Tristan paused as if he were waiting for her to change her mind, then he said, “Everyone you met in the hideout was someone who lost everything to the crown. We all see the king and the prince for what they really are: cruel, power-hungry, and dangerous. Once I formed the Azure Riders, I found a new family, one that I could rely on for everything and could trust to be completely loyal to me, and everyone there feels the same way.”
Kaina finally looked at Tristan and their eyes met. She smiled, nodded, and said, “I'm...glad you all found each other.”
As they kept walking, they finally came to another large chamber with what appeared to be an underground lake. The beauty of the natural stone chamber and water could only be out-shined by one thing Kaina wished to see more than anything.
“Tristan, there's light coming in from up there,” she said as she pointed to the source. Almost on command, the light from the book faded and sure enough, they could both see a section of the ceiling that was allowing a small amount of moonlight to penetrate the darkness of the cavern.
“We must not be as deep as we thought,” Kaina said.
“Well I'm certainly not going to question it. Let's get up there and out of this cursed place,” Tristan said.
The moonlight provided just enough for Kaina and Tristan to see where they were going, and the water before them had a series of stones coming up from beneath the surface. Tristan placed his foot on the first one, then he hopped onto it when he was certain that it wasn't going to move. He then held his hand out to help Kaina onto it, which she accepted.
They repeated this process until they were about halfway across the water, and that was when Kaina suddenly had a thought.
“Tristan,” she said after he pulled her onto the fourth or fifth stone, “doesn't it seem odd to you that a naturally formed cavern has stones all the same size and perfectly straight in a line across the water like this?”
“What do you mean?” he asked as he hopped onto the next stone.
“I mean that stones like this don't just form naturally,” she said as he pulled her forward and lowered her by her waist next to him. “I think these were intentionally placed here.”
Tristan paused to say, “This is a goblin cave, so maybe they made this. At any rate, who's complaining?”
He reached out again for Kaina, but this time she didn't take his hand.
“Something isn't right, Tristan,” she said. “We need to think about this...”
“What we need to do is get across this lake and out of this forsaken place,” Tristan said.
Just then, they heard a low rumble from somewhere within the labyrinth of tunnels. At first it sounded like some of the land shifting, but soon they heard a barely audible, low sound that reminded Kaina of a growl.
“Tristan...” she whispered, “don't...move...”
Tristan obeyed, and shifted his eyes to try and find the source of the sound.
They soon heard a thud, followed by another, and another in a rhythmic pattern that Kaina soon determined to be footsteps. It originated from a nearby tunnel that was nearly three times as tall as Tristan, and even in the dark she could see the color drain from his face. She slowly turned around to see what he was looking at and she instantly regretted it.
What Kaina saw was something far larger than any goblin or any known creature. Its tiny head slowly came into view of the moonlight dragging something behind it that resembled a giant leg bone. What the bone originally belonged to, Kaina wasn't sure she wanted to know.
The creature was the ugliest thing Kaina had ever seen, and in spite of her fear that it would charge at her the moment she made a sound, she turned slightly towards Tristan and said, “What. Is. That?”
“It's an ogre,” he whispered. “They normally don't attack people unless they feel threatened...”
Kaina sighed with relief until Tristan added, “...or if someone is trespassing in their lair.”
Kaina shivered and watched as the ogre dragged the bone along behind it and went off somewhere behind a series of boulders, and then into a larger tunnel, and that was when Kaina turned back to Tristan and mouthed, Let's go.
Tristan nodded and helped Kaina onto the next boulder, but rather than wait for him, Kaina jumped next to him onto the next boulder, and he didn't argue. They hopped onto another, and then just as they were about to hop onto the last one, Kaina's foot slipped and she landed in the water with a loud, echoing splash.
Tristan grabbed for Kaina and hurriedly pulled her to her feet, and once she was secure, they realized that the footsteps had stopped. Silence followed, and the two held their breath as they realized exactly how loud they had been. Kaina breathed again when she heard the footsteps continue, but her heart dropped when she realized that they were getting louder.
“Run!” Kaina said as the two hurried onto the next boulder and then onto the ledge just under the light of the moon. When they turned around, the ogre had returned to the chamber they were in and worst of all, it spotted them.
The ogre let out a deafening roar and pointed its bone club at them as it charged forward, splashing into the pool after them. The water was only calf deep to him, but it still hindered his speed enough so that Kaina and Tristan had time to bolt for the rocks under the moonlight.
“You first,” Tristan said as he hoisted Kaina up onto the rocks before she had a chance to protest.
Kaina didn't bother to protest and began climbing, but when she turned back to check on Tristan, she realized that he wasn't coming after her.
“Tristan, what are you--”
“Go, NOW!” Tristan yelled. “I'll distract it.”
Kaina climbed up, using every screaming muscle in her aching body. She heard the ogre's howling grow louder, and as she turned to see how close he was, all she could see was the tip of his club smashing into the rocks below.
“TRISTAN!” she screamed, but a second later the ogre turned as Tristan dodged the attack and rolled off to the side.
