Princess of Lanfor

by F. P. Spirit

  Seth smirked. Corny as the bard was, it felt surprisingly good to be back with this group. It felt like… home.

  Kalyn’s response was as predictable as Elladan’s. Her eyes went wide and a toothy grin spread across her mouth. “Well I’d never been a huge fan o’ venison, but this’n here just made me one!”

  The young tracker dug heartily into her bowl and even went back for seconds. Mid-way through dinner, a familiar silver lynx plopped down from the nearby trees. The others were startled at first, but Kalyn swiftly explained it was her companion, Elfar.

  Elfar padded over to Kalyn and sniffed her stew with keen interest, but the young woman spun her body away and hovered over her bowl protectively. “Mine! Go get yer own!”

  Elfar cocked his head to one side and stared at her quizzically, then the strangest thing happened. Martan called out to the large cat. “It’s okay, Elfar, you can have some of mine.”

  The silver lynx swiveled his head around and gazed at Martan. A deep purr abruptly emanated from his throat as if in recognition, then he swiftly padded over and stuck his head in the proffered bowl.

  Kalyn watched the whole scene with narrowed eyes, muttering a single word as the lynx scarfed down the contents of Martan’s bowl. “Traitor.”

  Elfar paused his meal and looked up at her with his large amber eyes, then huffed dismissively and stuck its head back in Martan’s bowl. Seth chuckled wickedly at the lynx’s reaction. It seems that the large cat did not share her dislike of Martan. In fact, much to Kalyn’s chagrin, when he was done, he lay by Martan’s side meticulously licking his paws.

  A thin smile crossed the tracker’s face for the first time since Seth rejoined the group. Martan gingerly stroked the large cat’s fur while cooing to him, “Good to see you too, buddy.”

  Kalyn glared darkly at the pair. Seth could practically see the steam rising from her ears. The halfling smirked and muttered, “Martan one, Kalyn zero.”

  Kalyn’s head spun toward him, her eyes narrowing, but she refused to comment any further on the topic.

  Once everyone was done with dinner, the conversation inevitably turned to their destination. Seth sat back comfortably against some rocks and sipped his ale while letting Kalyn explain the layout of Serpent’s Hollow. The young tracker painted a vivid description of the tall mountains surrounding the enclosed valley, the forest within, the fields, the village, and the large cave at the other end. She finished her account with the single entrance in and out of the hollow, and the stone serpents that guarded it.

  Glo listened silently to the young woman, his brow knit and his fingers steepled in front of him. Now that she was done, he turned to Aksel. “I supposed we’ll need to find a way past those guardians.”

  Kalyn’s hands went to her hips, a puzzled expression on her face. “Now hold on there. You’re a powerful sorcerer, ain’t ya? Can’t you just magic us up and over them mountains?”

  Glo shifted his gaze back toward Kalyn, a single eyebrow raised, yet Kalyn apparently wasn’t finished. She pointed her hands in front of her as if shooting a crossbow. “Or how about just blowing yer way through, like ya did with that lighthouse?”

  Seth practically spit out his last sip of ale. Glo’s mouth hung open, the elf’s cheeks turning bright red in the firelight. A moment later, a round of snorts and giggles erupted from around the campfire.

  Glo cast a dark look at his companions, then peered sharply at Kalyn. “First of all, young lady, I am a wizard, not some hack sorcerer. And secondly, exactly what has Seth been telling you?”

  Seth broke out into a huge smirk. He threw up his hands in front of him, unable to wipe the smile from his lips. “Oh, no. Don’t blame me. I never even mentioned the lighthouse. Face it, Glo, your little mishap has become the stuff of legends.”

  Glo cast an acid glare at the halfling. The tall elf sputtered with anger, but Kalyn interrupted him before he could fire off a retort.

  The young woman’s face had gone pale. She appeared mortified at having offended the tall elf. “I’m truly sorry. I didn’t mean to cause you any grief. What Seth told you is true. He ne’er said a word. The story of the lighthouse has been all up and down Deepwood these last couple of weeks.”

