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  We sat in silence while Yana hummed nearby. Mushrooms, mushrooms, and more mushrooms. Musty, metallic water and a deep pit of insatiable hunger. The few rations I had are gone after sharing them with the other two, and neither Daelis nor I are desperate enough to eat Yana's favorite raw and squirming troglobites, so the mushrooms are our only remaining choice.

  "I think she's a cave elf," Daelis said after using his sleeve to wipe the drying tears from his cheeks.

  "What?" I startled at his voice. I wasn't expecting him to speak again until Yana returned.

  "Yana. The Uldru. I think her people are cave elves. I thought they were a myth, but it fits. They were supposedly dark elves from the frozen north who loved the endless winter night so much that they began to fear the light. They spent summers underground, then autumns and springs, and eventually they decided never to surface again. It would make sense for them to have physically adapted to underground life as the generations progressed. Maybe they even interbred with other cave dwellers like goblins or pysakees, so inherited some traits such as larger eyes from them. You have to admit, though, her appearance is elven enough to make it a possibility."

  His theory made sense. There was something familiar about Yana's appearance, and having elven blood would explain some of it. She's tiny for an elven child, but generations of subterranean life may have reduced the height of her people as a whole. "If that's true and she a cave elf, what kind of creature could possibly enslave what is likely an entire society of elves? What are the Jarrah and the Varaku?"

  "I'm afraid to find out."

  Yana reappeared, a grin on her face and her arms full of mushrooms. She dropped them on our legs and said triumphantly, "We feast!"

  So we did.

  Day 12, part 2

  I'd kill for a cup of tea right now. I'm serious. I usually demand a higher fee, but pay me with even a mediocre cup of tea, throw in a stale scone for a deposit, and I'm willing to execute a hit on anyone, even my best friend. Not that I have a best friend, but I think you can see how desperate I am. Need a job done? Need some feral trolls rounded up? Need the realm's most wanted hauled to the local jail? Fancy a discrete execution for Duke Daelon Goldtree? Today only, I'm offering an incredible discount. Hot cup of good tea, and I'll do your bidding. I take it straight up, no milk or sugar. I prefer black varieties, but whatever you've got on hand is fine, even one of those acrid herbal concoctions your witchy grandmother makes you drink.

  I can't say I've done jobs for less, but I have done jobs for non-monetary payments. Won't get into that. Just pull me out of this cave, hand me a steaming hot cup of tea, and tell me who you want offed. Just get me out of here. I want to see the sky again. Please get me out of here.

  Day 12, part 3

  I'm relaxing under a sea of stars.

  No, I'm not, but I'm pretending I am. Glow worms. They're not stars, but they certainly are lovely. Deadly little bastards, if you happen to be smaller than they are. Yana thinks they are tasty treats and devours them by the handful. When we found this cove, she said the Uldru gather them, dry them out, pound them into flour, and make them into bread. That's a delicacy I'm not sure I'm willing to try yet.

  Daelis plucks a glow worm from its luminescent string and pops it in his mouth. He squints at me as he chews. "It's actually quite good. Sweet, little bit of a nectar flavor on top of some meatiness. Insects are a good source of protein, you know? You should try them. Don't give me that look. You need to eat something other than mushrooms if we're going to keep up this pace."

  "Damned disgusting elves. You things will eat anything. Orcs have more refined palates." I smile up at the pseudo-stars, my journal propped against my thigh.

  "You have no idea the expense that goes into acquiring and preparing elven delicacies."

  "I don't want to know. Eating bizarre things is a mark of status for you, I get it. I'm no highborn. People of my class stick to the basics."

  Yana dangles a worm above my face. The blue light it emits is lovely, but that doesn't make me want to eat it. Still, perhaps a little protein will help with the hollowness of my gut and the aches in my calves.

  "See, Rin? I killed it then. You not feel it wiggle. Try it." Yana drops the worm into my outstretched hand.

  Well, I might as well try it. So damned hungry. Not desperate enough to eat a live salamander, but still despondent.

  Not bad. Sweet, meaty, not as slimy as expected. I could eat these. "Tastes a little like honey ham."

