The ceiling twelve feet above her exploded, and the cavern erupted into chaos. Rocks and dirt rained down, almost crushing Erasmus. The troll cried out in astonishment as he dodged the onslaught of missiles. Elurra shrieked as the magic holding her in the air dissolved, and she plummeted toward the boiling pot below her. People called out her name, new voices filled the room, wind whistled past her ears, and she squeezed her eyes shut as the cauldron flew up to meet her.
Suddenly, an arm wrapped around her waist and jerked her to a stop mid-fall. Someone grunted, and she realized she was swinging from side to side instead of plunging downward. She opened her eyes and identified three figures lowering themselves down on ropes from the new hole in the ceiling. One of them was holding her, but he clearly hadn’t expected her to weigh so much.
With another grunt his grip failed, and they slid down the rope at an uncomfortably fast pace. Whoever had saved her cried out in pain as they started falling faster. Elurra winced in sympathy for the man. She was sure he had a nasty rope burn. The man tried to break their fall by landing on his feet, but they were going too fast, and his legs buckled under them. He lost his grip on her, and she hit the ground. The impact was jarring, but only hard enough to bruise her in a few places. The man flew in the other direction and landed on his back near the pot. Someone rushed to her side and helped her to her feet.
“Are you okay?” he asked. She looked up and saw he wasn’t a man, but a boy with dusty brown hair and eyes.
“Yes, thank you,” she said hastily as she glanced around. Aleah and Kai were leaning against the bars of their cages as the other two men, who appeared very young, chased Erasmus around the cavern.
“You can’t catch me, silly mud boys! I’m the great Erasmus!” he screamed, although he was no longer jolly. Every few moments, he would chant spells and throw random objects at his attackers, but he was too shaken up to cast anything of real value.
The only way to free Kai and Aleah is to get him to drop the cages, she thought.
An idea bloomed in her mind. Two large logs held up his cauldron, one on each side. One was cracked and crooked, smashed by one of the rocks that had fallen from the ceiling. She noticed the cave tilted downward in that direction. Without hesitation, she lifted the largest rock she could find nearby and threw it at the log with all her might. The wood crumpled under the weight of the huge metal pot, and the contents gushed out as Erasmus ran up.
“Watch out!” she yelled to the two men chasing him. Their eyes widened, and they skidded to a stop.
Erasmus cried out in terror as the wave of boiling liquid crashed down on him. Steam filled the room, and explosions of light lit the cavern. Elurra turned her head away from the blinding spectacle. The cauldron vanished from existence, leaving the rest of its contents with nowhere to go but splashing to the ground. The fire was extinguished immediately, and the room was cast into shadow. Everyone froze. The only sounds were the hissing embers of the quenched fire.
“What just happened?” an unfamiliar someone finally asked.
A moment later, a flint was struck, and one of the lanterns was relit.
“Is everyone okay?” Aleah asked as she lifted the light to look across the room.
Elurra could see the shapes of the two men who chased Erasmus and the boy beside her. She squinted and tried to make out their faces, but there wasn’t enough illumination.
“We do not even know who they are,” Kai grumbled as he stood and dusted himself off.
“So? They saved us from getting eaten by a cave troll. Nitiri could be one of them for all I care,” Aleah retorted stiffly.
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“Sarcasm is no way to address royalty,” Kai fired back.
Aleah glared at him. The lantern cast ominous shadows across her face and made her seem terrifying. “Funny, royalty do not typically end up dangling—”
“Enough!” Elurra shouted. “If you cannot be civil, then do not speak!”
They lapsed into silence. Someone sneezed, which lessened the tension.
“Awkward,” one of the men said as he stepped forward. He had fiery red hair and a splash of freckles across his nose. Elurra guessed he was in his early twenties.
“I would love ta ’ear ya two squabble, but we should get outta ’ere. That small fella burst inta lots of li’l lights. This place is givin’ me tha creeps.”
Elurra was about to agree with him when a cold draft wafted through the cave. The boy beside her shivered, and another one of their rescuers sniffled and rubbed his arms.
