Journey Never End: 6-7 chap.

chapter six



After a long night of stumbling over roots, light seemed to be creeping into the misty forest in a slow blue sort of way. The mist that hung around the trees seemed to cling to my skin and the combination of the coolness of the morning and the dampness of the mist kept me constantly shivering.
“Where” shiver
“Are” shiver
“We” shiver
“Going?” shiver. I asked for what seemed the hundredth time since Jarvis and I had headed over the road. For the hundredth time, I received no answer from the man walking quietly a few yards in front of me.
“When are we going to stop?” I asked exasperated,
“I’m tired, and cold, and hungry and I wanna stop.” I whined. He remained quiet and continued to pick his way through the apparent deer trail we were following. Hadn't the man ever heard of roads?
“Answer me!” I demanded. He only continued walking. I gave a cry of outrage and stopped in my tracks.
“I want you to answer me!” I said shrilly. He kept on walking, he was getting a good ways ahead of me now.
“I’m not moving another inch!” I shouted at the top of lungs at him. His pace didn’t’ falter, he even made a sort of wave with his hand without turning to look at me.
“I mean it!” I screamed at him. He kept walking and I watched as he disappeared from my view behind a large boulder.
I made a sound that was something between a sob and a shrill shout. He had left me!
“No good, idiotic, impudent, conceited, pus-faced, swine of a sorcerist!” I shouted after him as I stumbled to follow the deer trail.
“He wouldn’t care if I were eaten alive by bears or captured by dwarfs or tortured by faeries!” I seethed to myself, I was so lost in my rage I forgot to watch where I laid my feet and tripped badly over a tree root landing flat on my face and skinned the palms of my hands.
My palms smarted as I tenderly closed and opened my hands to test how bad they were hurt, and unwillingly tears spilled from my eyes.
“I hope he’s fed to bears or burnt by dwarfs or tortured by-by faeries!” I fumed and sobbed at the same time as I rose slowly to my feet. Leaving my hands carefully open and stumbling through the forest at the same time, while tears were pouring down my sooty cheeks. Jarvis hadn’t even let me wash my face in a stream we had come across during the night, but insisted on plodding on.
“When, I get home, I’m going to demand he-he gets thrown in pri-prison where he belongs and fed on moldy bread and water only once a day.” I told myself as I turned at the boulder where I had seen him disappeared.
“And then, I’m gonna have him boiled- no fried- in hot grease and then he’ll be sorry” I raised my voice louder. There was another turn in the trail ahead and he was probably within sight around the next boulder, maybe he could hear me now. I thought hopefully. I opened my mouth to shout a long slew of insults and a strong-hairy- hand was on my mouth.
I let out a muffled scream as strong arms grabbed me from behind and kicked and struggled until finally I realized to bite my captor’s hand and did so with my surprise great effect. The offending hand was moved away from my mouth and I was able to utter a shrill scream before the imbecile who held my arms covered my mouth again. From the corner of my eye, I saw two gray, wrinkled, small hairy bodies drop from the boulder behind me and one settle on either side of me, while behind me strong arms were pulling me up the boulder. They were dwarves! To my horror the two dwarfs that had jumped from the boulder were picking up my feet and pushing me up the boulder. I started kicking hard, and managed to kick one in the eye and get one leg free, but then the other with rewarded me with a fierce bite to my ankle with its yellow dagger-like teeth.
The pain of the bite left me dazed and my vision dark for a few minutes and I don’t remember the rest of the dwarves struggle to pull me up the boulder, but suddenly I was being still half-carried, half-dragged by strong, hairy hands into a dark hole on the opposite side of the boulder, that looked so ominously dark I started screeching out of fear. It was then I discovered that while I had been temporarily unable to fight, the dwarves had gagged me. All at once I remembered a horrible story once about a young girl taken capture by dwarves and Meed saying that she would have survived she had only not let herself been taken into the dwarf hole.
I tried to struggle with all my might, pulling at my hands, and kicking my now unguarded feet. This was a dire mistake, for the moment I began to struggle, the dwarves grew irritated and before I could react I saw a heavy, thick looking, shovel-like object coming straight for my head.


