Coal: Book One of the Everleaf Series

by Constance Burris

  "Can we stop, please?" Coal asked. Elizabeth lay limply on his back. He'd wanted to ask Haline to stop a mile back, but he didn't want the dwarf calling him weak. Haline could call him any name she liked as long as they stopped.

  "No. Give me Elizabeth," Haline said. "We don't have far to go. You can rest later."

  "You can't carry her," he said, mostly out of guilt. He was bigger and taller than Haline. He should have been strong enough to carry Elizabeth. "She's too heavy for you."

  "Boy, if I can carry you from the forest to my home. I can carry this child for a few more miles."

  Feeling guilty, he bent down and let Haline put Elizabeth on her back.

  "It's hot." Elizabeth murmured while her cheek lay against Haline. Sweat prickled her forehead.

  "It'll cool down in a minute." Haline quickened her pace.

  Coal stretched the tight muscles of his back and neck before he followed. Heat permeated the tunnel, but without Elizabeth on his back, it was easier to breathe.

  "Why aren't you hot?" Even with Elizabeth straddled to her back, Haline gave no sign of fatigue.

  "I'm a dwarf." She shuffled quickly along the tunnel. "I was raised to endure the heat of the forges. This is nothing."

  Of course, the heat didn't affect her. Grigory was the same way. The swordsmith would be at the forge for hours, sometimes days, making a sword. How could I have been a swordsmith if I couldn't even work the forge for more than a few hours? He hadn't wanted to admit it, but what Madoc and Chalcedony had said was true: Grigory had only offered him the apprenticeship out of pity.

  "Stop," Haline said, interrupting Coal's pity party.

  "Ah!" screamed a blur that appeared in front of them. It took a second for Coal to register it. The thing had risen out of the ground.

  "I scared ya." It laughed hysterically. "I scared ya. I scared ya."

  He--or at least Coal thought it was he--wagged his green gnarly finger at them and danced in a circle. Coal had thought the creature was nude, but when he looked closer, he saw that its green skin was covered with patches of leaves, which wrapped around its body. He smelled of fresh earth after a heavy spring shower. It was a walking and talking mix between a plant and a tree.

  "You didn't scare me." Haline knocked his stick-like hand away. He towered over Haline and Elizabeth, but only stood a head taller than Coal. "I knew you were there. You do this every time I come through."

  He stopped laughing long enough to say, "Well, I scared your customers."

  Coal exchanged a confused look with Elizabeth. Both of them had been surprised by the creature, but before any fear registered, the creature had already started snickering and dancing.

  Abruptly, it stopped and narrowed its bright green eyes towards Haline. "What are you doing here anyway?" He focused his eerily intense eyes on Coal and Elizabeth. "Who is this? Your door closed days ago. You should not have any customers."

  He paused for a long moment. "These are human children," he spat. The air in the tunnel became stifling with the smell of manure and rot. "Are these the children the queenling is looking for?"

  "Calm down," Haline said.

  "Calm down, calm down." The creature's voice became deeper. It echoed through the tunnels, shaking the floor and the walls.

  "This is my cave. My cavern. I will not calm down." The parts of his skin not covered with leaves changed from green to black.

  "You are supposed to transport humans from the queenling's door, not steal her playthings. Turn around and take them back!" He faced Coal and Elizabeth. Coal pushed Elizabeth behind him and took out his sword. Before the creature could get much closer, Haline pushed him.

  "No, I will not take them back."

  He stopped and directed his anger at Haline.

  "Calm down now, Cesaro!" Haline stomped her feet, unsettling a cloud of dirt. "Go get Geric."

  Cesaro lifted his knotted hand. Before Cesaro could hit Haline, Coal swung his sword towards the beast. The sound of metal against Cesaro's wooden skin vibrated through the cave. Coal stepped back, expecting some sort of damage, but Cesaro showed no sign that he had even been hit. Coal might as well have attacked the cave for the amount of damage he had done.

  A wicked, deadly smile crossed his face. Coal tried to strike again, but the creature grabbed his sword hand and lifted him from the ground.

  The pain in Coal's wrist was immeasurable. Rage filled the sword because it could not fight. Hands immobile, Coal kicked at Cesaro, but Cesaro ignored the thrusts.

