The Drifting (35 page)

“The moment you told me you loved me.  I don’t want anyone hurt, but if they’re going to try and hurt you, I’d rather we have weapons that can prevent that from happening.”

I plant a kiss on top of her head, feeling a bit awkward, but thankful, that she loves me enough to actually hurt someone. 
“We left the weapons in Pathen because they’re useless here.  It has something to do with the energy field that created this realm.  You can have a gun that works perfectly, but once it passes through Velesi borders, they won’t work…no matter how simple the mechanism.”

“What about slingshots?”
  Okay, she’s really tired.

“Um, we have slingshots here, Lily.”
  I wait for a response only to find her breathing deeply.  Lily has fallen asleep.  It’s about another thirty minutes before Glynnis is sleeping soundly against Ziri also softly breathing with her mouth open.  I look over at Milina expecting the same from her but find her eyes open and on Lily.  It takes me a minute to realize she’s actually sleeping with her eyes open.  I give Mellis a quick look and he silently rises moving toward me.  He places one of the bags near Lily
and
then helps me lay her on it.  Next, he moves to Ziri and helps him with Glynnis.  Alorn keeps watch.

Once Lily, Milina and Glynnis are tended to, I give Alorn and Mellis a signal and they disappear down the tunnel.  About a mile farther is an open cavern about fifty stories high with tunnels running in a complete circle at each level.  Alorn and Mellis will scout the cavern and will take care of any immediate threats.  If there is more than they can handle, they’ll return with an estimated count and we would either decide to fight through it, or find another route to take.

I call Cessa forth and from the shadows she appears on silent paws at my side, nuzzling my hand until I rub at her head.  I give her instructions and she disappears down the tunnel from where we came.  I look at Ziri and give him a nod.  He turns from me and with agility and speed climbs the tunnel wall to a hidden ledge at the top.  Once he reaches it, he heads down the tunnel after Cessa.  I move toward Milina and gently shake her.  She awakens instantly with hands reaching toward her blades.  I hold her still by the shoulder, putting a finger to my lips for silence.  She looks about her, finding the others gone.  Looking back at me, she gives me a nod, understanding what I want from her.  She gets up quietly and I point down one direction, then the other.  She takes a breath, but gives me another nod as she moves toward Lily and slides down the wall to plant herself next to the sleeping princess.  She gives me another look before I turn from her and follow the tunnel after Alorn and Mellis.

The cavern is in complete darkness and the smell of mold and earth mixes with odors of death and rot.  Like the rest of our senses, the Sidhe’s night vision is like that of an owl.  We don’t need light to see.  The panswas used at the start were for Lily’s, Milina’s and Glynnis’ sake.  I send out my senses and find Mellis two levels above me, and Alorn on the fifth level making his way back down. 

“Tharin, there’s evidence that the cavern has been used recently,”
confirms Alorn from above.  I make my way to the other side staying close to the tunnel openings. 

“What is it?”
I reply.

“Lutimi.”
  Damn.  Lutimi are meat-eaters.  There are thousands of
them –
earthworm-like creatures that attack as one.  You won’t know they’re there until it’s too late.  Our only advantage over them is that they’re slow moving and we can stay clear of them as long as we know where they are. 

“Mellis?”
  I wait for a response, coming to a stop when he doesn’t answer immediately.  I feel Alorn do the same, waiting silently.

“Tracks, booted,”
he finally answers.  Alorn and I stay quiet
, knowing
there’s more to come. 
“Three, large and armed.  They seem to be dragging something with them.”

“Which direction?”
asks Alorn, continuing his descent.  He’s at my side in moments. 

“To the south, an hour, maybe two,”
replies Mellis as he makes his way toward us.

“It has nothing to do with us,”
comments Alorn.  I nod in agreement as Alorn continues,
“I’ll head back and bring the others.”

“Mellis, you scout ahead and wait for us midway at the shelter,”
I instruct. 
“I’ll wait here and keep an eye on things.”

Both Alorn and Mellis hesitate.  Alorn gives me a look before moving on, but Mellis lingers,
“Are you sure, Tharin?”
 

I place a hand on Mellis’ shoulder,
“There’s something here with us…something that doesn’t belong.  Keep your wits about you.”
  For the first time since meeting up with him at the tunnel entrance, Mellis becomes serious.

~
* ~

Chapter
Twenty-Five

~
Lily
~

I must have fallen asleep.  I’m surprised to find myself lying on my side with Milina shaking me awake gently.  She smiles at me but places her finger to her lips for silence.  I look about, searching for the first thing that comes to mind – Tharin.  Alorn is now beside me and despite getting a scowl from Milina, he takes my hand and leads me forward.

I’m startled when Alorn reaches me, gently touching my mind. 
“Tharin’s okay, he’s up ahead waiting for us.”

“You’re able to communicate this way, too?”

“Family trait.”

I walk quickly to keep up with his long strides,
“So Phoris and Mellis can also do this?  What of Ziri?”

Alorn keeps his eyes ahead and I nearly jump out of my skin when Cessa touches my hand with her wet nose.  I pull free from Alorn, stopping him in his track.  I wrap my arms around the panther and hug
her
to me, thinking that I should let her out more.  Tharin must have called for her when I was asleep.  I rub at the cats ears, but soon find Alorn’s hand reaching out for me.  I grab hold and he pulls me quickly along.  I glance behind me to see Milina following immediately behind us, with Ziri and Glynnis covering the rear. 