Ugh. I was lying on dirt from what I could distinguish with my eyes closed. Disgusting, now I would really be a mess. I opened my eyes. Or no…I didn’t… I must have not…or maybe I was blind. A swift-coming waving of panic seized me and then it was quickly subsided, I had seen something move in the unpenetrable black. There was a faint sense of light somehow in this cave.
Cave. I thought, that’s what I must be in. And swiftly my last memories before I had been hit came back like a rushing wave.
I’d been captured by dwarves. But why?
I saw someone move again in the dark.
“Who’s there?” I called out. There was an answering grunting sound that oddly sounded like a swine.
“Answer me.” I demanded, controlling my voice to keep it from quavering. I felt something cold and wet touch my elbow and I yelped. Then, came a squealing sound and the patter of cloven hooves on dirt.
It was a swine. Great, at least I won’t starve. Suddenly, a hot tear of self-pity escaped and I began sobbing hysterically to myself. I was certainly going to die this time. It was so unfair! I wept for a long time before I finally was able to get a handle on myself. I had to keep a clear head if I wanted to live through this. With I final sniff I wiped my eyes with the shirt I was wearing.
Figuring that I might at least try to make an escape I tried to slowly rise to my feet and soon discovered that walking was not an option. First of all, the cave I was in appeared to only be as tall as I was sitting down and second of all my ankle where the dwarf had pierced its dagger-little teeth into could not handle my weight. It looked like if I were going to escape I would have to do it on my hands and knees. Gingerly, I shifted to my knees, ducked my head, and put my hands on the ground. I hit my head on the stone ceiling as I jerked my hands off the floor. I had forgotten that I had skinned my palms when I had tripped. I whimpered as I carefully closed my hands and tested to see if that was any better. It was improved, I grimaced, but not exactly comfortable either. To test this, I crawled gingerly forward. I would be okay for a short distance, but hopefully the cave would grow taller and maybe I could walk while leaning on the walls.
Hopeful, I would find some sort of opening that could give me an idea of what plan I could start figuring to escape, I began exploring the cave. Soon, it became apparent this cave wasn’t as small as I had thought it was and the swine I had come across earlier wasn’t the only swine in here. After I crawled up a slight incline on the pressing cold darkness, the air was filled with the sound of grunting, squealing, snuffling and snorting of pigs. And the ground was covered with substance that confirmed their existence. As I realized this I immediately pulled my hands up and once again was rewarded with conking my head on the ceiling again. I had to put my hands back on the ground and I tried to ignore the stomach-retching stench that was wafting its way into my nostrils.
I, instead, turned my attention to crawling in the direction of the snorts. Maybe these pigs were surrounding a door, in hopes of being fed and hopefully these weren’t a mean sort of swine. Soon, I was among the pigs, and thankfully they appeared to be more afraid of me than I was of them and started squealing as I came nearer and apparently fleeing. I had been right about a door though, there seemed to be an orangey faint light coming from a small crack in the stone wall. I put my hand to the crack, a small burst of cold air was blowing through. Maybe this was the way out. Crouching low on my knees I put my numb fingers in the crack and pulled. The stone wouldn’t move, but the light was growing brighter. I blew on my fingers, trying not to notice the smell on my hands, and tried again. This time, the door began to move about an inch and then in one glorious wrench in which the force of the stone moving knocked me to my back, the door was open. The swine were now squealing at the opposite end of the cave, something had frightened them.
The orange light seemed to flood the cave blinded me for a moment and then in a horrible instant I realized at once that the light was from a torch, a torch being held by an ugly grinning dwarf.
I let out a muffled cry of disgust and the dwarf grinned wider, his horrible yellow-sharp little teeth gleaming in the torchlight and then he moved to the side as if waiting for someone else to enter. My eyes still adjusting to the sudden light I saw a short figure that filled the small opening stop short of entering. For a long minute, whoever was in the door appeared to just stand there watching me. I lifted my head to look up and saw as I squinted into the bright torchlight a gray, leathery face that appeared to be sizing me up. I swallowed and slowly pushed myself up and sat down in tailor’s position.
“Please,” I don’t think I had ever said that word more sincerely, “Why am I here?” I asked politely. The dwarf in the door only grunted, then abruptly turned on its heel away from the door.
