The Keepers of Eternity

XXV

Abreigelle was drawn through the woods by the smell of cooking food. It had taken her the entire day to find a scrap of information, or a clue, as to where Blaise actually wanted her to go.

But that smell was unmistakable. She'd followed it through the pines and needlebarks and bell-tops. Over three gurgling streams, and underneath wind-carved archways of stone. She welcomed this kind of beauty. It was different from her homeland—where the rolling hills were covered in seas of warm, swaying grasses. Here, it was cold and wild, and a different sort of fragrance was laced in the air. The cooking food, however, brought her back.

At long last she entered a break in the the thicket of trees, revealing a monolith, and a stony hillside. A little ribbon of smoke poured out the top of the hill—a chimney perhaps? In the side of the bluff was a thin, dark passageway, leading down into the earth. It was nearly hidden, though. One might miss it if traveling in another direction.

Abreigelle stopped, briefly igniting her disc and focusing down into the cave entrance. Blaise was down there, humming, and cooking something. She could hear the popping of grease, and a faint squeaking of bats.

Shaking her head, she climbed through the opening of the cave, which appeared the only be small enough to let a child in. Luckily, years of eating Malleane's horrific cooking at kept her thin enough to squeeze through sideways, and slip into the darkness.

Tiny steps were carved into the rock floor, which led down into the gloom. The cool, damp air felt refreshing, especially mixed with those spices. She eagerly lit her disc and used the violet glow to guide her way down the crooked staircase. It was a good thing she wasn't afraid of tight spaces, unlike her sister who would nearly beg to not be sent to grab cleaning supplies from the closet.

At the end of the staircase a threshold—which, fittingly, was engraved with bats--opened up to a large chamber with a high ceiling. Enormous stalactites and stalagmites lined the edges of the room, glossy from cave moisture. Torches outlined the main chamber of the room, but strangely enough, they glowed a deeper red than normal.

Blaise was in the far corner of the room, where it looked as if he'd set up a makeshift kitchen, complete with a chimney and cooktop. Was this his house?

Abreigelle released her disc. "I was left out out in the cold for hours, and you're having a barbeque?" She yelled from across the room.

"You'd be surprised how many deer I had to hunt." he responded, "They're very elusive in these woods, you know." Abreigelle wrinkled her nose as she noticed several dead deer hanging on poles behind him. He must've gone hunting after they abandoned their foodstuffs back at the burning tavern.

Blaise casually sliced off a section of meat and tossed it into a large metal skillet. He was young again, but he looked terrible—his arms were completely wrapped up with gauze, and there were long, jagged scratches across his lip. Even the ends of his hair looked like they'd been singed off. "Besides, how else would you find me?" His eyes drifted up to her as she walked closer. "What on Qaternae are you wearing?" he asked.

Abreigelle tilted her head, showing off the hat she'd bought. "Well, you didn't let me go shopping so I decide to do it myself."

"What the—how much did you spend?"

"I only bought one hat. The clothes were free."

His eyes thinned. "I hope you didn't give yourself away. You know, we're already attracting a wide variety of pursuers."

"No, no. It's not like that. The woman who helped me is a friend to humans. I think she belongs to a special organization that hides us from the government."