  Glo shifted his eyes back to the young woman, his expression softening just a bit.

  Kalyn had trouble meeting his gaze. She glanced down at the ground, shyly digging into it with her toe.

  Seth, on the other hand, found the whole situation hilarious. It was all he could do to stop from falling off his boulder and roll on the ground in laughter.

  Kalyn found her voice once more. When she spoke it was in a semi-whisper. “Honestly… no one ever said exactly how the lighthouse blew’ed up. Fran and me just kinda guessed it was you…”

  That last statement pushed Seth over the edge. The halfling rolled off his seat and fell to the ground in a fit of hysterics.

  He went on like that for a few moments before Aksel’s voice cut into his revelry. “Alright, Seth, that’s enough.”

  Seth slowly sat up, his sides still hurting from laughter. He peered over at Glo. The wizard had sat down, his head buried in his hands. Seth felt a touch of remorse, but the whole thing was just too easy to poke fun at.

  Aksel cleared his throat. “Ahem. Back to the matter at hand. Seth, what is your assessment of the hollow?”

  Seth slowly pulled himself together, then launched into his own evaluation of the hollow. Kalyn had effectively covered the layout, so Seth concentrated on the occupants of the enclosed valley. He gave a detailed account of the guards, the slaves, and the robed figures in black. He ended with his encounter of the man-snake, the bald black mage, and the dark, raven-haired woman in the portal.

  Glo visibly shuddered as Seth described the sorceress. There could be little doubt—it was the same visage Glo had seen in the black gem.

  Aksel gingerly stroked his chin. “So, it appears that we have found the serpent’s head, so to speak.”

  Seth nodded slowly. “Those slaves were busy unearthing that altar. If I had to guess, I’d say they’ll be done in the next day or so.”

  “And you think the altar is a way for this sorceress to cross over from wherever she is into our world?” Glo’s brow was furrowed with concern.

  Seth nodded once more. “It would make the most sense.”

  Lloyd jumped up from his seat. “Then we have to stop them! If this sorceress, or whatever she is, gets loose in our world, there’s no telling the damage she’ll do.”

  Seth saw the look of fear in Lloyd’s eyes. He knew the young man was thinking of the Lady Andrella. The cult had already gone after her once. With their leader in our world, they might try it again. Or they might try something worse.

  Alana stood up and placed a hand on Lloyd’s shoulder. “I agree. We need to strike as swiftly as possible, before this foul creature enters our world.”

  “That’s all well and fine, but we can’t just fly over the mountains, or blow a hole in them,” Elladan chimed in.

  All eyes turned to the bard.

  Elladan swept his gaze around the group. “Listen, it sounds like there are tons of cultists in there, some probably as high-powered as that Voltark character we faced back in Ravenford. So we can’t go wasting magic before we even get in there. We need to conserve our resources until we really need them.”

  “I agree with Elladan.” Aksel nodded to the bard. “So, what do you propose?”

  The new guy, Cyclone, had sat quietly off to the side listening up till now. Seth didn’t know what to make of him yet. Apparently, he was some sort of dragon hunter, and had been a big help back at the monolith and with the Princess. Seth had to admit, he liked the fact that this Cyclone kept his mouth shut. It was a sign of intelligence.

  “I normally don’t hunt anything but dragons, but it seems to me what you want is
to take this ‘cult’ out at the head. Anything else is just a waste of time.”

  Glo gave the hunter a curt nod. “I tend to agree. The question is how?”

  “I think I might have an idea,” Donnie interjected. “Seth and Kalyn were able to move around rather freely in their disguises. What if the rest of us get some as well?”

  Seth had to admit, it wasn’t the worst idea. Aksel didn’t appear to think so either. “What do you have in mind?”

  Donnie motioned everyone in closer as he laid out his plan.

  Ambush

  Help me, my lady! This tree fell on me, and I can’t get up.

  There was an old folk song in Deepwood about a girl who fell madly in love with an elf and ran away with him. Kalyn never understood what the girl’s deal was until now. Now that she’d met not just one elf, but three, she understood how those stinking elves could make a girl’s head swim. Elladan could sing a pack of wolves into submission with that pretty voice of his, Glo was about the smartest feller she’d ever met, and Donnie… well… dang… all he had to do was just smile.

