Tysseland Chronicles - Cursed Part 20

CHAPTER NINTEEN.

Sasha tried to convince Evan to stay with Glenbury. He was so weak after the portal travel. He refused. He stuck close to her as if he were her personal bodyguard.

"I can do this on my own," she said.

"No you can't," Evan said forthright.

"It's nice that you have faith in me," she said glumly.

"I do," he said. "I'm just realistic about your lack of abilities."

"Oh, ho, ho, you haven't seen anything yet," she said like a braggart. She wished she could be even more confident, but the blue sparks hadn't appeared in days so she really couldn't count on them.

Was Evan only helping her because he thought she was pathetic?

"Why are you helping me?" She asked boldly. She was afraid of hearing the answer but she'd also come to a point where she no longer wanted unanswered questions lingering in her mind. They drove her crazy. If the end was near, she didn't want any more regrets.

Evan glanced at her and smiled. "Because you need me?"

"That's not an answer," she said.

"What do you want me to say?"

"The truth," she pressed. "What was the first thing that popped into your head?"

"I don't think you want me to say," he muttered quietly.

"Yes I do," she said. "I'm all about the truth. I've been in the dark for too long."

Evan seemed to be choosing his words carefully.

"You needed help so I helped you," he said finally.

"Is that a polite way of saying you felt sorry for me?"

Evan shrugged. "I wouldn't put it that way. It was more like right place right time."

Sasha smiled. Even if he had felt sorry for her, he didn't want to admit it. Wasn't that a good sign? She knew Evan liked her. She just worried that he was helping her out of a sense of duty rather than love.

She shook her head vigorously. Love? Love? When did that get into the picture? She barely knew the guy. The threats to her life were making her emotional. She dismissed thoughts of love. She was being so silly. Grow up, she told herself sternly.

They left Glenbury puttering around his abode and waiting for their return. He'd promised to help them get back home. That's all they needed from him.

There were no other travelers on the dirt road, which was more of a path of least resistance beaten through the brush and forest than an engineered route. It wasn't smooth or graded and they had to climb over fallen trees often.

"You wouldn't be able to get a cart through here," Evan remarked surveying their surroundings. They were in the thick of the trees that rose endlessly into the sky. It was a beautiful forest, peaceful with the trilling of birds and light scamper of the little feet of squirrels and rabbits. Sasha loved nature and its positive energy. It was a shame there was so much evil lurking about because the forest was a place worth investigating.

"Maybe this is the hiker's route?"

They continued to walk toward their destination. The castle came into view about a mile down the dirt road from Glenbury's shack. It wasn't what she expected. She'd seen castles in pictures and books and even visited one in England.

The Tysseland castle was made of a gleaming white stone. Despite its light appearance it was foreboding. Its walls were smooth like gla.s.s. Sasha guessed the material was marble but in certain light she thought it resembled ice. The walls were sheer drops and climbed several stories before the first parapet. Windows were only visible four stories high. There were no ledges or footholds to aid in climbing the walls. That was probably a deliberate defense design.

Glenbury had warned them they wouldn't be able to get into the castle through the gate or over its walls. He had drawn them a map of underground tunnels that lay beneath the monstrous structure. They were sewage tunnels that flowed into the Danu River. If they waded upstream they'd be able to sneak into the castle via underground caverns.

Glenbury swore they were large enough for a human to travel through. Occasionally they got clogged with debris and workers were sent below to clear out the mess.

Without modern technology it would have taken decades to build the castle. How old was the queen? It was clear some in Tysseland had technology. How did they get it?

Glenbury told them that Tysseland was an ancient realm. No one had electricity except the queen and some of her most trusted allies. The power was generated by an enormous wind turbine behind the castle. The device probably could have powered hundreds of homes but the queen would not share.

Glenbury said the queen often sent sorties to other worlds to pilfer technology. That's where the guns and lightweight armor were found as well as other goodies. Most of the items taken don't require power because there isn't much of it in Tysseland. If her armies travel far, they can't recharge or refuel any weapons they planned to use.

