by Terry Spear
“What was it?” Eloria asked, as she tried to stand up. Something rolled under her foot, and she hurried to plant her feet on firmer ground. She brushed off her gown, then wiped her hands of moisture, groundwater soaking the moss-covered walls and floor.
“Griffin. Looked to be a fairly large-sized one…and hungry too.”
“Griffin?”
“Winged creature…likes to eat winged elves…river elves too, but we are easier prey since we fly mostly in the open like the griffins do. The river elves hide in the shelter of their forest and—”
“What is this place?” Eloria looked around at the walls of the cave cloaked in darkness. The air was chilly, and she shivered involuntarily.
Balen pulled out his wand and lighted the room. He twisted his mouth. “Uh, we need to get out of here.”
Eloria screamed as she slipped on the pile of bones scattered from their fall. She swore she had never screamed so much in her life since she'd come to this planet!
Were the bones from recent victims of some kind of awful predator? Before she could question Balen, they heard a noise from up above.
“Eloria! Balen!” Viator called from the meadowland floor.
“Down here!” Balen yelled up to him.
“What are you doing down there?”
“A griffin came looking for a meal. What are you doing up there?”
“I decided to join you…and let my wings heal the rest of the morning in your company. They’re not in real good shape, but…” He paused as he peered into the hole. “Uh, I don’t want to alarm anyone, but the two of you need to get out of there at once.”
The sound of shrieking from above made Eloria shudder. “What is it?”
“The griffin returning,” Balen said.
A whooshing sound followed and Viator tumbled down the tunnel and landed at their feet.
Balen shook his head. “I thought you said we shouldn’t be down here.”
“The griffin returned. But you’re right. We mustn’t be down here.”
They all looked up and heard the flapping of wings. “But not that way,” Eloria said.
Viator unsheathed his sword. “This way is not good, either.” He turned to Eloria. “Are you okay, today?"
“Certainly. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Do you not remember about last night?”
“I had some pretty strange dreams last night, but I often have them.”
He touched her head, but the elves’ medicine had healed her wound perfectly. He breathed a sigh of relief.
Balen handed the light to Eloria, then pulled his sword from its sheath. “Do you hear anything?”
Eloria pulled the cotton cloth from her ears and stuffed the pieces into Viator’s backpack. “What?”
Viator shook his head. “When it’s this quiet, the atmosphere is deadlier.”
Her heart was already beating twice as fast as normal as if she’d been running in a tournament with her shipmates in training. And the humidity in the cave contributed to a trickle of perspiration dripping down her cheek. The caves were not like any she’d ever visited…eerie and filled with the smell of decay and death. What lurked in the darkness? They gave her back her pack, but not her sword or her stun gun. Though they never asked her what it was.
The three headed down the narrow passage. Balen rubbed his temple as it freckled with sweat. “Do you think they know we’re here?”
Viator glanced back at Eloria. “That sweet fragrance Eloria wears will be sure to tell them.”
“Who?” Eloria asked. She wasn’t sure she really wanted to know whoever or whatever had apparently finished off unsuspecting creatures that had entered their lair and eaten them, leaving only scarred bones behind. She hoped they wouldn’t encounter the grizzly beasts while they navigated the twisted caverns.
Balen took a deep breath as he held his sword at the ready. “I didn’t think solving these quests would be so…challenging.”
“Not a walk in the gardens.” Viator raised his sword at the ready.
“What is in the cave?” Eloria’s hand shook slightly while she held the light up for them to see.
“Don’t ask!” Viator and Balen said at the same time, and she knew then they were in trouble.
For some time, they walked in the tunnel, twisting this way, then that. The only sound they heard was the dripping of water, their padded footsteps on the uneven rock, and a rat squealing in the abyss before them. Then a shadow moved across the ceiling and vanished.
“We’re almost through the caves to Darkland Forest,” Viator said, his voice tinged with relief. “If we can just make it there—”
“You’ve been there before through this way?” Eloria wondered how they could have moved so swiftly through the maze of tunnels and seemed to know just where they were going, which comforted her some.
“Balen and several of the other boys and I used to go adventuring in here. We mapped all the tunnels in our youth.”
“What’s in the cave, Viator?” Eloria glimpsed another shadow crawling across the ceiling ahead. Her heart picked up its pace, and then she smelled the odor of rotten meat in the air. Undoubtedly its last meal.
“Trolls!” Viator and Balen yelled as they slashed at the beast rearing its hideous head before them. Brown teeth, crooked and sharp, snarled at them as the elves swung at it with their swords. Its matted shaggy brown hair acted as armor as they attempted to fight his deadly claws. Eloria’s crystal grew bright, blinding the creature. For a moment, everyone stared at the light. Then, the troll screamed and like a shadow, slipped to the ceiling and vanished.
“Come on.” Viator grabbed Eloria’s hand and ran through the remainder of the tunnel. “This is the entrance to where the river is.” Viator studied the ground as he looked for the dark elf’s shoe print.
“What are you looking for, sire?” Balen examined the ground.
“Lars’s footprint.”
“Here!” Balen said.
