Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, own nothing of Tin Man. It belongs to Sci-Fi and its wonderful creators.
The Road Not Taken
Chapter 1
"Your adventures have a way of getting me into trouble."
"Oh, c'mon Az!" the young princess replied. She jumped to her feet in a blur of movement before her petite form ran quickly towards the trees.
"DG!" Azkadellia cried in response. She reached out for her sister but her hands returned empty. "Don't DG," she almost begged and gave a frantic glance back at the shores of Finaqua, where they had been asked to remain. The urge to obey her mother's simple request was strong and it briefly halted any movement from the older princess.
"Az!" Her sister beckoned with an impatient wave of her arm before she disappeared into an arched entrance between trees.
"Wait DG," Azkadellia called after her and rushed to catch up. "Wait for me!" Though the urge to obey her mother was strong, the absolute need to keep DG safe and out of harms way was greater. Her younger sister had the tendency to leap into things head first and without thinking. Azkadellia constantly worried about the dangers DG would stumble upon if left to her own devises.
The woods nearest to the shore and summer palace were somewhat flat and open, making it easy for Azkadellia to move swiftly. The red dress DG wore, an outcast amongst the greens and browns of the forest, was like a beacon and she never let it leave her sight. As she ducked low under branches and leapt over fallen logs and jagged stones, Azkadellia's only concern was to quickly reach her sister.
When she finally caught the younger girl, she slowed DG to a stop with a firm hand on her shoulder. "What were you thinking DG? We have no guard and have never gone this far into the forest," Azkadellia scolded with a low pant from the exercise.
DG had the grace to look up apologetically, and felt a wave of guilt over her sister's worries. "Sorry, Az."
Azkadellia's features softened and she gave DG a kind smile. "Apology accepted of course, but we need to get back before we are missed." She took her sister's smaller hand in her own with a gentle reach and turned to lead them back to Finaqua.
"No! Wait Az," DG cried out and with a stubborn tug she was free. "I know I heard crying. If someone's hurt, we have to help them."
"I don't hear anything DG," Azkadellia responded, the woods calm and silent. "No one is out here but us."
"Az, I swear I heard someone," DG replied and looked to her sister with bright eyes. "Please believe me."
"Oh, Deeg," Azkadellia sighed and kneeled down in front of her. "Of course I believe you."
"And you'll help me look?" DG added hopefully.
"I think your ears might be playing tricks on you."
"I know I heard something," DG affirmed. "Please, let's just go a little further? Please, Az? Please?"
Azkadellia knew once it was realized they had wandered off again, without the protection of a guard, she would be the one to suffer a larger punishment and scolding. For she was fourteen annuals, almost fifteen, and compared to her sister's eight it was Azkadellia who "should know better by now".
Father's words from the last lecture echoed in her thoughts and she grimaced at the memory of her parents' expressions of disappointment. The lecture from the Queen and her consort, after the last escapade, had lasted almost an hour. In addition to forty-five minutes it took to decide a punishment. For two weeks, after that day, Azkadellia had stared longingly at the empty space that had once stood her pianoforte. Her parents had gone as far as to remove it completely from the palace, leaving only the plush piano stool and the cold threat of a month long sentence for the next disobeyed rule.
'A whole month,' Azkadellia sighed inwardly, a dread towards the quiet tedium an foreseen punishment. But the expectation and hope in her sister's eyes broke every ounce of her resolve. She'd give up anything to keep DG happy, even if it meant being without her favorite pastime.
Azkadellia's shoulders sunk and she spoke with a defeated sigh, "Well, we are most likely already in trouble. What are a few more minutes?"
"Oh, thank you!" DG clapped her hands together with enthusiasm. "Don't worry, Az, we'll be heroes! Mother can't punish heroes!"
"Don't be so sure," Azkadellia mumbled and stood. Once the dirt was brushed off the hem of her skirt, she took a deep breath and followed her sister further into the woodland.
Every tree looked like the last, large and towering, and their makeshift search party lost track of time easily. Azkadellia followed her sister silently, but was constantly looking back in hope she could memorize the path they journeyed. She had an uneasy knot twisted into her stomach and it throbbed with each step further into the trees. She'd never felt so uncomfortable and nervous, not on any of their other adventures. This fact blazed in her thoughts and Azkadellia fought the sudden instinct to grab a hold of DG and drag her back to Finaqua, kicking and screaming.
"Two little princesses dancing in a row," Her sister marched ahead and sung their mother's favorite song as she chased the imaginary. "Spinning fast and freely upon their little toes," she went on, Azkadellia frowned in return as she stumbled over the uneven ground.
"Where the light will take them, there's only one way to know…" Clouds shifted and covered the two suns. A layer of shadow now masked the woods. Azkadellia paused in her stride and noticed, with a glance, the eerie and cold appearance the woods had suddenly taken. "…Two little princesses dancing in a row."
"DG, wait." Azkadellia swallowed the chill that had crept up her spine, but finally let her instincts take over. "I don't like this. We need to turn back…now."
DG was unresponsive and stared towards the rocks in front of her with a curious gaze, "Look at this, Az."
Azkadellia stumbled closer and, with wide eyes, gazed ahead at the mouth of a ghostly cave. Crude and peculiar markings were painted above the slanted opening and though their meaning was unfamiliar to the princess, warning bells rang loudly in Azkadellia's ears.
"Do you hear that?" DG asked, her eyes glued to the darkness.
Azkadellia heard only the pound of her heartbeat against her chest. "We should get mother and father." DG lurched forward in response, ignoring her sister's concern and disappeared into the darkness. "Your adventures have a way of getting me into trouble," Azkadellia called after her, the echo of her words her response.