  Cesaro laughed. Unlike the joyful noise from earlier, it was deep, wicked, and made Coal's stomach twist with fear. Despite his dread, he glared into the creature's eyes. If he was going to die, he wanted to die fighting.

  "Little human," Cesaro hissed. "This is my cave. Your people tried to kill my kind years ago, but I survived." He grabbed Coal's throat. Coal dropped his sword and clawed at the hand around his neck. "I was here before your kind, and I will be here after you are gone."

  "Cesaro, you crazy bastard. Put the boy down!" Haline shouted.

  Coal struggled to see past the light show playing havoc with his vision. He tried to tell Haline and Elizabeth to run, but he couldn't form the words.

  "Put him down!" Haline screamed, repeatedly shoving the creature.

  Through his blurry vision, Coal saw confusion and hesitation on the creature's face.

  "ARRRRRR!" Cesaro screamed before he dropped Coal. "Stupid human," Cesaro said as Coal writhed on the ground.

  Coal knew he was rolling in dirt and scratching his back on the jagged rocks, but the small stabs of pain were secondary to his need to breathe.

  As his breathing evened out, Coal saw Cesaro staring down at Haline with fire in his eyes. She stared up at the creature with an unwavering gaze. Cesaro was no match for her because the creature's breathing slowed. Cesaro's skin changed from brown to green, and the fresh scent of earth replaced the stench of fertilizer once again.

  "I like you, Haline," he said. "But I'm still not letting you pass."

  "Go get the boss. If he tells me I have to turn back, then I will."

  "I'll get him, dwarf, but if the queenling invades my cavern ..."

  "If you keep wasting time, she'll find us without a problem. It's much harder to catch a moving target."

  He locked eyes with Coal for a moment before he disappeared into the ground.

  Coal glanced back to check on Elizabeth. He'd expected to see her crouched in the corner, but she was only a few feet away with her dagger held tightly in her hand.

  Crouched on all fours, Coal grabbed his livid sword.

  You shouldn't have dropped me.

  Well, he thought back at it, a lot of good you did. We couldn't even leave a mark on him.

  Haline hung her head and sighed before she faced Coal and Elizabeth. "What are you looking so nervous for?"

  "What was that?" Elizabeth asked. Her eyes were wide and wary as if waiting for Cesaro to materialize in front of them again.

  Haline's expression softened. "Cesaro is a sweetheart. He wouldn't hurt a fly. He was just joking."

  Elizabeth looked to Coal, waiting for confirmation, but he didn't know Cesaro. The creature's death-like grip on Coal's throat hadn't felt like a joke, but Coal grinned towards Elizabeth and said, trying to sound as if he was not in pain, "It didn't hurt me." Much.

  Elizabeth put away her knife and stood next to Coal. She'd been favoring Haline since they'd started the journey. Coal wondered what had made the girl come near him this time. Did she suspect that Haline had been lying about Cesaro not being able to hurt a fly; or was she scared of a dwarf that stared down a monster without flinching?

  "What was that?" Coal asked.

  Haline's face hardened, and her eyes showed less sympathy.

  "Cesaro is a spriggin. They guard caves and burrows. They've been used by dwarves for centuries to guard secret entrances."

  Coal remembered briefly reading about spriggins in books. From what he'd read, the creatures were a distan
t relative of trees, like Legacy. "Aren't they supposed to be friendly?"

  "Don't believe everything you read in a book. Spriggins were never friendly. They weren't exactly fearsome either."

  "But this is a tunnel, not a cave," Coal said.

  Haline cocked an eyebrow. "Really?"

  Coal took a few steps forward. He was no longer in the tunnel, but a cavern.

  A rippling blue-black lake lay in the middle of the 200-foot-wide cavern. Stone archways preceded extravagant, withering gray marble structures. Green vines and flowers draped around the immense stone columns and clambered inside the deserted buildings. The plants seemed to be the cavern's only inhabitants. Some of the buildings were so shrouded that they appeared to be carved from moss and dirt instead of stone.

  "Where are all the people?" Elizabeth asked in wonder.

