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Date Posted: 18:29:31 04/25/02 Thu
Author: Krystal
Subject: Chapter 2 (A)
In reply to: Krystal 's message, "MageHunt" on 18:16:27 04/25/02 Thu

Part 1: Outcasts
2: The Sanctuary
As Marrin rode away, she thought about this new girl. “She certainly seems to have captured Taran’s heart,” she said to Buttercup. The horse whinnied in agreement. “Did you see the way he looked at her? Of all the girls that have come and gone, he’s never been so captivated! Maybe she can get him out of that depression… Actually, it looks like she already has!”
When she got back, Anialle was waiting. “Well? Did you find him? Was he lying around again? Did he catch anything at all?”
“Calm down, Ani!” Marrin told her. “Yes, I found him. Yeah, I suppose he was lying around… and you could say he caught something.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Anialle asked suspiciously.
“Newcomer. Stayed with Taran to help catch something. Fire mage by the look of her, but I can’t be sure.”
“Her?”
“Yeah, and you should see it, too! He’s simply captivated by her! But ya know what, who wouldn’t be? Even covered in dirt, I could tell she’s pretty. And she likes him. He likes her. Just looking at them I could tell. They make a cute couple…”
Anialle smiled. “Awwwwwww… My baby brother found a girl at last! You’d think it wouldn’t take this long, considering how many girls have been though here.”
“Yeah, but he never looked at any of them like this! No wonder he was depressed! His heart was set for such a high mark!”
“You believe they’re destined to be together? Fire with Water? How odd!” Anialle would never say impossible, but things could always be improbable.
“You should see them. She looks like she’s been crying. And there’s scorch marks on the ground from her tears. He must have comforted her, he wouldn’t have wasted that opportunity.” Marrin grinned at Anialle. “But he doesn’t have a mark on him. I think they’re meant to be together. ”
“Hmmm… We’ll see. How old is she?”
“I think about 15 or 16, I don’t know. She didn’t say.”
“Any useful skills?”
“You mean besides her fire? No clue.”
“What does she look like that makes her so beautiful?”
Marrin was interrupted by Taran’s call: “I’m home!” Marrin grinned at Anialle. “See for yourself,” she whispered.
“Hey, come on!” Taran yelled. “Anybody here?”
“Yeah, I wanna meet the famous Anialle I’ve heard so much about!” a girl’s voice yelled just as loud, if not louder.
“I like her already…” Anialle murmured. “We’re here!” she said louder. “Come on in, let’s meet the new girl!”
Taran walked in holding the hand of most beautiful girl Anialle had ever seen. She could have been a goddess. No wonder Taran likes her…, she thought. Red curls cascaded halfway down her back, and unusually bright eyes, the mark of a mage, glowed greener than a gemstone with excitement and happiness.
After a round of introductions, Taran began telling how he had found her. He seemed quite happy to embellish her oath to the town.
“That is NOT what I said,” Krystille protested. He grinned and hooked an arm around her, and her frown instantly vanished.
“So my baby brother has found his lifemate at last…” Anialle murmured dreamily.
“Well, I wouldn’t exactly say lifemate yet, but-“ Krystille quickly cut him off.
“I would,” she said quietly.
He blinked a few times, as if he were making sure he’d heard correctly. “You would?” She nodded, then hooked her arms around his neck and leaned against him. He smiled and held her tight, as if she would disappear if he didn’t.
“Well, I think it’s about time to start dinner!” Anialle said, too loud and extra cheerful. She elbowed Marrin, hard. “Come on, Marrin, help me in the kitchen.” Marrin quickly got the idea, and they slipped off to leave Taran and Krystille alone.
For a few moments they simply stood there in one another’s arms. Then Taran said quietly, “You want a tour of the place?”
“Yeah. Then I think after dinner I’m gonna go straight to bed. I’m beat.”
He showed her around the Sanctuary, getting thrown out of the kitchen by Anialle and out of the storerooms by Marrin. The bathhouse was simply a deep hot spring that they had built a wall around. “And here’s the rooms for whoever stays here. Me, Ani, Mar, visitors, and now you.”
“Which one’s yours?” she asked, smiling mischievously.
He grinned. “Right this way…”

