Minstrel's Serenade

by Aubrie Dionne

  “No one is questioning your story, lad.” Valorian picked up a bone the size of a human arm and traced his finger along a gash of teeth marks stretching from top to bottom. “Perhaps your father didn’t want to frighten you.”

  “I can handle it.” Nip threw his bone to the ground and it clattered against the rest.

  “Shhh.” Bron whispered. “It’s not the albinos we have to worry about.” Hands still holding back the rice, he gestured with his chin to the slashes Valorian had found. “Those were made by something else.”

  Chapter 14

  Sacrifice

  “We cannot turn back.” Danika shone her torch over the bones. The flames cast a reddish light on the ivory, making them look as though they sat in fires of hell. Skulls of all sizes littered the floor, from rats to kobolds, to men.

  All these creatures had failed.

  Fear rose up inside her. Would anyone in her party see the light of day again, or would this dark hole be their grave? The darkness pressed in, suffocating her under miles of hard-packed earth. She steeled her nerves, swallowing her fears. “We’ve come too far.”

  Bron nodded in agreement. “Perhaps we can sneak by undetected?”

  Valorian plucked a few notes on his lute. “Or perhaps I can lull the beast to sleep?”

  “That’s if this one has ears.” Danika didn’t want a repeat of the encounter in the forest. “If it can understand the music’s meaning.”

  “Like I said before, music is a universal language.” Valorian plucked again, this time with a stronger force. The notes rang around them like an invisible shield. “My lute can quell any beast able to hear it.”

  Danika shot a questioning look to Bron. The warrior shrugged as if she’d asked him which gown looked better for Festival Day. She glanced at Nip. The boy’s chest heaved as if he battled fear against courage. Danika was on her own and this was her decision to make. She could send them all back, saving their lives this day, but how many days would they have left before the wyverns came and breathed their world into ashes and dust? They needed that metal to launch their attack.

  Danika blew on her torch, gauging the time she had left until the flames burned through the oily rags. Not long. Soon they’d travel past the point of no return, when they wouldn’t have enough light for the trip back to the surface. “It’s settled. We continue on while Valorian plays.”

  They shuffled through the bone, clearing a path for Bron’s rice cart. Valorian’s soothing tones echoed down the tunnel, and Danika thanked Helena every breath they took. The melody calmed her, transporting her from the dank hole in the ground to happier times--when she danced in the orchard with her mother or shot arrows with her father in Ebonvale’s green woods.

  The passageway opened to a large cavern with water dripping. A musky scent of fur and wet hide hit Danika’s nose and she held up her torch, fearing the worst. Had they stumbled right into the beast’s chamber?

  Underneath their high perch, the floor moved everywhere with a steady rise and fall of hair. Danika covered her mouth with her hand to keep from screaming. She turned back just as Nip charged into her. “Shhh!”

  Nip scratched his head and peered around her into the darkness as Valorian and Bron caught up. “What is it?”

  “Something’s alive down there. Something big.”

  “Let me see.” Nip’s hand shot up to take the torch.

  Danika pulled the torch away, holding the flame out of his reach. “No. I’m not letting any of us go farther in.”

  Nip slipped by her, crept to the edge and sniffed. “Smells like peeper mice. Pa said there’s a whole ton of ’um infesting the caverns. Enough to feed an army.”

  Pulling Nip back from the ledge, Danika shook her head. “We cannot be sure.”

  “Lower me down with the torch. I’ll take a look.”

  Danika shot him a stern look. “Most definitely not.”

  Nip crossed his arms. “It’s either that or we go back, and you said we cannot.”

  Valorian spoke softly over the tones of his lute. “Whatever the threat is, I assure you, I can keep it at bay.”

  Danika glanced at Bron. The warrior pursed his lips as though he didn’t like the sound of Nip’s plan. He sighed and untied a rope from his belt. “The boy is right. Someone has to look, and he’s the lightest of all of us.”

  “Horred’s Grave.” Danika bit her lip and paced the tunnel. She stepped up to Bron and grabbed the rope. “Lower me down. I’m not much heavier than the boy.”

  Bron didn’t let go. “Your Highness?”

