Sanae asked Meyriv:

"What was so terrible that hiding in a dusty cave was better?"

"Nothing that concerns you."

She raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know, I'm getting pretty concerned. How have you not died of thirst?"

"Look, I don't—"

A loud boom shook the ground and dust fell from above. A shower of gravel and small rocks tumbled to the floor nearby.

Faint shouting echoed from the crevice in the ceiling and dim torch-light reflected off the wall.

Sanae looked up and cursed.

"We've got to go before they get down here!"

He sighed resignedly. "I suppose my solitude is irrecoverable here either way."

He stood, trembling slightly and slowly began to climb up the tunnel.

Sanae grabbed one of his arms to support him.

They had only made it a couple meters before a rope tumbled to the ground behind them.

Meyriv spoke softly:

"Someone is climbing down. Do you think you can use light to burn the top of the rope?"

"I'm brand new at this! Also, I don't know how to affect something that far away. Can you do it?"

"No, my energy is barely enough to sustain me at the moment."

"I can give you energy again."

"...No. That could cause too much pain."

"That's the point of cutting the rope!"

"I'm not talking about him...—actually, fine. Give me some energy, but be careful this time. I only need a bit."

Sanae concentrated, eventually managing to pull some magic. She carefully pushed a portion of it to Meyriv.

Instead of cutting the rope, he seemed to be focusing inward.

"What are you doing?" Sanae hissed "They're almost to us!"

"I used it to heal myself. Let's go."

He climbed higher and she scrambled after him.

After a small curve in the tunnel, he paused and turned to her again.

"Energy again, quickly"

She shared a portion with him as fast as she could. He pressed a hand against one of the walls. A high-pitched humming sound filled the air for a moment, then suddenly a large section of the tunnel behind them collapsed.

They continued on and reached a pile of rubble blocking the exit. Moonlight filtered through the topmost rocks.

He looked at her again. "Can you—"

"On it." She pushed energy his way.

Several large rocks near the top crumbled into smaller pieces, leaving just enough room for them to crawl out.

They stood by the tunnel entrance in the surrounding forest, catching their breath.

"What would you have done without my help?" Sanae asked.

"As I never planned on leaving, nothing."

"What a wretched existence."

"It was better than the alternative."

"Which was...?"

"Please, no more questions."

---

Rynisia (Past)

Rynisia didn’t know how much time had passed. Everything seemed different, now that she lived with the faeries. Time passed like a dream.

She passed time by giving the faeries tasks. She didn’t need to speak, they could sense what she wanted.

She decided that this little valley was boring. She had them plant trees and soft grass.

The plants started to wilt and die, so she had the faeries give them lots of magic.

She had them grow one tree extra big. She wanted to hide inside, but she didn’t want to hurt the tree. She had the faeries create a special bed for her, in the tree but not. A secret pocket-place where only she and the fairies could go.

In time, she began to grow lonely. The faeries took care of her, but they never did anything by themselves, and they didn’t speak.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

---

At last, another person wandered into her little valley! A young boy, maybe a little older than...how old was she now? She couldn’t remember.

She watched him. He seemed to like it here, returning almost every day to read or rest.

She tried to have the fairies lead him to her hiding place, but he didn’t seem to notice them.

---

He finally saw the faeries! He followed them to the pool of light.

He had a faerie of his own appear near her! She reached out for it.

It stuck to her mind, and she couldn’t shake it off.

She looked through the fairies eyes. He was doing something with a string the faerie had left behind.

An explosion of anguish reverberated through her mind.

---

The thief was gone, but her mind still hurt.

A dragon landed in her meadow.

First the thief, and now this?

What did I ever do to deserve these things?!

The dragon transformed into an old lady.

The dragon-lady could definitely see the faeries. She walked right over to Rynisia’s favorite tree. And then she opened a door to her secret sanctuary.

No fair! You can’t do that!

The lady reached inside and lifted something out. It was a frail young woman, fast asleep!

Wait. That’s me. Did I die? No. I'm still breathing. I think.

The lady had tears in her eyes. She wrapped her in a blanket, speaking softly.

She began to stir.

---

Eirian conjured a large tent in the meadow and helped Rynisia into a padded wooden chair.

Rynisia tried to stand up, but her muscles didn't work like she remembered. She lurched forward.

Eirian moved with inhuman speed and caught her before she hit the ground.

"Relax. You will need to relearn how to walk."

She tried to speak, but managed only incoherent mumbling.

After a few attempts she finally produced intelligible speech:

"Whab…hapn?…What happened?"

“You have just awoken from a dream. A long dream.”

“Who are you? Where are my parents?”

She had an inkling, but her memories were hazy. She hoped that memory was from a dream.

“I’m sorry young one…your parents have been dead for over a century.”

She nodded silently, but tears welled up in her eyes.

Eirian drew her into a warm embrace.