The Princess and Her Rogue

by Sheritta Bitikofer

  “Nate! Help me!” she shouted from below. Nate, probably unaware that she was still alive, leaned over the edge and immediately outstretched his arm to her.

  “Take my hand!” he called out. But, his hand was still out of her reach by a few inches. Kiara fingers groped for his, but when her other hand began to slip, she had to recoil her hand to save herself.

  “I can’t reach! My hand is slipping!” she cried out, feeling hot tears roll down her face. She never imagined she would die like this. She hoped it wouldn’t be too painful to be burned alive. She kept her face down as she sobbed.

  “Keep trying!”

  “I can’t! My arms are getting tired!”

  Nate, in a risky and desperate move, scooted his body over the edge so that his waist and legs were the only thing keeping him on solid ground. He reached down once more and this time, Kiara thought that she could make it.

  She reached up again and their hands clasped together. Though both palms were sweaty and slippery, Nate was able to pull her all the way up and over the edge of the ravine and to safety.

  Kiara laid face down on the ground still crying and trembling. Nate placed a gentle hand on her back and leaned over to look at her face.

  “Hey, you’re ok. You’re alive. It’s ok,” he consoled, rubbing her back.

  Kiara looked up and saw that his own eyes were a little red, possibly from shedding tears as well. She burst up and threw herself into Nate’s arms, holding him and thanking him over and over again. This had been four times now that he had saved her from the jaws of death; twice from bandits, once from a bog and now from fire.

  Nate only wrapped his arms around her for as long as he could bear it, just glad that she was alive and safe.

  But, their reunion was soon interrupted. Another earthquake erupted from beneath them. It wasn’t like the one that would come before a new geyser was formed. It was longer and grew increasingly more violent. Nate released her and looked out towards the land that they had to cross before getting to the cliff. Kiara lifted her head too, just in time to see the entire field explode with new geysers, all popping off in succession and at random.

  They just stared in awe before a geyser exploded right between them and the ravine. Nate pulled her up to her feet, their hands fused together by the common bond to get out of this hell alive. They made a run for the cliffs. Kiara stumbled along, running as fast as she possibly could, holding his hand as tight as her strength would let her.

  Geyser after geyser exploded, spewing out fire, steam and lava as they went. Nate kept a sharp eye on the ground, noticing where the cracks developed and changing their course at the last minute, as the fire would shoot into the air next to them or in front of them.

  Kiara whimpered and shrieked at every close call they had. Nate continued to drag her along, not slowing down and not stopping for anything. Kiara reasoned that something must have been set off under the surface of the field. Maybe the disturbance of the bridge or the lava river destroyed the field’s equilibrium.

  The earth continued to tremble and shake under their feet and Nate was finding it more and more difficult for him to run straight. The quakes grew more violent, more aggressive, as if there was some force in the field that was trying to keep them there forever. And the closer they became to the cliffs, the more determined that force became.

  They were just a quarter of a mile away from the cliff when suddenly, a huge rift in the ground formed. Nate skidded to a stop and held Kiara to keep her from running straight into a towering wall of fire that erupted from the rift.

  Kiara screamed in fright and tried to turn back, but the geyser explosions were gaining on them, exploding all around and behind them. They seemed trapped.

  “Nate!” she cried out, wrapping her arms around him as if it was the last time. He only put his hands on her shoulders and watched the wall of fire, noticing that it was slowly dying down. If they waited long enough, they could jump the rift.

  But, time was running short. The geysers were popping off closer and the quakes made their knees buckle beneath them. Finally, when Nate knew there was no time to waste, he pushed Kiara aside and jumped through the low-lying flames, allowing them to lick the bottom of his boots and the cuffs of his sleeve as he went.

  Nate landed on the other side of the rift that was nearly untouched by the geysers so far and motioned for Kiara to do the same.

  “Jump!” he shouted.

