Mark of the Princess (15 page)

“There. At least it won’t completely topple from the weight of the sword.” He grabbed what Alannah thought looked like a heavy sword and slipped it into his sheath. She watched as he lifted and weighed several swords before pulling one out of the rack.

“Do you know how to use one Princess?” A hint of doubt in his voice as he handed her the sword.

For a moment she wasn’t sure if she heard a bit of sarcasm when he said Princess but she chose to ignore it.

“Yes, I have been trained.” She took the sword from him and sheathed it herself. He grabbed a few daggers and tucked them into his belt, walking to the door. “You coming?” He turned to ask her with one eyebrow raised.

It was apparent that with his regained strength he had regained a bit of arrogance. After she pulled on some bracers that she had found, she grabbed a bow with but a few arrows next to it off of the table, walked over to him and lifted an eyebrow in return. “Let us go then.”

His lip curled up a bit and he turned to check the hallway once again.

Brennus and Alannah ran down the hallway back to where Alannah had come down originally. He had run most of it with his eyes closed. Retracing the steps he had taken blindfolded when they would take him from his cell.

As they turned a corner a troll jumped out in front of them. He swung his sword at Brennus, barely missing his chest as Brennus immediately threw himself a step back. Brennus unsheathed his sword and began fighting the troll, the metal clashes echoing through the castle.

Many more will be coming now
she thought, anxiety continuing to build. Out of nowhere there was what seemed like a small explosion on the wall next to her. She turned to the side and then in the direction that the explosion might have come from.
It’s him
Alannah thought. She held up the bow and nocked the arrow she was holding coughing as the dust and smoke that was clouding her sight filled her lungs. In the split second that seemed more like hours, she caught a glimpse of movement through the cloud that surrounded her and took her shot.

She heard a slight yelp from the apprentice as the arrow sliced through the skin on his arm and hit the wall behind him. It didn’t seem to slow him, as he ran up from the other direction of the hallway that the troll had come from and threw yet another blast at Alannah, but she ducked out of the way.

“Oh, I won’t make that mistake again little princess.” He shot yet another explosive burst from his hand. The heat was so intense as it grazed her arm that it felt it was burning her to her bone, causing her to drop the bow. She noticed as she fell out of the way, that it mostly hit a troll that had been running up behind her, with his axe at the ready.

By the God, what am I going to do,
I have a sword and he is using magic?
She unsheathed the sword hoping that it would somehow help to block those explosions he kept throwing at her. She readied herself and attacked him. He dove out of the way causing her sword to hit the wall behind him letting out a clang that echoed through the corridor and a wave of sparks.

As the apprentice got up he looked at her and at Brennus who had slain the trolls he was fighting, reached into a pouch at his waist and threw another explosion to the ground in front of himself. This one was larger than the others and produced a large amount of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Alannah and Brennus found that he was gone.

She turned to find Brennus in his enormous stature walking to her with a sword in each hand and three trolls laying dead in his wake.

“Coward.” Brennus said looking at the spot where the apprentice had disappeared. He quickly sheathed one of the swords while keeping the other in his hand, “Lets go. It’s only a matter of time before we are attacked again. They will have all the obvious exits blocked so we will need to find another way.”

“I know, come with me!” Alannah exclaimed somewhat excitedly.

She ran in the direction of her cell, hoping to find the troll that had helped her. She ran past her cell to the corridor that he would always disappear to and found him there readying weapons.

“Down the second corridor to the right there is a door that leads to a small spring behind the castle. That is where we gather our water. The spring comes from a lake, but you would have to go through an underwater cave that leads from one to the other. The cave is not small, but if you can hold your breath long enough, then you will live to see the other side.” The troll explained.

“Is there no other way?” Alannah asked in desperation.

“Not unless you plan to fight dozens more trolls and guards. Now go, you will have to fight the guards in that corridor and it may not be easy.”

“Thank you.” Alannah said, a smile spreading across her face as she reached her hand out and touched the troll’s. He smiled briefly before turning back to readying some weapons. He looked back at her realizing she waited for a response.

“Agr’on” he said as he turned his head to look back to the weapons.

“Thank you Agr’on.” Alannah said sweetly.

Brennus grabbed her other hand and pulled her in the direction that they needed to go. “Made a friend did you?” Brennus asked cynically.

Alannah huffed at the remark. “Yes, I don’t see you getting help out of here!”

Just as the other troll had said there were two guards at the entrance to the corridor.

Brennus unsheathed the other sword. “Stay here” he said lowly and ran to them in attack. The first troll had managed to cut him in the arm as he blocked the sword of the second troll. Both trolls attacked in unison and Brennus still managed to stand his ground and fight them off. Alannah could not believe what she was seeing. She peered from around the corner and watched as Brennus blocked the sword of one guard on the sword and quickly run the blade of his sword into the chest of the other troll. He pulled it out in time to block another blow from the guard troll.

She was amazed at the agility and speed with which he fought. It seemed as if he didn’t tire. With that, he ran his blade through the other troll. He pulled out the blade, cleaning it on the guard’s clothes before returning his attention to the entrance to the hallway.