  “That’s an order.” She stared into Bron’s gaze, challenging him.

  “The kingdom needs your rule.”

  “And it shall have my rule after we succeed, correct?”

  He lowered his gaze and pulled her close to him. She gasped as her hands fell on his stone hard chest. For a throbbing heartbeat she thought he’d kiss her. He threaded his hands behind her waist and the rope tightened around her.

  Foolish girl. He was following orders. That’s all.

  “Tread lightly.” Vulnerability softened Bron’s voice, as if he’d told her he loved her.

  Danika held her head down, pretending to check the knot to hide her blush. “Just lower me down.”

  Nip pouted but he agreed to help Bron with the rope. The sweet music kept Valorian’s hands busy. He gave her a longing look as she passed. Admiration burned in his gaze.

  Pride rose in Danika. He knew not to get in her way. She wasn’t a dainty flower to shelter, but a strong woman with a mind of her own. If he didn’t like it, then he didn’t have to marry her. What a crisis that would be.

  She needed a man to be queen. By law, as princess, she could only gain complete rule along with the title if she had a male counterpart.

  Valorian strummed a triumphant chord. “Good luck, Princess.”

  Danika nodded to Valorian. She turned toward the darkness and stood on the edge. The rope pulled taut as she leaned into the cavern. Slowly, they lowered her down with the torch in her right hand.

  Dangling above the musky mass made Danika feel like a fly on a horse’s arse. She stuck her hand in her cloak grasping the hard hilt of Valorian’s dagger. If the beast awoke, she’d stab out its eye. Wanting to get back up as soon as possible, Danika held the torch below her as far as her arm would reach. A hairy, brown mass covered the cavern floor in small mounds back to back.

  No beast was this large.

  Nip was right. Peeper mice slept across the entire floor. Relief flooded through her before she realized they’d have to pick their way around the herd without disturbing them. They weren’t called peeper mice for no reason, and a mass that size would raise enough of a racket to wake her handmaidens back in Ebonvale.

  Danika righted herself, her feet resting on a boulder a head’s length from the mice. She untied the rope and tugged. Bron, Nip and Valorian peered over the rim at the circle of hides illuminated by her torch.

  “Do you see a spot for the rice cart?” Bron whispered over the edge.

  Danika held out her torch and scanned the mass. A pair of black eyes blinked, reflecting the flames of her torch. Danika held her breath as the mouse scratched its head and settled back into the swarm. Valorian’s song held true.

  She shook her head. “They’re everywhere.”

  Above her, Bron spoke in a muffled murmur. “Nip, did your father speak of how he circumvented this obstacle?”

  “No.”

  The air left Danika’s lungs and she forced herself to focus. There must be a way.

  As she stood above the horde, her torch sizzled, and a spark fell like a falling star. Danika held her breath, watching the arc of the golden ember as the spark landed on one of the furry hides. She covered her mouth with her hand and prayed to Helena, Horred and even their hidden son.

  The mouse squirmed as if annoyed as the ember persisted, igniting the fur. The animal shrieked, cutting her ears in half and echoing throughout the cavern. The mouse ran into the pile o
f hides, beginning a cascading ripple of movement and screeches. Danika dropped her torch and covered her ears with her hands. The high-pitched conglomeration of peeps rang in her head until she could think of nothing else.

  As the thousands of peeper mice scurried away, the sound trailed off into silence. Danika stood as still as a willow, waiting. A wheezing hiss, like the wind in a sea storm echoed from the tunnel behind them. Above her, Valorian’s lute fell silent. Bron shouted: “Run!”

  “Watch your head!” Nip shouted as Bron and Valorian threw the bags of rice along with the cart over the rim. They climbed down the rope and Danika helped Nip to the cavern floor.

  Bron grabbed Danika’s hand and squeezed. “Go!”

  “What about the rice?” She gripped his hand, not letting go.

  Bron peeled her fingers from his. “I’ll catch up.”

  Valorian pulled Danika and Nip forward as Bron loaded the cart. “Come, we must make haste.”

  Danika stumbled. “Bron--”

  “He’s coming. Right behind us.” Valorian urged her with a steely gaze as they took off. “Do not look back.”

