Nine

Kerr pulled ahead, outdistancing the rest of us.

“Where’s he going?”

“To tell the others to open the door,” Drav said.

“Door?”

Kerr’s faint shout reached us, and I watched a figure appear near the top of the stone wall.  A moment later, the figure waved an arm and disappeared again.  A grating, low rumble filled the air and a crack emerged in the smooth expanse of rock just as Kerr reached the wall.

We joined him not long afterward, and I stared at the massive stone entrance before me.

The wicked, long furrows in the heavy slabs that comprised the entry to the city momentarily distracted me from what lay inside.  When I did finally focus, shock filled me.  The uninhabited, wild areas outside the wall had misled me into believing Drav’s“city” would be nothing more than hovels grouped together in more of the same wild.  I should have known better.

A dirt trail, bordered by thick flowering vegetation, wound its way toward a vast grove of trees towering high in the distance.  In the immense space between the gate and the grove, neatly planted fields spread out to the right and left, illuminated by countless crystal lanterns suspended at the top of long poles. Soft, glittering lights gave the land a surreal feel.

“It looks like fairy lights,” I said softly.

Drav jogged through the opening and deposited me on my feet.  I felt him leave my side as I continued to look around.

They were farmers.  Even with what the crystal had shown me, my mind struggled to process the concept of cave farming.  Actual dirt lay beneath my feet, not stone.  How?

I already knew the answer.  The source had shown me that the magic to influence nature ran in their blood.  The proof of what their powers, combined with that of the crystals, could accomplish stunned me.  Not only had they created a wall, they’d created arable earth.

The grinding rumble of the gate drew my attention, and I turned around to watch Drav and another man strain to push the stone slab closed.  Their muscles rolled and flexed with each laborious step.

“I wouldn’t want that job.  How many times a day do they need to open the gate?”

The gate closed with a rasping thud.  Drav moved back to my side as two men slid an enormous log into place to brace the stone slab.

“The gate is almost never used,” Drav said.  He pointed to a pair of tall ladders that leaned against the wall just inside the door. “We use the ladders.  There is less chance of the hounds slipping in that way.”

“Wow.”

A group of new men stared at me from where they stood near the gate.

“Hello,” I said before Drav could speak. “I’m Mya.  I’m not a male like you, but a female from the surface.”

Their eyes widened with sudden understanding, and they looked at me with even more interest while the men in our group sniggered and said a few words under their breaths.

“No, I’m not willing to show you my physical differences.  No, you can’t touch me.  I’d prefer you not smell me, either.  It makes me nervous and uncomfortable.  I don’t understand your language, but know you can understand me.  I don’t have a crystal or magic like you all do.  Thank you for opening the gate and letting me in.”

Speech given, I glanced at Drav and found him considering me.

“What?” I asked.

“They will all want to touch you and smell you no matter what you say.”

“Then we’re going to have problems, aren’t we?”

He sighed and nodded as if it were a foregone conclusion, which I found unacceptable.  I needed a deterrent.  How did one discourage a city full of demon men who ripped off heads for fun?

“Would it hurt if I kicked you guys in the balls?” I asked.

He tilted his head and gave me a puzzled look.  So did the rest.  Slang didn’t translate well.

“Your soft bits that hang between your legs.  The two balls.”

Understanding lit their gazes.  Several of the men in our immediate group grunted and moved a little further away from me.  Kerr chuckled and said something to Drav, who frowned.

“We don’t kick there.  Ever,” Drav said, quite seriously.

“Well, I will if I’m touched or sniffed without permission.” I glanced at the men. “You’ve been warned.” I hoped I’d put some fear in them because that empty threat summed up the whole of my weak defense.  Bigger, stronger, faster…they could overpower me at any time.  I knew that.  Deep down they probably did too.

“Are you ready?” I asked, changing the subject.

“Yes.  It is safe for you to walk here.  But, I would like to carry you so we can reach the city faster.”

“Go ahead.  I’m all for faster.”

The words had barely left my mouth before Drav scooped me up.  The men by the wall called out a word as the rest of our group started running down the path. 

Drav didn’t immediately move to follow as I expected, and I looked up to see why.

The expression he wore heated my cheeks.

“I’ve wanted this a very long time.”

“What?”

“You here.  Safe.  Letting me hold you.”

