“I am fine,” Meena gasped, out of breath after their climb. Bending over at the waist, her long hair hung down as she huffed, wafting air onto her exposed neck.
“We are, as well,” Hayt supplied, having checked himself and his bride thoroughly.
Pulling Amicia with him, the Mate led them away from the cave. “We should put some distance between us and the entrance in case she decides to run back in.”
“She wouldn’t do that,” Rey countered, recovering as his pulse slowed. “She isn’t stupid.”
“No, but she’s suffered a great loss,” the older man explained. “Her mind is clouded, and we must look out for her.”
Ahead of them, dense woods greeted them, as no path was easy to discern. The ground covered in grass, moss, and other foliage, it squished with moisture as they marched.
“This is the muddiest place I have ever seen,” Reynard observed with a brief laugh, looking around to share it with his best friend. Fighting the overwhelming sorrow, his face scrunched. Unable to breathe, the grief was too much. “Oh God, Bally is gone!” The tears overtook him, and he dropped to his knees, cradling the siren as he wept.
His broken state contagious, they made it no further, their bodies littering the ground as they rolled on the moist earth and mourned.
Ancient Betrayal
Animir and Baldwin stood shoulder to shoulder, blocking the exit their friends had taken. “I don’t think we can hold them off for long,” the younger observed. “I’m hurting pretty bad.”
“We must provide them all the time we can,” the elf replied, noting the piles of debris that cluttered the space around them. Using a sweeping motion, the gem glowed brightly as he gathered the material with massive force, shifting it to cover the hole in the wall only seconds before the wave of daemons crashed over them.
Swinging his axe wildly, Bally screamed, catching a few and turning them to dust. Likewise, Animir used his blade, but in the distance, he could see the queen of darkness sauntering towards them. Holding up the stone, he adjusted his grip, waiting for her to draw near. When he could wait no longer, he produced a powerful blast that knocked her forces back, converting a multitude of them simultaneously and rendering them inert.
“You come for us,” Animir called when she seemed unaffected by his blow, “but I know who you are!”
“Who I am?” she cackled, the deep lines in her face visible when she stood before them. An ancient creature, her voice rasped, “Who do you think I am, elf?”
“Kedoria, queen of the darkness,” he spat confidently. “Galiodien sent you here at the start of the great war. An ancient betrayal of the kingdom of Eriden. He thought he could eliminate the dwarves with you, his evil weapon, but he was wrong. They escaped and somehow have locked you out of their tunnels and caves.”
Glaring at him, her eyes glowed as embers. “Your knowing will not save you,” she hissed.
“Save me?” he laughed in her face. “I am your master, dark elf!” He held up the hamar gem to demonstrate his power. “You will leave us, or you will die.”
“I do not walk among the living,” she howled, her hair rustling as the power swirled around her. “You cannot destroy me!”
“No, I cannot, but I can remove you,” he challenged, raising both hands with the glowing stone in one and his sword in the other.
“I grow tired, my friend,” Bally interrupted, overcome with fatigue. He had been taking swipes at the trickle of daemons who insisted on coming forth while his friend dealt with their mistress. Sinking to his knees, he added, “I believe this is the end.”
“Baldwin!” Animir snapped, his eyes twitching between the old woman and the boy he had grown to love. “I wish there were something I could do,” he breathed, wondering briefly if the witch before him could remove the poison.
As if she had read his thoughts, a twisted grin formed on her wrinkled lips. “You will watch him die, elf. I do not possess the power nor the inclination to change his fate.”
“And so it shall be,” Animir sighed. “You have been a great friend, Baldwin Carter. I am pleased that I have known you.”
Raising her aged fingers, Kedoria rocked her nemesis with a wave of energy, knocking him a step back. Holding the stone firmly, he resisted, producing a shield of light that held her away from them.
“Try again, wench,” he taunted, his eyes narrowed as he studied her.
“You are stronger than you appear,” she observed. “How is it you travel with such a ragged lot?”
