Secrets of Ivaloria

Chapter 7

"First question, are you Corlys?" said Vaelor. "Second question, are you alright? Seeing as you've been in Eloria's shoes for over three hours," he added.

Corlys brushed off some speckles of dust on his shirt. "Hello, Vaelor. Nice to finally meet you." He extended a hand.

Vaelor shook it. "Nice to finally meet you too," he said. "I have heard stories of the legendary Prince of Blizzard, slaying his foes with iron valor and courage."

"Actually, I think Iron Valor was my sword," said Corlys. He turned to Eloria. "Hey, Eloria," he said.

Eloria couldn't speak. A person she had known and believed to be dead was standing in front of her, completely alive.

"This cannot be," she finally managed. "You are dead. This is a projection of some sort." She walked forward and tried to wave her hand, expecting it to go right through Corlys.

Instead, Corlys caught her hand, and clasped it. "I am here myself, Eloria," he said. "I know you've believed me dead, but it's me."

Eloria stared at Corlys. She withdrew her hand, and then tackled Corlys in a hug.

"Okay," said Corlys, struggling to maintain his balance.

Eloria let him go. She had tears in her eyes. "I'm glad you're alive," she said.

Corlys laughed. "I'm glad to see you alright too," he said. "Especially considering Hywell kidnapped you both."

"And knocked me out," said Vaelor. "You're forgetting that part."

"As I said, I'm going to get you both out of here," said Corlys.

"How?" asked Vaelor. "We don't even know the way we came in."

"This cave is even deeper than the one you were in," said Eloria. She pointed to a hole too small to be called a skylight.

"I have a plan," said Corlys. "We steal Hywell's FloatBoat, and then we get out."

"That's unlikely," said Vaelor. "Hywell's FloatBoat must be guarded by Hywell himself."

"Leave that to me," said Corlys. "I need you two smart people to figure out how to get those shackles off your feet."

"I saw the shackles," said Vaelor. "They are probably made of iron or a reinforced alloy of the same, which makes it almost impossible to get out."

"Almost," said Eloria. She smiled. "We'll figure it out."

"Great," said Corlys. "Then it's my turn."

He exhaled, and faded away into grains of dust.

"That's so cool," said Vaelor.

"Corlys is alive," breathed Eloria.

"He is," said Vaelor.

"Corlys is alive," said Eloria again.

"Yes, he is," said Vaelor. "You do realize you're repeating yourself?"

"But Corlys-" started Eloria.

"Is alive, yes," said Vaelor. "But we need to think of a way out of these chains, and fast. With his cool dust power, Corlys cannot be long in stealing the FloatBoat. You can repeat all your "Corlys is alive"s later."

"Yes," said Eloria. She started looking about on the floor as far as her restraints would permit.

"Are you seriously looking for a key?" snorted Vaelor.

"No, idiot," said Eloria. Her hands hit metal, and she grinned. She picked the piece up.

"What is that doing here?" said Vaelor.

"No idea," said Eloria. "But we just got lucky."

"If you're thinking to cut through solid iron through whatever that is, you're badly mistak- Woah, okay, how did you do that?" said Vaelor.

Eloria stood. "Just a small trick I thought would work," she said. She walked over to Vaelor, and slid the metal in between his shackles.

"Careful, you're going to cut me," said Vaelor.

"If you mean cut you free, then yes, though not literally," said Eloria. She tugged at the shackle, and it gave way.

Vaelor stood. "How?" he asked.

"Later," said Eloria. "We need to see where Corlys went."

"Didn't he tell us to wait?" said Vaelor.

"Yes, but we should get ready, in case he comes back," said Eloria.

Just then, something slid out of a hole to their right. It was a wide red-colored pod.

"Corlys did it!" said Vaelor. He and Eloria ran towards the FloatBoat.

Flecks of dust flew out of the hole. Corlys formed himself a mere away from Vaelor's face.

Vaelor backed away. "Personal space," he muttered.

"Sorry," said Corlys. "I'm being chased-"

"Corlys Frize!" a voice boomed.

"Oh, no," said Vaelor. "Here comes big bad Hywell."