by Sam Bennett
He looked over at Ammon, who nodded grimly at him. Zara took a deep breath. “The fire in the woods was set by the queen. Your parents got out, but they couldn’t outrun the queen’s guards. They’re back in the prison chambers, and Adrasteia has said if no one in town captures you within a week, they will both die.”
Taisiya’s mouth dropped. Ammon reached over to comfort her as well. “It’s true,” he said sadly. “There are patrolmen everywhere. I’m fearing that there will be raids soon.”
Taisiya glanced away from both of the men and tried to hold back her tears. Queen Adrasteia knew how much Taisiya depended upon and loved her parents. So did Zara and Ammon…it seemed like everyone was using this to their advantage against her. She knew that Zara’s intentions were pure, though. She looked over at Ammon. “Please, go get the supplies we’ll need.” Her voice was all choked up.
With just a nod, Ammon got up and went to get his coat. Zara gave Taisiya a warm embrace, and she let all of her pent-up emotions free and cried on his shoulder. As quickly as she could, she got herself together. She hated crying more than anything. She dried her eyes and picked up the compass.
“Get the books and everything ready. We have to leave as soon as possible. Didn’t you say the journey to that island could take a week alone? What about getting back?” Taisiya had shed any fear or sorrow aside. She was now on a mission.
“We’ll be cutting it close,” Zara admitted. A lot will depend on how fast a boat we can get on such short notice. There’s just something in my heart that tells me this compass will make sure we get there safely. If luck is on our side, and it has been, we will get there and back in time.”
Taisiya stood up and walked over to the piles of books. She began looking at all of them. “Get over here and tell me which ones I should be reading first. While you and Ammon get things ready for us to leave, I want to learn as much as I can.”
“Great idea,” Zara said, coming over to join her. “I doubt we’ll be able to carry all these books with our supplies anyway. Start with this one.” He reached over and picked up a worn red book. “I wasn’t able to read much about the powers the nymphs have been using for centuries. If even one of us has a little background information on it, it could save our lives on the island.”
Taisiya nodded and took the book. While Zara started picking and choosing the most important books to bring with them, she went back to the couch and began to read. All of the knowledge she had on nymphs, she had learned just moments ago, and it was hard for her to fully grasp everything in the book.
It seemed like nymphs weren’t that much different from regular people. They just had an innate unity with the elements and could use it to their advantage. Nymphs didn’t have magic wands or snakes coming out of their heads; they were more like scientists. One example in the book was a lesson on how to control the air surrounding you. With just a few hand gestures and thoughts, a nymph could easily manipulate the air to create a wind gust or protective fan around her.
All of the lessons in the book were extremely simple and light. Queen Adrasteia must have studied out of a much darker text. Taisiya read and studied the lessons over and over and tried them out, but she could never successfully complete one.
Zara looked over and saw her waving her arms about and muttering under her breath. He gave a little guffaw, “How’s it going?”
“Useless,” she whined and shut the book. “Got anything better to read?”
Zara quickly surveyed the pile of books he had set aside for them to bring along on their journey. “I’ve gotten a good grasp of most of them,” he pondered. “Besides, it strikes me that you’d probably rather be fighting and using your combat skills than reading books.”
Taisiya gave him a pained glare, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing,” was the reply. “I just love reading and studying, and it seems like you don’t care for it.”
“It’s okay,” she said back, “but be my guest to do it yourself.” Taisiya tossed the old red book over to Zara.
“The pleasure is all mine,” he said proudly. “I’m sure I’ll enjoy it more and get it done more quickly than you anyway.”
Taisiya got up and helped herself to Ammon’s kitchen. “Just tell me the important stuff, okay?” she asked with her head in the cupboard.
“Of course,” Zara nodded. He picked up the book he had been reading last and laid down on the couch picking up where he had left off.
Shortly after Taisiya had eaten and Zara had become engrossed in his book, Ammon made his way back down the staircase with bags and bags of supplies. Taisiya ran over to help him, and Zara joined her after he could tear himself away from the page he was reading. Ammon sat some of the bags down on the floor and gave a weary sigh. “I hope I got enough!”
