by Renee Greene
Prince Lindir smiled at him tensely, as the quest would likely put his marriage off. Yet, he agreed, “I will do your bidding. I understand there is much at risk.”
“There is,” his father agreed. “Now that the twins have come through, and with a human, and I hear Prince Rayne went through, there will be many people who want to open the arch, and that would be a horrible idea, even if we could do it.”
“We couldn’t,” Lindir noted, “but it could be done. Isn’t it obvious how?”
Lord Dakarai’s eyes went wide as he asked, “How?”
Chapter 11: Dylan Learns that Dungeons are Cold
Pyria and Dylan stopped riding and got off their horses.
“We’ll be there soon,” Pyria told him, “but let’s take a break first. We want to go in fresh and ready.”
“I’m really not sure this is wise,” Dylan countered. “Do you really think Evander will negotiate? I am not going to give him what he wants. Likely, I couldn’t even if I wanted to, and honestly, I don’t want to.”
She stepped over to him, took his hands, and urged, “We need to negotiate. You know that there is no way that you can fight your way out of this. You are a strong, bold fighter, but even if this conflict is won with a fight, how many men will have to die to save one man? Is Alex really worth that?”
Dylan thought for a moment. He closed his eyes tightly as he did, as thinking seemed harder than normal. Finally, he countered, “Alex is special, as he is the guardian of the portal. At times it is worth giving up more lives to defend one. Also, if we negotiate for Alex, we may save lives in the short run, but it may cost many more in the long run. We may give them information or means to kill many more. I worry that Evander will kill on a whim. I saw him order an innocent’s death to get me to fight. It is one of the reasons I chose to accept that battle.” He tensed and added, “And I had to protect Vanessa. I fear I’m not doing that now.”
“She has her brother and Rayne,” Pyria assured him. “She will be fine. She does not need you.”
He looked down and mumbled, “That is what I’m afraid of.” He looked up and asked, “What if I can’t get back through the arch? What if I can’t return home?”
“Then you make your home here,” Pyria suggested.
“I can’t,” Dylan almost screamed. “I have a family back home. I have parents, and a handicapped sister, and a little brother. I belong there.”
“Oh, families are fleeting,” she responded casually.
He stared at her. “What do you mean? Family is where we get our strength from. It’s what makes us who we are. Family gives us purpose. Families are bonded by love.”
She looked into his eyes and seemed suddenly very vulnerable.
“What?” he asked.
“Tengai don’t really have close families,” she explained. “Some fairy families are very close, but Tengai aren’t. We are able to take care of ourselves at a pretty young age, and once we leave home, we don’t go back often.”
He stared deeper into her eyes. The tough fighter seemed so much more vulnerable than even before. “That’s sad,” he noted. “You are missing out on a great deal, but I guess that explains your incredible fighting skill.”
“I’ve had to fight to survive,” she explained with a hardness coming over her. “I’m a survivor, and I’ll do what it takes to survive. Right now, that’s trying to negotiate with Evander. We should go.”
“I’m not sure that’s wise,” he countered. “There may be better ways.”
“No!” she insisted, her cold exterior holding back tears. “We need to negotiate with Evander. I don’t have a choice.”
He put his hand on her chin, tilted her head up so he could see her face, and asked, “What’s going on? There likely are better ways. Talk to me.”
She didn’t talk. Instead, she hugged him tightly. Unlike many guys, Dylan knew how to handle a girl’s emotional outburst. He put his strong arms around her and held onto her. “Talk to me,” he urged. “You seem to be in some sort of trouble. I can help you. I’ll protect you. Why are you insistent on negotiating with Evander?”
“Does it matter?” she asked. She then looked up at him and surprised him by kissing him. He tried to step back from the kiss, but she again stung him with her tail, which made him cooperate with the kiss much more willingly.
“Shall we go talk to Evander?” she then asked.
“Of course,” he answered in a haze. “I will do whatever you want me to. I will take care of you.”
