“Oh what a wonderful idea, Tathan!” Vevin said behind them. A dozen purple light globes spread along the ceiling of the tunnel for a hundred feet in either direction. “There, now we can see much better.” Anilyia held on a little tighter to Tathan’s hand. She looked back at Vevin who smiled again. With those sharp teeth, it looked like he wanted to eat her. She was certain he did. “Don’t worry, Your Highness. I’m not going to eat you. I already made a promise that I wouldn’t,” he said reassuringly.
Anilyia turned back around and got so close to Tathan that he tripped over her feet, causing them both to stumble. He managed to balance so they didn’t fall. Tathan held up his hand for them all to stop. Then he looked at Anilyia and sighed. “Princess, I promise you are safe with us. We’re here to rescue you and take you home.” He ran his right hand through his hair. She was still clutching his left tightly with both of hers.
“I can see you’re terrified right now and I’m sorry. All I ask is that you trust us for now and you’ll soon discover yourself out of these caves,” he offered, smiling gently. He had a salty, husky smell about him. “Then we’ll get through the forest and you’ll see that it’s not so dangerous to us. Then we’ll get to the Kingdom of Kethril, find a ship going south and work on getting you back home.”
He kissed her softly on the forehead. It felt as though lightning shot through her body at the touch of his lips. She stared at him with mouth open. Nobody was allowed to touch her, let alone put lips on her forehead. The boldness of this man shocked . . . and pleased her all at once.
“Will you trust me, Princess?” he asked. She thought for a moment before slowly nodding. Words just wouldn’t pass her throat anymore. It was the longest she had gone without speaking in her entire life. “Alright, let’s go. Just stay close and we’ll be fine.”
***
Two hours later, the tunnel seemed as though it would never end. It still continued up, which was great for getting out of the ground, but terrible for her legs. She hoped they would take a break soon. From behind, Vevin warned, “There’s a cave up ahead and I hear a bunch of Rojuun in it.”
“Thanks,” Tathan replied with a look over his shoulder.
Liselle said, “Tathan, if it does come down to a fight, don’t risk our lives to save theirs. That goes for you too, Sir Danth.”
The knight exhaled in relief. “Thank you, Milady. I’m not very good at letting people live. I have made a true effort.”
“I know. It’s alright,” she told him with a smile.
Anilyia wondered if Liselle were actually a lady. She certainly didn’t act like one. Anilyia would have said something if she wasn’t afraid of being roasted by blue fire. Girls who weren’t born of nobility shouldn’t be called ‘milady’.
“Princess, I want you to stay behind me while we’re fighting. I’ll keep you safe,” Tathan said to her. She nodded and squeezed his hand. “I’m also going to need you to let go of that hand so I can use it.”
She looked down at the hand. Her palms and his were sweaty, which was gross, but she didn’t even care a little bit about that right now. Anilyia looked into his gorgeous eyes and shook her head no. Tathan stared at her for a moment as they continued walking up the tunnel, then he sighed. He seemed to sigh a lot. She thought it was an attractive quality and liked to stare at the rise and fall of his chest when he did.
Vevin’s purple lights started going ‘poof’ one at a time until they were all gone. He and Liselle were giggling madly while Tathan and Sir Danth laughed quietly. Anilyia didn’t see the humor in it. The hall had become darker and it struck her as absurd that the light balls went ‘poof’. Tathan waved his hand at the one he had created and it went ‘poof’ too, causing a new round of laughter.
He saw her frown and smiled down at her again. “We have to extinguish the lights so that they don’t see us coming,” he told her.
“They’re going to hear the laughter though . . . why are you laughing?” she asked in puzzlement.
“It’s a long explanation; something to do with the word ‘poof’ and making things disappear.”
“Oh. It just seems . . . silly, that’s all,” she informed him seriously.
“It is silly, but sometimes the silly things help alleviate the darkness and the scary parts of adventuring,” Tathan clarified.
