Holy guacamole, Batman! Another update? Yessireebob! That's because I've had the entire week off (in which I was supposed to be studying). It's been great, but my next vacation isn't until Spring Break ((tear, tear)). Oh well.
Tiger Lily21: You're always my first reviewer of a chapter. You must be on here almost as much as me. XcD Oh, and the Theo and Lynn question was rhetorical. So, don't worry about it.
Glaze: True dat. Although, Danni's a bit dense, and doesn't seem to think too much of herself. Poor girl.
fell4adeadguy: Slowly and painfully, but yes. Hopefully, Danni'll come to her senses before the end.
naughty little munchkin: Ah! I'm glad I surprised you with the evil griffin attack. Danni's always been a bit of a coward; if you look back at the beginning, she couldn't even stand up for herself to Gorner, although she finally overcame it. But, yes, I think she'll have to overcome that before the end. We are nearing the Cave!
UruvielTinuviel: Being a girly-girl is okay when you're at home, reading romance. ((giggles)) Yeah, passionate. He really does love her. ((sigh)) This sounds really strange, but my sister's friend's sister's friends are like that. They're brats, but really really funny brats.
rainkisser: Few! Doctor's orders: Read this chapter, and tell me what you think! ;cD
Dragonblade Goddess: Thanks. I do cute really well, I think. Sorry about all the cliffies, but I just can't help myself! (Too many Nancy Drews, I think)
I just received my college acceptance notice today. Scary. :co
Faretheewell, and good readin' shuga's!
-Lulai
Chapter Eighteen: Behind the Curtain
Danni nuzzled closer into the warm spot next to her, letting out a sigh of contentment. Suddenly, her eyes flew open as she realized that what she was pressing her nose into was nothing other than warm male chest.
"Aaaack!" she exclaimed, whipping her head back.
And effectively clipping Aiden in the nose.
"Ow!" he said, rolling away from her, clutching his bruised feature.
"Oh no!" Danni climbed to her knees and crawled over to where Aiden was lying, looking quite impotent, on the grass.
"I'm so sorry, Aiden," she said, scarlet with mortification. "I forgot where I was."
"Obbiouswee."
"Is it bleeding?" she asked, trying to peer through his hands. "If it is, you should be sitting up with your head between your knees."
Aiden had the audacity to glare at her. "No," he said, "I dond thingk id's bleedingk, but you sure clibbed id hard."
He followed her advice anyways, sitting up. He stretched his face and blinked a couple times, trying to clear away the tears. He gingerly felt his nose.
"Everything seems to be in order," he said. He cast a glance in her direction. "You could kiss it better, I suppose," he suggested mildly.
Danni laughed and climbed to her feet. "If your joking is any indication, you can't be in that much pain."
"Maybe I wasn't joking," Aiden mumbled under his breath, but Danni was already moving away.
"I'll rebuild this fire," she stated, already piling the left over kindling into a small tower shape, "so that we can cook that oatmeal for breakfast. I'm sure a hot meal will make this incident all better."
"Maybe," Aiden said morosely. He sighed and rose to his feet. He walked over to where Carpet was grazing quietly. He patted the horse's neck, noticing that all trace of his wings had disappeared. He opened up the pack and retrieved the cook pot and the bag of oatmeal, as well as two bowls and two spoons. Underneath the sack of porridge was another smaller clay container. He was surprised that it hadn't gotten broken in the skirmish yesterday.
"Look what I found," he said to Danni, as he set the bag of meal down beside her.
"I knew we had oatmeal," she said, giving him a withering glance from where she was adding small sticks to her growing blaze.
"Not the oatmeal," he said, holding out the crockery. "Honey!"
"Oh!" she exclaimed. She took the pot and opened it. She dipped a finger into the creamy sweetness and put it into her mouth.
"Mmm," she moaned around the finger. "That's good."
"I'm glad you think so. I'm, uh, going to go get water," Aiden said quickly. Danni watched curiously as Aiden grabbed the pot and practically ran down to the edge of the pool to fill it.
"Here," he said, returning after a few minutes. He set the pot down on the edge of the fire to heat. Danni poured a generous portion of the oatmeal into the water. She took her spoon and slowly stirred it so it wouldn't stick to the bottom.
They ate their breakfast in a comfortable silence before taking their bowls to the edge of the water to wash.
"This water looks so clear," Danni remarked. "It must be very refreshing."
A mischievous grin slid across Aiden's face. "Why don't you tell me?" he asked innocently, before giving her a shove from the back, toppling her head first into the water. Her shriek of surprise was cut off by a loud splash.
"I suppose you think that's funny," Danni raged as her head broke the surface.
