Evermore: The Rylakian Heir

  “Yes, you are right.” Snow agreed. “But I think they’re more on the Rylakian side, but I have only made the journey across the border the one time, and I was so terrified and dehydrated, that I can’t be sure of anything. Did the Oracle say she had left Lonstas yet?”

  “But what if it isn’t smoke? What if you just assume it is enchantment smoke, but it’s actually a clue?” Cindy piped again.

  “What else could it be?” Snapped Magella. “Manuel saw it in the vision. A clue.” She snorted. She was incredibly uncomfortable sitting in on this little session, but hadn’t seen any way around it. Mercury had basically strong armed her in to attending, no one argued a young werewolf. And then there was Manuel...it was never wise to say no to him either.

  “The Oracle said she was still in Lonstas, but not for long.” Manuel said wearily, typically he would be asleep during the day. The very fact that the sun shone high in the sky weakened and exhausted him. “What are you blathering about little nuisance?” His expression far kinder than his words, as he eyed Cindy from over his steeple hands.

  “I was thinking, fanger pal, what if it’s mist? You know, like waterfall mist, or mist from the sea?” Cindy asked. “That would be a clue to her whereabouts, and narrow down the possible cave locations. I mean the Oracle allowed you to see it, and clearly she was trying to give you everything she could. She wouldn’t show you the same information twice.”

  “He.” Manuel said quietly.

  “What?” Both Mercury and Magella exclaimed as they both their heads swung around to face Manuel.

  “The Great Oracle is a man. Like none that I have ever met before.” The Vampire said with a shake of his glossy dark hair. “He is quite brilliant, although perhaps quite mad as well. Regardless, I do not doubt the truth in his vision” He indicated the beaming Cindy. “She could be right. Caves close to both sea and swamp. Let us consider those.”

  “The Northern Seaboard.” The prince announced, snapping his fingers. “It’s mainly uncharted territory; the mountains range follows the border than veers off towards the sea. The land just south of the mountain is undesirable, mucky and I suppose swampy so it’s never been developed. The mountainous region is basically uninhabited, maybe a few...crones and imps and...that’s where she is!” He snapped his fingers again. “Cindy you are brilliant! I’ll send my soldiers there immediately; we can have her out by nightfall.”

  “It’s not that easy your Highness. I truly wish it were. If the goblins and trolls realise that they are up against the Royal Lonstasian Army, they will run, but they will bring the girl with them and they are far, far more familiar with the terrain then any of us.” Manuel explained. “If they are answering to the crone, the Dark Rylakian Soldiers, or even Rosalyn of Rylak herself, they will not risk losing her in a fair fight. Stealth is our only option I fear.”

  Leo nodded slowly waiting for the vampire to outline a more acceptable plan.

  “I will leave as soon as the sun sets.” Manuel stated.

  Mercury turned to the prince. “If I leave immediately I can arrive just a little bit earlier to scout the area. May I borrow a horse?” The prince gave him a questioning look. “You have no idea how fast a vampire can run if they want.”

  “Of course, but I’m going with you.” The prince answered decisively. “We can cover more territory that way and Manuel can track us from smell.”

  Mercury and Manuel exchanged a look. Neither was used to working or fighting alongside Royalty; they had never had much to do with Royals or the Aristocracy for that matter and what’s more...they liked it that way. They had no desire to start now; besides, endangering the incredibly popular crown Prince could only set equality talks back decades. They had come too far to take such an unacceptable risk.

  “I’m not sure that is a good idea. We were thinking maybe you could stay here and watch over the girls.” Mercury haltingly said.

  “Is it my sword arm or my courage that you doubt?” Leo fastened his crystal blue eyes on the uncomfortable wolf.

  Cindy and Snow held their breath; watching the exchange with wide eyes.

  “Neither, your Highness.” The wolf looked to Manuel for assistance, he desperately wanted out of this conversation, but the impassive vampire looked on silently, unable or unwilling to help.

  “Good. Because I can assure you that neither could be found lacking.” The prince said in a quiet level tone.