It was a good enough explanation for her and she leaned her cheek against his strong, muscular arm. Tathan didn’t look big, but the muscles felt amazing through the shirt and jacket he wore. She wondered if he would be willing to take them off. It was warm in the tunnel. She was warm at the moment, warm all over. Anilyia sighed contentedly.
The thought occurred to her that she was supposed to be getting married. Most princesses were married by the age of fourteen or fifteen, a few as young as nine. She shuddered to think about how horrible that would have been. Her father and mother had three sons, but she was the only daughter. If there had been more daughters, they would have been married off to various lords and nobles in exchange for political favors or influence.
Her betrothed, Prince Albrato of Brindlyn was handsome enough. He was skilled with a blade and knew which fork to use at the table. Anilyia had met him three times at heavily guarded diplomatic meetings. His laugh was as fake as his smile, which suited her just fine. He was everything a prince was supposed to be, just as she was everything a princess was supposed to be.
Their kingdoms hadn’t gotten along for centuries and the marriage was supposed to bring peace. However, both of their fathers kept haggling over who was going to pay for what, what sort of gifts were going to be given, where the location of the wedding was going to be, which season to have it in, what priest was going to preside and a thousand other details. The wedding that was supposed to take place five years ago still hadn’t happened. Anilyia was twenty years of age now and was starting to get worried about becoming an old woman unable to bear children.
Tathan stopped, breaking her reverie. There was a cave ahead that echoed with the voices of Rojuun. Tathan moved forward then stopped when she didn’t let go of his hand. He sighed yet again. Anilyia smiled apologetically at him. There was simply no way she was letting go.
“Let me go ahead. I shall clear the cave and remove any danger,” Sir Danth stated. At a nod from Tathan, he moved to the end of the passage. It struck Anilyia that the knight didn’t make any noise. There was definitely something off about him. That much metal should clank and echo through the tight caves and tunnels. She also observed that he deferred to Tathan. How in the world did this man next to her inspire the loyalty of a knight, an evil dragon, and a witch-woman?
Sir Danth made it to the end of the tunnel and disappeared. He didn’t turn in either direction. He just wasn’t there anymore. A scream came from the cave, then numerous screams. Rojuun certainly did scream a lot. It was very unpleasant, especially since they had two of those whiney voices and sometimes even three if they were very upset.
Liselle and Vevin dashed ahead. Anilyia leaned into Tathan to let them by. Tathan led her to the cave as well. She moved as fast as her little feet would go. Tathan took her to the right as soon as they left the tunnel.
Sir Danth killed one of the Rojuun and then shifted next to another, slaying it as well. The Rojuun he was dispatching were in uniform. Not all of the inhabitants were warriors and the ones that weren’t ran screaming into other tunnels. The knight appeared in front of another warrior, swinging the sword high at the feju’s neck. The sword stopped just before it cut into the neck after the warrior dropped her knives and began crying in fear.
Anilyia had no respect for Rojuun. They were cowards who ran at the slightest hint of danger. Only three Rojuun were left in the cave. The other two had attempted to cast a spell at the knight, but Liselle threw her holding spell and they were frozen mid-casting.
Seven Rojuun warriors lay on the ground, dead from Sir Danth’s sword. The feju who had dropped her knives ran away as soon as the knight sheathed his blade. “I don’t understand wh
y they act without bravery,” he said in disappointment. He looked to Liselle. “Which way now, Milady?”
Liselle pointed at another tunnel behind the knight. “That’s the way we want to go. There’s a dwelling along the way, but if we move quickly, we shouldn’t be disturbed.” She pointed left, to the west. “There are more dwelling caverns and a small city that way.” She pointed to the right. “That leads deeper into the world where no civilization exists, Rojuun or otherwise.” Then she fainted. Vevin caught her in his arms.
“Liselle!” he exclaimed in alarm, putting his hand on her cheek. She was pale and a trickle of blood was flowing from her nose. He looked at Tathan. “I’m no good at healing, Tathan. What do I do?” There was fear swirling in his eyes. Tathan physically removed Anilyia’s hand from his arm and went to his cousin.
Sir Danth joined him. “I have no knowledge of healing either, Master Tathan.”
