*
Hunter watched the people around him suspiciously. They were hiding something from them. Or perhaps, more than one somethings. Despite the fact that he did not possess much in the way of talent, he could sense the smell of magic on all of them, and though it was masked, he got the sense that these were all strong mages. Given the probability that these were the descendants of the mages who had fled after the Dark King’s rule, it was very likely that they were all strong.
They claimed to simply be a group of traders who came here to collect goods before going back down into Gelendan. But Hunter knew better. These were no traders. Even their clothing was like nothing you could get anywhere in Gelendan or Treymayne, and their accents proved that their speech had changed from years away from the dialect that either he or Natalya had grown up with.
And the way they referred to the others in their tribe made it clear, at least to Hunter, that this small encampment was not the central camp that they claimed it to be. Natalya, on the other hand, had embraced them whole-heartedly, not seeming to give any thought to the fact that it very well may have been these people who had taken the baby. They were in the right area and definitely possessed enough magic to have done so.
“Hunter?” Natalya’s voice broke through his wandering thoughts. “Have you heard a word I’ve said?”
“Sorry, what?”
“I was just telling you that I was asked to tell them the story of the Queen’s rise to power. I got to get up in front of the lot of them and perform it just like a bard would!” She paused in thought, “They seemed particularly interested in the part about Queen Layna having the Three in her head. This one old man kept asking me all sorts of questions about it. They also wanted to know about the mysterious woman who helped Layna and Gryffon and then disappeared, but there’s not much to tell.” She pouted slightly, then brightened. “Do you think they know something about her?”
“I don’t know,” Hunter muttered, and that was just the problem. They didn’t know anything about these people and Natalya kept telling them anything they asked. Why were they so interested indeed?
“Maybe they know where she is. Maybe she passed by here when she disappeared. No one’s ever seen her again, so it would make sense that it was because she was way up here.” Natalya had latched onto the subject.
He was just about to suggest to her that perhaps she not be quite so forthcoming with information when a whispered voice sounded from the shadows.
“Strangers,” it hailed them.
Hunter looked around and then cautiously made his way over to the darkened space between two buildings where the mysterious person had decided to hide. He leaned up against the building as if just choosing that spot for a rest and stared outwards.
“Yes?”
“We recently had another visitor who knows of this story.”
Hunter bristled. So the speaker had been eavesdropping. “Oh?”
“She carried what she calls the Bloodstone,” Hunter heard Natalya suck in her breath next to him, “and when it was discovered, the Elders threw her into prison. They took it from her and are planning to use it for some sort of spell. A spell that involves the child you are searching for.” Natalya nearly choked now, but quickly got hold of herself, covering the sound with a cough and crossing her arms tightly across her chest.
“Do you mean to say that these Elders have the child in their possession?”
“Yes.”
“Is she here?”
“Yes, but in the main part of the village, not down here.”
Hunter was confused a moment and then it clicked. His stare was drawn of its own accord into the canopy and he could just make out the bottoms of walkways, earlier dismissed as simply part of the trees. Natalya’s gaze followed his, and they both stood there gawking as the immensity of the village sunk in.
The voice spoke harshly, “Stop looking up!”
“Why are you telling us this?” Hunter asked.
“That’s none of your business,” the voice snapped.
“It is if you want us to believe you,” Hunter countered.
There was a short silence. “Fine. I like her and I believe that the Bloodstone should not be used. I also decided long ago that the beliefs of the Elders are not ones that I concur with. I don’t want to see the child hurt, nor used for an even greater destruction.”
“What is she being used for?” Hunter asked in alarm.
“I don’t know, but whatever it is isn’t good. The Elders have a long-standing grudge against the people of the Lost Lands.”
Natalya finally spoke, “The Lost Lands?”
“It’s what we call your countries, Gelendan and Treymayne.”
“Can we get to her?”
“The baby is locked away in a special chamber, warded by many mages’ magic. However, we have come up with a way to get you past them, if you are willing.”
“What about the woman?” Hunter inquired, “Can we get her out?”
The speaker paused. “We spoke about it,” he said and his tone indicated that the result had not been his first choice, “and decided that trying to get her out as well would be too risky. It would raise the alarm much sooner and make an escape almost impossible. You will only be able to rescue the child. I will find another way out for her. Will you help get the baby out?”
Hunter looked to Natalya who nodded vigorously. “Yes.”
