Anilyia (30 page)

Liselle and Vevin ran much faster than the
princess who was still wearing an eloquent dress and slippers made
for looking pretty, not exercise. In a moment, they had caught up
with the others. Tathan and Sir Danth were pacing the princess,
though neither looked happy about the lack of speed.

Throughout the hallways they had traveled up
to that point, there were doors interspersed at odd intervals on
either side. No one had come out of them until the two, robed meju
who exited from one on the right just a few feet ahead of them.
They were startled by the sight of humans rushing headlong. The
companions and the princess stopped in their tracks with the
exception of Tathan, who leapt into the air and hit one in the
face. That Rojuun fell to the ground, unconscious with blood
flowing from a broken nose.

Sir Danth, who had been ready to pull his
sword, saw Tathan’s action and decided to follow the example. He
slugged the other Rojuun in the face. Sir Danth’s supernatural
strength backfired again. The force of the blow was such that the
Rojuun’s face shattered under the impact and his neck was snapped.
The body fell to the ground, dead and twitching.

The princess screamed and fainted. Liselle
felt sick to her stomach at the sight. Sir Danth’s attempts to
avoid killing people simply weren’t going well. Another Rojuun came
out of the doorway with knives in his hands. He attempted to attack
Sir Danth, only to find the knight’s sword sliding through his
chest. Liselle hadn’t even seen the sword drawn before it pierced
the meju. Sir Danth slid the sword out with his left hand while
pushing against the meju’s chest for leverage with his right.
Another body fell to the floor.

More Rojuun appeared in the vicinity.
Liselle did a quick count and figured there were about twenty
coming out of nearby doors. She wondered what would be the best
spell. Before she could decide, Vevin roared at full, deafening
volume. Dragon fear sent all of the Rojuun back into their
respective doors, the sounds of panicked slamming rang through the
hall.

Sir Danth put his sword away. It was already
clean, one of the enchantments upon it. “I believe I will carry the
princess, Master Tathan,” he stated, reaching down and picking her
up. “It will not tire me and I feel it best if you subdue the
Rojuun as my attempts seem a bit too severe.”

Tathan nodded as Sir Danth settled the
princess into his arms. They continued down the hallway at a jog.
None of the doors opened again. Liselle was beginning to tire from
running. Vevin and Sir Danth didn’t appear to be phased at all. She
looked at Tathan and saw that he was moving easily so she pushed
on.

Then they ran into a new cave. This one was
very large and filled with armed Rojuun warriors waiting for
them.

If Tathan had been alone against the hundred
or so warriors in front of them, he would have instantly
surrendered and bided his time for escape. However, his companions
were capable of handling these numbers. He just didn’t know which
one would act first, so he stepped to the side and waited.

The hairs stood on the back of his neck once
more as Vevin roared. This time the sound came from a real dragon.
Liselle had seen Vevin in natural form before, but he and Sir Danth
had not. Tathan glanced to see the knight’s jaw hanging open as he
stared. He did a double take and realized that it was another of
the knight’s illusions, which really unnerved Tathan sometimes.

The magnificent dragon danced toward the
running and screaming Rojuun. It was a side-to-side hopping dance;
two steps to the left, two to the right, shoulders shifting up and
down and neck swaying side to side. Dust and pebbles fell from the
ceiling and the remnants of the roar echoed back and forth in the
cave. Tathan chuckled in amazement and shook his head. Vevin was
the size of the White Tree Inn back in Puujan. Size and the fact
that both had wings were the only similarities though. Purple
scales glistened brilliantly in the soft glow of the lights hanging
on the walls of the cave and his liquid silver eyes swirled in
enjoyment at having a new game to play.

Vevin had spoken to Liselle while they were
all eating dinner in their suite the night before. He had offered
not to kill or eat any Rojuun if it would upset her. She asked him
not to eat any while in human form, but if he should find a
situation where being a dragon was appropriate then it wouldn’t
bother her if he chomped on a few . . . at least it wouldn’t bother
her much. She understood that her lover was a carnivore with
natural instincts to eat meaty things.

