Ember (2 page)

Magical.

I could hear all types of creatures
scampering around us. The branches and vines were so thick that the
sun was barely shining through the canopy, dropping rays of light
here and there. Soon they disappeared altogether.

As we journeyed deeper, following a worn
path, I found that my escort was starting to change. First his eyes
turned from the vibrant blue they once were to a cold, steely,
silver. Then his skin started to darken, and his hair grew long and
stringy.

Part of me wanted to go desperately, but the
further we went into the forest the more I was enthralled with the
man. There was no doubt in my mind now that he truly was a
wizard.

“Well, my dear, it seems we have reached our
destination.” His voice had changed as well, before charming and
light, now cruel and slippery. Nonetheless I looked around for a
building or entryway.

“I don't see anything.”

“Well, you must not be looking hard enough,
hmm?” He knocked on a wall of stone beside him and it began to
rumble, cracking down the middle and spreading until it had formed
an entrance large enough to walk through.

We did.

As I followed the creature through the
darkness, I began to regret my decision to follow him. I prayed
under my breath that I was strong enough for whatever was
coming.

“What are you doing?” screeched what was left
of the once charming man. I could tell he had begun to hunch over
considerably, but could see little else in the darkness.

“Nothing.” I said innocently. He had a pained
look on his face.

Suddenly I realized I had the freedom to run.
No longer did I feel tied to the creature. No longer did I find him
irresistible. This seemed to dawn on him only moments later, but it
was too late.

I ran, ran as fast as I could. I didn't know
if I was going back towards the forest or deeper into the cavern,
but that didn't stop me. I just kept going. I could hear the
horrible creature off behind me. He was getting closer.

“A light!” I almost screamed the word through
gasps of air.

I ran towards it, but as I got close I
realized there was something wrong. For rather than any shade the
sun might produce, the light shone an unnaturally bright red. When
I turned the corner I realized why: there was nothing natural about
the source. It almost looked like lightning had struck the air and,
rather than vanish, had remained frozen in its position, growing
wider along the seams until forming an elliptical shape. I stopped
in front of it.

“You don't want to do that.”

I swung around. What I saw made me bring a
hand up to my mouth with a gasp.

Silver eyes and common sense told me that it
was the same man I had followed through the forest, but that was
the only thing recognizable. He now looked almost bat-like. With
metallic, purple, skin, and long-pointed ears. He was taller as
well and although his appearance was frightening, there was
something beautiful about him still.

“I said, you do not want to do that.” He
repeated it slowly, sounding out each syllable.

“Do what?” I asked, shivering.

“Get any closer to that portal than you
already are,” he hissed. “Now come back towards me.” He gestured,
his voice becoming harsher with every word.

I had not considered this . . .
portal
could do anything, and although I had no clue as to what, something
told me that I should do the exact opposite of whatever the man was
telling me.

I took a step back.

“Do not move one more inch!” He screeched,
and leapt forward in my direction.

This is your last chance, Evelyn.

With that I spun in place and jumped into the
red sphere.

*

“Remind me again why you needed me to come
with you?” asked a stout man as he walked alongside his rather tall
companion.

They were moving through a rock archway. Ice
below them and a deep purple sky above. It was cold enough so their
breaths could be easily seen.

“Because I need to see if Demian was bluffing
about these new pack-beasts and it would be suicide to come here
without a defense artisan.”

“I understand that, but why didn't you just
bring Ikovos like you normally do?”

“
Because,
Ikovos is not old enough yet
to come out this far. Besides he is not my partner, you are,”
growled the silver-haired man.

“Yes, well . . . you know how much I hate
being here. The smell alone is enough to make me faint.”

The taller man laughed at this and responded:
“A Meoden fighter that doesn't like being in a Meoden
dimension?”

The other replied unfazed. “Well isn't that
the point of the whole thing?”

The tall man considered this, only to begin
laughing again. “Cornelius, you have once again shredded my logic
with your quizzically inarguable point of view. Where would I be
without you?”

