Beyond the Bridge

by C D Beaudin

  She sneaks through the hall, past the half-asleep guards, seeing Kaniel in his room, snuffing out a candle. Eldowyn, in the room next to his, closes the door, just missing Awyn as she sneaks with the shadows. Rounding a corner, she gasps and hides behind the wall as she sees Aradon standing outside his room, talking with a guard. Her jaw tightens. Well, this was short-lived.

  “Behind you. Down the hall to your left.”

  Awyn hears Raea’s voice once again, turning back the way she came. She passes Kaniel’s shut door, hearing the snoring from inside. She sneaks past the guards, the dim light of the hall torches casting shadows along the walls. Her boots pad gently on the marble floor.

  The corner comes up and she turns left, surprised to find no guards. No torches light this way. Soon Awyn realizes she’s never been down this passage before. Only one door rests in this hall. She shuffles toward it, looking behind her to make sure no one is following her, the glow from the torches in the other hall no longer warming her.

  “Find the key.”

  Awyn hears the voice and looks around for a good place to hide a key. She runs her hand along the walls, the wall the door resides in is grooved. It must be from before the rebuild. She runs her fingers in the grooves, not sure what she’s hoping to feel or hear. Awyn silently rejoices when she hears a click and pulls one of the wooden panels. A small box presents itself and she opens it, grabbing the large metal key with a circular end. She unlocks the door, putting the key back in place and closes the panel.

  The stairwell going down to the earth is pitch-black. She stands there, eyes wide, not knowing how far down it is. Now what? She waits for Raea’s direction, but nothing comes. Okay, uh… She turns around, looking to see if anyone is behind her. Taking a deep breath, she enters the shadows, but before she can close the door, the darkness is lit with torches, fire flickering out of thin air. She smiles, having a feeling who did this. The stairs now lit, she starts down them, gripping her bag.

  What seems like an eternity later, she comes to the end of the long flight of stairs, and her mouth drops in awe and her eyes grow wide at what she sees next.

  It’s a cave, almost as tall as the second level of Kevah. An underground lake trickles as water drips from the huge stalactites above her. Stalagmites jut from the floor of the cave, and pillars of rock curve under the earth’s surface. She walks out into the cavern, along a wet, smooth stone floor, water on either side of her. The cave has a strange light cast within it, but no light above her. The blueish gray walls let off a certain glow, that makes the lake seem to let off a blue mist.

  “Magical,” Awyn says under her breath as she looks at everything around her. She pushes her hood back, smoothing her hair out, her feet moving with a mind of their own, letting her see everything.

  “It is magical.”

  Awyn turns in surprise as a familiar figure emerges from the other side of the cavern. Her white hair flows behind her, her sparkling white face smiling at Awyn. “In fact, this cave is quite powerful.”

  “Raea,” Awyn says breathlessly.

  “Yes, my child.” She looks around the cave for a moment. “This is one of the many magical pools of the elves.”

  “A Pool of Light.”

  “Yes. There are many of them, in many different parts of our world.”

  Awyn looks into the pool, her reflection as clear as diamonds. She looks beside her, noticing something. “Why don’t you have a reflection?” she asks, an empty space beside her in the water, then looks at the immortal standing beside her.

  “I am merely a ghost of myself.” Her white eyes seem to be her soul, so bright and beautiful and powerful. “My body lies in another place at the moment, being watched over by one of my kin.”

  Awyn could ask so many questions, but only two leave her lips. “Why have you helped me? Why have you come to me?”

  “You will find out in time. Right now, you must focus on your quest. You can trust the Red Warrior, but keep in mind he still has darkness in him. And I warn you, old friends deep in betrayal will return, and new friends deep in good intentions will perish.”

  Awyn looks at her, not knowing what she means, then a name comes to mind. “Kepp. So, he will ambush us?”

  “My dear, the future is never known to people of this world. It remains a mystery, even to the wisest. And those few who have the gift of foresight aren’t always right. My gift says that you will meet this estranged elf again, but not in the circumstances you would imagine.” Raea looks into Awyn’s eyes.

  “Can you at least tell me if our mission will be successful? Or will we all die?” Awyn asks.

