The walk through the cavern was uninteresting.
Isadora was trailing behind the group keeping an eye on the stag that was following them. The torchlight cast shadows along the stone walls dancing in the damp, dark, hollow cavern.
She caught a glimpse of how she looked in the water. Most of the pins had fallen out but some had tangled in her hair causing a mess. She began trying to pull them out but instead caused more tangles to form at the bottom.
"Priestess!" Veles called. "Pick up the pace, you're falling behind."
She glared at the back of his head walking faster to catch up.
He should be grateful I even wanted to help. She thought rolling her eyes.
Loneliness was settling into the pit of her stomach. Isadora knew Perceval would not be happy to see her under these circumstances, but at least she'd be able to see a familiar face.
She chewed her bottom lip trying to think of what to say when she saw him. Was he okay? Would he even want to see her?
"I see the end of the tunnel," Apollo said.
Isadora felt a shift in the water and saw the stream reverse itself. The vegetation began to shrink away from the tunnel opening.
"Veles, something isn't right." Isadora stopped walking. "The water began to move backward."
The general turned to her. "I thought you said it was safe."
"I know, but the gods can't see everything."
Veles stared at her. Red, glowing eyes appeared above him.
"There!" Isadora screamed pointing up.
Whatever it was moved quickly, slapping the torch out of Apollo's hand.
The torch hit the stream extinguishing the light. The only other light was shining through the exit of the cavern.
Isadora heard hissing above her, a flash of blue scales knocking her into the stream. She felt something rip across her chest.
It began to wail and shriek, skittering back up onto the ceiling. The elves had begun firing their arrows catching the creature's attention.
"Run!" Veles commanded, his voice booming as he looked straight at Isadora.
She didn't wait to see what happened next stumbling out of the cavern and back into the rain.
Her chest began to heave as she tried catching her breath. She felt like needles were inside her lungs poking and prodding until she couldn't breathe at all.
She touched her chest where the claw marks ripped across. Blood stained her hand.
Isadora looked around. The elves hadn't left the cave yet so she held her palms in front of her.
The priestess pulled down the front of her dress exposing her full chest. Three large gash marks bled into the fabric. Skin hung from the open wounds not wanting to let go of her. Any deeper it would have ripped her open.
A white glowing aura surrounded her hands send energy to her chest. She looked down seeing the three gnarly claw marks healed into scars.
"You healed it?" Apollo appeared out of thin air before her.
"Oh by the gods!" She yelped pulling up her dress. "Where did you come from!"
Isadora opened her mouth to protest when Veles and the two other guards appeared in the distance. It was the ability that the earth goddess had gifted the elves that lived in her court. It was as if their magic had broken around them shimmering as they stepped out of their magical veil.
Apollo threw his cape at Isadora. "Cover up."
Like the elves, Isadora was born with a strong connection to nature's magic. It was a surprise when she discovered she could heal as that was an ability granted only by a court god. But, she could rarely use it as she was confined to the tower doing cheap party tricks for the king and his companions.
"What was that?" Isadora wrapped the cape around her hiding the gash marks in her dress.
"A lindworm." Veles said. "An angry one at that."
"A lindworm?" Isadora tilted her head.
"Nasty creatures," Apollo said. "They usually keep to themselves deep in the rivers and lakes, but when a baby is abandoned it can become unhinged and attack at random."
"Looks like we lost our equipment." One of the other elven soldiers said.
"The camp is right over this hill," Veles said. "Let's keep moving."
The group trudged their way up the steep hill. Isadora was slipping and sliding as the rain beat down. She grit her teeth ditching her flats that sunk in the mud.
Isadora scowled. This is annoying, this rain is annoying, everything is annoying. She thought looking at the elves ahead of her.
She looked up making eye contact with Veles as he watched from the top of the hill.
"You didn't have to wait."
"And let you possibly escape?" He scoffed holding his hand out.
She glared pushing past him. "Let's just get to the camp. The faster we move, the faster I can see Perceval."
"Are you sure he isn't your lover?"
She strained a smile. "I'm sure. He's more of an overprotective older brother."
"How did you get to know one another."
She knew this was an interrogation, but she was too tired to fight him. "We grew up together."
