The Dark Guardian

Chapter 23

Robin found Xavier waiting for her several hundred feet down the hall. "What was that all about?" At first her question seemed to fall on deaf ears as he looked at her in shock. But after several moments of silence Xavier finally answered. "That was the foreigner, he'll kill you as soon as look at you. And turn you into all sorts of horrible things if you get in his way. He still has magic because he's from the Northern elves, so he's more powerful than all of us. I don't know why Michio let's him stay." Robin tried to match the mental picture Xavier was painting with the elf she had just met, but couldn't seem to reconcile the two images. "Are you sure, he seemed nice to me." Xavier's eyes bugged out at Robin's statement. "Nice! You're lucky you aren't dead! And what were you playing at making him apologize, he might a killed you!" Robin smiled slightly at the image, "No, he wouldn't have. I think you all have the wrong idea of him. He seems sweet and lonely. But, he looked like he had seen many things." Xavier nodded sagely at this. "You are correct on that front, the foreigner fought through a war. But rumor has it he wasn't just a solider. He was an interrogator as well." There was a long pause as Robin looked unconvinced, Xavier turned to her and placed a hand on each of her shoulders "Robin, this rumor isn't an old wives tale, I overheard Michio talking about it in his office. That elf you met in there had tortured others, humans and elves. He's a bad man you should never go back there."

Resentful of his trying to tell her what to do Robin shrugged off his hands and began to walk down the tunnel again, "are you going to show me how to get out of here?" Xavier seemed at a loss looking after her, wondering how to make her understand that Lucas was dangerous. But he evidently gave up because soon he was trotting alongside her pointing the way to her room. It took several minutes before Robin began to recognize the paths they took, and she was surprised to discover Lucas lived a mere twenty minutes away from her own room. Robin was about to step inside but Xavier grasped her arm, preventing it from opening the door. "Just one more thing," he said quickly as she turned her head to glare at him "good luck with Felicity." With that Xavier released her and retreated back the way they had came. Swallowing Robin again started to reach for the door, but changed here mind. While Lucas had given her some water she was still starving. So Robin turned away from the door and began to walk to the kitchen. Felicity could wait.

Here stomach was grumbling by the time she reached the mess room. Looking forward to a good meal, but unwilling to be a center of attention, Robin sidled through the door attempting to not draw attention to herself. She walked quickly with her head down to collect some food and sat at a far table to eat it. But her attempts to remain unnoticed ended in failure as another elf sat next to her. "Well, well, look who's alive." Hesitantly Robin looked up to see Felicity eating beside her. Groaning Robin looked down at her own food again. "What happened?" Robin's thoughts raced trying to decide what to tell Felicity. A grunt of impatience indicated she should start talking so Robin let the story out in a rush.

"So when I went in the room I though it was going to be a library, but it wasn't. And the door shut behind me so I got scared. There wasn't any light in the room at all. But it felt bad, like it was wrong or something. So I started running. And I ran into a wall and that knocked me out," at this Felicity snorted in laughter. Robin glared at her but continued the story "I don't know how long it took for me to wake up, but when I did the wall turned out to be a door so I opened it and went through. Then I met Lu- the foreigner and he said," Robin paused wondering if she should reveal the conversation but instead chose to alter the story a bit " he said I shouldn't bother him, and I met Xavier and he said he was looking for me. And I was hungry so I came here."

Story concluded Robin waited for Felicity's reaction. It was not the one she was expecting. "Okay, but stay away from those creeps in the future." "Those?" "Yah, Xavier and the foreigner. Stay away from them." Robin was confused, and wondered how she was going to get away with seeing them, because there was no way Felicity was going to tell her what to do. Plans to sneak out later that night on her mind Robin finished her meal and followed Felicity to her room, apparently so they could talk about elven customs and the ways of the forest.

When they arrived Felicity checked for anyone in the area then ushered Robin into the room. She checked every nook and cranny of the room as well. Robin simply sat down on the bed and waited. When Felicity was at last done with her little security check she turned to Robin and handed her a small slip of vellum covered in writing. "This is your first drop for Lokar, we are going to go for a walk in the woods so I can show you some herbs, then I will send you off to look for them on your own. That's when you will pass the information on." Robin took the scrap of vellum reverently, feeling the enormous weight of responsibility. If she messed up and was caught it would be the end. Felicity smiled and led the way to the door, Robin followed excitedly they were going outside and their plan was finally in motion!

The day was cool trails of mist were everywhere clinging to the plant life and leaving behind tiny drops of water. Felicity paid the weather no mind and started walking through the trees. Robin followed, trying to pay attention to each plant Felicity pointed out. About an hour into their little nature walk Felicity pointed out a hollow in a tree, "that's the drop off point." Her whisper seemed loud in the quiet forest so Robin merely nodded to show she understood. They continued until Felicity could not seem to find more plants to identify. So they stopped and after glancing around her surroundings Felicity said "okay I'm going back to the doorway, I want you to find some thyme then bring me a sprig." With no further ceremony Felicity turned and walked away.

Robin stood still for a moment struggling to recall what thyme looked like. It was tall, she remembered, and little clumps of leaves grew intervals along the stem. As she remembered the scent and the feeling of the leaves Robin began to walk towards the drop-off point. She searched the sides of the path as she walked but saw no sign of the herb. She began to worry a little as the herb continued its absence. A sigh of relief escaped her as she reached the tree, thyme was growing among its roots. Robin hurried forward and picked a piece off, as she stood Robin slid the piece of vellum into the tree hollow. Heart beating quickly Robin turned to go, she was treated by an elf standing there watching her. Robin gasped and felt her heart stop in surprise. "Relax! It's me." Lokar's voice stopped her urge to flight, and fear quickly turned to anger. "Don't do that! You scared me to death!" A flash of white indicated Lokar was smiling then he stepped forward and handed Robin a long stick. "What's this?"

"It's our sign, when you leave a message leave this stick propped against the trunk, when I take it I'll knock the stick down. That way we know when to check." Robin nodded understanding. Then without a backwards glance she hurried back to the elven community.

It was late afternoon when Robin made it back, she found Felicity sitting cross-legged in the middle of the clearing. She was silent with her face raised to the sun. Felicity looked so peaceful Robin found herself unwilling to step further into the field. But despite her stillness Felicity stood and faced Robin, "did you do it?" Sense ing the double meaning in the words Robin both nodded and held up her thyme. Felicity barely glanced at the tiny plant before nodding and walking back inside. "You've done well, we will go out again in a few days. For now go get something to eat." Hungry Robin sprinted down the hall, after she ate she would visit Lucas.