by Natalie Erin
“Oof! Why I never…”
“Yay! Ionan, your hair is so fluffy,” Lottie said, snuggling into it. She cuddled into his warm fur, and Ionan instantly fell silent. Lilja kept on running back and forth, climbing higher and higher and sliding down less often as the group kept scaling the rock. When he could no longer slide anymore he huffed, “That…was…fun. Can…we…slide…down…other side…now?”
“There’s the cave first,” Ionan told him. He didn’t mind Lottie’s snuggling, and after hours was only just beginning to get annoyed with Lilja slamming into him. “We have to go through that next.”
“Oh yeah,” he said, and took Ionan’s other side.
“I think I see the top!” Keota exclaimed, beginning to run. “Yeah, that’s it, we made it!”
“Marvelous,” Kia said, picking up her speed slightly as well. “I just want to stop climbing.” With just a few more minutes of ascending, they made it to the top of a large ledge that went all around the mountain, with a few weeds growing here and there. The group stood on the ledge and looked to where the Ice Borns loomed. They were much larger than the Blue Sky Peaks, and had a reputation to go with them. The mountain range was the most dangerous in the known world and had killed many travelers who had taken its dangers lightly. The mountains were enormous behemoths, hundreds of thousands of feet tall, frozen blocks of both glaciers and rocks.
“We get to climb those next,” Kia informed the group. “Won’t that be so much fun?”
“Yes, fun,” Ionan answered unenthusiastically.
“I can’t wait,” Snow Drop moaned.
“You’ll most likely only climb part way up, Snow Drop. I don’t trust it with you going all the way.” Kia said.
“You mean I’ll get to go home, while you and the others climb?” Snow Drop asked. “But why?”
“Because it may not be safe,” Kia told her.
“I can start the climb though, right? I don’t want to leave you alone Kia, you’re my fairy,” the Pegasus said, changing her tone.
“I know. You’ll come with us until I say it’s too dangerous.” Kia replied.
“Okay,” Snow Drop nodded. “I can live with that I guess. But I’m not going back,” she muttered under her breath.
“It’s so going to be great!” Lilja said in actual excitement. “Look at all those ledges to climb!”
“And all that snow to play in!” Lottie bounced.
The adults looked at each other tiredly and sighed, pondering the long walk they had ahead.
“I found the cave!” Keota called. “It’s right over here!”
“Well done,” Ionan congratulated, walking toward his Accompany’s voice.
“Let’s get over there,” Snow Drop shouted, running after Ionan.
“Slow down or you’ll fall.” Kia called, following at a much slower pace. The cave mouth was large and dark. It took up a good portion of the rock the ledge ran around.
“Look, it echoes.” Keota said, leaning in to the cave. “Hello!” he called.
“Hello, hello, hello,” the cave called back. Kia giggled at Keota’s easy amusement. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a torch and lit it, the flame burning warmly and brightly.
“Let’s just go in already!” Ionan growled.
“Way to spoil all the fun Ionan,” Kia said, bumping into him as she walked past. “Come on Keota.”
He followed Kia into the cave without waiting for the others. Kia was close behind him and the wolves followed her, all of them going into the cave without any sort of fright.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Ionan muttered as he followed them reluctantly. As they went inside the tunnel entrance became farther and farther away, until they could only see a speck of light behind them.
“Kia, how far back did your father’s servant carry these things?” Lilja asked, watching as a bug scuttled across his path.
“This cave is starting to creep me out,” Snow Drop said, unhappily brushing away a spider’s web with her tail.
“Everything’s going to be fine,” Keota said. “What could possibly go wrong?”
“You know, I couldn’t count how many times you said that in the army and every time you did...”
“Kia,” Lottie whined. “Look over there.”
Kia turned to see what the pup was talking about. The skeleton of a wolf lay in one corner. There were small bits of flesh still clinging to the white bone, blood all over the floor. Two packs lay beside it, most likely containing what her father had sent them. “It’s fresh.” Kia bit her lower lip and gagged slightly, a tear slowly rolling down one cheek.