“Here!” another voice said in the distance.
13
Viator, Balen, and Eloria stared in the direction of the voice. “There is no echo in this cave because of the river,” Viator said under his breath. He feared they’d have company soon. One simple task was becoming a total nightmare to accomplish and yet, his thoughts weren’t totally on the task at hand either. Eloria. What was he going to do with her?
He motioned to the new tunnel. The three hurried for its cover and they turned off their light. The crunching of footsteps against stone followed as several men hurried toward the elf footprint. “I know I saw a light up here and heard a voice.”
The river elf turned his face toward the new tunnel. Viator, Balen, and Eloria leaned back against the wall, hidden in the darkness.
“We must close off the tunnel. No telling how many winged elves have slipped in through this opening,” the elf said.
Viator grabbed Eloria’s arm and hurried her and Balen toward the Darkland Forest. “I cannot believe we were so close to cleansing the water…now this.” He was infuriated beyond reason.
They heard the tromping of feet behind them as river elves carried the barrels of explosives deep into the tunnel.
Viator whispered to Balen, “They’ll set them far enough from the river so it won't cause a problem with the flow of water.” Viator took a deep breath. “This tunnel opens into Darkland Forest. We’ll have to tread through it and around to the other opening. Then we’ll have to return to the caves again.”
Balen shook his head. “I hadn’t known this would be so difficult a task.”
“Do you regret having come?”
“Your Majesty, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”
They turned to see a spark ignite. “Run!” Viator dashed for the exit of the cave, pulling Eloria with him, as Balen ran after them in a full sprint.
The explosion from the blast threw Viator, Eloria, and Balen out of the tunnel. For a moment, they lay still in the deep shadows of the trees. Viator opened his eyes and
saw Eloria and Balen nearby. “Eloria. Balen.” He hurried to his feet to rouse his companions.
“Aye, aye, there was an explosion in the new tunnel!” he heard a river elf say.
He helped Eloria to her feet, and she wiped dirt from her clothes.
They would be in trouble soon if they did not make a quick exit from the forest. “Balen.” Viator shook his shoulder to wake him.
He opened his eyes and smiled. “She was truly beautiful, sire.”
“Shh.” Viator helped him to stand with a rush to his efforts. The river elves were nearby and growing closer as they broke twigs and crunched fallen leaves with their hurried footsteps.
“Green eyes glowing as bright as the crystal at Eloria’s neck,” Balen said.
“Shhh,” Viator repeated as he held his hand over Balen’s mouth. He hurried him toward the cliffs where the trees thinned, and he could attempt flight. He hoped his wings were healed enough now as they should have been had he let them rest further that morning. And he hoped his friend had come to his senses enough that he would fly when he needed to.
Eloria was running at his side and hadn’t seemed to have been affected, though she was still covered in dust and dirt.
They soon reached the clearing and Viator spread his wings. “They’ve nearly fully healed,” he said under his breath with relief.
Balen was still stumbling toward the cliffs. “Green eyes…and pearl-white teeth.”
“Shh, Balen, the river elves are nearby. Come, we must fly across to the fairyland meadows.”
Eloria quickly stuffed her ears with cotton.
Balen nodded. “The teeth almost smile in the mist.”
“Who are you talking about?” Viator lifted Eloria onto his back and grabbed Balen’s arm and pulled him over the cliff. He couldn’t wait any further.
To Viator’s relief, Balen instinctively spread his wings and glided to the other side.
“There!” a river elf shouted. “The winged elves have been here again! This means war, Viator!”
Viator shook his head as he soared with Balen back over the mountains to the other entrance of Darkland Forest. Balen turned to him. “Why are we coming back here?”
“The water needs to be cleansed…remember?”
Balen’s brows knitted together as he tried to recall. “The tunnel was blasted.”
“Aye. I’m afraid when we try to enter the caves again, we will find more river elves there, unless they have left by now.” He studied Balen for a moment, wondering who in the world Balen was rambling on about in Darkland Forest. “Who were you talking about, back there?”
“The dragon I will rein in. She is a beauty to be sure.”
“Are we going to cure the water?” Eloria asked Viator, relieved he had hold of her tightly in his grasp. She sighed deeply and wished he’d hold her always like that, with genuine affection.
He shook his head. “Yes. As soon as we have a chance to pour this into the water.” He reached for a flask hanging from his leather belt. “From the elven container and from what you overheard the river elves mention, my people were able to determine what poison was used, just to ensure the type they mentioned was truly the same as the one in the flask.”
“Was it?”
“Yes. Though there’s some concern that it was all a lie and the poison was something else. Anyway, it wasn't, then they filled this flask with a drug to counteract it.”
“Yes, Balen told me this morning. Your wings…they’re fully healed now?”
“Aye.”
She studied the landscape as they neared the tunnel entrance. Shaking her head, she pointed east. “We should enter above where the footprint was found, just in case they still look for us.” She heard voices in there. “They are still in there.”
“All right. East it is.”
“There.” She pointed to a raised mound in the earth. “That’s about a mile upstream from the footprint, and there is an entrance there.”