Darienne had followed them as they searched through the woods for something. She remembered something about deer, so maybe that was it. When they finally gave up, tired and dirty, they walked east for a while.
In the distance, Darienne could see what she only hoped was their destination. A large stone structure, using a few large trees as supports, stood in the center of a thick place in the woods. Ivy and other plants grew all over it, so she’d almost missed it. Up ahead Krystille gasped in surprise at the sight of the beautiful building.
She hid outside, afraid to reveal herself just yet, as they entered the building. She waited for hours, wondering if she should just go and knock. When her belly began to grumble, she looked around her and found a blackberry bush. The berries were ripe and delicious, so she ate as many as she could stand. Still afraid to tell Krystille she’d run away, she settled down underneath a big tree for the night.
She shivered all night. She was beginning to regret her decision to run away now. She had no food and no spare clothes or blankets, and she was afraid to enter her only shelter. “I’ll just have to knock on that door tomorrow,” she promised herself. “I wonder what Krystille would do without shelter...” she whispered as she finally drifted off to sleep.
~***~
The next day, Krystille asked about the hot bath she’d been promised. Taran reminded her of where the bathhouse was, and told her where soaps and towels could be found. “And these bars here are for your clothes, so they won’t get wet,” he told her. “Take as long as you want; my home is your home.” She smiled as he left, and heard the door click shut behind him.
The water was steaming hot, so she quickly jumped right in. She sighed comfortably as the water started washing away the mud and dirt that was everywhere. She found everything exactly where Taran had said it would be. “I’m gonna like it here…” she murmured, smiling absently.
Krystille spent three wonderful weeks at the Sanctuary before finally growing restless. She spent her days with Taran, hunting, learning to ride Buttercup, and wandering through the forests. She slept away the nights on a luxuriously soft bed; it was almost too soft, leaving her restless at night often.
Taran carved her a beautiful longbow of her own, exactly the right size and weight. It was double-curved Rowan wood with a well-oiled string to go with it. Having used bows before, she loved it, and quickly proved she could outshoot him with her own bow. She shot dozens of bulls-eyes on stationary and moving targets, both on the ground and on horseback.
Eventually, though, all the splendor of the Sanctuary proved to be too much for Krystille. She wandered often, going farther each day, and Taran worried about her. Then he got an idea. She had said she always went hunting at home… Maybe she couldn’t stand being held down in one place. I don’t want to stay here forever, either, he thought. Maybe we should leave… But where? Not anywhere in Kriva, that’s for sure. Not Mazerai, either, and definitely not Sylazi. Maybe Talorai… Well, talk to Krystille first. And Marrin and Anialle. We’ll see.
After dinner that night, Taran brought up his idea with everyone else. Krystille thought it was a wonderful idea.
“No offense to you guys, of course, but this place gets rather dull after so long. Quite frankly, it’s too perfect! I wanna go somewhere,” she said quite honestly.
“Maybe… but I don’t know if I really want to travel,” Marrin said. “Besides, we should at least wait until after the Snow Season. It will be upon us in a week, and we shouldn’t travel through that. Well, you shouldn’t, at least. It won’t bother me.”
“Always thinking of others,” Taran murmured, and Marrin grinned.
“NO WAY,” Krystille said firmly. “I am NOT waiting another three months to get out of here. I want to go. Now. But where? You must have thought of that, Taran.”
“Actually, I did.” He pulled out a map he’d found in the storerooms. We’ll go to Talorai. Specifically, Tiente, the capital.”
“That far?” Krystille said skeptically. “Are you sure? What’s wrong with Mazerai, anyway?”
“That’s where I come from. I’m not going back. We can make it to Talorai, I know it.”
“There’s only one horse, though,” Marrin pointed out.
“So some of us will have to walk,” he said.
“I’m not going,” Anialle tried to tell them, but there was the crash of stone on stone from outside that drowned out her voice. “What was that?” Anialle asked.
“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out,” Krystille said, moving towards the door. Another cracking noise sounded, this time most definitely the sound of a rock hitting their stone door. Krystille grabbed the ring that served as a handle for the door and pulled hard. The door swung open, and Krystille looked around outside. A sniffle and a whimper brought her attention to a dirty, shivering girl standing outside the door. “Oh, are you lost?” Krystille asked her.
“No,” the girl said quietly. “I know where I am...” Krystille wondered if she was being vague on purpose. “Don’t you recognize me?” the little girl asked. “You saved me... I got you exiled.”
Krystille thought hard. The only one she’d saved recently was... “Darienne?” The girl nodded miserably. “What makes you think you got me exiled?” The girl was just about to answer when Krystille changed her mind. “No, wait. Come inside first, and eat. Then you can tell me.” Darienne smiled slightly, but hesitated until Krystille tugged her arm and pulled her inside. Krystille shut the door, then steered Darienne to the table. Anialle had been listening to the entire conversation, and was now just returning from the kitchen with a bowl of hot rabbit stew.
Darienne ate like she hadn’t been fed in days. In fact, Krystille thought, she looks like she hasn’t eaten in days. Her bowl was refilled twice before Darienne finally slowed down and stopped. While she ate, everyone else continued their conversation from before.
“I’m not going with you guys,” Anialle said firmly.
“Don’t be silly, Ani, what’s the point of staying here?” he protested.
“I’ll go! Where ya going?” Darienne chimed in.
“There’s bound to be more Exiles waiting to be found. I’ll stay to help them. Besides, we can’t leave all of our supplies behind. If you find your way to a new home, you can come and get me then, ‘kay? You can also leave Buttercup here, if you want. You’re not going to change my mind, though. Good night, Taran.” And with that, the stubborn Anialle went to her room, closing the door behind her. The click of the lock was heard by those with good ears.
“No, Darienne, you’re not going. Anialle’s got a point you know,” Krystille said, collecting the dishes and taking them to the kitchen.
“Krys!” Taran yelled after her. “You’re taking her side?” Marrin rolled her eyes and slipped off to her room, a protesting Darienne in tow.
Krystille came back out of the kitchen, frowning. “I’m not taking any sides. I’m just saying that she has a point. There are more mages around this area. I can feel it. They need someone to get their feet on the ground. They’ll most likely be lost, alone, and confused when they get out, and I can’t bear to think of them just wandering alone until they die. Anialle will help them. And Buttercup stays. Now come in here and wash these dishes or I’ll have nothing to dry.”
“All right…” he grumbled. “Wait! Buttercup’s coming!” he protested as he began to wash.
“No, Taran. Think about it. We won’t go any faster with just one of us on horseback, and I’m not letting you turn that fine mare into a pack horse,” she told him firmly.
He didn’t say anything. He only looked at her and smiled. He would never admit that she was right, but both of them knew that’s what he was thinking.
After a quick kiss good night (well, maybe not quite that quick…), they went to their own rooms for the night.
Krystille was awake for a long time, thinking. Could they really make it all the way to Tiente? Oh well, they would have to worry about that later. Now, she needed some sleep. She drifted away, letting dreams overtake her.
Taran woke instantly at the sound of Krystille’s scream. He rushed into her room to find her bolt upright, tears streaming from her eyes. “What happened?” he asked her, sitting beside her and pulling her into his arms.
“Nightmare…” she said, most of it inaudible because of her tears. “Terrible… monsters… you were… “ she cried even harder.
“It’s all over now… it was only a dream,” he told her. He stayed with her until she slept again, waited a moment to be sure the nightmare would not return, and then returned to his own room.
~***~
Krystille woke early that morning. She wandered through the Sanctuary thoughtfully, wondering if she would find anything they’d forgotten.
She was rummaging through the storerooms when she came across something that took her by surprise. “What’s this?” she murmured. Hidden underneath all the boxes full of junk was a small trapdoor in the floor. Opening it, she found a deep, vertical tunnel. She sent a little fireball down to light it and guessed its depth. “About ten feet,” she told herself. “I could jump that…”

