by Brindi Quinn
“Alrighty then,” – he nodded – “let’s git movin’.”
I nodded back, thankful to be prodded ahead.
As we moved through the cavern, dodging the large boulders that scattered the passage, I found the lightsong easier to wield than I ever had. It seemed I’d indeed been growing stronger over the past weeks. The more I used the ariandos, the more power I felt within me, and I finally felt like I was a real and capable songstress.
We continued on for some time past the mirrored walls, though I didn’t pay attention to how long it really was. Despite my best efforts, my thoughts were again consumed with Nyte.
Will I ever see you again? Why had something like that had to happen now, when I had no way to help him? When I couldn’t even stay behind and wait for him? Why?
“What are those?” Kantú’s chipper voice broke me away from the thoughts.
I was grateful for her interruption. It’d come just when I’d started to feel panicked again. She peeked over Grotts’ shoulder and pointed ahead.
I followed her finger and groaned.
It was way too uncanny. But I suppose I should’ve expected it.
“I was hoping there wouldn’t really be any vines in here,” I said.
“Vines?” She squinted.
“They were in my dreams too. There should be more.”
As I’d feared, there were more vines waiting farther down. They weren’t green and thick as the ones had been in the Drig’ni Jungle, but brown and stringy as if sick from lack of sunlight.
Scardo held the end of one in his palm. “How peculiar that they should be growing in the dark down here.”
Grotts nodded, his brows furrowed. “I never saw any like these in the crystal caves.”
“They aren’t vines,” said Ardette, flicking a particularly wispy one away. “They’re roots.”
I looked up and saw that the heads of the ‘vines’ actually dropped from cracks in the ceiling. Now that I looked closer, they did appear to have little sprouting hairs that much resembled a flower’s root.
So they weren’t vines. That was a relief.
I swatted one, and it limply swung forward. Doing so gave me a triumphant feeling – encountering the dreaded things from my dreams and realizing that they were completely lifeless.
“Roots from what?” asked Kantú. “The crystaly trees?”
Grotts thought a moment and then shrugged. “Maybe. Ardette?”
“Probably. But then again how should I know? It’s not like I’m an expert on such things.”
Grotts grumbled.
That cocky attitude again? How annoying. Ardette smiled, and for once, his teeth looked yellow in the light from my orb.
“Shhh!” Scardo suddenly held up his bow and took a readied stance.
“Eh?” Grotts listened in silence; then his eyes widened and he held up his hammer. The atmosphere grew tense.
They were sensing something that I couldn’t.
“Company?” Ardette whispered, lifting an eyebrow. He reached for his saber with a sudden bout of seriousness.
Because of their personalities, it was easy for me to forget that the three men were actually trained soldiers of Yes’lech, but the way they now reacted to the unseen threat made that fact very real. Holding their weapons threateningly, they spread out in front of Kantú and me like a protective fence, blocking us from whatever was creeping ahead in the cavern.
There shouldn’t be anyone else here, though.
“Move away you two,” whispered Scardo.
Kantú and I followed his order and backed away cautiously. I signaled to her. The nearby boulders would make good hiding spots. She nodded, and we each took one on either side of the cavern. I readied myself for a song. If there was danger ahead, I’d do my part to aid the men.
I watched them from around the boulder, waiting, while they spread out and readied themselves.
Signaling to each other in some code, they looked like different people. Stealthy agents that were unlike the men I knew. Together they inched down the hall, walking lightly and entirely masking the sound of their footsteps.
Nothing happened, and after a minute or two, I glanced over at Kantú, but something was wrong. Something was really wrong. She stared back at me with a stern, concentrated, and kind of alarming expression.
I didn’t like it.
“Kantú?” I whispered, but she was too far away from me to hear.
And then she did something that made me jerk. She shot up from her crouched position with eyes lit with ferocity. Then, while I squinted in confusion, she leaned forward like she was about to rush me!