  Raea lifts her head in curious amusement. But then her eyes narrow. “You have a darkness that penetrates your heart. It’s your shield. It’s your life source. But I warn that if you let it seep deeper you will no longer be Awyn of Mera. You will join the Sanarx in Kahzacore and will become one with the darkness that haunts you. Revera has put a knife in your soul, and Tamon has let the blood flow.”

  Surprising herself, Awyn feels no fear, only an expecting, dead feeling. She isn’t sure what this cryptic elf means, but she’s determined to find out.

  Raea crinkles her eyebrows, no wrinkle in her smooth, perfectly white skin. She places her hand on Awyn’s shoulder. “Don’t let your past consume you. I know you plan to die at the end, but you don’t have to.” Her hands at her sides, she looks to the water. “I must leave now.” She looks back at Awyn. “Goodbye, child.” She disappears, little floating lights, as if they were stardust, linger where she stood, extinguishing one by one as the moments pass.

  “Goodbye.” Awyn clutches her bag strap, whipping up her hood, concealing her worry. She now knows that what will destroy her is herself.

  Unless she stops letting the darkness consume her.

  But I have no idea how to do that.

  Awyn comes to a dark passage, unlit by the magic of the Light Pool. No torches rest here, and Raea’s voice is nowhere to be heard. Awyn gulps as she enters the round, smooth-edged tunnel, the darkness enveloping her.

  One foot in front of the other, Awyn walks down the tunnel, her eyes somewhat adjusted to the darkness. Drips of water fall, the sound echoing in the hollow cave. The tall height of the ceilings and wide-set walls make Awyn feel smaller than an ant, just a speck in the seemingly never-ending darkness.

  Looking back, the entrance of the tunnel seems like the size of a plate, the blue hue small in the distant opening. The water drips on Awyn’s head, parts of her hair wet. She wipes her face as another drips on her. Looking deeper into the cave, she can’t see the end, just more darkness and more echoes.

  It’s probably midnight. How long have I even been walking through this tunnel? Her stomach growls, and a familiar feeling spreads through her body. Loneliness. A shiver runs down her spine. This is getting too familiar. When will this tunnel end? It would have been easier to just leave out the front door. But then Awyn realizes Raea meant her to come this way because she wanted to see her again. But why? Why would she risk Awyn’s life for a conversation?

  As she ponders this, a loud roaring makes Awyn’s ears nearly bleed. She covers them as it echoes through the cave. Looking into the darkness, it looks like a flame is coming at her. She looks closely, and her eyes widen as a fireball hurtles toward her. She shrieks, flattening herself on the ground as it zooms past her, exploding only three feet away, sending ash into her eyes, and sparks dancing across her clothes. She pats her cloak as it flames up, extinguishing the small fire.

  Scrambling to stand, she turns just in time to dodge another huge fireball, at least ten times the size of her. She lunges to the ground as it explodes a few feet above her, its intense heat burning. Awyn grunts as she hits the stone, her face slamming hard, her arms and legs bruising against the hard rock. She looks up, and another roar sounds. She’s absolutely horrified of what is stampeding toward her.

  A beast, half the height of the monstrous cave, with rock and lava as its skin—with smoldering heat radi
ating off the hard, crackly surface. Eyes like flames, nostrils flaring, smoke puffing out of every nook and cranny of the demon. Gigantic claws, sharper than dragon scales, dig into the solid stone floor, and its rocky body screeches against the sides of the tunnel. Humongous, twisted black horns grow from its giant head.

  It stops in front of Awyn, opens its fire-breathing mouth, and lets out an ear-splitting roar.

  Awyn groans as she tries to move. The beast’s roar spits chunks of burning lava-rock at her, searing her skin. She screeches, brushing it off as quickly as possible. Awyn looks at the creature as it gazes upon her, a hungry look in its eyes. She shuttles back, turning around and crawling back the way she came as the beast just stands there, looking as she flees.

  She’s shaking and twitching, a massive ache in her head, her bones feel like mush. Awyn hit the ground too hard, and her head slammed against the stone. M-my brain is probably broken. She looks back at the staring, paused monster. What is it doing?

