heard footsteps running towards Cornelius. I situated myself so I could see through the leaves. Cornelius moved himself in front of me, one hand leaning against the tree.
The boy came into view and I looked him over. He was average build if not a little thin. The mat of short blond hair on his head looked like it hadn't seen a comb in a while, his ears were a bit oversized, nothing spectacular, that is until he smiled. I was never one of those “omigod he has the most gorgeous smile” girls, but . . . this was something.
Cornelius had just called him Ikovos, but recognized the name like I'd heard it before.
Hmm . . . Oh, right, this was the person that Thoran had told Cornelius not to let me meet.
Well, that explains the pushing. I grunted. Corneli
us covered the noise with a cough.
“Oh, hello Ikovos,” said Cornelius in a squeaky voice. “What are you doing out here this late?”
“I took over gate-watching for Luther,” he said. “But hey, why were you saying you were someone else?”
“Well, I um . . . .”
“A joke,” I whispered from the bush. “Tell him it was a joke.”
“Oh right, I was just playing a joke of course,” said Cornelius. He forced an uncomfortable laugh.
“A joke?” Ikovos said flatly. “Right . . . well, who was that with you? Where'd they go?”
“Oh that . . . that was a bird.”
“Huh?”
“Tell him it was magic,” I interjected.
“I mean it was magic,” said Cornelius.
Ikovos raised an eyebrow. “Since when can you make a fake person with magic?”
Cornelius backed towards me and whispered. “Why did you say magic? That doesn't even make sense.”
“Well, how was I supposed to know? I've never learned a thing about magic. Why did you listen to me if it didn't fit?”
“Because . . . because you tricked me!” he said.
“What?” I asked exasperatedly, jumping aggressively to my feet.
Ikovos, who had been watching as Cornelius argued, now stared at me wide-eyed, jaw to the floor.
When I saw him I screamed and ducked back behind the bush.
Cornelius fainted.
After a few seconds I poked my head out above the leaves. The boy forced a confused smile and waved. I dropped down again.
Come on Eve, pull it together. You are a confident and outgoing individual. You are a confident and outgoing individual. I repeated this a few times in my mind then took a deep breath. Before standing up to face the boy.
“Hi.” I smiled. “My name’s Eve.” Well, that was original.
“Right, I'm Ikovos . . . sorry for scaring you,” he said as he scratched the back of his head thoughtlessly. “Ah, do you know Cornelius?”
“No, well, sort of I guess.”
“Cause you guys seemed to have something going.”
“Heh, it's been a long day. I got a little too excited. Sorry.”
“No, no it's okay. I just thought that you must have known each other pretty well. But I guess not.”
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