“Wait!” I said hoarsely, but the dwarf was already gone. Only the one that held the door was left. I hesitantly glanced at him; he was watching me with exact carefulness that scared me, the way a lion watched a mouse. As if he knew he didn’t have to put for the much effort to make me his prey. I held back a shudder, and carefully looked him in the eye to stare him down. We remained not blinking for several minutes until finally he looked away breaking into a slow easy grin that displayed all his horrible teeth. It looked as if he were baring his teeth to me and then he shut the door and I was in darkness once again.
I shuddered in the dark, I almost preferred the dwarf. I was determined not to start crying again though and crawled back to my hands and knees and began investigating the cave as throroughly as I could.
It didn’t do me much good. All I discovered was that I was in a long rectangular-like cave that was full of pigs and pig feces. I decided to settle myself near to the door, thinking that maybe I would be released eventually. Certainly this was a mistake, just like everything else.
In the mean time, I knew I had to keep my mind occupied or I would drive myself insane in the dark. I began by describing every inch of every wardrobe I ever had to the pigs. That took me a couple hours, but the pigs apparently seemed to enjoy either the sound of my voice or my dresses because gradually they came closer. After I had fully described my wardrobe, I proceeded to tell them about my town house, all the Kalian gossip, all the parties I had been to recently, and the subject that took the longest, Meed. By the time, my voice hurt from talking so much, the pigs had settled around me, snuffling, but generally being quiet. I sighed, I knew I had passed more than a couple hours, but now I had nothing to do. I was getting ready to break into every song I had ever learned-something that would most certainly scare the pigs- when suddenly the pigs were arousing themselves. They were growing upset, squealing and carrying on. I didn’t know what was the matter with them until I saw a crack of light around the door.
Once again, the door was flown open and a short gray figure was silhouetted in the doorway. I heard a grunting sound uttered from the dwarf, but it was a full half-minute before it registered that the grunt had sounded roughly like “come”. I was half-afraid I was hearing things, but that dwarf was glaring at me so commandingly I couldn’t help but obey. Hesitantly, my hands balled up I approached the open door on my hands and knees. Reaching the gnarled, almost root looking feet of the dwarf in the door, I looked up. I saw for a half a minute this dwarf appeared to be wearing a long, sweeping, sort of cloak made out of brown fur that barely missed the floor and there was a circlet of dark, shining, stone just above the dwarf’s pointy and gray ears. Before, I could study him (or her I couldn’t tell), the dwarf whirled away and hoping not be hit by a shovel again, I followed on my hands and knees. The dwarf led me up a number of lighted cave passage ways, the whole time I on my knees, until finally when my hands and back felt they were on fire and I had to keep blinking away tears, the dwarf led me into a large cavern lighted with what seemed like hundreds of torches. Thankfully, it looked as if I it was tall enough for me to stand up five time my height. I leaned on the doorway as I struggled to my feet, my left foot- the one the dwarf had bit- began searing with pain and for a moment my vision went white, but I managed to stay on my feet. My hair had long fallen out of the tight immaculate bun of curls I normally kept it in, sometime during the long walk through the woods, and now my dirty hair was in my eyes. Trying to keep my balance with one hand clasped hard on the doorframe, I pushed my hair from my eyes.
Finally, I was able to see the entire room. To my horror, it was filled with wrinkly gray-skinned dwarves kneeling before a raised dais and out of the corner of their horrible black gleaming eyes eyeing me.
On the dais, sitting on a throne, with his or her feet not touching the ground was the dwarf that had led me to this room and right before the dais standing upright was Jarvis.




chapter seven



If I had more strength, at the point I would have probably began screaming insults at him, but all I could manage at this point was an exhausted yell that died in my throat.
The dwarf on the throne appeared to be saying something in grunts to Jarvis that I assumed was dwarfish. Jarvis appeared to understand nodded solemnly, uttered his own grunt and then came purposefully over to me. He grabbed my elbow and attempted to lead me through the door.
I had the strength to pull my elbow away. He sent me a cool, warning look.
“Look,” he said under his breath, “If you don’t come with me right now, these dwarves will think that you for some peculiar reason prefer to stay and be their harvest feast. So if I were you, I’d come without fuss.” With that he took my left elbow and led me in front of the dais.
