Tarragon: Key Keeper

Chapter Two

"We'd better hurry or we'll miss them." Tyler didn't give her a chance to pick up her discarded plate. Instead, he grabbed her hand and ran back towards the inn.

Anwen looked back to where torchlight flickered in many hands. They were going in the opposite direction. "What about them?"

"Don't worry about them. The boats are released somewhere upstream," he explained as they ran. "We'll miss them entirely if we go that way." He led her to the back of the inn instead, down towards the gurgling river some ways away.

Anwen felt sand and pebbles crunch underfoot as she tried to keep pace with his long strides. She almost went into the water as he stopped near a large stone. It reminded her of the rather large boulders on the college campus back home. The stone was a good ten feet tall.

"Grab my hand," Tyler called as he started up the rock. Not wanting to be left behind in the dark, she hurried to follow him to the flat top, not stopping to think about what she was doing.

"Best place to watch the boats," he explained as he helped her over the lip. "And it's less likely the others will come this far down." He got down on his hands and knees to peer over the edge. "The boats will pass right underneath us. Come over so you can see."

Anwen edged closer to her companion, trying to control the sudden nervousness in her stomach. Not a huge fan of heights, she wasn't sure what had spurred her to follow him up there. It was too late now, though, as she looked down. The water swirled below and her muscles stiffened at her proximity to the edge.

Tyler clasped her hand in his, tightening his grip to reassure her. "Look, there's the first boat."

He pointed towards the far end of the river as a dark silhouette appeared against the moonlight on the river. It moved towards them, floating like a nymph on the water. The boat was a light wooden one with the prow carved in the shape of a dragon.

Moments later, more wooden boats followed, each with a different color and pattern. Some of the dragons had wings. Others were more serpentine in shape.

Some boats looked like they had dragons wrapped around them, carrying them downriver. More than a dozen boats floated past, and then moved out of sight as they rounded a bend. Moonlight glinted off the lacquered finish as the last boat floated beneath them.

Anwen let out a sigh as the boat vanished from view. She'd been so caught up in watching the display that she'd not remembered where they were, perched above a rushing river. The moment the last boat faded from sight, she realized just how close to the edge she'd come.

Heart pounding, she quickly backed away from the edge and closed her eyes as she crouched in a kneeling position. Her hands laced together under her tucked chin.

The weight of the dragon pendant pressed against the fabric concealing it. She couldn't help but rock back and forth, willing the sudden dizziness to leave.

Tyler froze in surprise, but came back to himself as he realized what was happening. "I'm so sorry, Anna!" He moved to her side, offering comforting arms to hold her. "I never thought you'd be afraid of heights."

A thought clamored for attention at the back of his mind. He recalled that at least part of the path to the ruins they were to explore tomorrow followed an almost sheer drop off. Would she be able to make it? If a ten-foot drop could cause this kind of reaction, he doubted it.

The moon rose higher in the sky, the pale light bathing everything in muted tones of yellow and white. An almost faint blue glow fell around Anwen as she crouched in fetal position.

In vain, she tried to convince herself that they weren't all that high up. That getting back down would be a piece of cake. It was no worse than a one-story staircase, something she managed every day without any difficulty.