I had no patience left, especially not for an elf with an apparent case of stage fright.
“I’ve created that strand so you can play your lute and free us from this place,” I said. “You will play it, and you’ll do it now, or I swear as the goddess is my witness, I will place the vilest curse imaginable on you. Now you’d better do it!”
Raj and Drekken looked at me with awestruck expressions.
“Please,” I added.
“Fine,” Drekken snapped, “but you can’t claim I didn’t warn you.”
He strummed a chord on his lute, producing the most peculiar sound. It had a metallic, electric clang, though I knew no better way to describe it.
As he played one chord after another, my arms prickled with gooseflesh. The most haunting, strange melody filled the chamber. I either had the urge to clamp my hands over my ears or cry tears of joy.
He plucked a few more chords, then launched into a song with a dizzying cadence, the metallic sound making me feel strangely giddy.
“Is this music?” I called.
“No, it’s not!” Raj answered. “But he did warn us.”
“I think I like it.”
“You do?”
“It takes a bit of getting used to, but yes.”
The wolf stood beside me, whining, and I patted his head. Drekken played a final chord, then stood still.
“That was… different,” I said.
“Unicorn hair,” he said. “That makes the difference.”
“Do you think it will work to make the vines stop attacking us?”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Drekken answered.
“Then we have to try,” Raj said.
I gathered my things and slung my pack over my shoulder. Facing the barred door, I breathed deeply, praying Drekken’s lute worked to keep the vines from killing us. Clutching my dagger, I waited as Raj and the elf gathered their bags, then we walked to the door.
Raj stood with a straight back, holding his sword, his cloak cascading down his back.
“Open the door and I’ll play,” Drekken said to me. I nodded, then faced the barred gate. Grasping an iron bar, I pushed the door open. Metal hinges squealed. The vines reacted, writhing over the ceiling, sending small pebbles smashing to the ground.
Drekken plucked the strings gingerly, playing a light tune. As the elf’s magic filled the room, its power made my skin tingle. The pulsing light of the radish stilled, and became a slow, rhythmic cadence rather than a harsh, pounding beat.
We stepped out of the cell. The vines remained on the ceiling. I paced toward the exit, though vines still blocked the path.
“Not that way,” Drekken said. “It’ll take us forever to leave through the main castle. I found a shortcut through the old irrigation duct. Follow me.”
I traded glances with Raj, but neither of us argued as we walked in the opposite direction. The vines moved overhead, but none of them attacked. I held my knife in a firm grip, my hands clammy, as I studied the long dagger-like thorns protruding from the woody bark.
A doorway sat beneath a tangle of vines. We had to duck to walk underneath. My cloak snagged on a thorn. It wriggled, but with Drekken’s music filling the chamber, it could do nothing but remain on the wall, so I pulled my cloak away.
“Wait,” Drekken whispered. The music stopped. I rounded to find him reaching for a silver flask on the ground. The vines reacted, writhing, then diving at us.
“Drekken, play,” Raj shouted.
“Not without my flask!”
He snatched it up. The vines tore off a chunk of the ceiling. Stones sailed at us, pelting our heads and shoulders. The plants raged with fury as they surrounded us. Raj hacked at them, his weapon slicing through the air.
Drekken started playing once again, giving us barely enough time to race through the exit before they trapped us. We sprinted through a dark tunnel, though in places, sunlight shone through cracks in the ceiling. The walls crumbled, and roots clung to the loose stones.
Our path sloped upward and ended at a wooden ladder that led to an opening overhead. I ascended first and climbed into the sunlight. As I stood on a grassy hill, I breathed a sigh of relief. I had to shield my eyes from the brightness, but it felt so wonderful to be out in the fresh air once again. A grove of cottonwood trees stood beyond the castle’s walls. A few yellow-gold leaves still clung to their branches, though most of the leaves lay in heaps on the ground.
Behind me, Raj and the wolf climbed out. Drekken crawled from the hole last.
As he stood, he attached his lute to his pack. After getting situated, he straightened to his full height—nearly as tall and broad as Raj—and smiled at us. It was then I noticed a rim of red surrounding his blue irises, made apparent by the bright sunlight.
My stomach turned.
He must’ve been a dark elf. No wonder he’d been lurking through the castle’s dungeons, wearing such an odd pendant, looking for a bit of the radish to steal.
“You’re a dark elf?” I asked.
“Ah, yes. You noticed, did you?”
“It’s hard not to, now that I can see properly.”
I half expected him to pull out his knife and demand we give him the radish I carried in my bag, but he only smiled.
“Don’t be so shocked. I may be a dark elf, my dear, but that doesn’t make me an evil person, does it?”
“Perhaps not, but you still owe us an explanation. What were you planning to do with the radish you hoped to steal?” Raj asked.
“Sell it, of course. An item like that would fetch a hefty price.”
“And… you aren’t going to try to steal it from me?”
“I would never dream of doing such a thing.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Yes, yes, however, there is one thing I do require, seeing as how I’ve saved both of your lives.”
“Barely,” Raj said.