“Why haven’t you done this before?”
I ask, still surprised.  I thought it was only something that Tharin and Tolan did.

“I had nothing to say.”
  He looks down at me, giving me a wink. 

He stops near the opening of the tunnel…at least I think it’s the opening.  I can feel a change in the air, less stifling, but fouler.  I put my hand over my mouth, breathing into my palm, trying hard to keep out the stench.  I feel someone nudge at me and find Milina offering me a kerchief.  I take it from her, quickly covering my lower face.

Alorn looks down at me,
“Ready?”
  I give him a nod and he pulls me forward as the panswa at our feet light up.  They give enough light for me to see the huge cavern with a ceiling that disappears into the darkness above.  All around are levels of tunnel openings staring back at us like black eyes of an enormous beast.  We quickly make our way across and I can see why we needed to hurry, we’re out in the open, exposed to what lurks behind the black eyes of the cavern. 

Once we’re within the tunnel, I’m disappointed when Alorn tells me that Tharin has gone ahead.  I’m assuming that Mellis is with him since he’s not here with us.  Alorn turns to Milina and signals her ahead, she silently takes the lead position – it’s as if she’s done this many times before.  Glynnis follows, staying close to her sister, ready to cast a spell should Milina need her to.  One of the panswas, now back to a low dim, floats at the front, lighting the way.  Alorn stays close and Ziri remains in the rear, protecting our backs with Cessa lurking in the shadows. 

We moved along at a good pace and near the end of the straightaway without incident.  As we come to the end, the panswas at our feet dim.  We come to a sudden stop, holding our breaths.  When they finally dim a second time and go out completely, all weapons are drawn.  Alorn lets go of my hand and I feel Milina move beside me as I hear the others move into position.  Without warning, blinding light from the panswas explode within the tunnel exposing what looks like a thousand, if not more, earthworms.  The light agitates and scatters the small creatures and before I know what’s going on Alorn picks me up and takes me farther down the tunnel leaving the others behind. 

I struggle against him, “Stop!  We can’t leave them!”

“Quiet, Lily.  We’re not out of danger yet.  I’ll go back for them.  I need to get you out of harm’s way first.”

“Please, Alorn.  I should be safe here.”

“Mellis is up ahead, I’ll leave you with him.”

I stop struggling,
“And Tharin, right?”

He remains quiet for a moment,
“No.”
  He cuts off communication and in short time, I find myself with Mellis.

“Mellis,” I whisper, “I’ll be fine.  I can take care of myself.  Go help them…please.”

“Alorn and Ziri got this, Princess.  They’ll be here in a minute,” he replies.  There’s no use arguing with him without yelling, and in the situation we’re in, yelling would only get us killed.  So, I wait anxiously next to him until finally I ask, “Where’s Tharin?”

“We ran into some trouble.”

My heart skips a beat, “Is he okay?”

“Yes, but he had to return to the city before us to inform the king and Ka of a new development.”

“What kind of development,” I ask, both relieved Tharin’s okay and disappointed he’s not here with me.

Changing
the subject and assuming he knows, “What were those things?”

“They’re call lutimi, flesh eaters,” he whispers back casually, knowing exactly what I’m talking about.

I’m stunned and a bit grossed out.  “What did you say?”

“Flesh eaters.  You know, they eat flesh…meat.  You see, first they sneak up on you, then they spray you with an acid that burns your clothing and skin off, and then they attack you as a whole, eating your flesh.  Flesh eaters.”

I can’t see his face in the dark, but I can imagine his delighted expression as he explains the gory details of the lutimi.  Not needing any light to find him, I smack at his shoulder.

“Hey,” he whispers, stifling his laughter.

“You’ve got a problem, you know that?”

“Yeah, I’ve been told.  But handsomeness isn’t a sickness, cousin…it’s a gift.”

I snort a laugh, but try to keep quiet.  His distraction, which I’m pretty sure was his intention, worked.  Before I know it, Alorn appears beside me carrying Milina.  With the panswas glowing at our feet again, I’m able to see them as they stop next to us.  I didn’t miss how Milina took her time letting Alorn
go –
neither did Mellis, but his usual humor and smile remain on his face.  I don’t think the guy has a jealous bone in him. 

We didn’t wait long before Ziri arrived with Glynnis.  Alorn reaches over to Ziri and swipe at his back.  Holes burned on Ziri’s cloak indicate a few of the worms got on him as they fled.  I reach out to him as Glynnis moves to the side.  “Are you okay?”

He nods his head as he continues to swipe at himself, even though there’s none left on him.  He finally shivers and shakes his whole body, “Yeah…yeah, I’m good.”  Although it’s still dark with the panswa dimly lit, Ziri reaches back, shakes out his hood then covers his head, pulling the hood as far down as he can.  When he looks up, we stare at him with blank faces.  Mellis shakes his head, giving his cousin a sad, pathetic look, while Alorn stares at him with an arched brow.  “You done?” he asks the big elf.  Ziri glares back at him without saying a word.