by K.L. Bauman
The trees seemed to bow and step aside for the unicorn prince as he raced through the forest. Ayden leaned close to Palmaero's neck. Shouting into the wind he asked, "How do you know my name and my language? And how do you know that my friends need my help?"
"I know many languages and many things. But that is all I will tell you for now. Hold on!" Ayden had thought they were going fast before, but the stallion had a sudden spurt of energy and increased his speed. They were now traveling much faster than the kelpie had done. Ayden had to close his eyes to keep the wind from drying them out.
It was disappointing when Palmaero slowed his pace. The ride had been magical and exhilarating. The unicorn came to a smooth stop, and Ayden slid easily from his back. "You will find your friends beyond the bend in the path ahead. They were looking for you when they came to an abrupt--end."
"End? What do you mean?"
"I only mean to alert you to their need for your assistance. Now hurry. Time has nearly run itself out." Palmaero gave Ayden one last gaze. "You have learned much. May peace be your companion, Ayden," he said.
"Aren't you coming with me?" Ayden asked, suddenly not wanting to be parted from the unicorn's presence.
"Unfortunately, I cannot. There is one among your friends who is not ready to face me. When that one is ready, I will appear to you again." Palmaero turned away from Ayden and, in a wisp of air, was gone into the trees.
Ayden ran up the path and around the corner where Palmaero had instructed him to go. Even though the stallion had hinted at what was waiting there, he was unprepared for what greeted his vision.
Hanging from a steep cliff by the frail roots of a tree was Volos; and hanging on Volos were Pax and Nya. Sabina and Da'ewyn clung to Volos' hands, desperately trying to keep their friends from falling. Ayden could see how they could have made this mistake; the trees ended so abruptly that they would've had no warning before reaching the cliff. And, if they'd been running after him?
As if that weren't enough to make Ayden's toes curl, his dangling companions kicked frantically at an animated plant that reached hungrily at their feet. Small red leaves, rough like sandpaper, stretched toward Nya who was clinging for dear life to Volos' leg. Cat's tongue! Ayden knew from his lessons that, though these plants were rare, their leaves were small and rough like the tongue of a cat. Only the roughness of these tongues could rip the flesh off a grown man in a matter of seconds. The entire area below his companions was covered with the creeping plant.
Sabina was the first to spot Ayden, her eyes mixed with relief and anxiety. "Ayden! Thank goodness!" She nearly let go of Volos' large hand at seeing him. "Help! We can't hold on!" She screeched as Volos' hand began to slip from her grasp.
Coming out of his state of shock, Ayden grabbed his rope and quickly tied one end to a sturdy tree and the other end around his waist. After testing the rope, he ran to the edge of the cliff and joined Da'ewyn in grasping Volos' right hand.
Pax had a death grip on Volos' left shoulder; his eyes were wide and full of terror. "Pax, very slowly and carefully climb up Volos' body and take Sabina's hand," Ayden instructed. Then turning to Sabina, he added, "Sabina, you'll have to let go of Volos' hand and help Pax."
Sabina nodded and Ayden shifted positions to take her place. Pax hadn't moved. "Pax, you have to move now or you'll all fall," Ayden stated firmly. The tongues wiggled menacingly below them.
Pax looked up to where Sabina was reaching toward him. She looked intently at him. "You can do this, Pax. Just reach," she said as calmly as she could. Slowly, Pax moved toward Sabina. Volos grunted as Pax's foot dug into his ribs.
"Come on! Get up there!" Volos growled between gritted teeth.
Ayden held his breath as he waited for Pax to meander his way up Volos' side. "No worries. Take your time," he said sarcastically. Pax scowled at him and, with a sudden burst of bravery, reached up and grasped Sabina's hand tightly. But his new found energy was a little too much and, instead of Sabina pulling him upward, he began to pull her down.
Sabina screamed as Ayden grabbed her cloak with his right hand. Pain shot through his freshly healed shoulder as he pulled back. Sabina found her feet just as Ayden was about to lose his grip. He grabbed Volos with both hands as his large friend kicked at a licking leaf.
Sabina nearly flung Pax over the top of her head as she pulled him to safety. She then hugged him fiercely, causing his cheeks to flush.
Ayden turned his attention to Nya. Hanging on Volos' leg, she kicked at the plant that had torn the bottom of her dress to shreds. Her bare feet and legs also had several scrapes that were dripping blood. The leaves rubbed with disturbing pleasure against each other at fallen droplets. Endia screeched and dove uselessly at the plants, desperate to help her master.
Ayden looked into Nya's eyes and nodded. Without hesitation, she made her way up Volos' side. She was lighter weight than Pax and made her way to his shoulder quickly. Da'ewyn released one of Volos' hands and stretched down to help Nya. Ayden readied himself to assist her in case they should begin to fall.
Da'ewyn brought Nya safely to the ground. Ayden looked to Volos as everyone helped grab his hands and wrists. A tongue-covered branch wrapped around Volos' boot and he kicked uselessly at it with his other foot. "Let go of my hand!" he yelled at Da'ewyn and Nya. Reluctantly, they let go and Volos drew his sword, slicing the branch in half. The rest of the branches became frenzied and reached greedily in its place.
"Volos," Ayden grunted as he fought to keep hold of Volos' hand, "swing your leg up and try to catch those roots with your foot."
Volos looked to his right where a clump of tangled tree roots jutted from the cliff side. He growled as he heaved his body sideways. He missed. Taking a deep breath, he tried again. This time, he was able to snag the roots with his toe. Da'ewyn reached and grasped Volos' vest, and Sabina and Pax ran over to grab his leg. With a lot of pulling and grunting, Volos was pulled to safety.
