Shades of Starlight (Hiatus)

Book Two: Chapter Thirty

 After stumbling around in the scary black cavern of doom for a few minutes, I bumped into a switch that turned on a bunch of blue torches. Finally, I could see my surroundings. The cave was small, and I didn't see how the dwarf and Sophie had left it. But the dwarf had probably made a tunnel or something in the rock, then closed it up behind them.

I led Silveny inside the still-creepy cove. She seemed a bit nervous, but I reassured her by stroking her beautiful mane. As I sat down on the cold, hard, ground with an 'oof', something metallic banged against my leg. I suddenly remembered the bag that Grady had slipped me before we left, and pulled it out of my leggings pocket.

The pouch was small, black, and lighter than I'd expected. I pulled the drawstrings and dumped the contents into my lap, gasping when I saw what the object was. A sleek, gleaming curved handle, connected to a silver triangle with a single button. It didn't look very menacing, but I knew what it was capable of. A melder.

It made sense that Grady had wanted me to have this. Even with my throwing stars and Beguiling, I'd probably need something extra if we faced our kidnappers again. Or if the Black Swan turned evil all of a sudden and I had to single-handedly take them down. Maybe Silveny could kick them, too. Edaline had told me that pegasi and unicorns could do real damage when they kicked someone, and the same probably went for alicorns.

I put the weapon into a disguised but still easily accessible pocket, wanting it to be readily available. There was no way to know whether I'd need it or not, so I might as well be prepared. Mother had taught me about melders and shown me the human equivalent, guns. Melders were usually used as stunners, but at close ranges, aimed at specific body parts, they could be deadly.

A memory came to mind. After I'd explained what had happened with me getting hit with a melder by one of my kidnappers to Biana, she'd told me something. She taught me a way to get yourself or someone else out of the daze that a melder induced. It would hurt, she warned, but Alden had explained it to her, so it definitely worked. I made a mental note to teach Sophie the trick, if Alden hadn't already let her know about it.

Time passed slowly. After a minute of wishing I could talk to Silveny like Sophie, I remembered how I'd understood the alicorn's mental voice in my head. Maybe if I tried speaking in her language, she'd understand me. But I didn't know how to do that. I hadn't had much Polyglot training. My feeble attempts to communicate with Silveny ended with me just talking to her in the enlightened tongue. Obviously, she didn't understand, but it was comforting nonetheless.

I hummed songs, sometimes singing them. Elves didn't have a lot of music that had lyrics, but the ones that did were beautiful.

"Quiet takes all and the night shines blue... don't make a sound, let tonight... " I trailed off at the end of the lullaby, hearing faint footsteps. Instantly I was on my feet, ready to grab a weapon from one of my pockets.

A man emerged from the shadows at the edge of the cave. He was covered in wrinkles and smelled vaguely of feet, as if he had eaten ruckleberries. Because he had. This must be Mr. Forkle, Sophie's 'human' neighbor for twelve years. Sophie had only mentioned him a couple of times, but I remembered hearing his name tossed around. She seemed to see him as the face of the Black Swan, and someone she maybe trusted.

I watched as he approached slowly, carrying Sophie. She was unconscious again. As soon as I focused on her, I realized something was wrong. Her skin had a greenish tint to it, and her dangling hand had an enormous purple-blue bruise on it. My eyes widened.

"What did you do to her?"
"I... for lack of a better term... reset her. The only option was to use a large dosage of limbium-"

"What?!" Sophie was severely allergic to limbium. I'd witnessed her reaction firsthand.

"-I nearly lost her-twice-but she seems stable now. When she wakes up, she's going to experience a lot of pain. Unfortunately, her mind must remain unaffected by any medicine for at least twenty-four hours."

"But she's fixed?"

"Perhaps," Mr. Forkle said in a voice that inspired neither confidence nor fear.

"Will she be able to heal broken minds?"

"We'll see."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're absolutely useless?" I asked sarcastically, folding my arms across my chest. He chuckled.

"I predict that many will in the years to come. Any other questions?" He asked, setting Sophie down on the cave floor. I searched my brain, thoughtful.

"If I tried to Beguile you... or Sophie, for that matter... right now, would it work?" I'd only just now started wondering about that. Did Sophie's impenetrable mind make it so that she was immune to being Beguiled or Mesmerized? What about Mr. Forkle? Did he have tricks to avoid being forced or soothed into doing or saying something he didn't want to? The bloated elf thought for a few seconds.

"I'm not entirely sure. It has been many centuries since a Beguiler has attempted to use their ability on me. There certainly aren't very many of you. In fact, I cannot recall the last time I encountered one."

"The last time Mr. Forkle encountered one, or the last time you-in any of your forms, whoever else you are-encountered one?" The wrinkled man smiled.

"They did tell me you were bright."

"What else did they tell you?" I challenged. Sophie moaned. In an instant, I was at her side. "Soph? Soph, can you hear me?" She groaned, her face turning even greener. "Please!" I begged her. Sophie looked terrible. I couldn't imagine the agony she was going through. "Please, help..." I looked up from Sophie's sickly face, expecting to see the seemingly kind face of a dark organization shrouded in mystery.

But he was gone.