Chapter 21: Gold and Water
Back where they had first waded out of the lake, the shore stretched back from the water and ended in another jumble of boulders. At the top of the pile, perhaps 30 feet up, a black hole in the wall beckoned.
"What do you think?" Reed asked, looking up at it. "Think it leads out?"
"Do we have any other choice?" Violet replied. "Unless you know how we can climb back up that waterfall?"
"Do you have a spell that will give us wings and fins?"
She shook her head.
He nodded at the hole above them, "then that's it."
"Wait," she silently chastised herself for forgetting. "Nori?"
The fae chirped from atop a nearby boulder.
"Did you get the message to Milya?"
Nori fluttered over to Violet and wrapped around her shoulders. A furry cheek pressed against hers as a barrage of images and snippets of conversation were conveyed. Milya supported a bleeding Jael as they stumbled through a tunnel. A rumble followed by a thick cloud of dust swept around them. Four weary figures collapsed against a wall to rest. Winthrop was not in the scene.
Milya's face came into focus, covered with grit and gore, her normally bright eyes bleary.
"Violet! Thank the gods, she's alive!" she announced. "So is Reed."
"That slip of a girl is tougher than she looks," Vorn's voice cut in.
"Tell Violet that we can't get back to the waterfall. We were forced back by a much larger force. We had to destroy the tunnel at the second fork." She shook her head and wiped tears from her eyes, smearing the dirt and blood. "I'm so sorry. You'll have to find your own way out."
The memory ended and Nori chirped her distress. Violet absently stroked her.
"Nori got the message through to them," she told Reed.
"That's great news! All we need to do is wait for them to come for us." He paused, frowning at the lake, "we've got to warn them about whatever that thing was out there. Can you send Nori…,"
"Reed," she interrupted, "they aren't coming for us." She told him the rest of what she saw and heard. Including not seeing Winthrop.
His face drained of color as the truth sank in, "we're on our own."
She nodded, "so we need to be extra careful. How much armor did you find?"
He tapped his leg, "this cuisse and a pauldron."
"Better than nothing, I guess. And you found that sword."
His smile came back as he lifted it, "yes, and it's a fine sword. Much nicer than the one they issued me back in Highmoon."
Despite the circumstances, his smile was infectious, and she found herself smiling back. He dropped the sword to his side, bumping against a bag tied to his belt, its weight pulling down that side of his breeches.
"What's in that?" she asked. "Please tell me that it's your rations."
He flushed red, "um, no. Those are at the bottom of the waterfall with my armor and weapons belt. Sorry."
She noticed that it was darkly stained and had a layer of dirt embedded along one side. "Did you find that here?"
Reluctantly he sighed and untied it before handing it to her. She was shocked at the weight. Opening the flap, she looked inside. Looking back up at him, she blinked.
"Are you kidding me?"
She didn't think it was possible, but he flushed even darker, "no."
Reaching into the bag, she pulled out a handful of coins and a couple gems. "I thought you were searching for armor."
"I was," he exclaimed, "but then I saw a pile of coins and stuff. I was scooping it up into this bag that I found when I caught sight of the sword. I immediately stopped to go get the sword."
She sighed and passed the bag back to him, "it's okay, Reed. It just caught me by surprise, that's all."
"Half of it is yours, you know," he offered. "And there's a lot more over there still." He looked at her hopefully.
"Absolutely not!" She couldn't believe what he was suggesting. "We don't know if that thing is dead or what. Do you want to go through that again?"
"You can always do your magic thing."
"I'm going to forget you said that." She turned her back to him and studied the boulders. "We need to get out of here."
"You're right," he grumbled looking over his shoulder longingly at the shore.
The climb up the pile of boulders wasn't too hard, but once at the top, they realized that the tunnel was still a few feet over their heads. Fortunately, Reed was able to boost Violet up to the edge and then she helped him climb the rest of the way. That's when her magic light died. She quickly cast another one, but she wasn't sure how many times she could do so. If she had to guess, she thought the spell lasted for an hour. If they were down here long, it would need to be cast many more times. That worried her.
She sent Nori ahead of them as a precaution as they started down the tunnel. They couldn't afford to stumble blindly across any monsters in their current state. Using Nori as their scout, they could hopefully avoid encounters.
The tunnel was a natural fissure that sloped downward as they traveled away from the underground lake. The going was difficult. Without a flat surface to walk on, they had to find foot holds on the rough sides and straddle the crack, using their hands to brace themselves and keep their balance. At times the way widened out enough that they couldn't touch both sides, forcing them to almost crawl sideways along a single wall. At other times, it narrowed to the point that they could barely squeeze between the walls.