  She couldn’t resist. Danika whirled around. Bron had loaded the cart. The muscles in his arms bunched as he pulled the rice behind him, sprinting as fast as he could to catch up. Above him, the tunnel vomited an oily-white, scaly mass onto the ridge. The thick, tube-shaped body expanded and contracted like a giant muscle.

  The beast slid to the cavern floor in a never-ending length of shimmery scales. A jaw with long, spindly teeth snapped forward, while a second head rose, black eyes leering. Stalagmites grew from its dual heads and back in a pointy ridge. Lichen crusted its upper back in patches of jade and ocher.

  “A hydra!” Nip squealed, scurrying forward faster than Danika’d ever seen him run. Danika cursed, wondering how she hadn’t thought of such a beast before. The white worm made perfect sense: an underground world mirroring hers with distant cousins of people living amongst distant cousins of wyverns.

  Danika grabbed Valorian’s velvety cloak and pulled him to her. “Can you hold the monster back with song?”

  “No.” Valorian’s face paled as they ran side by side. “Not while it’s awake. This beast is beyond my abilities.”

  Danika’s stomach coiled. Never had Valorian claimed defeat. One look over her shoulder told her the hydra gained with each step.

  “Over here.” Nip had found a crack in the cavern wall wide enough for them to fit through and narrow enough to hold the hydra back. They’d be trapped, but at least they’d be alive. He slipped in, waving an arm. Danika and Valorian reached the crack, and Valorian pushed her forward.

  “No.” Danika struggled in his arms. “Bron!”

  The warrior’s torch rested on the cavern floor illuminating the cart without him. Danika’s heart jumped to her throat and she choked on horror. Bron stood with his claymore raised against the beast, a single man shielding all of them from death.

  Awe hushed Valorian’s tone. “He’s staying to fight.”

  “No!” Danika snagged the hydra’s attention. The beast swiveled in their direction and Valorian pulled her back into the crack. She gripped the sides, refusing to leave Bron alone.

  Bron swung his claymore, blocking the beast from slithering toward them.

  “Can the worm breathe fire?” Nip whispered from behind her.

  Danika couldn’t move or speak from fear of losing Bron. Valorian answered for her. “No. The earth serpents lost that ability when they burrowed underground.”

  “That doesn’t make them any less dangerous, only more sly.” Danika bunched her fists together and watched helplessly.

  “Can it be killed by one man?” Nip’s voice quivered.

  A quiet pensiveness fell over Valorian. “No one has single-handedly defeated one.”

  Danika glanced at him with fierce conviction and perhaps a little denial. “If any man can do it, Bron can.”

  The hydra hissed, extending a forked tongue in Bron’s direction. The warrior ducked as the tongue licked the air above his head. He stabbed his sword up, but the hydra retracted its tongue too quickly. Meanwhile, the other head curved around, trying to take him by surprise.

  “Watch your back!” Danika shouted.

  Bron whirled around as the second head thrust toward him, jaw open to swallow him whole. He raised his arm and braced the jaw with his sword. The tip of the blade cut through the skull while the bottom hilt lodged in its pin-sharp teeth. The head swerved up, taking the sword with it.

  The first head lunged, teeth snapping. Bron ducked and punched the muzzle sideways just as the tip of the tail curled around his boot.

  Bron reached down to his leather boot and unsheathed a dagger. He swiped, slicing a gash in the tail. The hydra tightened its grip, winding around his lower leg like a vine. It yanked Bron to the ground as he swiped again, deepening the gash.

  The hydra dragged Bron closer and yanked him up, dangling him upside-down in the air. Danika couldn’t watch, yet her eyes remained fixated on the horror of Bron’s precarious situation. She bit into her lower lip, tasting blood. He would defeat this beast.

  The first head snapped and Bron swung away, arms flailing for control. He reached up and sliced his dagger through the tail. The appendage tore in two and he fell to the ground, landing on his back.

