Chapter 8
A s full as they could get from their breakfast of roasted mushrooms, they set out into the gloom. The Dark Elf gave Aelrie a torch, and he carried one as well, lighting them with his fire magic.
There was no light in this cave but what their torches gave off, nor was there much sound besides their own footsteps. Also, the tunnel became narrower the farther they went, forcing them to walk in a single file in some parts of the cave.
The air around them grew stuffy. Aelrie did not know how far they were underneath rock and dirt, and the thought of it made her anxious.
But she was glad she had this Dark Elf with her.
Any company was better than none, even if he was an assassin.
Her anxiety would’ve been at a maximum if she were to brave this lightless cave alone.
Come to think of it, she didn’t know his name. She would need to know it, for something to call out to for help at the very least.
“My name is Aelrie,” she said while watching his back glow orange from the torch she held up as he guided her through the dark cave. He turned his head slightly to glance back at her, but ignored the remark and kept walking.
Normally, she would have given up after one attempt.
She had always been known as being somewhat reserved.
Lindana had often teased her about this, telling her to “Speak up more and not just when spoken to,” but the situation had changed.
Survival was more important than her comfort level in social situations.
“What, Dark Elves don’t do introductions?” she continued, trying not to be too forward.
His answer came after a moment had passed. “I know your name.”
“How do you know my name?”
“Your priestess called out to you, back at the temple.”
There he was, bringing what happened back at the temple up again, just when she was trying to forget it and gain some traction on developing her trust in him. Biting her bottom lip and forcing the ill feelings away, she then sighed. “This is where you introduce yourself.”
He didn’t stop walking, but his pace slowed.
Didn’t he want to get closer to her? Or was the closeness he desired only physical? Seducing her would be a momentous conquest for a lady-killer like him. Oh yes, he’d boast about it for a while, until his next big conquest came along.
She hated him and, by all rights, was his mortal enemy as a Light Elf, and it was personal because he murdered her charge.
He must have been having fun, teasing her so, getting the Light Elf to fall for his Dokkálfar wiles.
Well, she wasn’t so easily swayed. She had resisted the sweet temptations from sonnet-singing males for this long in her life and was prepared to do so for the rest of it.
“Shh,” he hushed her, dropping low to the ground. “Listen,” he said with a whisper.
She heard nothing but what was to be expected in a cave, eerie silence. But the Dark Elf stood deathly still and strained to listen for something further ahead of them.
Closing her eyes to focus on any other sound the background noises may have drowned out, there was a tightness to the sounds around them. They were enclosed in this small space. Being in a cave felt much like being underwater.
A sharp sound then cut through the static, making her open her eyes instantly.
“Nothing,” he said and stood back up.
“Wait,” she called out to him, grasping his shirt arm. “I heard … something.”
They stood there silent for a moment, but try as she might, Aelrie heard no more from the sound earlier. “But it’s gone now,” she said as she released a long breath.
“Be alert.” He turned around to continue through the cave that headed in only one direction. “I doubt we are the only ones down here.”
They would need weapons, but they only had their daggers.
Would that be enough?
The only magic she knew was healing, which would help in combat but not offensively, and he did know some form of magic; she was sure of it, even if she didn’t know what kind of magic it was yet.
He was a little too fast in combat. It might be because of his skill, but she wagered it was something more than that.
But there were monsters in the Evergloom, especially the deeper one goes, the hotter the air becomes, and some have even said fire flows like a river.
It grated on her that she didn’t know what they faced ahead of them, nor did she know what arsenal they were working with. She couldn’t plan like this.
“Where do we go to?” she asked, hoping it wasn’t to one of those rivers of fire.
“Forward,” he replied, rather directly. He must have felt that this wasn’t enough for her by way of an answer because he then added an explanation as to why. “It is the only way we can go, so we must. There was no other way out of the chasm we fell into. It is either this way or no way.”
“Have you ever been to a place like this before?” She realized she was asking a lot of questions.
That was because she was nervous about what might lie ahead and was trying her best not to show it.
Her soldier training taught her how to control her fear and be ready to react immediately to danger.
This training served her well, but asking for more information was also key to understanding the situation one finds oneself in.
“Once,” he answered. “And I dared never to venture outside the safety of the star crystals again.”
He wasn’t helping her nerves. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He stopped and turned around to face her.
His face glowed with a warm light from the torch he held at his side.
Small beads of sweat formed across his brow.
The torches intensified the heat in the stillness of the cave, but she dared not be without its illuminating embrace.
There was no “magical violet starlight” in this cave.
Perhaps that’s what he meant by “star crystals.”
“It means …” He looked into her eyes. She reciprocated, knowing he showed her his sincerity in the gesture.
“You must have had training as a soldier. You know the position we are in is fraught with danger. We’ve been walking in this cave for hours with no exit.
Monsters lurk in the dark places of the Evergloom; I am sure you are aware of that.
