Chapter 8
Terra loved dirt. The sent of it, the natural feel of it, everything.
When she was young, she had run away from her governess every chance she got and more often then not she would run for the sanctuary of the castle garden.
"Princess Terrianna!" she could still hear her Tally, her governess, scolding her in a scandalized tone. "What are you doing playing in the dirt like some… commoner!"
Terra knew that Tally was just doing her job, and that she cared very much for Terra, but every time Tally had lifted her up and marched her away from the garden, Terra felt as though she hated her.
So now, as she sat under one of the trees in Malchior's garden, running her fingers blissfully through a patch of upturned earth, she felt calmer than she had in a long time.
Her fingers hit a rock hidden in the soil and she picked it up, idly examining it.
Closing her eyes, she leaned against the trunk of the tree and focused on the beautiful music drifting down from the branches above. The golden bird sat there, crooning a peaceful melody to her.
Like before, she could see a scene playing out with the bird's song.
It started with peaceful, violet Tranquillity, swaying gently to the song. Slowly, the music began to grow faster, and Tranquillity began to turn into Excitement, jumping around and spinning with every note the bird sang. After a while of this fast dance, Excitement began to grow lonely and the music grew quiet.
The sound of someone walking over turned her attention away from the music, and Terra looked up to see Malchior standing several feet away.
Remembering that she was supposed to be angry with him, she scowled and looked down at the smooth pebble still in her hand.
"Please, princess Terrianna," Malchior began pleadingly. "I simply wish to apologize. What I did was… wrong."
She didn't reply, instead trying to focus on the stone in her hand and the music playing above her. But she found she couldn't; she was too busy waiting for him to continue.
"If it makes any difference," Malchior paused again, trying to straighten out his thoughts. "I no longer know what I want."
Slightly intrigued, Terra raised an eyebrow, but still refused to look at him.
"When I kidnapped you, it was because I wanted my first love to return to me. But then, as I got to know you… I stopped thinking about her."
Terra looked up, and was surprised at the sincerity she could see in his crystal blue eyes. Seeing that he was beginning to get through to her, Malchior cautiously walked over and kneeled next to her under the tree.
"All I could think about was you. It was strange at first. It seems so long since I've really cared about anyone but myself, yet now I can't imagine going a day without you by my side."
Terra searched his eyes. She knew that he could probably spin words more skillfully than any of the charming, yet insincere people she had met at court, but she found herself believing what he said.
"So… what does that mean… for us?" she asked carefully. "Are you still going to go ahead with your plan?"
"I couldn't possibly," Malchior admitted, slowly making himself comfortable on the ground next to her. Terra smiled and leaned against him, blushing lightly as his arms gently encircled her.
They sat there in silence for a few minutes, not saying a word, and Terrianna turned her attention back to the golden bird. She closed her eyes to enjoy the last few bars of its story-song. When she opened them again, Malchior was smiling, his eyes glossy.
"What?" she asked, confused by the unshed tears in his eyes.
He laughed quietly and pulled her closer, burying his face into her golden hair.
"I heard it. I heard the golden bird!"
-
"We're closer than I thought yesterday," Raven said. Robin groaned, sitting up while he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Raven's intense violet eyes bore into him, and he quickly stood up.
"Are we?"
"Yes," Raven replied. "I flew up and checked earlier. We covered more distance yesterday that I expected we would. I think we'll probably reach Malchior's castle by the evening."
"Then we need to discuss strategy," Robin decided. He turned back to the campfire, where their three other friends were still sleeping. "Everyone up! We're having a team meeting."
Victor yawned deeply but without a sound, stretching his arms stiffly as he slowly made his way over to where Robin and Raven were standing. Starfire followed him, equally silent as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Garfield, trailing behind the two, made much more of a show of his waking up, yawning loudly and groaning as he stretched.
"What's going on?" he asked sleepily, scratching behind his left ear.
"We're going to be reaching Malchior's castle sooner than we thought, and we need to come up with a plan," Robin explained, sitting down on the log.
"Okay, do we know the lay out of the castle?" Victor asked, quickly getting over his fatigue. Raven nodded, picking up a thin stick and kneeling down in the dirt. She carefully used the stick to draw while she explained.
"There are four main doors, each facing a different direction. Any of them will work, however, to cross the moat we will either have to swim, or use the door facing the north; it's the only one with a draw bridge."
"We'll have to use the North door," Robin decided right away. "We can't risk sneaking around the castle, even at dusk, and the North door is the closest."
Raven nodded, and continued. "If we go in through that door, we'll be in the main foyer. From there we can find all the stairways that lead to different parts of the castle."
"Are we going to split up or anything?" Gar asked, furrowing his brow as Raven continued drawing a complex map of stairs and rooms.
"No," Robin replied. "I think it's best we stay together. He's less likely to realize we're there if we're not spread out."
"We'll check the dungeon first," Raven decided, glancing up briefly to make sure there were no objections. "There are only a couple cells down there, and a torture chamber, so it won't take long to search. If she's not there, we can search the towers."
"And when we find her?" Starfire asked.
"We'll leave and run for the forest," Robin decided. "From there we can search for the right spot and then Raven can transport us back to Tamborinia."