“Nod, and say ‘thank you’” Jarvis ordered under his breath. I complied, stuttering my thanks as I looked into the unyielding face of the dwarf on the throne. Jarvis made a grunting sound and nodded also to the king and half-supporting me walked confidently across the cavern to a small dark opening on the far end. I was half-expecting the horrible-looking creatures to suddenly jump up and come screaming to pull me back but the dwarves made no move to stop us as we entered the dark passage. We had turned a corner, which hid the light from the cavern, before Jarvis let out a breath and let go of my elbow. I stumbled, and quickly reached for the wall of the passage, my ankle sending hot pain everywhere in my body.
“Are you hurt or only tripping over invisible tree roots again?” asked Jarvis.
“My ankle,” I was able to gasp blinking back hot tears of pain again.
“Great,” I heard Jarvis mutter and then he asked, “Can you walk on it?”
I nodded, then remembered the passage was dark and said:
“If I can lean on this wall.” That seemed to satisfy Jarvis.
“Okay, then” he said, “Get moving, I’m not sure, if these dwarves really intend to let you go.” And he began to move quickly through the passage, while I as normal tripped along behind him.
We seemed to wander those passages forever, but Jarvis apparently knew where he was going, and fairly soon we came upon a passage that had a large hole at the top that revealed the dark starry sky overhead.
“I’m going up first.” Jarvis told me and with relative ease, to my surprise, jumped up, caught the edge of the hole and pulled himself up. His head came into view soon after.
“Okay, now grab my arm with both hands and I’ll pull you up.” He extended his hand, and I did as he said, hoping on one foot one moment and the next trying to ignore the hot pain from my skinned palms. But Jarvis pulled me up, and in one moment I was in the dank and dirty passage the next I was in the fresh, clean-smelling, night air. I pulled myself farther from the hole and took a large breath of the air, clinging to the boulder at the same time. I rolled over on my back and stared up at the sky taking in long gulps of air. I was alive. I had thought that I was certainly being led to my death when the dwarf had come to my cave. But why was I alive? And why had I been captured in the first place? Certainly, the dwarves really didn’t eat people, I mean really, that sort of thing doesn’t happen anymore, right? The Jarvis lunatic was probably just trying to get me moving, no doubt.
“Why did they…?” I trailed off. Jarvis was standing on the boulder looking all around the area. He glanced down at me.
“Food and magic for the dwarves has been sparse because of the war. They thought they could get both if they stole an elf, of course they didn’t realize who you were, otherwise they wouldn’t have bothered.” He jumped off the boulder. I sat up.
“Why?” I asked. By the half-moon, I could see him send me a sort of an isn’t-it-obvious look.
“It would mean political intervention and the dwarves have too much of that already, with elfs and faeries running them out of countries. Your capture was a complete accident.” He told me in a distant tone.
“But…Look, I understand how I could um-give them food, but um, how…how do they get magic from…” I trailed off again trying to avoid thinking about the details. Jarvis wasn’t paying any attention to me anyway, he was staring intently down at the trail to the right.
“Come on, “he said abruptly, turning back to me, “We need to go.” And with one swift move he had pulled me down from the boulder and was setting me on my feet. I had to lean back quickly on the boulder, to keep pressure off my foot.
“Follow the boulders to the line of trees.” He told me heading into the line of trees he spoke of.
“Wait!” I called after him, but he had disappeared into the trees. Frowning, and thinking of some good insults to call him when I caught up with him, I hobbled to the line of trees. When, I finally made it to them, I had sweat collecting at my temples and my forehead and my ankle was searing with white-hot pain and quite suddenly my head was starting to hurt. I had to quickly change my grasp from the hard surface of the boulder to a tree limb in order to head through the dark trees and I almost fell completely over while I did it but was able to regain my balance in time. I let out a long breath and attempted to hop on one foot and reach for the next close tree branch in the dark forest. I hopped forward, made a valiant grasp for the tree branch, lost my balance and fell flat on my face.
And then I lifted my head to find I wasn’t in a dark forest anymore.
I was in a bright, clearing, warmed by cheerful fire with a pot steaming over it in the middle. Nearby, I saw two horses munching on some daises and distantly I heard water rushing over rocks, and thought I smelt the fresh smell of water. Coming from the direction of the sound of the water was Jarvis looking clean and carrying a metal teapot.
“It took you long enough.” Said Jarvis putting the teapot by the fire. I sputtered as I pushed myself to my knees.