When Taran woke and found Krystille missing, he immediately began to worry. He yelled for Marrin and Anialle and started looking around.
“The door is still latched, Taran, she couldn’t have gone far. She probably went to get a snack,” Marrin told him.
“She would have heard us by now, Marrin, and come to say good morning! She’s not here!” Taran insisted. They continued to search as Marrin argued.
“She could be in one of the back storerooms; she wouldn’t hear us from there!”
“What’s going on?” a sleepy Darienne asked, rubbing her eyes.
“I’m looking fo…………” Taran’s voice faded as he moved through the storerooms. “Marrin! Anialle! Hurry!”
When they found Taran, he was kneeling before an opened trapdoor in the floor. “Taran, why did you put a trapdoor in there? I don’t see… wait, what’s that?” Anialle’s eyes widened in surprise.
“A kitten!” Darienne cried gleefully.
Sitting at Taran’s feet was a small kitten composed entirely of fire. It was very real, even solid, but yet obviously created, not born. “Krystille made this,” Taran said.
“How do you know?” Marrin asked.
“Who else do you know that’s a fire mage and is quite fond of cats?” he asked.
“I didn’t know she liked cats,” Marrin said. The kitten apparently had gotten tired of waiting, though, and tugged at Taran’s tunic. Then it jumped through the trapdoor. It looked up at them expectantly from the floor. it said.
Taran nearly choked. “What?!” he gasped.
“Taran, nobody said anything. What are you talking about?” Anialle asked.
“The kitten… said something,” he told her.
the kitten said, exasperated. “You see?” Taran cried. “It speaks!”
“Taran, I didn’t hear anything,” Marrin said calmly. the kitten said smugly. The kitten began sauntering down the tunnel, and Taran immediately jumped in after it.
“Taran, what are you doing??” Anialle shrieked.
“It knows where Krys went! I’m gonna follow…” his voice drifted up from the tunnel.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m gonna go, Mar,” Anialle told her friend. “He may need help. Taran? TARAN! Wait for me, or I’ll collapse the tunnel”
“Ohhh, why do we do things like this?” Marrin grumbled. “It always ends in trouble.” Anialle laughed and jumped into the hole. Marrin carefully jumped after her.
They seemed to have forgotten about Darienne. “Wait for me!” she called, preparing to climb down into the hole.
“No, stay there,” Anialle called. “It’s too dangerous.”