"What made him devote himself to you? You know it's rare for a knight to devote themself to anyone else but their King."
"There was an order of knights devoted to me." She countered. "Though, I believe all of them were killed."
"Knights of Erebus?"
She nodded. "The knights protected me and, in return, I would gift them enchanted items."
"What did you give Perceval?"
"It doesn't matter." Isadora sighed. "What about you? How did you become a general?"
"I've been trained my entire life to become general."
She glanced up. "I imagine this is all you'll say on the matter."
"Smart priestess."
The rain began to lighten up. Moonlight began to break through the gray clouds.
Isadora saw the twinkling lights hidden behind the trees. A large wooden gate surrounded the camp. Spiked logs surrounded the entrance.
She felt herself grab at his sleeve trying to keep as close as possible. Veles didn't seem to mind, he kept his head high, authority oozing off of him. She watched as soldiers averted their eyes beginning to whisper within their groups or moving out of his way.
She would be lying if she didn't admit it was impressive that he held so much power over every single elf in the camp.
"Where's Perceval?" She asked beginning to walk by his side.
The general sighed. "I will take you to where he is, but first I need you to look at something."
He led her into one of the bigger tents. Books were stacked in corners, there was an easel near the end of the bed, an empty canvas sitting on it.
A small round table was in the middle of the tent with the same small figurines she had seen at the previous camp.
"Here." He pointed at one of the chairs around the table telling her to sit.
"What would you like me to look at?"
Veles sat across from her. He pushed a sketchbook toward her. "What is this symbol?"
She looked down at the page the book was open on. Her eyebrows knitted together as she looked at the intricate details of the symbol, far better than symbols she had drawn.
There was an outline of a black ram in the middle, horns knarled and twisted. The shading of the sketch made it more menacing. In the background was a mountain with three stars like a crown. She chewed her lip, symbols racing through her head trying to place the ram or the mountains to a specific god or goddess.
"Strange," she mumbled. "The ram belongs to no god I know but the mountains belong to the god of the sky."
"But what about the stars?"
"He is Astraos' brother which makes sense that the stars would be above him. Where did you see this?"
"In my dreams."
"In your dreams?" She smiled. "Are the gods trying to tell you, the serpent general, something?"
"Are you making fun of me, prisoner?"
"I'm not." Isadora looked up locking eyes with Veles. "How long have you been seeing these. . .visions?"
"Since I was young."
"Is that how you can predict the kingdom's movement?"
"Maybe." He leaned toward her."But I'm the one asking questions."
She looked back at the sketchbook. "The ram usually symbolizes death, but the god of death-"
"Has a different symbol, I know."
"I can ask if you'd like."
They locked eyes again. His eyes trailed down to the sketchbook and he gave out a frustrated sigh.
"Yes, please do that." He grabbed the sketchbook throwing it onto his bed.
"After I see Perceval, I will ask Astraos."
"We should go then." He led her out of the tent toward the outskirts of the camp. "Don't mention the sketch to anyone, not even your dear friend, priestess."
Isadora tilted her head. "Of course."
She felt giddy that he was beginning to slightly trust her if this was his way of showing trust. Then again, it could be a naive thought of hers.
"Move." He commanded. The elves guarding the entrance to a small makeshift hut moved out of his way.
Opening the door, Isadora faced a sorry sight. A gaunt and defeated Perceval greeted her. He was stripped of his armor, left only in a white tunic. He was filthy, his hair had been shaved close to his head, and his tunic was stained with blood and vomit.
"Percy!" She cried running to him.
"Percy, I'm here." She knelt beside him holding his face in his hands. "He has a fever."
Isadora turned to General Veles. He looked indifferent to the situation.
"If you want his help, he'll need to be alive." She pleaded.
Veles glared. "Get a healer."
One of the soldiers near the door ran off to find one.
Isadora whipped her fury around on Veles. "Is this how you treat prisoners? With beatings and disrespect?"
"I don't see how different this is from the human camps." He said matter-of-factly.
Whatever feelings she felt before dissipated into anger. "You disgusting boar, that doesn't mean you should."
"How idealistic of you." He muttered. "I was a prisoner in the human camps. This is tame compared to the treatment I received."
She glared at the general as a healer walked inside. Her silver hair was braided into a bun. She wore a long white robe that dragged at the feet.