  The beast looks at her intently, lava pouring from its stone skin, seeping into the ground. Suddenly a great trembling fills the tunnel, the ceiling starts raining stones, hitting Awyn’s skin. She looks around her in frozen panic as a crack spreads, glowing red, blazing heat scorching her body. She screams in pain. Standing up, she starts running as fast as she can, frantic and stumbling about as the ground below her starts giving way to red-hot lava.

  Sweat pours down her body, her clothes scorched and drenched. Her hair sticks to her head, and dirt covers her skin, cuts and bruises scattered all over her body. Parts of her are burned, and blisters are forming. She lurches forward as a fireball explodes behind her, and another loud roar echoes through the tunnel. Under her feet, she can feel the vibration, and as her fingers slip into the opening cracks, she screams with indescribable pain. She jolts up as the hot lava scorches through her clothes, and burns her fingers and skin, every inch of her burning. Her whole-body shakes at the trauma, her hands now red and covered in blisters. Behind her, the beast starts to run after her, its run is slow, but the size of its legs keeps it at a dangerous closeness behind Awyn.

  Awyn knows if she falls again, she’s dead. She focuses on running, ignoring the blistering on her stomach, chest, arms, and the rest of her body from where the molten magma touched her skin. The entrance doesn’t seem to be getting any larger, which terrifies her.

  “Awyn!” Her eyes dart around the glowing tunnel at the familiar voice. “Awyn!” The frantic shouting can barely be heard over the bubbling of the lava and the exploding of fireballs behind her.

  “Aradon!” she screams back. She stops running and looks frantically everywhere. “Aradon! Where are you?” Tears fall down her cheeks, blending with the sweat and ash. “Aradon!” Panic overwhelms her.

  “Awyn! Over here!”

  Desperately, Awyn looks for him, and sees a shining in the dark. Running toward it, Aradon is behind a fallen chunk of the ceiling, holding his sword out for her to see. He pulls her toward him, and down behind the rock.

  “Aradon. What are you doing? The floor’s collapsing!” She yells at him as he holds her tightly against the walls of the cave.

  “Shh! He can hear us,” Aradon whispers.

  Awyn shuts her mouth. After a moment, the curiosity spills out. “What is he?” she whispers.

  “In many tongues he is known as the Dezwek, but within the Five Kingdoms he is known as the Cave Demon, a beast of fire, created in the First Age to wipe out all the underground Light Pools. But the evils of old underestimated the magic of the elves, and the demon was never able to spread its darkness within a certain distance of the pools. He was said to have fallen into a deep slumber, but I think we can both guess who awoke him.” He looks back constantly to check where the monster is.

  Awyn sighs, aching all over and exhausted. “What now? We can’t stay here.”

  “I know, but the entrance is too far away.”

  “Aradon, he’s spreading lava through the ground. We will burn to death.” Awyn breathes harshly, smoke becoming trapped in her lungs. She coughs, her burns searing in pain.

  “Are you all right?” Aradon finally notices the holes in her clothes, and the burns underneath. “Oh, no.”

  Awyn’s eyes flutter as she grows weaker. “W-we have t-to...go.” Awyn tries to stand, but Aradon holds her back. She grunts as she falls back on him. “Aradon. We must leave. We...will...die.”

  She loses her grip on reality and falls to darkness.

  Aradon watches helplessly as her eyes roll back, and her body goes limp. His eyes widen in alarm as he watches her lose consciousness.

  “Awyn? Awyn!” He lays her against the wall, peering from behind the boulder triple his height, looking at the beast behind him, eating the rock walls. Smoke fills the cave, and the glow of the lava illuminates the tunnel. He considers the entrance—their only way out. It would take them a while to run to it, even without the beast noticing their escape, and Awyn being conscious.

  He grunts in exasperation. What am I supposed to do? He runs his fingers through his hair, feeling panicked and stressed. He looks at the passed out Awyn, then at the festering demon behind him. I have no choice.

  A decision made. He runs as fast as he can, Awyn in his arms, her drenched body limp and hot. Her eyes are closed, and her long eyelashes touch her black ash-covered cheeks. “Hold on, Awyn. Hold on,” he rasps.

