Dawn Over the Land

Chapter 5

"Do we really have to come get rock worms, I mean we could just walk. Or get a ride on a wagon, I'm sure we'll run into somebody." Lark whispered. The place gave her the creeps. Just like many things it had Queen Thorne's crest on banners and flags both outside and inside.

"No, we're going to Obsidian," Leafla glared.

"All for the rock worms?" Lark squirmed. They were in the hallway on their way to Obsidian's "throne room" and she was very uncomfortable. Around were pictures and statues that were not very appropriate for Iris, who was only 14. They were probably not appropriate for Leafla either because she was barely 15. There were also occasional see-through cages that held many exotic animals and women and men not dressed very modestly.

"No, actually, it's another manner of business."
"We didn't come for the rock worms!?"

"No, rock worms don't actually exist." Leafla cringed and tensed up.

"WHAT!?"
"Shhhhhh, keep it down."
"Then what did we come for?"

"Some jewels. When I found you I was on my way to get here and steal these jewels for a client of mine."

"Are you kidding me?"

"No."

"That was rhetorical!"

"Oh, whoops." Leafla laughed awkwardly. They both stopped talking so the long walk down the hallway was awkward. Just silence then came an ear-piercing shriek. Lark latched onto Leafla.

"Hey, woah, it's okay, calm down." Leafla said softly, trying to comfort Lark. "It's okay, just some sound effects Obsidian has, that's all. It's his power. You know his father was Sky Domain and his mother was Earth Domain. He inherited Sky Domain powers. Not many people know this, you have to be in the inner circle to find that out."

"Why wouldn't he tell people?"

"Cause he's the bastard son of the late sky king."

"Oh."

"Okay," Leafla stopped Iris before she ran into big, red, double doors. "This is where we go in to see if he's available. Remember this: they call me Leianna here, don't call me anything different until we're out. Are you ready, Lark?" Leafla looked at Lark with concern.

"Yeah," Lark replied, taking in a deep breath, "I'm ready."

"Okay then." Leafla opened the big doors and was met with spear points as a thundering, deep voice said:

"STATE YOUR BUSINESS."

"Hello Granite, long time no see." Leafla said smoothly.

"Ah, Leianna, how are you darling?" Granite's voice changed pitch mid-sentence to an old woman's voice and from the shadows came a short, scary looking woman. She was about 4'8 with pitch black eyes and cropped black hair. She was wearing a black jacket that was zipped up and black pants and shoes. The jacket also had the insignia of a piece of obsidian and on the bottom said Obsidian on the left side and the other had Queen Thorne's symbol. She was very wrinkly, so Iris assumed she was pretty old. Granite walked over to them and pulled Leafla into a hug.

"It's been different round here without you sweetheart. Obsidian has been searching for you. Are you finally ready to become his second in command?"
"Yes," Leafla said, taking in a deep breath, "And I brought a present." At this she grabbed Iris by the arm tightly, "Princess Lark of the Nature Domain."

"What? But you said-" Lark yelled, but Leafla cut her off, putting a hand on her mouth.

"Of course, lead her right this way." Granite said, making the many guards move and leading them into a hallway.

"Hush, it's a part of the plan," Leafla whispered, "You're enough to get my debt off. I'll grab the jewels, break you out, and we're off to StoneHill castle. It's only one hour's walk from here, so if we run most of it we can make it in about thirty minutes." They were nearing a cage, as Granite was pulling out a key to unlock it.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Lark asked, concerned.

"Of course I can, I'm a top-tier thief. Don't worry, lovely." Leafla said, confidently.

"Okay, put her in here, we can get a ransom off her." Granite said. Leafla listened and put Iris in the cell, closing the door as she left and looking back sadly. Lark genuinely hoped Leafla wasn't lying and that she could pull this off. Because the price was Lark's life.

In the middle of the night, Lark awoke to someone shaking her shoulder. She opened her eyes and it was Leafla holding her finger to her lips.

"Shhhh." Leafla said, motioning for Iris to get up and follow her. They made it out of the hallway where her cell was and back through the area where they first met Granite with no problems. They were halfway through the creepy hallway that was even more creepy when it was almost pitch black, before they began to hear thumps behind them and the sound of guards saying:

"They're not back there, check the entrance." And then they could hear several of the thumps getting closer.

"That's our cue!" Leafla whispered as she began pulling Lark behind her and they both began to run.

"HEY, COME BACK!" The guards yelled from behind them. Leafla pulled open the door to the outside and pushed Lark out. Lark fell on the ground and heard a very loud BANG! From the hallway, then Leafla joined her on the ground. Lark stood back up and turned around to see the hallway had caved in.

"What happened?" Lark exclaimed.

"The guards tried to use their earth powers but seemed to forget that we were in a rock hallway, so it all collapsed. I barely managed to make it out alive." Leafla huffed.

"Well, I guess that's pretty unfortunate for them but lucky for us." Lark said.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Did you get the jewels?"

"Yeah," Leafla responded, pulling out some small, beautiful jewels of many colors that were all attached together on a necklace, "I did. It was pretty easy."

"Okay," Leafla put the jewels up in her bag, "Let's get to StoneHill Castle."