Through the Portal
Chapter 17

Katherine urged them to move more quickly, the next day. Her tension was contagious and everyone ate very little. They packed up and were walking faster than ever. It seemed they were trying to outpace something, but she couldn’t explain what it was.

Meredith walked beside William as he kept a firm hold on Josie’s hand. “It seems like there’s something she’s not telling us.” She had been watching the guardian and didn’t like how skittish she seemed. She didn’t appreciate feeling like they were in danger and not knowing why.

William shrugged, unable to argue. “If she is, I’m sure there’s a good reason.” He looked at his friend. “She hasn’t led us astray, yet.” He smiled. “Just remember this is an adventure. People won’t tell stories if we can’t brave this out.”

Meredith gave him a smile in return. “Well, I don’t think we have a choice.” She glanced around at the tunnels, again. “We won’t make it out of here without her. I just wish she would tell us what’s going on.”

“I’m sure she will, eventually,” he replied, “Just be patient.”

“Never my strong suit.” She sighed and fell silent, hoping to get answers, soon.

After a few hours of fast walking, Katherine suddenly stopped, startling the group.

“What’s wrong?” Henry asked, but she held up a hand to signal for silence.

She stood completely still for a moment, listening. Finally, she took a breath. “We’ve come too far to turn back.” She seemed to be speaking more to herself. It took a moment before she turned to the group and spoke to them. “We have to keep moving forward, but be careful.” She frowned. “We also have to try to be fast. I know I am asking a lot and I’m sorry. Let’s keep going.” She started walking faster, leaving them barely able to keep up with her glowing figure.

Josie tripped and fell, unable to keep pace. William picked her up, glad for the grueling training he’d endured to make himself stronger. It wasn’t easy, but he managed to keep up with the rest of the group while carrying the girl. However, he was only able to keep the pace for about an hour.

“You’re tired.” Kaelen walked by William, watching him. “You can’t carry her all day.”

“I will carry her as long as I need to,” William replied. “She can’t keep up, otherwise, and I won’t let her fall behind.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to do so,” the elf assured him. “I was only going to suggest that you share the load. I can carry her for a while.”

William hesitated, taking a moment to think about it. He didn’t like trusting a stranger with the child, but he realized his legs would give out, soon, if he didn’t do something. “Josie, will you be okay, letting him carry you?”

Josie didn’t respond right away, not wanting to leave the security of William’s arms, but realizing he couldn’t keep carrying her forever. “Yes.”

“It will just be for a little while,” William promised, allowing Kaelen to take the child and hoist her onto his back. “Be careful with her.”

“I will,” the elf promised, easily keeping pace with the others, despite the extra weight.

They stopped, briefly, for lunch. After they had eaten, Valda took a turn carrying Josie, knowing it wouldn’t be wise to let William overwork himself by carrying her any farther, that day.

Even though he trusted his teacher, William didn’t like allowing other people to carry the child. He just didn’t have a reasonable argument for doing it all himself.

After about an hour, Katherine stopped again. This time, they all knew why. There was a rumbling noise and the ground began to shake. William’s first thought was that it was another wyrm, but this felt different.

“This way!” Katherine ran down a tunnel and the group followed.

William was still tired from carrying Josie and had trouble keeping up. He stumbled and fell, feeling his ankle pop, painfully. The rest of the group was already in the tunnel before they realized he wasn’t with them.

Katherine turned back and saw him, lying on the ground. “William!”

Tristan sprinted to the boy and Kaelen followed, knowing he would probably need more help. They were lifting William when the shaking increased and the ceiling collapsed into the tunnel.

Katherine managed to pull the group back as the rocks fell, dividing them. Once the dust settled, she called out to the others, “William? Tristan?” When there was no answer, she began to panic. “Kaelen?”

There was silence, for a few moments, then Tristan’s muffled voice came through the rubble. “We’re okay. The Dunyan is mildly injured and we can’t see anything, but we’re fine.”

Katherine breathed a sigh of relief. “Sit tight. There is a tunnel that connects up ahead. It may take a while, but we’ll come for you.”

There was a long pause before Tristan’s voice came through, again, not sounding particularly happy. “Very well. We will wait if that is necessary.”

“We will get to you as fast as we can,” she promised, turning back to the group. “We had best get moving.” She started walking, not waiting for them to answer.

No one argued as they followed her, hoping for the best. Meredith was carrying Josie for the moment and the child whispered in her ear, “Is Will going to be alright?”

Meredith hoisted the girl a little higher, knowing she couldn’t hold her for long. “He’s going to be just fine. He’ll probably be sleeping the whole time we’re walking. He’ll get more rest than we will.”

Soon, Valda took Josie on her back, again, allowing Meredith to walk more easily. The child buried her head in the elf’s shoulder and prayed, not knowing what else to do.

William sat up in the pitch-black tunnel. He winced as he moved his ankle. Running a hand over it, he determined it was just a sprain and he would be fine. He looked around to no avail. It was impossible to see under the blanket of darkness.