"We won't need to run back to the forest," Raven replied. "Malchior's castle is the pinnacle source of magic in this realm. I'll be able to bring us back to our realm any time once we're in there."
"What if we run into Malchior?" Victor asked. "I doubt he's just going to let her go."
"If we run into Malchior, we'll give him what he wants," Raven replied firmly.
"NO!" Everyone looked up, surprised at Gar's outburst.
"You're not going to give yourself up to him," Garfield continued, staring at Raven with a fierce protectiveness that surprised her.
"What other choice do we have?" she asked, with what she hoped was a determined stare.
"We can fight him!" Gar replied at once, instinctively reaching for his sword.
"Malchior is a powerful magician, Gar," Raven replied condescendingly. "If we try to fight him, he will win."
"You don't know that!" Gar replied, his voice raising angrily. "Maybe he won't! Maybe we can save Terra, and not have to sacrifice you to do it! I won't let him take you Raven!"
"It's MY decision!" Raven roared back. "If I want to stay with him to save the princess, I WILL!"
"Yeah?! Well then I guess I'll just have to save YOU after we're done saving Terrianna!" Gar yelled. His fists were balled up tightly, and their noses were almost touching as they drew closer during their argument.
"Well, I think you'll find that that won't work too well, since I'll be sending all of you back to Tamborinia the moment I hand myself over to him!" Raven snapped back.
"Friends! Stop this at once!" Starfire yelled, quickly pulling the two apart and standing between them. "We will avoid Malchior at all costs once we are inside the castle, and if Raven must sacrifice herself… well we will figure that out later, if it happens."
"I agree with Starfire," Robin replied. "I usually prefer to have these details figured out before hand, but right now it's getting us nowhere, and we have to leave. We need to get to the castle before it's too dark or we won't be able to find the door."
Nodding, Raven and Garfield sent final glares at each other before quickly joining the others as they cleaned up the camp. It was just past seven as they left the campsite.
-
With a jolt, Malchior sat up from his spot under the tree. Terra jolted up as well, since she had been leaning against his chest.
"What's wrong?" Terra asked, tucking a stand of her flaxen hair behind her ear. They had been sitting quietly under the tree all afternoon, doing little more than talking, eating a conjured picnic lunch, and stealing kisses. His sudden tenseness surprised her, to say the least.
"I'm sensing that we have visitors," Malchior replied, standing up and distractedly offering her a hand up.
"Visitors?" Terra parroted, slightly confused. "Like, some of the locals you were telling me about? The Tamaraneans?"
"No," Malchior replied at once. "They stopped coming around here a long time ago."
"Then who?" Terra asked, growing nervous. "Are they in the castle?"
"I don't know whom, although I have a vague idea," he admitted. "And no, I don't think they've even reached the castle wall yet. Come with me."
Terra followed with little resistance as Malchior determinedly lead her back into the castle and up a series of staircases. Throwing open a wooden door, they made their way into a room that Terra hadn't seen yet.
It was dark, except for a few eerily glowing beakers and pots, and dusty tombs lined all the walls. Without breaking his stride, Malchior quickly walked to the middle of the room where a large cauldron sat emitting a greenish light.
She followed him over and looked inside. All she could see was a large cauldron of swirling green mist. Surrounding his hand with his usual icy blue magic, he plunged his hand into the mist, stirring it with his hand. He pulled it out, and Terra gasped as seconds later moving pictures began to appear in the mist.
Images of trees flashed around in the cauldron, as if the magic was searching the surrounding woods for their future intruders. Finally it stopped, and five people came into focus, walking through the forest, completely oblivious to the magic that had found them.
Terra gasped as she recognized two of the people: her friend, Sir Garfield, and King Robin of the neighboring country, Tamborinia.
She looked over at Malchior, whose eyes were narrowed as if he recognized someone as well. She followed his gaze to the young woman with purple hair, riding on her horse purposefully.
"Is that her?" Terra asked, fighting back a sudden fit of jealousy, as she couldn't help but notice how pretty the girl was. She pushed the feelings back though; this wasn't the time.
Malchior nodded, his jaw clenched tightly. He swiped his hand through the mist once more, and the image faded away.
"They've come to take you away," he whispered.
Swallowing the lump that had formed in the back of her throat, Terra wrapped her arms around him and buried her face into his chest.
"Don't let them," she begged, fighting back the tears burning in the back of her eyes. "Please. I don't want to go."
Malchior returned her embrace protectively. "I won't."
Yeah, yeah, the ending of this chapter is chessy and out of character on Terra's part most likely, but it's also dramatic and leaves you wanting more, right? ;D Heh, I hope.
I'd like to apolgize for how inconsistant I am with updates. It's been a problem in the past, and I have to admit I'm not one hundred percent happy with how this is turning out so far (I had such good ideas, they just never come out how I want them), but I'm not giving up on this story, and I'm going to try my best to update more frequently. I already started on the next chapter. I finished at lease the first half of it yesterday, so give me... a week maybe and I should hopefully have the next chapter up. Maybe less.
Thanks to everyone who's still reading this. Heh, I realize how annoying it can be going for so long without new chapters. You guys are amazing!
Tammy Tamborine