“Evidently not on a wild goose chase in the
God-forsaken place,” grunted the other. “And I mean that
literally.”

“Of course you do.”

Before Cornelius could protest, a muffled
moan sounded to their right.

“A keeper,” said the tall man. “I could
recognize the sound anywhere.”

“But why would he risk coming out into the
open? He must have known we were near. . . .”

There was a pause.

“I don't know. Why don't we go ask him.”

And with that, both men crept towards the
direction of the moans.

*

“No!”

I could hear the man screaming as I jumped
into the rift.

Then it was gone. So was the cave. And the
red glow I had run through. With a jolt I was slammed down onto the
ground: head thumping, heart racing, breaths coming in quick
intervals, and my mind unsuccessfully attempting to wrap itself
around what had just happened. I soon realized that there was no
point to this and opened my eyes, determined to make the best of my
situation, whatever that was.

“What is that smell? I groaned, preparing to
rise to my feet.
It’s like something between lamp oil and my
brother-in-law’s feet.

After a few shaky attempts I managed to stand
up, only to slip and fall back again.

“Nice one, Evelyn.”

When I planted my hands onto the ground,
preparing to rise again, I felt an uncomfortable feeling on my
fingertips.

“It's cold,” I whispered.

It was then that I realized the cause of my
fall.

Ice . . .
lots
of ice. My eyes studied
the landscape as I rose to my feet.

A dry mist elevated off the ground,
concealing much of the frozen surface. Here and there sharp rocks
jabbed out above the fog. On either sides of me were two jagged
walls of stone with about a three-hundred foot gap between them,
forming a canyon. They narrowed at the top into sharp spikes that
disappeared into the starless sky. Throughout the walls there were
large crevices and holes that looked like they led to a maze of
tunnels and caverns. As far as I could tell the rock was obsidian,
the dark charcoal reflecting the purple sky.

“Where am I?” I muttered, realizing
afterwards that I had just made the number one cliché statement for
this type of situation.

“I must be outside in some mountains or
something.”

Somehow talking to myself made me feel
better.

Carefully considering my options, I decided
that taking a look around was the best idea. I walked towards the
large wall on my right and touched its surface.

“Ack!” I yelped, voice echoing through the
canyon. Evidently the rock was sharper than it looked. It had given
me a small cut in my finger. I rolled my eyes sarcastically. “Well,
that was smar—”

Footsteps. There were footsteps coming from
one of the caves in the wall.

I quickly surmised that whatever lived in a
place like this was trouble. Besides I had always been pessimistic
when it came to people and that wasn't about to change now. I
searched for a place to hide.

Unable to find a spot in time, I was forced
to duck behind a rock just as they turned the corner. Their skin
was the same metallic purple as the man that had led me through
Sharadeen. In a way they resembled him, only they lacked his
inherit beauty. They were also much shorter, less featured, and
notably thinner.

Although I felt the need to get far away from
them, I kept still, watching silently, knowing that any movement
might draw attention.

They seemed to be conversing, but as they got
closer I realized I didn't recognize the words. It sounded like an
Elvin language from a book I’d read once, only darker and
distorted.

My heart was pounding now, they weren't more
than twenty feet away from me. Fortunately they seemed to be moving
towards the other wall of the canyon.

I lowered my head and turned my back against
the rock. Curiosity grabbed at me, but I didn't want to risk being
discovered.

Soon the voices faded away. I sat there
frozen in place. My breathing was heavy and I was unsure about what
to do next.

“At least those monsters are go—” Before I
could finish my sentence I heard two heavy wheezes coming from
behind me. Instinctively I stood up and swung toward the noise.

Maybe part of me hoped that I was only
imagining it, but I soon realized that it was unwise to check. It
was all I could do to watch as they gaped; perusing through yellow
eyes. One gestured towards me as he spoke again in the dark
language. The other’s response came in a disheartening moan.

