The force of the blast pounded them all into the floor. For a horrifying moment, Treffen was sure the ceiling of the tunnel was about to cave in, but when the reverberations stopped ringing down the corridor, the place was intact, if dusty. The fiery remains of the statues in the room next door lit the hallway with dancing shadows.
Gawain was the first to speak. “I take it back. Dragon poop was an amazingly lucky find.”
Treffen snorted dust out of his nose. The sound made Emerald giggle, which made Treffen snort harder, and soon the two of them were lost in hysterical laughter on the cold stone floor.
Gawain scowled down at them. “We need to get out of here. Pull yourselves together.”
They stood up and dusted themselves off, picking shards of bramble and other unmentionable bits out of their hair. Gawain located the charred, dented remains of his helmet and crammed it onto his head.
“Emerald, what are you even doing here?” Treffen pulled a fragment of orange feather out of his ear. Poor dumb birds. Couldn’t help it when they had evil riders.
“Well, I’m . . .” She fell silent, cocking her head to one side. “Do you hear that?”
They all stood still and listened. Somewhere in the distance came the sound of marching feet. A lot of marching feet.
“That’s either one big army,” he whispered, “or one huge monster.”
Without a word, they all agreed not to wait to find out. They bolted down the hall into the darkness.
“Ouch, that’s my foot!” Emerald grumbled to Gawain.
“Sorry, Princess.”
They moved on.
“Drattit, can’t you walk in a straight line?”
“Sorry, Princess.”
Treffen realized the humans didn’t share his elven gift for night vision. The faint luminosity of the slimy molds on the walls was enough to light his way. Clearly not for the two humans stumbling along behind him. Black torches were spaced in sconces every so often down the hallway, and Treffen grabbed one. “Got any more firefern?”
Emerald pulled a few leaves out of her pack and rubbed them into the long-dried cloth on the torch’s top. She lit it from a flint striker, which she tucked back into a pocket. “On the plus side, we can see now.” The firefern went into her pack on the opposite side from the flint. “On the minus side, we’re now a very brightly lit target for whoever is looking for us.”
“Do you know your way out of here?” Gawain asked.
She snorted. “If I did, would I still be down here?”
“Well, why are you . . .” Treffen didn’t finish the sentence. The feet marched closer. “Time to move.”
They darted down the hallway.
Emerald stopped at a closed door. “They’ll expect us to run. We need to hide. Wait for whoever—or whatever—that is to pass us by.”
Treffen eyed the door. “We have no idea what’s behind that door.”
She shrugged. “We have no idea what’s coming down the hall behind us, either. Personally, I vote for the door.”
Gawain broke the tie by shoving the door open, sword raised. Nothing rushed out of the darkness at them, and they skittered inside, pushing the heavy oak door closed behind them.
“Stuff your cloak under the door so the light doesn’t get through,” Treffen said, and Emerald complied. Once satisfied that they were as secure as possible so deep in enemy territory, they turned around to see what was in the room.
Treasure.
Tons of it.
Chests overflowing with gold coins and glittering jewels. Gilded paintings that must be worth a fortune piled up along the walls. Priceless marble statues obviously carved by the skilled hands of Lunar Elves.
“Sweet Goddess,” Emerald whispered. “Will you look at this?”
She reached for a string of pearls in one of the chests, but Treffen snatched her hand away. “Don’t touch the chests.”
“Why not?”
“Trust me,” he said. “It’s not worth the risk.”
None of the chests in the room appeared to respond to his words. Maybe these are just . . . treasure chests. He still wouldn’t chance it. No way was he going to be the one to tell King Jasper that he let Princess Emerald get her hand bitten off by a not-chest in Lordship Downs.
Gawain had removed his helmet and was pressing his ear to the door. “I don’t hear anything.”
“Good,” Emerald said. “We’ll wait here until they think we’ve gone and find our way out of this hole.” She pulled a hand through her green curls. “The moisture down here is making me one big frizz ball.”
“My lady.” Gawain dropped to a knee in front of Emerald. “I am Gawain, last of the Ursinus line, at the service of my king and his royal family.”
Treffen sighed. At least he waited until we weren’t overrun with monsters.
Emerald eyed the Knight for a moment, then turned to Treffen. “Who brought the tin man?”
Treffen said, “I’d be long since dead if not for Sir Gawain. He’s a noble Knight.” . . . and kind of a jerk, actually. Especially lately. “But what are you doing down here? We came here looking for you.”
“You came here looking for me? I came here looking for you.” Emerald’s eyes darted back to the open chest of jewels.
Treffen caught her looking and raised an eyebrow.
“What, I can’t like sparkly things just because I’m usually covered in mud and swinging from a tree branch? I’m still a girl.”
“What do you mean, you came looking for us?” Gawain’s voice was sharp.
“I wasn’t looking for you personally,” Emerald said, widening her eyes at the Knight. “At least, I didn’t know it was you.” She took a closer look at his armor. “But yeah, I guess it was you. Thanks, Tree.”
Treffen startled. “The Deeproot Tree sent you here?”
“She did. Although I have no idea how you two are supposed to help me find my sister.”