“This ragged lot,” he laughed back at her, then growled, “we are friends on a great quest. We deliver the destroyer to Adiarwen, that the prophecy shall be fulfilled.”
“The girl,” Kedoria laughed. “She does not yet know who she is. If she did, she would have faced me.”
“Yes, but she will soon learn. There is still time for sweet Amicia to turn the tide,” the elf professed.
“Ami?” Bally stammered. His vision blurred as he glared up at the warrior next to him. “Ami is the destroyer?” The words brought a brief smile as he realized the importance of their journey, one he had been a part of. In that moment, he knew his friend must escape and help finish what they had begun so long ago when they crashed upon the shores of Eriden.
His heart racing, his fingers had gone numb and he could no longer swing his axe. Thinking of Piers and the care he had put into forging it, he realized the group would still have need of it, even if he were not the one to wield it.
Forcing his legs to stand, he slipped the handle into a loop on the elf’s pack, so the axe hung off the back of his gear. Collapsing to his knees once more, a calm settled over him. “Amicia must be protected.”
“Yes, her rank outweighs us all. She is a great dragon, Bally. Queen of Eriden, but she is not yet aware of her destiny,” his friend explained. “She is the reason I have come to stand against my people.”
“And she is the reason you cannot remain here with me. Animir,” Baldwin said faintly. “You must go. Get out of here and leave me to the darkness.”
“I can’t,” Animir insisted, using all his strength to hold the queen of daemons at bay.
“Yes, you can,” the boy faltered, his voice weak as his chest ached more with each breath. “We have shared many adventures, but yours has not yet ended. Do what you must to return to the others, and do not let my death be in vain.”
“Bally –”
“Don’t. Go now. Find Amicia and see that she makes it… that she one day does sit upon her throne.”
Laughing wildly, the dark elf slurred, “You will both die here, mortal.”
“Goodbye my friend,” Animir whispered, creating a distraction to blind the queen with a blast from the gem. In an instant, he performed a transposition, passing through the barrier he had formed and materializing on the other side. Not pausing, he ran through the tunnels the others had traversed only minutes before.
His hand holding the stone up for light, he could see piles of fresh daemon dust, which brought a brief smile to his lips. They made it. I know they did. As a few of the vile creatures leapt at him, he added their remains to those that littered the hallway, each one lifting his spirits in a morose fashion.
Arriving at the base of the final tunnel, Animir heard Kedoria scream from behind. Looking up the steep incline, he knew his pace would be slowed. Seeing the soft earth at the entrance, an idea sprang into his mind.
Kneeling, he drew a circle upon the ground. Adding runes for north, south, east, and west, he finished it with other symbols between those, so that the charm was complete. Standing in the center, he gripped the gem as it hung by his side, waiting for the dark elf to stand before him.
“You shall not escape me!” she shrieked when she had closed the distance between them.
“No,” he agreed, “but my friends have made it to the surface, and you will not follow. You have lost, crone.”
Drawing near, she examined the ring drawn in the dirt, his feet firmly planted in the center of it. Paci
ng, she seethed, “What trickery is this?”
“None,” he replied calmly, his poise a thorn he used to prickle her, keeping her on edge. “Have you not seen it before?”
“A protective charm,” she agreed. “Very old magic. You are from a line of magical elves,” she observed. “Where is your family gem?”
“I traded it away,” he confessed. “I was banished from using my power for many years. It was only after I joined the company of mortals that I regained my strength.”
Raising her eyes, she glared at him, her gaze narrowed into thin slits, “And you think this makes you a match for me?”
“I am a match for you because I was made to be,” he alleged. “We are each born to our fate. It is learning to accept it that makes life so difficult.”
“You insolent child –”
Animir cut her off before she could hurl the wave of energy at him. The stone before him, he called forth his own curse. In a flash of light, the dark elf disappeared, and the light within the gem was snuffed. Standing in the darkness of the cave, he could see nothing, but the hamar felt heavy in his hand.