  Kalyn huffed and rolled her eyes toward Martan, who sat on a branch directly across from her. That stupid elf’s smile was the reason she was stuck in this tree, alone, with the last person she wanted to be alone with. She glanced down at his side and glared at Elfar, who lounged comfortably next to the man, his big feet dangling on either side of the branch and his furry lips turned up in a sort of smile.

  “That makes two stupid, smiling imps…” she murmured under her breath.

  Martan glanced at her, raising an eyebrow just the slightest.

  Kalyn quickly looked away and crossed her arms.

  They had reached the roots of the Korlokesel mountains about midday. It didn’t take long after that to find a worn path that broke from the road and wound its way in the direction of the hollow. Aksel suggested that those who could move around quietly in the wild go and scout out ahead. Naturally, that meant Kalyn and Seth.

  Kalyn was thrilled when Donnie offered to go along too. She had been dying to see some of the other heroes in action, but why did Martan have to go? Sure, he was sneaky—too sneaky for her taste. Still, between two heroes and a tracker, they had it covered. So why did they need Martan?

  Kalyn held her tongue, though. She merely made it clear to Martan that he stay out of her way, which had worked well. Martan stayed out of sight and out of mind until they reached a sheltered pass surrounded by tall trees on either side.

  Seth and Donnie agreed that it was a perfect place for an ambush. Seth decided he would go ahead and scout the rest of the road, while Donnie made his way back to the others and told them.

  Kalyn liked the idea, until they both told her and Martan to stay and wait for everyone to meet back here. That was when she put up a fuss, but Donnie just smiled at her. He said something that made sense at the time, keeping that smile on his pouty lips, and next thing she knew, she was sitting in this stupid tree with Martan.

  Kalyn whipped her head to the side when a hand gently touched her shoulder. She glared at Martan until he withdrew his hand. Kalyn gingerly rubbed her shoulder, trying to make the warm, tingling feeling go away.

  Martan’s eyebrows drooped over his sad brown eyes. He swallowed, then pointed to one side. Kalyn’s eyes drifted in the direction he indicated until they came to rest on a black bird perched on a branch just above them. The creature cocked its head to one side and gazed at Kalyn curiously. It then swiveled its tiny head toward Martan, twitching its wings with almost an inquiring gesture.

  Martan responded with a thumbs-up sign. The glossy black bird cocked its head once more, then with a shake of its wings, flew away and in the direction where the others were waiting.

  “That was Glolindir’s bird, Raven,” Martan whispered.

  Kalyn blinked. He named his raven, Raven? Oh, that is clever! Next lynx I get, I’m naming it Lynx. That will be so much easier for people to remember.

  Kalyn abruptly realized Martan was still watching her. She shrugged and looked away, gazing back up the road in the direction Seth had gone.

  “Kalyn?” Martan said softly. His voice made her tense and prickle. “I, uh… how are your brothers?”

  “Same as you, irritating as an owl bear with no feathers and not really on good speaking terms with me. Why do you ask?” She swiveled around and locked a stern gaze on him, keeping her arms crossed. “Wanna strike up a conversation now, after five years?”

  Martan swallowed again, looking down at his hands.

  Kalyn narrowed her eyes. Yeah. That’s what I thought. Coward.

  At one time, Martan had been her best friend. They grew up together and were inseparable as children. At one time, she had thought they were more than friends.

  Five years ago, he was accused of murdering old man Coran, the man who had raised him. Kalyn hid him from the angry townspeople and worked for days to prove his innocence. When she succeeded, and even captured the real murderer, she hurried back to where she hid Martan, only to find that he had left. It took her days to accept the fact that he’d run away, like a coward. It had shattered her heart into a thousand pieces.

  Martan looked back up at her, a determined look behind his eyes. “Not long after you left, your brothers came and told me to leave. They said everyone knew I was guilty but you, and that a lynch mob was on its way. They said because I was your friend, they’d give me a running start.”