“Where’s that wind comin’ from?” the redhead asked.
Dread washed over her as the shadows in one corner grew deeper.
“Get up the ropes!” she yelled, running toward the closest one.
The boy beside her followed immediately, but the others hesitated in confusion. As she feared, two pairs of glowing eyes appeared in the darkness, and one demonic figure closed in on her. Aleah screamed, and everyone was galvanized into motion as self-preservation took hold. The creature ignored the others and focused its menacing green eyes on Elurra.
“What in Yamoi’s name are those?” the brown-haired boy yelled in fear as he recoiled from the Demon.
“Run!” she replied instead of answering.
He obeyed her without question. Elurra turned to follow but tripped over one of the leftover logs from the fire and fell to the floor. The Demon laughed and closed in on her, ready to consume her like it had her mother.
“Don’t touch her!” another one of the rescuers screamed. His voice was young, like the redhead’s, but she couldn’t make out anything else about him from his dark outline. The red-eyed Demon hissed and recoiled.
“Sir, he is half Prath and has the mark of death on him. What do we do?” the green-eyed Demon hissed as it backed away from the man protecting her.
The red-eyed Demon, who was obviously the leader, didn’t answer. It stared at the boy with uneasiness clear in his eyes.
“Should we report back to the ice queen?” the green-eyed Demon asked when his commander didn’t answer.
“No,” it finally growled, staring at the two Incarians with loathing. “Kill them both.”
Elurra scrambled to stand, but the boy didn’t move. Is he crazy? Does he not know what those things can do to him?
In truth, she didn’t know what the Demons could do to them, either, but she knew it wouldn’t be pleasant. One of the other men had carried Aleah out of the cave, despite her complaints and cries and despair, so Elurra and the boy were left alone with the glowing eyes of the shadow monsters. She could still hear her governess calling for her from above.
“Leave me! There is no need for you to die,” Elurra whispered to her brave rescuer.
He refused to budge. “No. I won’t leave you again.”
Elurra gasped as she caught a glimpse of his side profile in the dim moonlight. She knew her imagination was playing tricks on her, but she could’ve sworn she saw a glimpse of lilac in his eyes. The green-eyed Demon advanced without a sound; its eyes flashed with malice.
“I order you to leave! I do not want to be responsible for more deaths,” she exclaimed, yanking on the boy’s arm.
“I don’t take orders from you,” he responded snidely as the Demon attempted to envelop him.
He held up his arms to block his face, and the bracelets on his wrist flashed in the moonlight. The Demon stopped and recoiled quickly, a fearful moan echoing through the cave.
Elurra heard someone above exclaim, “What was that?” Other mutters drifted down, but Elurra was just as confused as they were.
“Master!” it exclaimed as it retreated from the strange boy protecting her.
The red-eyed Demon looked just as astonished. “We must report this to the ice queen,” he hissed. Without another word, the Demons vanished into the darkness.
The boy turned toward Elurra. His confidence shrank away to reveal fear.
“How did you do that?” she asked.
“Trust me, I’m just as amazed as you are,” he breathed shakily.
One of the moons peeked out from behind a cloud, bathing the ground in soft moonlight so she could see him clearly. She inhaled sharply and took an involuntary step back.
“Terrin?” She couldn’t believe her eyes.
“It’s me alright. You can’t get rid of me that easily, Snow,” he said with a crooked smile.
Everyone above cheered, and Elurra blushed when she remembered they were watching. Relief filled her, and she threw her arms around him. Only then did she realize he was violently shivering.
“Terrin! You are freezing to death, you daft boy!”
He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I forgot how cold it was up here, and I didn’t put on enough layers in all the excitement.”
“Terrin! Get over ’ere before we pull tha rope up without ya!” someone screamed down at them.
“Coming!” he called up and then offered Elurra his arm. “My lady, it is time for us to go, unless you have any objections.”
“Get me out of here, Terrin. I never want to go into another cave as long as I live.”