He stood there taunting the beast as it pulled its club from the rocks, causing the ones above to shift. Kaina barely held on as the rocks she was holding on to moved down slightly, but she was relieved when they didn't collapse. Convinced she would have to get out of there before the chamber caved in, she summoned every ounce of energy and willpower she had to reach the top before she looked back at her companion once more.
Tristan used the various rock formations to his advantage as he dodged the ogre's swings. He worked in a pattern, getting the ogre to hit every one of the rock pillars that were connected from floor to ceiling in the cavern, and Kaina figured that he was trying to use the ogre's strength against him. She was correct in this assumption, as she then saw Tristan step in front of another pile of rocks that was only barely standing and was visibly taller than the ogre.
“Come on, you beast,” Tristan taunted, “I'm right in front of you!”
If the ogre had been a second faster, Tristan would have been crushed, but the trained warrior easily dodged the attack. The bone club struck the rocks, causing an instant avalanche of stone right onto the ogre's head, back and neck until his entire body was crushed. Tristan bolted for the rocks below the exit, and Kaina smiled and began her ascent once more. She was just about to reach the surface when she heard something that made her stomach lurch.
The ogre roared again and broke through the rocks and wrenched his entire body out from beneath the thousands of pounds of stone. When he saw Kaina and Tristan, a twisted, angry expression formed and he roared even louder than before. Kaina watched as the ogre scrambled out of the rocks and flew at Tristan, who was only a few feet below her. She cried out as the ogre then reached out and grabbed Tristan by the leg.
The ogre raised his club as Tristan tried in vain to break free from his grasp, but all that he could do was wait in agony for the crushing blow that was about to follow.
Kaina didn't even realize she had begun to move until she was right next to Tristan's leg. She raised her hand and brought it do
wn onto the ogre's wrist, and a second later the ogre had recoiled in pain and released his grip on Tristan, the silver dagger protruding from his wrist.
“GO!” she screamed as the ogre fell backwards in shock attempting to remove the dagger from his bleeding wrist. The shock didn't last long, however, for soon the ogre was after them again, but this time, they managed to make it to the exit by the time he started for them.
Tristan shoved Kaina through the hole to the outside, and once she fit her body through, she immediately put her arm back in to help Tristan out. Just as his waist made it through the hole, the ogre appeared just below him. Not wanting to give him another chance to grab him, Tristan then proceeded to deliver a swift kick right into the ogre's eye. It howled as it fell backwards once again, this time causing the rocks to completely cave in. Tristan narrowly made it in time to avoid having the lower half of his body crushed by the stone avalanche.
Though they could no longer hear the ogre, Kaina and Tristan refused to take the chance of having it burst through the ground to drag them back inside. They raced through the forest until the first signs of daylight peaked through the foliage, and as the thrilling situation fell further behind them, fatigue took its place.
As they kept walking, Kaina noticed that Tristan struggled to keep his balance. In the light, she could see that he had multiple cuts, bruises, and abrasions, and she found it to be nothing short of a miracle that he was even standing.
“Should we...” Kaina began, “...stop to rest? It's daylight, so we should be safe-”
Tristan shook his head. “I'm not stopping until we're out of this forest.” His foot caught a fallen tree branch and he stumbled into the dirt, at which point Kaina stopped to help him up.
“Thank you...” he whispered as she pulled him to his feet.
“It's all right, you needed help,” she said.
“I don't mean just that...you saved my life back there...twice, actually. You could have just run both times, but you came back for me. I should have said this already, but...thank you...”
Kaina didn't respond, but instead offered him a hopeful smile and put his arm around her shoulders to help him walk. They walked in silence for a while until Kaina stopped in her tracks.
“What is it? Tristan said.
“Do you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“Water...the river!”
Kaina moved towards the sound of the rushing water and by the time they could see it, Tristan had moved his arm away from her and was now running towards it as well. A moment later, the rushing water of the river as well as the path that ran along side it lay just before it.
Kaina laughed with relief, never having been so happy to see water before. They both crouched down at the riverbank and dipped their hands in the water just to confirm that they weren't dreaming or dead. They then sat for several moments in silence, just staring at the clear stream. A fish swam by, and until then Kaina hadn't realized that it was the first fish she had seen since she first set foot in the Black Forest.
Kaina sighed and looked up, noticing for the first time that in the light of day, the trees weren't nearly as black as they were at night. The forest almost had a haunted beauty to it without the nocturnal terrors that await within its depths.
Tristan stood up after a few more moments and said, “We'd better get out of here. I know it's safe now, but I don't want to spend a moment longer in this place than we have to.”
“I couldn't agree more,” Kaina said as she stood up.
The end of the Black Forest was the single most beautiful sight that Kaina had ever seen. She practically sprinted out into the open field away from the forest and basked in the glow of the sunrise. In a single moment, she considered taking a perpetual journey across the world to follow the sun wherever it went so she would never have to be in the dark ever again, but of course she knew such thoughts were silly.
Tristan came up behind her and said, “We made it...we actually made it...”