  "More?" Yana asks.

  I nod. More food can't hurt, as long as I don't think too long about it. "I suppose. Kill them first, please. I don't think I can handle putting anything still living into my mouth."

  "Amateur." Daelis grins at me like a soddy damned fool. "Some insects and sea creatures taste better while they're still alive."

  "Disgusting. This from the person who lost the contents of his stomach over a salamander tail in his shoe."

  Yana tilts her head to the side and laughs. Daelis holds his breath to stifle a giggle. "That was unexpected, so the circumstances are different. You know, I think I'll make a proper noblewoman of you by the time we escape this vile hole. Yana understands a little about gustatory treats, so she's already partway there. If you'd married me like you once wished to, odd foods would have been a regular occurrence on your plate. Sorry that didn't work out."

  "Don't be such an arrogant bastard. You had the chance to raise my status to proper noblewoman and you chose not to. Don't remind me about the past anymore. I'm done with it." I try not to think about what I'm chewing on as I eat a small handful of glow worms. They certainly are beautiful from a distance, but they are unseemly little beasts up close. Reminds me a lot of another creature, one with turquoise eyes and a faltering smirk on his lips.

  "If you're done with the past, then maybe we can–"

  "No. The only use of the word we should be in the context of we are getting out of here alive. Anything else is just me being irritated about you being an ass." I'm done with him. Done, done, done. Fed up and done. If I wasn't a halfway-decent person, I would have either killed him or left him to die days ago. Petty, selfish child. His son is more mature than he is, and far less likely to toy with anyone he claims to love.

  Yana cuddles up to my side. "Done with silly journal thing now?"

  "Just about." I yawn. My stomach feels fuller than it has in ages. These are the first glow worms we've found, and despite my initial hesitation, I hope they won't be the last before we find the way out. "I'm suddenly so tired. Do you think it's safe for us to stay here for a little while and sleep?

  "Worms cause sleepy some people. Sleepy you, sleepy me. Daelis not, different. We sleep here. But careful. Varaku like glow worm, too."

  Great. A single sentence to fuel my nightmares, both awake and asleep.

  Day 13

  I'm surprised it took this long for one of them to find us. I knew they were here somewhere, knew they were likely working with our mysterious non-friend Jarrah, and also knew they likely viewed Yana as errant property in need of both retrieval and punishment. I didn't want to admit to myself how close we must always have been to the Varaku.

  A voice like a rusted gate jolted me out of a deep sleep. "Come, child. Come back to us. Come home."

  "No!" Yana shrieked. She dug her fingernails into my palm as I struggled to force my eyes open. "Bad things! Bad things! No, no, no, no!"

  "Come, child. We don't hurt the children. You are safe with us, safer than with those things you found. They are the Jarrah's toys. Guilty creatures, not worthy of your innocence. Come now, child, before they wake.”

  "No."

  My body finally responded to my commands and I looked up at diamond eyes in a diamond-shaped face. The mouth was enormous and lined with needle-sharp teeth. Instead of hair, tentacles sprouted from the pallid scalp. It sniffed the air through a wide, flat nose, then scratched at its cadaverous body with talon-like fingers. A second set of arms appeared from behind its back and reached towa
rd Yana.

  "Come, child."

  Where was my sword? To my right, within reach, but could I attack before those talons reached me? It was so close, too close. Big creature, easily taller than me and broad-shouldered despite its gauntness. It smelled of sweat and musk. And blood.

  "Rin. Kill her, Rin, kill her now," Yana whispered hoarsely, urgently. She squeezed my arm and I slowly leaned toward the sword. My muscles were sluggish, barely responsive.

  "The Jarrah's playthings aren't for you, child," the creature said. It smiled, its mouth a gaping chasm stretching from ear to ear. If it had ears. I didn't see any obvious ones.

  A metallic object shot through the pale light of the glow worms. It planted deep in the creature's neck. The creature let out a low groan and clutched its neck. It staggered for a moment before dropping to its knees. It pulled out the projectile and tossed it on the ground. Dark blood bubbled from the wound. The creature tried to speak, but the sounds coming from its punctured throat were unintelligible.