“But just to deliver the information and go, right?”

Our gazes locked, and his fingers brushed my ribs near my breast.

“Maybe you should focus on running instead of me.”

“I’m always focused on you, Mya.  Especially when I’m running with you in my arms.  I like the way you jiggle.”

My mouth dropped open.

“I do not jiggle,” I said indignantly.

He took off, sprinting down the trail, and his gaze dipped to my chest.  I followed the direction of his focus and rolled my eyes at the sight of my ever so slightly bouncing boobs.

“That is barely a jiggle.  You made me sound like a bowl of Jell-O.”

“I think I might enjoy Jell-O.”

I snorted. “Probably.”

Now that he’d pointed out his fascination, I paid more attention to him instead of the landscape.  His eyes did indeed repeatedly return to my chest.

“You really do have a thing for boobs, don’t you?”

“Yes.  They look interesting when you are undressed, and they feel so soft.  I like when you sleep and let me hold them.”

“Wait a minute.  Sleeping isn’t permission to hold them.  It just means I’m not conscious to object.”

“Yes.  I like that.”

His ignorance kept him safe from me slugging him.

“How would you like it if I waited until you slept and grabbed your balls really, really hard?”

He frowned for a moment, and I realized he was considering it.

“Seriously, Drav?  The point is that you wouldn’t like me doing stuff to you while you slept, so you shouldn’t do it to me.”

“I might like it.  Your hands are soft and gentle.  You’re not as strong.  It might not hurt so much.”

I groaned and looked away from him for a moment, trying to think of a way to help him understand.

“Do you understand the concept of stealing?” I asked, looking up at him.

“Yes.  Stealing is forbidden here.”

“It’s forbidden where I’m from, too.  When you touch me without my agreement, it’s like stealing from me.  I need to give my approval for the touches to mean something.  It’s supposed to be special, Drav.”

“It is special,” he said, looking troubled.

“If I haven’t agreed to it, it’s only special to you, not me.  Do you understand?”

“Yes.” He stared ahead for a long while. 

I checked the path and could barely see his friends further ahead.

“When will you give me your permission?” Drav asked, drawing my attention again.

Not will you, but when will you.  His confidence amazed me.

“If you don’t take me back to the surface, I might not ever give it,” I said with an arched brow.

He grunted and focused on the path for a long while.  I smothered a grin at the tightness in his jaw and turned away to watch the grove.

Even though the view of the forest grew larger, the distance to reach it never seemed to change.  With each field we passed, I began to wonder just how big the towering trees would be.  I had to admit more than a mild curiosity filled me when I began to see tiny specks of light within the inky tops.

Given the size of the cavern, I could understand the need for the field lanterns and the ones in the trees.  The wall stretched out so far, I lost sight of it.  Not only was the area hard to light, but how could they possibly guard the whole thing?

“Have they ever gotten in?  The hellhounds?”

“A few times.  But we return them back to where they belong.”

“How do you know when they get in?  This place is huge.”

“The outlying villages guard the walls.  If any hounds do manage to climb over, the light of the crystals in the fields hurt them, and they make plenty of noise to let us know where they are.”

When I turned back to the grove, I could finally make out the shapes of the outer most trees, which seemed small in comparison to the central ones.  Drav’s reason for wanting to carry me became clear.  What I’d thought a distant, normal grove of trees was turning out to be a forest of the largest trees I’d ever seen.

“Just how tall are those trees?” I asked.

“I do not know.  Very tall.”

Details became clearer, and I realized just how giant the massive trees were.  They towered high above, their inky leaves almost touching the vast cavern’s soaring top and kissing the crystals inlaid there.

Entering the shadows of the trees, I saw what Drav’s people had done.  Without even knowing it, they’d recreated the home of their ancestors.  The home they’d been sent to find.  My eyes watered, and Drav noticed.  He slowed to a walk.

“Why are you crying?  Are you afraid?  I will keep you safe.”

I leaned my head against his chest and put my hand over his heart.

“I know you’ll keep me safe.  And, I’m not crying exactly.  Just emotional.  Girls do that sometimes.”

He grunted and held me a little closer, leaning his head in to smell my hair and nuzzle my neck.  A tingle of awareness shivered through me.

“Is it all right if I walk for a while?” I asked.