  Kalyn’s eyebrows flew to the top of her head. “That’s a load of troll snot!”

  A look of genuine confusion fell over Martan’s features.

  Kalyn unfolded her arms and curled her fists. “I proved that you didn’t murder old man Coran! The whole town dropped the charges against you! When I went to the treehouse to give you the good news, you were long gone. And, mind you, that was our treehouse. Nobody knew it was there. Not even my brothers.”

  Martan’s confused expression deepened. “Uh, yes they did. They always knew. They used it for a hunting stand more than a few times.”

  An angry fire rushed through Kalyn’s body, mingling with her own confusion and a dozen questions. She was certain her brothers never knew about that old treehouse and why would they lie and tell Martan to run? He had been her only friend. She had loved him. Why would they do that to…

  Kalyn’s insides suddenly turned to ice. No. They didn’t. They wouldn’t.

  Kalyn tried to deny it, but Martan’s story rang true. She’d recently caught her darling brothers doing almost the exact same thing to another man she had come to like. Now he was long gone, too, but unlike Martan, he had the decency and guts to come tell her to her face that he was leaving.

  Kalyn crossed her arms, and glared at Martan. “Face it, you didn’t trust me to save you. You didn’t even leave me a note with a simple goodbye on it! I don’t care what my rotten brothers did or said, you don’t just leave a girl hanging like a trout on a string!”

  Martan hung his head low, his voice no more than a faint whisper. “They said they’d tell you goodbye for me, since I couldn’t read or write.”

  Kalyn felt her insides melt. She believed he was telling the truth. Kalyn uncrossed her arms and nearly reached out a hand to him, but stopped herself, firmly setting her teeth together.

  I want to believe him. If what he’s saying is true, my brothers have yet to learn the meaning of pain and suffering. But until I know for sure, I can’t give him an inch. No backing down.

  “Well, good thing they didn’t tell me, because if they had, I would’ve tracked you down and dragged your sorry rear end back to Deepwood, and… and… done something terrible to you for not trustin’ me to do what I promised I’d do.”

  “I hear tar and feathering is fun.”

  Kalyn leaned over and looked down at the ground below to find Seth propped against the trun
k of the tree, fiddling with one of his many knives. The young archer shook her head. “Too messy. And do you know how many chickens you have to pluck to get enough feathers?”

  Seth tilted his head back and cocked an eye at her. “Sounds like you’ve given this a lot of thought.”

  “Maybe…” Kalyn responded with a side-long glance at Martan. The blood drained from the disheveled man’s face.

  Seth snorted, and with a flick of his wrist, made his knife disappear. He then pushed off the tree and jerked his thumb behind him. “There’s a caravan of cultists coming down the road.”

  Kalyn shifted her gaze in the direction he pointed and frowned. “A caravan? How far back?”

  Seth shrugged. “Saw them leaving the hollow. They’ll be here in about half an hour or so.”

  Kalyn nodded, then flipped over backwards and grabbed a branch beneath her, kicking her legs up and swinging down, hooking them around another branch and letting her hands slip off the one above her. She repeated this until she dropped to her feet with a graceful bend of her knees, then winked at Seth. “Child’s play.”

  Seth tilted his head and eyed her disdainfully. “Amateur.”

  Kalyn ignored him. She puffed up, sniffed, and thumbed her nose. “As for them cultists, no problem! You just step aside, sonny, and let ol’ Kalyn handle this. I’ll have them outta sight and outta mind in no time t’all.”

  Seth buried his face in his hands and shook his head.

  Martan dropped from the tree behind Kalyn. “Maybe we should wait for the others?”

  Kalyn sighed and turned to face him. “I was joking. Seriously, what am I going to do to a caravan full of cultists by myself?”

  Seth let out a derisive snort. “Too bad you can’t turn into a dragon. Then you could just eat them all.”

  At the mention of the word dragon, Martan started to cough violently. Kalyn shifted her gaze toward him and saw he was red in the face. Martan put up a hand and sputtered, “I’m… fine… really…”