"What happened?" She asked turning to the two.
"He has a fever." The general said.
Isadora studied the healer as she made quick work on Perceval. The healer's blue eyes seemed to glow as she stared down at his limp body.
"He's malnourished as well." She stood. "I'd like to take him to the healer's tent. We can monitor him there."
"Do that then," Veles ordered.
Two other healers came in with a gurney strapping Perceval down before leaving the makeshift prison cell.
"No wonder he was quiet." A soldier said. "I thought he was dead."
"It would have been better if he were." said the other.
Isadora clenched her fists walking out of the hut. She stared down the two soldiers feeling their energies warp around her. Just one command and she'd strip them of their power.
A heavy hand fell down onto her shoulder bringing her back to reality. Veles squeezed hard, a warning not to step out of line. No one, not even her grandmother, knew about it except Perceval yet she didn't know much longer this secret could be kept.
"What was that?" He asked softly, voice laced with poison.
She unclenched her fist. "Nothing."
He let his hand fall to his side. "We'll speak about that later. You two." He pointed at the soldiers. "Take her to the infirmary. Don't let her out of your sight."
They saluted watching him leave.
Isadora was tired, dirty and tired. She looked at her dirt-stained hands and didn't even want to look into a mirror at this point.
She followed the two guards to the infirmary on the other side of the camp when they were stopped. Apollo held a hand out.
"You're not going in there looking like that." He said. "Take her to the springs. Here."
Apollo reached into his bag and handed Isadora her old priestess robes that were now dried. One of the guards escorting her looked like he wanted to curse, but said nothing leading her away once more.
"This is tedious." The soldier removed her helmet. Long golden braids fell down stopping at her elbows. "We're on babysitting duty."
"I wish we hadn't listened to that narcissistic devil." The other soldier said with a sigh.
"Right. Because we need the lieutenant general to be upset with us as well."
Isadora listened following them up the path carved on the mountainside. It seemed like these two were the lowest of the soldier's rank.
"Now we have to take this filthy human up to the springs. She doesn't deserve to be in the same water as us elves."
"Kairos, stop irritating me, and let's just get this over with."
Kairos glanced back at Isadora. "She does look like a wreck."
"Thank you for noticing." Isadora sighed.
"Millie, she's talking."
"Ignore her."
The canopy of trees shaded the trio from the heat of the sun as they continued on. The steep climb had turned flat with flowers of many different colors speckling the trail. She could see steam rising in the cool evening air. Two entrances were carved into the mountain like the mouth of a cavern.
"The left leads to the female bathhouse." Millie pointed.
Isadora walked toward the left entrance keeping her head down. When she looked up she was astonished by the size of the bath.
The stone was slick beneath her feet as she slipped off her flats. An enormous opening looked over the side of the mountain with a bit of water spilling out of it. She could see the sun setting over the horizon, oranges and reds speckling the sky. A large stone wall, jagged at the top separated the two sides. She wondered how long something like this took.
Her eyes scanned the entire area. She was alone for the first time in five days.
Isadora undressed, excited about the possibility of relaxing. She sighed stepping into the water. Her mind wandered to Perceval. How long was he suffering all alone?
She ducked her head under the water watching the dirt and gunk wash away. She tugged at her hair to rid it of the tangles staring at the sky. Her emotions were a mess. Apollo already knew about her healing, Veles almost found out about her ability to strip magic from a being.
Isadora leaned over the side, watching the clouds below her. She was dreading the meeting with the earth goddess. She didn't know what to expect.
Her heart weighed heavy in her chest.
Once finished, Isadora dressed in her robes and braided her long black hair. She felt better, much better than the past few days.
She followed the soldiers, Kairos and Millie, once again.
The moon was full in the sky which meant that the Earth goddess would be here. But, she was unsure when.
"Thank you." Isadora bowed to the soldiers once they arrived at the medical tent.
She stepped inside to find the tent empty. Perceval was on a cot covered with a blanket. Isadora frowned crossing over to the poor knight.
"Oh Percy." Isadora grabbed his cold hand giving it a squeeze.
His breathing was shallow and his bruises were hard to look at. She held her hands over him. The white aura enveloping her hands once again as she went to work.
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