“Good.” A gnarled hand of an old man extended out between the two of them carrying a small package. Hunter took it quickly and tucked it into his tunic. “These are charms which will disable the wards set to keep the child in the chamber and alert the mages to intruders. All you need to do is say the word ‘invoke’ when you are there and the spells will be ended. Think you can handle that?” he asked with more than a little sarcasm.
“I think we can handle it,” Hunter retorted. “How do we get to the chamber?”
“I will guide you. Meet me back here when the moon has risen to its full height in the sky.”
“Anything else?” Hunter prompted after the voice fell silent as a passerby strolled a little too near them.
“Your chambers will be guarded. Also in the package are several packets of herbs. These are sleeping potions. Slip them into the guards’ drinks and they will be out until morning. The moment you have the child you will need to leave, so bring any of your possessions you wish to keep with you.” The hand extended towards them again, this time bearing a necklace. It dangled from a long chain, ending in a large amulet of a dragon. “Take this and put it on the baby; it will help to camouflage its presence in the woods. If you are able to use a transport spell to get away quickly you would greatly benefit from it.”
“We can’t,” Hunter said and was interrupted as the man grumbled.
“That figures.”
“But we do have a contact as soon as we reach the border village who will perform one for us,” he continued.
“Great, so you only have to make it across the open Plains to get to safety.” The voice sighed and added softly, “This will never work.”
“I know a cave we can get to in the morning hours. As long as we don’t raise the alarm right away and can get to it, we can hide out there indefinitely until it is safe to continue on.”
The man grudgingly agreed. “Alright, meet me back here tonight.”
They heard a shuffling sound and the voice didn’t speak again. Hunter looked to Natalya who was looking back at him guiltily. “I just told the kidnappers everything about us,” she whispered, looking horrified.
“You didn’t know,” he shrugged, “And it can’t be helped now. Hopefully we’ll get her out of here before they can do anything with the information. But really, it’s not like anything you’ve said is a big secret. It is what the Queen has wanted to have broadcast across the country.”
Natalya didn’t look convinced, but she let it drop. “What do you think they’re doing wit
h the Princess? Do you think she’s okay?”
“I don’t know,” he answered darkly, “but whatever it is has at least one of them convinced that it shouldn’t be going on. But she’s alive and the sooner we get her back to her parents the better. They have much better resources to decide what’s been done to her.”
The rest of the evening passed slowly, and Hunter felt ever-present eyes on his back. Even when he couldn’t see the people, he knew they were being watched. Natalya’s personality had drastically changed since learning about the Princess, and Hunter could only hope that the tribe – as he now thought of them – hadn’t noticed and become suspicious. The tribe treated them to a delicious dinner of a meat they called ‘faelk’ which both he and Natalya ate cautiously. Though he did not trust these people in the least, it would be too suspicious not to eat at all.
He nudged Natalya when they brought out the tea, however, and both managed to pour most of the liquid out onto the ground when their hosts weren’t watching. Hunter felt unusually tired even after the small amount he had imbibed and was sure that it had been drugged.
He yawned dramatically and begged leave of their guests, with Natalya following suit, letting out a yawn of her own that looked extremely authentic. He hoped that she hadn’t drank too much of the stuff.
They had luckily been put in the same small hut, though with different rooms, which made it easier for them to speak privately. No doubt the tribe did this to make it easier for them to guard rather than out of consideration for their ‘guests’, but whatever the reason, it worked out for Hunter.
He motioned for Natalya to go about her normal bedtime procedure and they extinguished the lights in the small chamber. After a few minutes, Hunter quietly slipped from his bed and peeked out the window, taking stock of their situation. There were two guards he could see standing solemnly on either side of the only door in or out of the place. He didn’t see any signs of canteens or anything else they were drinking out of.
He tip-toed into Natalya’s room hoping she wasn’t actually asleep and made a small whistling sound.
“Psst!” Natalya’s voice came from the corner of the room.
Hunter glided over to her and whispered, “I don’t see anything that they’re drinking out of; I don’t know what that crazy man thought we were going to do.”
Natalya held up two water skins. “I swiped them on the way in. Figured they wouldn’t miss them for a few minutes and it would be easier to only have to sneak them out once.” She took out the package the voice had given them and opened up the two small folded up papers just enough to pour the powered substance inside into each of the water skins.
She shook them up gently and raised it to her nose, inhaling deeply.
“Well?” Hunter asked.
“I can’t smell anything,” she held it out to him, “You?”