When Violet's light spell failed, they paused for a rest in the darkness, relying on Nori to alert them of any danger. They sat with their backs against the outside curve of the tunnel, carefully avoiding a deep fissure on the inside of the curve. Until Violet cast a light spell again, it wasn't safe for them to move. As her eyes adjusted to the pitch black surrounding them, she noticed that her familiar put out a faint purple glow, not enough to be able to travel with, but enough that the absolute darkness was dispelled, and she could make out Reed sitting nearby. The fae curled up in her lap, purring and kneading her leg.
Leaning her head back against the stone, she sighed, "this stinks."
"I know," Reed agreed. "We don't even know if this leads anywhere."
"I could send Nori to look, but it could take a while and then we wouldn't have her watching for monsters while she was away."
"I think it's worth it. We're wearing ourselves out here and if it's for nothing…," he trailed off, unable to complete the thought.
Violet reached over and gave his hand a squeeze, "we'll get out of here. I know we will."
She could barely see his faint smile, but he squeezed her hand in return, "yeah."
Though she was loath to give up the comfort provided by the fae's glow, Violet sent her in search of a path back to the surface. Then she settled back in the dark to wait. After a moment, she felt Reed take her hand and hold it. They sat in silence for a while before Violet couldn't take it anymore.
"I couldn't imagine living like this," she mused.
"Most people can't," he agreed. "But the people and creatures that live down here probably feel the same way about the surface."
"Hum, I hadn't thought of it that way. But to always be in the dark? That sounds horrible."
There was a brief silence, then, "most of them have dark vision or something similar. They don't live in darkness. Didn't you know that?"
She smiled in the dark, "I've lived a very sheltered life." She hoped he'd let it go because she didn't feel like telling her story yet again.
"Oh." Another pause. "This must really be hard on you, then."
"You have no idea."
Before he could respond, Violet started, "did you hear that?"
"What?"
"Shhh." She strained to hear it again.
There it was! A slight scrape against stone. It was hard to determine how close it was, though. In the dark, everything seemed eerily intimate.
"Èist soillsich," she commanded.
The area around them was instantly bathed in bright light, momentarily blinding them. Blinking rapidly, Violet pulled out her daggers while she waited for her sight to return.
When it did, she could see three figures blocking the tunnel ahead of them. Shorter than her, coming no higher than her chest, they were blue skinned with large heads that sat atop their shoulders with no neck. Their large orange eyes glared at her.
The one in the back said something in a guttural language and the two in the front stepped forward, brandishing their short swords. One came at Violet with the one in the back behind him, leaving the other to take on Reed. With a swing of his sword, Reed opened the throat of his opponent, spewing blood on the wall and him.
The blue creature coming at Violet, spat a disgusting blob of spittle on the wall before lunging with its sword. Before it reached her, it slipped on a loose rock and tumbled headfirst into the fissure, disappearing with a surprised shout.
The one behind him, sidestepped the danger and swung his sword at Violet. She tried unsuccessfully to block it with one of her daggers and received a slash down her arm for her effort. Her blood quickly joined that of the dead creature as it dripped down her arm.
Reed spun from his kill and thrust his sword into the side of Violet's attacker, killing it instantly.
Clutching her arm, Violet nodded towards his sword, "glad that thing's still sharp."
Reed grinned, "it's good steel." Seeing her wound, his smile faltered, "you're hurt."
"Tis but a flesh wound," she quoted Monty Python.
He frowned, "no, it's a deep cut. You need a healer."
She sighed. She's always wanted to use that quote, now it had been wasted.
Muffled shouts from the fissure drew their attention. Stepping up to it carefully, they saw that, while it was deep, it narrowed just a few feet down, trapping the blue creature upside down in it.
Reed raised his sword, but Violet stopped him, "it's not hurting anything there."
He pushed her back gently, "we can't leave it here. If it can't get out, it will die a slow death. If another monster comes by, he will be helpless. If he does escape, he can go get more of his fellows and come after us. This is the kindest way."
She grabbed his arm again, "this is murder."
Reed gently removed her hand from his arm, "no, it's not. This isn't a person, Violet."
"It wears clothes and has a language. How can you say it's not a person?"
"What would you have me do?" Reed asked rolling his eyes.
That stopped her. She visibly deflated. He was right, but it still felt wrong. She nodded numbly and stepped back.
"You can look away," he said gently.
She shook her head, "no, that's the coward's way. I have to own my decisions."
Afterwards, Reed bound her arm to stop the bleeding using a strip of fabric torn from her chemise. It wasn't the cleanest bandage, but it was all they had to work with.