Aiden couldn't answer; he was laughing too hard. She looked like a wet mouse. A wet angry mouse. His laughter died down to chuckles. She crossed her arms over her chest.
"Help me out," she commanded irately, sticking out her hand.
Aiden hesitated. He wasn't stupid, after all, and he did have a sibling. In the end, his gentlemanly instincts won over. He grasped her hand and began to pull her out of the water.
She immediately jerked backwards and pulled him in along with her.
"Now, that was funny," she crowed as he splashed in beside her.
Aiden came up spluttering, fully intending to give her the splashing she deserved, when an intense feeling of déja vu swept over him.
"Wait," he said, holding up his hand.
"What?" she asked irritably.
"This is my dream!"
"Your dream?" she asked, climbing out of the water.
"Yes!" he replied excitedly as he crawled out after her. "Two nights ago at the inn, I had a dream about this place. I'm sure of it."
Danni was sitting on the edge of the water, removing her boots. "Okay, let's say you did dream about this place," she said, wringing the water out of her socks. "What happened? Did we learn anything?"
Aiden raked his fingers through his wet hair. "I can't remember. But it has to be important." He sat down beside her and removed his own boots. He sat there, thinking, until his gaze fell on the waterfall. Suddenly, something went click inside his head.
"Of course!" he exclaimed, jumping up and running over to Carpet. He pulled out the crumpled replica of the map. "Look!" he said to Danni as she walked up beside him. "This is where we were attacked by the griffins, right?" He pointed to a large clearing around the path.
"Yeah, okay, sure," she agreed, wondering where he was going.
"Then, if we travelled straight west, we would end up here," he said triumphantly.
"Right by the cave!" she finished. "Look, here's the pool!"
"And that's not all!" he said, flipping the page over. "The clue talks about the curtain that no man can touch twice, right? Well, I think that would be that waterfall!"
Danni smacked her open palm against her forehead. "Of course! It's so obvious now. You can't touch it twice, because it's always moving!"
"Exactly!" he said.
"So, the entrance to the cave is behind that waterfall?" she asked.
"That's what I'm guessing," Aiden responded.
"Well, I guess we should at least go look," she said.
He strapped on his sword belt. "Let's go!"
They walked quickly over to where their socks and boots lay drying in the sun. They pulled on the dry socks and the slightly damp boots.
"Here," Aiden said, circling round the edge of the pool to the edge of the waterfall. "I'm afraid we might have to get wet again," he said apologetically, raising his voice to be heard above the water.
Danni shrugged and smiled to say she was up for it. Aiden closed his eyes and stepped through the waterfall.
Danni watched Aiden disappear from behind the waterfall. She sighed and closed her eyes, bracing herself for the barrage of water that hit her head with tremendous force. She stepped through the water and wiped her eyes.
He stood on the inside of a huge cavern, Danni stepping up right behind him.
"Whoa," she said, her eyes growing wide. The cavern was huge! Circles of light coming somewhere filtered down, illuminating the huge floor. Patches of milky white quartz that striped the rock walls sparkled where the sun hit them.
"It's beautiful in here," she half-whispered.
Aiden nodded his agreement, but his brows were drawn together.
She looked at him curiously. "What is it?" she asked.
"I don't see anything here," he said, his voice reflecting his confusion.
Danni looked around again. He was right. There were no swords, magical or otherwise, in the huge cavern.
"Lark wouldn't have lied to us," she said, trying to convince herself as much as Aiden.
"No," Aiden said, shaking his head, "but we could have taken the clue wrong." He snorted in disgust and sat down on an outcropping of rock. "To come this far, only to be wrong," he muttered to himself angrily.
Danni shivered and hugged herself. It was a little chilly in here, especially with her wet clothes. She stepped over into a shaft of light to try and warm up.
But when she stepped into the light, a flash of pink light caught her eye.
"Aiden?" she called.
"Yes?" he asked, his voice laced with disgust.
"What if the clue was backwards?"
That caught Aiden's attention. "What?" he asked, standing up.
Danni's brow was creased slightly in concentration. "What if the clue was backwards? Or, at least, we had to maybe follow the clues more than once?"
Aiden walked over to where she was standing. "I don't understand what you're saying," he said honestly.
Danni pointed at a shaft of brilliant rose quartz that went along the cavern floor as far as he could see.
"Doesn't that look like a ribbon?" she asked, growing excited in spite of herself. "And isn't this a kind of 'great hall'?"
"I see," Aiden said, a glimmer of hope resurfacing. "So, if we follow this line of quartz, it will lead us to the sword?"
"That's my reasoning, anyway," Danni said. "We might as well try it."
"We might as well," Aiden agreed, and they set off, following the brilliant pink stone path.