“I should say so!” Taisiya and Zara said in unison. They both knelt down to look at what was inside the bags.
Ammon had not a care in the world when it came to budgeting apparently; he had bought both Taisiya and Zara beautiful new clothes. There were outfits for all types of weather. They took out the clothes and held them up to the light for a better look.
Zara had an astonishing green robe with gold lining. The inside was lined with hidden pockets to store weapons or food without anyone noticing. Zara was so astounded by its beauty that he put it on right away and was delighted to see it fit him like a glove.
Ammon had also gotten Zara a white outfit similar to the one he was already wearing, some armor, a variety of beautiful tunics with matching cloaks, and a couple pairs of boots and sandals. Zara was overwhelmed and gave Ammon a big hug while Taisiya looked over her new apparel.
Like Zara, she had a similar robe in a muted yellow with green lining. As grateful as she was, Taisiya couldn’t help but be a little bit jealous – the green in Zara’s robe would camouflage him much better in the forest than her yellow would. Nonetheless, she put it on, and looked at her own set of armor that wasn’t too shabby.
Ammon had gotten Taisiya tunics and cloaks as well, but the bright colors were a bit too girly for her taste. The rugged boots were perfect, however, and the sandals weren’t too bad either. “Thank you very much,” she said politely, nodding gratefully at Ammon.
A couple of the other bags contained an array of food and drink. Ammon definitely had made sure that neither Zara nor Taisiya would go hungry on the journey to Ethnymphai or on their return.
“I trust that this should keep you all well satiated on your voyages,” Ammon said with a smile. “Feel free to bring some back, though.”
Zara went over to help Ammon steady the bags on the table. “How can we repay you?”
Ammon furrowed his brow as if he were in deep thought before simply saying, “Just kill the queen, and don’t worry about it.”
“Trust me, that will not be a problem,” Taisiya replied.
Once all the goods were safely stowed away, Zara went back to his reading while Taisiya tried on her armor and chatted with Ammon. During his visit to town, Ammon had also stopped by the potion shop and seen Tomas. “These,” Ammon said, reaching deep into his pocket and pulling out a couple small vials, “are a gift from Tomas. He wishes you Godspeed.”
Taisiya took the two bottles and looked over their labels carefully. One of the vials was a healing salve that would come in handy if there were any battles and the other, a very small yellow ampoule, was simply labeled ‘LIGHT.’ “Do you know what this one does?” Taisiya asked.
Ammon shook his head and Zara looked up from his book before furrowing his brow. “I don’t remember seeing that for sale in his shop,” he said.
“It must be special then. I’m sure the gods themselves will make it apparent when a potion like that will be useful,” Ammon said, giving an uncertain smile.
The recent discovery of elements like Light being thrown around by nymphs and bottled up by potion makers was beginning to make Taisiya’s head spin. She went over and sat down on a couch across from the one on which Zara was
relaxing. A thought popped into her head, and she blurted it out before realizing it was only going to make her headache worse.
“What happened in that schism? You said that the bad nymphs stayed on the island but what happened to the good nymphs?”
Zara was startled by the question. “Honestly, I have no clue. I suppose if they left Ethnymphai…they could be anywhere. However, I do know that the magic that is in the nymphs burns like a fire deep within them. The reason the good nymphs were banished is because, while their intentions are pure, they are for the most part, very weak. They don’t need to be very powerful to do what they wish, so their ‘fire’ doesn’t burn as bright.”
Taisiya nodded, almost feeling as if she understood all that Zara was saying. He continued, “This innate fire is passed on from the nymph to her offspring. In a text I was reading, nymphs themselves even hypothesized that ‘bad’ nymphs create even more wicked children as their passion burns stronger, and ‘good’ nymphs will have children less skilled at their abilities. For all we know, the nymphs that use their powers for good could have died out centuries ago.”
