Anilyia

by Carroll, John H.

  Tathan was at the door, gesturing for them to hurry. Liselle’s heart raced. They were truly rescuing the princess. Next, they would run deeper into the fortress where Rojuun would try to kill them. Somehow, they would try to find a way out of the caverns and tunnels of the mountains and escape into the open air above ground.

  Liselle’s stomach clenched. It was a terrible plan! What were they thinking?! The chance of failure was much greater than the chance of success. The companions all looked at each other. At the same time, wild grins lit each of their faces. Liselle felt alive and the blood raced through her veins. It was terrifying and fun all at once. “Are we ready?” Tathan asked. They nodded. “Let’s do it!” The companions ran out the door.

  A piercing blare filled the hallway. They turned left, deeper into the mountains, going in an easterly direction. No one challenged them right away in spite of the alarms. Light globes set every forty feet made it easy to see. All four of them were in excellent condition and running was not difficult. Liselle had already cast a spell to help their endurance and speed for a couple of hours.

  The hall ended at a cave about five minutes after leaving the chambers. There was no door to go through, so Tathan had them slow down while he moved ahead to take a look. Liselle was impressed that he was moving noiselessly while still carrying the princess over his shoulder. Tathan stood at the cave entrance for a moment before waving them forward. When they reached him, he whispered, “I don’t know which way to go from here. There are a couple of Rojuun at desks to the left. Liselle, will you hold them so we can sneak by and then we’ll try to decide?”

  She nodded and moved forward to peer into the cave. A meju and feju sat working at desks facing each other near the wall to the left. The cave looked like a hub for the tunnels intersecting it. Liselle exhaled magic in their direction, not using words or gestures. It was easier that way sometimes, especially if she was trying to sneak up on someone. A moment later, the Rojuun stopped moving. She had no idea how long it would last. Tathan could be held for about two minutes, but he had a strong will and was slippery mentally as well as physically. She could only hold Vevin for about five seconds and the spell slid off Sir Danth’s armor.

  “Is it done?” Tathan whispered. Liselle turned to him and nodded. They all walked into the cave and looked around. Fifteen tunnels intersected it. “Which one should we try?” Tathan asked. They looked at each other then turned to Tathan and shrugged in unison. He sighed, causing them to cover their mouths to muffle laughter. “Vevin,” Tathan said. “Can you use your dragon senses to figure out which passage would be best?”

  Vevin thought for a moment then looked at each passage. After studying them, he turned back to Tathan. “Nope.”

  “Sir Danth,” Tathan said, facing the knight. “Does your armor have some sort of enchantment to discover the best way to go?”

  Sir Danth considered for a moment before shaking his head. “If it does, I fell asleep when they were describing that part to me.”

  Tathan turned to Liselle, trying hard to suppress his exasperation. “I don’t suppose you can come up with some sort of spell or call some flowers to help?” he suggested hopefully.

  Liselle turned toward the passages, looking down each one intently. No plants were kept in the fortress or these tunnels. She wondered why. Lights globes were spaced every forty feet down each of the tunnels. Some had works of art at odd intervals, but there weren’t many. Liselle tried to sense nearby plants, but felt nothing. She looked down the passages in the hopes that one would give her a gut feeling of sorts. She turned to Tathan and simply shook her head no.

  “Alright. Let’s go that way.” Tathan pointed toward a tunnel heading north. When she looked at him questioningly, he explained, “They’re likely to follow a tunnel directly across from the one we came out of. I don’t want to go back the direction we came, so passages in that direction are out, and I don’t want to go south.”

  “What about them?” Sir Danth asked, pointing at the two Rojuun who were still frozen. Tathan fingered the hilt of his sword, looking at Liselle. It was obvious he wanted to kill them so they wouldn’t be able to say which way the companions went. Liselle couldn’t help but hate the idea. Surely it wasn’t necessary to kill everyone they passed. She looked at them and gestured. They fell forward in a deep sleep that Liselle knew they wouldn’t wake from for some time. Tathan looked at the Rojuun and nodded.

  “Oh my,” Vevin said. “There are voices down the hallway we came from. The Rojuun sound very mad that we’ve gotten away with the princess.”