“I did it,” he breathed, confident he had succeeded. The path to his left, he reached for the wall and shuffled his feet to find the incline of the final tunnel. He had never stood in a blackness so dense, and he could feel it pressing in upon him.
Taking small, deliberate steps, he began the climb to the surface. The air thick, he hoped that he did not come upon the bodies of his friends before he reached the light of the sun, as he still had no proof that they had indeed survived.
Arriving at the cave that covered the exit, Animir paused, sinking to his knees as he breathed deeply. The air fresher, light filtered into the wider space. Lifting the stone, he studied his handiwork, finding that it was now opaque, like an onyx, with the dark elf trapped within.
“I really did it,” he grinned. Getting to his feet, he stumbled forward, hoping to find his friends before the sun set. The world would be a sadder place for them that night, but he had survived, and what’s more, he had captured the creature of the darkness. “Bally was right, his death was not in vain,” he consoled himself as he stepped into the light.
Outside the cavern, Animir looked around at the marshes. The ground moist, it oozed with small shallow pools of water standing in a few spots. The rest of the earth was covered with a lush green film, either of moss or grass. A few hundred feet before him, the trees sprang up, and dense woods hid what lay beyond.
Taking a few steps, his strength hardly enough to walk, he marched, deliberately placing one foot in front of the other. Seeing his friends sprawled across the turf just short of the forest, he resolved to make it to them and did so after a few minutes.
The group still lying on the ground and caught up in their anguish, they did not notice Animir until he was upon them. Collapsing next to them, he only then realized how severely his battle with Kedoria had drained him, and he was completely spent; but he would live.
“Animir!” Ami cried as he lay beside her in the flesh.
“Yes, sweet Amicia. I have made it through the darkness,” he confirmed weakly.
“Is Bally with you?” Rey demanded, sitting up with hope in his voice.
“I’m afraid he was not able to walk after only a few minutes,” the elf replied, his heavy heart reflected in his somber tone.
Falling over with a heavy thud to lie flat on his back and stare at the sky, he licked at his dry lips and blinked at the blue above as if in disbelief. Still holding the hamar, he lifted it above him and turned his hand, presenting it to the girl. “I’m afraid the gem will never be the same.”
Accepting the stone, Amicia stared down at it, her cheeks streaked with fresh tears. “Oh, Bally. What has this cost you, my friend?”
“You have bound the vile creature,” Meena observed, pulling herself together and wiping at her damp flesh. “Good. Amicia never needed the stone. Her power comes from within, and one day she will learn to reach it without the aid of such a device.”
“Perhaps,” Animir agreed. Lifting his chin, he stared into the Mate’s pure brown eyes as he stood over him, the red rims attesting to his sorrow. Rolling over, he got to his knees and bowed his head before their leader. “Our dearest friend is gone, but his dying wish was that we complete our quest.”
“We will,” Piers agreed with a firm nod. “For now, we must devise our shelter, as the sun is already low in the sky. I see that you have brought Bally’s axe,” he observed, thinking it a peculiar thing to do.
“He hung it on my pack, I assume so that we would still have use of it, but all else that he carried is lost to us.” His voice cracked, but he held the pain at bay. “He fought bravely to the very end. Choose where you would like to set our camp, and I will see to the wood for the fire.” He caressed Bally’s weapon as he spoke, a silent vow that he would carry it always.
Selecting a group of trees that held a clearing of sorts, the group quickly realized staying in the marsh would be unlike any place they had been so far. The wetness of the ground meant they would be cold and damp before morning even with the fire.
Realizing the direness of their situation, Reynard pushed his grief aside. They all were hurting, but they would need clear heads if they were to survive in this strange new land. Taking charge, he announced, “Meena, we will have need of one of your spells. Animir may gather the wood, Piers and Hayt can fetch some wild game, and the girls can see to the gear and fire for the stew while the two of us prepare our shelter.” Dumping the contents of his pack, he tossed the empty bag over his shoulder and stood ready for everyone to comply with his suggestions.
