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The Rowanoak Ring
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She pursed her lips, "Uh huh. Well, there's an antique store in town. Who knows! Maybe you'll get a super rare necklace for half the real price!" and then she turned away."Zinnia!" I called, "I'm really serious. You have to!"
Zinnia whipped around and grabbed me by the collar, "First of all," she snarled, "I don't HAVE to do anything. Second of all I'm not in the mood for tricks OK? And third - STOP PESTERING ME!"
I stared her hard in the eye, "You wanna know why this necklace is so important?" I asked, dying a bit inside.
Zinnia rolled her eyes, "FINE. Why is this necklace SO important that you want to risk your life and die a horrible death with ME. WHY are you SO desperate?"
Zinnia sighed inwardly, "Fine, but we make this quick okay?"
Zinnia shook her head, "No way. Nuh uh. We do this MY way, and if your dreams were correct I don't want the Moonshadow falling down a cliff. Rule 1 as a guardian is -- the Moonshadow ALWAYS comes first. OK? Which means we're not taking Megan because of safety, we're not taking Iris because I don't need her possessed, and we're not taking Pollux either. He can't smash a shadow and he's the one I want staying behind and babysitting your sister. We're taking Basil, and Astar. Basil, because he knows a lot more about the Dark Ones that either of us, and Astar because if you get injured we're going to need someone to stay with you."
Zinnia rolled her eyes, "Of course. It's not like I'm inviting the entire world to die with us. Come on, let's go talk to Bas."
Zinnia huffed angrily, "Honestly Kaleigh do I have to do all the thinking for you? Yes, you might die. I might die. Basil might die. ASTAR might die. It's the whole meaning of a suicide mission. Unless you want to label it 'mission impossible' if that prevents you from hyperventilating. There's a good chance we might die in a ditch, or from starvation, or from torture, or from a spell, or we can rot in a prison cell. But, knowing them, I wouldn't think about mercy too much. You might be disappointed."I swallowed, true. "But do we know how to get in?"
Zinnia snorted, "No. What do you think? A Dark One just lumbered up here and said 'oh here, take this map giving you access to my home. There's a secret room here, and there, and down that corridor. And beware the piranhas over here...'"
"Well, no, I was just wondering if you knew," I said.
Zinnia rubbed her eyes, "This is going to be the longest quest in my entire life."
Ha! This is my second quest. The first one was to find the Rowanoak Ring. FAIL. So, things aren't looking to good for the second time around. I mean, isn't the saying three times the charm? This isn't my third quest!!!
Zinnia rubbed her eyes as if this entire conversation annoyed her to death. "Well, Kaleigh, think about the logic for a second. You're telling me, that you don't know whether we should be prepared for a life and death situation?"Okay. So I knew how to answer that question. I wasn't too thick in the brain, but honestly - I didn't really pay attention to this stuff growing up. I mean this is what our servants or 'knights' were for.
"Well, then," Zinnia said slowly as if she was talking to a toddler, "I guess we're going to need WEAPONS and FOOD. And actually how about you don't worry your little head about it, how about you go change, and I'll take care of preparations and gathering the crew together. Okay?"
I was really annoyed with her tone, but I tried to make it seem like it didn't bother me an inch, "Sounds good."
She growled, "Stop invading privacy Kaleigh," she snapped angrily, "You don't see me sneaking in YOUR room do you?"I shook my head and was consciously aware of the package against my ribs, "Sorry, I just thought-"
"Get out!" she bellowed.
"But when are we leaving?!" I shouted in exasperation.
"When I'm done!" she shouted back, and then began to shove me out the door, "Out! Out! Out!"
Vaguely, she reminded me of the way I treated Megan when she entered my room. Huh. Maybe we DO have something in common. But, what I most desperately wanted at the moment? To know what was in that package.
Alright, so I'm pretty sure we all know stealing mail or packages is a felony, but as I saw it - I laughed. So Zinnia was afraid of... bugs? Seriously? It was literally titled, 'Georg Xenon's Guide to Bugs'. Wow. Maybe it was because I thought it was something more dangerous, but - REALLY? Bugs? Did she have roach problems in her bedroom? I laughed.
