by F. P. Spirit
In the blink of an eye, the two women winked out of sight.
Lloyd, Donnie, and Cyclone all nearly crashed into each other in the space where the two women had just been.
“She teleported away,” Elistra’s voice came from the back of the alcove, her tone thick with sarcasm.
“So now what?” Donnie asked. His eyes swept around the group, filled with foreboding.
As if in answer to his question, a muffled boom erupted from the entrance to the stairwell next to them. A moment later, the entire cavern began to shake. Everyone grabbed onto each other once again, tensing their bodies until the shaking subsided.
Elladan fixed Donnie with a piercing stare. “You just had to ask, didn’t you?”
A few seconds later, another boom reached their ears, the cavern rocking along with it. As they rode out this next quake, Glo called out from the back of the alcove. “I think Anya’s making good on her threat—she’s bringing down the entire monolith!”
Alana, grasping tightly onto Donnie, cried back to the wizard, “Can she do that?”
“She’s got enough mage cannon on her ship to sink a small fleet,” Lloyd answered, the young warrior’s face lined with apprehension.
Aksel realized they were all in mortal danger. His eyes swept across the group as the latest quake subsided. “I don’t think we’re safe down here. We need to get out while we still can.”
Glo immediately responded to Aksel’s suggestion, barking out orders. “Lloyd, take Alana. Cyclone, take Donnie and Elladan…” He spun to face Elistra, his arms still wrapped around the seeress. “My concentration is wavering—not sure how many more spells I can cast. Can you take the rest of us?”
Elistra responded with a grim nod. The duo parted, swiftly casting dual spells as Lloyd invoked his flying cloak. As the next salvo hit, Lloyd disappeared into the stairwell with the steel-clad Alana in his arms. Cyclone was right behind him, with Donnie in one arm and Elladan in the other.
Elistra had conjured a flying mount that looked like a giant hummingbird. She hopped on, Glo right behind her, and Aksel behind them both. They all held on for dear life as the seeress spurred her flying mount forward, through the archway and up the spiral staircase at breakneck speed.
A-Stealthing We Shall Go
What he saw was not the face of a snake, but rather that of a man.
Kalyn took a deep breath, steadying her nerves and keeping her fingers at the ready on her bowstring. She was still trying to wrap her head around the idea that she was on a reconnaissance mission with one of the Heroes of Ravenford. If her brothers could only see her now, they’d eat every word they said to her before she left Deepwood Fort. But she couldn’t be too pleased with herself yet. The game was still afoot, and she had to tread lightly and make sure she didn’t botch it.
Kalyn had the feeling that Seth was on to something big. If she played this right, she’d be able to find all the missing Deepwooders and bring them home. Well, not all them. There was one that she’d never be able to bring back.
Kalyn shook her head, forcing herself to refocus.
“Something wrong?” Seth asked.
Kalyn shook her head again, not looking at him. “Nothing. Just had some hair in my face.”
She and Seth had made it to Serpent’s Hollow over an hour ago. They left the dragonflies a short way off and walked the rest of the way on foot. They couldn’t get into Serpent’s Hollow proper, because there was a gate with two ominous looking serpent statues on either side. A fitting, if creepy welcome. Upon seeing them, Seth had said something like he ‘didn’t need to be a wizard to know they were magical.’ So, they avoided the statues. Kalyn trusted his judgement.
The duo climbed up the mountainside to find a better vantage point. Kalyn thought it would take them longer than it did, but thanks to Seth’s nimbleness, they made quick work of the trek up. Now, they could look down at the entire valley sprawling out before them.
It was an enclosed valley, surrounded by craggy cliffs, with the only way in or out being through the creepy gate they’d seen before on the southeastern end of the valley. A sheer wall of high cliffs bordered the western edge of the valley, with a large, glittering waterfall falling over them near the south, not far from the gate.