We should keep our wits about us and stay alert.
You are Light Elf, keep your keen ears pointed forward and tell me any danger you hear ahead of us before it happens to fall into our lap. ”
She nodded, showing that she took this seriously. “I understand.”
He seemed pleased with her response and continued forward.
As they walked through the cave, time seemed to drag on.
How long had it been since they left the comfort of the cavern with the golden tree of light and waterfall?
How did Dark Elves count the time in the Evergloom if there was no sun nor moon to guide them?
Her torch sputtered. The fuel had run out, and the flame was disappearing. Darkness then surrounded her, and she could see nothing of the cave and barely saw him in front of her. She silenced a cry, not wanting to make the situation worse by showing fear.
“My torch. It’s gone out.”
He turned to her, and she saw his torch was going out. That look on his face, the mixture of dread and concern, he promptly erased it once he saw her take notice. “You are a Light Elf. Do you know starlight magic?”
Aelrie shook her head. “Healing is the extent of my magic, I am afraid.”
The Light Elves’ magic encompassed three types of light magic: healing magic to cure wounds, diseases, and poisons; starlight magic, which created balls of starlight to illuminate the darkest reaches and drive out the wicked; and holy magic, the most powerful offensive spell of all, able to burn through any foe with righteous holy fire.
Out of them all, starlight was the easiest to learn.
But she never learned it because she never thought she would need it.
Healing magic was something she’d known from a young age and was of more use to her as a soldier, so she devoted her magical training to healing magic only.
And holy magic was out of the question as it was the hardest of all, with only a select few of the most powerful mages being able to cast it, let alone master it.
The Dark Elf’s torch started flickering; they watched together as it went out.
The utter darkness rushed upon them with intensity.
Her eyes had become accustomed to the low light the torch had provided, but now, being trapped by leagues of rock ahead, light was absent, and the dark abyss encompassed everything.
Panic crept up on her. Elves love light and hate the dark.
The dark spoke to them of ancient evils that preyed upon the good bathed in light.
But a hand reached out and took hold of hers, and a voice soothed her. “Hold my hand.” She was blind to everything but the warmth from his palm touching hers. “As Dark Elf, I can see somewhat in the dark. ”
He led her through the cave by hand. They went slower now as he relied on his night vision to guide them through.
She could see nothing, nothing at all. But not being able to see helped with her hearing.
It became more acute. She did her job dutifully and stayed alert to any sounds beyond their light footsteps upon stone.
Other senses were heightened along with her hearing, becoming more pronounced.
Her sense of touch included. The warmth of his hand holding hers, spreading from his palm, met with her palm.
She could feel him through his hand, especially his heartbeat and the feelings that sent vibrations through his skin, soft and warm like sunbaked clay.
Could he feel it too?
She wasn’t ready to be this close to him, wasn’t ready for his touch or her reaction to it. But she dared not remove her hand. He was her lifeline through the dark, and her only way of survival.
“We travel over hill and dale.
As the days grow pale.
Forever going. Forever changing.
Yet this flame is never-ending.
Our course must never alter.
Though courage doth falter.
Guiding light of mine.
A flower blooming in the night.
Take me by hand.
Hold it tight.”
He was singing?
“I’m surprised you know that,” she said. “That is a Light Elf song. ”
“Not just Light Elves. Dark Elves sing this song too.”
“Do they?” She thought for a moment. “Perhaps it’s an old song from when Light Elf and Dark Elf lived as one on Yggdrasil.”
“Perhaps,” he answered, and she felt a new warmth radiate from his hand that sent vibrations throughout her. If she concentrated on it, she would know his truth, his feelings.
Focusing every part of her onto the sensation of their hands clasped together, she dug deeper for meaning. Her heart fluttered, her breath deepened, and a warmth swelled out from her breast.
Elation.
She could feel his happiness.
The warmth, it was too much, too innocent, too sincere; she let go of his hand.
“What is it?” he asked, stopping in his tracks.
“I … I…” she stuttered. She couldn’t say what she’d felt through his touch. “I just needed a break. We’ve been going for a while now without end, it seems.”
“Very well. We take rest here.”
She backed up, feeling with her hands until she came to the wall of the cave and leaned against it, the cold stone at her back. It was strange because the stone was straight and not jagged. As if this cave was not cut by nature, but something with a more cunning intellect.
She felt his body grow close to her. He’d followed her here.
He raised his arm, placing it above her head to lean against the wall.
It was a gesture she’d seen many males do to females during soldier training in the corridors separating their barracks when they’d flirted with each other in the moments their schedule allowed them rest. It spoke of both protection and possession. Only one of which she wanted from him.
It also placed their lips precariously closer together. Cheeky, wasn’t he? Thinking he could get away with such a thing in the dark.
“Screech!”
“What was that?” She grasped in the dark and took hold of his other arm. “I hear something,” she whispered, turning her gaze to the utter darkness ahead.