  “Let’s go.” Tathan led them to the tunnel he had pointed out. No one seemed to be in the new tunnel and they ran down it at a fast clip, hoping to get out of sight before anyone could see which direction they were taking.

  Then the princess regained consciousness. “Wha . . . what are you doing?” she demanded as she pushed herself up from Tathan’s back to see what was going on. They stopped and Tathan set her on her feet.

  “We don’t have much time. Who are you?” Tathan asked. They all looked at him in confusion, already knowing she was the princess.

  She stood up straight, her chin held high. “I am Princess Anilyia Felicia Romenia Illiath Turllisa Wannita Ullbra of the Kingdom of Mayncal, daughter of . . .”

  Princess Anilyia wasn’t able to finish reciting her title because Tathan waved her off. “That’s good enough for me, Your Highness. I just wanted to make certain we were rescuing the right person,” he said with a grin. The princess stared at him with mouth open. “You’ll catch flies like that,” Tathan pointed out. She snapped her jaw shut and began to glare at him. Tathan ignored the glare. “Now, we have a whole lot of Rojuun chasing us, wanting to kill us and recapture you. Unless you want that to happen, I suggest we move along.”

  Princess Anilyia scanned the four of them. Her eyes widened at the sight of Vevin, who wasn’t hiding his presence for her. Vevin waved and smiled, causing her eyes to widen more as she took a step back. Her gaze passed over Liselle, and rested on Sir Danth. Liselle was irritated that the princess dismissed her so easily. She also didn’t like it that Vevin had smiled at the princess, who was much prettier than Liselle would like.

  The princess raised her head to look down her nose at them. “Before I go anywhere, I demand you tell me who you are,” she said in a rich, mellow voice.

  “It doesn’t matter at the moment, Your Highness. We need to get out of these tunnels fast.” Tathan glanced over his shoulder to see if anyone was following. Liselle could hear voices behind them now.

  “It does matter,” She pointed out. “How do I know you’re not from the Empire of Iynath, or someone who wishes to hold me for ransom, or perhaps you are just some thugs who wish to violate me because I’m such a pretty princess, hmm?” she challenged.

  Tathan stared at her and sighed. Sir Danth bowed deeply. “Your Highness, I am Sir Danth Wazmordin of Morhain. I give you my word that it is our intention to rescue you and return you to your kingdom.”

  The princess frowned. “Morhain is an ancient country that ceased to be over a thousand years ago. You can’t be from there.”

  “Well, he is,” Liselle said in exasperation. “And we are trying to rescue you. If you stand around questioning us all day, then we’re going to die.” The voices were coming closer. Liselle turned to look and could see Rojuun in the distance coming down the passage.

  “I’m not going anywhere until I know that you are not vicious thugs intent on selling me into slavery,” she stated, folding her arms.

  Tathan’s eyes narrowed. “Fine. We’ll leave you here while the rest of us escape. Have fun in your suite hoping the Rojuun don’t kill you.” He turned to his companions. “Let’s go.” Then he walked past her.

  “Wait . . . I’ll go,” she said quickly, looking down the passage at the Rojuun who had just spotted them. She turned and began to run. Sir Danth and Tathan ran next to her, leaving Liselle and Vevin to follow. Vevin was about to run until he saw Liselle sta
ring at their followers.

  Liselle thought about the spells Vevin had taught her. In addition to the one that held people, he had shown her a barrier spell. It was one she would have to hold and she didn’t want to do that. Instead, she cast the spell then anchored it to the walls, ceiling and floor. Liselle hadn’t been taught how to anchor it, but she figured out how to alter the spell. The barrier glowed light blue. The first Rojuun stopped at it and reached out to touch it. He pushed against it to find it secure. Then he looked at her with anger in his eyes. Vevin hugged her. “That was neat, darling!”

  “Liselle, Vevin! Come on!” Tathan yelled from up the hall. She turned and ran with Vevin close by her side. The barrier would hold for hours, maybe days if it wasn’t broken, but she knew the Rojuun would be able to dispel her enchantment. Liselle thought about how the next one could be stronger. In her mind, the details of the spell became clearer and she knew that future barriers would be much more difficult for anyone to overcome.

