kind of glow that lingers in the fire after the family has gone to sleep; the fire glow that watches over the evening and makes sure the morning safely returns to the household. Lilliana murmured softly and turned on her side to get comfortable. Why was her bed so hard anyway? Perhaps if she reached out a little further she could just reach her pillow. Lilliana put out her hand and felt the rough surface of rock. She flattened the palm of her hand out and reached as far as she could, and all she could feel was rock. The prison. The cave. The shark. All the memories came flooding back with a force and Lilliana sat up straight.
Her eyes flew open and her heart raced as she remembered the danger and the betrayals. She was alone and in total darkness. Lilliana looked around at her cell. It wasn’t total darkness though. There was a soft, warm light that filled the cave and for the first time she saw where she was kept.
The walls around her formed a hole in the rock cliff that was just big enough for her to stand in or to lie down in. One entire wall was the large opening she came through, and it was covered by a large rock. On another wall was a window, the one that Lilliana had found in the dark. There were three thick bars on the window that went from top to bottom, leaving four openings that were wide enough for her arms, but too narrow for her head to go through. The window was just below her waist height and went up to the top of the cell.
Lilliana went to the window first. The water that flowed in was hot and sulfurous. This must be above one of the volcano vents. Lilliana knew that those bubbles she had seen must have been bubbles of boiling water. They looked like fresh cool air, but in reality they were dangerously hot, vaporized water. She needed to always avoid the bubbles. The sulfur smell was a little stronger here too, and Lilliana never wanted to see an egg again.
She placed her hands on the bars to test them. They were cooler to the touch than the water and they were smooth. They looked like a sort of bone, but they were so straight and white. What kind of animal had such a long straight bone? Lilliana pulled her hands back. The sharks were worse creatures than she thought if they made their prisons out of bone. These animals must have been tortured horribly.
She had to see how strong they were. Perhaps she could swim out this way, if she could avoid the bubbles. Lilliana put her hands on the bars again and pushed. Nothing. She grabbed hold and shook them with all her might. The bars wiggled a little in their sockets, but nothing to indicate they were loose. Lilliana stepped back and fell on the bars with all of her weight. Still nothing. She stood to one side and smacked one of the bars with side of her hand like she had seen her father’s rangers do in hand-to-hand combat. This time there was a loud crack. Lilliana clutched her broken finger to her chest. Well, at least now she had something: a broken finger.
Still holding her hand, Lilliana walked a step to the door. She knew from the sound of the rock going into place that the door was massive and immovable, but she had to try. Lilliana pushed against the block with all of her might and with both hands. She might as well have been trying to push down the ground or push up the sky. Still, there had to be a way. Lilliana looked round the sides of the rock. It was set into some sort of groove along the bottom and looked like it could only be lifted from the top on the outside.
Frustrated Lilliana sat down hard and shadows bounced along the wall. What was that light anyway? Where did it come from? Lilliana lifted her hand and could see a faint shadow along the wall. Had a glow worm come along with her? She stood up and looked around her body for the light. There was nothing sticking to her clothes, but the glow seemed to be emanating from her right pocket. Glow worms. It must be glow worms.
Lilliana tentatively reached into her pocket. She didn’t want to squash or harm the tender creature. As her fingers slid over the fabric of her pocket they came to something small and hard. Lilliana put her finger and thumb around it and the light in the room grew dark. She pulled out her hand and there lying in her palm was the crystal. It was the crystal from her dream about the Morning Star.
The crystal was real enough though and it was giving out a lot of light. Perhaps the dream was real too. Lilliana closed her eyes and tried to remember. She remembered flowers and cool mountain air, and she remembered a bright light that seemed like it should have burned her, but it surrounded her and… and… it loved her.
The Morning Star had spoken to her. He had said that she was special, that she was chosen, and he had said that she would never be alone. Lilliana felt another wave then, but this was a good one. Instead of fear and darkness she felt light and hope. Lilliana felt the blanket of the Star’s love wrapped around her from head to toe and she knew in that moment that everything would be fine.
