A Song of Silence

Chapter 74: A Journey in the Dark

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Birds awoke us the next morning. We spoke little of Azazel's confession the night prior, well we rarely spoke at all. Between the both of us, Azazel was more of a morning person. Not by much though, he awoke bleary-eyed and grumbly. I wasn't much better off as I skulked to get ready because I hadn't had any coffee. As tired as we were, we were efficient as we could have been as we readied and put our bags away. I donned another simple dress and my white boots and Azazel wore a new set of dark clothes.

Millie paced and snorted as I saddled her up. She was upset as I hadn't let her run free on our trek yesterday as I opted to save her energy for the road ahead. From Azazel's attitude though, we would be at our destination quicker than expected and I could let her run free, just this once. Finished saddling the horses, we started on our way once more. The hours passed in comfortable silence, the both of us too tired to waste our energy with words. After hours and hours of riding, my patience had run thin. "I swear to all the heavens if we are not there soon, I'm ditching you and finding the nearest inn," I complained.

Azazel looked over and smiled at the irritated and exhausted look on my face. "Not to worry, firefly, we have half an hour to go. Our destination is just up there," he says pointing to the mountains ahead.

"Those mountains are our destination?" I ask clarifying. Azazel only nods. A devious smile appears on my face right before I lick Millie into high gear. Azazel doesn't realize what we have done until he is caught up in the dust of our wake. I laugh as I sense his dumbfounded expression as he quickly kicks his stallion into high gear. He won't be able to catch up to us at this speed, no matter the breed of stallion he rides. He gains some speed on us as we get closer to the mountains. As the flat terrain turns into rocks and mountain curves though, Azazel and his stallion are quickly left behind. I only reign Millie in once the main trails stop and I know we will need Azazel to be there for us to go any further. Pulling off into a stream, I let Millie take a drink of water as we wait for Azazel and his stallion to catch up to us.

Finally after what seems like forever, Azazel and his stallion arrive, trotting all the while. He shakes his head in amusement as he spots us and says, "I never should have told you our destination."

"You should have expected no less when you have been purposefully aggravating me this entire trip. Besides, I have to dust you every once in a while in order to keep your ego normal sized." I tease him. He only smiles and leads us up a less known path.

Turning back to me, he says, "We'll have to abandon the horses at some point. The trails will become too rocky to ride them up the rest of the way."

"Will it be safe where we leave them?"
I ask, concerned for Millie's well-being.

He nods, "Yes, there is a covered patch later up the trails. Nobody would steal them here. Few live in these mountains and those that do mind that heir own business."

"What about food and water?"

"Plenty of grass for them to eat. There is a stream nearby. Both of the horses are smart enough to make their way to it and back to the shelter." Satisfied with his answers, I remain silent as we trek slowly up the hills. Just as Azazel had said, there was a densely wooded area an hour up the mountain that would serve perfect shelter for the horses.

"What about bears, mountain lions, or the wolves?" I ask as we dismount from the horses. Snapping his fingers, a fine mist descends on the horses in a small fog.

"There. Now any predator or any other fae up here won't be able to spot them." He pauses for a second before he continues, "I care for my horse greatly, but you seem overly concerned for yours."

I shrug my shoulders saying, "I'm waiting for the question."

He laughs before saying, "Why?"

I put my hands in the he pocket of my coat and look sheepishly at the ground, "I don't know. Millie has always been there for me. All these years she has been my constant when everything seems uncertain and I didn't know what to do with my life."

Azazel approaches me slowly until our faces are inches apart. I can feel the warm heat of his breath as he says quietly, "I give you my word she will be safe, firefly." Nodding, I wrap my arms around his waist and Lena my head on his muscled chest.

"This surprise better be worth the trip, Your Highness, or I'll be fucking pissed." I say quietly, trying to lighten the mood.

Azazel smiles and responds, "Not to worry firefly, you have my word it will be worth it."

Shaking my head, I tease him and say, "Promises, promses. You'd be honk as a high king you wouldn't make so many of them."

"I only make promises that I mean, firefly. And to you these past few weeks, I have made a fuck ton of the them to you these past few weeks. More than I have in a long while."

Shaking my head at him, i unstrap my packs from Millie's back and put them across my shoulders. Turning back to Azazel, I say, "Lead the way, highness." A small smile appears on his face before he does as I ask and leads the way. On we trek with little break. The sun starts to sink into the sky as we continue on. My complaining starts about half an hour after we leave the horses. After the one hundredth 'how much longer', Azazel turns around and gives me an exasperated look. Even after my constant annoying of him, Azazel's infinite patience doesn't snap as I continue to make him reveal our destination. No dice, unfortunately, as Azazel attempts to power ahead to get away from me and my constant how much longers. Unluckily for him and keep up when with his lengthening strides as the sun sinks even further into the sky.

It is not until the light has almost faded that we reach our supposed destination. I had created a makeshift torch from the branches and dead grass on the mountain. When Azazel wasn't liking, I had used my lighting to light the torch and give us some extra light as the sun sank from the sky. Azazel roughly thrones his pack down and sits on a nearby rock as his chest heaves from exhaustion. I follow his lead as I plant the torch in the ground and slump down next to it on the dry earth. "Azazel, I swear if we are not there yet I will personally throw you off this mountain myself."

A smile appears on his sweaty face at my irritated tone as he responds, "The best places to see are the hardest to get to." Motioning to the setting sun, I look over and see what he meant. The sky and land are highlighted in blood red light as the sun finally exits the sky. The entire scene was breathtaking, but it took less than a few minutes to witness before the spell was broken and there was no more light.

Turning back to Azazel, I say questioningly, "That was it?"

He shakes his head and finally rises from the rock that he sat on. "No, I just wanted you to see it before I took you to our final destination." I follow Azazel a little ways before he parts the ivy that had obscured some hidden cave I hadn't noticed before. Motioning for me to go ahead, I do as he asked and duck under the thick canopy of ivy. The scene before me is breathtaking. The torch in my hand reflects off the hanging crystals and the vibrant lake in front of me. My mouth gapes open as I taken in the cave in front of me. Stalagmites of every color decorate the ceiling and reflect beautifully off the clear water below. I don't even realize Azazel is there until he speaks, "Welcome firefly, to the cave of wonders."