"This isn't going to work." I mumbled.
"It will, El." Maple tried to reassure me. "It doesn't matter. It's our best option." Aiden said sharply. I sighed. "Let's do it, then."
After the soldier's death, the other soldiers were quiet, not giving us much room to talk either. Finally, covered by the sound of someone dragging away the dead man's corpse, Aiden whispered to us his plan.
We obviously couldn't go directly through. Out of the question. And even if we did, soldiers would kill anyone who walked out of the bookshop. That was plain. Which left only one option: underground.
Aiden was planning to shift the rock and soil and burrow underneath the shop. Then we would change our appearances (to various shades of brown and gray, but that couldn't be helped) and climb out on the other side of the village.
The only problem: The foundations of the shop went unusually deep, and breathing was already hard. But we were still going through with it. I was very unsure about my own contribution, seeing that I was the only one in my whole family who had never been able to move rock or soil. But my recent success in using the other parts of the Forest made me think that perhaps I could do it.
I closed my eyes, focusing on the ground beneath my feet and all around me, and tried to move it. I felt a jerk in my head, something shifted, and I opened my eyes to see a portion of soil moved. I tried not to feel too happy, but I couldn't help it. I'd finally done something I'd wanted do for...well, forever. So I kept going.
It was hard.
But not as much as I might have expected. Definitely much better than before, when I couldn't do it at all. Maybe it was my strong connection with the Forest. But our progress was slow, especially since we were going downwards.
Rocks kept falling and hitting us, making the hard task even harder. None of us talked much, because we were so focused. But finally Arden stopped, panting. "Break?" The three of us exchanged glances.
Aiden shrugged, and we sat down. "Thank you." Arden breathed. We were silent for some time, just breathing. Then Maple said, "Do any of you know how we're going to, you know...kill the Queen?"
I glanced at Arden. His eyes read worry but determination. I shook my head. "No." Maple shifted a bit, and continued, "Because I doubt we're going to get in the castle so easily, let alone in her room or wherever she'll be." "We'll be disguised." Aiden said.
"I really don't think, in this situation, she's going to let anyone near her. No matter what disguise we're in." She countered. "We have to try. Why did we leave, if we won't?" Arden interceded. Maple shook her head. "I'm not saying we won't try. We will. But do you have any backup plan? Anything at all...if we fail?"
We were silent. The truth was, we didn't. We'd set out on this journey full of hope, and determination. But as we progressed, we were shown how many flaws our naive plan had. The fact was: we were seriously unprepared. But now we had no choice. And it wasn't like our journey was completely useless. We were advancing towards the castle. Learning new things.
Even if we weren't prepared, didn't have a solid plan...we were still doing something. Better than if we had been at camp, protected and not involved in anything. "If we fail, we try again. And we'll keep trying. Because we have to succeed. There's no other option." I said.
Their eyes shot to me. I met Aiden's, and saw my own wariness but resolve reflected in them. He shook his head. "Let's keep going." We continued pushing away the soil and rocks. And strangely, after my small speech, it seemed like we were harder and were making much more progress. Maybe because I'd reminded them what we were here for.
We weren't just four teenagers running away to try and bring glory for ourselves. We had all invested and risked for this war, and we were going to keep fighting, even if the rest of the Forest saw us as children, not ready for what we were trying to do.
We were ready for this. And so we went on digging.