"Waiting for Zinnia," I responded, my eyes blurring from tears."What you reading?" asked Astar looking down at the small book.
"It's Zinnia's." I said wiping away my tears of laughter.
"What's so funny about it?" she asked confused, I gestured to the title,
"She fears bugs." I said stifling another giggle of victory. Astar took the book out of my hands and looked inside.
"Hah," she said finally, "I would too, these things look like monsters." she showed me the illustrations of a big fat grotesque beetle the size of a man, it looked like it was eating someone. "She probably bought this for the Dark Lands, the chemicals in the air and ground have a different affect on certain insects, quadrupling their size, and making it harder to kill them. There much too big to squash underfoot." I didn't laugh then, one because, I felt stupid for not even looking inside, and two, because it seemed to confirm that Zinnia was immune to fear.
This time Astar laughed. Zinnia opened the door holding two bags, and when she saw me holding her book, she snatched it away.
Then she tossed the other bag to me, while quickly grabbing the bag next to the door. She shoved the small book in there, and then we set off. My bag was light surprisingly, but I had no doubt Zinnia packed it full. When we knocked on Basil's door he opened it, and we all left. Strangely, he avoided eye contact with me.I wonder if he thought me Eva's killer. Which I could be called as much.
"But," she continued in all seriousness, "We're sneaking out the back so we don't get a lot if attention."
Finally! Something right up my alley!!! I gave a smirk, "Of course I do, I've been riding since I could walk."Zinnia rolled her eyes, "I've been riding since I was a newborn, just get on the horse."
It took me a while to figure out that Zinnia's parents must've gone on a lot of road trips if she was on a horse since she was a baby. And the whole statement spoke for itself, she got on with an easy swing, and held the bridle like it was the most natural thing on earth. Basil had the same agile grace as she did, but Astar struggled with her mare Fema, who was rather reluctant to have a rider.
My horse's name was Twig, and he was a chestnut mare. He seemed like a very docile creature, so I didn't expect much ruckus from him. Zinnia gave the signal, and we began to ride.
I screamed. Not like one of those "ah!" squeals, but like I SCREAMED. And you'll never know what that's really like until you are in a life and death situation. It's claws dug into my shoulder, and it's boar-like face snorted into mine. It's jaws opened wide revealing dinosaur worthy teeth. It was going to eat me!!
(Thanks Charlotte! XD)Basil towered over the beast, but didn't meet my eyes as he went back on his horse. "Thanks." he only gave a slight nod. My shoulder hurt however and oozed with blood.
"Basil and I will scout the surrounding area," said Zinnia, "Astar, attend to her wounds, and set up camp. We should be back before nightfall, if we don't return assume we're dead and continue with the search." she didn't wait for an answer, and neither Basil. Astar clucked her tongue as she got off her steed.
Alright. I was going no where. The moment I tried to pick myself up, I grit my teeth, and almost shouted out. Astar frowned, "Sorry, I forgot. Try not to move or you'll loose more blood, after I set up the fire I'll prepare an herbal remedy." she then preceded to do what she said. She built a ring of stones in the center, piled some kindling, shoved some grass in between, and struck two rocks together. Afterwards she went to Fema and began rummaging through her stuff until she pulled out two purple vials. She waved the liquid contents around expectantly. Meanwhile, I, stood grimacing in pain. My arms hurt ever minute from those nasty claw marks. The largest being about an inch thick. Yes, I wasn't being a baby.
There really was no accurate way to describe it. It felt like my arm was on fire while someone was cutting it open. Astar's liquids numbed my pain, in fact they numbed my everything. When the liquids touched my tongue, gums, lips, and the roof of my mouth I couldn't feel it anymore.
I tried speaking, but that felt awkward, so I gave up. Besides, Astar didn't seem in the mood for conversation. She too, was keeping a look out.
(I've watched it already, and the version before it. :D)We ate a bit of jerky when they started to arrive. They came in cold sweat, but looked well.
"Nothing for miles," announced Basil, swinging from his horse, and shoving dehydrated banana chips in his mouth.
"But, we did find quefwar tracks to the west, nothing to worry 'bout though. Tracks are about two weeks old, and it's den is probably miles from here." said Zinnia, then took a bite of a homemade granola bar.