“No point in moving around.” Tristan’s voice came through the apparent void. “We won’t be able to go anywhere without Katherine. We don’t have a light or any way of figuring out where we were going, if we did. The guardian is one of the very few people who can navigate these tunnels.”

William sighed, thinking the elf was probably the last person he’d want to be trapped in the dark with. He found a wall and leaned against it. “So how long are we likely to be stuck here?”

“It’s hard to say,” Tristan replied. “It depends on whether any other tunnels caved in.”

William frowned, but it couldn’t be seen. “Kaelen, are you still with us?” He remembered seeing the dark elf coming towards him before the light went out.

“I am here.” Kaelen’s voice was closer than William had expected and made him jump. “How is your ankle?”

“It’s just a sprain. I was clumsy and fell.” William closed his eyes, not that it made much of a difference. He mentally cursed himself for allowing this to happen. “I’m sorry I got you two trapped here with me.”

“You are not to blame,” Kaelen assured him. “You pushed yourself too hard, protecting the girl, but you couldn’t have predicted the earthquake. Even the guardian did not foresee it.”

“You think it was a natural earthquake?” William asked, fearing it might not have been. He wondered if this was another attack and fervently wished for some light.

“There is no telling.” Kaelen’s voice was as calm as ever. “There is, also, no point in dwelling on the question. You will only cause yourself distress, as we cannot do much to change our current circumstances.”

“I suppose you’re right.” William looked around, seeking any indication of light, but the darkness that surrounded them was unyielding. “I hope they find us, soon, though. I don’t like being blind like this.”

“Well, then, you should have been more careful,” Tristan replied, clearly not sharing Kaelen’s point of view that their situation was not William’s fault. “You should have looked where you were going.”

William turned his face to the direction that the elf’s voice seemed to be coming from. “Nobody asked you to come back after me,” he pointed out. “If you had stayed back, you could be with the rest of the group and not be here, blaming me and making a bad situation worse.”

“You make it sound as though I wanted to come back for you,” Tristan retorted. “Were it up to me, I would have left you behind.”

“Well, why bother coming to help me, then?” William demanded.

“Because our lady was worried and it is my duty to help her and, therefore, you.” Tristan’s voice had taken on an agitated tone.

“Well, next time, you can just forget about me and keep going,” William told him. “Being trapped here alone would be better than being trapped with you.”

“Very well. The next time you are injured, I will simply abandon you.” Tristan assured him.

“Fine by me.” William crossed his arms, defiantly and the group fell silent, waiting for help to arrive.

“How long will it take us to get to them?” Meredith asked, as they headed down a long, winding tunnel. She wondered if any of the others would get them there faster, but Katherine was certain they had to keep following her down this one and no one could argue.

The guardian was silent for a few minutes. “It’s hard to say. Hopefully, it will only be an hour or so, but that’s assuming we don’t get blocked in anywhere. If there are more cave-ins blocking our path, there’s no telling how long it will take.”

Meredith frowned, having been afraid of such an answer. “They’re safe, though, right? There’s nothing dangerous in their tunnel?”

“They should be safe,” Katherine assured her. “There are very few creatures that live down here and they are generally harmless.”

“Generally?” Meredith stared at her.

“They’ll be fine.” Katherine was trying to convince herself as much as the others. She picked up the pace, a bit, knowing that the sooner they got to them, the better.

Josie spoke, quietly. “It’s okay. Will can fight off anything scary. He’ll be alright.” Her voice was frightened, but she was trying to act like everything was fine.

“Yes, little one.” Valda was able to make her voice sound confident. “He is a fine warrior. I’ve been training him to fight and I’m sure no creature here will be able to best him in battle.”

She knew he hadn’t had much training and probably wasn’t ready for a real fight, but she also knew that he was unlikely to run into trained soldiers in the cave. Most of the creatures that lurked in the moss were small and not able to do much damage. She was certain that her student could deal with those. She was more concerned that they may starve to death if they were not reached in time. Even though she didn’t like Tristan, the thought of him dying without her ever defeating him irritated Valda, so she pushed on, hoping they wouldn’t come across any more cave-ins.

Jake started thinking about what was in his medicine kit that might help them if they were injured. He told himself it probably wouldn’t be needed, but he wanted to be prepared. He remembered that Tristan has said William had a minor injury and figured it was probably a hurt ankle, based on the way he had gone down. Jake mentally went through the procedure for dealing with that.

Henry walked beside his brother, not saying anything. He was as nervous as the others, but he knew it wouldn’t help to give voice to his concerns. At the same time, he knew he couldn’t fake being certain that William was okay, so he said nothing.

The group moved as quickly as possible, hoping they would be able to reunite with the others, soon.

