Otto woke up in pain. He assumed the elves that slept in the hammocks were a lot more limber than him, as sleeping in a hammock had given him a crick in his back. He got up and stretched, hearing his spine pop as the idea of breakfast first popped into his mind. Taking his armor from where he had stacked it, he pondered what he might be able to get to eat in the Grove while putting it on. He was two-thirds through his morning ritual when there came a rustle from his leaf-door, and Princess Emerald walked in.
“Shiny, you haven’t seen Sapphire, have you?”
Otto stared at her for a moment. Wait, if she doesn’t know where she is . . . oh no!
He rushed to put on the rest of his armor and jumped to his feet. Striding outside, he looked around the Grove only to see Princess Sapphire coming toward them with an angry look on her face.
“There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you.” Princess Emerald’s tone suddenly changed and she said, embarrassed, “Not that I was worried or anything.”
Princess Sapphire nodded and looked to Otto. “Have you made up your mind?”
Otto shrugged. “Whatever you’re planning, I don’t think I have much of a choice but to go along with it if I want to protect you.”
She nodded and turned to lead them into the thick of the town. Otto was surprised at how the Grove around them made the hot day much cooler; the pleasant temperature was a blessing of the Goddess in his cumbersome armor.
They soon found a crowd standing around an indent in the wall. When she saw what they were all looking at, Princess Sapphire cried, “Oh no!” and ran into the mass of elves.
Otto pushed through the crowd to follow her and eventually the three of them came to the front to see what the elves were all staring at so grimly.
At the back of the Grove, against the wall, was a cage hanging over a large circle of smother mushrooms. The spores that were coming from it lit up in a plume of fire. Aelyph Maleroth stalked back and forth inside like a caged lion. He grabbed the thick bars and shook them before quickly pulling his hands away from the heat.
“What do you want from me?” he shouted. The crowd of elves gasped at the ferocity in his voice. “I’ve already told you everything I know!”
The method of interrogation was rather cruel, but even he didn’t think the princess would react the way she did. She ran up to Tytha, who was watching the spectacle with a smirk, and grabbed her by her long, blonde hair.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Princess Sapphire demanded.
“We’re questioning him. Let go!”
“You’re not questioning him! This is public torture!” She pulled harder. “Let him out now!”
Tytha slapped at Princess Sapphire’s hand and pulled away from her, forcing the princess to let go. “Who do you think you are, treating me like this?”
She raised her chin. “I am Princess Sapphire, heir to all of Crystalia!”
Tytha’s fellow Rangers nocked arrows and pointed them at her.
Otto froze and raised his hands. “Okay, easy does it.”
“What are you two doing?” Princess Emerald called in confusion.
“We welcome you into our village, and you act in such a way! How dare you?” Tytha’s voice shook with outrage.
Reading the situation for the danger it presented, Otto stood in front of Princess Sapphire before she could retort. “Tell me, were you not asked by Treffen to protect us during our journey through your Wood?” he asked. “Did you not give him your word that you would be our guide?”
“Yes, but—”
“And is it not the honor of a Glimmerdusk Ranger to keep your word to one of your own?”
“Are you questioning the honor of the Glimmerdusk Rangers?” Tytha asked.
Otto grinned. “Look at your fellow Rangers. I believe their own actions have already done that.”
Tytha looked to Nier and Cree behind her and raised an arm. “Lower your weapons.”
Princess Sapphire ground her teeth and stepped forward. “Now take Aelyph down!”
Tytha met her icy gaze. “He’s a Riftling. You would side with him over us? We’ve been fighting your war against them for years!”
“He is not like them!”
“Says who?” Tytha hissed.
“All right, enough!” Princess Emerald aimed her rifle up at the cage holding Aelyph.
Princess Sapphire turned on her. “What are you doing?”
“Ending this pointless argument.”
With that, Princess Emerald fired. The bullet didn’t hit the cage but the vines holding it up. The cage dropped onto its side on a large smother mushroom and then rolled out of the ring of mushrooms. The impact sent up a flurry of spores, filling the cage with flames. Aelyph rolled on the grass between the bars until the fire was put out.
Princess Sapphire ran to the cage. “Are you okay?”
“I am,” Aelyph said.
Otto sighed in relief but then whirled around at a sudden movement behind him.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Tytha asked, advancing on Princess Emerald.
Otto raced to stand between them. The green-haired princess stared behind him, her grin nervous and her eyes wide in baffled amusement.
