Anilyia (11 page)

He glanced at Sir Danth next to him who was
intently looking into the forest as though he saw something. It was
the third time Tathan had noticed him doing it, but didn’t feel
like asking why.

Rain didn’t touch the knight. That magical
armor of his had some sort of invisible force around it, protecting
him from the elements. Tathan had seen various magical armors that
protected from rain, cold, heat, swords, arrows, and just about
anything a person could imagine. What he had never seen was armor
that had all of those in one dark, knight-sized package.

Sir Danth’s armor had been made by the best
craftsmen of his ancient kingdom. They cast just about every
enchantment into it that Tathan had heard of and many he hadn’t.
The knight told him that he’d fallen asleep while the craftsmen
were describing a lot of the enchantments, so even he wasn’t sure
what all it was capable of.

Tathan glanced back at Liselle and Vevin who
were riding next to each other, holding hands as usual. He rolled
his eyes inwardly. Tathan was happy that his cousin had found
someone to love, but they were just so
sappy
about it.

The rain didn’t touch Vevin. When Tathan had
asked the dragon about it, he simply raised an eyebrow and replied,
“I am a dragon. Nothing touches me without permission and I have
not given the rain permission.” Vevin had been straight-faced and
serious. Tathan once again counted himself lucky that their purple
friend was on their side.

Liselle’s jacket protected her from the
worst of the rain as his did for him. At first, he had worried
about how she would handle it, but discovered she liked the
moisture. If it was something a flower would like, it seemed to be
good for Liselle as well. Very few people would ever see anything
out of the ordinary to indicate she was anything other than human.
The relationship to flowers could only be noticed if one knew about
it already and even then, a person would have to study her to see
the tendencies.

Tathan made a habit of studying people. He
watched their ways and mannerisms. It helped him to figure people
out and he succeeded most of the time. His companions weren’t most
people however. They were each unique and extraordinary. At times,
he felt as though he were in the company of greatness and wondered
what the future held for such amazing individuals.

They were off to save a princess from
caverns deep within the world. She would most likely be heavily
guarded in an impossible location. Once they rescued her, the
companions would have to sneak the princess past hostile forces who
would be hunting them. Then they would have to figure out how to
get her to the Kingdom of Mayncal, which was far south of the
Iynath Empire on the other side of the vast Caaldith Mountains.

He turned to look at his extraordinary
companions once more. They were all lost in their own thoughts. As
the rain began to fall heavier, Tathan tightened his jacket once
more. He had no doubt that somehow, someway, they would rescue the
exotic princess of a faraway land.

***

The companions arrived in the Druid village
five rainy days later. Tathan didn’t see the look Vevin and Liselle
exchanged upon passing the outer diameter of the peace spell
halfway between Brondaggiin and the village.

The Druids were friendly to them as they
took the horses. Fortunately, Bromin and his friends were not in
the village at the time, though others told the companions the
dragon fear had worn off. Instead of leaving her bow, Liselle gave
it into Vevin’s safekeeping along with the jewels the Mother Tree
had given. She wasn’t certain what he did with them, but he assured
her that they were safe and he would give them to her anytime she
liked.

After getting a good night’s rest, they
continued on foot. The sun finally decided to show its face to the
world once more, warming their path. By evening, they were back at
the wall of Puujan, heading to the entrance.

“Hello there! I didn’t expect to see you
again. What in the world happened?” Sergeant Soam asked. Tathan
wondered if the same group of guards was at the gate all the time.
He had never seen anyone else.

Once again, Tathan changed his mannerisms
and tone of voice to portray a different image. The rest of the
party was content to fade into the background and let him do all
the talking. “Them stupid Druids!” Tathan exclaimed, spitting out
the words in anger. It caused the guards to jump. Sir Danth
muttered something incomprehensible and shook his head while Vevin
acted mad. Liselle followed their cues, folding her arms and
glaring at the dirt in front of her feet.

“They let us get deep into the forest when
the path suddenly disappeared.” Tathan waved his arms around in the
air angrily and stomped back and forth. “The next thing we know
they’re shooting arrows at us and rabid animals are coming out of
the trees to harass us.”