“No thanks to you, you mindless swamp-headed swine!” I snapped. He ignored me and sat down by the fire and began to cut up some carrots that I hadn’t noticed was sitting by the fire and put them in the pot that was stewing over the fire.
I strove to rise and hobble my way across the clearing, but I couldn’t get myself to my feet without my ankle making my vision go blurry and having to let out long breaths and closing my eyes. After a couple attempts, I instead ended up staring hotly at Jarvis calmly cutting up vegetable and putting them in the stew.
Finally, he put the knife down and said:
“Now. Come over here and let me see your ankle.” For a moment, I seethed and then swallowed my pride as best as I could and told him:
“I can’t.” in a sulky tone.
“Why not?”
“I can’t get up.” He paused. This irritated me further.
“I really can’t!” I said shrilly and felt my eyes getting hot. I blinked furiously and swallowed.
“I believe you.” Said Jarvis slowly. “Do you need help?” he asked.
Miserably and unwillingly, I nodded.
“Okay” and he got up, picked me up like a sack, and dropped me next to the fire.
“I appreciate your carefulness!” I spat at him sarcastically, while my ankle, head, hands and every other part of my body seared with pain. Jarvis (as usual) ignored me, and settled down next to my left foot and began gingerly rolling back the pant leg. Unfortunately, the pant leg had dried on to the wound and it pulled at my skin as he pulled it away, I was able to see that much before my vision went white and a loud rushing sound filled my ears. Then, my vision came back and I realized I was making those whimpering, measly, sounds, made myself stop and began concentrating on watching Jarvis. He had pulled back the pants leg and was saying in an irritated voice:
“You didn’t tell me you were bitten.” I think I murmured something like:
“You didn’t ask,” but I’m not sure, because I only remember, Jarvis looking sharply up at me when I spoke and saying:
“Lay down!” in an urgent tone. To which, for once, I immediately took his advice, because the pain in my foot and most especially my face had grown too much for me and at the moment I passed out.
I must’ve not been unconscious long, because the next instant Jarvis was yelling at me to wake up. I squinted, okay he wasn’t yelling but it sure felt like it.
“Stop it!” I ordered irritatedly while my head throbbed. I tried to get up, but Jarvis pushed me back down.
“You need to stay flat.” He scowled.
“You could’ve told me you had hurt your head.” He was roughly pushing back my hair from my face, I thought I heard him take in a deep breath. However, his face looked like it normally did, impassively irritated with me. Jarvis’ fingers were gingerly touching my forehead right where it was hurting. It wasn’t exactly painful, but it wasn’t pleasant either.
“That hurts.” I told him. He ignored me and abruptly stood up heading toward the brook. He returned with a pouch in his hands and unceremoniously put the pouch in my left hand, but then pulled it back out again setting it beside me and picking up my hands. They were half-scabbed over half-bleeding from my crawl through the passages. He scowled again, but took my right hand placed it in his own and covered my hand with his other large hand and cleared his expression.
“What are you-“ I started to ask, but he sent me a warning look and then cleared his expression again. Slowly, I was feeling warmth seep into my palm, warmth that was radiating from his hands. Finally, he let go of my hand, took the other one, and I saw with amazement the flesh on my hand had re-grown. I had seen magic performed before, but never the sort that healed. This was the magic I had never really learned. He fixed my other hand and then put the cold pouch of water into it.
“Put that on your forehead.” Jarvis told me and then went to the horses. I closed my eyes, the pain in my head was coming in a rushing wave again and it helped if my eyes were closed for some reason and because I was sleepy, very sleepy. I either fell into unconsciousness again or simply dozed of because next thing I knew I heard Jarvis approaching.
“Fi, what are you doing?” he said sharply, “I told you to put the water on your forehead. My eyes flew open.
“I heard you quite clearly and I can just clearly decide not to do something. But you better have the mind to remember who you are talking to you-you stupid sorcerist, I’m not some lowly fishmonger’s daughter!” I snapped from the ground. Jarvis paused, and then oddly a sort of relieved look came over his expression.
“Stupid sorcerist? Highness, you surely aren’t in the best of health for you to only utter a weak insult as such.” He said rubbing his chin with his hand. I glared at him.