“Oh, sorry. I was just trying to get him down. I honestly didn’t think it would happen like that.” She laughed. “Whoops.”
Otto nodded. “A mistake; please forgive her.”
Tytha scowled and looked over her shoulder at Cree. “Take our prisoner back to the holding cells.”
Without a word, Cree went to follow her commands.
“He needs healing salve from the lilies!” Princess Sapphire pleaded.
They ignored her. Cree opened the Flicker Cell and, with Nier, carried him back toward the prison.
Otto could tell the conflict wasn’t over and was beginning to see what was going on. He had seen the same attitude the elves were displaying in other Paladins when returning from more treacherous missions, missions where lives were lost. It seemed that, in the horror of the intensifying war with the Midnight Queen, this faction of the Glimmerdusk Rangers had become disillusioned with the war and fallen short of the standards that other Rangers followed.
It’s not safe here. We must leave this place as soon as possible.
“Return to your rooms!” Tytha waved them off. “I would not have this entitled princess anywhere in my sight during the rest of your stay. She has no idea of what’s necessary for martial law during a time of war!”
Martial law . . . another name for tyranny. No wonder this town is so well behaved.
“Tytha, when will we be escorted the rest of the way through the Wood?” Princess Emerald asked, voice high with trepidation. “We still need guides to the Midnight Tower.”
“Gloom and Bloom will lead you tomorrow. I am needed here to deal with our other prisoners.”
Princess Sapphire’s eyes burned with a building fury, but Otto chose to make a tactical retreat for now.
“Come, Princess,” Otto said as he led her away. “We need to regroup and get our gear together for tomorrow.”
He looked her in the eyes despite her glower.
She looked at Princess Emerald and whispered, “If I were to ask you to go against the Rangers here, Sis, would you do it?”
Princess Emerald shrugged. “For you, I guess. Why ask?”
Princess Sapphire snorted bitterly. “Because when we leave tomorrow, we’re taking Aelyph with us.”
Otto sighed. “I had a feeling that’s what you were talking about last night. I say, you two are nothing but trouble. At least explain to me how exactly you plan to do this over breakfast. I feel my mind will not keep up otherwise.”
Princess Sapphire grinned at him. “I swore I almost saw you draw your blade there. I’m still interested to see if that thing’s not just for show.”
Otto shook his head. “In due time, Princess. In due time.”
***
Otto was fortunate to pass a butcher on his way back who had a truffle pig roasting on a spit and allowed him to purchase a slice. He sat at the wooden table outside the barracks with the princesses, Princess Sapphire making sure they weren’t being spied on by one of the Rangers.
“So tell me if I’m mistaken on any of this,” Otto popped some pork into his mouth. “Aelyph Maleroth, the one Riftling the elves happened to capture, has turned rogue against his own kind, fled the Midnight Tower, and is now willing to guide us back there?”
Princess Sapphire rolled her eyes but nodded. “He’d been trapped in there for years. He doesn’t want to return there but is willing to show us the way if we break him out. And quite frankly, I’m more inclined to trust his words than the words of elves willing to point arrows at us.”
“Yeah . . . This all seems odd for a bunch of Rangers.” Princess Emerald peered around. “No elf acting rationally would ever treat a princess in such a way unless they were Nether Elves.”
“So how do you plan on freeing him?” Otto asked. “Storm the Flicker Cells, break him out, and just happen to escape the most skilled trackers in the Fae Wood?”
Princess Sapphire rubbed her chin. “I think . . . we’ll need a distraction. Something that can take their minds off us long enough for us to get in and out and escape safely.”
Otto spread his hands in exasperation. “Okay, great. And what would act as a good enough distraction to allow us to pull that off?”
“Come on, Shiny, it can’t be that hard. What about a fire?” Princess Emerald said. They all looked at her. “Oh right, they’ve lacquered the wood . . . Never mind.”
Princesses Sapphire and Emerald looked down in thought again.
“In any case, we need to figure this out before nightfall,” Otto said. “If we’re leaving the Grove tomorrow morning, it means we only have today and tonight to make a plan.”
Princess Sapphire’s jaw clenched. “We’ll think of something. We have to.”
However, despite their determination to figure out a method, no plan arose that wouldn’t have needed an army, a hunt, or pleading for the Goddess’s mercy. Thankfully, as the sun descended below the trees, another force intervened.