  Paralyzed by the fires surrounding her, Kiara didn’t jump right away. She hoped that maybe if she waited a few more seconds, the fire would subside. But, just like Nate had discovered, there was no time for waiting.

  A geyser crack had just formed beneath her feet.

  Kiara jumped, her place taken by a new pillar of fire. She made it to the other side and Nate caught her around the waist, helping her to land safely.

  Again, they had to keep running. More geysers were going off all around them. Nate grabbed her hand and they made a run for the red cliffs ahead.

  When they came to the base, the task seemed impossible. The cliff was so high, but luckily there were many footholds and little ledges for their hands and feet.

  They climbed. They climbed as hard and as fast as they could, geysers erupting from under them, coaxing them to go up higher and higher.

  Nate made it to the top first and was the first to touch rich, green grass. Kiara followed with the help of Nate tugging at the seat of her pants, pulling her up to the edge and over. Both were breathing heavily, trying to catch their breath and cool off, sitting and staring at each other, almost in shock that the other was still alive.

  Then, the two survivors gazed out over the land they had just conquered. It was completely submerged in red, hot, molten lava. Fire speckled the top of the land and everything was burning. Obviously, their footprints would never be seen. Not even a geyser, new or old, was able to break through the thick lava.

  Kiara couldn’t believe that she had come out of the field in one piece. She collapsed in a heap on her side and decided to take a rest. Nate only sat there, staring and panting. He looked off to the east, and saw a gorgeous waterfall that was pouring into the Field of Fire, which must have been the source for the toxic river. He knew that from here on north, the water would be clean, clear and safe for drinking or bathing. That was a relief, seeing as their canteen was as dry as a bone - inside and out.

  Nate looked down to the poor girl lying next to him and saw she was hiding her face in her arms, her chest rising and falling with each deep breath she took. He could just barely see that the sun had only a few hours left to shine on the earth before sinking below the horizon.

  He laid a shaking, but gentle hand on her shoulder and leaned over as he did before. “You alright? Are you burnt at all?” he asked breathlessly.

  Kiara shook her head, but didn’t look up to him.

  “Can you walk? We need to set up camp just down river.”

  “River?” she asked, finally popping her head out from underneath her arms.

  “Yes. See, there’s a river and a waterfall, right there,” Nate replied, pointing towards the east. Kiara got up onto her elbows and looked to her right, and sure enough, just a short walk away, was a sparkling clear river and beautiful waterfall.

  She was ecstatic. If it weren’t for the extreme fatigue in her legs and the aching in her chest, she would have jumped for joy and ran towards the river. Instead, she laid back down and groaned in her exhaustion. Nate chuckled tiredly and ran his fingers through his sweat-logged hair, making it slick back and stick against his skull. He looked out over the lava land and let out a long breath, happy to just be breathing at all.

  Once Kiara had recovered, they traveled into the dense woods that hugged the shores of the river until they found another waterfall half a mile from the one that dispensed into the field. Kiara thought it a perfect place to camp, so to Nate’s disappointment, they stopped for the night earlier than he intended.

  While Nate was busying himself with f
ixing the last measly scraps of meat they had left, Kiara decided to take advantage of the cool, fresh water and take a bath. She couldn’t remember the last time she had taken a bath, but she knew it was something that was long overdue. And in light of what they just had to experience, Kiara couldn’t procrastinate a good washing any longer.

  Her boy clothes lay in a small pile at the edge of the pool where the water fell down to and Kiara was swimming under the surface, enjoying the refreshing sensation that the waters brought to her bare skin. She passed by fishes without a care, letting her hands brush against the smooth stones along the riverbed. She had never known anything more peaceful.

  When she ran out of breath, she burst from the water, throwing back her long, wet, dark hair, letting it cling to her skin down the small of her back. The water only came up to her hip line as she grazed her fingertips along the little waves and ripples in the surface that was made by the small waterfall.