Krystille walked through the tunnel, with another fiery kitten to light the way and keep her company. “Do you think Taran will understand the other kitten?” she asked this one, whom she had decided to call Pyro.
Pyro said.
“Because it’s new. New things can be different. He may figure it out anyway, even if he can’t hear her. I never gave her a name. How about Ember?”
Pyro purred.
“Yeah…” Krystille walked for only a few minutes before she was forced to crawl on her hands and knees. Pyro blinked and grinned, showing all of his flaming teeth, then continued ahead of her, nowhere near the roof of the tunnel. The tunnel got smaller and smaller, and she barely made it through some parts. Finally, she saw a light ahead of her. She approached it cautiously and poked her head out. Nothing but a large cave greeted her. She stood up and dusted herself off. She heard gasps and oo’s and ahh’s behind her, and whirled to see several dozen Kiriev, a small underground dwarf-like creature.
“Oh!” she said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude, I–“
“You are the Girl of Fire, to save us she is destined, are you?” one said in broken Common.
“Girl of Fire? Fire… like… this?” she held up a ball of witchfire. The Kiriev cheered.
“Yesyes! Fire too bright, held in the hand! The girl you are! Help you must!” one of them, who seemed to be the leader, begged.
“Do you have names?”
“Yesyes,” he whacked his chest with a fist. “Maksob.” He punched a friend in the shoulder. “Kork.” He punched another one. “Rekel.”
“Okay, okay, I don’t need them all. What do you need help with, Maksob?”
“Bigboss keeps us slave. Workworkwork. We want free. You help. Bigboss not win against you.” They all gazed up at her admiringly.
“Bigboss? You’re slaves? But I thought slavery was outlawed…” she said thoughtfully.
“This we think also, but Bigboss must not know or care. You help?” Maksob asked her.
“I most definitely will!” she told them. “I don’t like slavery; the slaves are always mistreated, and no person in the world deserves to be mistreated. “Now, tell me-“. She was cut off by an ear-piercing horselike scream of rage.
“Get back to work, NOW!” a male voice shrieked, echoing through the chamber. Pyro dodged into the hole they’d come out of, but it was too small for Krystille to get far into quickly. Eyes wide with fear, she dodged behind a big rock, sighing in relief at the sight of a small cavelet behind it. The entrance to the cavelet crooked sharply to the right just inside, and then opened up into an actual chamber. She paid no attention to the contents of the chamber; she simply dove behind the protecting wall. She peeked out in time to see the Kireiv scattering to various areas around the big cavern, and begin their mining work once again.
She frowned, thinking to herself, I must stop this at once! when a voice abruptly asked her, She started, and whirled around, at the same time correcting herself. Not a voice her ears heard, but a voice in her head…
Behind her stood a drake. Drakes are akin to dragons, but much smaller and more agile and lizardlike. Drakes, though, are still mammals like dragons, and more similar to cats than any lizard. Drakes also lack the magnificent wings of a dragon, but instead can move faster, anywhere. Krystille moved cautiously into the cavern.
it told her. The drake grinned at her, showing off every one of its sharp teeth. Small though it may be compared to its dragon kin, even the smallest drakes are at least as big as a horse. This one was big: twenty feet from nose to hips, and another ten feet of whiplike tail, all in magnificent burgundy and crimson scales. The drake’s amber eyes looked into hers with an intelligent gleam, and the tail twitched, catlike, behind it.
Suddenly, Krystille wasn’t the least bit intimidated by the drake. She, too, was akin to it, because of her fire. She looked curiously at it. Her, she suddenly realized, wondering how she knew. It’s a girl drake. she said, not in Common, but the magical Firetongue,
The drake looked at her, slightly surprised, slightly amused. the drake told her. The name contained the characteristic hiss of the dragonkyn, the only link to their minute amount of reptilian blood.
She knew she was very daring to ask the drake, but she wanted to know. She hoped that Karisss, with her awe-inspiring mouth full of teeth, would not be angry.
Strangely enough, Karisss seemed more respectful because Krystille had asked. .
Krystille was surprised. Dragon name? What did Serrina know that she did not? she finally asked the drake.