He took it from her and took a whiff. It smelled like water. “Think it’s good. You want to put it back or shall I?”
“All yours,” Natalya waved a hand at the door with an impish grin.
He took both skins and walked over to the door. Natalya went to the window and looked out. After a few moments she frantically motioned for him to open the door. He did so as quickly and silently as he could, leaning the two skins up against the wall next to the door.
“Now we wait,” he commented.
“And hope they get thirsty before midnight,” she added.
They each made their way back to their respective beds, but Hunter did not allow himself to sleep. Someone needed to stay awake to make sure that they didn’t miss their rendezvous and he had told Natalya she should sleep.
When the moon was nearing its peak, he crept out of bed once more and slipped into Natalya’s room. He gently shook her awake, surprised that she had followed his suggestion and actually slept, and they gathered their things. It was now or never. He would have preferred leaving Natalya somewhere safe while he got the baby and then met back up with her later, but the safest thing for both of them would be fleeing as fast as possible as soon as they had the Princess.
He opened the door a crack and looked out. Luck was with them, and both guards sat slumped against the wall, out cold. He opened the door wider and waved Natalya out. They slunk through the edge of the village to the place where the voice had said to meet him.
When they arrived, there was no one there. Hunter made a circle around the area to make sure they weren’t just missing him, but there was still no one. He hoped that the mysterious speaker hadn’t misled them. They spent a few tense moments sitting in the shadows waiting for the elusive man, until he finally arrived.
“Quickly, this way,” he said with no preamble, hustling them along through the trees. They came to the base of a large tree and the man mumbled something inaudible, placing a hand on one of the many vines snaking around the massive trunk. He wrapped his fingers around the vine and pulled, pulling open a huge section of the tree with it. Hunter’s eyes widened in surprise. Inside was a staircase which the man motioned them onto.
Natalya stepped inside, bounding up the steps with youthful litheness. Hunter followed behind at a slower pace to match the man behind him. Their guide seemed stiff and uncoordinated and it took them almost a full minute longer to reach the top where Natalya stood, waiting impatiently.
The man opened the door at the top and peered around the deserted pathways. Once he determined it was clear, he slipped out with Hunter and Natalya at his heels. He led them through a maze of twisting vine paths, coming to a stop in front of a large round nodule protruding like a giant knot from the tree.
“She’s through here,” he pointed to the solid wall of the apparent chamber.
“That’s all well and good,” Hunter replied a bit harshly, “but how do we get in there?”
The man gave him with a withering look. “I said I’d get you in, sonny, and I will.” He waved a hand over the foliage and a glowing outline of a door appeared. He pressed his open hand against it and it made a soft clicking sound, swinging one side open as he released the pressure.
Hunter nodded to him, head tilted.
“You have the charm I gave you?”
Natalya held it up for him to see.
“Good,” he grunted, “this is where I have to leave you. Like I told you before, invoke the charm once you go through the door, and it should allow you to pass through the wards to be able to reach and take the child. Once you have her, come back out this door. Then, you’ll want to go down through the Third Circle and take a right at the healer’s chamber,” he stopped short, apparently seeing the lost look in both his and Natalya’s eyes. He grumbled and grabbed Hunter’s hand. “Here,” he said and Hunter watched in alarm as his palm started growing warm.
Tiny lines appeared and Hunter realized that it was a map of the sprawling city, drawn onto his hand in magic. A miniscule arrow appeared pointing to their left.
“Once you have her, follow the arrow. It will point you the quickest way out of the village. The charm should prevent anyone from magically knowing that the child is gone which will give you the head-start you need if you are to succeed. If someone sees you, you will have a hundred mages awake at once to keep you from getting to the ground. I suggest you don’t get caught.” The man glanced around them a final time and then made eye-contact with them both. “Good luck!”
With that, he was off, leaving Hunter and Natalya to the task of rescuing the Princess from a city of mages. Hunter took a deep breath and looked at Natalya.
She looked worried, and was watching after the man. She glanced back at Hunter. “That’s the old man who kept asking me about Layna talking to the Three…” she paused, “you don’t think this is a trap, do you?”
Hunter was glad to see her thinking more rationally about their situation, and had entertained a similar thought himself, but decided it was worth the risk. “He seems to have parted with way more information than I woul
d have expected if it were some sort of trap. And what would they be hoping to gain? Until he showed us up here, we thought the whole village was below, and had no idea they held the Princess.”
She nodded slowly. “I’m just worried, now that I gave so much away.”