  She waded to the waterfall’s base and let the icy liquid pound against her hair and back, washing away the dirt, sweat and grime that she had acquired over the days she had been missing from Aleph. Kiara loved it. The torment and terror she had to endure in the Field of Fire was well worth it just to experience this little luxury. She hoped that maybe she could have the pleasure of a bath every other day, as long as they would follow the river.

  Despite the bone chilling waters, Kiara felt revived and invigorated. She thought she would never make it out of that field alive. If it weren’t for Nate, she would be dead. She was suddenly extremely grateful for his guidance and protection. Kiara smiled at the thought of many long miles ahead that she would spend with him.

  Unbeknown to Kiara, she wasn’t alone. Up on the hill, hidden by a patch of trees, Nate watched her with steady eyes, only able to see her backside above her hips. He thought nothing perverted or impure. He only admired her curves and sleek hair. Whether he would have admitted it earlier or not, he had to say now that she truly was a beautiful creature, annoying and irritating, but an exquisitely beautiful woman.

  Back in the field, when she fell off the bridge, Nate was heartbroken. He knew not why at the time, but now, as he looked at her bathing, he understood why. Despite her being the most frustrating, loud-mouthed, proud person he’d ever met, he had grown an odd attachment to her. Losing her this early in their journey seemed completely unbearable. He didn’t think he could handle such a tragedy. He didn’t know why. All he knew was that his heart couldn’t bare to lose her. Not now… Not again.

  Chapter 9

  The following morning, after a well-needed night of sleep, an amber sun made its appearance over the edge of the tree line. Kiara had slept soundly all night, exhausted after braving the Field of Fire.

  Nate slept like a rock and got a head start before Kiara. Right after he had gobbled down his portion of deer meat, he fell fast asleep on his mat. Kiara had the honors of draping a blanket over his body, but she stayed up a little longer before succumbing to a similar sleep.

  The morning was beautiful. The sky - besides an ominous grey cloud of smoke that was still hanging over the field to the south - was clear and filled with singing birds and sunshine. It was a fitting beginning to seemingly the last leg of their journey. Kiara knew that they only had a few more days of traveling before they would go through Mem’s pass and into her father’s kingdom. There, they would be out of any serious danger, which Kiara was very glad for.

  She was tired of running for her life. This little misadventure had only proven to her that she would have preferred a nice quiet evening in her library than a ride in the country. Too many things could happen out in the open. It wasn’t worth the risk anymore. But, that wouldn’t keep her from exploring what she could under the watchful eyes of her father or Justin.

  Kiara stirred under her blanket and curled her legs up tighter, feeling suddenly very comfortable and unwilling to get up, even though the sunlight was shining down on her face and lightly penetrating through her eyelids, keeping her from fully falling back asleep. But, there was something else that had awoken her. Kiara could hear other rustling within the camp.

  When her senses had fully realized that movement was taking place not too far from her, she grudgingly rolled over and cracked her eyes open to see what was going on. Nate was standing just outside the edge of the campsite. His back was turned to her, but Kiara could hear what he was doing.

  She shuddered, as she had to listen to the obscene sound of liquid pouring out onto dirt, leaves and grass. She squeezed her eyes shut and hid her face under the blanket until the awful noise stopped. Couldn’t he have chosen a more appropriate place to take a leak than practically in front of her? More rustling came from his direction, then footsteps towards camp.

  Kiara opened her eyes again and saw him crouching down over his sack, shifting through its contents. “What are you doing?” she asked with a broken, scratchy voice.

  Nate’s head snapped up and looked at her with bright eyes. “Just go back to sleep,” he said softly, motioning his hand carelessly in her direction, and then turning his attention back to the sack.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m just going to go out and hunt a little bit and try to find some food for the next few days. Just go back to sleep, you’ll be safe at camp.” Nate didn’t look back to her as he stood up, obtaining the canteen and dagger from the pack, and going to pick up the bow and quiver.

  “I’m going with you,” Kiara mumbled as she lifted herself up onto her hands and knees to try and stand, despite her grogginess. Her skin was now much softer and fairer compared to the dingy tan color from before that was created by dirt. Her eyes seem even brighter and her hair darker.

