Anilyia (34 page)

Seven Rojuun warriors lay on the ground,
dead from Sir Danth’s sword. The feju who had dropped her knives
ran away as soon as the knight sheathed his blade. “I don’t
understand why they act without bravery,” he said in
disappointment. He looked to Liselle. “Which way now, Milady?”

Liselle pointed at another tunnel behind the
knight. “That’s the way we want to go. There’s a dwelling along the
way, but if we move quickly, we shouldn’t be disturbed.” She
pointed left, to the west. “There are more dwelling caverns and a
small city that way.” She pointed to the right. “That leads deeper
into the world where no civilization exists, Rojuun or otherwise.”
Then she fainted. Vevin caught her in his arms.

“Liselle!” he exclaimed in alarm, putting
his hand on her cheek. She was pale and a trickle of blood was
flowing from her nose. He looked at Tathan. “I’m no good at
healing, Tathan. What do I do?” There was fear swirling in his
eyes. Tathan physically removed Anilyia’s hand from his arm and
went to his cousin.

Sir Danth joined him. “I have no knowledge
of healing either, Master Tathan.”

Tathan nodded and put fingers on Liselle’s
neck. “Her heartbeat is still strong and she’s breathing easily.”
Tathan said in relief. “I don’t know why she fainted. It didn’t
look like she was using too much magic.”

“She wasn’t,” Vevin said with a shake of his
head. “I think maybe she got hurt listening to the world.”

“Hurt listening to the world?” Tathan asked
in confusion.

Vevin nodded vigorously. “The world is
really big and powerful. It knows a lot and it’s been around for a
long time,” he explained. “Even someone as wonderful as Liselle
can’t really handle communicating with it. It would kill me if I
tried to link my mind.”

“Is Lady Liselle more powerful than you,
Master Vevin?” Sir Danth asked. It bothered Anilyia that the knight
liked the dragon. Knights were supposed to protect princesses from
dragons.

Vevin tilted his head in confusion. “Lady
Liselle is as powerful as she is as I am as powerful as I am,” he
explained to the knight. “We are as powerful as it is right for us
to be and there is no level of power that is more powerful than
other levels of power.”

Anilyia was happy to see that the
explanation confused the others as much as it confused her. She
couldn’t even describe where he had lost her.

Tathan started to speak three times and
failed. Vevin simply stared at him. On the fourth try, he finally
succeeded. “Don’t even bother clarifying that, Vevin. Do you think
she’ll be alright?”

Vevin nodded. “Oh yes. I think she’ll be
alright. I have to think that, because if she’s not alright, I’m
going to go mad,” he said confidently. Sir Danth and Tathan
exchanged worried looks. Anilyia wanted nothing more than to run
away. If she knew of a safe way out, she would. As it was, she just
hid behind Tathan.

Noises were coming from the western tunnel.
“Can you carry her, Vevin?” Tathan asked.

“Of course!” he answered, surprised that
Tathan would have to ask.

Tathan nodded. “Let’s go,” he replied,
leading them all up the new passage. Anilyia quickly grabbed his
hand again.

***

They passed the small dwelling Liselle had
told them about, but nobody attacked them. A few Rojuun stared and
others herded children to safety. It didn’t take long for Anilyia
to wear out, but she got a sudden burst of energy about half an
hour out of the cave. Turning around, she saw Vevin smiling at her.
He had cast some sort of spell. Hopefully, it didn’t mean he wanted
to eat her next.

A little while later, they came to a gate.
Tathan told her that they had seen some like it in a place called
Garrrn Caverns to keep out dangerous creatures. He figured it meant
that they had reached the end of Rojuun territory. They had
traveled a good distance upward. Anilyia felt that they should be
out of the caves by now and into the fresh air.

Tathan reached into his jacket and took out
a pouch. He tried to open it, but had to pry his hand out of the
princess’s grip. Then he knelt in front of the lock and quickly
opened the gate with thin tools. Anilyia’s jaw dropped. Tathan was
a thief! It didn’t stop her from taking his hand back as soon as
they were through and he had re-locked the gate.

Glowing plants and animals had become more
prevalent as they traveled the outskirts of Rojuun civilization.
After the gate, they became even more numerous. Vevin still kept a
few lights, but made most of them disappear with poofs. Anilyia
still didn’t like being underground, but she couldn’t deny the
beauty of the caverns.