  Liselle and Vevin ran much faster than the princess who was still wearing an eloquent dress and slippers made for looking pretty, not exercise. In a moment, they had caught up with the others. Tathan and Sir Danth were pacing the princess, though neither looked happy about the lack of speed.

  Throughout the hallways they had traveled up to that point, there were doors interspersed at odd intervals on either side. No one had come out of them until the two, robed meju who exited from one on the right just a few feet ahead of them. They were startled by the sight of humans rushing headlong. The companions and the princess stopped in their tracks with the exception of Tathan, who leapt into the air and hit one in the face. That Rojuun fell to the ground, unconscious with blood flowing from a broken nose.

  Sir Danth, who had been ready to pull his sword, saw Tathan’s action and decided to follow the example. He slugged the other Rojuun in the face. Sir Danth’s supernatural strength backfired again. The force of the blow was such that the Rojuun’s face shattered under the impact and his neck was snapped. The body fell to the ground, dead and twitching.

  The princess screamed and fainted. Liselle felt sick to her stomach at the sight. Sir Danth’s attempts to avoid killing people simply weren’t going well. Another Rojuun came out of the doorway with knives in his hands. He attempted to attack Sir Danth, only to find the knight’s sword sliding through his chest. Liselle hadn’t even seen the sword drawn before it pierced the meju. Sir Danth slid the sword out with his left hand while pushing against the meju’s chest for leverage with his right. Another body fell to the floor.

  More Rojuun appeared in the vicinity. Liselle did a quick count and figured there were about twenty coming out of nearby doors. She wondered what would be the best spell. Before she could decide, Vevin roared at full, deafening volume. Dragon fear sent all of the Rojuun back into their respective doors, the sounds of panicked slamming rang through the hall.

  Sir Danth put his sword away. It was already clean, one of the enchantments upon it. “I believe I will carry the princess, Master Tathan,” he stated, reaching down and picking her up. “It will not tire me and I feel it best if you subdue the Rojuun as my attempts seem a bit too severe.”

  Tathan nodded as Sir Danth settled the princess into his arms. They continued down the hallway at a jog. None of the doors opened again. Liselle was beginning to tire from running. Vevin and Sir Danth didn’t appear to be phased at all. She looked at Tathan and saw that he was moving easily so she pushed on.

  Then they ran into a new cave. This one was very large and filled with armed Rojuun warriors waiting for them.

  Chapter 22

  If Tathan had been alone against the hundred or so warriors in front of them, he would have instantly surrendered and bided his time for escape. However, his companions were capable of handling these numbers. He just didn’t know which one would act first, so he stepped to the side and waited.

  The hairs stood on the back of his neck once more as Vevin roared. This time the sound came from a real dragon. Liselle had seen Vevin in natural form before, but he and Sir Danth had not. Tathan glanced to see the knight’s jaw hanging open as he stared. He did a double take and realized that it was another of the knight’s illusions, which really unnerved Tathan sometimes.

  The magnificent dragon danced toward the running and screaming Rojuun. It was a side-to-side hopping dance; two steps to the left, two to the right, shoulders shifting up and down and neck swaying side to side. Dust and pebbles fell from the ceiling and the remnants of the roar echoed back and forth in the cave. Tathan chuckled in amazement and shook his head. Vevin was the size of the White Tree Inn back in Puujan. Size and the fact that both had wings were the only similarities though. Purple scales glistened brilliantly in the soft glow of the lights hanging on the walls of the cave and his liquid silver eyes swirled in enjoyment at having a new game to play.

  Vevin had spoken to Liselle while they were all eating dinner in their suite the night before. He had offered not to kill or eat any Rojuun if it would upset her. She asked him not to eat any while in human form, but if he should find a situation where being a dragon was appropriate then it wouldn’t bother her if he chomped on a few . . . at least it wouldn’t bother her much. She understood that her lover was a carnivore with natural instincts to eat meaty things.

