Chapter 18
2213 Words
18
I hurried to the mouth of the alley. The young woman was fifty yards ahead of me and gaining ground. I groaned. “Why does this always have to be so hard?”
I sprinted down the alley after the young woman. My mysterious guide led me up the many terraces to the top of the valley. We were on the opposite side of the city from the bay path. The trees were farther between, but far taller. Their branches created canopies that resembled the terraces in the valley behind me. Their branches were so thick that nothing grew beneath them save for knee-high grass.
I paused on the precipice of the forest. At my back lay civilization. Before me was a wide, well-trodden dirt path that led into the wilds of the unknown island. My guide was nowhere to be seen. Nothing stirred save when a breeze gently rocked the leaves.
I gingerly stepped into the shadows of the giant trees and looked around. “Hello?” My voice echoed down the path. I took a few more steps. “Are you-” A soft sound of feet hitting bare dirt came from behind me.
I spun around and found the young woman standing behind me on the path. She clasped her hands together in front of her and bowed to me. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”
I glanced around us. There wasn’t anywhere where she could have hidden. My eyes settled back on the young woman as she straightened. “Where’d you come from?”
A soft smile slipped onto her lips. “I am not allowed to tell you, but I can tell you where your friends have gone.”
I perked up. “Two men?”
She nodded. “Yes. They went in there-” she nodded at the path behind me, “-in search of the Sacred Grove.”
I arched an eyebrow. “The what?”
“The Sacred Grove is where all of the sheep are kept,” she explained.
I half-turned to get a better look at the path. There wasn’t any sign of an opening in the trees. I glanced to my right at the young woman. “I wouldn’t be ruining your friendship if I asked you to show me the way, would I?”
Her bright smile faltered. She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I have no friends, only my-that is, my grandmother.”
I smiled and jerked my head in the direction of the path. “Then we could both really use a friend right now, so how about we get acquainted while you show me the way to this grove place?”
Her chipper smile returned and she hurried to my side where she bowed her head again. “I promise to be a good friend.”
I grinned and patted her shoulder. “You can start being a good friend by looking up and telling me your name.”
She raised her head. “My name is Roisin. Roisin Brady.”
I held out my hand. “Mine’s Miriam Cait.” She stared blankly at my hand until I grasped hers and clasped ours together in a hearty shake before I separated us. “So when’d you see those two guys come by here?” She raised her hand and gawked at her appendage. I arched an eyebrow and leaned toward her. “You okay?”
Roisin dropped her hand and stood at attention. “Y-yes. Only-well, save for my grandmother I have never touched another being.”
“Seriously?”
She tilted her head to one side and studied me. “Should I not be serious?”
I waved off my comment. “Never mind. I’ll just guess you’re being serious, but I don’t understand why you’re not walking around the city with a parade of guys behind you. You’re pretty cute, and they’ve got to love the blue eyes.”
Roisin bit her lower lip and turned her face away from me. She drew her arms around herself and shook her head. “They prefer brown eyes.”
I looped one of her arms threw mine and tugged her down the path. “Then you should get off this place and go find a nice guy who likes blue eyes.”
She whipped her head up and her eyes widened. “Leave Ui Breasail?”
“Yeah. Maybe go to some place that’s easier to pronounce.”
A small giggle escaped her pressed lips. “Ui Breasail is not hard to pronounce.”
“Have you ever met a foreigner who didn’t have trouble pronouncing it?” I teased.
She shook her head. “Oh, no. Only the men are allowed to speak with foreigners, and only when they trade the wool.”
I rolled my eyes. “Typical. So is that all they do?”
“The men also look after the sheep now that there are so few left,” she told me. She looked ahead and pursed her lips. “They try to protect them, but they continue to disappear.”
“In this Sacred Grove place?” I guessed.
Roisin nodded. “Yes. The Grove is the safest point on the island. It cannot be reached from the coast without first going through the city, and the trees provide cover should they need to be hidden from danger in the sky.”
I rubbed my chin with my free hand. “Sounds like a tough mystery to crack. How far is this place?”
She looked ahead of us. The grass around us was now waist-deep and the thick canopy blocked most of the sun. “We should reach the Grove soon, but there are a great many dangers before us.”
I glanced around at the calm woods and thick grass. “What kind of-”
“Look out!” Roisin dove at me and shoved me to the ground. The force of the blow slammed me into the hard dirt path.
I rolled over and glared at her. “What’s the matter-” My eyes widened as a scythe-like blade swung over our heads like a diabolical pendulum of slicy death.
I found the thick wool rope that held the death machine and followed it up to the treetops where it disappeared into the canopy. “This way,” Roisin instructed me. She crawled across the ground for ten feet and stood.
I was close behind and climbed to my feet before I turned back to the trap. The scythe now hung as innocent as an unused guillotine. I looked to Roisin and jerked my thumb at the mechanism. “How many more of those are there?”
She smiled. “Many more, but I know where they all are. If you will follow me the others will not be released.”
“Gladly. . .” I mumbled as I let her lead me down the path.
We meandered left and right along the path, and sometimes completely off it to escape setting off more traps. I tilted my head back and inspected the branches above us. My keen sense of self-preservation spotted a few suspicious ropes masquerading as vines that dangled from the canopy.
“So why do you guys have so many traps this way?” I asked her.
“The traps are to protect the remaining sheep from theft,” she told me.
I arched an eyebrow. “So they’re being stolen?”