“Yes.” He set me on my feet and held out his hand.  I threaded my fingers through his and walked by his side, marveling at our surroundings.

“You brought seeds with you into the caves,” I said, sharing what the source crystal had shown me. “I think these are seeds from the trees of your homeland.  Trees that were dying.  I think that your people’s magic was connected to the forest’s magic somehow.  When the magic faded from the surface, so did theirs.  But not here.  Maybe because the crystal helped feed the magic of the trees.  Your magic.”

We came to one tree that had vines twisting up its ancient bark.  Large, white, bell-shaped flowers drooped from thin shoots.  The fragrant air tickled my nose, and I gave in and inhaled deeply.  The intoxicating smell wrapped around me, seeming to sooth away all my travel aches.

I inhaled again, appreciatively.

“It’s like a fairytale in here,” I said. “So pretty.”

“Careful.  The scent of that plant can be very relaxing.”

“Really?”

“Yes.  We use it for healing and celebrating.”

The image of a bunch of men standing around and smelling flowers filled my head and I giggled.  I could picture Drav with one in his hair and Kerr asking to sniff it.  I snorted hard, and a laughing fit had me bending over in near tears.

Suddenly, the world spun, and Drav was carrying me again at a run.

“Too much fieayla flower for you.”

It took a few minutes for my head to stop spinning and for the laughter to settle down.

“That stuff is strong.” I leaned my head against his shoulder and looked around at the trees. “I hope that’s not growing in the city.”

“No.  We keep it to the outer trees.”

A glimmer of lights in the treetops caught my attention.  I squinted, trying to determine if I was seeing through the canopy or if someone had placed crystal lanterns in the trees.

“Are there lanterns up there?” I asked.

“Yes.  To mark every home.”

“Home?”

Drav stopped running and looked up at the tree.

“Welcome to Ernisi, our city.”

I blinked, feeling quite Drav-like, and looked around at the empty forest floor then at the towering canopy.  There was nothing here.  When he’d said city, I’d kept imagining a bustling underground metropolis.  That’s not what I saw.  I saw a quiet forest.

On my second sweeping glance, I glimpsed a set of stairs cleverly created out of curled pieces of massive bark.

“Holy shit,” I said for the second time.

Drav smiled slightly and started for the nearest tree.  He took the steps at an easy-for-him run.  My stomach plummeted at how quickly we ascended and at how very tall the tree rose and at how no railing existed on the not too wide stairs.

I squeezed my eyes shut and focused on my breathing.

Several minutes later, Drav slowed.

“You can look, Mya.”

I opened my eyes and saw we stood on a massively wide branch.  The abnormally flat surface created a roadway that stretched out far from the trunk of the tree.  Smaller branches, wider than an RV, protruded from the main branch, along with enormous burls.

Nearby, men stood gathered before a hut carved out of the first burl on the main trunk.  A lone man stood on a raised part of the burl, giving him height and making it easy for him to see out over the crowd and for the crowd to see him.  His gaze locked on us.

“Who is that?” I said softly.

Drav eased me to my feet.

“That is Molev.”

Even without the help of the burl, the dark fey stood a bit taller than Drav.  He, like all the other men, wore his black hair in tight, masculine braids that gave him a Viking look.  His face seemed vaguely familiar.  One of the original ten.

Molev stared at me with the same curiosity as the others had.  The crowd of men noticed his regard and turned to look at us.  The numerous gazes pinned me, and the urge to repeat my speech from earlier arose.

Molev spoke, reclaiming the men’s attention.

“Who is he to your people?” I whispered.

“Our leader.”

Molev continued to speak to the men in Drav’s language.

“What is he saying?”

“He is telling the group what happened to Phusty.”

“Oh.”

I glanced at Drav and saw the hopelessness in his expression.  A sweeping urge to offer him some sort of comfort had me clasping his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.

“I’m really sorry.”

The guy hadn’t been nice, but according to the crystal, Drav had known him a very, very long time.

Drav gave a minute nod, and the longer he listened to Molev, the more his lips tightened.  A figure broke away from the group and came toward us.  Ghua’s frown matched Drav’s.  When he reached us, they spoke in quiet tones.  The more Ghua said, the more Drav looked pained.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Phusty has not come back.”

“They lost his body?”

