Lily's Notes: So, for starters, I haven' written anything in what feels like ages. But Rosey's Contest got me motivated. Anyway, I know this is a smidge long but I didn't want to break it up into a bunch of tiny chunks. Well, that and the deadline is fast approaching, which means reviews would be very helpful.
Don’t.
That’s what they always told her. Don’t speak back to your elders; it’s disrespectful. Don’t play roughly with the boys; it’s unladylike. Don’t talk so loudly in the house; it’s obnoxious.
Don’t.
She was tired of everyone telling her what not to do. She craved freedom. She craved adventure.
So dusk hours, just as curfew set in, she slipped out of the house, out of the city, out. Her feet, her fingers, and her eyes itched to explore. She could see the mouth of the cave only a mile away, half obscured by a thicket of dense greenery. Temptation dragged her forward.
She glanced behind her, the city lost in the dark of the forest. Home was nowhere to be found.
’Don’t wander, you’ll get lost,’ her mother’s voice taunted her.
“I’ll show you, Mother. I’ll be home before dawn and no one will be the wiser,” she spoke to no one in particular, only the dainty green haze of night.
“Not if I tattle.”
She spun around.
He stood not five feet behind her, hands tucked in the pocket of his trousers, a crooked grin stretched across his face, yellow eyes glowing in the dusk. How did he sneak up on me?
“Damien,” she spit his name out matter-of-factly.
“Nala,” he mimicked the bitter tone in her voice and chuckled. “You know, you could lose a lot of merit points if you’re caught. Sneaking out. Leaving the city limits. Entering the caves.”
She knew he was right but she couldn’t stop him from telling. He was a known snitch. A rat.
Nala bit back, “And you won’t get into any trouble for being out of bed after curfew or for leaving the city.”
The grin on his face wavered and he looked down at the ground, his bravado suddenly broken. “Take me with you and I won’t tell.”
“What?” The request was a shock and her eyebrows furrowed, trying to read the look on Damien’s face. She couldn’t understand the new hint of mischief in his eyes.
“Just take me with you and I won’t say a word. Then we’re both in equal amounts of trouble. It makes us even.”
Giving up, Nala sighed. This was supposed to be my adventure. “You can come, just don’t be the reason we get caught. You swear you won’t say a word?”
“I swear.”
“Shake on it.” Nala thrust her hand out into the space between them.
His hands stayed tucked in his pockets.
“Shake on it or the night ends here,” she stated pointedly.
Reluctantly, he revealed a hand and shook. His palms were damp. Is he just as nervous as I am?
Nala dropped the shake and whirled around, advancing toward the cave mouth, head held high and strides so long and fast Damien had to jog to keep pace with her.
The nymph blood that ran through her veins made her tall. It gave her face an intense look. Sharp angles and narrow features. She was different from most. Elf blood was strong in the city.
Nala could see it in Damien. The pointed ears, petite build, and olive skin told all there was to tell about his lineage. Only the yellow glow in his eyes, just like hers, said that a dash of nymph ran through his veins, long washed out to nothing but a pinprick.
The thought of sharing anything with him made her blood boil. “Hurry up,” she snapped at him, quickening her pace.
“I’m not as tall as you, half-breed,” he spat.
She stopped dead in her path.
“Half-breed.” Her gaze was severe. “You have some of that blood running through your veins too, you know.” She widened her eyes to make an impact.
Damien dropped his gaze to the ground. “I’m sorry,” him mumbled.
“Whatever, half-breed,” she hissed back, already walking on, her pace a little slower.
They were silent until they reached the cave. Nala stretched her arm out as Damien caught up with her. “Have you got anything with you to cut through some of the underbrush?”
He shook his head. “I wasn’t really prepared for this. Left my ax in my other trousers. Sorry.”
“Just help me move these aside.”
He didn’t move, just stared through the brush into the mouth of the cave. It glowed gently, as if a fire was blazing from the inside. “Do you hear that?”
Nala strained her ears. At first she could hear only the faint buzz of the twilight around her but she could make out other sounds soon after. The slosh of water against rocks, the rattle of chains, the thunk of wood against the ground.
Her heart fluttered with excitement. She was all too familiar with that sound; it was a boat chained to its dock. “Hurry and help me.” She scrambled to push away the underbrush, fighting and thrashing through until she passed.
Damien, struggling far more with the thick, persistent blockade, didn’t see Nala gawking at the newly discovered world around her. As he stumbled free, he flailed forward, bringing both of them down.
They hit the ground with a solid thud. At any other time, Nala would have lashed at him with words and her fist, but even on the ground and bleeding a little from her forehead; she was awestruck by her surroundings.
Massive stalagmites thrust up out of the ground, patiently stretching to the ceiling. They looked like giant limestone fingers, desperately trying to touch the stalactites above them and wrap around them. A warm gesture made by stone. Everything glistened with delicate minerals.
“Nala, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to-”