  Bron rolled behind the beast as the stubby tail whipped through the air, spewing black blood. He stuck his dagger between his teeth and climbed its great neck, using the stalagmites on its back for handholds. The beast swung from side to side and bucked underneath him to dislodge him. Bron held on and reached the head. Bracing himself with one arm, he used the blade to blind both eyes. The hydra jerked in anger, slamming its head into the cavern ceiling, just as Bron slid down its neck.

  A crack as loud as thunder erupted, echoing throughout the cavern as pebbles rained down, followed by larger chunks of rock.

  “Cave in!” Valorian pulled Danika back into the crevice in the wall as rocks tumbled from the ceiling, stirring up a cloud of dust. She fell on top of him, and Nip buried himself in her arms as debris rumbled around them. Danika’s teeth clamored in her skull, and her bones shook until she felt as if they’d shatter into a thousand pieces. Suffocated and trapped together, Valorian held her tightly, whispering a sweet, soothing song in her ear.

  All she could think of was Bron.

  Chapter 15

  Song of Resurrection

  The rumbling subsided like an earthquake lulled to sleep. The faint flickering of their last torch cast shadows on a pile of boulders blocking the entrance to their crevice. Coughing, Nip pulled away and staggered to his feet. Dust covered his small body from head to toe, camouflaging him against the sand and stone. He climbed the pile of rocks and pushed debris from the top. “There’s a hole! We can squeeze through.”

  “Are you all right?” Valorian’s hands ran up and down her arms.

  Danika nodded, pulling away. How could she seek comfort in Valorian’s arms while Bron’s fate remained unknown? She gathered the torch and followed Nip’s steps, climbing the pile of rubble. “Bron?”

  “We’ll check for him.” Valorian’s voice lacked hope, leaving Danika with a gaping hole in her heart.

  Refusing to give up, she pulled herself through Nip’s hole and slid down the other side.

  Half the cavern, including the tunnel where they’d come from, had caved in. The hydra’s head lay lifeless, protruding from a pile of stones with Bron’s sword still stuck in the jaws. Black blood seeped from its mouth, coagulating on the cavern floor. Danika stuck the torch in between two rocks to keep the flame upright. She pulled Bron’s claymore from the spindly teeth, the blade almost too heavy for her to lift, and dragged the tip behind her, looking for any trace of its owner. The rice cart lay unscathed, as if Bron had shoved the wheels to safety in a last attempt to further their cause.

  She didn’t care about the rice. What had she done? She’d ordered him to his death and he followed her dutifully
.

  “Bron?” Her voice rose as if she called him all the way from the throne room in Ebonvale. “Bron!”

  She dropped the sword and started to dig, pulling large stones from the pile and shattering them on the cavern floor. Dirt, beetles, tree roots and worms fell on top of her and she brushed them off. Her fingers dug around a stone the size of a horse’s belly. She yanked, tearing her nails and ripping the skin of her palms. Nip joined her, both of them using all their weight, but the stone wouldn’t budge. A hundred more that size and larger had fallen on top of the heap.

  Danika beat the rock with her fist. “Son of a wyvern hunter!” She collapsed to the ground, her body convulsing with sobs.

  Valorian’s gentle hand squeezed her shoulder. “Princess.”

  She looked away. “I’m not leaving him.”

  “Think of the others in Ebonvale. Of Nip. We have to continue on to trade.”

  “No.” Danika whirled around and clutched his shirt with both hands. The fabric bunched in her fingers. “You have to do something.”

  Valorian shook his head, his eyes full of shame. He glanced at the pile of rocks behind them as if she’d asked him to move the whole world. “’Tis beyond my capabilities.”

  “Nonsense.” She leaned in, her lips a breath away. She had no idea what he could do, if anything. Desperation drove her to the brink of madness. He was the only person she could turn to. “You’re the Prince of the House of Song. Legends have been made of the resourcefulness of minstrels and the power of their song.”

  His gaze lowered to her chin. “I cannot.”

  She moved her head closer to lock eyes with him and wrapped her fingers around his upper arms. “I refuse to leave without knowing what happened. If there’s any chance he’s still… Please, Valorian. Do it for me.”

  His eyes were silver pools of hope. He relaxed into her touch. “I’ll try.”

  She placed her head on his chest, finally finding comfort in his arms. “Thank you.”