Ol' Flint the Crow

The Princess's Tale pt. 6

With the help of a secret log buried in the ground, the rangers pushed aside a great boulder positioned like a statute in the center of a crescent shaped aperture carved out of the base of a mountain side. The rock leaned against the wall with the log wedging it steady. All the nobles and townsfolk dove into the dark abyss, the belly of the mountain. The bats were left outside to keep a watchful eye out with Vesper as commander.

Entering the hole along with us, the rangers spun a lever around that brought down the log, dropping the heavy boulder on top of us, sealing us away from the bandits. Even if they searched high and low, the robbers would never discover us. They would not even be able to understand how to move the boulder if they did learn of our whereabouts. We were completely safe in this uncanny darkness.

Thankfully, the rangers knew that there were prepared torches hanging from metal hooks on the walls. They took them up and lit them. These torch lights, shimmering everyone's faces, brought hope to us all. Pretty soon the children of the townsfolk happily gazed in awe at our surrounds. Like the inside of a cathedral, the massive chamber was build out of the very rock it was housed in. Columns the size of tree trunks filled these halls making us seem like ants scurrying around in a grandiose maze.

I walked up to the closest pillar and noticed my family's emblem carved into it at the base. Running my fingers up at down the length of the curved insignia, I shut my eyes as the memory of my mother and father's warm voices graced my ears. For a moment they were with me again, singing softly as they tucked me into bed.

However, the coarse, drawl murmurs of the townsfolk stole this fleeting second of happiness from me. Again I was back to reality where my parents were long dead. Their killers were among me, within stabbing distance.

"Anyone who's strong enough, light the lanterns," said Hobble. He then instructed those able to help the wounded. "Gather up the injured. Ask a ranger if you need advanced medical attention. I'm going to see what food supplies are still available in the storage room. Don't wander off from the group while I'm gone!"

Hobble fled in an instant, by himself, with no desire for company.

Nevertheless, I rushed after him with my nostrils flaring. "Hobble!"

Hearing my cries, he kept on going and even quickened his stride through the darkness. Weaving past the massive columns, the ranger did his best to leave me behind. He was so far away that, I could barely see the torch like sparkling in the distance. This is where my training as a tracker came into play. Keeping my face to the ground, I fixed my sights on Hobble's light footprints dotting the dirt.

Suddenly, I came to an abrupt halt. The tracks had stopped with no sign of Hobble anywhere. His torch hand been cast aside, smoking on the ground. He had vanished as if into thin air. However, I was not so easily fooled. Noticing that the last pair of prints dug deep into the dirt, like Hobble had applied great force to leap in to the air, I deduced that the only possible escape was from above.

Hanging like Vesper or one of his bat brethren, Hobble clung to side of the pillar tightly.

"Hobble!" screamed I, not in the mood for games. "I order you to get down from there. NOW!"

With a sigh, Hobble expertly shinnied down the column and landed on his feet without a sound. He could not even look me in the eye. All he did was casually retrieve his torch. Like nothing had happened, he continued on his march in silence as if he hoped letting me tag along would keep me from speaking my peace.

"How could you do that?" I hissed. "You killed Todd against my command."

Without turning to face me, he simply stated, "You wanted him to pay for his crimes, didn't you? Well, now he's dead. What does it matter?"