Tathan nodded and put fingers on Liselle’s neck. “Her heartbeat is still strong and she’s breathing easily.” Tathan said in relief. “I don’t know why she fainted. It didn’t look like she was using too much magic.”
“She wasn’t,” Vevin said with a shake of his head. “I think maybe she got hurt listening to the world.”
“Hurt listening to the world?” Tathan asked in confusion.
Vevin nodded vigorously. “The world is really big and powerful. It knows a lot and it’s been around for a long time,” he explained. “Even someone as wonderful as Liselle can’t really handle communicating with it. It would kill me if I tried to link my mind.”
“Is Lady Liselle more powerful than you, Master Vevin?” Sir Danth asked. It bothered Anilyia that the knight liked the dragon. Knights were supposed to protect princesses from dragons.
Vevin tilted his head in confusion. “Lady Liselle is as powerful as she is as I am as powerful as I am,” he explained to the knight. “We are as powerful as it is right for us to be and there is no level of power that is more powerful than other levels of power.”
Anilyia was happy to see that the explanation confused the others as much as it confused her. She couldn’t even describe where he had lost her.
Tathan started to speak three times and failed. Vevin simply stared at him. On the fourth try, he finally succeeded. “Don’t even bother clarifying that, Vevin. Do you think she’ll be alright?”
Vevin nodded. “Oh yes. I think she’ll be alright. I have to think that, because if she’s not alright, I’m going to go mad,” he said confidently. Sir Danth and Tathan exchanged worried looks. Anilyia wanted nothing more than to run away. If she knew of a safe way out, she would. As it was, she just hid behind Tathan.
Noises were coming from the western tunnel. “Can you carry her, Vevin?” Tathan asked.
“Of course!” he answered, surprised that Tathan would have to ask.
Tathan nodded. “Let’s go,” he replied, leading them all up the new passage. Anilyia quickly grabbed his hand again.
***
They passed the small dwelling Liselle had told them about, but nobody attacked them. A few Rojuun stared and others herded children to safety. It didn’t take long for Anilyia to wear out, but she got a sudden burst of energy about half an hour out of the cave. Turning around, she saw Vevin smiling at her. He had cast some sort of spell. Hopefully, it didn’t mean he wanted to eat her next.
A little while later, they came to a gate. Tathan told her that they had seen some like it in a place called Garrrn Caverns to keep out dangerous creatures. He figured it meant that they had reached the end of Rojuun territory. They had traveled a good distance upward. Anilyia felt that they should be out of the caves by now and into the fresh air.
Tathan reached into his jacket and took out a pouch. He tried to open it, but had to pry his hand out of the princess’s grip. Then he knelt in front of the lock and quickly opened the gate with thin tools. Anilyia’s jaw dropped. Tathan was a thief! It didn’t stop her from taking his hand back as soon as they were through and he had re-locked the gate.
Glowing plants and animals had become more prevalent as they traveled the outskirts of Rojuun civilization. After the gate, they became even more numerous. Vevin still kept a few lights, but made most of them disappear with poofs. Anilyia still didn’t like being underground, but she couldn’t deny the beauty of the caverns.
***
A few hours later, they entered a large, quiet cave. It was bright with glowing plants and animals, a few of which slunk away at the sight of intruders. The temperature was moderate and a gentle breeze brushed against their faces. Tathan shushed his companions and looked around the cave. A moment later, he guided them to the right. When they reached the entrance to a new tunnel, he said, “I hear water, let me take a look and I’ll come back.”
Anilyia reluctantly let go of his arm only because he pried her fingers off again. He disappeared into the dark tunnel. A moment later, a green light appeared and she could see his silhouette moving away. She turned to the others. Sir Danth and Vevin both smiled at her; Liselle was still unconscious in Vevin’s arms.
The princess did a double take. Sir Danth was definitely smiling at her, but he was still wearing his helmet and she couldn’t see his lips. “Would you do me the honor of taking off your helmet to let me see your face, Sir Knight?” Anilyia asked.
