Chapter 12

The Cave Of Alzamaree

Numair sighed. "Daine," he began, turning from the cave-in to face her. "Don't you know by now not to touch anything in an enemy mage's room?"

"Well, technically, it's a cave," Daine began guiltily, an embarrassed look on her face.

"Well, technically, Magelet, it was still used by a mage and can have traps. Now I have to open the entrance," he said, staring at where the entrance had once been, cursing when he thought of something.

"What?" Daine asked, coming over to stand beside him, a confused expression on her face.

Wrapping his arms around her slender waist, he explained. "What if the whole main chamber caved in? That'll mean I'll have to disperse of a lot more rock to get us out of here."

"One way to find out." She leaned against him, her mind calling out for Dante.

What happened? Dante asked across their mind link.

Cave-in. Is the whole main chamber caved in or just the doorway we went through?

Whole main chamber. I'm outside the cave entrance. Only now it just looks like the rest of the cliff.

"We're completely caved-in," Daine told Numair. "Dante's outside the cave. He says you can't even tell there was a cave entrance there." She paused, turning her head to look at him. "It seems that our mage doesn't want any intruders to be found."

"Indeed it doesn't. Even if we had told somebody where we were going, if we couldn't get out ourselves, there would be little hope of anyone finding us." He smirked. "Too bad the ones to fall into his trap are two very powerful mages."

He sent out his magic, allowing it to intertwine with the stones. But when he tried to move the rocks, he met a very strong barrier. Pulling away quickly, Numair stared at the cave-in in shock.

"What's wrong?" Daine asked, concerned by the expression on his face.

"Our mage must have exhausted himself to accomplish this," Numair explained, waving absently in the direction of the cave-in. "I can get us out, but it's going to drain me to do it."

"Is there any other way out?"

"Not that I'm aware of. All of the rock around us is spelled to resist the Gift." He paused, looking at her intently. "Unless…"

"Unless what?" Daine inquired.

"Your new power. I wonder what it truly is? I seriously doubt it's just useful for sending people flying into trees."

"You mean like moving things with my mind?" she asked, turning so she could look at him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Exactly!" he replied, pleased she had caught onto his train of thought so quickly. "If you envision in your mind the rock moving out of the cavern, it should work. Though you'll have to make sure Dante is well out of the way."

"Do you want me to try it now?" she asked, starting to pull away.

"In a second," he replied, pulling her back against him, capturing her lips in a kiss.

He took her completely by surprise, and for a second she didn't move. Then, tightening her arms around his neck, she kissed him back, savoring the feeling of being held so close to him. His lips left hers, raining kisses along her jaw line and down her neck. When he reached the neck of her shirt, he stopped, realizing where this was going. He didn't want her first time to be here. Pulling away, he kissed her lightly on the nose. "We shall resume this later, love."

"Is that a promise?" she asked, looking up into his eyes.

"Most definitely."

"So what do I do?" she asked, turning to look at the wall of stone that now barred the entrance.

"Make sure Dante is out of the way."

Dante? she called as she leaned back against Numair.

Yes?

Get away from the entrance. Hopefully a whole lot of rock is going to come flying out.

Sure. I'll head back towards the horses a little way.

Good. Tell me when you're ready.

"Now we just have to wait until Dante is far enough away," she told Numair. "So tell me what to do."

"Look at the rock and envision it flying out into the chasm opening the entrance and a path through the main cavern. That should suffice."

I'm well out of the way, Dante told her.

"Well, here goes nothing," she said. Closing her eyes, she pictured the rock flying out of the tunnel, spewing into the chasm below. Her legs weakened, and she was grateful for the support Numair offered her.

Opening her eyes, she was shocked to see the pathway cleared. "It worked," she said, shocked.

Numair chuckled softly. "Indeed it did, darling," he replied, tightening his arms around her, and burying his face in her hair. "You, my sweet, are one powerful little mage. Was there any resistance at all?"

"No, I just wanted it to happen, and when I opened my eyes, it had."

"I guess your magic doesn't qualify as the Gift. It's something different, and I believe more powerful."

"We should go, Dante and the horses are probably getting restless," she said as she started towards the entrance. Suddenly she staggered and Numair rushed forward quickly to catch her. The cave spun, making Daine dizzy and sick to the stomach. As the blackness threatened to overwhelm her, she rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes and focusing on him. Slowly the room stopped spinning, though her legs were still as weak as jelly.

"Daine? Are you alright?" Numair inquired, the concern absent in her voice.

"I'm fine," she told him. "I'm just not used to using these new powers, is all." She smiled, turning slightly of face her. Resting her hands on his chest, she kissed him, long and lingering.