Krystille was stunned, nonetheless. Why would her mother know the Queen’s mother?
The drake jumped back in surprise at the sound of Serrina’s name. . Krystille was stunned. Her mother knew the Queen’s mother!! But she was confused by the drake’s saying Gifted. And she told her so. The drake left rather quickly, turning in the little cave and leaving through a tunnel that her body had blocked before. Krystille was barely given time to move out of her tail’s way, much less ask the thousand questions that had come up during their conversation. Karisss was gone, and the tunnel turned sharply, straight up, and so was impossible to climb.
Krystille sighed. The only way out of this cave was back into the big cavern where she’d met the Kiriev, and she had no idea whether the owner of that voice was still there. She crept to the end of the little tunnel, and peeked around the edge.
“Hello, my dear. I was hoping you’d be all right. Firedrakes are not the most kindly of creatures.” Krystille jumped about three feet at the sound of the voice. A man stood before her, maybe 23 years old. “I’m sorry dear, did I frighten you?”
“No, I mean, yes, I, uh…” she stammered. “The drake left.”
“Impossible, dear, this is the only way in or out.”
“No, there’s a tunnel behind the drake. She went out that. She said she needed to talk to someone, then turned around and left.” Krystille hated being told she was wrong, and telling her so as if she were a child was even worse. The icy fire in her eyes unnerved the strange man, and he backed up a couple paces.
“There is no tunnel, and- Wait! The drake spoke to you? Impossible! Stupid lizards are incapable of speech!” he exclaimed.
“I’m sure stupid lizards are, but drakes are neither stupid nor lizards, so it is quite possible for her to speak,” Krystille told him calmly. “They also have very good hearing, so if she was here, you would know it, the way you’re talking about her.”
“Now, dear, of course drakes are lizards, look at them? And how could anything not human be intelligent? Oh, and my drake is a male. All reds are males.” He spoke with a superiority that made Krystille want to smack him, particularly since all the things he said were untrue.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if she ate you one of these days for speaking like that! You are one of the most ignorant people I know! Have you ever put your hand on a drake? Lizards do not generate their own body heat. Drakes do. They are warm to the touch, and active day or night, just like you and me. Also, I know for a fact that dragons, unicorns, drakes, gryffins, faeries, most cats, and pegasi are all more intelligent than humans, you in particular. The color red has nothing to do with gender, they are red because they are firedrakes. And she is not your drake. They cannot be owned. She comes and goes as she pleases.” Krystille glared coldly at the stupid man before her. She could not believe him!
“You truly do not know what you are talking about. Nor do you know whom you are talking to,” he said. His eyes blazed, and suddenly Krystille felt the need to back away.
Krystille sighed in relief at the sound of that voice in her head. She ducked quickly into the cave, and not a moment too soon. She felt a spell strike the wall behind where she had been standing. The man spluttered with rage as she stood at the back of the drake’s cave.
“So, you’re a mage?” Krystille taunted him. “Not a very good one, though. That was a very messy spell. If it was a good spell I wouldn’t have felt it.”
“How dare you!” The man stepped into the cave. “I will… Where’s my drake??” He demanded, staring at the empty cave. “What have you done with it, brat?”
“I told you, she left.” Krystille ducked as another very messy spell was hurled at her. “She just told me that she’s on her way back, so I’d be careful if I were you.”
“You stupid girl!” This time his spell was much neater. Krystille did not sense it until it was too late. She was frozen, trapped by his spell as though she had been bound. She cried out in surprise, trying to free herself.
the drake roared. Karisss burst into the cave quite violently, shattering the edges of her back tunnel. The man shrieked and ducked into the front tunnel, which was far too small for Karisss to fit into. The drake snarled her rage and sent a ribbon of liquid fire shooting out of her mouth. The man screamed and ran from the flames.
“I hope that filthy beast devours you, stupid girl!” he screamed. “But if you somehow escape, I promise you will not live!”
Karisss growled deep in her throat, and the sound of the man’s footsteps slowly faded as he left. The drake turned to Krystille, and thrummed loudly. It sounded like a magnified cat’s purr. she asked.
“Yes, I…Oh! I can move again!” Krystille exclaimed.