“What are you doing?” I tried to keep my voice hushed. This was no time to be messing around!
But instead of answering, she pulled back her lips and started to charge at me with nails outstretched. What was this?! I didn’t get it. She was way too concentrated and harsh to be Kantú! She was going to pounce on me, and in anticipation, I backed farther behind the boulder. What was she-?
Betrayer?!
For a brief moment, the word invaded my mind.
She closed in on me, her expression still fierce, and I readied myself to dodge what looked to be an incoming attack. I held up my arms, but instead of clawing into me, she pushed me out of the way.
“Watch out, Aura!” she yelled, digging her nails into a hooded someone that had been silently waiting in the shadows behind me. I screamed, and the ‘someone’ threw Kantú to the ground with one blow.
The rest of the group whirled around at the commotion.
“Kantú!” I yelled.
I hated myself for that moment of doubt. The Spirit of In-between had planted ideas like that in my mind, but there was no way Kantú could ever harm me. She was my best friend!
What’s happening to me? The old me never would have thought something like that!
I felt wretched. To atone, I’d protect her – though I would have protected her even without the looming transgression. I sprang to her, seeking to shield her from another blow, but the hooded person pounced on me before I could reach her.
“Ugh!”
I dropped my lightsong on impact, but the room remained lit.
That’s strange.
There had to have been another source of light somewhere.
I kicked against the person, but they wrapped their arms around me and locked me in place. As the arms trapped me back against the wall, I knew:
These were the vines from my dreams.
“You will not make it one step closer to the Inscription.” The person’s voice was cold and filled with a hatred that cut through the air and slapped me across the face.
This person . . . hates me?
By that time, the others had almost reached us.
“You!” yelled Ardette, his voice loathing.
You? It almost sounded like he knew the person.
Ardette ran forward, but stopped when struck from behind by some unknown force. He crouched over and clutched his side. A puff of black smoke hissed from the wound.
Ardette! But before I could cry out, the sound of footsteps reverberated through the air.
Something’s coming!
It wasn’t just something. It was something sinister.
Just then, a dozen men in onyx cloaks came running from the depths of the cavern, weapons swinging. I watched in horror as the cloud of black filled the space, and I knew then that my earlier anxieties had been valid.
Druelca. It was Druelca! They’d been waiting, and they were attacking us again.
Grotts pulled Ardette up, and the three of them rushed to Kantú and me, but the Druelcan men charged them, blocking the guard from reaching us.
“No! Look out!” I cried out as the black cloaks enveloped them. I had to help!
I struggled to escape the arms, but the ‘someone’ brought something sharp to my neck. A blade?! Yes, and if I moved, the edge would cut into my flesh.
I stiffened and watched in helpless dismay while the three gu
ard members struggled to fight the Druelcans. They were severely outnumbered – worse than they’d been at our last encounter. Arrows flew around the room, but I couldn’t tell whether they belonged to Scardo or some Druelcan goon. The fighting ensued, and with each puff of smoke that erupted, I worried it was Ardette.
Everyone! Please be okay!
Kantú, who was still a short distance away, rubbed her head and rolled over. When she looked up at me, her expression was puzzled.
“What are you doing?” she squealed. She started to get up, but an arrow came flying at her, so she let out a yelp and rolled out of the way. Immediately afterward, another arrow whizzed by. This one shot through her tail hair – a narrow miss. She had to get out of there! The next time she’d get hit for sure!
“Hide, Kantú!” I yelled.
But I didn’t see if she heeded my order.
The ‘someone’ pulled me away, through the roots, and behind another boulder.
“Where are you taking- huh?”
It was then that I felt it. It was there. Unquestionably there. The thing that I’d longed for slowly trickled into me again, and I let out a shivering, lung-squeezing gasp.
It can’t be!
But it was unmistakable.
That warmth . . .
I cranked my head around as far as it would go and caught a glimpse of the ‘someone’ from the corner of my eye.
