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“There most probably is a magic spell on the covering too,” Love says as she crosses her legs and sits on the ground. “To be honest, I don’t think I have any energy left.” I can see her disappointment; it portrays the rest of ours. Once the web disintegrated and the sphere stopped, we thought we could just get to our parents, but it seems like whoever did this had other plans.
“You three have used up all your energy, but we still have ours. It’s time to use it,” Trek says as he looks at the other two men. Shok grunts his agreement and Drez nods. A minute later, Drez’s eyes are a magnetic blue, which means that his powers are flowing through his body. Shok rotates his shoulders as his body starts to harden, and he starts changing into his grotesque self, harder, stronger, and bigger.
Trek’s body starts to widen, and fur starts to sprout around his body, but he doesn’t change fully and only enough to get his wolf’s strength. They once again lean down, take hold of the covering, and a few seconds later, I see the covering moving. It still seems heavy, as all three men’s muscles are straining, but it moves. Only halfway but enough.
They let it drop as they take in deep gulping breaths to recuperate their strength. “Is there anyone down there?” I ask as I lean over the opening, encountering only darkness.
“Mom, Dad, are you in there?” Hope calls. We all wait in silence, but there is no response. “Do you think they can’t hear us? Or maybe they have taken them somewhere else.” I close my eyes, trying to muster as much light as I can. Instead of the radiant bright light I usually materialize, a dull beam shines down into the pit.
“Can you see anything?” I ask as Hope and Love also lean over to look inside.
“No, it’s too dark,” Love mutters, but just then, a blue beam joins mine and lightens up more of the pit. Still not enough to see clearly, but we can see more of it.
“Is there anyone down there?” I scream into the pit. When there is no reply, I feel tears fill my eyes.
“Maybe they have gagged them,” Shok states, now back to his normal self. “Someone needs to go down there to check.”
“I’ll go, but we need rope,” Drez states.
“Who needs rope when I’m around?” Hope mutters as she looks up at Drez. “I will get roots up and around you that will hold you firm.”
“Just make sure they don’t drop him on his head,” Trek mutters as he looks at Hope innocently, and I know that he is trying to get her mind off of what Drez might find down in the pit.
“Well, maybe I will get some roots to hold him and weeds to cover your mouth,” she says, which has him grinning at her. She places her hands flat on the ground next to the opening to the pit and closes her eyes. She frowns as she fights her exhaustion to manifest enough energy to bring the right roots to her. It takes her a couple minutes, but finally, there is a root breaking through the ground next to my leg. Its progress isn’t as rapid as I know it can be, but at least she is managing to get it up and through the opening down into the darkness.
“I think that is enough,” Trek says as he comes to stand behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders. I see him squeeze gently in comfort.
“The trick is going to be for you to fit in this opening,” I state as I look up at Drez and then at the opening with the covering still half obscuring the space.
“Don’t worry, it’s just a tight fit trying to get through the opening. Once I’m in, it’s more spacious,” he says as he picks up the root.
“How do you know that?” I ask with a frown.
“Because I have been down there before. All of us have. It is part of our training; we stay down there for two days before climbing back out.”
I gasp at the thought. “That’s terrible,” I say, sure that I am looking appalled.
“No, it just hardens us for this type of eventuality.” With that, he smiles at me before he places his feet on the brim of the hole and starts to use the root to climb down. He squeezes into the pit until I can only see his head, and then lowers himself. My heart is racing, not only because I’m worried about what might be at the bottom, but I’m worried about Drez. He might be the Demon slayer, but he is still just an Elf who can be killed.
I look into the pit until I can’t see him any longer. “It’s so dark down there,” I comment.
“Yes, it is. Imagine being down there for days,” Love says in a strained voice. I can hear the worry in her tone.
“How are you doing down there?” Trek calls.
“Nearly there,” Drez replies. We all wait anxiously, awaiting to know what he will find. “They are here.”
Tears fill my eyes as I await to know if they are okay. It takes what seems like hours for him to give us an update, but it can’t be more than a few minutes. “Pull our sovereign up.” Immediately, Shok is pulling it up slowly.
And then I see what looks like the top of my mom’s head. Trek is there leaning into the pit and pulling her up. The tears I was holding at bay fall unchecked as I see the dishevelled Fairy being pulled out. Her clothes are tattered and torn, her hair matted with mud, but the most important part is that she has her eyes open and is squinting at the brightness of being in daylight again.
“Mom,” Love whispers as she strokes her cheek, pulling the gag off. She tries to speak, but her voice is crackly and she immediately starts to cough. Trek hurries to the haversack that we usually carry our things in and pulls out a skin of water that we carry with us. Bringing it to Love, he stands back, seeing her wetting my mom’s lips.
I hear Shok telling Drez that he is sending down the root. My mom tries again, and this time, her words are understandable. “Dad . . .”
“Yes, Mom, they’re bringing him up,” Hope says as she strokes her fingers.
“He . . . needs . . .” Her voice breaks again as she takes a deep breath, her eyes watering badly from the light.