  “It’s not that, it’s just that it’s going to be really dangerous and...” Mercury trailed off helplessly. In no way did he want to undermine the young prince’s courage and risk offending his country’s Crown Prince but he was equally passionate about keeping him safe. He was terribly uncomfortable with the situation.

  “You think as a celebrity I pose for pictures with my sword, win rigged jousting tournaments, and powder my nose for the close ups; falling back in exhaustion from the exertion of looking so good all of the time?”

  “No...somebody? Anybody? I’m drowning here.” Mercury was miserable.

  “But you do! Look good I mean. In the pictures!” Cindy tried to lighten the mood; Snow shook her head and looked away.

  “I think what the boys are trying to communicate, albeit failing dismally, is that although your courage and sword arm would be welcome, the risk of losing any one of you is great. And the loss of any of my friends is almost more than I can bear, but the loss of the Crown Prince is more than the kingdom can bear. To lose the Crown Prince in a quest such as this would do much to destabilise relations between races and plunge the country into despair and possibly civil war.” Snow explained.

  The silence that followed her short speech was memorial.

  “Well said little princess.” Manuel spoke quietly.

  “I understand what you are saying. And I appreciate your concern, but as your Crown Prince I am morally obligated to see to the welfare of my subjects. I could no more sit this out then Manuel could.” Leo objected. “What kind of a king will I become if I run from the first hint of danger? And the fact that I volunteered to fight alongside both werewolves and vampires would also speak volumes to the populace.”

  Although that did silence most of the objections; Snow couldn’t help feeling uneasy. This was the Crown Prince of the most powerful land on this continent. It was one thing to imagine him in battle, and swoon over his imagined heroics. Quite another to actually send him off to a battle without a predetermined, fantastical outcome. She didn’t need imagined heroics to swoon; his insistence upon joining the quest was heroic enough.

  He reached over and took her pale hand in his.

  “Princess Snow. As one Royal to another, I promise that I will not take any unnecessary risks, and that I will return in much the same condition as I set out.”

  She sighed, but there was really nothing she could do; she did not rule here. “Okay Charming, but I’m holding you to it. Don’t disappoint me.” She responded gravely.

  He flashed her one of his most devastating smiles, the kind that graced half of the teenage girl’s walls in the kingdom and stood up; gesturing for Mercury to join him.

  “Excuse me. You’re actually going to get up and go? Just like that?” All eyes swung towards the sleek purple elf. Mercury and Leo slowly nodded.

  “How like a man that is.” The elf exasperated. “With no plan, no intel, just brute force, and not much of that either. You don’t even know where you are going! With the exception of Manuel, who apparently saw this cave in a mad man’s vision, the rest of you are just blindly leaping in to trouble. Men. Need I remind you he said ‘Trolls’?” She indicated the lovely vampire with one hand.

  “Do you have a better plan?” Mercury asked, in barely disguised annoyance. Running his hands through his shaggy brown hair, he didn’t want to argue with the elf, but he was desperately anxious to leap in to action. The beast within him smelled adventure...and it craved the action.

  “Do I have a better plan? Of course I have a better plan! Are you prepared to listen to me or am
I wasting my breath?”

  All eyes swung towards the dark and silent vampire.

  “She is the most accomplished thief I have ever come across, able to slip in and out of previously impossible locations. A troublemaking and undisciplined nuisance, but an accomplished thief none the less with uncanny survival skills.” Manuel casually said, clearly believing he had complimented her.

  Realising that for the first time, she might just have the upper hand here, Magella decided to strike a deal. “If I help you on this quest, are we even? Will I be free to go on as I choose?”

  “Magella dear, aside from...persuading you to clean up some of your more disastrous messes, you have always been free. Honestly, you’re almost as thick as a human. And you create nearly as much work for me as well.” Manuel employed his most long suffering sigh.

  Magella had no idea how to take that, but she decided not to push it. Manuel appeared to be on his best behaviour, but that, as she well knew, could change on a dime. She turned to Snow instead.