It is!
“Nyte?”
It was so relieving to see him. My beloved Elf wasn’t dead or dying, and he was here to save me. He’d come for me. This charade was all some trick to rescue me from the attackers!
I missed you. I ignored the blade and turned to embrace him, but stopped at the look on his face.
“W-what’s with you?” My voice trembled, for the grin he wore made my stomach drop. It wasn’t like any grin he’d ever given me. It wasn’t mischievous or playful or cunning. It was . . . evil.
“Nyte,” I whispered, “you look evil-ish.”
“Stop squirming, unless you want to lose your head.” His voice was still cold.
“What?” I didn’t get it. “It’s okay. We have to go help the others.”
But he brought the blade closer to my throat, and I felt something wet slide down my neck.
“Ah!” I winced. The cut was just a shallow slice, but it hurt. The pain I’d been feeling all morning caught fire.
He was . . . He was serious?!
“I can feel your terror,” he breathed. “Your quickening heartbeat.”
“No.” I couldn’t believe it. This was a joke. This was a dream. This was an imposter.
I was in more denial than I’d ever been before.
But the fact was, it wasn’t a joke or a dream or an imposter. It was Nyte. It was a Nyte that hated me. Somehow, he hated me!
“It was the perfect plan,” he sneered. “You fell for it so easily too. All of that garbage about the Thulian Pact!” He cackled wickedly. “Oh, I am sorry. Did you actually think that I cared for you? I serve none but The Mystress! She is the one most important to me. You are nothing more than a sacrifice. A tool!”
“A sacrifice?” I whispered. “You can’t be serious.”
My heart was squeezed by his words. No, it wasn’t squeezed. With his words, he was wringing my heart, slowly bleeding me dry. Nyte’s arms. The vines from my nightmares were his arms.
NO!
Was this really the same Elf I’d grown to love?
It couldn’t be!
But the blade pressed into my skin again, this time near my collarbone. In my head, I screamed in agony. Not from the pain, but from the heartbreak. The scream didn’t pass my lips, but the mirrors reacted. They slid to the ground and crashed to pieces, and the cavern was filled with their breaking cries.
Or was I just imagining them? Maybe they weren’t really there. Maybe none of this was real.
“No . . .”
He cackled again. “Good. Show your pain. I want to see your eyes!” He spun me around and clutched my neck in one hand. He started to squeeze and a tear slid down my cheek.
I don’t believe it. Was everything a lie? Had none of it been genuine? The glassy lake? The earthstone? The dance?
I closed my eyes and let him choke me. It was better to be killed by his hand than to live with the heartache.
“Come on! It is no fun if you close your eyes.” He shook me.
With nothing else left, I opened my eyes and stared into his, not bothering to fight back. But then I noticed something.
They’re . . . brown?
They weren’t his deep, forest eyes. They weren’t brimming with spirit. They were dull and murky – like they’d been that time in the tunnel.
I felt a speck of hope within my despair because if they were brown, then that meant that maybe this wasn’t really him!
I started to fight back again, but he was strong. Of course he was strong. He could break me easily. What could I do? Even if he was being controlled, how was I going to get out of this?
Uh-oh.
I was getting dizzy with his hand on my throat like that. I needed to do something fast, or it’d be too late. I pleaded with my eyes and with my fists, swung at him. But it was no use. He only laughed.
I was going to die.
But then, out of nowhere, Scardo pummeled into Nyte from the side, knocking me out of his arms. I fell to the cavern floor, gasping for air. In a flash, Scardo had Nyte’s blade and was holding it at the Elf’s navel.
“I do not know what game you were playing at,” hissed the hunched man, “but it seems we were right to distrust you!”
“Go ahead!” Nyte smirked.
“No!” I yelled.
Scardo flinched, but despite my cry, he held the blade steady. “It is clear he was the betrayer. I didn’t want to believe it, but I always had my suspicions. I’m sorry, Miss Heart, but there is nothing else for me to do.”