  “No, you’re not. You’re staying right here in camp,” Nate said, pointing to the ground that he stood on, watching her disobey him anyway as she stood up and wrapped the blanket around her shoulders. She still wore the boy clothes he had given her, but unfortunately she had no time to clean them, so they reeked of bog mud.

  “I’m going with you.” Kiara staggered towards Nate and grinned sleepily. He just looked down at her and tried not to grin in the same way, but it proved to hard when staring down at those pretty eyes and long eyelashes. He only scoffed and turned away to a particular path that led towards the west, opposite of the river. Only then would he let his lips crack into a tiny smirk.

  Kiara trudged on behind him after discarding the blanket, knowing that it would only get snagged along the way. She didn’t enjoy the idea of hunting a poor helpless animal, but she just couldn’t stand the thought of being there in the camp alone. She felt safer with Nate around. She knew that if he wasn’t there to protect her from whatever may be lurking in the woods, then she would never be able to go back to sleep. And from experience, it was dreadfully boring to just wait around in camp with nothing to occupy her thoughts or hands.

  “How did you sleep?” she asked about five minutes into their meandering.

  “Fine. You?” Nate replied gruffly, as if he didn’t wish to talk. Kiara knew he never did, but she wasn’t going to put up with silence on this little hunting trip either.

  “Very well. I had a dream about my horse back home. A beautiful pure white mare. I miss her too. I used to ride her around the walls of Aleph - on the inside of course. I dreamed I was riding her across the Field of Fire that we went through yesterday.

  “She jumped over that river of lava and through the huge wall of fire and got me across safely in practically no time. The only hard part was that I had to leave her behind to go up the cliff. I didn’t want to, so I took my father’s old advice about dreams. He said if you have a nightmare and you wake up from it, then you should imagine a different ending, a happier one, then dream it again so it won’t bother you as much. So, I did that and made it so there was something like stairs going up the cliff. So, me and my horse got safely to the top and we both lived. It was a nice dream. I wish we could have had her company yesterday. It would have been a lot easier. Did y
ou have any dreams?”

  “No.”

  “… Not one?”

  “Nope,” he grunted curtly, squatting down to touch a track that an animal had left in the ground.

  “That’s odd. I always have dreams. Usually, very lovely dreams… But, I do get those nightmares on occasion. I hate those. What’s your worst nightmare?” she asked, standing behind him, wrapping her arms around her shoulders comfortably.

  Nate had half a mind to mention a talkative girl with no “off” button, but thought better of it. “I don’t know,” he said.

  “How do you not know? You must have a nightmare every once and a while. With all the killing you do, I imagine you must have some bad dreams. My brother, Justin, said he always gets nightmares after coming home from some sort of battle or war where he had to kill people… But, now that I think about it, you wouldn’t have many dreams or nightmares because you don’t sleep hardly at all.”

  Nate was silent as he examined a broken twig that was lying in the hoof print shaped track. Kiara watched him curiously.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Tracking.”

  “Tracking what?”

  “A deer. It came through here a little while ago.”

  “Oh, that’s nice. Are we going to follow it?”

  Without a word, Nate stood up and took off at a light jog through the woods, following the set of tracks. Kiara took that as a “yes” and followed after him, jumping over fallen logs and maneuvering through bushes.

  “But, how could you tell it had come through here a little while ago?” Kiara asked, catching up with him.

  “I just can,” he replied, keeping his eyes on the tracks and on the unmarked trail ahead of him.

  “Did it have anything to do with the twig you were looking at back there? It didn’t look that interesting to me. There was nothing peculiar about it except that it was broken. Was it something about the way it was broken that told you the deer was close? Or was it some kind of marking the deer left with its foot? I can’t understand how you trackers can do this sort of stuff. It’s way too confusing for me. My brother, Aaron, he hunts and tracks all the time but he never…”