“I told you I didn’t trust this,” Ionan snarled. He looked around nervously for whatever had killed the wolf.
“Who could have done this?” Lilja asked. He walked around the skeleton, confused. “Why would they do this?”
“I don’t know,” Kia answered. She walked toward the corpse slowly. “Keota, grab these packs.” She told him.
“Why can’t you grab them?” he asked.
“I plan on burying this poor thing,” she replied. She sunk to her knees next to the skeleton.
“Just do what she says so we can get out of here,” Ionan hissed.“We all know you’re strong enough to carry everything. Let’s go.”
“Quiet!” Lilja said, and everyone came to a standstill. “I think I hear something.”
No movement came from any of the companions. Something stirred in the caverns… it was so soft though, half of them assumed it was a falling rock.
Lottie noticed it first. “Oh…by my father’s fangs…what is that awful smell?”
Lilja smelt it next and he covered his nose with his paw, trying to scrape off the scent. “I don’t know but it’s just…ugh! It smells like…dead carrion!”
“No,” Ionan said, his eyes watering. “It smells like a sick beast.”
“What is everyone talking…” Kia’s words halted and she flung a hand in front of her face. “Gross! Seriously, that’s disgusting! Is it the caves?”
“Well it’s not any of us! I had a bath the other morning!” Snow Drop said, covering her face with her wings.
“Oh seriously guys, it’s not that bad,” Keota rolled his eyes, looking at them. “I’ve smelled worse.”
“Well of course we have but…gah!” Ionan stomped his hooves angrily. “Is it the wolf carcass?”
Lottie shook her head. “I’m not sure but we...”
Her sentence was cut off as a feral snarl rung throughout the caves, and the light from the entrance of the tunnel was blocked out for a few precious seconds. “What’s going on?” Kia yelled, but she screamed as she was knocked to the ground and her torch went out.
“Ionan!” Keota shouted in the dark. The next thing the Accompany knew he was pinned against the wall by his shoulders, the rock cutting into his back. He reacted instantly and he grabbed whatever it was, digging his hands into its fur and pitching it against the wall.
There was a snarl of anger, and of pain. It was still dark, so Keota scrabbled to find the light. Lilja, who could see in the dark, grabbed the torch with his teeth and pulled it over to the Accompany. Keota lit it quickly, swinging the torch around the room.
When the light was back they set eyes on what had attacked them. There was no other way to describe it except…horrid. One side of its face was a brown dog’s, the ears and the nose crooked and twisted. The other side was of a reptile, with long teeth growing in curved lines over the edges of the mouth and brown scales peeling off its body. It had the body and tail of a cat’s, while the feet and the claws were reptilian as the one side of the face.
It didn’t look very big at first, not until it rose to its feet. It stood up on its hind legs and walked backwards warily like an Accompany. Even so, everyone knew it was an animal. Keota was more scared than the rest of them. The way he had thrown the Thing should have broken its back, yet it stood among them, unharmed. Even more of an oddity about it was that there was a tiny diamond tiara ato
p its head, a three spiked crown that was the only thing about the creature that seemed clean. Kia on was on her feet, holding her knife out in front of her while Snow Drop stared in revulsion at the Thing. Lottie, who had a bit more pity, averted her eyes and pretended that she was merely looking at something else. The three boys, now able to clearly see what was in front of them, glanced at the Thing once and looked away too.
“What are you?” Snow Drop asked, not bothering to be polite.
The Thing cocked its head, and the tiara on top of it tilted. When it spoke, it had a voice like a Changer…a raspy Changer with a sore throat. “I’m Nagli. You’re a pegasus, no? I haven’t seen a pegasus in…forever.”
“No, what are you,” Snow Drop asked, stomping her hoof. “What?”
Nagli blinked. “What are you asking me?”
This was getting them nowhere. Kia raised her knife higher and said, “You attacked us. Why.”
“Would you attack someone if they walked into your home uninvited? I’d think so,” Nagli said, falling to her four feet. “Just waltzing in here like you owned the place. These caves aren’t exactly empty, you know. There are nastier things in here than me.”