I just stood, frozen.

As they wrapped around the rock, one reached
out to touch me. My body forced backwards in disgust. He seemed not
to care. Wearing a sickly smile he moved closer to me. His breath
was hot and sticky. I turned away, sinking down in desperation as
he rested his fingers against my cheek.

At that very moment a frightened yelp came
from behind him. The closer one looked back just in time to see his
friend’s head flung from its body by a fiery green sword.

A tall man now stood where the monster had
been. With the weapon in hand he turned to the purple figure. “You
should have known better keeper.” He raised his sword as he spoke.
“Now you'll pay.”

In vain the creature tried to put up a
defense, but with a final screech and a blade through the gut it
dropped lifelessly to the ice.

I stared on wide-eyed as my mind swirled with
what had just happened. Cold sweat was sliding down my face and my
entire body was shivering. I looked up at the man and he stared
down at me, this time holding his gaze. He was rugged, with dark
leather-made clothes and peppered hair. Something about his eyes
made me want to break down and cry. There was safety there, like he
was assuring me that everything was going to be okay.

Suddenly his gaze shifted above me. “You can
come over here now Cornelius.”

“Oh really?” came a sarcastic reply. “Are you
sure it's safe for an incompetent defense artisan like myself?” I
could hear the voice getting closer. “You come out here waving your
big sword like you own the dimension, I swear you all think we
can't do anything just because we don’t—” He cut off as he walked
around the rock I was leaning against. He was much shorter than the
other man, wearing a simple cloth robe that stretched to the
ground. His features were soft, tender, I don‘t think he‘d seen me
yet.

“What?” he questioned the other man,
shrugging.

“I think I know why the keepers took such a
risk.” The rugged man moved his eyes to me.

The short man followed them.

He seemed to practically faint at the site of
me. “Oh my,” he exclaimed, the humor now gone from his tone. “What
. . . but . . . how could she have gotten all the way out
here?”

The tall man inhaled deeply as he sheathed
the green sword. “This is Sylvanus' doing if ever I saw it.” He
swore an oath under his breath. “He won’t get away with this. Not
this time.”

The plump man suddenly adopted a drastically
horrified expression. “Thoran! You know better than to use that
language in front of a young lady. And frankly, I don't want to
hear it either.”

As he rattled on, the other man, Thoran I
guess, seemed to be deep in thought. “Where are you from, girl?” he
asked me shortly.

I shivered under his hard stare, words
eluding me.

“Kirne?” he pressed. “Rizenn? Tiver?”

My head bobbed to the last.

He took a breath, then turned to the other
man. “We need to get her back as soon as possible. I’ll walk with
you till the gate, and you can take her on from there.”

What?!
That was it. I had kept my
mouth shut to long as these men conversed about me and my fate. The
last
thing I wanted to do after all that had happened was go
back home. My mind was racing with a million questions, and I had a
feeling that these two men could answer them.

“Wait,” I finally said, drawing expectant
glances towards me. “I . . . I can't go back now. So much has
happened that I don't understand, I mean, I don't even know what
those things were. And I really don’t think I’d be much good for a
long journey.” I knew what I was saying was out of line and didn't
make much sense, but I pushed the issue anyways. “If there was just
somewhere close I could stay . . . please? I promise I won't be any
trouble.”

I looked on pleadingly. The one called Thoran
adopted a stone cold expression, but the stout one, Cornelius, his
face softened. I knew I had found myself an ally.

He drummed his fingers together for a few
moments before speaking.

“Thoran, I think she’s right. We can't just
send her off after what she has seen, it wouldn't be fair . . . And
no doubt she is frightened after her encounter with the keepers,
not to mention Sylvanus,” he added quickly.

Thoran glowered at the man. “First of all, we
don't even know if she came here with Sylvanus. And before I even
question why her being scared should deter us from taking her home
answer me this—” He paused for a brief moment. “Where else do you
expect us to take her?”