My Dear Damsel

Chapter 15

There's not supposed to be a well here. 

We're deep in the woods and neither of us has any clue where we are. Cherry's been leading the way, but it's less leading and more wandering and pretending we have a goal. We got attacked by a pack of some weird lizard-bear hybrid last night—their blood still stains my unwashed clothes—and we're both rattled already. So the fact that there's a well here is, while unusual, not particularly startling. 

Fahj-Dsal does her usual sniff-growl thing, but this time the snarl sounds less menacing. More inquisitive. 

I lift my sword necklace up. The leather cord tangles briefly with my short hair, which is so matted with grease, filth, and sweat I'm surprised a bird hasn't taken up residence. 

Still not entirely used to the short hair, to be honest. It makes me look at her. I've avoided my reflection as much as I can, which is relatively easy when you're nowhere near anything that could pass for civilization. 

Cherry slips off her metal rope thing, which she'd been wearing as a belt to go with her pink-and yellow dyed sundress. I miss clean clothes. 

She's been walking with a bit of a limp. Though we've tried our best to keep them the right tightness, she's still gotten blisters all over her feet. They're now a horror show of blood. 

I walk towards the well cautiously. It's, well... a well. Made of stacked gray and red stones, sealed with cement. Shingled roof, rope, bucket. It looks newer and well-maintained. Nothing suspicious, at least yet. 

A faint red glow shines through my fingers, the hilt resting comfortably in my hands. I move with some stiffness, but the pain's not that bad. 

Or maybe I've just gotten used to it. 

Weapon at the ready, I peer down into the well. 

Inky darkness peers back up at me. I frown. It doesn't make sense for it to be that dark—

I here a whooshing sound. Oh god, I know what this is, but I can't move—

My legs are knocked out from underneath me. I hit the dirt hard, back pain flaring full force. A crossbow bolt hits the quaint little roof, quivering slightly. 

Fahj-Dsal hisses. 

A rough male voice echoes out of the well: "Fuck off!" 

I glance at Cherry, who seems to have just saved my life. Again. She looks at me, eyes wide. 

What do we do? She mouths. 

I don't know, I mouth back. 

You have the people skills, she says. Which is yet another true statement I disagree with. Though, I want to argue, I don't have particularly good people skills. 

"Who are you?" I call. 

Another bolt thuds against the roof. 

"Right," I mutter. "He's not thrilled to have company." 

Though I have to admit that shooting strangers away with a crossbow is something that I'd probably do. 

I glance at Cherry, whose brows are furrowed in concentration. "We can just go, you know." I tell her. 

"Listen to them!" The well voice urges. 

Cherry shakes her head. "There's something here..."

I blink. "Like, what kind of something?" 

"Something something."

"That's the worst kind of something," I mutter. 

"Or the best!" 

"That's not how it—"

She cuts me off and stands up. She grabs a small pebble and tosses it down the well. Instead of a  splash, some kind of rattling noise echoes out. 

"Now you're throwing rocks at me?" The well voice complains. 

"You were shooting at us!" I point out, then remember that arguing with dangerous wells is probably not in my best interests. 

Cherry looks at me pointedly. "No splash." 

"And?" I stand up too. "Let's just leave Well Boy alone." 

"Good idea!" Well Boy says. 

Cherry ignores both of us. "Light only holds value in darkness!" She shouts. The words sound rigid, like she's said then countless times. Her fingers trace some kind of symbol etched in stone. 

I'm quiet. What does that even mean? "Light only holds value in darkness". Sounds like the kind of bullshit my dad would spout. 

It clearly means something to Well Boy too, though, because I hear him sigh from his cozy home in the bottom of a cold, damp well. "You guys had best come down." 

Cherry flashes a triumphant grin in my direction. She flicks her wrist, and her belt turns back into the ladder, rungs suspended by tightly braided silver. "Come on!"

Two hooks extend from the top of the ladder, securing it to the well. She starts to climb down. 

I hesitate. I don't really like small, dark spaces. Fahj-Dsal looks at me, then follows Cherry down the well. 

Guess I'm supposed to as well. 

Great. 

I look back into the well's mouth one more time. It's dark and uninviting. The crossbow bolts stuff to the inside of the roof don't exactly help my impression. 

Still, I haven't heard any screams of agony or the sound of blood splattering against rock, so I guess that's a good sign. 

The first step always freaks me out the most—that sense of being vertical, yet not on solid ground. Toes dangling over what could be anywhere from a foot of empty space to a bottomless abyss. 

The metal rings are flexible, too. Not completely bendy, but just enough so that I sway a bit. 

I have no clue how far down it goes. It took about ten seconds for that pebble to hit the bottom, though, so that's not fabulous. 

I take a deep breath and take a couple steps down. Ten, twenty, thirty—soon enough the sky becomes a faint white dot wayyy up high. 

I'm shaking by now, heart pounding so loudly the sound starts to bounce off the walls. The acoustics in this well are great for scaring the shit out of me. 

Finally, my foot lands on something that isn't ladder. I stumble, thankful for the solid store ground—even if it is covered in a very thin film of water. It's not enough to create a sloshing sound when a pebble lands in it, but it's still fully capable of soaking my shoes. For a split second, I envy Cherry and her lumpy pillow shoes. 

I can't see anything. 

The ladder, which I'm still holding on to, shudders. It shrinks back into a belt. 

I don't hear anyone. 

My hand flies to a wall. I can't think of much choice but to follow it. 

"Down here," I here Well Boy's voice call to my right. 

Trusting my instincts and a little bit of luck, I go down what I'm hoping is the right tunnel. 

It takes a couple minutes, but a dim glow appears. I can't tell where it's coming from. Soon enough, I find myself in a wide stone space with Cherry and Well Boy, who looks...

A lot like Cherry. 

He looks me up and down. I fidget awkwardly. "Um, hi?"

He doesn't seem to react at all to my discomfort. He just nods in response. "We need to talk."