The night was already deep when the three runaways in the cave on the mountain awoke. In silence they removed every trace of themselves from their resting place and set out once more. In the darkness it was impossible to see the mountains around them and Vivienne was thankful.
Paddoc, still pained by the wound in her side was beginning to stumble and was particularly cautious, knowing just how narrow their path was and how far it was to fall if she should slip. Slyly she lifted her cloak out of the way and looked at the injury in the moonlight and she wished she had not. The skin that could be seen through the tear in her shirt was red and inflamed while the blood that still oozed from it was inky, black and festering. Quickly she hid her weakness again and continued, breathing slowly and focussing on the road ahead.
The ugly man had taken the lead, taking the trio only further up toward the summit of the mountain where he knew they would find a path that led them back down and onto the next. He listened intently knowing well they may stumble upon a dwelling of trolls or a gnome hunting in the wild, yet he was calm, calmer than he had been since he had rescued the two children following him because he felt at home in these mountains, though he knew if they travelled too far they would be in territory not even he knew.
Night went on and as did the three travellers. It wasn't until the sun was beginning to show it's face in the sky that the trio heard movement on the road ahead. They were two voices, still too far away to discern, but they sounded cheery and above all, they sounded human. This sparked alarm in the ugly mans eyes, as human folk were rarely seen passing in the mountains, and so he pulled the girls behind a rock and hoped it would be enough to hide them until he could discern friend from foe.
As the pair rounded the corner the man was thankful they had hidden as there, glinting on the strangers armoured chests was the royal crest. They moved closer and the three in hiding grew more and more concerned as the rock which concealed them was doing little. They didn't have time to find wether their hiding place was effective as all of a sudden the ground began to rumble and shake and the rocks on which the two men stood fell away and into the valley below with them along with it.
Paddoc looked at the place their path had once been. It was now nothing but a hole and so, thanking their lucky stars, she began trying to find a way to get to the other side without joining the men shattered on the rocks below. She came to 2 final options: it was possible to scale the rock to the other side, however one slip would mean certain death. The next option was to jump. From where she stood she knew that it was much too far. She was certain she would clear the gap but Vivienne and the man would not and that would be their end. Before she had any more time to deliberate the stones ahead of her began to multiply as if the mountain were growing it back and in a cloud of dust the path was there once more.
As the dust cleared the trio could make out a figure standing opposite from them. The figure did not speak, simply beckoned for them to follow before shuffling away up the mountainside. Hesitantly the companions followed her.
"You wouldn't happy to know who that is would you?" Vivienne asked the ugly man, "You did say you knew these mountains."
"Ay, but I don't know of any women living up in these cliffs."
Paddoc, once more, said nothing and observed
The woman moved as someone who was very old would move, her feet barely leaving the ground as she lumbered along. She was hunched over and dressed in black ragged robes, however Paddoc was sure she was at least somewhat human.
The woman stopped in her tracks and waited for the three to catch up. She did not look at them or allow them to see her face. She lifted what seemed to be a walking stick and tapped it five times on a heart shaped boulder. With a groan the boulder slid aside and below a steep rugged staircase led into the darkness.
The woman entered first. Paddoc was the next to follow, then vivienne, then the man who was uneasy in the presence of the stranger. As the last of them stepped into the passage the rock behind them slid closed and plunged the group into darkness.
"Come on then." A gentle voice whispered and they followed it into the heart of the mountain.
YOU ARE READING
The Chronicles of the Runaway Queen: Escape to Danger
Fantasy*This version of this book has been abandoned in favor of a re-write - currently in progress*
