Call of Ring(Compleled)

21 The Journey

         Blake was surprised how quickly time passed as they traveled the dusty Path of Senna by horse. The servant who had unwillingly conceded his horse to Blake looked exhausted and ready to retire for a night’s rest. For the past hour, they had been looking for a place to spend the night. Any type of shelter would do.

         Dusk had officially set in when they finally spotted a place that looked promising for shelter. They were still in the midst of a terrain littered by small hill after small hill. Nestled into the upcoming hill, they saw a few scattered trees, and a stream similar to the one where Blake had come to first meet this party of four. The group made their way closer and discovered a few caves buried into the hillside near the water.

         Princess Sophie dismounted her elegant white horse, and the others followed suit.

         “Gather some firewood, and let’s get a fire going,” she commanded her servants. The one who had been walking was already drinking from the stream when the orders came. But even he rose quickly upon the instructions. Blake set out to join them, but was interrupted,

         “Not you Blake,” said the princess.

         “Let’s explore the caves,” she said with a smile that seemed a bit mischievous to Blake.

         “Don’t be distracted by these thoughts. They could be a distraction from sensing the elements,” he coached himself silently.

         Blake followed her into the cave opening. Although the sun was now setting, there remained enough daylight to see how deep the cave went. It was shallow enough, but there was enough room to sleep at least three people comfortably. After exiting, Blake looked up to see the three servants in different locations of the surrounding area in which they had landed. Each of them was busy gathering firewood. He wondered whether the princess would speak more freely with him while they were out of earshot. Instead, she made her way to the opening of a second cave. He followed her.

         The second cave required a bit of maneuvering between crevices in the rock to gain access to its interior. He tried to follow the princess at a respectful distance, but he also wanted to be close enough to help if she needed it. Independently, she negotiated the turns, and soon they were both in a small opening that had a flat surface for a floor. Blake wondered why he could see the room so clearly but then noticed some light coming in through a few holes in the roof of the cave.

         “This space should sleep two comfortably tonight. I guess you’ll have to join me here,” said Princess Sophie in a manner that was a matter of fact.

         “Uh…Umm…” Blake tried to respond but was overwhelmed at the thought of what she had suggested.

         “Don’t be so naïve!” retorted the Princess. She continued speaking.

         “Have no concern for the servants. They would never dare to express any opinion for what I do unless it involves my safety. Their only job is to protect me, but ultimately I make my own choices. They must trust me implicitly when I say to them that you are no threat to me or our race at large.”

         Blake still had trouble saying any intelligible words audibly, as he was still distracted by the thoughts of what tonight could bring.

         “Umm…whatever you say, my Princess.” He said aloud with an awkward stutter that perfectly matched his complicated emotional state.

         Blake heard something move. The noise came from a dark corner in a deep recess of the cave. He closed his eyes momentarily to lean into his senses. When he opened them from an extended blink, he could barely make out a pair of beady eyes staring back at him. The only thing that had come to him in that instant was one thought, “Shelter in place. An enemy lurks.”

         Not taking time to think through properly his next move, he simply acted. Blake knocked the princess to the ground and jumped on top of her covering her body with his.

         “Don’t move!” he whispered as he tried to remain still himself.

         Blake closed his eyes, and suddenly felt a connection to the earth that was supernatural. A wooden armor began to form over him, covering his body and consequently protecting both he and the princess. It was an out of body experience. Knowing he was now protected from an enemy whose only parts he could detect were its beady eyes, Blake’s fear turned to curiosity.

         He felts a weight press over his wooden armor. As creepy as it felt, he tried to freeze even his breathing. The unknown beast moved across him in slow steady motion almost as if it was slithering away.

         “It must have been a large reptile,” Blake presumed.

         He wondered if it was only him who had seen and sensed the danger. Touching the princess gently on the shoulder, he was pleasantly surprised to feel her skin. The gown must have slipped from her shoulder with all the commotion. He spoke softly to her:

         “Did you see what I saw?”

         “No. I didn’t.” replied the princess.

         “Are you okay?” asked Blake with concern in his voice.

         “Other than a bit startled by your sudden move, yes, I think I am fine. I actually feel quite protected,” she said with reassurance.

         “Did you feel what I just felt?” asked Blake rather innocently.

         “Umm…” It was now time for the princess to stutter before responding.

         “What do you mean Blake?”

         “I’m sorry. I felt what I think was a large reptile slither over top of my wooden armor,” Blake replied. The princess did not reply so Blake continued.  

         “If you’re okay, we should lay here a bit longer to ensure the enemy has left us,” Blake said with a question in his voice.

         “Yes, I think that is wise, and I also think that you won’t mind an additional few minutes in this position,” she quipped.