Taisiya frowned, “I suppose that means we won’t be visiting any good nymphs for some help along the way, then.”
“Afraid not,” Zara said. He turned the page in his book and went back to studying.
Ammon chimed in from a couple bookshelves over. “Anything is possible!” He made his way back to the lounging couple. “Now, when will you be setting off?”
Taisiya got up impatiently. “I’m ready now.”
Zara’s eyes widened. “Oh, let’s stay just a bit longer. I’m learning so much.”
“You will have time to read during the week we spend sitting on a boat doing nothing!” Taisiya said. She threw her hands up in exasperation and went off to mill around the kitchen, anxiously gnawing on a piece of bread.
Ammon bit his lip, not wanting to get in the middle of this argument. “Erm… regardless,” he said, “whenever you shall set out, I will need to make sure you’re properly disguised. There are sentinels every few paces out there.”
He pulled up a chair and motioned for Taisiya to come and sit. She hurried over, eager to get started and out of the underground library. Ammon helped her into her new tunic and then she sat down and let him get to work on disguising her.
Ammon explained that he was very good friends with Antonia, one of the merchants up above. The wealthy women in town would go to her shop to feel pampered and beautiful. Antonia used different minerals and plants, even dirt and mud, to cleanse skin and hair.
Another one of Antonia’s specialties was her ability to drastically change the women’s facial features. She had explained to Ammon numerous times how creating shadows and highlights on a face could make anyone look different. Now, Ammon was going to put all of her boring stories to good use.
His visit to her salon had proved useful, and Antonia was sympathetic to Taisiya and Zara’s cause. She had given Ammon a generous supply of the finest powders, minerals and brushes to heavily disguise the two on their upcoming escape through town.
Ammon pulled Taisiya’s hair up and out of her face, tying it in a little bun. “Not to sound harsh,” he said, “but you’re always a girl on the go. Your hair’s always in your face…I doubt any of the guards up there even have a proper idea of what your bone structure looks like.”
Taisiya rolled her eyes but kept quiet. Ammon held her jaw in his hands and looked over her face from all angles. He then took some dark powders and shaded her jaw and cheekbones. The result was a very gaunt looking Taisiya. Nonetheless, she still looked quite like herself.
Carefully, he dabbed some of the dark powder under her eyes, which aged her considerably. He then took some of the more colorful shades of powders and applied them to her eyelids. Taisiya was beginning to fade into a much older woman that looked desperate to cling to her youth. Ammon finished his handiwork with some careful finite shading on her forehead that in the end looked like a very wrinkled brow.
Taisiya got up and as she did, Zara looked up and practically jumped off the couch in fright after getting a good look at her. His mouth agape with incredulity, he simply said, “Nice work…”
Ammon snorted. “Your turn,” he said, patting the empty chair. “Enough reading for now.”
Zara put his book down and came over to Ammon. Ammon squinted as he looked Zara over and then grabbed a brush and went to work. A dark black powder coated Zara’s short blond hair. Taisiya, who was watching keenly nearby said absentmindedly, “You look kind of dreamy with black hair.” Zara’s face turned bright red, and he mumbled a courteous thanks.
Ammon continued on by darkening Zara’s eyebrows to match his hair and then shading in his under-eyes and cheekbones like he had done to Taisiya. The only problem, Ammon realized, was that Zara already had a very prominent jawline. It made him look attractive and masculine, but it also was one of the more defining features of his face. Ammon scratched his chin in thought.
He grabbed a brush and held Zara’s face steady. “I hope this works,” he explained. “Antonia described many techniques she used to make women appear to have thinner faces. Hopefully, doing the opposite will have an contrasting effect.” He used his brushes and tried to hide Zara’s jawline and make it appear more plump and round. “It actually worked!” Ammon said with delight.
“Yes, now he looks fat!” Taisiya laughed, holding her sides while Zara shot her a look of contempt.
“Well, do I look like a forty year old woman?” Zara said hotly, and Taisiya’s eyes widened.