"I love you," she told him as he broke the kiss.

He smiled, resting his forehead against hers. "And I love you, sweet, so very much."

Daine, we're not going to wait here all day while you and Mr. Mage are out in that chasm canoodling, the Black said in her mind.

"We're not canoodling! she replied indignantly.

That's the next step.

Oh, shut up! she snapped at the large stallion.

Daine sighed. "It seems our transportation is getting a little bit wary of waiting on us," she said, smiling.

"Well, Magelet, I suggest we not keep them waiting," he said, kissing her tenderly before taking her hand and leading her out of the cave.

-----

A knock on the door of their room soon after they returned interrupted Daine and Numair from where they were packing the few things they had used the night before.

"Kit, open the door, please," Daine said absently, waving in the direction of the closed door. Kit thrilled softly, and the door opened, revealing Arisa.

"Dinner's ready," the girl said. "Master Ayame is waiting for you to join him."

"Thanks Arisa," Numair said, looking up. "We'll be down in just a minute."

"Yes, sir," she replied, turning around to leave. Then suddenly she turned back around to face them. "You're not leaving so soon are you?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Numair replied. "We're needed elsewhere."

"Oh, okay," she said quietly, then turned and left.

Daine and Numair looked over at each other and exchanged smiles.

-----

"Master Salmalin, Miss Sarrasri," Ayame called happily as they entered the small dining room, motioning for them to sit on either side of them. Once they had sat down and started to eat, he continued. "So I presume you're leaving this afternoon?"

"Yes," Numair answered. "We plan on eating after lunch. Our bags are already packed."

"Then I'll have your bags brought down and the horses ready by the time we finish our meal," he answered. "Kohaku!"

"Yes, Master Ayame?" the boy asked, coming in though the kitchen door.

"I'd like you and a couple of other lads to go get Master Salmalin and Miss Sarrasri's things and take them down to the stable and have them loaded on their horses."

"No problem," Kohaku answered, bowing slightly before leaving.

"So is there nothing you can do to help my village?" Ayame asked.

"I'm afraid not," Numair answered. "The mage who did this put a strong spell on the villagers. To attempt to free the villagers from this type of mind control would either kill me or drain me completely. The best way is to kill the mage. Once he is gone, his spells will disappear."

"And you believe that this mage is in Tirragen?"

"Yes, the King's Champion is already there, and we're sitting out to meet her."

"Of course, The Lioness. She really is quite the legend." Numair and Daine laughed.

"I invited Alex to join us as well," Ayame continued. "But he said he'd rather take his meal in his room. If you would like to say goodbye to him he's probably still there."

"That's fine," Numair answered, keeping the anger he was feeling inside from his face and voice. "We've already said goodbye."

"Well then," Ayame said as they finished their meal. "I wish you luck on your journey and that you safely and swiftly deal with this troublesome mage."

"Thank you," Daine said as she and Numair stood. "We appreciate your hospitality and we're sorry we couldn't help your village."

"That's fine," Ayame said, standing up and leading them out of the dining room. Stopping when he reached the front door, he turned to face them. "There's only so much even powerful mages like yourself can do."

"Thank you," Numair told the old man, putting an arm around Daine's waist. "I hope you'll be alright until the spells are lifted."

"Oh, we'll be fine," Ayame said happily. "Farewell."

"Farewell," the two mages replied as they left the house and headed towards the stable.

About time, Cloud snorted as they came into the stable. Black and Star were saddled, Cloud and Spots loaded with their bags.

Well, sorry, Daine said sarcastically. You waited on us a total of 3 minutes.

"Thank you," Daine told the boy who was holding Black's reins. Taking them from him, she jumped on the horse's back. When another boy offered her Cloud's reins, she took them and flipped them over the pony's head, ignoring the lad's surprised look.

"Ready?" she asked, turning to Numair, who had just mounted Star.

"Of course," he replied, steering Star out of the stable.

Daine followed him, Cloud and Spots following behind.

AN 1: I'm really sorry about the delay in getting this chapter out. With school and everything else going on, I sort of lost track of time. And that long span of time when I once again lost the will to write… (shudders) Well, just a warning as to the next chapter- I won't be able to post again for a while, so apologies in advance.

AN 2: I know that the ending of this chapter is kind of week, but I was in a hurry considering that if I didn't finish this chapter last night, I wouldn't be able to post it today and then I would have had to wait a month or two. And I had been planning on writing a little more from the Alzamaree point of view. Oh well…

Now…

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The Dragon Kasia