***

A few hours later, they entered a large,
quiet cave. It was bright with glowing plants and animals, a few of
which slunk away at the sight of intruders. The temperature was
moderate and a gentle breeze brushed against their faces. Tathan
shushed his companions and looked around the cave. A moment later,
he guided them to the right. When they reached the entrance to a
new tunnel, he said, “I hear water, let me take a look and I’ll
come back.”

Anilyia reluctantly let go of his arm only
because he pried her fingers off again. He disappeared into the
dark tunnel. A moment later, a green light appeared and she could
see his silhouette moving away. She turned to the others. Sir Danth
and Vevin both smiled at her; Liselle was still unconscious in
Vevin’s arms.

The princess did a double take. Sir Danth
was definitely smiling at her, but he was still wearing his helmet
and she couldn’t see his lips. “Would you do me the honor of taking
off your helmet to let me see your face, Sir Knight?” Anilyia
asked.

The knight exchanged a glance with Vevin,
who shrugged. “I am hollow, Your Highness,” Sir Danth informed her
sadly.

“What does that mean?” she asked in
confusion.

“I have no body. I was charged with guarding
a crown one millennium and six centuries ago. My body deteriorated
after the first two centuries and now this armor is empty except
for my existence as a spiritual being.”

Anilyia stared at him in silence. She
debated asking him to prove it, but nothing about these people was
ordinary. At that point, she decided that it was all just a dream
and she would wake up eventually . . . at least she hoped so.

Tathan reappeared. “I found something
interesting with my stick,” he informed them with a big grin on his
face. It was more confirmation that she was in a dream. That was
the only possible explanation to the insane comments that were
coming out of everyone’s mouth.

They followed him into the tunnel in single
file. Anilyia could see now that the green light was indeed coming
from the end of a stick. A moment later, they were in a small cave
big enough to fit them but not much more. A waterfall fell from the
ceiling and into a pool that filled the back half of the cave. The
splashing echoed off tight walls and condensation dripped onto
their heads from the ceiling.

When Tathan aimed the light of his stick at
the waterfall, it showed a tunnel behind that wasn’t visible with
normal light, or even Vevin’s magical lights. “It’s the magical
stick that Mother Tree gave me. She said it would find things that
were hidden,” Tathan said happily. “We can follow the tunnel and no
one will find us.”

It was definitely a dream. The evil dragon,
the fire girl, the knight with no body and now the thief with a
magical glowing stick that he got from a Mother Tree, were taking
her into a secret tunnel behind a waterfall. Maybe Anilyia would
get lucky and she was just sick in bed in her chambers back home.
Hopefully, she would wake up soon.

Tathan walked into the pool, through the
waterfall and into the tunnel. As soon as he went through, they
couldn’t see the tunnel anymore, though the glow from the stick was
behind it. Sir Danth walked through too. She hoped his armor
wouldn’t rust although she knew blood did more damage to armor than
water.

Anilyia didn’t want to go through the
waterfall. She would be all wet and it wasn’t how she preferred to
bathe. She looked around the cave in the glow of Vevin’s purple
light globes and the various plants. He was smiling at her, still
holding Liselle in his arms. The princess decided that getting wet
was much less unpleasant than being alone in a cave with a
dragon.

She ran through the water and stood on the
other side next to Tathan and Sir Danth, sputtering and shaking the
water off. The knight was perfectly dry, which irritated her all
that much more. Tathan still had the grin on his face.

They heard a gasp and a small scream. Vevin
had dashed through the waterfall, which was enough to wake up
Liselle. She hit Vevin’s shoulders until he let her down. Then she
glared at him. “Why did you do that to me?” she demanded.

“Tathan said we had to go through the
waterfall,” Vevin protested innocently. Anilyia thought he was
awfully chicken for a dragon, at least when it came to Liselle.

“I found this tunnel with my magic stick,”
Tathan said proudly. Liselle looked at him with a raised eyebrow as
she wrung out her hair. Tathan became serious. “Are you alright,
Cousin?” he asked.