“Yes, you do,” she replied, letting out another haughty chuckle. “Anyone with this much dirt on their face looks beyond ridiculous.”
Always the voice of reason, Ammon interrupted the quarrel. “Might I remind you both that the point of all this was for you to look nothing like yourselves. The fact that you look so horrid now is just part of the fact that you both are quite beautiful normally.”
“Oh boy,” Taisiya said exasperatedly. “Let’s get out of here before I throw up and ruin all the work put into this face.”
Zara chortled and got up. Ammon dusted off Zara’s face quickly with his brush and then led Zara and Taisiya over to the table holding all the groceries he had bought. He mumbled under his breath and then went off to fetch something, trying to remember where it was.
While he was gone, Taisiya and Zara rummaged through the bags some more, their stomachs rumbling at all the tasty food. A couple minutes later, Ammon found his way back to the pair. He was pulling a wagon. “Here we go, I knew it was somewhere!”
Ammon wheeled the wagon by the table and heartily took a bag of supplies. He tossed it in and motioned for Zara and Taisiya to follow suit.
Once the wagon was loaded, their next task was getting it up the flight of stairs and out the hidden door. Zara and Ammon waited at the bottom of the stairs while Taisiya took the wagon’s handle. The guys pushed the wagon up each stair while she guided its wheels. After a big effort from all three, the wagon soon found its way on flat ground once more.
“You know, this is the first time this wagon has ever been up this stairs. I always knew it would...” Ammon began, but never finished his sentence. He, Zara, and Taisiya all three were in jaw-dropping shock.
They had expected to see the tiny shack that was the facade to Ammon’s home. Instead, they were greeted by a desolate landscape. Smoke was still clearing from the area, and in the distance, embers were still burning in nearby houses. A scream rang out a few streets over as a woman tried crawling out from the rubble of her home.
A brief survey of the land showed that once all the fires were put out, the entire town would be wiped off the map. Taisiya's lip curled in anger. This meant war.
CHAPTER SEVEN –
THE NYMPH IN THE WOODS
“Let’s move quickly before we are spotted,” Taisiya said. “The sooner we are on our way, the better.”
Ammon was still in disbelief. “My…my house,” he said, tears streami
ng down his face.
“Do you want to stay here, Ammon?” Zara asked calmly. “I’m sure we will be fine to get the boat on our own.”
The older man’s eyes were as wide as a little baby’s. “I don’t know…I’m scared, Zara.”
“Stay here,” Taisiya said matter-of-factly. “You will be a liability if you come with us, and you know it is important that you protect your library.”
“What if the queen comes back for me?” Ammon stuttered.
Taisiya stuck out her hand, motioning to the lifeless horizon around them. “Her job here is done.”
“If for some odd reason they do come back, your library is massive enough that you can hide easily in it. Just be careful, okay?” Zara said, squeezing Ammon’s hand and giving him a comforting smile.
Ammon nodded and went to turn around and descend back into his home. Taisiya held on to the trap door, which now stood out like a sore thumb among the ashes. She called down to Ammon, “You’ll be safe. We’ll hide the trap door under some rubble. Just don’t come up…we’ll be back soon. Don’t worry!”
Ammon stammered a thankful reply and then disappeared around a corner into his library. By the time Taisiya shut the trap door, Zara was already walking over with his arms full of dilapidated planks and some charred vases. He tossed them haphazardly over the hidden door and then surveyed his work. “Not too shabby,” he smirked.
“Yes, it looks horrible.” Taisiya said, cocking an eyebrow.
“That’s what I intended,” Zara said, sticking his tongue out at her.
Taisiya hitched up her tunic and grabbed the wagon wheel. “Let’s get moving before you decide to redecorate the entire town.”
Zara snorted and took the wheel from her hands. “I’ve got this,” he said. Taisiya normally would have put up a fight and said she was just as capable as any man to carry a small wagon full of goods, but she resisted once Zara flashed her his debonair smile.