Snow White Queen [NaNoWriMo 2018]

Chapter Thirty-Seven

"It's called a Moristis Apple. It only takes one bite to put someone into a coma. Within three days, they're dead. It's a peaceful, painless death, but a death nonetheless."

Dorian examined the apple the vampire - Amity was her name - was holding up. He was almost afraid to touch it. One clean bite mark marred its otherwise flawless surface.

"You said there's a way to fix it?"

Amity nodded. "A flower. I don't know its official name, but it's commonly nicknamed 'True Love's Kiss.'"

Dorian made a face. That's a weird name.

"No, I don't know why it's called that."

"It doesn't matter what it's called. If it'll help Neva, then I'm going to get it."

"We're going to get it. You're not the only one who cares about her."

Dorian was tempted to tell her no. The more people that were involved, the greater the risk, especially if one of them was a vampire, but he hesitated. For one, he had no idea where to look. It seemed that Amity was much more well acquainted with whatever this was. He would need any information he could get if he was going to save Neva. And, well, there were advantages to having someone else with him.

Besides, from the look on Amity's face, he probably was in no position to refuse her anyway.

"Alright, fine," he conceded. "Lead the way."

Amity said nothing in response, simply walked away, leaving Dorian to follow,

"You... do know where you're going, right?"

"Of course I know where I'm going," she snapped.

This was going to be a long journey.

~~~

Dorian tried multiple times along the journey to befriend Amity, or at least melt the ice, but no matter what he did, she continuously brushed him off. Eventually, he stopped trying and resigned to just be glad that she hadn't killed him yet.

It was a three-day journey to the border, and another two days to the mountains, though between the lack of horses and Amity's refusal to at least be cordial, it seemed to stretch on forever.

It'll be worth it to save Neva, Dorian told himself over and over again, so often that the words started to lose meaning.

They crossed the border in the dead of night. Amity knew of a spot that was rarely monitored and sparsely populated, which would allow them to cross unnoticed. Dorian elected to not ask how she knew about this.

Once they were several miles past the border, Amity suggested they set up camp. "It'll only get more difficult from here. We should rest now - we'll need all the strength we can get."

Dorian was tempted to push on, but he was too exhausted to protest.

~~~

"So where exactly are we going to find this flower?" Dorian asked as they began again the next morning.

Amity said nothing, though he wasn't surprised by this. Dorian sighed to himself.

"I don't know how you can expect to work with me if you won't communicate with me."

This stopped Amity in her tracks. "It's at the bottom of a ravine. I've never been there myself, so I can't tell you exactly how hard it'll be to get down, but I expect it to be quite a challenge." She swung around to face him. "Excuse me if I'm not particularly chatty. I find small talk to get in the way of my concentration, and I'm going to need all my concentration to get that flower."

"I wasn't expecting small talk. I expect you to tell me the information that I need in order for this to be successful."

"What if you don't need to know anything?"

"What if I want to be more than dead weight and actually help you?"

Amity stopped, as if she'd never considered that. "I'm sorry. I'll try to be better in the future."

They continued on, still in silence, but at least there was the promise of cooperation now.

~~~

Dorian stood at the edge of the cliff, looking down into the cavern. The sheer rock wall dropped straight down into darkness, with no ground in sight. Looking down into the abyss, he suddenly felt very, very small.

Amity looked over on him, slightly amused. "Scared?" She smirked. "I won't judge you if you want to turn back."

Dorian straightened his shoulders. "If it needs to be done."

Amity nodded. Dorian could have sworn the expression on her face was one of approval.

Together, they traveled down an incline that varied between barely noticeable to practically vertical. They stayed by one another the entire time, helping the other through the more treacherous sections.

Finally, they reached the bottom. Amity showed him a picture of what they were looking for. They searched the cavern floor with what little light they were given.

He stumbled upon a bush with a single flower. He felt certain this was it, but he wanted to be sure.

"Amity?"

Amity made her way over to him. "Yes, that's it," she said before he could even ask.

Carefully, they plucked the flower and stored it in a jar, then climbed back up the precipice.

Dorian hauled himself up over the ledge, finding a pair of boots right in front of his nose. He looked up to see an armed soldier bearing the insignia of the kingdom they were currently trespassing in.

Guys I'm done with high school.
Obviously, my goal of finishing this before the end of the school year didn't happen, but my school's graduation ceremony isn't until the end of the month, so I can still finish before I officially graduate. According to my estimations, I have about ten chapters left to write, and I'm hoping to get to the point where I can write at least half a chapter in one sitting, so this should be doable.

Thank you so much for reading. If you liked it, vote, and leave a comment with your thoughts. I'll see you next time.
~Patchesmimi