“All clear Princess”. She rounded the corner and began walking swiftly to him when suddenly an arrow protruded through her right shoulder. The jolt of pain knocking her onto her knees. Brennus ran to her and pulled a dagger from his belt, hurtling it across the hall into the chest of the troll that stood with the bow and arrow. Alannah watched in horror as the troll fell over on the spot, a dark puddle of blood seeping out from under him.

She looked up and saw Brennus as he leaned down to help her up. “It’s not too bad, but I will have to wait until we are on the other side of the door to take it out.”

“Take it out?!” She exclaimed. She realized the minute she spoke that she must have sounded ridiculous. Of course it would have to come out some time. But now?

He put her down in front of the door and tried to open it but found that it was locked.

He took a step back and she saw that he was going to kick open the door. “No!” She threw up her uninjured hand against his chest. “Then they will know which way we went.” She stepped in front of him.
Expediere
!” She yelled. Two heavy clanks echoed in the corridor as the locks hidden within the door came undone and the door eased open.

“For the record, I’m sure the three dead trolls in the hallway will probably let them know which way we went.” A proud smile crept across his face, as he eased the door shut.

She realized he was right though, and watched curiously as he stepped around and then behind her. “Alright, this will hurt. I will not pull it out now because it will begin to bleed a lot, I will simply snap off the back so that we can get through that cave.” Brennus explained, putting one hand on the back end of the arrow and the other hand on the front.

Alannah shook her head giving him permission. She took a deep breath and then ‘SNAP’. The pain radiated from the wound throughout her entire body. She had never felt anything like that.

“We have no time to waste. Lets go.” Brennus said as he jumped into the water. Alannah plummeted herself into the cold water immediately feeling the weight of her dress as it soaked itself.

“I will see if I can find the cave entrance.” Alannah said, holding her breath and ducking into the water before Brennus could stop her. The throbbing pain of the wound pounded at her shoulder but she tried to push it to the back of her mind. She could barely move that arm and was forced to maneuver with one arm and her legs.

She reached the surface and gasped for air. It took more energy than she thought to maneuver with one hand and pull on the weighted dress.

“I found it. It is just below my feet here. But I cannot swim well with my arm like this.” Alannah said motioning to her arm with her chin.

“I thought as much. Get behind me and grab hold. I will take us both.” Brennus said, moving closer to her. Alannah lunged herself forward to get behind him. She wrapped her arm around his chest holding on to his shirt and brought her other arm around to his waist as far as she could without hitting the arrowhead on his back. He swam over to where she indicated the entrance was and ducked his head into the water for a moment to see if he could see the cave entrance.

“Ready? Take your breath” He said, both of them looking around making sure that there were no trolls around and seeing nothing but some of the castle walls and several trees. For a brief moment she saw what this castle might have been at one time, the tall castle walls surrounded by beautiful trees and lush vines growing along the walls.

They breathed deeply and he plunged them under. It was a bit difficult at first for Brennus to take them both as low as they needed to go, but Alannah tried to help using her uninjured arm. The cave entrance was not large but it was just enough to fit the two of them. He swam through the cave as quickly as he could but found that the cave truly was as long as the troll had told them.
It’s a death trap
he thought to himself. He turned so that he was facing the roof of the cave and using his hands and feet on the stones, guided himself and Alannah through this cave that seemed to go on forever. His chest began to tighten and he could feel Alannah’s grip loosening.
She must be running out of air as well,
he pushed as hard as he could along the stones of the cave, until he saw a bit of moonlight shining through the water along the end of the cave. He grabbed a hold of the stones around the exit and gave them a push that thrust them to the surface of the lake.

Their lungs burned as they gasped for air that they could not take in fast enough. The air was cold and stung them, but it didn’t matter as long as they were able to breathe. He put his arm around Alannah and pulled her to the edge. There, both of them on their knees dripping wet on the bank they realized that they were free, although not free enough.

“We need to get as far as we can,” He gasped, pulling his chin up as he got to one knee and flung his hair back, “Can you handle
that
a bit longer?” He tilted his head up indicating to the arrow in her shoulder.

She was shivering. She was cold and in pain. She was running from who knows how many trolls into a mountainside that could eat them alive. She missed her family and her new friends. She thought of Evy and of Kaleb. Kaleb. Could Kaleb still be alive and be searching for her? Why was she even taken in the first place? No, she was
not
alright.

“Yes, I’m fine. Just a bit out of breath, and cold.” There was no time to
not
be alright, they had to move on.

~
Chapter
16~

Kaleb was on his side with his head resting on a small log, trying to fall asleep but the constant movement of positions told Evy that his sleep was not coming easily.

She sat with her knees pulled to her chest. She glanced over at Tristan, caught his gaze and looked away. She slowly looked back at him and this time he was looking at the fire. She shivered as a chill ran up her spine.

He put his arm around her and pulled her close. She felt the muscles of his arm on her back and arm. Her head resting on his shoulder and his chest, listening to his heart beating. It was going as fast as hers.

“Better?” He asked in a low voice.