Secrets of the Trees

27 - The Twins

Flustered, he glances around at all of us looking for an answer.

"I will look for flint of some sort. You're all lucky I haven't missed a summer camp opportunity in years..." so I got up, and explored the cave, crawling into the small space at the end. At first, I thought something caught my eye. It took a second for my eyes to adjust, but only a few seconds of crawling in, and a crystal cave lie right in front of me.

Once out of the short tunnel, I hunched over in the room which was probably only four feet tall. The size of the cave couldn't be more than twelve feet back, but it was still an impressive amount of crystals, irridescant purples and greens. They shot out from the ground at an angle, a couple feet tall and rather wide and encrusted the walls and ceiling.

Air around me felt warm, like an early June day. I reached out to touch the closest crystal, and my fingers felt hot and a wave of fatigue and nausea clouded me. Brosba.

Even though they were close by, the shouting of "Have you found anything yet?" "Are you alright?" sounded distant. There was no way that any of them at that size could fit through the tunnel, so I tried to pull myself through with the last bit of strength I had. Only my head and elbows peeped out, and I could see all four of them rushing over to pull me out.

I was set down on soft furs, but it was hard to make out who put me there. "The cave is filled with brosba. That's why we can't use our powers. But it's warm in there. If only one of you were small enough to bring some back we could actually have heat in here." I whispered.

All I could hear was shuffling feet, and the sound of their low voices trying to figure something out. My mind drifted in and out of consciousness and through it all was a loud banging noise that snapped me back into reality every so often.

Steady warmth swirled around me as I became aware of someone putting the glowing brosba on either side of the cave. Finally the banging and shuffling ceased, and I lulled into a deep sleep for the night.

 ***

 An aroma of wet earth was the first to touch my senses. I heaved a satisfied sigh and surveyed the cave. My four escorts sat near the entrance stealing the warmth from the brosba they managed to put there. I shot a look back to where the treasure room was, and laughed in disbelief to see a gaping hole in the wall. That explains the noise last night...

Thought subtle as my laugh was, it echoed and startled everyone. The twins simultaneously grinned and Arylss was the first one to bring me breakfast. Or was it lunchtime? Hard to tell when the light is gray most of the day.

When we packed up and hit the trail, the rain had finally ceased. As usual Ren and I stayed quiet and listened to the other three's conversation. I tuned in and out depending on if what they were saying was interesting enough or not. The wet, black, stone trail was slick with a recent shower and all of us lost our footing at one point or another.

Incline became steeper, and it was finally turn for Gwyn to fall. His companions each gripped an arm to prevent him from falling. We must have been a couple hundred feet up by now, considering the pressure in my head and the mist swirling around us. So, if one of us were to fall off of the six foot wide path, that clearly wouldn't fare well.

A scream unvoluntarily escaped my mouth during the scare. They all turned, exchanged amused glances, and let out hearty chuckles. Blood rose to my face as Avalbane nudged Gwyn saying something containing the words 'she' 'sweet' 'you'.

"What?" I said, my voice wavering in anger.

Arlyss cocked an eyebrow. "Oh nothin'. You just had quite a reaction." his lip twitched but he supressed a smile.

"Someone has to care about the well being of the people of the kingdom." I retorted, folding my arms in defiance.

This caused another round of laughter from the three stooges. Gwyn sized me up. A knot twisted in my stomach and my cheeks felt hot again. He only smiled at me with a twinkle in his eye. Our search party was back to heading for Deliah.

Ren strode beside me lethargically. My other escorts had longer legs therefore giving them further strides so they stayed ahead a few feet. Within earshot though. Avalbane clamped a hand on Gwyn's shoulder.

"That fall back there was almost as nasty a turnout as my little sister's tenth birthday. Remember that? When you were bringing the lass that handmade flute you crafted, down the hill? Oh! I remember it like yesterday when you tripped on that pebble and tumbled to the bottom breaking your arm in the process!"

Both brothers busted up laughing and Gwyn in turn replied in a high defensive voice. "It was indeed not a pebble I tell you! That there was a good sized rock, and how was I supposed to see it? Your farm was just dirt back then..."

"Jest think what you want Gwyn. It turned out well though," Arlyss turned his head to wink at me like he was sharing a secret. "Little Brie was in training to be a nurse and she stayed by your bedside for weeks during the healing."

Gwyn mumbled something and crossed his arms. Arlyss and Avalbane just continued to chuckle as they teased him. Clearly, something had gone on between the two of them. But why do I care? I don't care...

Besides. Gwyn is probably way older than me. "Hey-uh, Gwyn?"

He glanced back at me. "Yes?"

"How old are you exactly?"

His eyebrows furrowed. "Nineteen in a month."

When I said 'oh' he looked again at me as if to ask why, but seemed deep in thought and traveled on ahead of me. Mentally I was doing a happy dance. 19?! He's not too old for me after all. You don't even know him though Lily! You're too quick with attraction. Slow it down.

I kept on reminding myself that I barely even knew the guy, and that I don't need to deal with anything else more than I already have to.