Cassandra's Great Adventure

Friend or Foe

It took about an hour or two of walking, but we finally made it out of the mountain pass. As the rocky walls trailed behind us, I was reminded how wide the world is. The moon was high in the sky, with stars sprinkling the air around it. Just ahead, there laid a giant lake reflecting the moonlit sky on its surface. The lake was surrounded with little groves of trees and vast flower fields that glistened with dew in the pale light.

I stopped for a second, just taking in the beauty of the scenery. The man next to me did the same, staring at the sky as a small smile broke across his face. Outside of the shadowy canyons, his features were more visible in the moonlight. His hair was a wavy light brown and his eyes shone a mysterious grayish-blue. His smile brought out these dimples in his cheeks and I couldn't help but begin to smile myself. I may not have even known his name, but I couldn't deny the fact that he was attractive.

He turned to look at me, "What?" he chuckled. I quickly reverted my eyes back to the night sky, realizing I was beginning to blush. "Nothing," I responded as I straightened my face. "We won't have the cover of night for long. I say we rest here for the few hours of darkness we have left."

The so-called "Thieves Guild" didn't follow us. When we exited the cave, the boy was the only one who had gotten back up after the fight. He stood over the bodies of his cohorts crying, like he didn't know what to do next. But as we got farther away, so did the sound of his wailing. There was no sign that they had followed us yet, but that didn't mean they wouldn't once they had regained their strength.

The man nodded and turned his eyes back to the sky as well, "My name is Adam, by the way. In all the chaos back there, I never got the chance to really introduce myself or even say thank you for what you did. I would be dead if it weren't for you."

I shrugged, "No problem. I wanted out of there just as much as you did."

"And your name?" He asked.

"Cassandra."

"Nice to meet you, Cassandra."

"Nice to meet you too, Adam."

We walked towards the edge of the lake together in silence, both taking in the feeling of being free again. I knelt down and scooped water up in my hand, splashing my face to keep myself awake. I dipped my hair into the water, rinsing out the dust and blood from the rock slide earlier. As I ran my hand over my head, I felt a sizable bump where I was hit with the rock and I winced in pain. I continued to wash up while Adam shoveled water into his face, as if he hadn't had anything to drink in days.

"So, how exactly did you manage to end up in that cave?" I asked him as I continued to rinse the dirt and dust from my body.

"Uh, same as you. I was just travelling through the mountain pass and they ambushed me. I put up a real good fight, but there were too many of them... Next thing I knew I was tied up and in that cave." He seemed satisfied with his response.

"How long were you there for?" I responded.

He hesitated for a second, genuinely thinking about his answer. "Hmm, couldn't have been longer than a day or two. The guys only seemed to come around at night, I was pretty much by myself as the time passed."

"Interesting..." I could tell something was off about his story, but I didn't want to jump to conclusions just yet. "Can I ask one more question?"

"Sure, go for it."

He looked at me curiously. His eyes looked so familiar. Then, it hit me. Back in the mountain pass, before I was knocked out. The shadowy figure. The one helping to push the boulders and cause the rock slide. I made eye contact with that man, and even though I couldn't really see him... I knew these were the same eyes.

"You said you ended up in the cave the same way I did... But I never told you how I ended up in there." I was slow with the question, surveying his every move in response.

Adam gulped, and his eyes darted from mine. He began fidgeting with his hands. He was lying about something.

"Look, Cassandra... I-I can explain." He barely stammered from his mouth.

My eyes narrowed on him, suddenly taking back everything good I thought about him. All of my supplies, even my sword, were with Fidella. I didn't know what to expect, but I only had one small piece of leverage over Adam if things went south... I slid my hand down my boot, praying that the men from the cave hadn't taken my concealed weapon. My hand clasped the handle of my short dagger, and I breathed a sigh of relief in my head.

I pulled out the dagger and pointed it towards Adam, "Then you better start talking."