Kalyn estimated the valley to be three miles long, running north to south. Heavily wooded at the south end, the center of the hollow had been cleared. Several small wooden structures stood there, surrounding four larger structures that, in turn, encircled a fountain at the very heart of the small town. The fountain appeared to have a fallen statue along one side of it, though it was hard to tell from this distance.
Two plowed fields stood on either side of the town. Numerous figures, dressed in white, tended the fields, with a few figures dressed in black interspersed between them, acting as if they were overseers.
Kalyn spotted a road running serpentine from the gate at the southeast end of the valley, through the town and then northwest to what appeared to be the entrance to a large cave at the north end of the hollow.
Kalyn sighed. “I don’t see any way to get down, other than the natural way… falling.” She glanced around the valley once more, then looked at Seth.
Seth narrowed his eyes. “Uh-huh. I think I’ll pass on that. I’m short enough as it is.”
A wide grin spread across Kalyn’s face. “Well, darn. I had a great plan to launch you off the side of the cliff. I was hoping you’d come up with a witty one-liner as you fell, to make it all the more memorable.”
Seth’s mouth twisted into a thin smirk. “How’s this for a one-liner…”
“Aaaahhhhh!” he cried while waving his arms in the air over his head.
Kalyn covered her mouth as she buckled over in laughter. When she was finally able to breathe again, she wiped a tear from her eye and sighed. “Unfortunately, that’s not gonna be very stealthy. So, scrap that idea and feed it to a rust monster. Got any other ideas?”
Kalyn watched as Seth scanned the hollow again, his sharp brown eyes going over every visible detail.
“I think we need to fly in.”
Kalyn rubbed her hands together, grinning. “Okay, hold on. I’ll launch you over the edge and you can start flapping your arms.”
Seth rolled his eyes. “I meant on the dragonflies. But if you want to go the other way, ladies first.” He ushered over the edge with his hands.
Kalyn giggled, taking a step away from the edge. “Eh, the dragonflies do sound a tad less painful. Let’s do that.”
Seth glanced over the valley again, then nodded toward the south. “This side of the valley looks like it’s got the most cover.”
Kalyn nodded in agreement. “Yeah. I think we should shoot for the waterfall over there.” She pointed west toward the twinkling ribbon of cascading water. “It would mask the sound of our hummers.”
Seth rubbed his hands together. “Sounds like a plan.”
Half an hour later, they were in the woods near the roaring waterfall. The first thing that Kalyn noticed about the area was the large number of snakes. They were everywhere. Luckily, the snakes were startled by the dragonflies and slithered away, keeping a safe distance from the giant bugs. Once she and Seth entered the forest, though, no matter where they walked, one of the slithering creatures was in their path.
Kalyn jumped to the side and bumped into Seth as a long, green grass snake hissed at her.
“Snakes! Why did it have to be snakes?” she whined.
Seth moved past her, knelt and, quick as lightning, grabbed the snake by the head and flung it away. “I don’t know what the big deal is. Aren’t you some sort of animal guru?”
Kalyn rubbed her arms, feeling suddenly cold. “That’s Fran, not me! ‘Sides, snakes aren’t animals. They’re… something else… demons. Yeah! Demons.”
�
�Well, I’m not fond of them either, especially after the last couple of weeks.” Seth’s lips stretched into a wicked smile. “There was this one time where I opened this hatch on a covered wagon, and all I saw was these two, huge, glowing eyes, staring up at me in the dark.” Seth’s voice took on an eerie tone.
Kalyn gulped, a terrifying picture forming in her mind. “Eyes? What kind of eyes?”
Seth’s eyes twinkled with devilish amusement. “They were huge, yellow, with dark, crescent-shaped pupils.”
Kalyn shuddered and scratched her fingers across her scalp. “Oh no, no, no, no! How big was that thing?!”
Seth did his best to stifle a laugh. It was clear he was having way too much fun at her expense. “Oh, I don’t know for sure, but the biggest one I saw was about ten foot tall reared up, which would make it… what? Thirty feet long?”
Kalyn could feel the blood draining from her head, making it light and fuzzy. “Thir… thir… thirty feet long? Are you serious?”
