Mythara

Chapter 22

"Sphynx, these are my friends Annick, Pierre, and Sable," Amber introduced.

The two boys and girl all stuck their hands out at the same time and said in unison, "Hello, Sphynx."

Sphynx hesitated a little, deciding whose hand to shake first. In the end he went with whoever was closest to him to whoever was farthest, which happened to be Annick first, who was leaning against a mossy rock fiddling with a bundle of tangled string, then Pierre, who was hanging upside down from an overhanging tree root, and then Sable, who was sharpening a lethal looking dagger.

"Hello, er, Annick, Pierre, and er...," Sphynx stammered, scratching his head and cursing himself for not paying attention when Amber introduced them all.

"Sable," answered Sable.

"Annick and Pierre are the ones who helped me escape the man, and Sable is Annick's twin sister," Amber explained. 

"Ah," Sphynx commented, nodding his head slightly. 

They were in a brightly lit underground cavern, with worn tree roots hanging from the ceiling. Despite being underground, the room was very large, approximately fifty feet across at the most. The roof was low in some places and up to about twenty feet in others. Overall, it was a neat place. 

Pierre rocked back and forth on the branch, causing loose dirt to shower down from the ceiling. Annick flicked dust out of his wavy raven black hair. "Pierre, stop swinging on the root, you're going to cause the ceiling to collapse!" he complained to his companion and glared with his light brown eyes. Annick turned to Sphynx with a smug look. "You look like you fell off Niagra Falls. Sable, can you grab him a towel?"

"Get it yourself, lazy butt," Sable snapped. 

Sphynx blinked. For a girl who had the softest green eyes he had ever seen and shiny auburn hair, you wouldn't expect her to be so rude. 

Amber giggled. "Good for you, sweetie! Oh, and Annick, just for your information, Sphynx did fall off Niagra Falls." 

"You, what? Shouldn't you be dead right now?" Annick snickered. 

"Shut up, Annick. Sorry about my brother, he's a real jerk," Sable said, all the while glaring at her snobby twin. Turning back to Sphynx, Sable asked, "You really did fall off Niagra Falls, didn't you?"

"Wouldn't lie about it," replied Sphynx slightly stunned by Sable. Yet he still felt a twinge of jealousy, deep inside, at the way Annick and Pierre looked at Amber. Obviously, they were smitten with her. 

Pierre grinned, still hanging upside down. "I like this guy." 

"You like everybody," snorted Annick. 

"Shut up, and no I don't!" retorted Pierre the same time Sable exclaimed, "Shut up, and no he doesn't!" 

"Remember the time I kicked Matt's bum all the way to the other side of the lake? I hated the dude," Pierre said. 

"Hey, you three, I'd like to talk to you for a moment. Sphynx, could you go with Rye over to the entry and board the place up? I have a feeling there's going to be a storm tonight," Amber commanded. 

"Ok," Sphynx obeyed, though he knew the four were up to something. The sky outside was crystal clear and Amber knew that Rye and he had problems against each other. Something was going on...