  "There is no one here. It used to be a great dwarven city, but they ran out of gold, silver, and jewels, so the entire clan packed up everything and left," Haline said, while she slid her hand along the side of a building, her fingers leaving small indentations in the moss. "All great cities eventually die."

  Elizabeth's wonder disappeared. She moved closer to Coal as if she believed the fate of the abandoned city was contagious.

  "Take a seat." Haline sat next to the lake. "This is the rest you were so anxious for."

  Elizabeth sat cross-legged on the ground, pulled out her knife, and carved into the dirt. He followed them onto the ground. Weariness seeped into his bones as the adrenaline from the fight wore off.

  Coal peered into the lake expecting to see fish, but, like the rest of the underground city, it was lifeless.

  "Why did he say that we were customers?" Coal asked. "I don't have any money." He needed to know what was going on. Haline had said she'd take them to the door. She had never mentioned spriggins, underground caverns, or having a boss.

  "I searched your pockets, boy. I know you don't."

  "What was Cesaro talking about? Why can't we leave before he comes back?"

  "My customers are fey and human. I lead them from Chalcedony's door to other parts of the fey realm."

  Coal narrowed his eyes. "Isn't that illegal?"

  "Yes, that's why it's called smuggling."

  "Why do we have to wait for your boss? Cesaro is crazy. Can't we go without him?" Elizabeth asked.

  Haline pointed towards the buildings. "You see the archways?"

  Coal and Elizabeth nodded.

  "There are ten of them. I have no idea how to get to Queen Isis's door from here. I'm new to this job. My role is to take the client safely through Chalcedony's forest, around the queenling's traps and deliver them here. Someone else escorts them the rest of the way."

  "The passageways were built to confuse outsiders that were not supposed to be here. Outsiders like you," said a deep male voice from behind.

  Coal and Elizabeth jumped to their feet. Cesaro had returned. Standing next to him was a dark-haired, olive-skinned dwarf with hazel eyes. Haline snickered and slowly stood.

  "Hello, Geric," she called.

  Elizabeth promptly took her place behind Coal's leg. "Who is that?" she asked, whispering low enough for only Haline and Coal to hear.

  "Geric's the boss," Haline said. "Both of you stay silent, and let me do the talking."

  Geric walked to Haline and frowned. "Why did you bring them here?"

  "I thought they were paying customers I'd missed somehow. Once I learned who they were, I couldn't leave them. The boy was cursed, and the girl was scared. They had no idea the door had moved."

  "Why is that your problem? They are nothing to you or us."

  "What's done is done." Haline met his gaze. It was the same stare she'd used on Cesaro.

  Geric broke the silence. "I knew you would be trouble. You're right. We can't undo what has been done."

  "But," Cesaro said, "helping them will get us--"

  "Does Haline look like she's going to take them back?" Geric asked.

  Cesaro rolled his eyes and glared at Coal. "No." His jaw twitched.

  "I don't think so either. Arguing is only wasting time. If we act quickly, we may be able to salvage our business." Geric faced Haline. "What do you need me to do?"

  "We need to get them to Queen Isis's door," Haline said.

  "That should be easy enough." Geric motioned to Cesaro. "Find out where the princess is in her search for her lost toys."

  Cesaro scowled but mumbled, "Yes, sir," before he disappeared.

  "Thanks, Geric," Haline said.

  He closed the distance between the two of them. An uncomfortable silence filled the cavern. Both Geric and Haline stood still, waiting for the other to flinch. Coal wondered if there was about to be a fight, but Geric spoke. "As if I ever had a choice." Then he leaned in and placed his lips on hers. Haline stood still for a moment, but then she smiled and returned the kiss.

  "Ewe, gross," Elizabeth said.

  Coal looked around, wondering if he had missed something. After they separated, Haline smiled. "No, you never had a choice."

  Geric left them alone in the cavern while he went to get supplies and their transport. Elizabeth was sleeping with her head resting on Coal's cloak. Coal, unable to sleep, watched Haline as she sharpened her dagger on a rock.

  "Is smuggling people through Princess Chalcedony's door dangerous?" Coal asked.

  Haline shrugged as she stroked the metal edge against the rock. "Yes. If I get caught, I'll probably be sent to the weavers. But Princess Chalcedony's mother was worse. She'd kill anyone--human or fey-- that she found in her forest."