He patted her on the arm. “No matter, we’re about to rescue the Princess. Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be,” she said, shrugging and holding out the charm in front of her.
Together, they stepped through the hidden doorway, closing it but not latching it behind them.
“Invoke,” Natalya whispered and the stone flared to life for a moment and dulled. “Did it work?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Hunter whispered back. “I guess we’ll find out.” He strolled forward, waiting to feel the tingle of a spell or the sounds of alarm, but there was only quiet. Quiet, and the sound of light breathing.
They inched forward, alert for the presence of others in the room, but all seemed well. A cradle sat in the middle of the room and as they neared, Hunter saw that it held a little baby girl.
“Is that her?” Natalya whispered.
Hunter laid a gentle finger on the babe’s cheek, turning her head slightly so he could see the birthmark on her temple. He nodded to Natalya and proceeded to swaddle the child in its blankets.
A light suddenly flicked on and Hunter looked into Natalya’s horrified face. She was staring at the door – which was inching open – with a shocked expression, her feet seemingly glued to the floor. Hunter dropped the blanket and grabbed her wrist, hauling her forcibly with him as he dove over a dresser near the cradle. They landed in a heap on the other side, just as the door to the nursery swung fully open.
A woman stepped through the doorway and marched over to the baby’s crib.
“Tsk tsk,” she scolded the baby, “you’ve gotten yourself all tangled up again haven’t you.” She reached in to unfold the blanket from around her tiny body.
Just then, Natalya’s foot caught on the edge of the dresser as she attempted to shift out of the uncomfortable position they had landed in, and it scraped the tiniest bit against the floor. It wasn’t much, but the woman heard it.
“Who’s there?” she called, her head whipping up. She peered around the room, searching for the source. Luckily, the spherical nature made the noise bounce and echo off the walls, making it difficult for her to pin down exactly where it had come from. She circled around the room purposefully.
Hunter held his breath as her feet appeared in front of the dresser, not daring to move his head to look up to see if she was staring down at them over the top. The feet moved closer as if to do exactly this when suddenly the baby let out a piercing wail and her attention was drawn to it.
She picked the baby up out of the crib and bounced her up and down to soothe her. As she did so, she kicked something on the ground. Hunter watched her bend down and pick it up, praying to the Three that she wouldn’t glance this way while she was down there.
She retrieved the toy from where it had fallen and held it in front of the baby, who stopped crying to examine it with interest.
“Is that all it was?” the woman said in a baby voice, “I kicked your little toy? There now.” She gently laid the Princess back down in the cradle and moved off, the light extinguishing at her exit.
Hunter let out the breath he was holding, and Natalya moved underneath him.
“You made my foot fall asleep sitting on it like that,” she accused, rubbing the offending leg with a look of pain as the sharp tingles of blood rushed back into the limb.
“Sorry,” he apologized, making his way back to the baby and quickly enveloping her in the folds of blanket once more. He readied himself for another dive should the little girl resume her bawling, but she just watched him with giant deep blue eyes as though she knew she should keep quiet.
Once he had the baby, they made their exit as fast as they could, following the enchanted map drawn onto his hand. Twice they had to backtrack and go around where a guard was patrolling the area, but they made it safely to the ground with no problems. Once they had a moment to pause, Hunter put the amulet that the man had given them over the baby’s head, and handed her to Natalya so that he would be free to draw his sword if the need arose.
The trek through the forest at night was harrowing. The sounds of the nocturnal creatures were foreign to his ears, and they made the hair on the back of his neck stand up, but none accosted them. They made it successfully back to the cave where they had camped not long ago, and Hunter breathed a sigh of relief. The chokeroot around the cave should help mask their presence, along with the necklace around the child’s neck. Hopefully, since the village was full of people able to use magic to track things, they would not be used to following a physical trail. In their rush, and in the dark, it had been difficult to mask their path. But since the tribe had no way of knowing that they were undetectable by magic, it should be the only method they would use to try and find them.
Or at least, so Hunter hoped.
Natalya was busy creating a nest of clothes for the baby and she set her down in it, touching her on the nose softly. “Everything’s going to be alright now,” she told the child, “We’ll bring you home.”
The baby yawned, stretching its tiny mouth out, and blinked a few times before settling in to sleep. She looked peaceful and healthy.
“She looks alright,” Hunter commented, not sure how they would tell if they had done something magical to her.
Natalya nodded vigorously, and then looked up at him proudly. “We just rescued the Princess!”