She pursed her lips. “I cannot say more.”
“Not even between friends?” I persisted.
Roisin turned her face away from me and hung her head. “Please do not make me choose between our friendship and my people.”
I looped my arm through one of hers and smiled at her downcast face. “Could you at least tell me what’s so sacred about this place? You know, where it got its name?”
She raised her head and brightened her expression with a smile. “Of course. There is a pond in the middle which was once revered by my ancestors. A god was said to inhabit the waters and they prayed to him for strong lambs.”
“So did the god move away or something?” I wondered.
She shook her head. “No, at least, I do not believe so. The island was struck by a terrible earthquake a thousand years ago. Much of the coastline was changed and the forests were toppled by a great wave. My ancestors sought the highest ground on the island and survived, but when they went to offer thanks to their god for their survival they found that the food was not accepted.”
I blinked at her. “The food wasn’t accepted?”
Roisin nodded. “Yes. They had always left an offering of sheep for their god, and the next day the meat would always be gone. Now it was not so. The food remained until they removed the meat themselves, and gradually my people stopped believing in the god.” She turned her attention to the path ahead of us. “We are near the Sacred-”
A dark shadow flew down from the trees and landed ten feet ahead of us. Roisin and I jerked to a stop as the figure stood and revealed himself to be the red dragon from the palace. His large, red leathery wings were stretched out behind him like a silky fire.
He drew them into his back as he crossed one arm over his chest and bowed low to us. “Good day, my ladies. What brings two fine-looking women to the dark heart of the island?”
I stepped in front of Roisin and glared at him. “We could ask you the same question.”
He straightened and revealed a sly, crooked smile. “I merely wished to see once again the face of the woman whom the fae have named Neito Vedesta.”
“My name’s Miriam,” I insisted.
His smile widened. “You have many names, dear lady. Miriam. Maiden. Neito Vedesta.” He tilted his head to one side and studied me. “Suta Varunanam.”
I arched an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Roisin tugged on my arm and leaned toward me to whisper into my ear. “We must hurry.”
He took a step toward us. “I cannot allow your passage, Miriam. Your presence may have a calming effect on the locals, and that would spoil my sincere wish to help them.”
I snorted. “All you want to do is help yourself.”
He grinned. “Such stunning introspection from a female who hardly knows what she is.”
I stepped toward him and held out my fist. “I may not know what I am, but that won’t stop me from trying to get past.”
The dragon unfurled his red wings and blocked the wide path. “Then bring forth your wrath on me, Mare Fae, and we shall-” He whipped his head up and frowned.
Roisin and I followed his gaze. A shadow flew over us and landed on the path between us and the red dragon. I recognized the green wings and military attire of Spiros as he straightened and set his hand on the butt of his sword.
“I must ask that you duel with me,” Spiros demanded.
The red dragon sneered at him. “So the false Grand Dragon Lord’s puppet makes his appearance.”
I put my hands on my hips and glared at him. “Where the hell have you been?”
Spiros turned his head to one side and glanced over his shoulder at me with a sly smile. “One step behind you, My Lady.” He returned his attention to our foe. “The king has ordered us to lay aside our differences, but I assure you I will not lay aside my sword if my lady needs protecting.”
The red dragon stepped backward into the deeper shadows of the trees. His red, narrowed eyes glowed in the darkness. “Savor this small, pointless victory, puppet. It may be your last.”
“At least my strings are not so hidden, nor my allegiance,” Spiros returned.
The red dragon snarled, but flapped his long wings. He flew into the canopy and disappeared. Soon we couldn’t even hear the flap of his wings.
Spiros relaxed and let drop his hand before he turned to me with a smile. “Do you ever tire of trouble, Miriam?”
I glared at him. “You were following me this whole time?”
His eyes twinkled. “My orders were to protect you, not to lead you to Xander.” He glanced at Roisin. “Though it appears my efforts failed.”
I looped my arm through one of hers and nodded. “You bet it did. Come on, Roisin, let’s go find the guys.”
“But I-” I tugged her along with me past Spiros and down the path. Spiros followed close behind us.
We’d only gone fifty yards when we heard noises ahead of us.
“We need no help from your kind!” The loud, masculine voice echoed down the path and caused my guide to jerk to a stop.
“We only wish to avert war,” Cayden’s voice replied.
Roisin slunk behind me and grasp my shoulders. “I-I should not be here. . .” she whispered.
I looked over my shoulder at her and smiled. “Come on, these are your people, right?”
She shook her head and stepped back away from me. “I am sorry, but I cannot go any farther with you.” She spun around and raced past Spiros.
He caught her arm and stopped her retreat before he gazed into her eyes. “You cannot hide what you are forever.”
Roisin’s eyes widened. She yanked herself from his grasp and sprinted down the path. Soon she was gone.
I glared at Spiros. “Why’d you have to scare her like that?”
“Attention, men!” the male voice barked.
Spiros frowned and rushed forward. I stretched out my hand and stumbled after him. “Hey! Wait for me!”
I was a dozen yards behind him when the path climbed a short hill and opened. Before me was spread a magnificent meadow of thick, green grass. Short, rolling hills slid up to the dense forest that surrounded all sides of the grassy field. A large pond lapped gently at its sandy shores to my left, and at the edge of the water was a flock of some three hundred white-puffed sheep.
Among the grass was also a contingent of sheep-skulled guards, and they had Xander and Cayden surrounded.
- Writer