  “Your uncles work in the mines, is that correct?” She asked, narrowing her eyes as she rapidly made her plan. Snow nodded and she continued. “We are going to need their expertise with mines and cave formations, especially anything they know that’s region specific. Here, I will make a list of the items I require.”

  ~~*~~

  The boys left the cottage to arrange for some very fast horses, apparently hitting it off superbly; a fact that surprised both of them. Never before had Leo ever had the opportunity to watch a wolf in action. Certainly he had never had wolf friends; this was the first time in Lonstasian history that a wolf and a man would go off on a mission as equals.

  The “uncles” had been extremely helpful in providing general maps of the area, and after Mercury and Leo had made it clear that Cindy and Snow were not coming along, Uncle Doc gave the boys his blessing and set about clearing a room of sorts for Rapunzel. When rescued, she would need a home, and Uncle Doc was more than willing to provide one. “The poor child” he kept clucking under his breath as he happily set about his task.

  Magella had rubbed both boys down with a strange powder made from various roots and plants that the uncles had brought to her; she believed that it would mask the boys smell just enough for the enemy to overlook them, but not enough to lose Manuel. She also gave them a ridiculous paste that smelled overwhelmingly of cold medication that she maintained would help against the goblin stench.

  The elf then stayed back to pack her own bag, but Snow had the sneaking impression that the sleek, purple elf didn’t want to go anywhere near the palace. So she filed that observation away for the mean time. Manuel had retired to the closet with a dire warning that anyone who interrupted him would be subject to swift and blinding violence. He didn’t specify exactly what sort of violence and no one had wanted to ask. Snow thought he was just sleeping, and she doubted that he would really hurt any of them...but she didn’t feel the need to test her theory.

  “What can Cindy and I do to help. It’s not fair...” Snow stopped as she realised that she sounded like a petulant brat. “It doesn’t feel right, with the four of you taking all of the risk, and me just sitting back here making cookies.”

  “We’re making cookies?” Cindy asked in happy surprise.

  “No. That was just for example.”

  Cindy looked somewhat deflated, she really did love cookies; Magella just looked bored as she rechecked her bag.

  “What would you like to do? Can you fight?” She asked from over her shoulder.

  “No.” Snow admitted. “There has to be something else I can do?”

  “You could speak with this ‘Baba Yaga’, I’ve heard about the Crones of Turin; it’s unlikely that she would eat you.” Magella replied indifferently.

  “Now you’re just trying to scare us.” Cindy said with a shake of her curls. “It’s bad enough you all won’t let us come, you don’t need to tease us too. Baba Yaga’s just a wino.”

  “Yeah, Baba Yaga may have a somewhat unhealthy relationship with cheap wine, and she definitely cheats at bingo, but she would never eat anyone. What would make you think such a thing?” Snow laughed.

  “Have you ever met a real crone?” Magella asked.

  “No. Just Turin style crones, unless you count the Mother...yuck.” Cindy replied with a face.

  “You wouldn’t believe the crone/witch half breed I came across in the Sarrilian outback. She was building a house of candy. Magella shrugged.

  “Of what?” Snow repeated.

  “Candy.” Magella confirmed with another shrug.

  “She must have had some sweet tooth.” Cindy chuckled “I should have thought of something like that!” She imagined a house made of her favourite candies, complete with a chocolate roof. It actually sounded pretty good.

  “I guess so. But I’m not sure it was for candy.” Magella absently commented as she tightened the laces on her sturdy boots.

  “What do you mean? What else could it be for? She built the house of Candy right?” Cindy asked, not quite understanding what the elf meant.

  “Bait.”

  “What?” Snow asked in confusion. “Did you say bait?”

  “Um hmm.”

  “Bait for what?” Cindy asked in an unsteady voice.

  Magella looked up sharply. “Well I certainly didn’t stick around long enough to ask. Yeesh. I saw the candy, many small beings love candy. I didn’t need to know anything else, I left. Quickly.”

  Cindy gave Snowy her best “I am so repulsed” look. Snow grimaced back.

