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I jump in fright at the sudden appearance of it, letting the arrow fly spontaneously. It hits the shadow just as it’s about to reach me. There seems to be more shadows than we thought, because I am sure that Drez has dispelled at least five shadows. With my three, it is at least eight, and I sense that there are more in the darkness.
Moving closer to Drez, I touch his back, which immediately has the sword lighting up the whole dungeon with its brightness. We see two shadows that were lying in wait on the side-lines quickly trying to retreat, but I let go of Drez and shoot an arrow at the one on my side while Drez rushes towards the other, cutting him down before he can leave.
“Are there any wounded among you?” Hope asks as she stands near one of the dungeon doors.
“Not in here,” comes from one of the cells.
“Two in here, but we have restrained them,” comes from another cell, but there is no answer from the third cell. Walking closer to the door, I shine light inside to about ten Fae tied and gagged. One of them seems wounded.
“Why are these restrained and none of you are restrained in your cells?” I ask, looking over my shoulder to the faces of the dirty and scared Fae in the other cells.
“They are the sovereigns’ guards,” one says.
“Where is the king and queen?” Love asks.
“When we were ushered in here, the fighting was still going on above,” someone says from the cell where there are no wounded. “Most of us are from the kitchen or cleaning staff.”
“I think only the guards might know where they are,” another says from the other cell. “Let us out.”
“Not yet. We need to make sure that all the shadows have gone before we let you go, or the same thing will happen, or worse.”
“It wasn’t the shadows who attacked,” one man says from the back of one of the cells.
“Then who?” Trek asks.
“They wore capes. I couldn’t see their faces. For a split second, it looked like they didn’t have one, but that doesn’t make sense,” a female troll states. I look over at Hope to see her grimace. That can only be the creatures we encountered when we were near the source of the sound. If it’s true and those things are above, then we are in more trouble than I thought, because if we did not conquer them last time, I don’t see a way that we are going to conquer them now. I hear a crack. Glancing over, I see that Shok has broken the lock on the door of the guards’ cell. He walks in and stops. “Hello, boys, bet you didn’t expect to see me.” I hear grunts.
“I’m going to take this out of your mouth, but if you kiss me, I’m putting it right back.” I smile at how he still finds the will to tease in the eyes of what we are going through. He gently pulls the gag out of the one guard’s mouth.
“How long have you all been down here?” Trek asks from the front of the one cell.
“It feels like forever,” one says, “but I’m sure it has been a couple days. They have not given us anything to eat, but we have been given water eight times, which leads me to believe that we have been down hear for just over a week if they were giving us water once a day.” They must be famished; I wish I could give them some food, but we didn’t carry any with us.
Hope kneels on the ground, and I see her moving her hands around, which lets me believe that she must be trying to feel the energy of the earth below us. “Move away from the centre of the cell,” she states before closing her eyes. I see everyone inside the two cells look at each other as they slowly move towards the sides of the cells just as the floor starts to crack and raise. The Fae in the cells gasp as buds start to spring out of the ground and then grow. I smile as I see Hope doing what she does best—make things grow.
In a couple minutes, there is an apple tree in each cell. The Fae are all looking at Hope open mouthed. As Fairies, we naturally have the gift of nurturing and growing flowers and trees, but not to Hope’s extent. “Well, don’t stand there looking at me. I thought you would be hungry.” At that, they remember the apples and hurry to the tree, taking one each to eat. I know that the Gargoyles and Werewolves do not eat much fruit or vegetables, but they will have to adjust for a little while until it is safe to get them out.
“Where are the sovereigns?” I hear Shok asking. Glancing behind me into the cell where Shok is, I see the guard whisper something.
“Are you sure?” he asks, and I see the guard nod. Drez is untying the other guards and taking off their gags. It is evident that these men all know each other by the way they interact. “Hope, can you do your thing in here, too, please?” Shok asks.
“You brought them to a war? They will not be pleased,” one of the men states in a rough dry voice as he inclines his head towards me.
“They are safer here than in Eternity Fae,” Drez states. “Now get your strength back. Eat some apples.” At that, some of the men groan. “Because this war is just starting,”
“I will try to bring you something else to eat if there is anything above,” Trek says, but most of the men immediately start shaking their heads and grunting.
“The food was dosed. It made us weak,” one man states, and then immediately starts coughing. I look over my shoulder at the cell that holds most of the kitchen staff. Does that mean that one of the Fae in that cell is a traitor?
This just assures us that we can’t let anyone loose until we are sure of what is going on. I see the man Shok was talking to take hold of his hoodie and pull him closer before he whispers something else to him, which has Shok nodding before he rises. “We will be back as soon as we can.” I retreat outside the cell at Shok’s words, waiting until Drez and him are outside and the door is once again secure. Because Shok broke the lock to get in, Drez now had to jam a piece of metal to keep the door locked. I see that Love has been busy lighting all the torches, which will hopefully keep any shadows away.
“Let’s go,” Trek says as he stands by the door. Drez once again takes the lead, his sword at the ready, guiding the way up the stairs. At the door, he stops. Opening it a crack, he looks outside before closing it again.
“I cannot see anyone, but it’s dark outside, which means there must be more of those shadows and maybe creatures out there. If we were alone, I might risk it, but I think in our situation, it is better if we wait until morning.” I would complain, but to be honest, I am exhausted, and if we are going out there, I would rather do it in the daylight so that we have more of a chance.
“Does that mean we have to wait here?” Love asks as she looks around the stairs, which are narrow and made of stone.
“No, come,” Shok murmurs as he turns. Walking down a couple stairs, he suddenly turns into a little crevice in the wall. Only when I approach do I see that it’s a tight entrance that has been cleverly concealed with rock. Following Love into this opening, I see Shok hunching his shoulders and head to enter through a doorway that has been cut out from the rock. When I walk in, I am surprised to see an area furnished with four chairs and a single bed against the one wall. The room is small but big enough for the six of us.