“Wizard?” Krystille was confused by this word. Krystille had never heard the word wizard before. “What’s a wizard?” She asked.
Karisss told her.
“Oh. How do you know what they used to call me?” Krystille asked, almost fearful of the answer.

“Delay? You were barely gone ten minutes! How far does the Queen live?”
The drake grinned proudly.
“I see,” Krystille said, genuinely impressed. Karisss beamed proudly. “Now, I doubt that man will bother me anytime soon while I stay here, but what can I do next?”
the drake offered, tail pointing to the tunnel she’d just widened by her explosive entrance.
“No, I have to help those poor Kiriev. I won’t just leave them after saying I would help.” Krystille told her firmly

“I don’t know… how much attention would that attract from What’shisname? Wouldn’t he notice if all his workers suddenly decided to work over here?” Krystille didn’t want to attract any more attention than was necessary.

“But they’re terrified of him! How can we convince them to work? And they’re probably terrified of you, as well,” she added as the thought came up.
Everything was so logical and orderly that it seemed foolproof. Except…
“What if he has dragonsbane? Will that affect you?” She didn’t want to lose her temper more than it was already lost, and having her new friend killed would definitely set her off.
Krystille’s sigh of relief was louder than she’d intended it, and Karisss’s eyes danced in amusement.
“Well, I’ll go talk to the Kiriev and see if they will help,” Krystille told the drake.
Karisss told her, turning to leave.
“No need go. Talk here. Will help you,” a voice behind them said. “Will big Cat-Lizard help too?” Krystille turned to find Maksob behind her. He walked closer, holding out a hand for Karisss to inspect; the drake sniffed it delicately, catlike. Maksob stood still, not frightened at all of the drake. What surprised Krystille the most was his name for the drake. At least, she thought that was the biggest surprise.
“You truly do deserve to be free, little one. I rarely meet a creature so wise as to notice that I only look like a lizard.” Krystille jumped at the voice, and turned to stare at Karisss while Maksob beamed at the compliment.
“You speak?” she asked, dumbfounded.
“I speak,” the drake assured her. “I, like my dragon cousins, am gifted with the ability to commune with all. Unfortunately, I am unable to give my gift to another like they can.”
“What does Fire Girl and Cat-Lizard want us help with?” Maksob’s broken Common interrupted.
Krystille decided that short and to the point would be best. “Can you widen the entrance to this cave so that Karisss can come with me to free you?”
Maksob’s eyes brightened. “Yesyes!! We can help! But… what about Bigboss? He will stop us.”
“No he won’t. He’s terrified of our friend here,” she told him, patting Karisss’s shoulder. “If you work from inside here, he won’t be able to stop you until it’s too late.”
“Yesyes!! Smart Fire Girl! I will get friends, we start now!” He ran off, and moments later, Kiriev loaded down with pickaxes and shovels came in to start digging. They all waved energetically to Krystille and Karisss, who was backed into her little tunnel to be out of the way. Krystille smiled. Finally they were going to get something done about the slavery that was secretly kept here.