Rojuun normally seemed very brave, but
things changed when Vevin roared. The first time, in the hall,
Vevin had used dragon fear to scare them. This time felt different
though. The bone shivering sensation hadn’t been there. Now many
Rojuun were running simply because a large, sharp-toothed dragon
was dancing in their direction with the obvious intent to eat them.
Others froze.

Three Rojuun charged blindly with their
knives raised while four others threw their blades. The knives that
were thrown bounced harmlessly off of Vevin’s scales. The three
charging Rojuun froze in mid run and fell to the ground face first.
Liselle had tossed spells more rapidly than any casting Tathan had
ever seen. His cousin was getting more powerful and efficient with
every passing day.

Vevin chomped the first Rojuun he reached,
tossing it into the air playfully before catching and chewing
thoughtfully, deciding whether or not it tasted good. Crunching
sounds filled the cave as teeth pierced flesh and cracked bones
loudly. Three Rojuun who hadn’t moved fainted at the sight. Tathan
felt a bit sick to his stomach. He looked at Liselle to gauge her
reaction. She looked back at him with wide eyes and a weak smile.
He thought it brave of her, braver than he would be if he had a
lover that liked to munch on people.

One brave Rojuun waved his knives feebly at
the dragon, not really attacking. Vevin paused in his chewing for a
moment before spitting out the half-gnawed body of the previous
victim. It hit the wall with a sickening thud before collapsing in
a broken pile of bones and guts. Then Vevin bit the new one in
half, and began chewing thoughtfully on the upper part while the
bottom part fell to the ground.

Liselle dashed into Tathan’s arms, burying
her face in his shoulder while he stared at the scene. They heard a
scream and saw that the princess had regained consciousness and was
watching the dragon in terror. The scream didn’t last long as she
fainted again rather quickly. Sir Danth merely stood there watching
in amazement.

To know that dragons were the most powerful
creatures in the world was one thing. To see one in action was
another thing entirely. Vevin wasn’t even doing much, just chomping
on a couple of unfortunate Rojuun, but to see his power and deadly
beauty and to watch their foes react in terror was an experience
that would mark them forever. Tathan and Sir Danth weren’t even
threatened by any the formidable Rojuun warriors as none considered
them a threat.

Vevin spit out the mangled remains of the
one in his mouth, causing it to slam against the wall and land atop
the other. Then he licked clean the blood and gore from his mouth
with his long, forked tongue. His body swayed in a slow . . .
Tathan couldn’t figure out a name for it . . . dance, moving from
side to side in what appeared to be contentment.

“Well, they don’t taste bad, but I think
I’ll stick to elk and other animals,” Vevin said with a nod, his
booming voice shaking loose some rock dust from the ceiling. “Don’t
worry dearest, I won’t have a third,” he reassured Liselle who
nodded and smiled wanly. Vevin’s voice sounded normal, but larger
than when he was in human form. It filled the cave and surrounded
them. He didn’t move his jaw or speak with his mouth, instead using
some form of magic to create the words.

Vevin looked around the cave. Only a few
unconscious Rojuun remained, the rest having run down various
passages. “Well, that was a fairly easy battle. I know we’re
supposed to kill as little as possible, but I was hoping to play
with them a little bit.” The dance became a disappointed shuffle.
Suddenly, he was in human form once more, still shuffling. There
was no gradual transformation. One moment he was a dragon, the next
he wasn’t. To Tathan’s amusement, Vevin made a ‘poof’ sound when he
transformed. The dragon-man grinned at them and said, “Poof”,
causing them to burst into laughter.

The laughter didn’t last long as they
scanned the dozen or so new passages. After a moment, the others
turned to Tathan for his decision. He didn’t mind that they were
looking to him for direction so much as the fact that they kept
doing everything in unison. He pointed to a tunnel that was just to
the left of the most northern facing one. Then he led the others
down it at a brisk walk. A strong breeze brought cooler air down
the new passage, which Tathan was thankful for after running for so
long.

There was no telling how long it was going
to take to reach the sky above or even if they would. He was
completely guessing as to which direction to take and it wasn’t
like they could just grab someone and say, “Hey, which way is up?”
or something like that. Tathan didn’t understand why his companions
followed him, considering how powerful and extraordinary each of
them was. Why didn’t Vevin take the lead, or Sir Danth? They were
both vastly intelligent and good at making decisions. He valued
their opinion more than he ever had valued anyone’s.