         Blake was incredibly embarrassed by her not so subtle tease, but when she began to giggle quietly, he breathed a sigh of relief. A smile of relief spread across his face. His smile was only ironic because neither of them could see each other. For this, he was thankful because he was sure he had blushed when she teased him.

         The couple lay in the darkness for a few more minutes. Blake tapped her shoulder again forgetting it was exposed. He slowly rose to his feet, and as he did so the wooden armor disappeared in tandem. He helped Princess Sophie to her feet. Although they were now no longer under the dark cover of wooden armor, the cave was had darkened considerably indicating it was almost night outside. Blake wondered if the princes were now adjusting her gown in all the right places. Blake assumed that as his armor disappeared, so had the threat of the enemy.

         Blake began to exit the cave. As he negotiated the first twist in the rock opening, he felt a hand grab his. He tried to tell himself that it was dark and that her decision to grab his hand was merely reflective of two people helping each other out of harm’s way. But deep down inside, he hoped the physical contact meant more to her. Once again, he wondered about the future of their night together.

         As they exited the cave, they could smell fire. Soon a large bonfire came into view. Two servants sat around the fire. Blake wondered where the third servant had gone. As they drew closer, the servants suddenly noticed them and stood quickly. The light from the fire revealed a look of horror on both of their faces. One of them spoke up,

         “Princess Sophie, we were so concerned about your safety. About ten minutes ago, we heard a noise coming from the caves. We decided that one of us should go to investigate, especially since we were yet awaiting your return. Not a moment later we heard another noise. It sounded like our comrade was choking in the distance. I went to check, cautiously approaching the place from which the sound had come. The largest snake I have ever seen had your servant encircled, with a death grip wrapped around his neck. Your servant was already motionless, eyes wide open, but no sign of life. I was fortunate enough that my instinct was swift action with my machete. With one stroke, I cut off the serpent’s head.”

         “Well, at least we lost a servant who was unwilling to trust my judgment of Blake. He was probably too tired from his walk today to fight the serpent,” replied Princess Sophie with a degree of callous in her voice.

         “We are roasting the meat of the snake now,” said the other servant.

         Princess Sophie sat down graciously on the grass in front of the fire. Taking cues from her royal lead, the rest of them also sat down around the raging bonfire.

         The smell of meat roasting over an open fire seemed familiar to Blake. He then remembered the rabbit meat that had been left for him up on White Mountain by the pesky dwarfs. So much had happened in a few short days, and yet Blake could not remember what had come before these days. It had all started by his waking into a random field in Midori Empire, near the community of the dwarfs. Blake’s reminiscing was interrupted by the sweet voice of Princess Sophie.

         “Has anyone explained to you the levels of magic in our world?”

         Blake was confused by such a premise. He had read nothing on this topic in any of the books he had speed-read during his afternoons in the book cave with Gaius and Dorkus.

         After a long pause, Blake replied, “No, I am unfamiliar with what you describe.”

         “Reliable sources of mine have informed me that you won three battles before reaching us here. I was also told that you received instruction from the renowned Apollos before he tragically died. May he rest in peace. Each of those battles was a test. Your instruction with Apollos was yet another test. As much as you bore witness to the lightning, earth, and wind elements, today you sensed how to use one of them for yourself. And in so doing you protected me as well.”

         Princess Sophie paused long enough to invite a response from Blake.

         “Yes, this is all true. May Apollos indeed rest in peace.”

         “Well, tonight I get to be the bearer of good news then. Because you successfully sensed and used an element, you completed Level 1,” stated the princess with a smile.

         Looking toward one of her servants, she raised her nose slightly as if pointing out some sort of instruction. The servant rose quickly and retrieved a bottle from one of the bags they were traveling with. It was a bottle of Singani.

         “Congratulations!”

Princess Sophie took a swig and then handed it to Blake.

Blake followed suit and then handed the bottle back to her. He remembered the advice he had given to Shamos on brewing methods and wondered what would become of that advice.  

“In memory of Apollos,” she declared before taking another shot.

Blake repeated the words and took a second shot as well. He wondered how long the drinking would go on, but they stopped after two shots, long enough to sample the delicacy of smoked meat that this wilderness and its enemy had provided for them. 

After eating their fill, Princess Sophie insisted they drink some more. But no drink was shared with the two servants. Blake had lost count of how many shots they had taken.

Princess Sophie stood up rather suddenly, catching Blake off guard. She then extended a hand and said, “It’s time to retire to our cave for the night. And thanks to you, it will be a safe place for us to sleep for the night.”

Blake tried not to blush, fearing his complexion would somehow be reflected by the light cast on him from the flames of the fire. He wondered also what the servants would be thinking, but he tried to push all these feelings aside as he stood up, and walked away with Princess Sophie, hand in hand.