Kaina turned to face him and added, “We survived the Black Forest.”
Tristan smiled. “I never thought it was possible. I never would have made it out of there if it wasn't for you.”
Kaina shook her head. “Don't be modest. We both helped each other back there. You think I could have faced that ogre on my own?”
Tristan shrugged. “Probably not.”
Kaina laughed and turned around, and that was when something on the horizon caught her eye. A tall structure that resembled a mountain in the middle of a plain far ahead had something on top, something not made by nature.
Kaina placed her hand over her eyes to shade them and get a better view and said, “Is that what I think it is?”
Tristan stood beside her and said, “The city built on the oldest cliff in Ilesia, Eldercliff.”
Kaina laughed from the relief that washed over her. “We should make it by the end of the day.”
“And not a moment too soon,” Tristan said. He then yawned and covered his mouth, then added, “But if you wouldn't mind, I would like to get some rest. I don't think Eldercliff is going anywhere.”
Tristan walked over to a nearby tree and sat down beside it. Kaina soon joined him and sat down next to him, and the last thing she remembered before falling asleep was her heavy head falling right onto Tristan's shoulder.
By the morning after they set out from Eboncrest in the dead of night, Hugo, Gabriel, and Devon made it to Crescent Valley. It was there soon after that they found the hideout of Drake Blackthorn, who stood before the Haventhorns with his men at the entrance.
Hugo rubbed his temple and shut his eyes in frustration. “Let me get this straight. You not only had my cousin locked in a cage, but you actually allowed her abductor to make off with her once again? He also managed to secure his horse and while the rest of you gave chase, they still somehow made it into the Black Forest just before nightfall and not a single one of you thought to go in after them?”
Drake shook his head. “I figured they would come out when they thought we gave up, but after midnight I just assumed they were dead.”
“You left my cousin to die,” Hugo stated. “That's enough cause to have your head.”
Drake scoffed. “Well the way I hear it, she didn't exactly want to go home anyway. I suppose she and her lover are long gone to Eldercliff by now.”
Hugo stared at Drake's smug grin and let his hand fly. His gauntlet made contact with his nose and he felt a satisfying crunch as it broke under the force of the steel. He then pulled Drake to his feet and landed hit after hit to his stomach.
“Hugo, what are you doing?” Devon shouted.
Gabriel, on the other hand, began cheering, “That's it, Hugo. Go for the groin!”
Hugo struck Drake in the back of the neck, forcing him to the ground. He then delivered a kick to his ribs, feeling them crack under the pressure, and went for his sword.
That was when Devon finally intervened. “Hugo, that's enough!”
Devon grabbed Hugo's sword arm and pulled him back. “You made your point. Killing him would serve no purpose.”
“It doesn't have to,” Gabriel laughed.
Both men ignored him and Devon continued, “We need to find Kaina, and we know for a fact that she went into the Black Forest last night. If she's alive, she probably made it out by now.”
“She's dead,” Gabriel remarked. “No one survives in there at night.”
“Then we'll find her body and bring it back home,” Devon said. “Either way, we know now that she probably is heading for Eldercliff. The question is, who is she with?”
Hugo's attention snapped back to Drake, who was still on the ground whimpering. Hugo snatched him up by the collar and said, “Who was the man she was with?”
Drake coughed through the blood trickling from his nose and said, “Didn't...get...his name...but he...was a beast. He killed...two of my men...”
Hugo pulled Drake closer, the smell of fresh blood on his nostrils, and said thro
ugh gritted teeth, “You saw nothing. Understand?”
Drake nodded, and Hugo dropped him back onto the ground. Hugo then turned to face the brothers and said, “We're off to the Black Forest. Let's go.”
Hugo mounted his horse and took off while the other two were still in the midst of mounting their own horses. He knew at this point that finding Kaina alive would be a slim chance, but he refused to be blamed for any wrongdoing. If anything, he would lay the blame on Drake and his cohorts for aiding in the abduction, because after all, who would believe them over the word of a Crimson Knight?
Chapter 15
From the time Casimir awoke to the time he sat at his desk with his impossibly black quill, he had only enough time to find out that Kaina had not yet been recovered before he was ready to find out more from Mareth. He wrote down his question on a piece of paper, but before he even had a chance, a sentence began to form on the page. This took him by surprise, for Mareth never contacted him first.
The sentence read:
Kaina has left the Black Forest.
Confused, Casimir wrote back:
How is that possible? And what about Tristan?
He waited, and then:
Tristan is still with her.
Casimir's blood boiled and he wrote:
Where is she now?
A few moments passed, then:
Resting, but I cannot approach her directly.
Casimir wrote:
Why not?
He answered:
She has learned magic.
Casimir gripped the quill so hard that his knuckles turned white. He then scratched the quill but despite the pressure, the quill still glided gently across the parchment.
Do I need to remind you what what will happen if you cannot complete your contract?
He waited, and slowly, the words began to appear.
Kaina's Dawn (Kaina Saga Book 1) Page 15