William repositioned himself, sending another shot of pain through his ankle. He wished he had some of the impes berry juice Galen had given him. He felt a little homesick for the elven village, even though it hadn’t really been a home to them. He’d been safe, there, and happy. He was able to understand how things worked.

Those thoughts brought him back to their apartment on the top floor of the abandoned building. They had discovered the place a few nights after they first ran away. Up to that point, they had slept outdoors, but it was raining that night and they needed shelter. It had taken a while to find a place where they could rest, safely, but they had managed it. After a few months, that place had become more of a home than any of them had known for years. It wasn’t anything to brag about. There was no electricity and they were often cold or hot, but it was theirs. They had been safe there. He missed it, a little, and wondered if he would ever see the place again.

“Dunyan, are you still alive?” Tristan asked. “You don’t usually go this long without talking.” He didn’t want to seem concerned, but he knew it would upset Katherine if something happened to the boy.

“I’m fine,” William replied in an irritated tone. “I just don’t want to talk to you, since it’s clear you don’t like me much.”

“I cannot abide by fools.” Tristan’s cold voice drifted through the enveloping darkness. “Is it my fault you are one of the most foolish children I have ever met?”

“You keep talking down to me, but I haven’t done anything to offend you. As for foolishness, I recall a certain elf leading the charge against a group of children whose only crime was trying to protect the lady you hold in such high regard,” William countered, wanting to fight the elf, but knowing that would be a bad idea, even if he could see. “I don’t understand what your problem is.”

“I wouldn’t expect a Dunyan to understand anything, especially one as childish as you,” Tristan told him. “You come into our world and our lady treats you like some sort of saviors, but you can’t even save yourselves. She has to keep putting herself in harm’s way to take care of you. It is pathetic.”

“Well, I never asked to be brought into this world and it’s hardly my fault if I don’t understand how things work.” William felt guilty about endangering the girl, but he wasn’t about to back down from the argument.

“Would you two mind being quiet?” Kaelen’s voice was calm and polite. “I am trying to sleep.”

William stared in the direction of the voice, scarcely believing what he had heard. “You’re sleeping?” He couldn’t imagine relaxing enough to sleep, right then.

“I’m trying to sleep.” Kaelen sounded like a patient teacher correcting a student. “It’s rather difficult when there is a Dunyan and wood elf squabbling over a girl, right next to me.”

“How can you sleep, now?” William asked.

At the same time, Tristan said, “We’re not squabbling over a girl.”

“I could sleep, if you would be quiet, because, as I said before: there is no reason to cause ourselves distress. If we are to die here, I would rather not spend my last hours listening to your bickering. If we are to survive, I thought the time to our rescue might pass more quickly were I unconscious.” There was some noise like Kaelen was repositioning himself. William figured he was probably sitting up. “As for your statement that this argument is not over a girl: it’s fairly obvious that you are lying, either to me or yourself. It would serve us all well if you would work out whatever issue you have, so we may not need to deal with it further.”

“There is no issue,” Tristan responded in an annoyed tone. “I don’t need a dark elf telling me what to do, at any rate.”

“It seems you need somebody to advise you to stop getting into foolish arguments.” Kaelen’s voice was cold and indifferent. “I might expect this behavior from a Dunyan child, but I expect better from an elf, even a mere wood elf, like you.” There was some more noise, as though he were lying back down. “Of course, that is just my opinion. I suppose you believe yourself to be very clever, despite the fact that you can’t even deal with your own emotions.”

William stared in the direction of the dark elf, not understanding what he meant by the last statement. He considered being insulted by the comment about him being a child, but decided that wasn’t worth the argument.

“You don’t know what you are talking about,” Tristan told Kaelen.

“No?” The dark elf sounded like he was half-asleep. “Then tell us: why did you rescue the Dunyan boy? Why are you travelling with them, at all, since you seem to hate them so much?”

“Because I am serving our lady,” the wood elf responded. “I am serving her just as you are. I ran to the boy just as you did. What difference do you imagine between our motives?”

“I do not have any negative emotions towards William that would cause me to hesitate,” Kaelen pointed out. “Also, I do not treat our lady as if she is untouchable. I have heard the way you speak to her. Either you truly hate the girl, or you are hiding something from her. Perhaps, you think it is easier to control yourself if you treat her like that.”

“I treat her with respect, as you should,” Tristan argued, brusquely.

“You may lie as much as you like, but do not turn your issues into pointless squabbles. It causes trouble for everyone, even the lady you claim to serve.” There was a long pause before he spoke again. “Now, please hush so I can sleep.”

William stared in the general direction of Tristan, trying to put the pieces together. He remembered the sad expression he had seen when the elf thought he wasn’t looking. He realized that Tristan was always more formal with Katherine, even when she tried to be friendly to him. He remembered how the elf had talked about her fiancée. Slowly, the gears clicked into place. “Tristan?”

“What?” His voice was even more irritated than usual.

William paused, uncertain, but feeling he needed to know. “You’re in love with Katherine, aren’t you?”

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