“No! Those bastards!” Sergeant Soam yelled.
The other guards shook their heads in disgust, instantly buying the
story.

“Aye! We were able to escape the attack with
our lives, but couldn’t see them to fight back,” Tathan continued.
“The path behind us was still open, so we ran. The trees closed
behind us, refusing to let us go anywhere but back here.”

“They do that,” one of the guards
interrupted. “The first time Druids attack, they don’t hit you.
From what I hear, they like to chase people down and hunt them for
sport.” The other guards nodded.

While the statement irritated Tathan, who
knew the Druids helped people who wished to leave, he showed
nothing of his feelings. “Aye, I’ve heard the same,” he said with a
nod. “We decided not to kill them, being as we didn’t want to fight
the entire forest, but we’ve wasted almost two weeks in that
overgrown garden.”

Sergeant Soam put a thick, friendly hand on
Tathan’s shoulder. “Don’t beat yourself up over it, friend.”

“I don’t know what we’ll do now,” Tathan
said with his head hung. “I didn’t want to do any more work for the
Rojuun, but it looks like I’ll need to get through the caverns to
the other side if I want to leave.” He waved toward the mountains.
“It’s either the forest or the mountains. The Caaldith Range is
even more dangerous and impassible than the Willden.”

“Aye, no one would survive that journey,”
the sergeant agreed. “There’s a road through the caverns you can
travel from Puujan to . . . I forgot the name of the city on the
other side. It’s a long journey, but better than trying to climb
over the mountains.”

Tathan frowned and folded his arms. “If I
come across the Rojuun, won’t they want me to work for them some
more?” he asked. “They won’t just let me walk through.”

“From what I understand, it’s all explored
tunnels, guarded by Rojuun,” the sergeant reassured him. “As far as
getting stopped by Rojuun, you probably will be. I don’t know what
to tell you about that.”

“Perhaps no one will bother us,” Tathan said
with a half-hearted shrug. “Do you know how long it takes to get
from one end to the other?”

“No idea,” the sergeant replied. “Me and the
boys were teleported from a city at the edge of the Iynath Empire.
We never even traveled the tunnels, which is fine by me.”

Tathan found that information interesting.
“I don’t like being teleported much more than I like trudging
through caves,” Tathan said with disgust. Actually he found it
fascinating, but that wasn’t important. “I think I’ll take my
chances in the tunnels.”

Sergeant Soam laughed at that. “Aye, it’s an
uncomfortable feeling if you ask me.” The other guards nodded in
agreement.

“Thanks again, Sergeant. You’ve been a lot
of help,” Tathan said with a hand on the sergeant’s shoulder.

“May your journeys fare better in the
future,” Sergeant Soam responded, returning the gesture.

With that, the companions walked through the
postern gate into the city of Puujan once more. The last daylight
was disappearing from the sky, while the aroma of evening meals
wafted through the air. The wings of the city were tranquil and
glowing in the light of the two partial moons. Tathan
absent-mindedly observed that a baby’s cry sounded through the hum
of city life.

A short while later they were at the White
Tree Inn where Hulda greeted them enthusiastically. She brought
them a meal with drinks in short order then sat down. Tathan told
her the same story he told the guards at the gate.

“Well, that sounds like a dreadful
experience,” Hulda said sympathetically. “I can’t believe the
Druids treated you like that. They didn’t bother us at all when we
came through the forest to Puujan. I thought for certain they’d let
you back through.” The heavyset innkeeper took another drink of her
ale.

“We did too,” Tathan said. They had finished
their meals and sat around the table, relaxing. Their bellies were
full . . . except for Sir Danth who remained stubbornly hollow.
Tathan stretched his legs in hopes that some of the weight from his
belly would settle to his toes. “Now we need to head through the
tunnels in the other direction. Sergeant Soam told us there was a
way underneath the mountains. Have you heard of it?” he asked.

“Aye, I’ve heard of it. Not many people go
from one end to the other though,” the innkeeper told them. “You’ll
notice Puujan isn’t fully inhabited. Perhaps someday it will be,
but there just hasn’t been much need for people here.”

“Why are people here at all?” Liselle asked
with genuine curiosity.