Seth swiped his hands in the air. “Shhhh! Keep it down! Unless of course you want one of those giant things to find us?”
Kalyn shuddered again. “Look, I know I said I’d help you out with this recon thing, but I got to admit—I’m having second thoughts.”
Seth folded his arms over his chest and gave her a hard stare. “Oh, come on! I was just teasing.”
Kalyn blinked and relaxed just a bit. “Really? You were? You mean, you didn’t see a snake that big?”
“No. It was that big, all right. But there was only one, and it’s dead now.” Seth seemed so casual about it, like it was an everyday occurrence to kill a giant snake. But then, he was one of the Heroes of Ravenford. They did amazing things like that all the time.
“Which one of you killed it? Lloyd? Glolindir? It was Glolindir, wasn’t it? A fireball again?”
Seth half-snorted, half-laughed with amusement. “Heh. Unfortunately, not this time. Actually, the Boulder ripped it in half.”
“The boulder? You mean that big stone giant I’ve heard about?”
“Nah, not a giant, just a regular golem. We kind of adopted him.” Again, Seth seemed so nonchalant.
Kalyn sighed, pushing down another shiver as it crawled up her spine. “Well, I sure wish we had your giant adopted stone buddy here with us now, because where there is one big snake, there is sure to be more.”
“Yeah, well, we’ll just have to kill them, too.” Seth shrugged.
Kalyn dipped her chin and knit her brows, looking at him as if he were crazy. “I’ll leave that to you. For my part, I’ll be shaking behind a tree somewhere.”
Seth shook his head. “Whatever. Let’s go, we don’t have all day.”
Kalyn nervously skipped over snakes as they walked, trying desperately to ignore them, until they made it to the edge of the tree line, just outside of town. They hid in the shadow of a large fir tree as they scanned the town and the fields. It was clear now that the figures dressed in black were overseers, as they held whips and took turns shouting orders at the white-robed people. Kalyn squinted, trying to see if she recognized anyone in the field, particularly anyone in white robes, but all of them were hunched over their work and moving too much to be able to see their faces clearly.
A light tap on the arm made Kalyn look down at Seth. The halfling motioned for her to follow him back into the trees. She took a last look at the fields, then silently followed Seth until he stopped under a giant pine.
“We need a closer look at what’s going on.” Seth said.
Kalyn nodded. “I agree. But how?”
“Looks like those guys in the black cloaks are in charge. If we find some black cloaks of our own, then we can be in charge, too.”
Kalyn’s eyebrows slowly floated to the top of her head. “Oh! Swell idea! Since the gate is the only way in or out of here, we could wait by the road and snatch the first ones we see going by.”
Seth nodded. “Exactly what I was thinking.”
“Devilish minds think alike!” Kalyn grinned and winked. “Let’s go! I want a boss cloak!”
The duo backtracked through the trees for a while until they were about halfway to the creepy gate, stopping when Kalyn spotted an old oak tree with branches that hung out over the road. She climbed the tree and perched herself comfortably on a sturdy branch that was decently concealed. She pulled a couple of arrows, then waited silently. The minutes dragged on until Kalyn almost lost track of time. She dangled her legs over the branch she was perched on and began to kick them in the air.
This is more boring than fishing in the Singing River in the winter.
Abruptly, two hooded figures dressed in black appeared around a bend in the road, coming from the direction of the gate. They walked closely together and seemed deep in conversation.
It’s about bloody time! Just what the cleric ordered—two healthy bad guys in black robes.
Kalyn took a moment to adjust the fletching of one of her arrows, then she nocked both onto her bowstring. She pulled the string back, counted to three, then let the string slip from her fingers. With barely a sound, the arrows zipped through the air, the one with the fixed fletching veering off to the left just slightly, until an arrow plunged deep into each figure’s chest. One of the figures slumped to the ground instantly. The other faltered, stumbling back a few steps, before slumping to his knees, then falling face first onto the packed dirt of the road.
A sudden cry rang out from down below. “Watch out!”
