THE PRINCESS OF ÉLEVÉ

The Two WOOs and the Mirror

The band of four, Pre the leprechaun, Yuri and Archie, and Murgi the gnome, were unaware they were being followed. They traveled for many hours and came to another chamber in the vast underground labyrinth of passageways. It was smaller but similar to the first one. Archie observed that the passages continued on and on but always seemed to have a cavern or clearing on a regular basis.

This cavern had a much lower ceiling than the first and quite a bit of rubble was scattered around, including very large boulders. A large amount of moss was growing on the walls, perhaps from a nearby underwater spring. The cavern had a slight musty smell and was stuffy and warmer but still seemed to have a fresh air source from somewhere. She wondered how air could get down into these passageways. Perhaps, she mused, some went up to the surface.

Besides the moss covered entrance through which they'd entered the cavern, there didn't appear to be a passageway allowing them to continue. This didn't bother Pre as he sat on a rock, wiping his forehead with his tattered green sleeve.

"Whew, that was a long stretch. I need a rest," Pre mumbled.

Unlike the other cavern there was no worn path showing the direction generally traveled. This must not be a well traveled route, thought Archie. Chair sized rocks were left all around the clearing as places to rest on. She laughed to herself when she thought of this as the crude furniture of the chamber. They seemed to be equally spaced all around the perimeter.

Yuri wasted no time in checking out his surroundings. He looked around, and spied the entrance to a cave partially hidden by dangling moss and rocks. It had no visible tracks going to it, so he surmised it was a little used cave.

"Look! A cave," he pointed, "there's no sign of anyone. I'll check it out while you rest," he uttered as he moved rapidly toward the entrance.

"Be careful, Yuri!" Archie urged. "Pre told me about the dangerous creatures that roam around here."

"I'll go with him, my lady." Murgi hoisted his axe over his shoulder and followed Yuri toward the cave entrance.

"Don't take too long," Pre counseled. "We must keep moving. It wouldn't surprise me if we're being followed."

"We'll be right back." Yuri drew his sword, made a mock thrust, growled and bared his teeth. He yelled theatrically, "Whatever you are, prepare to die!" Yuri and Murgi charged into the cave.

"Oh, Yuri," Archie muttered, "you are such a kid."

"Pre," she turned to him, "back there, before we dashed out of that cavern, Murgi said something about saving our lady? Is that the princess?"

"Yes. We think she's in danger. If she's still alive."

"Is that where we're going to find the treasure?"

"She was trying to find the treasure site. We know the general area where it's hidden. I'm hoping we find her somewhere near there."

"You said you thought we're being followed," she pressed on, "by whom?"

"We don't know," Pre shrugged. "Perhaps our enemies. We can't take any chances."

"We've been traveling for hours," she blurted impatiently, "up and down hill, through twists and turns. It keeps getting hotter and hotter, then cool again as we climb back up. Why? Where are we?"

"These passages go several kilometers below ground." He was more patient and took time to explain. "The deeper we go, the closer we get to the tunnels that go in close to the magma chamber. We get heat and energy from it."