  I held Yana close as the creature twitched and writhed and died at our feet. Yana buried her face in my chest and sobbed.

  "See, I'm good for something," Daelis said. He bent to pick up his bloodied letter opener. "When I was a child, the Goldtree Manor cook took a liking to me. He taught me how to throw knives. I've kept up practice with the skill, but this is the first time I've used it for anything other than entertainment." Daelis nudged the dead creature with his foot as he cleaned the letter opener on the hem of his filthy tunic. "Are you both all right? What is this thing?"

  "We're fine. Thank you." I reached out and lightly touched his hand. He twitched and took a small step backward.

  Yana stared up at Daelis. "Varaku. Varaku scout works alone. Liar thing. Says she not hurt me, but she will. She hurt us all."

  I smoothed her hair and kissed her brow. "She won't be hurting anyone. She's dead. Daelis killed her. We need to leave here as soon as we can, before anyone comes to look for her."

  I now know what a Varaku looks like, so what were the six-eyed creatures I saw before I found my companions? I assumed they were Varaku, but that assumption was obviously false. More monsters in the deep. I'll have to ask Yana about them later, after my heart calms down.

  Day 13, part 2

  We were still under the glow worms some time later. Yana and I wanted to leave, but Daelis couldn't seem to get moving. He stared at the dead Varaku, his eyebrows knit together and his fingers steepled near his mouth. While we waited for him to organize himself, Yana collected glow worms to eat later. I wasn't willing to eat many more until we stopped for the night, so I'd limit myself to one or two at a time if I got hungry throughout the day. The laziness they caused in my body could have gotten us killed.

  "I've never killed anyone before," Daelis said flatly. "Never even ordered an execution. I don't have the authority for that."

  "I recommend you think of it as an anything, not an anyone," I said. I held out a leather pouch so Yana could dump her handful of glow worms into it. "You've hunted before, right? Killed an animal or two?"

  "Only once. I was thirteen. My father took me on an antelope hunt. I shot one, watched it die, and cried for days. Cried every time I heard or saw anything about antelope for at least a year. My behavior did nothing but embarrass and infuriate my father. Seems that is a consistent pattern for us. Mother's opinion of me isn't much higher. I suppose some of my shortcomings are their own fault, considering they handed me off to be raised by nurses and nannies until I was nearly a teenager. They never wanted children so I only exist as an obligation. I lost track of how many times my father said I was a mistake and he should have let the Goldtree line die with him." Daelis poked at the hem of the Varaku's clothing, which was sewn out of a dense gray leather. "Think she has anything of use on her? Weapons, food, a map showing how to get to the surface?"

  "Varaku carry little. Varaku is own weapons." Yana spat on the dead beast's face. "Bad, ugly thing. Lying thing. All Varaku is lying thing."

  I patted at the Varaku's clothing. It was a well-made but simple construction without pockets or panels. I found something solid and out of place on the creature's upper arm. I pulled back the sleeve. A sheath made from the same gray leather as the clothing was strapped to scarred flesh. It was an obsidian dagger, polished to a razor edge and hilted with what appeared to be bone.

  I passed the weapon to Daelis. "Think you can throw this?"

  He considered the heft of the dagger, then spun it on his palm. "Good balance. A little bulky, but I think I can work with it. It's a better throwing knife than the letter opener, anyway."

  I dropped the sheath and belt at his feet. "Good. It's yours. Don't hesitate to use it when the situation arises." I felt like I should say something about his earlier comments, but anything I came up with was awkward. I decided to try anyway. "Your parents are awful. You're not. You are certainly an ass, but not a heartless one despite what they've done to you. When Shan was little, people outside my family tried to convince him his life was an accident and a mistake because he was a fatherless half-blood. Those kind of words leave scars on a child, scars they carry around for the rest of their lives. They heal and become barely visible if tended to properly. Shan knows I loved and wanted him from the moment I realized I was carrying him. I thought you wanted him, too. You acted like you did at the time. Anyway, I think your scars are still raw because–"

  "Because no one ever wanted or loved me."