Kalyn snapped her head in the direction of the gate just in time to see a red ribbon of light flash off the fingertips of another figure in black. Without thinking, she ducked to the side and slipped off the branch, wrapping her hands around a thin limb to break her fall. A split-second later, a scorching hot stream of fire hit where she had been sitting, passing so close that she was sure it singed the hairs off her arms. Kalyn dropped to the ground with a gentle bend of her knees, only to find the corner of her green tunic was ablaze.
“Dragon fire and Dunwynn unda’pants!” she screamed, batting at the flames. A second later, she dropped to the ground and rolled around in the dirt. As the flames went out, she caught a glimpse of the black figure out of the corner of her eye. Its arm was pointed directly at her.
Kalyn froze, her eyes going wide. She was about to be on the receiving end of another spell, and there was no way for her to avoid it.
Kalyn cringed, waiting for the worst, when suddenly the caster stiffened, a strangled cry escaping his lips. Just as abruptly, he went silent and slumped to the ground. A short, solitary figure appeared behind the caster, a bloody dagger in his hand.
A smug smirk crossed the familiar figure’s lips. “Fried Kalyn for breakfast, anyone?”
Kalyn glared at Seth as she slowly got to her feet and brushed herself off. “Took ya long enough, pint-size. What’s a girl gotta do to get some decent help around here?”
Seth nonchalantly strolled over to the grass and wiped his blade off in it. “Maybe next time, I should let the nice black mage shoot you first.”
“Aw, you wouldn’t let a nice girl like me get whooped by a mage, now, would ya? Gotta rush in and save the day, right?”
Seth’s mouth twisted into an ironic smirk. “You’ve got the wrong hero there, lady. You must be thinking of Lloyd, or even Glo. Of course, if that were the case, the entire forest would be in flames by now.”
Kalyn grinned despite herself. “Guess I got the short end of the stick, then, huh?” she said with a wink.
Seth shook his head. “Saved your life, and what do I get for it? Short jokes.” With that, he went over and looted the mage, stripping off his cloak.
Seth stuck his fingers through the bloodied hole in the back of the cloak. “Well, this one’s shot.” He folded it up and stuffed it into his pack with a sigh. “Guess I’ll hold onto i
t anyway.”
Kalyn turned the other two bodies over. “Well, these robes are in perfect condition! I wonder who we have to thank for that?”
Seth fixed her an acid stare. “If you’re done bragging, can you give me a hand dragging them off the road?”
Kalyn slung her bow over her shoulder and helped him pull the mages, one at a time, off the road and a safe distance into the trees, then she ran back to the road and covered their tracks up. When she returned to where they had deposited the bodies, Seth had already stripped them of the other two cloaks and was examining them.
He pressed his lips together and gave her a subtle nod. “Not even a nick on them. I guess they’ll do.”
Kalyn glanced down at the bodies and froze when she spied a snake tattoo on the right arm of each mage.
“Aw, was that your sister? Would you like to join her?”
Kalyn felt the blood drain from her face as the eerie voice rang through her mind. The vision of an arm with that same tattoo reaching for her flashed before her eyes, sending shivers up her spine.
“Hey!”
Kalyn snapped back to the moment and turned toward Seth as he snapped his fingers.
“You spaced out there. You okay?” he asked, a hint of concern on his face.
Kalyn opened her mouth, but nothing came out. It was the same vision that had haunted her night after night for years now. It was a rare occasion when she didn’t wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. The young woman took a deep breath and calmed her nerves. This was no time to be freaking out over the past. In fact, that was the very reason she was here in the first place—to get revenge, and she’d never been so close as she was now.
Kalyn steeled herself and reached for one of the cloaks, looking it over carefully. “Well, you have got a problem shorty—these ‘I’m-in-charge’ cloaks are longer than you are tall. They might be a bit too big for me, too.”
She slipped the cloak on, then held her arms out in front of her, flopping the oversized sleeves around for emphasis. “Help me! My arms have disappeared!”