  "You lied to him. You didn't think we were paying customers. The door was already closed."

  She grinned. "Yeah. He knows I was lying. Relationships are built on lies."

  "Do you really believe that?"

  Chalcedony had never told him about the door moving or the wandering spell. She'd also lied about him having enough magic to travel through the portal. Elizabeth had more magic than him, and she was supposed to be magic null. Had he been naive to trust Chalcedony for so long?

  Haline placed her sharpened dagger in its hilt. "This isn't about me and Geric. This is about you. Fey tell themselves lies every day. Have you ever paid attention to the tailor and his young wife? She's too young for him, but she has nimble fingers and knows what the younger generation wants. She uses him for money and security. He uses her to increase his profits. He turns his back when she disappears for a couple of hours every other week. But I've seen them together. They love each other. They selfishly tell lies so that they can be happy together. The entire realm knows how much you love the princess, but you still chose to betray her. Does that mean you love her any less?"

  "But--"

  "But what?" Geric asked. The raven-haired dwarf stood in one of the grand archways next to a very large spider. No, it wasn't a spider. It was a spidren. It stood as tall as one of Chalcedony's royal horses, and it was three times as wide. Coal had heard horror stories about them. He'd always thought--hoped--they were a myth. From the stories, spidrens had mandibles that opened and stretched in four directions to swallow their victims whole.

  As if Elizabeth sensed Coal's fear, she chose that moment to wake. Her eyes settled on the spidren. She shrieked, crawled up Coal as if she were a spider herself, and buried her head in his shoulders.

  "Don't be scared," Geric said gently. He and the spidren left the archway and walked further into the cavern. "This is Astra. She can deliver you to Queen Isis's door faster than a horse or a flying dragon."

  "I don't bite. I promise," the spidren said with a scratchy hiss. Astra's voice made Elizabeth's trembling increase tenfold.

  "Do you still want to go home?" Haline asked.

  After a long pause, Elizabeth lifted her head. "I'm scared of spiders." Tears pooled in her eyes and fell onto the ground.

  "I am not a spider," Astra hissed.

  Spooked by Astra's voice, Elizabeth tried to bury her head in Coal's shoulder again.

&n
bsp; "Astra is not a mindless spider," Haline said. "She is a spidren. She is smarter and nicer than you and I. Do you understand?"

  Elizabeth dared a quick look at Astra before she jerked her head back towards Coal.

  Haline silently pleaded with Coal to say something. She'd stared down a seven-foot-tall angry spriggin and forced her boss to do something he didn't want to, but convincing a child to overcome her fear of spiders was a power that Haline didn't have.

  Coal didn't want to have anything to do with the giant spider either, but he swallowed his fear. "Lizzy, I know you're scared of ..." He hesitated as he tried to remember the spidren's name. "... Astra, but if you want to get home, you have to act like a soldier. Soldiers don't cry, remember? A soldier wouldn't let fear keep her from getting home."

  After a long moment, she said, "Okay. I'll try not to be scared."

  With Elizabeth still in his arms, he walked towards Astra and then placed the little girl on the ground. He steeled himself before he faced the spidren. "We're ready to go."

  "Just think of me as a giant horse." Astra smiled, showing four large, hairy, contracting pincers. Her breath smelled of rotten meat. A wisp of saliva dripped down her stubbly chin and fell onto the ground. "I am the fastest there is down here."

  Coal swallowed his fear. "Okay, I'll go first." He fought the urge to flinch as he placed his hands on the side of Astra's bulbous body. The tiny hairs covering her back stuck to him uncomfortably as he climbed on.

  "You need to place your feet right here." Geric pointed to where Astra's two front legs joined her abdomen. "It'll give you support and stop you from falling. Lizzy, you'll need to hold on to Coal."

  Coal placed his feet between the joints. "What am I supposed to hold on to?" he asked after he noticed there were no reins.

  "If she keeps a steady pace, you won't need any reins. Your legs should be all you need," Geric said.

  "Come on, Lizzy, let's go," Coal said, once he felt as if he wouldn't fall from Astra's back. Astra kneeled, and Geric placed Elizabeth behind Coal. Elizabeth's eyes were closed, but she didn't cry as she held on to his chest.