She patted his chest, and with a sad, but winning smile told him, “Let’s go. I really think if anyone can get Alex back, it’s you. You are not what I expected at all when I first met you.” She took his hands, pulled him toward the horses, and suggested, “Let’s get some food, and then let’s go. The sooner we talk to Evander, the sooner we can save Alex.”
They quickly ate their rations, mounted their horses, and rode on. The rest of the ride was almost entirely silent, only the sounds of the woods around them. The woods became darker as the sun was setting, so when they came in range to see the ruins of Parval they looked dark and foreboding.
“They always look this way,” Pyria explained, seeing his reaction. “Evander is reduced to living in this place.” She sighed, but then tensed and told him, “We should get going.”
“You don’t look very eager,” Dylan noted.
“No, this is for the best,” she assured him. She put her arms around him, looked in his eyes, and asked, “Do you love me?”
“I… I don’t know,” Dylan answered. “Something draws me to you, and there is a connection between us. Some might call it love, but…”
She rubbed his cheek and finished, “But you love Vanessa.”
“I don’t know,” he told her as he stepped back. “I’m only seventeen. I don’t know that I really know what love is. I definitely feel something for you, and I don’t even know why. Yet, I do have strong feelings for Vanessa. She is incredible. She has been so strong through this, even though she is so feminine. She’s so smart too.”
Pyria stepped up to him and again and put her hand on his cheek. “You are strong,” she noted. “I knew you were physically strong when I saw you fight the ogre at the tournament. I knew you were a hero. Yet, until I met you, I had no idea how heroic you are. Now, come. It’s hero time. Let’s go negotiate with Evander.”
Dylan wasn’t really comfortable riding a horse, and they were close, so they began walking, holding the reins. They hadn’t gone far when a band of ogres surrounded them.
Dylan stood in front of Pyria and pulled his sword as he demanded, “What do you want?”
“You are coming with us,” the ogre in charge demanded.
Dylan quickly surveyed the situation. There were about two dozen ogres. He couldn’t fight that many. There was a spot he likely could break through and run, but he couldn’t leave Pyria. “She goes free!” he called.
“What?” the ogre asked.
“I turn myself over and Pyria goes free,” he offered. “I need assurance that she will be let go and not pursued.”
“I swear,” the ogre agreed.
Dylan’s heart was racing. Should he agree? Could he trust them? He knew little of fairy ways. Did he need to make them swear an oath? “Fine,” Dylan agreed. “Let me watch her go, and then I sheath my sword.”
“Agreed,” the ogre responded. “It’s you we want.” The ogres parted for her to leave.
“Go,” Dylan told her. “Get to safety.”
“I’m so sorry,” she cried with genuine tears running down her face. “Maybe I should…”
An ogre pulled her away from him, and they pushed her out of the circle. “Go!” they ordered.
As she ran off, the ogres turned to Dylan. “Sheath your sword!” the head ogre demanded.
They had kept to their end, so he sheathed his sword. “What are you going to do with me?” he asked the ogres as they bound his hands behind his back. “Are you going to kill me?”
&n
bsp; “No,” the ogre hissed. “We are taking you to negotiate with Evander. You may deal for your life with him. I think he would rather have your information and use you as leverage than have you dead, but if you don’t cooperate, I’m sure it’s an option.” He punctuated his statement with a mocking laugh.
Dylan felt as if he was being taken to his doom as the ogres marched him through the ruins to a cave. He felt as if he was living in some fantasy novel. Hopefully his would have a happy ending, but he very much related to the hero who had to face death and somehow survive and continue on.
The door to the cave shut immediately when they passed through. They walked down a corridor that led down. There was a steep staircase built in the path that led to another door. The ogres opened it and brought him in.
Dylan was surprised at what he saw. He stood in a very large cavern. It was lit with candles and a glowing moss. The green moss gave a very eerie glow.
There were many ogres, various types of half human, half animal races, and some dark races, such as the ankou that made Dylan shiver at the sight of them.