Viator landed, then released her. “You still wear our elven gowns.”
“They didn’t give me time to change before I left.”
Viator looked at the entrance. “Perhaps you should stay outside here—”
“I had another thought, Viator. I will take the flask and empty the contents in the river.”
“Sounds like a good plan to me.” Balen watched for signs of trouble in the forest surrounding them
“No.” Viator released Eloria’s hand and motioned for her to stay in back of them while he and Balen led the way. “We will stay together, if you won’t stay behind, Eloria.”
Viator paused, listening for the sounds of voices, then motioned for the others to follow. Balen pulled out his wand, then lighted the area. Eloria’s crystal glowed slightly. Everyone stared at the necklace. “Why does it do that?” Viator whispered.
“I don’t know.” Eloria glanced behind her. She took a deep breath.
The three headed toward the river.
Viator cleared his throat. “Are you sure the river is this way? I don’t hear its roar.”
“I smell it. Don’t you?” She glanced down at her crystal glowing slightly again. She looked behind her, thinking she heard someone behind her, but saw no one.
The light Balen carried disappeared around the bend and Viator with him, as the crystal grew dark.
14
Eloria stumbled toward the bend in the tunnel, hurrying to rejoin the winged elves. The hair on her arms prickled with fear as her fingers felt the turn in the rock wall, but still there was no light to illuminate her way. She didn’t want to use her own magic for fear she’d run into the river elves. She lunged forward but bumped into a warm body. Fingers quickly clamped over her mouth. Eyes wild with fear, she strained to see the figure in the dark. A voice whispered in her ear, sending chills down her body.
“Shh, Eloria.” Viator’s soft voice tickled her ear. “River elves are still in the tunnels. They are searching for a way out.”
“They cannot harm us here. No cliffs to throw us from.”
“Shh.”
The dark elf spoke near the river. “Winged elves are west of here at least a mile.”
“Aye…aye, but we’ve already walked east, what, two miles? And yet we have found no way back to Darkland Forest.”
“We’ll have to climb the mountains—”
“It will take us several weeks.”
The river elves grew quiet. “What do you see here?” another asked.
“This tunnel leads up to the surface to another forest, sire. There seems to be no way out of this place, except for a long climb through the mountains.”
Viator tensed as he stared at the dark-haired elf whose dark eyes darted about searching for signs of life. “Lars,” Viator said under his breath.
“Viator and another winged elf you say were sighted near here?” Lars asked.
“Aye, sire.”
Lars rubbed his chin. “If we can find them, one of them will fly me home.”
“And the rest of us?”
“You will just have to find your own way.”
“Aye, sire. What about the human girl?”
“The winged elves took her,” Lars said, then sniffed the air. “Still, I smell her scent in the air.” He kicked a rock across the floor. “I cannot believe you fools threw her off the cliff.”
“Your orders, sire, were to throw any outsider off the—”
“I know very well what my orders say. Can you not think for yourselves just once?”
“Aye, sire. I mean, no, sire.”
“The power I will have when I have her in my grasp…” He stomped his foot. “Find the winged elves. When we have them, we can use them to get to the girl.”
“Aye, sire.”
The dark elves scurried back east while Lars stared into the dark tunnel where Eloria and the winged elves hid. The crystal flickered at her throat. Hurriedly, she covered the necklace with her hands. Viator glanced down at it and pulled her close to block the glow of light.
“She will be mine!” Lars yelled, then stormed after his men.
“Stay here, Eloria, with Balen.” Viator squeezed her hand. “I’ll empty the contents of the cure into the river, then we’ll leave again through this tunnel.”
“But…,” Eloria said.
“Keep her here, Balen,” Viator whispered to him. “She cannot come with me.”
“Aye, Your Majesty.”
Balen took hold of Eloria’s arm as Viator slipped out of the tunnel and dashed for the river.
“Hey!” they heard a man shout. “Grab him! Do not harm him. He’ll know where the human girl is!”
Balen released Eloria and ran into the cave as he pulled his sword from his sheath. “Hurry, Your Majesty!” he shouted, as he held his weapon up to keep the river elves at bay.
Viator struggled with the lid to the container, but without success.
“Hurry, sire!”
“Somebody tightened the lid too tight!”
The sound of metal striking metal clashed as Balen wielded his elven sword against two river elves’ swords. Sparks of light flew from the contact.
“I will fire the elf who capped this flask!” Viator yelled, as he gripped the lid and twisted.
“Hurry, sire! More are coming.”
Eloria walked into the cave. The glow of her emerald washed the whole area in a warm green light. The men stood still.
“The human girl,” one of the river elves said, as Viator stared at her.
“The winged elf seeks to cleanse our water. Leave him do his job in peace.” Her voice was calm, deep and dark. “In peace.”
She turned to Balen. “Help Viator open the flask.”
Viator shook his head. “I’ll get this open on my own.” His face reddened as the knuckles of his hands whitened while he twisted and turned the cap.
“Your sword,” Eloria commanded. She had no time for arguments.
“They’ll overwhelm us.” Balen walked backward toward her.