“I’d doubt that,” Snow Drop snorted. Below, Lottie whimpered.
Nagli ignored her, or didn’t hear. “I nearly killed you, like I killed the wolf. It is a good thing I was feeling lonely today.”
“Lonely?” Ionan asked.
“I like to talk to the bones, not that they ever talk back,” Nagli said, disgruntled.
“You killed the wolf because you were lonely?” Kia asked suspiciously, raising her knife.
“No. I was going to eat it, but I decided I wasn’t hungry,” she said.
“What a waste,” Lilja said in disdain, crinkling his nose.
“I can’t help it. Sometimes I’m hungry, or at least I think I am, but I never eat.” Nagli looked at the torch, seemingly dazzled by its appearance. “That’s fire, isn’t it? I haven’t seen fire in a long time either. Let me just look at it, just a bit longer…”
“Nagli. A very dear friend had a name like that, before she died. Isn’t it a common name?” Ionan asked Keota, looking at his Accompany. Keota put up his hands and said, “Do I look like I would know? She’s definitely not the Nagli you’re thinking of.”
“My name is an old name. It means, ‘remembrance.” Nagli said, moving towards Ionan and starting to twirl around him. “But I’ve ceased to remember so many things. My name should have meant forgotten. I’ve drifted in these caves for years and years, so much that I’ve grown nearly blind and cannot see. I’ve forgotten the look and feel of grass and the feel of the wind underneath my wings…”
“Your wings?” Lottie asked, looking at her for once.
“I was once like him,” Nagli said, pointing her tail at Ionan. “That much I can remember. I got stuck in-between changes one day. How and why, I do not recall. I am such an old, old soul.”
“Why don’t you leave then, so you can remember again?” Lottie asked, confused.
“I’ve tried,” Nagli blinked. “But I think a curse holds me here. It is a promise broken, a chain that has forced me to remain in these dripping halls for many years.”
“Anything we can do?” Lilja asked.
Nagli shrugged. “No, not really. Only the person who cursed me, or bound me, or whatever they did, can release me from here.”
“What about your Accompany? Isn’t there something he or she could do?” Keota said, confused.
Nagli looked puzzled. “What’s an Accompany?”
“This dunderhead over here is one example,” Kia said, pointing to Keota with her elbow, still not letting down her knife.
Keota sighed and said, “One minute you adore me and the next you insult me. Will you make up your mind?”
“She changes her personality a lot. It happens,” Lilja said.
“No I do not, you little brat,” Kia snapped.
“Yes you do, don’t be mean,” Lottie said, her ears back.
“Do you know a better way out of these caves?” Keota asked Nagli.
Nagli bounced on her paws. “You can follow me. I know a quick way out.”
“Can we trust her?” Snow Drop said, not bothering to lower her voice.
“I know the way,” Nagli said. “It is better to trust me than to wander these endless labyrinths of caves by yourselves. I would find you eventually, and then I would get to talk to YOUR bones. But if you don’t want to go through here you can always take your chances with the elves.”
“Caves it is!” Keota said loudly, making the decision for the group.
“What about the wolf?” Kia asked stubbornly, still wanting to bury it.
“The bones stay with me if you want to leave the cave,” Nagli said, not letting her gaze drop from Kia’s. “The bones stay with me.”
You could see the protest in Kia’s face, but she bit her lip and said nothing as they moved on.
They followed Nagli throughout the caves, Kia going first and Keota bringing up the rear. Ionan changed into a rabbit so he could maneuver around the caverns easier, hopping along after the pups and snapping at Snow Drop when she stepped too close.
“I can’t help it, maybe I’m getting you back from all the times you’ve nearly stomped me with your large, giant feet!” Snow Drop said.
“I do not stomp. I glide,” Ionan said regally. Snow Drop resisted the urge to kick silt into his face.
“Why is it so quiet down here? I thought you said there were other scary things?” Lottie asked.