  He looks back, the beast chasing him, smoke and heat billowing from its body. Aradon hears a big huff, and ducks as a fireball whips at them, blowing up twenty feet away. He shields his face, gripping Awyn as he stumbles back from the blow, his neck lashing back.

  When he regains his footing, he runs but the beast is catching up with him. The entrance is becoming bigger and bigger. The demon roars, the growl vibrating the tunnel. A loud crack and the ground shifts under him. He stumbles, dropping Awyn, and falls hard to the ground.

  All around him, lava bubbles. His clothes are drenched with sweat, and his skin is covered with ash and soot. On his knees, weak with smoke in his lungs, he coughs painfully. Awyn’s body is just a few feet from him. He collapses into the hard rock, fatigue overcoming him.

  I just need to sleep…just a moment of sleep—

  Awyn can’t move as she awakens from her unconscious state. All around them, she watches the lava spread, chunks of stone floating, the beast still running toward them. Lava spits and bubbles, the heat terrible and intense. The walls and ceiling crack and crumble, rocks and boulders falling into the river of lava, one of them landing on Awyn’s arm, making her scream.

  The large rock crushes her arm, and she cries out in pain, pushing the rock weakly, trying to get it off. Struggling to move, she strains to look at Aradon, who lies only a few feet away from her.

  “A—” she tries to speak, but barely any sound comes out. “Ara—” Her voice is strained, her throat throbs in pain, and her lungs feel like they’re going to explode.

  The rock doesn’t budge as Awyn repeatedly tries to push it off her, putting all her strength into freeing herself. She grits her teeth and tears fall as she tries to push with her weak arm, but the small boulder is too heavy. She looks at Aradon once again, who lies with his back turned to her, not moving.

  She watches in horror, shock, and relief—plus a few other emotions she can’t describe at the moment—as the beast struggles in the lava. It screeches and roars as the ceiling collapses on its hard body, the rocks now weak from emitting so much smoke and lava. The demon falls, a loud, hellish screech coming from within the beast as the lava liquifies the thinning surface of his rock shell. The Dezwek melts, a last, ear-splitting roar echoing through the tunnel.

  Awyn heaves a sigh of utter relief and looks at her arm. She can see the blood, the black bruise, and feel the burning of the lava around them—the heat’s unbearable.

  In a moment of surrender, exhaling softly, she closes her eyes, and relaxes. Her body weakens, and she can no longer feel the heat, the pain. Nor hear the bubbling of the lava and cr
umbling of rocks around them. She doesn’t dwell on the collapsing ceiling.

  Instead she lets sleep take her.

  And she’s in empty tranquility.

  Chapter Ten

  Paralyzed by pain and fatigue, Aradon drifts into past memories. Another day, another fight, too many. He never thought becoming king would be this hard.

  “Father. I need to go!” Aradon had yelled over the table.

  His father, Hared, had crossed his arms, his face flushed with red anger. “I will not let you join those…those assassins!” his father had howled.

  Aradon, fed up with his father, had clenched his fists. “Stop with your remarks. I can’t live here anymore. I’m suffocating!”

  “I protect you for your own good. You are the heir—”

  “To Nomarah. Our family will someday take its rightful place in this world, but until then, we must keep out of sight.” Aradon mocked his father’s lecture every time he’d wanted to do something dangerous. “I know. I’ve heard it a million times!” Aradon had spat back, anger rushing through him.

  His father had taken a deep breath, shaking in what was unmistakable rage. “You…are fifteen. I will not let my son, and heir to the throne, leave the safety of our home and go to be trained by a bunch of killers.” Although he’d tried to be calm, his voice had sounded agitated.

  Aradon had paced. After a moment, he’d slammed his fist into a nearby wall. His father’s eyes widened, his cheeks had flushed red-hot. “H…how could you do that? This is our home!”

  “It is not my home anymore. It’s a cage,” Aradon had yelled, trying to get his father to understand.

  “It is keeping you safe.”

  “It is keeping me locked up. Let me go!”

  “If you are immature enough to punch a hole in the wall, you are not ready for the outside world.” His father had looked at him, his anger turning to worry as his face softened. “Please, son. I can’t lose you like we lost your mother all those years ago,” he’d pleaded with Aradon. “Please.”