“What do you have in mind?” the older woman demanded as she followed him towards the cave they had barely escaped.
“Your power to shrink things will come in quite handy,” he mused. Arriving at the large stones that lined the base of the mountain where the mouth of the cave loomed, he tapped one of them with the toe of his boot. “I figure if we take a few of these, we can sit upon them while we eat, and then lay across them for the night.”
“That’s impressive,” she agreed, setting to work on selecting the best for that purpose. Giving one of the large flat specimens a tap with her staff, she shrank it perfectly to the size of a small loaf of bread.
“Not really,” he debated, shaking his head as he scooped the stone into the pack. “I just wouldn’t relish lying upon the damp ground, not to mention all the bugs and snakes that might like to join me.”
Laughing at the image in spite of himself, he thought again of his best friend. Damn. It will take me a long time to get over him, if I ever do. Such friends are hard to come by, and Baldwin had been his best ever since he signed upon the Sea Serpent. Ages ago. Watching Animir gather their supply of wood in the distance, he mused, Never have I felt such joy and sorrow at the same time. But at least one had been returned to them, and he would not discount the happiness he felt at regaining their elf.
Digging into the task at hand, Rey refused to linger on the thought for the time being. He knew that losing was a part of living, and he had more pressing things to worry about and other friends to look after. His bag full, they carried the stones to the area they had selected, and he arranged them in a circle around the designated pit for the fire.
“I believe these will work beautifully,” Meena observed as she reversed the process, adjusting the size of each so that they would suit one member of their group comfortably. Arranged like the petals of a daisy, the flames burned in the center and the rocks flared out from it. “Now, if I could turn them into feather mattresses, that would be a feat.”
Laughing at the idea of it, Rey and Animir exchanged a glance, taking comfort in the presence of the rest. “Having the stones will be a blessing,” the elf agreed with a nod, equally impressed with Reynard’s ingenuity.
When their tasks had been accomplished, the group languished on their ring of stones.
“This was a brilliant idea,” the Mate praise
d, patting his giant rock affectionately.
“I have my moments,” Rey agreed with a small grin. “Are we taking watch tonight, the two of us?”
“Three,” Hayt snapped. “The elf should rest, but the rest of us can split the night to thirds.” Cutting his eyes over, he glared at the pointy-eared creature through narrowed lids.
“Thank you, but I do not require special treatment,” Animir growled, poking at their fire with a long stick and sending sparks into the sky.
“Rubbish,” Piers grunted. “You have fought bravely today, trapping the dark elf. You deserve a good night of rest, for certain.” Turning to address the other two males still in their group, he added, “I’ll take the first watch, and I’ll wake Rey for the second. He can trade with you for the last, Hayt.”
Glaring at them, Animir didn’t bother to argue. Their group had become set in their ways of looking out for one another, and the dwarf had been accepted among them. Inhaling deeply, he nodded, unwilling to disrupt their raw emotions by insisting any different.
The Gnomes of Falconmarsh
Thick fog hung over them when the group awoke the following morning. Lying beneath it, flat on her back, the hard stone held her form rigid beneath the white cloud. “Anyone else awake?” Amicia asked softly, not wishing to be a nuisance.
“Aye,” Piers replied. “Fine weather we’re having,” he observed with a laugh.
Turning her head, as he lay on the stone to her left, Ami could see the faintest of outlines. “Indeed,” she giggled, then sighed. “My rock kept me dry, but it’s hard on the bones,” she complained playfully as she shifted her gaze to the other side.
Rey on the stone to her right, he had been watching her through the haze for some time. “You would have preferred the turf?” he queried.
“Not at all,” she replied, sitting up and stretching to remove the stiffness from her limbs.
In the center of their camp, Animir piled fresh wood and stirred their fire. “I assume we will have left over stew for breakfast.”
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