“There are many things hidden under here,” Nagli said. “Things that no one else is supposed to know about, large monsters that lie in the underground and go boom boom.”
“Boom boom?” Ionan asked.
“Yes. Boom boom.” Nagli’s tail curled.
“Why are you telling us this if we’re not supposed to know?” Kia asked.
“Because I can only tell the person who’s looking for them where they are. It is all I remember, but it is my job. Are any of you the people that are looking for the boom boom?” Nagli stopped in her tracks and the tiara jilted on her head.
“We’re looking for a cure to an illness, if that helps. Do you have any of those?” Lottie asked hopefully.
Nagli shook her head. “I’m sorry, I’ve got none of those. Forget about the boom boom.”
“Wasn’t even planning on remembering it,” Keota said happily.
The group continued on, until the torch was nearly out and you could see a light at the end of the tunnel. Keota shielded his eyes and said, “Hey, am I dead?”
“That’s the exit,” Lottie said helpfully before any of the others could bite back a nasty comment.
“I can’t go out into the light,” Nagli said. “But you can. Have fun with whatever you’re doing or wherever you’re going.”
“I wouldn’t exactly call it fun, but thanks anyways,” Lilja said with a wolfish smile. “It’s an adventure, at least…whoops!”
“Watch it there!” Nagli said. Lilja slid on the slope outside of the cave and he bumped into Nagli, causing the crown to fall off her head and onto his own.
“Oooh…pretty there,” Nagli said, her eyes shimmering as the diamond tiara morphed into a jet-black crown in the shape of wolf fangs.
“Woah,” Lilja said, looking up at his head. “Did that just happen?”
“Oooh, let me try, let me try!” Lottie said, racing to her brother. She scooped the crown to her ears and it changed into an ice-crystal headband.
“How unusual. It changes,” Ionan said, looking at it with interest. He hopped out of the cave, changed back into a dragon and asked, “May I?”
Lilja took the crown off of Lottie with his teeth and set it atop Ionan’s head. The thing grew long until it was a large golden crown with many jewels.
“Let me try again!” Lottie said, hopping up and down.
“No me, me!” Lilja barked.
“You two are acting like such children,�
�� Snow Drop said, shaking her head and snorting. “It’s a stupid crown.”
“Actually it’s not just a crown…” Nagli said, but Snow Drop didn’t hear her. The pegasus trotted to her companions, flew up, knocked off the giant crown from Ionan’s head, and slipped her ears inside.
Snow Drop squealed as the crown turned into a wreath of beautiful flowers. “Oh, the crown turned into those flowers I like! And they’re not poisonous!” She flung the wreath to the ground and attacked it with an open mouth, but once her teeth were about to chomp off a bite the crown turned back into a diamond tiara again.
“Oh…” Snow Drop said in disappointment before trying again and failing. While the others watched on in interest Kia turned to Nagli and said, “So…thanks for leading us out of the caves.”
“It was a small adventure, and you are very welcome,” Nagli said. “Back to the bones.”
“Uh, don’t you want the crown back?” Kia asked, starting to go get it.
Nagli shook her head. “What use are fancy things to me if I only have the bones and myself to share them with? You can have it.”
“Thanks,” Kia said, smiling. “Maybe one day I can come back and visit...”
Nagli was already gone. Kia looked at Keota, who was standing next to her, and the two of them glanced back once before climbing down the small slope.
Snow Drop kept on playing with the crown, tossing it on her head and off again and trying to eat it before it turned back into metal, but she failed every time. Eventually the mare got tired of her game and, frustrated that she couldn’t eat the blossoms, she told Kia to leave it in her saddlebags, and that’s where it stayed.
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE ICE BORN MOUNTAINS
“How much longer?” Keota moaned from Ionan’s scaly back as they flew around the mountain. “I’m beginning to see things! A white ghost thingy was on the ground following us, I know it!”
“Are you daft?” Ionan said, looking down for the white “thingy.”
“Just a little longer,” Kia answered. “I know the Ice Borns are just ahead.”