He then noticed that Alex was tied to a chair and blindfolded. Alex had to be miserable being constantly in the dark. Dylan also heard screams and looked to see a beautiful lady tied and being tormented by an ankou.
“Stop!” Dylan called. “Do not hurt a lady!”
“Lady,” the ogre with him mocked. “That is Fianna. She failed our king and is being punished.”
She screamed again, so Dylan again called, “Stop! I’ll take her punishment.”
A mocking laugh accompanied by fake applause responded. Dylan looked to see that it was Evander who was mocking him. “How noble,” Evander hissed. “Yet, I do not intend to hurt you. Actually, I want to negotiate with you. You want Alex. I want answers. Let’s make a deal. Please, have a seat.”
Dylan tensed as he heard Fianna scream in pain again. “I don’t negotiate while a lady is being hurt,” he insisted. “Stop the punishment or punish me instead. Otherwise, I will not negotiate.”
“I do not want to hurt you,” Evander stated. “That is no way to start our negotiations.” He did command the ankou to stop the punishment until after the negotiation. Then he turned and again offered, “Please, have a seat.”
The ogres took Dylan’s sword and untied his hands, so he could sit and negotiate.
Evander took a bottle from the table and poured two goblets full. “Have some wine,” he offered Dylan, handing him a goblet.
Dylan took the goblet, but set it down in front of him instead of drinking it. After all, he didn’t drink. Even if he did, the wine could be poisoned. Who knew what fairy wine would do to a human? If the fantasy stories were right, it could be anything.
“Drink,” Evander urged.
“But I clearly cannot choose the wine in front of me,” Dylan responded, attempting to add some humor to a tough situation.
Evander didn’t laugh. Honestly, he didn’t even get the joke. “Do you not trust me?” he asked.
“No,” Dylan answered, “so I clearly cannot choose the wine in front of you.”
Again, Evander didn’t laugh. Instead he put a forced smile on his face and suggested, “It is safe. I will prove it.” He then took a sip from his goblet.
Dylan became more serious. He wasn’t going to lighten the mood with humor. “What do you want?” he asked. “I am of no use to you.”
“I want to know how you got through the arch,” Evander answered. “You must know some trick.”
“What would make you think that?” Dylan replied. “Have you not been told by Agent Hall how to get through? Bryan explained it to Director Mahon.”
“Yes, yes,” Evander confirmed. “Yet, I think either Master Hall is lying or Bryan is. Now, tell me what you did to get through. Somehow you have tricked Bryan. Who would believe the selfless sacrifice and connection story?”
Master Hall... that was an odd title, but likely one Agent Hall had given himself. Dylan didn’t bother correcting Evander on it. “I did nothing tricky,” he explained. “It is as Bryan and Agent Hall have reported. I am connected to Vanessa. I have strong feelings for her. I also have protected her to the extent that I have been badly injured and shed blood for her.”
“I think there is more,” Evander insisted. “Tell me. If you give me a way to get back and forth through the arch and it works, I will release Alex to you. At that point, he will be irrelevant, so I don’t care. Now, how did you really get through?”
“I told you,” Dylan defended. “It is due to my feelings for Vanessa and my sacrifice for her.”
Evander pointed to the goblet and suggested, “Relax. Have some wine.”
“I don’t drink,” Dylan informed him. “I really don’t know anything. Please, let me go.”
“Oh, I think you know a great deal,” Evander countered. “It’s just a matter of figuring out how to get you to talk.” He nodded to an ankou who came over and touched Dylan’s shoulder.
Dylan screamed in pain, but through the pain, turned around and punched the ankou in its dragonish face. The ankou stumbled backward and lost his grip on Dylan. The pain stopped.
Unfortunately, Dylan was immediately surrounded by ogres. They grabbed him and beat him into submission.
“You really should decide to tell us how you really got through the arch,” Evander suggested as the ogres tied him to an inclined board. He walked right up to Dylan and hissed in his face, “I really wanted to do this the civil way, but I have options. This way will work too.”