  "I did."

  Uncomfortable silence.

  Yana returned to me with another handful of glow worms. She kissed Daelis's cheek. "Daelis and Rin is like my family, but not eaten by Varaku. I like you."

  "I like you, too, Yana. We should go now. Lead us in whichever direction the air is lightest and freshest." Daelis stood and brushed the dried mud from his trouser knees. He closed his eyes and wrinkled his nose, then shook his head. "I don't care what Daelon Goldtree thinks anymore. I can't continue hiding from my first and only son because I'm afraid of my father. When we return to Jadeshire, I'm legitimizing Shan as my heir."

  "I don't think he'll like that. He's interested in knowledge, not power." I gave the Varaku scout one last look over to make sure I didn't miss anything else useful on her. Satisfied, I began repacking the few things I had taken out of my rucksack.

  Daelis shrugged and looked away. "I owe him his birthright. He was supposed to be Lord Shannon Goldtree and I took that from him. I gave him some of those figurative scars you mentioned. His may be healed, but yours aren't. You're not going to allow me to mend them, are you?"

  I nudged the Varaku with my foot. The corpse was becoming stiff and the stench of death hung over the air like a shroud. "The feelings I once had for you are as dead as this nasty beast. I burned them on a pyre seventeen years ago. You're just someone I met in a cave now, someone mildly irritating who happens to look somewhat like my son and is a keen shot with a throwing knife. You can start over with that if you like, but I can't guarantee that I won't go back to loathing you." I hoisted my rucksack, arranged my sword, and held up my lantern. "Come on, let's go. We need to leave this place to the worms and the hideous dead."

  Day 13, part 3

  Howls of rage behind us, a thundering bell ahead. We're being pursued. Actively now. No time for chatter, or rest, or calm. I only got out my journal because I have this stupid hope that it will one day find its way back to my children.

  If you have this journal but not me, I'm sorry we failed. This is how your mother fought and this is how she died. I love you both. Daelis wants you to know that he's sorry he wasn't the father you both deserved. Tessen should have been his son too, after all. Yana says thank you for being her almost family without even knowing it.

  They are coming. Time to take one last breath and run.

  If found, return this journal to Shannon Sylleth, Hawthorn Road, Jadeshire. Assume the owner of this journal and her companions are deceased.

  Katrin Sylleth

  Yana


  Daelis Goldtree

  Day 13, part 4

  I'm trapped in a cage and I can't get Daelis's blood off my hands. I can't bring myself to waste our remaining water on washing, so I keep trying to rub the dried blood off on my trousers. It's everywhere—creases of my palms and knuckles, under my fingernails, on my tunic cuffs. There is nearly as much blood on me as there is on him, and he's soaked with it.

  At least he's not dead for now. I think he'll be all right, as long as infection doesn't claim him. It's a rare and sickly elf who succumbs to disease. Elves may appear frail, but they're a resilient race when it comes to illness.

  I suppose now that things have settled down a bit and I'm the only one left awake, I should explain a little bit about what happened after my last frantic entry.

  We knew the Varaku were coming, but we had nowhere to go. We were trapped in a narrow passageway with no offshoots. They came at us from both sides and threw three-pronged hooks at us. One snagged my rucksack strap. Yana was shielded between the wall and me, so she wasn't hit. Daelis was our casualty. A hook pierced the back of his left shoulder and held fast. The Varaku yanked on the chain end. Daelis leaned against the wall, yowling in agony, as the hook barb sliced its way out of his back through the large shoulder muscles.

  His knees gave way and I caught him before his head hit the wall. Blood ran freely down his tunic and onto my hands. I already knew the wound itself wasn't likely to be a fatal one, but the shock and blood loss would leave him weak and faint if I couldn't tend to him soon.

  The Varaku shoved us down the passageway and into a large chamber. Quartz beacons hung from high stalactites, illuminating carved walls and a worn street. Yana clung to me as we stumbled forward. We had returned to the place she least wished to be.