“No.  He did not return to the waters,” he said.

I opened my mouth to ask what he meant, but Molev spoke loudly, recapturing my attention.  Whatever he said had the men dispersing.  As each passed us to descend the stairs, they gave me a good once over.  No one stopped to speak with Drav, though.  I glanced at Molev and found him watching me.  His gaze shifted to Drav, and he tilted his head to indicate the burl.

Drav touched the small of my back, and Drav, Ghua, and I joined Molev inside.  Several small lanterns filled with crystals lit the interior of the burl.  The soft glow danced on the smoothly carved walls curved to allow for seats and a built-in bed around the perimeter.  Stepping closer, I studied the swirls in the woodgrain of the stunning walls and ran a finger along a curve.  With that one touch, I understood that no carving tool had created this place.  Magic had.

Molev spoke a stream of words while looking at Drav.  Hearing Phusty’s name mentioned a couple of times, my worry grew not only for Drav but for myself.

“Phusty had his crystal on him,” Drav said when the man quieted.

Molev spoke some more and Drav responded.

“He challenged me for the right to study Mya.  We fought.  I won.  He did not return.  Ghua and the others brought him here, thinking that might change.”

Molev turned his attention to Ghua and seemed to ask him a question.

“The waters did not mehornan.  He had his crystal on him,” Ghua said.

The mix of their language and English didn’t help me understand anything.

“What’s the big deal with his crystal?” I asked, trying to piece together their conversation.

“The life crystal we wear protects us from death,” Drav said.

“Yeah, you mentioned it keeps you safe.”

“Not just safe.  I don’t know the right word, but when we wear the crystal, we don’t have a real death.”

All the little things Drav had been trying to explain finally clicked into place.  They didn’t have death because the crystals brought them back to life.  Like the deer in the vision.

“That’s why you wanted to get me a crystal,” I said slowly.

Drav stepped up to me and pressed his forehead against mine.  The caring of this man made my heart race.

“It wasn’t just protection.  You didn’t want me to die.”

“You are safe here.  Even without the crystal.”

“Safe, but not staying, right?”

His thumbs brushed across my cheekbones, and I wrapped my fingers around his wrists, holding him in return.

“Safe,” he repeated.

Drav took a step back, and I released my hold on his wrists.  Ghua and Molev were watching us closely.  I cleared my throat, feeling awkward under their curious gazes.

“Drav, Ghua,” Molev said.  The string of words that followed had the two nodding as they listened.

My thoughts drifted to Phusty’s death and the men’s reactions.  When Drav ripped off his head, none of them had batted an eye.  After a few minutes, though, they’d nudged the fallen man with their feet and had argued.  It all made sense, now.  They’d expected Phusty to get back up.  The idea of it boggled me.  Sure, I’d seen it in a vision, but the deer had come from the caves and…I recalled the way the men in the vision had brought the deer outside, and my stomach sank.  They couldn’t resurrect outside this place.

“There haven’t been any traces of them yet,” Drav said, interrupting my thoughts.

Molev glanced at Ghua, who shook his head.  I frowned as I listened.  Molev paced, speaking again.

“It is possible that they were attacked by the hounds on the surface,” Drav said.

Molev nodded but waved his hands angrily as he spoke a clipped smattering of words.

“Good that they stay on surface,” Ghua interjected.

“Who?” I asked.

Molev spoke over my question and Drav answered him, ignoring me.

“We’ve had guards on the entrances.  Someone would have seen if they had returned.”

Molev calmed at that and stared into space.  He directed his next words at Ghua, who nodded and left the room.

“What’s happening?” When Drav didn’t immediately answer, I poked him. “What the hell is going on?”

“We didn’t only go to the surface for exploration.  Long ago, two of our people did something unthinkable.  They killed another after taking his crystal.  Without his crystal, he did not return.  It is an unforgivable act.  The men were exiled and forced to live outside the city walls.”

I glanced at Molev then focused on Drav.

“Are you going to be exiled?” I asked.

“No.  I did not know what would happen on the surface.  Phusty wore his crystal.  He should have returned.”

“So what’s the big deal about the two who were exiled?  Why’s he so upset?” I glanced at Molev who listened patiently.

“When the hole opened, we believe they fled with the hounds.  They went to the surface.”