“I’m not telling you anything,” Dylan defied.
The ankou again touched Dylan, causing excruciating pain, and again Dylan screamed out, but when Evander demanded answers, Dylan again replied, “I’m not telling you anything.”
“We shall see,” Evander mocked. “Bring in the girl.”
Several ogres pulled Pyria in through the door. She fought them as they did.
“Stop!” Dylan screamed. “Your men assured her release if I came willingly. You must let her go.”
Evander laughed mockingly. “Oh, you are so naive. My men let Pyria go. What you don’t understand is that she works for me. I sent her to get you to come negotiate. You are here because of her. I assume she stung you to make you fall in love with her.”
“Is that what that did?” Dylan asked, more as a mental note than a question. He looked over at Pyria and shook his head.
“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I have no place else that I belong.”
Evander walked over to her and told her, “You did a good job bringing him here, so it is a shame that I see no other way to get him to talk.”
“What are you going to do?” Dylan called to him, trying to pull himself free of the ropes tying him.
The ankou came over and touched Pyria. She screamed out in pain as he did.
“Stop!” Dylan called out, “Stop! Torture me instead.”
“How noble,” Evander mocked. “Yet, I think you are more likely to talk to save her.” He motioned to the ankou who again touched Pyria.
Dylan couldn’t bear to hear her scream, so he called out, “I’ll talk. The way I really got through is by drinking the juices of strawberries and oranges mixed together. Apparently, the juices together are very similar to fairy blood, so I was able to get through. I figured I could get more here, but you don’t seem to grow the same fruits we do, so I couldn’t get them. This is why I couldn’t get back through. I will have to get Bryan and Vanessa to bring them to me.”
Evander leaned closer to his face and hissed, “So, if we drink the same mixture, can we pass through the arch?”
“I don’t know,” Dylan answered. “You would need something very much like human blood. What fruits do you have that might do that? I’m not familiar with fairy fruits.”
“Interesting,” Evander noted. He then told some ogres, “Throw them in the dungeon until we see if what he is telling us is true. If it is, they are free to go. If not, we kill Pyria.”
They wer
e both taken to the dungeon and thrown in. It was cold and dark with an eerie green glow from the moss.
“What do we do?” Pyria asked as the guards locked them in. “Will we get free? Did you tell them the truth?”
“No,” Dylan admitted. “The truth is that I fell for Vanessa and sacrificed for her. I just had to tell them something to keep you from being tortured.”
“But they will kill me when they find out,” Pyria panicked. “I don’t want to die!”
“I’ll do everything I can to protect you,” he assured her. He looked around. They were in a dungeon. He had no weapon. He would try to protect her, but the situation looked hopeless.
Chapter 12: Dylan Learns Escapes Plans Aren’t Easy
Nea pulled fairy bread from a brick oven as Cullen stirred a large pot of stew. Nea figured that they could best blend in with Evander’s people posing as cooks. They were dressed in leather vests so they looked like they belonged. It really hadn’t been too hard to fit in. They simply walked in where the cooks were cooking and Cullen told them they had recently joined the camp and thought they could be helpful as cooks. Both statements were true, so he wasn’t lying, but he wasn’t about to tell them everything. Once again, Nea played mute to not have to try to finagle words.
They prepared the dinner, trying not to really draw any attention to themselves. Mostly, they wanted to listen for any information about if Dylan had made it there and what Evander was planning.
There was a great hall where Evander and many of his men came for dinner. It wasn’t majestic as the great hall in King Giles’s castle. The Ruins of Parval were indeed ruins. The great hall was old, cracked, and mostly barren, except for tables, benches, and sconces on the wall. There were no brightly colored tapestries or garlands of flowers. The castle the great hall had once been part of was mostly rubble, and the top corner of the room was broken off, letting sunlight or rain in. Due to the rain, there was a damp mold on the wall there and the smell was not pleasant.
Nea wished she had more to work with to cook, but she still enjoyed cooking with what she had.