They all fell to the ground and breathed relief. Volos looked at Ayden and shook his head. After the intense rush of adrenalin, the two of them couldn't help but chuckling.
"I-I d-don't see what's-so funny!" Pax scowled. Then, his brows rose and he screamed. Everyone jumped to their feet. The tip of a branch covered in red leaves was peaking over the edge of the cliff.
"Move!" Volos boomed and no one wasted time running a good distance away from the cliff. Ayden's wind was knocked out of him as he reached the end of his rope and was yanked to the ground. Forgot about that! He quickly grabbed Whisper and cut the restraint, and then caught up with the others.
Once at a safe distance, they stopped to catch their breath.
Pax continued to scowl at Ayden. "You have something to say, Pax?" Ayden asked.
After a moment of contemplation, Pax answered, "Y-Yeah. I d-do. I-It's y-yar fault!" he said, waving his hands in the direction they had just run from. "W-we c-could've been k-kelled!"
Ayden's first instinct was to become irritated. But, after reminding himself that Pax was right, he said, "I know. I owe you another apology. In fact," he said looking to all of them, "I owe all of you an apology. I haven't been listening to any of you. I've been a, well I've been a?."
"Jerk?" Sabina offered.
"Stupid human?" Da'ewyn chimed.
"A punk?" Volos joined in.
"Okay! Okay! Yeah, I've been all of those things. I'm sorry. I'll try to be swift to listen and slow to act from now on," he said, stumbling over Palmaero's lesson of the day.
"Well, since you just saved our butts, I guess we can forgive you," Volos said. Everyone nodded in agreement--except Pax. He continued to scowl and turned away from Ayden.
Ayden sighed heavily, but he didn't know what to do to mend the rift between him and his friend. Shrugging it off, he turned to the others and said, "Well, I'm glad that's over with. Now we can get back to the main path and get to that sword." Ayden gasped as he realized he'd let slip to S
abina and Nya what they were looking for. "Uh, sorry," he said to Volos. "Well, you don't know exactly what sword we're looking for," he said looking back to Sabina.
Sabina crossed her arms over her chest, pursing her lips. "It wouldn't be the magical sword of King Elrohir by any chance, would it?"
"What do you know of it?" Volos asked, surprised.
"Only that it is powerfully magical and that every sorcerer in this world longs to have it. Jared told me all about it," she said. Her eyes darted to the side. "He's been searching for it, I heard. If he gets it?" She seemed lost in a vision for a moment.
"If you ever find him, Sabina, you know you can't tell him that we're looking for it," Ayden said quietly. "Even if it means his having the sword might make him powerful enough to cure you."
An angry crease formed between Sabina's brows as she answered, "You don't trust me enough to know that I would never do that? Jared is the last person I would want to get his hands on such a device, well, second to Degus." She lowered her gaze again.
"Alright," Ayden said uncertainly. He didn't like this new revelation. What if he really couldn't trust Sabina?
Da'ewyn was scolding Nya as she helped the siren nurse her wounds. "You really should try wearing shoes sometime." After Nya had been tended to, Ayden, Volos and Pax allowed the girls to walk ahead of them so they could have a quick look at the map. Sabina and Nya knew about the sword, but that didn't mean they had to know about the secret that Pax held. Ayden argued that it was pointless to even look at the map, considering Degus probably knew where they were anyway.
Ignoring Ayden, Volos traced their path with his finger, causing Pax to momentarily forget his sour mood and giggle. "Be still, Pax," Volos said.
"Th-that t-teckles!" Pax replied between chuckles.
Volos trailed his finger along and said, "We still have a long way to go, maybe four or five days, if we don't run in to any trouble."
This news was not welcome to Ayden. Days seemed an incredibly long time when he knew Freya was suffering. "Are you sure? Even if we travel longer into the night some nights? Sabina could lead us at night with her sharp vision."
"That would be too risky. If Degus really is on to us and wants to keep us deterred, she'd use the dark as her ally. Traveling at night would be far more dangerous now."
Ayden ruffled his already messy hair. "Okay. Well we won't get there any faster standing around, that's for sure."
"Look here. In two days, we'll have a good rest," Volos said as he poked Pax's back. The map there showed a fancy symbol that Ayden didn't recognize.
"Why? What is it?" he asked.
"Andor-the gifted land of the elves. It is Thildin's sister city, but is at least three times as large. It's where Ahriman's people live. We'll find good food and good rest there," Volos smiled and then trailed his finger further up Pax's back.
"What's this?" Ayden asked as he pointed to another symbol off of the path.
"That's your father's homeland. The fairy realm and home of Faylinn Cannelita-The Fairy Kingdom Gardens. But we won't have time to stop there," Volos said.
"Maybe on the way back? I'd love to see where my dad grew up," Ayden said excitedly.
"Maybe," Volos said unconvincingly. He continued to study the map as he ran his finger up Pax's back. "And then," he frowned as his finger came across another strange symbol just before the crystal-like lake directly beneath Pax's neck.
"What, Volos? And then what?"
"Well, let's just take it one day at a time. You're right; we won't get far standing around." Volos turned abruptly and walked through the trees toward the mapped out path.
Pax and Ayden looked at each other as Pax lowered his shirt. "What d-do ya s'pose i-is by the l-lake?" Pax asked warily.
"I don't know." Ayden answered. "But it can't be good."
Chapter Twenty Seven
The Siren's Story