  Magella, contented that her bag was in order, strode out of the cottage and mounted her horse. The three of them rode off as Snow and Cindy looked on.

  ~~*~~

  Mercury knew they had the right cave even before they saw it. It was the stench of goblin that alerted him, that unwashed and partially decaying scent that enveloped them so completely. Goblins admittedly didn’t wash, not unless tossed in to a body of water that is, however the rotting stench was largely due to their nasty habit of wearing their “snacks” on their personage...sometimes for days. And since these unsavoury creatures were for the main part carnivores, their “snacks” tended to spoil quite quickly in the afternoon sun. Mercury’s werewolf nose never failed him, although there were times, such as this that he really wished it wasn’t quite so delicate. Wrinkling his nose in distaste he dismounted and waved his friends over.

  “This is it, right around that corner.” He gestured to his left, towards the uneven rocky hills bordering the sea.

  “How can you be sure?” Leo asked as he dismounted next to the wolf.

  “The stench, those things stink like something crawled up inside of them and died.” Mercury responded.

  “Which is basically the truth.” Magella added as she joined them. “Can’t you smell it?”

  Leo sniffed the air carefully. “I think I smell something, but truthfully it’s really faint.” He finally said with a small shake of his head.

  “That’s a blessing trust me, a blessing.” Mercury affirmed, clapping the prince on the back with his strong arm as Magella wiped some of the smelling cream under their noses.

  Leo gave him a small half smile in return, accepting the friendly wolf’s word for it. After undoing the horses bridles, Leo gave them all a carrot and left them to graze on whatever they could. From here they would travel by foot. Goblins loved horse.

  ~~*~~

  Gazing between the gnarled, mossy branches of the gigantic and sinister looking tree, Mercury took his first glance at the cave. There was no telling from their vantage point exactly how large the cave was, but the mouth appeared to be quite tall, and very dark. The mountain rose above it and seemed to extend right to the sea with dark mossy patches visible from all angles. Mist circled around the entrance adding to the already ominous appearance of the area. It was the perfect place to conceal a damsel in distress; it just reeked of dark secrets.

  Six tall, knobby kneed goblins surrounded the mouth of
the cave. Dark, greasy hair hung lankly back from sloped foreheads; lash-less, dark orange eyes darted back and forth as they scanned the foliage before them, thankfully not alerted by scent. Their prominent noses were almost as well developed as Mercury’s, which never ceased to amaze people when you consider the stench that enveloped them.

  Ill fitting clothes, most likely stolen from some unlucky traveler covered the goblin’s greenish skinned limbs and “snack necklaces” worn around their neck produced a significant percentage of the rancid smell that perfumed the area. Although seemingly gangly, goblin’s were fierce and ferocious fighters and their habit of dining on their opponents made combat with them far less than desirable; which was one habit they shared with the trolls, but neither species spent more time than needed with each other.

  Magella and Leo joined him, silently watching the cave as well. Clearly this wasn’t going to be any fun, that much was glaringly apparent. First they would have to get past the goblins and trolls to enter the cave, find Rapunzel wherever she was in the maze of caverns, then somehow safely remove her from the cave without the trolls and goblins giving chase.

  If only it was as easy as it sounded.

  “But where are the trolls?” Mercury asked as he scanned the entrance to the cave. Trolls, easily eight to ten feet tall were built like sumo wrestlers. with light grey skin more than twice as thick. There was no way to overlook these huge, highly aggressive characters.

  “Like vampires, trolls can’t abide the sun. But whereas vampires burn, trolls turn to stone.” Magella whispered.

  “Really?” Leo whispered back. He had known they hid themselves during the daylight hours but had never been completely sure as to why.

  “Yup. I’m not sure exactly why, but they do. An elvish healer from Sarrilia has hypothesized that it has something to do with sunlight speeding the calcification of their bones but... It’s really hard to trick them in to going out during the day, big and stupid they are...just not that stupid.” She said wistfully. She really hated dealing with trolls, most people did.

  “How would you like to approach?” Leo asked as he unsheathed his sword; carefully scrutinizing the goblins.