“Master of the obvious are you?” I retorted.
“Get that pouch on your head. And whatever you do don’t go to sleep, you might have a concussion.” He told me. I put the pouch to my forehead because it seemed like there wasn’t anything else to do if I really did have a concussion but continued to glare at him as best I could as he fiddled with some substances in a cup and finally poured hot water in it.
“Drink this.” He ordered handing me the cup. I eyed its contents
“Don’t worry,” he said with a ghost of a smile on his mouth, “There’s no poison…yet.” I sent him a cold glance and then lifting my head up slightly took a sip of the brew.
I sputtered. It tasted like a mixture of dirt, beets, and radishes all rolled into one.
“That’s awful!” I exclaimed my eyes watering and Jarvis laughed. At my expense I thought moodily.
“Yeah, but its good for you princess, it’ll put hair on your chest and maybe some on your chin too.” He told me still snickering. I sent him a contemptuous glare. Somehow, I managed to gag down the drink but in the meantime spilling it all over my face while trying to do so. Unfortunately, when it was finished Jarvis only filled my cup to the brim with the hot brew again. I glared at him once again, but forced myself to ask in a cool tone something that had been bothering me.
“How come the dwarves let me go?”
Jarvis looked away and turned to pick up a bowl warming by the fire.
“Well?” I asked. He dished some stew into the bowl and then settled down by the fire, leaning on a bag he had brought with him after he returned from the horses. He took a bite of the stew.
“You didn’t answer me.” I said coldly.
“You didn’t answer me.” He returned just as coolly.
“You didn’t ask a question!” I exclaimed. He just looked surprised.
“Didn’t I?”
“No!” I shouted.
“Oh.”
And he took another bite of the stew. I seethed with irritation inside.
“Just answer the stupid question please!” I shouted desperately. He looked up mildly surprised.
“Well, considering it is a stupid question” he said, “And because you asked so politely, princess.”
“I had done a favor for the dwarf leader a long time ago, he was repaying me by releasing you.” I frowned into the starry night sky. This only left more questions. I rolled over to my side, to look at him better.
“You shouldn’t do that.” He told me in between a bite of stew. I ignored him.
“Why are we stopping here when the dwarves are so close?” I asked. He shrugged.
“We were going to stop here anyway.” He said lightly. I frowned.
“Why? What is this place?” I said. He paused, as if to consider telling me and then as deciding it didn’t really matter anyway he said:
“It’s a sorcerist’s haven. Sorcerists create places like this near borders so that way if they ever need hide from anyone or need to rest they have a place of comfort. The faeries have been informed since the last war of most havens, but this one has remained a secret.” Jarvis explained. I was oddly intrigued.
“Why?”
He appeared to hesitate again and then shrugging said simply:
“It belongs to my family. One of my ancestors made it.”
“Oh.” I fell silent. This reminded me of who I was with, the enemy. At least, whom I thought was the enemy, in all instances he had only helped me, but I couldn’t figure out his intentions. He hadn’t mentioned anything of ransom or torture or even finding some others to help me. What were his plans? I wondered ominously.
“Are you hungry?” he asked. I felt faintly surprised, that was the first interest he had seen in my personal well being and then I was surprised again to realize I was hungry, despite the pain in my head and all I had survived in the last twenty-four hours or so. I nodded and he dished out a bowl of stew for me and brought it to me, then helped me prop myself up on a bag of potatoes that he had conjured with a move of his hand.
“How long was I captured for?” I asked.
“Only a day, the negotiations took awhile, especially because the dwarf leader wasn’t awake when I first entered the caves. They almost took me as a prisoner. Thankfully, some servant of the head-dwarf remembered me and kept me from being skewered.” He gave me the bowl and the words I had been thinking escaped over my lips before I could stop them.
“Why are you helping me?” I saw Jarvis glance at me and then he turned to go back to his spot by the fire and plop down. He grinned and said.
“Do you want the truth or the lie?”
I scolded.
“Don’t be stupid, the truth, of course.” I said chillingly.
“Good.” He grinned again. “I was hired by your brother.” He didn’t elaborate.
“To do what?” I asked. What he said next in such a cheerful voice sent chills down my spine and if I had been mobile I would have stood up and began to run as hard and fast as I could.
He smiled at me coldly.
“To kill you.”