A Rojuun woman came out of another door just
in front of them and gasped. Tathan leapt and slugged her in the
face too, knocking her unconscious. He ignored Liselle’s gasp. Male
or female, all Rojuun were dangerous at the moment.

He glanced at the princess in Sir Danth’s
arms. She was beautiful, one of the most beautiful women he had
ever seen. Her platinum hair was astonishing, appearing almost
metallic. Tathan had only seen one other person with that color
hair, a man who was also from the Kingdom of Mayncal. It was a rare
type only a few people from Mayncal had, usually indicating someone
who was blessed or touched by the gods. Her face was perfect in
every way, with smooth skin and perfect eyebrows. Tathan liked
eyebrows. They were like little roofs for the eyes. It was an odd
way of looking at it and he had only told a few people, all but one
of whom had laughed. The princess’s were as platinum as her hair,
which fascinated him. He wanted to stare at them all day, but had
an escape to make.

They reached a small cave with two new
passages. A few scattered plants were showing up in the tunnels
again, showing that these were rural caves. One meju and two feju
warriors who had run from the previous cave stood in front of the
passage on the left. Tathan’s sword was in his hand and aimed at
them in an instant. They all had their long knives out and were in
defensive crouches. Upon seeing the party, the meju and one of the
feju ran fearfully down the passage behind them.

The remaining feju glanced over her shoulder
with shock. She looked back at the party then turned to run after
her friends, only to freeze mid-stride. Tathan shifted to the left
to flank her, wondering why she had just stopped like that with one
leg in the air.

Then he saw Liselle concentrating on the
Rojuun. She must have cast a spell of holding to prevent the feju
from escaping. Tathan wondered why and raised an eyebrow in silent
query.

“Perhaps she’ll know the best way out,”
Liselle explained, walking over to stand in front of the feju
warrior. “What is the fastest way to the surface?” Liselle
asked.

It was a good idea, though Tathan was
debating whether or not to kill the Rojuun for knowing their plans.
He also didn’t trust that she would tell the companions the truth.
Liselle’s eyes narrowed at the warrior. She was becoming upset.
Tathan could tell, because the blue ghost flames were beginning to
light the back of her pupils.

“Dearest, your spell is holding her mouth
along with the rest of her,” Vevin pointed out politely.

The flames disappeared instantly and she
blushed. “Oh . . . How do I release just her mouth?”

Vevin shrugged. “I don’t know. Normally, I
don’t have conversations with my food so I’ve never tried it.”

“Hmm . . . alright, let’s try this.” She
stood closely to the Rojuun and stared into her dusky yellow eyes.
“We are going to ask you some questions. If you answer them to our
satisfaction, we’ll let you go. If not, then my friends will
probably feel it necessary to kill you.”

She had just made Tathan’s decision for him.
He wouldn’t kill the feju if Liselle made a promise like that.
Liselle took a few steps back. Before she could remove the spell,
Tathan suggested, “Let’s get the knives out of her hands first.”
Liselle blushed again and moved forward to take away the knives.
Tathan helped and in a moment, they had pried the knives out and
tossed them into a glowing, bush-like plant near the wall of the
cave.

Liselle dissipated the spell with a breath
and a gesture while Tathan held the tip of his sword next to the
feju’s face. Its darkness pulled in the light around it. He noticed
that Liselle tried to stay as far away as possible whenever he had
it drawn.

The Rojuun staggered forward as the spell
released her. Liselle jumped back while Tathan repositioned the
sword to adjust for the movement. The feju stared at it in fear and
remained still. Liselle asked again, “What is the fastest way to
the surface?”

The Rojuun warrior responded by wetting
herself. Tathan could see a large stain appear in her leggings and
tears begin to flow down her cheeks. He thought the teardrops from
inverted teardrop shaped eyes to be rather poetic, sort of like a
mirror image. A prisoner too terrified to speak was not poetic
however. Liselle looked at him for help.