Guns don't need power and are the perfect weapon for the queen's troops that have no magical abilities. It was such an obvious selfish existence that Sasha didn't understand why the queen's subjects didn't overthrow her in an uprising.

Glenbury had laughed and called her knowledge of authority juvenile.

"She has more than electricity and guns silly girl," he said. "She has more magical power than anyone in the realm. No one can go up against her and win. It's unfathomable.

"Even your mother has only a slice of Vania's abilities. Vania is unbeatable."

The realization of what they were up against was daunting and depressing. For the first time Sasha wondered if she'd taken on too much. Were she and Evan destined to die here? She didn't want to be responsible for Evan's death. Keeping him alive was her top priority ahead of finding and destroying the talisman.

For a second she thought about tricking Evan into staying with Glenbury. It would be hard enough trying to find the talisman without being distracted with keeping Evan safe. He didn't give her the chance. He was the first one packing up supplies and out the door walking to the castle. She would have had to tie him up to keep him from following her.

She resigned herself to her fate. They were facing a tough opponent they knew nothing about and they could die. She didn't like her odds.

Glenbury gave them burlap sack robes to wear over their jeans and T-shirts. He had nothing to disguise their shoes except to cake them in mud and hope that no one looked at them too closely.

"Did they bring back ma.s.s-produced shoes and clothes from the other realms?" She asked.

Glenbury smirked. "The queen has the finest tailors in the world. What would she need with poorly made rags?"

"I mean for her subjects," she said.

Glenbury shook his head and didn't answer with words but his actions said it all. The queen didn't care about the comfort of her subjects.

The river was easy to find and thankfully there was no fresh sewage floating in the brown water. They walked along the sh.o.r.e until they reached a set of twin tunnels that fed the river. The openings were buried under some brush.

They dragged away branches and other debris to clear the entrance. Glenbury hadn't said there would be two openings. Evan suspected they were both sewer tunnels and would lead them to the same place.

Sasha put a hand on Evan's shoulder as he crawled into the tunnel.

"Just a sec," she said. "I have to talk with you."

Evan stood up brushing dirt from his burlap poncho. She didn't know why he bothered. Evan was covered in mud. Glenbury had put a layer of dirt on Evan's jeans from the knees to the ankle that could be seen beneath the sack. The effect worked if no one inspected them too closely.

"Nice dress," she said laughing.

Evan gazed down at his outfit and shrugged.

"It's all I could find at the last minute," he said.

Sasha picked up his hand and rubbed it against her cheek. She kissed the palm and marveled at its softness.

"You don't have to do this," she said as a mist of tears filled her eyes. She blinked fast to prevent them from dropping down her cheeks. "I would really prefer if you stayed with Glenbury."

She took a deep breath.

"Once we go in the tunnel, there's no turning back," she said gazing into his electric blue eyes. They emanated warmth and sparkled with intelligence.

"I'm good with that," he said bending his head and brushing his lips across hers. His hand gripped her shoulder and squeezed lightly. She grimaced at pain from the bullet wound but didn't cry out.

Spontaneously she slipped her hand behind his neck and pulled him to her with a fierceness she didn't know was in her. She felt warmth spread in her belly as the kiss depended. She clung to Evan as if she was parched and he was a drink of water in a hot desert.

His hands slipped around her hips, pulled up her dress and he hoisted her in the air. She wrapped her legs around his middle, the kiss never breaking. She felt a hunger that she feared wouldn't be satisfied. She was overcome with an urge to tear off his clothes and feel his bare skin. If this was going to be one of the last moments living, she wanted to revel in it.

Evan came to his senses first and gently put her on the ground.

"We can come back to this later," he said hoa.r.s.ely. Sasha was afraid to speak. She felt as if 17 years of wants and wishes were in her throat. She swallowed several times before gaining control.

"I only wanted to say," she stared at the ground afraid to meet his eyes, "that if something happens to me you need to save yourself."

"I'm not going to leave without you," Evan said.

"Will you at least consider it? What if I'm dead?" she said softly.

