Page 13 of Shadows of Air and Earth (Remnant Archives)

H umming, I trailed my fingers along the darkened tunnel, admiring the carved earth and the amount of power it must have taken to create such a place. Skimming between my fingers, the shadows danced along the walls, following our quiet party with their own darkened silence.

And silent we remained, for the next twelve hours, not for the lack of trying by Riley Dragoon. His attempts to mend the hurt his secret had caused was met by a cold shoulder and more than a few rocks being thrown his way.

As for me, I had more self preservation than the air elemental, not relishing the idea of being target practice, my inner thoughts stayed my own.

Although, any fool could see that despite the fury still rolling off Xi Chin, these two were kismet.

Their breaths, their strides, their heartbeats were one and I highly doubted one misunderstood secret would break what fate had already preordained.

I glanced at the silhouette of Xi Chin leading the way, perhaps it was time to try another tactic, "Is this entire tunnel quartz?" The hushed silence broke as I relished the luxurious feel of the cool smooth slide of my fingertips on the tunnel wall.

A flicker of pause before Xi’s voice answered with surprise, "You know your stone by touch alone?"

"I may have done some training in the Argenti Caves…” I said while marveling at the tunnels.

I left out the fact that some training had actually been more like a half of a century.

Trapped in the cave mines, Gaib Castella left no room for error, the knowledge of stone, elements, metals, and minerals were to be mastered in order to create even a single blade.

Riley whistled behind me and Xi's steps faltered, "Argenti Caves? That means you know Gaib Castella?"

I snorted and rolled my eyes, dropping my hand from the wall. "Does anyone really know Gaib Castella? In the fifty years it took me to perfect one blade to his standards, I learned no more about him than when I had first arrived."

This time the light step of Riley’s stride wavered slightly, the rhythm suddenly off from his partner's. "You have your own steel from the Argenti caves?" he whispered reverently.

I flashed him a grin in the dark. "Daggers, throwing daggers."

Riley chuckled with dark amusement. “I knew there was something special about that blade you allowed Caval to throw at you…”

"How observant of you Riley Dragoon, and yes, you are correct, that was one of them."

"One," Xi inhaled, finally joining in, "you have more?"

I snickered, "Breathe my friends, yes I have more, eight to be exact. You always need at least one set. After all, some targets are just so much more satisfying with multiple blades stuck in them." I could think of more than a few fae that deserved this fate. Starting with both their relatives.

A low rumble followed shortly by the slightest sound of stone splitting broke my dark vengeful thoughts. I spun to reach out to the wall, feeling the slight splinter on the hardened surface. "It’s breaking," I gasped.

"Fuck," Xi spat. Brushing by me, she knocked my hand away, spreading both her own against the wall. "Something…is wrong," she shook her head. "It's not an earth elemental though. I can't detect any other power but ours here."

Stepping around her, I narrowed my eyes into the deep abyss of the tunnel. "How close are we to Lacail?"

"About a two day's walk in these tunnels," Xi whispered, as the rumbling grew, reminding me too goddess damn much of a roaring stampede. More stone splintered around us.

"Can you take us to the surface?" I questioned, summoning the shadows. The tunnel itself was expansive, more than quadruple my height and wide enough for five fae to walk shoulder to shoulder. Wide enough for even monsters to traverse.

Distant roaring joined the rumbling with speckled quartz sprinkling down upon our heads. I hated it when I was right sometimes.

"What in the Faerie fuck is that?" Riley hissed, stepping behind me, shaking the dust from his hair.

"Goddess if I know," Xi snapped, "We have used these tunnels many times before and never have had any trouble and never heard a sound quite like that. And no, General, we cannot just go to the surface. We are directly under Lac Asrai."

I raised my brows, staring into the darkness, sending my shadows searching forward. "You created a tunnel under the largest lake in Faerie."

A long pause. "Yes?"

"Knowing that it is also the most enchanted, unstable lake in Faerie.”

Silence, then a small whisper, "Yes."

I grinned into the darkness, more than wonderstruck.

"Well that’s just goddess impressive isn't it?

How many of these tunnels exist exactly?

" My love for this world and the creatures within it revived by its ability to still surprise me. There was nothing like Faerie and there never would be again. If we didn’t find a way to preserve it then it would be only a matter of time before we would all become lost. A beautiful, bright star, once admired by all, dimming and fading into darkness, never to be remembered.

I could not accept that this was our only fate, because then what was it all for? The battle, the sacrifice, the hope, the love. No. These were all things that were still worth fighting for—Xi and Riley exemplified every bit of this and that was enough to ensure I carried on.

"We said we would help you," Riley Dragoon cut in, no doubt trying to win over his lover's good favor again, "We did not say we would give you all our secrets."

I snickered but it was cut short as another roaring rumbled, closer this time and not stopping.

A grotesque stench assaulted us shortly after, sending me stumbling backward from its repugnant scent.

A scent I had the misfortune of experiencing only one other time…

when my brother unleashed the trolls from their cursed stone in the queen’s throne room.

"Damn me to Sheol and back, what in the goddess is that smell?" Dragoon coughed behind me.

My lips pressed into a thin line, my nose wrinkling with disgust. "Trolls, Dragoon. Specifically troll ass .” The sound of choked laughter echoed from behind me while I stretched my arms over my head, drawing my blade from the shadows.

"Stay here. I'll take care of this before they end up bringing down the tunnel upon us. "

"By the sound and the smell of it, there is more than one troll, General Dark. It’s a fucking stampede of them," the air elemental exclaimed.

Glancing over my shoulder, I winked at him through the darkness.

Whether he saw it or not did not matter, the tone of my voice said it all.

"That's the fun of it, Dragoon. Just stay here and I’ll be back in a few.

" Turning towards Xi, I added, "Keep the tunnel from collapsing.

This may be quartz but troll clubs are enchanted to break through any stone and earth…

I'd rather not have the whole of Lac Asari collapsing down on me.

" Striding forward with my sword raised, I added under my breath, “Drowning is never that much fun. "

Walking into the darkness, the smell becoming more and more concentrated, I heard Xi’s whisper. "Did she just insinuate she drowned before?"

I grinned, certain that by dinner time they would have their shit worked out. They were too interwoven, too connected to stay at odds with each other.

"Maybe it was a metaphor," Riley whispered back, his words following me through the tunnel where more roars and distant grunts could be heard. Weaving shadows around my head, before my eyes burned from the smell, I heard Xi's last words.

"I'm also starting to hate it when she uses that tone…like the world is ending but no worries, we will all die a glorious death."

My eyes gleamed in the darkness. If the world did indeed end one day, our deaths would be more than glorious—they would be eternal.