Usurper
DAPHNE
With a long sigh of relief, I lean forward against Trielle’s neck and wrap her mane around my wrists. A smile of satisfaction stretches across my face when I see the ledge at the lip of what appears to be a very short tunnel is much wider than the crawl on the edge of death that we left behind. The sky above is deep, yet vibrant purple and riddled with glittering stars. All of which counter the complete black drapeery that resides over the mortal realm every nightfall.
“Through this cavern lives a turbulent wind. I can feel it from here. Prepare yourself, Daphne. We have lost hours and will need to travel in shadow until we reach the brook that is said to split the Woodland Realm in half. Only then can we afford to stop and rest for a moment, so I hope that you are quite rested.”
I’m not, but I’ll not be telling her so. “Won’t we make camp at all?” I ask, eyeing the full packs that she tied to our horses.
“We will, but not until we’ve made up plenty of ground and even then we must each sleep separately. One of us keeping watch the entire time. We will stop at least once before the brook, but that will only be for the comfort of the horses. I truly hate that we must ride this way, for I have never traveled this trench and know not what dangers await.”
I nod as her eyes meet mine, leaning forward to tighten my grip around Trielle’s middle. “I am ready.”
She smiles, her eyes taking stock of everything around us before she says, “Close your eyes if you start to feel dizzy. Trust Trielle, for she would die at your feet if needed.”
And with that she leans down to whisper her command to Delago and in the very next breath we dive straight into the dark of the cave.
A veritable cyclone greets us not a foot past the opening, slowing Trielle and Delago’s speed by half. I can feel Trielle’s struggle in the flex of her muscles, hear it in the sudden pounding of her hooves.
My knees squeeze as I begin to lose my seat, a cry of despair leaving me when I feel myself begin to lift off of Trielle's back, my cloak flapping in the wind behind me.ugh
“Hang on, Daphne!” Klyesque screams, though the sound can hardly be heard against the rush of the wind. “I will stop this!”
Her long teal locks stream behind her and I watch, transfixed, as her eyes begin to glow a halogen blue and words leave her lips on a whisper igniting an electric spark of teal energy to buzz about her form like a shadow given color.
Then, just like that, I am falling back onto Trielle’s back and once again we are riding at a dizzying speed, clearing the remainder of the cave in mere seconds.
It is as if the wind stopped… or no… it is as if it shifted, carrying us at twice the speed the horses did before depositing us on the packed earth of the deepest trench where our acceleration comes to a halt, the horses pausing as Klyesque slumps forward onto Delago and the horses circle each other as if confused.
“I thought we were to ride on,” I prod softly, surveying Klyesque’s form as she pants against Delago’s head, fatigued.
“In… just a… moment,” Klyesque breathes out, her eyes fluttering open and shut. “Just need… to catch my breath,” she promises.
I study her in amazement and surprise. It shouldn’t surprise me to see Klyesque use magic, truly it shouldn’t, but it does. Until now I’ve only heard rumor of her great talents and none of them boasted of her controlling the wind.
“What was that?” I can’t help but ask. “What did you do? One moment it was as if we were trudging through knee deep sand and the next it felt like we were riding air.”
Looking away from her for a moment, I survey our surroundings. It feels, odd here. Almost empty… drained.
Noting that we appear to be in exactly what she described. A deep, dark trench within the ground. A… crack, if you will, that seems to split the land with rocks on one side and woods on the other, I realize something… the wind from the cavern has completely disappeared. There isn’t even a breeze to be had in this deadened space where gray, brittle roots stick out like brambles and weeds and the soil appears dry and dusted with sparkles of black.
An alley between the realms. Will wonders never cease?
Klyesque drags herself back up into a sitting position, still panting, still looking exhausted, and says, “Shifting the wind is much like shifting an ocean’s current. I’ll admit, when I tried it, I wasn’t entirely certain it would work, for air and water are two entirely different elements, but… it did. It worked.”
My eyes flare out, going wide with disbelief. “You mean to tell me you can control the flow of water? Are you bloody kidding me?”
She chuckles, shaking out her hair as her breathing regulates and she grins from ear to ear. “I can. Though I haven’t done so in many, many years.”
“Since when?” I press her, startling a bit when I hear what sounds like a slithering whisper way up high above the rocks along the south side. “And why haven’t you?”
She shakes her head. “Because within the realms, high magic like mine can be felt when exuded in the manner of which I just used it, and they very last thing I want is for the Lunar Queen to feel its pulse.”
“The Lunar Queen?”
Klyesques nods, pulling an old piece of folded parchment from her cloak. “The ruler of all Sea Fae and the usurper of the Lunar Ocean. Cold and bloodthirsty and as evil as they come.” She grants me a grim look then says, “My mother.”