"You're not going to die, but if it makes you feel better, if you're dead, I'll go home," he smiled.

Relieved Sasha gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Let's go," she said.

It was dark inside the tunnel. Glenbury had given them a candle and some matches but they held off using them. The light from the end of the tunnel was still providing illumination. There was a fine stream of liquid running down the centre of the tunnel. Sasha crept comfortably on her hands and knees. If needed she could get into a crouch and walk a bit on her feet with her hands holding the side of the channel for support.

It was slow going because of the physical limitation. They didn't talk while they crawled. Sasha knew from Glenbury's drawing they had to inch along for at least a mile before reaching the castle.

Sasha froze when she heard a scratching noise.

"What's that?" she whispered. She was following Evan and couldn't see anything. The light from the tunnel opening had long faded as they climbed into the depth of the sewer tunnel.

"Do you want me to light a match?"

She didn't really want to know what kind of vermin was sharing the tunnel.

"No," she said and they continued to clamber down the slick chamber. The stench of sewer had finally hit her nose and she found it hard to breath. She tried to ignore the scratching noise when she heard it again. She couldn't control screaming when she felt something with sharp claws squirm across her hand.

"Eeek," she screeched.

Evan stopped moving ahead of her and she b.u.mped into him.

"Are you ok? Do I need to squash something?"

Sasha panted as if she'd been running. Her heart was racing in her chest and felt like it would explode. She hated bugs. She hated mice. She hated anything that was small or big that made noise while it moved.

She tried to calm herself. She was appearing supremely weak in front of Evan. Pull it together, she screamed to herself.

"I'm fine," she said her voice strained.

"I kill creepy crawlies for my grandmother all the time," he said. She didn't know if he was insulting her by comparing her reactions to his grandmother's or if he was trying to comfort her.

"I'm ok," she said more relaxed. "Keep moving."

They continued down the disgusting tunnel in a seeming endless journey. Sasha had no idea how far they'd travelled or how far they still had to go. Not knowing was killing her.

At one point a flood of water rushed down the tunnel making the muck slippery. It wasn't so much water that Sasha lost her grip. It was only a bowl full, she figured.

"If I haven't said it already, I really, really owe you Evan," she said as she dragged herself through smelly gunk. "I mean this is like the fourth or fifth favor you can redeem."

"Have you seen Star Wars?"

"Sure," she said fighting an urge to scratch her nose.

"Do you remember the scene when Hans Solo and Princess Leia are trapped in the garbage chute?"

"Sort of," she said. She saw the movie recently when it was re-released in theatres in 3D. "Wasn't there a huge snake or something in the bottom and it almost killed Hans Solo?"

Evan ruminated over his a.n.a.logy.

"Ok maybe that was a bad example except they got out and were fine if a bit smelly," he said.

"Ok," Sasha said. "So what you're telling me is we are going to make it out of this tunnel even if we are partially eaten by rats."

"Exactly," he said laughing.

"I like the way you think," she said grinning.

They continued crawling and every once in a while something would crawl over Sasha's hand. Instead of squealing like a girl, she swatted it away in a violent motion that usually resulted in her smacking her hand on the tunnel side. She gritted her teeth in pain but didn't complain. She could endure rats if she could break the curse. She kept chanting silently that mantra. I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.

"Let's take a break," Evan said halting. He struck a match and lit the candle. The soft glow of the light showed Evan had streaks of grime across his face.

"Hold this," he said handing her the candle. She took it and he pulled up his burlap dress and wiped his hands on his jeans. He dug a tissue from a pocket, spit on it and used the moisture to clean his hands. He unwrapped the cloth covering the small bundle of food Glenbury had given them and broke off a small piece of bread.

"Open up," he said and Sasha parted her lips. He dropped the bread in her mouth and then ripped off a piece for himself. She chomped on the bread, grinding its stale hardness between her teeth.

He bit off a piece of cheese and then offered the rest to Sasha. Her hands were filthy so she motioned to him to put it in her mouth. She chewed the food slowly. The bread was stiff and the cheese tasteless but she was starving so everything seemed very edible.