"Quefwar?" I repeated.
"A nasty beast, think of something resembling a stegosaurus with fur." said Basil, "The real things we have to worry about is senows, they'll nip your toes."
Instinctively, I criss-crossed my legs.
Zinnia snorted."I'm gonna go collect some more wood," said Basil, "looks like the fire's going down."
"No need," countered Astar swiftly, "I'm heading to bed." with that she crawled inside her tent. I followed her example. The ground was far from a mattress, but I had been camping before so it was not new.It was hard to fall asleep at first because every crunch or snap or crackle distracted me, but eventually I did.
And as much as Zinnia claimed she didn't like me, I'm sure she would protect me with her life if it came to it, so that was some comfort as I drifted off into a hollow, dreamless sleep.
"What's the matter?" I asked peeking out of the tent."I just ran into a spiderweb!" she said spitting out spidersilk from her mouth, face, and hair while wrinkling her nose. She muttered something about how spider's have no sense of direction.
"It was a Spilfer, a baby of course. Born blind for three weeks, has ten legs, grows about four feet when adult, and creates very sticky webs," Zinnia informed coldly."Wash yourself in some Barca oil when you get home," called Astar, "It'll lessen the stick, and dissolve them."
Zinnia crinkled her nose, "Thanks."
"Where's Basil?" I asked.
Zinnia pointed ahead of our campsite, "Finding water, in the meantime let's hurry and eat so we can set off for an early start. Those villains probably almost have that amulet of yours now. Let's hope a few of them got eaten by Quefwar's on their journey shall we?"
"If you classify a beast biting your face off as bad, yeah, let's classify that as bad." said Zinnia plopping down and getting out a bag of trail mix.
I pulled out some of my own crushed granola and began eating. I had got some surprisingly good rest, and afterwards I began putting down my tent. I had brought only what I had on, and another change of clothes, so I was in no rush to soil my other outfit. But, I did long for a nice bath. Somehow, sleeping in the outdoors makes you want to clean up, and brush your hair. Unfortunately, I neither carried a brush so I ran into an occasional knot in my hair. And fingers make a lousy brush.Zinnia snorted, "We're not visiting the queen, nobody cares what you look like."
Easy for her to say. Anyway, I did want to look somewhat decent. Maybe it was the princess inside me, or just the subconscious pinprick in my mind - I'm not sure it mattered.
Asked Astar, I looked up. So they were ready?"Of course," I said smoothly, "I was just waiting on you guys."
Zinnia snorted.
Twig whinnied as I swung onto his back, putting my feet into the stirrups, and tightened my hold on my reigns. Zinnia made a clucking noise with her tongue, and redirected her own horse - Exabin, a fine black steed, who obeyed in response to her tone. We went on a ways until Basil came into sight with his own horse, Juniper. He tossed us each our water, and then we set off. Our open trees gave way to trees more denser, and darker. Blocking out the sunlight. Even now I could imagine Eva, Lumina then of course, running in this type of forest. Screaming at her own kind to get away, to stop. I could imagine her beating heart as if it was my own, and her black hair waving behind her. I could imagine a sharp pain on her back because of the wounded wing, and her breath coming in shattering breaths.
"Kali?" asked Astar coming up beside me, "Kali!" she pressed shaking my shoulder. My thoughts snapped like a branch,
"Yes?" I asked.
"You looked zoned out that's all." Astar said smiling, "Are you thinking about Megan?"
I shook my head, "I was actually thinking about Eva," I admitted sheepishly.
((I'VE MISSED SO MUCH. Someone please fill me in))
"Listen, there is no way Night Imps are here. One, it's daylight, two - I mean I think we'd all notice a Night Imp running around the halls." said Zinnia, "Nice try."
"But I'm serious! We need to go to the spine!"
She looked at me incredulously, "The spine? Kaleigh do you hear yourself? The spine is a suicide mission, there's Dark Ones crawling at every nook and cranny!"
"Zinnia it's important! It's Megan's necklace!"
Now, she looked at me like I was stupid, "Buy her a new one then!"
"I can't."
"Why? You don't have enough money for it?"
"No."
"Then why is it so important?!"