“Scardo, no!” I was up again and I ran forward, but then Grotts was at my side, holding me back.
“Ardette’s finishin’ up the rest ‘o em. Take care ‘o this traitor!”
I fought within his mighty arms, but Grotts was too powerful. Scardo pulled the blade back, ready to plunge it in. My thoughts raced. Nyte was going to be killed. My Elf was going to die in front of my eyes. What could I do? I couldn’t do anything!
And then it occurred to me. Something I could use.
“Stop!” I shrieked.
“Impossible.” Scardo moved the blade forward.
“THE ROSE!”
Scardo stopped, mid-plunge. Then through gritted teeth,
“Excuse me?”
With everything in me I hoped this would work. Holding nothing back, I screamed, “Scardo Romenda, you are indebted to me! As repayment, I demand that you spare Nyte! Spare him now or so HELP ME!”
Nyte grinned evilly.
“Please, Miss Heart! Don’t be foolish!”
“Do as I say!” I demanded.
“No! You saw how he was smilin’ with his hand on ‘er throat!” yelled Grotts. “Damn kid fooled us! Snuck his way right in! Just kill him!”
But Scardo’s honor wouldn’t allow him to do such a thing.
“I-I have no choice.” He lowered the blade.
Nyte sprang up, cackling wildly.
“This is too good. You are trying to save me?” He struggled to say the words through his insane, uncontrolled laughter. He looked crazy. Mad. Fanatical. On the verge of doing something extreme.
The rest of us backed away.
“If you don’t kill the bastard, then I will!” Ardette, still holding his side – though no more smoke was escaping – came rushing forward with his saber extended.
“Please, Ardette!”
“I’ve been waiting for this!”
But Ardette was shot back by a red blast before he could get close enough. He crumpled to the floor, paralyzed by the binding spell.
I looked around for the source of the light. Piles of cloaks scattered through
out the roots were all that remained of the Druelcans.
We’d won.
Kantú was in a corner with her hands over her ears in squirrel position, still traumatized from her brush with the arrows.
Thank Creator.
And then there was the blast’s origin. Stepping out of the shadows was . . .
“Rend?” I said.
“What’re ya doin’ here!?” hollered Grotts, eyeing her suspiciously.
“What do you think,” she spat, “looking for him.” She flung her index finger out at Nyte.
Is she . . . still on our side?
She held her hands in a circle and cautiously walked toward Nyte. “Cousin, to side with the enemy of the elders is treason. I will give you one chance to explain this dishonorable act before I dispose of you.”
“Wait, Rend!” I finally escaped Grotts’ now lax grip and ran to her. “He’s being controlled!”
“Controlled?” Her voice was harsh. “What do you-”
But she was interrupted by a sudden clapping from somewhere above us.
“Very good,” a woman’s voice cooed.
I looked up. On an overhanging ledge stood a tall figure in a black veil. She was surrounded by two dozen more of the Druelcans.
I knew who she was even before Nyte spoke.
“My Mystress!” Nyte’s expression changed into soft lust that was directed at her. “What would you like me to do with them?”
She circled her hands and shot a blast of red binding light that split into four and knocked Rend, Grotts, Kantú and Scardo to the floor. It was just like Rend’s . . . only stronger.
“Leave them alive. We can always use more warriors.” She looked around the room and continued, “Ugh! To replace the buggers they killed. These have proven themselves worthy, after all. Except maybe that squirrel over there.”
Kantú squeaked through locked lips at the insult. It appeared she’d remained conscious through the binding. That was good. If I hoped to rescue . . . but I had no idea how I could even begin to attempt something like that!
“And her?” Nyte tipped his head at me.
“Capture her. It’s something you excel at now, I hear. But have a little fun with her first. Make her submissive. After all, we must both be present to retrieve the prophecy.”