Page 8 of Ruins of Magic
For a second, she couldn’t remember why she had been so infuriated with him. She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “It’s okay. I’m not exactly happy about all of this either. The small group here, was sort of my protest to that. I didn’t want the big fanfare or to put anymore thought into this trip than was necessary.”
Arion stared at her like he was contemplating what she said. When she started to squirm, he nodded and turned his attention to his lunch. She would give anything to know what he was thinking just then.
Chapter4
The climb up the mountain was brutal. It wasn’t even a large mountain, but several in a low-lying range. Before they found a cave appropriate to stop for the night, the rain had set in. They were all soaked within moments as they scrambled to find emergency shelter.
“Over here,” Leeric yelled above the storm as the wind hollered through the trees.
He had found a partially hidden cave and after a quick investigation he deemed it safe and dry enough to make camp.
“But how can you tell it’s okay?” Garron questioned.
“It’s as safe as any and safer than being out there in the elements right now,” Leeric pointed out.
“What about bears or snakes?” Ailsa asked.
“No signs of anything big living here. We’ll have to take our chances and just be diligent about watching out for the smaller creatures,” Leeric said sensibly.
“I don’t like it,” Garron complained.
“Well I don’t like being wet,” the princess whined, officially putting an end to the argument.
Taneth motioned to Arion to follow him as Ailsa assisted Valaria with changing into dry garments. They walked further back into the cave.
“We need light,” Taneth said, holding out a stick with dry kindling towards Arion.
“I don’t have anything for that,” Arion insisted.
“Use your magic,” Taneth whispered.
Arion rolled his eyes. “How many times do I have to tell you?”
“I know. I know. Just humor me. What would you do if you did?”
With a groan, Arion closed his eyes. “Light,” he said, snapping his fingers to over dramatize the ridiculousness of the situation.
“Thanks,” Taneth said. He was grinning widely when Arion opened his eyes and saw the torch was lit.
“Very funny,” he grumbled.
“You still really don’t believe you have magic, do you? Not just any magic, but natural magic.”
“No, I don’t,” he said simply as he gathered the necessary parts to prepare himself a torch too, then used Taneth’s to light his own.
They walked deeper into the cave finding nothing of true significance. Just before they started to turn and head back to the others, Arion heard something up ahead.
“What is it?” Taneth asked sensing the change.
“I’m not sure.” Arion squinted into the dark beyond where his light reached. He heard the sound of running water. “Water perhaps.”
“Let’s check it out. We have to ensure the princess is safe, if this cave floods we’ll need to move on.”
Taneth followed Arion’s lead deeper into the cavern. When they came to a wall that appeared to be the end of the line, the knight relaxed and suggested they turn back, but Arion shook his head and continued walking further.
Taneth watched, expecting the apprentice to run head first into the wall, but much to his surprise, he did not. Instead, Arion cut to the left and disappeared entirely.
“Arion?” he called out.