'I don't like this,' she thought unhappily, but stepped forward after her sister.
The light from the small opening did not reach much further than a few feet into the cave. Met with a foul stench, Azkadellia was almost grateful for the lack of sight. The air was damp and heavy and a wicked sense of decay lingered and burned her eyes and nose. "What is this place?" she asked out loud. "It's horrible."
"Hello?" DG called out into the dark and Azkadellia jumped at the sudden boom of sound, her boot kicking something on the ground.
An antique lantern lay abandoned at her feet, a thick layer of dust and yellow gunk on the glass. Azkadellia pulled it from the dirt and gravel by its handle and raised it high. Then, with a wave of magic and an open palm, she was rewarded with a glow from its insides. She relaxed slightly with its light.
"Look at this Az," her sister requested from further down the passageway. Azkadellia hurried to DG's side, a desire to keep her close.
The wall her sister was examining was covered in primeval drawings, much like the ones above the cave's opening. "It's the picture language of the ancients," she informed DG as she recognized a few of the symbols and the language structure.
"Do you know what it means?" DG asked eagerly, her discovery a great excitement.
"Some of it I think," Azkadellia replied and raised the lantern so she could read the pictures more clearly. "At the dawn of time…good battled evil…and the light conquered over the darkness…and then… something about an evil witch."
"Whoa," her sister looked up at the markings with wonder. "This place is neat."
"No its not," Azkadellia disagreed. "It's creepy, very creepy…and I think we should leave." The light in her lantern flickered violently and Azkadellia suddenly found herself backwards, pushed to the ground by an unseen force. She fell hard and twisted an ankle awkwardly, while her bare arms scraped against the sharp gravel.
"Az!" DG rushed forward and kneeled by her sister. "Are you ok?"
Azkadellia hissed in reply. She hugged her uninjured leg to her chest as she sat up, and willed back the tears that were threatening to spill. The cuts on her palms burned and bled, but they were no competition for the throb of pain in her ankle. "Oh, it hurts," she whimpered softly, as she looked to the motionless appendage stretched out before her. She dared not move it much, for even the slightest bit of motion caused a wave of ache.
"I don't think I can walk on it, Deeg," Azkadellia confessed after a few moments.
"The person down there might be able to help us," DG responded and pointed toward the darkness.
"There is no one there," Azkadellia groaned with frustration, her nerves on edge now. "There never was, DG."
DG backed away, hurt and angered by her sister's doubt. "You still don't believe me," she frowned as she jumped to her feet.
"I…" Azkadellia shut her eyes in exasperation and pain, "I believe you thought you heard something…"
"But never believed there was someone out here," DG finished and almost stomped her foot. "Well, I'll show you, Azkadellia." She stepped away from her sister and moved deeper into the cave. "I'll save you…AND the person back there."
"No," Azkadellia warned in a strong voice. "Don't go down there, DG! It's not safe!" She spoke her last words to the shadows, her young sister already gone. "Come back here, DG! Deeg!" Azkadellia let out a huff of annoyance as she reached out for the glowing lantern and pulled it closer. Lifted high, she hoped for a glimpse of DG but found only aged stone and an empty path.
"So stubborn," she mumbled to herself. After a countless minuets alone, her anger faded into concern. Ready to blame herself if any harm came to DG, Azkadellia silently urged her sister to return hastily and unharmed.
She should have been more adamant about following her mother's request. How difficult was it to stay close to Finaqua? Or to have at least brought an escort when they wished to venture off? They were simple rules. Set in place to avoid precarious situations like the one Azkadellia now faced. If DG became injured, with her own ankle immobile, they could possibly be stranded into the night, until help arrived. A quick rescue, unfortunately, could take some time given that the forests of the Lake Country were vast and still largely uncharted.
Wishing she had learned a way to summon help with the aid of her magic, Azkadellia sat alone and fearful. Her only companions were the soft flicker of light from the aged lantern, a constant dripping of water somewhere down the path, and her own worries. When a vibration abruptly shook the walls and ground around her, her spine stiffened in response. A crash of rock followed the quake, its thunderous echo from the direction DG had gone.
"DG!" Azkadellia shouted in alarm. Her sister's desperate and frightened screams echoed in reply.
Azkadellia cried out for her sister and crawled forward, dragging the lantern and her leg behind. Not moving quickly enough however, she used the rush of adrenaline to pull herself to her feet. The injured ankle hollered in protest, but she pushed forward and used the nearest wall for support. Her upper body clung desperately to the rocky surface, hopping along the path as she called out for DG. Salty tears burned Azkadellia's eyes as her sister's cries began to grow faint.
"Hold on Deeg," she begged through tears, her voice thick with emotion. "I'm coming!"
A bitter gust of air crashed against her, its force darkened the lantern before it disappeared toward the entrance of the cave. Azkadellia knew something was not right with this cave and she braced herself against the stone wall, waiting for another surprise.
Though it was pitch black, she still clenched her eyes shut and easily regressed into a terrified child. She gasped in air, her throat filled with harsh swallows that burned her lungs. The lantern rattled as Azkadellia shook with panic, and she quickly clutched it to her chest. She was hesitant to return the flame. What would be there once she turned the light back on?
'Deeg,' her inner voice reminded and gave her a morsel of nerve. She had to find her sister.
Shifting as quietly she could, Azkadellia braced herself against the wall and raised the lantern, preparing to light it. She took in one last deep breath and, with a shaking hand, raised her palm to the lantern. Light engulfed the space…
…and then she screamed.