She nodded. “I am. The world is . . . large
and trying to communicate with it overwhelmed my mind. It let me
know enough to be able to get to the surface, but I can’t connect
with it anymore.” A sad smile curved her lips and she shrugged.
Vevin put his arms around her and she rested her head against his
shoulder.

“Alright,” Tathan replied. “Are you well
enough to keep traveling? I’m looking for a place to spend the
night now.”

Liselle nodded. “Yes, go on, we’ll follow.”
She squeezed more water out of her hair. “I’d prefer resting
someplace dry.”

Anilyia also squeezed water out of her hair
and dress the best she could as she followed behind Tathan. He
wasn’t leaving his hand close enough to grab. Looking down at her
dress, Anilyia began to cry. It wasn’t loud enough for them to
hear, they would think her weak if she cried, but silent tears
flowed down her cheeks, mixing with the water still on her face.
She was a complete mess. Her dress was tattered and torn, her hair
was dirty, her face was smudged, all of her fingernails were torn
and her pretty slippers were gone, replaced by footwear Liselle had
given her.

Worst of all, there was nobody to take care
of her. Oh sure, these people, or whatever they were, would rescue
her and keep her safe . . . hopefully, but they wouldn’t bathe her,
or make her a pretty new dress. Liselle had offered her one of the
Rojuun robes, but there was absolutely no way she was going to put
that on. She didn’t want anything to do with the Rojuun and would
rather walk naked.

Tathan wouldn’t be allowed to see her naked
though. Boys couldn’t see girl princesses naked, it was against the
law. She wondered if he would stare at her. He would probably even
touch her. Anilyia felt warm all of the sudden and her breathing
was rapid. It would be nice if he touched her when she was
naked.

“Oh!” she stumbled over a rock and fell into
his back. He turned quickly to catch her, holding her in his arms.
Warmth flooded Anilyia’s body and she felt dizzy.

“Are you alright, Your Highness?” he asked
with worry in his voice.

She didn’t trust herself to answer, simply
burying her face into his chest. No man had ever touched Anilyia or
held her and she didn’t understand the sensations she was
experiencing. She just wanted Tathan to hold her and touch her,
even if she was naked. A part of her was disappointed that her
dress was still on and that part was confusing her to no end.

“We’ll rest soon, Your Highness,” he assured
her. She didn’t see the worried looks Tathan exchanged with his
companions. “Come on, let’s get someplace where we can sit down and
get food in you.” He took her hand and led her down the tunnel.

A few minutes later, he found a good sized
cave with a river running through it. The truly amazing detail
about the cave was that it sparkled brightly. The sparkling effect
came from quartz crystals filling the right side of the cave.

“Ohh, pretty,” Vevin remarked
appreciatively. It
was
beautiful. Insects and tiny birds
flitted back and forth to different glowing plants, many landing on
the crystals. Every movement made little dots of light dance around
the cave. It seemed so alive.

“Let me have the blanket, dearest,” Liselle
said to Vevin, who handed it to her. Anilyia absentmindedly
wondered where he kept it. Then she remembered that he was a dragon
and she didn’t want to know. She went back to staring at the pretty
lights with the others. Even Sir Danth was entranced by the
beautiful colors of the cave.

Anilyia felt hands on her shoulders. It was
Liselle. “Come sit down. I’ll get you some food and you can rest.”
The princess shrank away from the touch and made to dash into
Tathan’s arms. Liselle stepped between them, preventing the escape.
“I know I scared you and I’m sorry. I’m very sorry.” There was
sincerity in her grey eyes . . . and no hint of the ghostly fire.
“You’re safe. I promise not to hurt you or light you on fire,” she
reassured the princess with a gentle smile. Anilyia wasn’t
convinced, but allowed herself to be led to the blanket.

The companions ate food prepared by Liselle
and Vevin, all the while admiring the cave. As soon as she was done
eating, the princess fell into an exhausted sleep.

***

The next morning, Sir Danth suggested they
spend a day in the cave resting and recovering their strength, but
was immediately outvoted by everyone else. They wanted to get out
from underneath the rock and view open sky once more. The knight
had done some scouting down the other two tunnels while the rest
slept. He discovered one of them was a dead end, but the other led
to another large cavern with more tunnels. Liselle confirmed that
they were going the right way.