Taran moved carefully through the little tunnel. It had started out big enough for someone twice his height to stand, but now it was low enough for him to touch if he reached above him. Anialle and Marrin had caught up to him, and the two girls were talking quietly behind him as they walked through the rapidly shrinking tunnel. Embyr pranced about at his feet, still able to jump as high as he could and not touch the ceiling.
Lost in his thoughts and worries for Krystille, Taran stared at his feet and followed the fiery kitten bouncing in front of them. He never saw the stalactite that he ran into.
The blackness faded and Taran found himself staring up at two worried faces. “He’s coming around,” one of them said. “Taran you need to watch where you’re going!” That was Anialle.
“Is your lifemate missing?” he grumbled as he tried to sit up.
“Complaining won’t help, Taran, and neither will hitting your head. You’re lucky it was a stalactite, not an enemy,” Anialle told him.
“Shut up. And let’s get moving, I want to find her,” he said. “She shouldn’t have just left like that!”
Embyr purred. Her sentence was interrupted by another little flame kitten racing up to meet them. He gasped out fragments of sentences as he collapsed on the ground.
he said between long, hard breaths, attempting to get up and go running back down the tunnel.
Embyr purred. She stepped on his tail to stop him, then pushed him down. He lay there, gasping for breath for a moment.
“Who’s the new one, Taran?” Marrin asked.
“His name’s Pyro, but be quiet! He’s trying to say something!” Taran snapped excitedly.
Pyro’s eyes grew wide.
“What??” Taran cried out. “What kind of danger?? Show me where!”
The two flame kittens raced off down the passage, Taran hurrying after them. Marrin and Anialle, grumbling at his sudden start, ran to catch up with them. “Taran, if you don’t stop this instant and wait for us, I’ll cave the tunnel in!” Anialle threatened.
“I’ll just have to blast my way through it then, Ani! Sorry, I can’t stop! I have to get to Krystille!”
“Don’t worry, Anialle! This tunnel is going to get smaller before it gets bigger. We can catch up when he has to slow down.”
“If you’re sure…” Anialle said doubtfully.
“Ani, look at the tunnel! You’re the Earthmage, you should know!” Marrin chided her. Anialle examined the limestone walls of the cave, then grinned at Marrin.
“You’re right,” she told the younger girl. “I guess I’m worried, and not really paying attention.”
“Worried about Krystille? Or worried that your empty-headed brother will get in over his head trying to help her?” Marrin smiled.
Anialle laughed, clutching her stomach and trying to run while she continued to laugh. “Both!” she gasped, and Marrin started to giggle as they continued on.

“No, stay there! It’s too dangerous!”
Darienne was furious. Stay here? And miss all the adventure? No way! She’d gotten too good at sneaking to give it up now! But where to go? Outside to explore the woods? Stay here and explore the cave? Or down the hole?
She sat trying to decide which would be best and most fun. If she went down the trapdoor, she was guaranteed an adventure, but she was also most likely to get caught. If she explored the Sanctuary, she would get bored quickly; there wasn’t much to it. But if she went outside, she could explore all over and mark a path for her return! Darienne smiled, then went through the storeroom, grabbing a pack and filling it with food and a blanket. She checked her knife, then went to the great, heavy door. She unlatched it and pulled with all her might, managing to slide the door open enough to squeeze through...
~***~

(Ran out of room :)- go to ch. 2 (B) for the rest)
(PS- not sure why it switched to italics- anyone know?)

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