  Rojuun normally seemed very brave, but things changed when Vevin roared. The first time, in the hall, Vevin had used dragon fear to scare them. This time felt different though. The bone shivering sensation hadn’t been there. Now many Rojuun were running simply because a large, sharp-toothed dragon was dancing in their direction with the obvious intent to eat them. Others froze.

  Three Rojuun charged blindly with their knives raised while four others threw their blades. The knives that were thrown bounced harmlessly off of Vevin’s scales. The three charging Rojuun froze in mid run and fell to the ground face first. Liselle had tossed spells more rapidly than any casting Tathan had ever seen. His cousin was getting more powerful and efficient with every passing day.

  Vevin chomped the first Rojuun he reached, tossing it into the air playfully before catching and chewing thoughtfully, deciding whether or not it tasted good. Crunching sounds filled the cave as teeth pierced flesh and cracked bones loudly. Three Rojuun who hadn’t moved fainted at the sight. Tathan felt a bit sick to his stomach. He looked at Liselle to gauge her reaction. She looked back at him with wide eyes and a weak smile. He thought it brave of her, braver than he would be if he had a lover that liked to munch on people.

  One brave Rojuun waved his knives feebly at the dragon, not really attacking. Vevin paused in his chewing for a moment before spitting out the half-gnawed body of the previous victim. It hit the wall with a sickening thud before collapsing in a broken pile of bones and guts. Then Vevin bit the new one in half, and began chewing thoughtfully on the upper part while the bottom part fell to the ground.

  Liselle dashed into Tathan’s arms, burying her face in his shoulder while he stared at the scene. They heard a scream and saw that the princess had regained consciousness and was watching the dragon in terror. The scream didn’t last long as she fainted again rather quickly. Sir Danth merely stood there watching in amazement.

  To know that dragons were the most powerful creatures in the world was one thing. To see one in action was another thing entirely. Vevin wasn’t even doing much, just chomping on a couple of unfortunate Rojuun, but to see his power and deadly beauty and to watch their foes react in terror was an experience that would mark them forever. Tathan and Sir Danth weren’t even threatened by any the formidable Rojuun warriors as none considered them a threat.

  Vevin spit out the mangled remains of the one in his mouth, causing it to slam against the wall and land atop the other. Then he licked clean the blood and gore from his mouth with his long, forked tongue. His body swayed in a slow . . . Tathan couldn’t figure out a name for it . . . dance, moving from side to side in what appeared to be contentment.

  “Well, they don’t tast
e bad, but I think I’ll stick to elk and other animals,” Vevin said with a nod, his booming voice shaking loose some rock dust from the ceiling. “Don’t worry dearest, I won’t have a third,” he reassured Liselle who nodded and smiled wanly. Vevin’s voice sounded normal, but larger than when he was in human form. It filled the cave and surrounded them. He didn’t move his jaw or speak with his mouth, instead using some form of magic to create the words.

  Vevin looked around the cave. Only a few unconscious Rojuun remained, the rest having run down various passages. “Well, that was a fairly easy battle. I know we’re supposed to kill as little as possible, but I was hoping to play with them a little bit.” The dance became a disappointed shuffle. Suddenly, he was in human form once more, still shuffling. There was no gradual transformation. One moment he was a dragon, the next he wasn’t. To Tathan’s amusement, Vevin made a ‘poof’ sound when he transformed. The dragon-man grinned at them and said, “Poof”, causing them to burst into laughter.

  The laughter didn’t last long as they scanned the dozen or so new passages. After a moment, the others turned to Tathan for his decision. He didn’t mind that they were looking to him for direction so much as the fact that they kept doing everything in unison. He pointed to a tunnel that was just to the left of the most northern facing one. Then he led the others down it at a brisk walk. A strong breeze brought cooler air down the new passage, which Tathan was thankful for after running for so long.

  There was no telling how long it was going to take to reach the sky above or even if they would. He was completely guessing as to which direction to take and it wasn’t like they could just grab someone and say, “Hey, which way is up?” or something like that. Tathan didn’t understand why his companions followed him, considering how powerful and extraordinary each of them was. Why didn’t Vevin take the lead, or Sir Danth? They were both vastly intelligent and good at making decisions. He valued their opinion more than he ever had valued anyone’s.