The Raven and the Dragon

Chapter Twenty

"They should've been back by now."

Judging from Bo's immediate grimace, he hadn't meant to say that out loud. Alicia couldn't blame him for being nervous, though; he was absolutely right. Unless something had happened, there was no reason for them to be gone so long.

They can all take care of themselves...remember the mines? It's fine. They probably just got a bit turned around. Alicia adjusted the straps of her armor again. She had no idea it would feel so heavy. "Do you think we should send someone to gi looking fr them?" she asked.

"Can we spare anyone?" Bo glanced over his shoulder, his fingers anxiously tugging at his sleeves. "I could go..."

Something rustled in the forest behind them. Bo immediately started dragging Alicia back, but they didn't get very far before Alicia realized she knew the person running towards them. "Kit–!"

Kit was running towards them, Eve in tow. There was no sign of Solomon or Nimah. Both Eve and Kit looked out of breath, concerned, maybe, but not distraught. That had to mean something good, right?

"What happened?" Bo asked, his voice squeaking slightly from nerves. "Where are the others?"

Kit went to sign, gave up just as quickly, and turned to Eve. "When I was talking to the elves," Eve explained, "they said that the tree men were already coming and they lead me to this opening in the side of the mountain. It looked like someone was trying to tunnel through, maybe with magic. We thought that they may have been trying to dig to the keep by way of the mines."

Oh, no. Is that even possible? Alicia didn't know. She knew a thing or two about the mountains, but not the specifics of the building of the keep. Eve kept talking: "Nimah wanted to take a look, but she told us to go back to all of you. Solomon went with her."

"They just went down there by themselves?" Bo gasped. The air around Alicia seemed to warm for a moment; when the feeling passed, the sound of murmuring and the clanking of armor and weapons filled the clearing. That sound seemed secondary to the danger Nimah and Solomon were in. "What were they thinking?!"

"Solomon wanted to protect Nimah. I couldn't tell you what she was thinking."

"She was probably trying to help by looking ahead." As much as Alicia disagreed with Nimah's decision, she didn't completely want to throw her friend under the metaphorical wagon wheels. "Was there anyone there?"

"Not that we could tell, but we didn't stay for long." Kit kept shifting anxiously as Eve spoke, his arms wrapped tightly around himself. "I wasn't sure f we should come back or-"

"No, you did the right thing coming back here." Alicia felt someone approaching; when she looked back, King Gideon was walking over with Adrianna. "Something's come up. The elves told Eve that Lord Reardon's men are coming through the mountain. They found a tunnel entrance and everything."

Adrianna looked caught off guard. You didn't see that often. "That's impossible. The mines were always dug with the safety of the keep in mind. Even if they wanted to try, it would take...longer than we've been on the mountain. Unless they want the entire tunnel structure to cave in."

"If they're desperate, they won't care so much about safety," King Gideon pointed out. "Let me guess, Nimah and Solomon went down there?"

"They did."

"Then it may benefit us to send troops in after them. Being in the tunnels may catch our enemy off guard as well. But you'll have to leave that to us. It's time for you to go."

Oh. Anxiety gripped Alicia's stomach—just as much at the thought of leaving her friends and her stepmother as it did at the task at hand. They'll be all right. King Gideon will help them. It will be all right.