“The Druids allow some foraging from the
forest and there’s a couple of mining villages nearby, but the main
profession around here is crafting,” Hulda explained. “Several
marble crafters work from a small quarry in the mountains. A lot of
jewelry is made from metals and gems the Rojuun supply as
well.”

“I saw some the one day I was in the
market,” Liselle said, remembering. “It seemed very well made.” She
hadn’t seen much jewelry in her life, having lived in the sheltered
valley. “I thought such nice things were only for princesses and
such.”

Tathan raised an eyebrow in admiration of
his cousin’s deft mention of a princess. He looked toward Hulda to
see if she would take the bait.

She did. “Say, that reminds me. Have you
heard that the Princess of Mayncal was kidnapped?” Hulda asked,
leaning forward in her seat.

“No. Really?” Liselle asked, also leaning
forward. She slid an elbow on the table and propped her chin in her
hand.

“Well, I’m sure you’ve heard about the
kingdoms of Mayncal and Brindlyn and how they’ve been fighting for
centuries . . .”

“I think so,” Liselle replied, twisting her
face in thought. “There always seems to be two countries that have
been fighting for centuries. It’s so hard to keep track of
them.”

Hulda laughed at that. “Very true, as you
say. Anyway, the Princess of Mayncal and the Prince of Brindlyn
were to marry and bring peace to their kingdoms.”

“I would imagine it’s hard for two people to
get married if one is kidnapped,” Liselle said dryly.

“Good one!” Hulda said, clapping Liselle on
the shoulder and nearly knocking her off the stool. The look of
shock on his cousin’s face was priceless, causing Tathan to laugh.
It was nice to see someone else get a taste of friendly abuse for a
change.

Hulda continued the story. “Aye, it’s hard
for a princess to get married if she’s kidnapped. And it’s hard for
two countries to achieve peace if the marriage can’t happen.” The
innkeeper looked around to make sure nobody was listening before
leaning forward. The group leaned in as well.

“Rumor is that the princess is in a Rojuun
city, being held securely,” Hulda said in a low voice. “The kingdom
of Brindlyn thinks Mayncal is hiding her and the kingdom of Mayncal
believes Brindlyn has kidnapped or killed her.” She leaned back
again. “If something isn’t done, it’ll escalate into open
violence.”

“They will definitely go to war,” Sir Danth
said. “It is the way of kings and has been since kingdoms first
began.”

“Why would the Rojuun kidnap a princess
though?” Liselle asked innocently. “They don’t seem all that bad to
me.”

“Honestly? I don’t know that they would.”
Hulda leaned forward again as did the companions. “It sounds like
something the Empire of Iynath would do. I’d bet a gold uun or two
they kidnapped the princess and gave her to the Rojuun to keep
safe. Nobody would be able to rescue her from their territory.”

“Ahh,” Liselle responded with a
conspiratorial nod. “I’ve been in those caverns and it would be
impossible for anyone to rescue her.”

“Most definitely,” Hulda agreed, leaning
back again. The companions leaned back as well.

“You said she was in a Rojuun city?” Sir
Danth asked. “How many cities are there?”

Hulda shrugged. “I don’t know. None of the
Rojuun has ever said and no human has explored their caverns to my
knowledge.”

Liselle leaned forward this time, followed
by the others. “Where do you think they’re keeping the princess?”
she asked in a hushed tone.

“Well, I don’t know where the princess would
be,” the innkeeper said quietly. “Most of the rumors come out of
Alluu, deep in Rojuun territory. It’s the primary city for humans
to stay and live while in the caverns. She might be held there, but
I couldn’t say for certain.” Hulda sat back and took another
drink.

“I’ve heard of Alluu before, but just by
name. What can you tell me of it?” Tathan asked.

The waitress brought them more drink. Hulda
waved off payment from the companions. She was enjoying the
conversation and they had tipped her well in the past. “From what
they say, it’s an amazing city. The cave it’s in is enormous,
housing tens of thousands of Rojuun and humans.” Hulda motioned
with her arms expressively. “Travelers and merchants who have been
there talk about Rojuun artists in the streets performing music,
painting, or just being weird.”