The knight exchanged a glance with Vevin, who shrugged. “I am hollow, Your Highness,” Sir Danth informed her sadly.
“What does that mean?” she asked in confusion.
“I have no body. I was charged with guarding a crown one millennium and six centuries ago. My body deteriorated after the first two centuries and now this armor is empty except for my existence as a spiritual being.”
Anilyia stared at him in silence. She debated asking him to prove it, but nothing about these people was ordinary. At that point, she decided that it was all just a dream and she would wake up eventually . . . at least she hoped so.
Tathan reappeared. “I found something interesting with my stick,” he informed them with a big grin on his face. It was more confirmation that she was in a dream. That was the only possible explanation to the insane comments that were coming out of everyone’s mouth.
They followed him into the tunnel in single file. Anilyia could see now that the green light was indeed coming from the end of a stick. A moment later, they were in a small cave big enough to fit them but not much more. A waterfall fell from the ceiling and into a pool that filled the back half of the cave. The splashing echoed off tight walls and condensation dripped onto their heads from the ceiling.
When Tathan aimed the light of his stick at the waterfall, it showed a tunnel behind that wasn’t visible with normal light, or even Vevin’s magical lights. “It’s the magical stick that Mother Tree gave me. She said it would find things that were hidden,” Tathan said happily. “We can follow the tunnel and no one will find us.”
It was definitely a dream. The evil dragon, the fire girl, the knight with no body and now the thief with a magical glowing stick that he got from a Mother Tree, were taking her into a secret tunnel behind a waterfall. Maybe Anilyia would get lucky and she was just sick in bed in her chambers back home. Hopefully, she would wake up soon.
Tathan walked into the pool, through the waterfall and into the tunnel. As soon as he went through, they couldn’t see the tunnel anymore, though the glow from the stick was behind it. Sir Danth walked through too. She hoped his armor wouldn’t rust although she knew blood did more damage to armor than water.
Anilyia didn’t want to go through the waterfall. She would be all wet and it wasn’t how she preferred to bathe. She looked around the cave in the glow of Vevin’s purple light globes and the various plants. He was smiling at her, still holding Liselle in his arms. The princess decided that getting wet was much less unpleasant than being alone in a cave with a dragon.
She ran through the water and stood on the other side next to Tathan and Sir Danth, sputtering and shaking the water off. The knight was perfec
tly dry, which irritated her all that much more. Tathan still had the grin on his face.
They heard a gasp and a small scream. Vevin had dashed through the waterfall, which was enough to wake up Liselle. She hit Vevin’s shoulders until he let her down. Then she glared at him. “Why did you do that to me?” she demanded.
“Tathan said we had to go through the waterfall,” Vevin protested innocently. Anilyia thought he was awfully chicken for a dragon, at least when it came to Liselle.
“I found this tunnel with my magic stick,” Tathan said proudly. Liselle looked at him with a raised eyebrow as she wrung out her hair. Tathan became serious. “Are you alright, Cousin?” he asked.
She nodded. “I am. The world is . . . large and trying to communicate with it overwhelmed my mind. It let me know enough to be able to get to the surface, but I can’t connect with it anymore.” A sad smile curved her lips and she shrugged. Vevin put his arms around her and she rested her head against his shoulder.
“Alright,” Tathan replied. “Are you well enough to keep traveling? I’m looking for a place to spend the night now.”
Liselle nodded. “Yes, go on, we’ll follow.” She squeezed more water out of her hair. “I’d prefer resting someplace dry.”
Anilyia also squeezed water out of her hair and dress the best she could as she followed behind Tathan. He wasn’t leaving his hand close enough to grab. Looking down at her dress, Anilyia began to cry. It wasn’t loud enough for them to hear, they would think her weak if she cried, but silent tears flowed down her cheeks, mixing with the water still on her face. She was a complete mess. Her dress was tattered and torn, her hair was dirty, her face was smudged, all of her fingernails were torn and her pretty slippers were gone, replaced by footwear Liselle had given her.
Anilyia Page 25