There was a peace in her heart that had nothing to do with where she was, or even with who she was. This peace was like the knowledge of the Prophet, and now she understood. The Morning Star would hold her in His hand in just the way that she held this crystal in hers. The future had many events that were completely unknown, but now Lilliana knew that no matter what came, the Morning Star would take care of her. She would survive this pit and she would escape. Even if she didn’t and she had to marry that rotten-fish-breathed maniac, somehow she would still manage. She would still have peace in her heart and she would still serve the Morning Star until she had no breath, or life left in her.
Lilliana lifted the crystal up and hugged it to her chest. This little piece of light made her feel so good and confident. Maybe the prophecy was about her, and she could be the one to make a difference. With this tiny star in her hand as a reminder, Lilliana felt strong. She sat down and began to make plans.
First she decided to take a hard look at her situation. She was not alone. Morning Star guide me in your quiet ways. Perhaps He could make a way for her.
Second, she was not strong enough to push out the rock or the bars in the window. Strength was not going to help here, so she had to rely on her brains, and the Star.
Third, once she got out she would have to swim past the guards, and sharks swim faster than people, even people with gills. If only she could have had fins and a strong tail along with her gills. She stretched out her feet and looked at her toes. At least they weren't poisonous, and they did mark her as a human, instead of a mermaid. Mermaids had ten digits, while she had twenty. Lilliana’s tutor had always said that humans and elves were the only creatures with opposable thumbs, but now she would have to correct him. Mermaids had hands, fingers and thumbs too.
Lilliana stroked her broken little finger. Maybe she could do something with her fingers. The shark’s cell was certainly tight enough to keep in a fish of her size, but she was no ordinary fish. Lilliana’s blood went faster and her gills fanned the sulfurous water. She pushed up off the ground and looked carefully at the window.
She put her arm through the bar and reached as far as she could outside. She could put her arm out the window up to her elbow. She moved her crystal and looked at the bars. She already knew they were strong, so she didn’t waste any energy pushing against them. She noticed that along the bottom of the window the bars went into holes.
“Hey Smiley, what’s that light down there?”
Lilliana jerked her hand in and put the crystal in her pocket. The sharks were coming back. They must want to check on her to see if she was giving up yet. The room still had a faint glow from the precious light. It was too bright for her thin material to hide. Where to put it? Lilliana put her hands around it and that seemed to help, but she might need her hands if she wanted to trick the guards.
“I don’t see light. You probably saw one of them angler fishes. You know they’re always dangling their lights to catch some yummies. Maybe he’s still there and we can make a snack of him.”
It was the same two sharks that had put her in the cell. Their voices were growing closer. Lilliana had to hide the light or they would take it. She heard noises at the door, like a scratching. She sat down on the
crystal and tried to look scared, which wasn’t too difficult.
The scratching continued around the wall from the door to the window. Lilliana could now see a small light that the larger shark was carrying.
“Well, what are you waiting for,” Brutus said, “feed it.”
“I was just checkin for the angler. They’re so tasty,” Smiley said, and he turned to Lilliana. “Oh looky. The snack is sitting on the floor of the cell. Does the snack want to come out to play?” Smiley grinned his terrible grin and Lilliana could see remnants of dead fish between his crooked teeth.
“You can’t eat the guest, Smiley, and I told you, she’s a princess.”
“Oh yeah. She was trying to trick us into letting her go. Well I guess she’ll be asking us for the favors now, eh?”
“Just feed it,” snapped the big shark. As an afterthought he looked at Lilliana and asked, “Are you ready to marry the shark yet?”
“No,” Lilliana said. “But I will treat you very kindly if you let me just swim around outside and find my own food.”
“See Smiley, this is why Lord Titan won’t let you go by yourself. She’s a tricky one. Just throw her the food and let’s get to the meeting.”
Smiley