Nori still hadn't returned, so Reed used the time to search the three bodies then shoved them into the crevice so they would not easily be seen if another group came bay. They had no armor he could use, but he took one of the short swords and found a handful of coins that he dropped into the bag at his side.
"At least I'll be able to replace my armor if we get out of here."
Violet corrected him, "when we get out of here."
He looked up and held her eyes, then nodded, "when we get out of here."
Nori popped into sight. She was visibly excited, and it infected the two humans.
"I think she found the way out," Violet smiled brightly.
"Well, tell her to lead the way," Reed returned her smile.
Two of Violet's light spells later, the fissure they were following ended at a tunnel that was definitely not natural. Tired and hungry, Violet breathed a sigh of relief to be able to stand on a flat surface. Her thighs and calves were throbbing from the effort to stay upright over the past two hours.
The tunnel wasn't as wide as the one they had been in before they went down the waterfall, but it was wide enough for them to walk side by side. One direction led upwards while the other down.
"Is it safe to rest here?" she asked her companions.
Nori chirped cheerfully and darted away.
"I'm going to take that as a yes," she sighed as she gingerly sat down, taking care not to use her wounded arm, which was throbbing painfully.
Reed joined her on the ground, sighing heavily, "all I can think about is my mother's duck pie. And some of the Oak and Spear's early ale." He smacked his lips at the memory.
"It's apple cider for me," Violet shared, "and margherita pizza."
He looked over at her, "what's that?"
"It's a pizza…,"
"What's a pizza?"
"You don't have pizza's here?"
"Never heard of it."
"Well," she said slowly, trying to describe it in a way he would understand, "it's kind of a pie. With a thin, rolled out dough, spread with a tomato sauce, some meet, and lots of cheese. Then it's baked in an oven until the crust is browned and the cheese is melted."
"Ummm, that sounds good," he closed his eyes as if picturing it.
"The version that I like doesn't have meat, just chucks of this cheese that gets stringy when it's melted, and fresh herbs."
"I think I'd prefer mine with meat."
"You're entitled to your opinion, no matter how wrong it may be," she sniffed.
He reached out and pushed her over, "don't be a snob."
Violet stayed on her side and drew a finger through the dirt in front of her face, "I thought I'd miss it more."
"Pizza?"
She giggled, "no, silly. Home."
"You don't miss it?"
"Yes, and no," she told him focusing on her finger as she randomly traced the symbol for water. "I find that I miss parts of it, like my home itself and my possessions. I miss the familiarity of everything. But -" she sat up and dusted off her hand on skirt of her dress, "- sometimes I wonder why I'm trying so hard to get back there. I feel so alive here. There are so many things I can do here that I can't do there."
"Water," Reed said.
"Water?" His comment confused her.
He pointed at the rune she had drawn, "water."
"Oh, you can read that?"
"No, damnit! Look!" he said with exasperation.
She looked down and scrambled back on her hands and knees. Where she had drawn the rune, a depression had formed and was quickly filling up with clear water.
"Holy cow!"
"No. Water," Reed corrected.
She looked at him with a frown and saw that he was grinning at his joke.
Hesitantly, she tried the water. It was pure and sweet. They took turns and drank their fill, momentarily blunting the hunger pains. Though Violet knew it was a placebo effect and it was just plain water, she felt like the water had invigorated her with mysterious magical properties.
"Wow," Reed stood and picked her up by the waist, spinning them in a circle, "I feel fantastic. Thank you!"
Violet slapped him playfully on the arm, "put me down before you drop me."
Obediently, he put her feet back on the ground, but kept his hands in place at her waist. His expression grew serious as he dipped his head toward her. His lips were still cool from the water, but firm on hers. Violet leaned into the kiss and Reed responded by pulling her close.
Abruptly, he released her, almost shoving her away from him,
"Ow! What the hell?" he exclaimed, spinning around.
Behind him, Nori hovered, her ears laid back and her tail flicking back and forth.
"She bit me," Reed complained, rubbing his shoulder, and glaring back at her.
"Nori," Violet scolded, "that's not nice."
Her familiar responded with hiss directed at Reed, then flew around him in as wide a circle possible in the tunnel.
"Where did you go?" Violet asked.
Images a group of unrecognizable creatures chasing the fae through tunnels came through their connection.
"What? What do you see?" Reed asked.
"I think she lured some monsters away to clear a path for us."
Nori chirped and twirled.
"Yep, that's what she did," Violet scratched her behind the ears, earning a purr and a gentle headbutt. "We should go now before they come back."
They started up the tunnel in a better frame of mind, sure that they would be back above ground soon.