The Last Princess

Chapter 74

"Ready?" Aiden asked.

We all nodded. I glanced at Maple, and immediately felt strange. Because she didn't at all look like Maple. We had tried to change our appearances so we didn't all look like siblings, but with brown and gray to choose from, we'd done the best we could.

Aiden and Arden had left their hair it's original shade, but mine had to be changed, obviously. It was now dark, dark brown. Maple's new hair was lighter brown, but not as light as the twins'. My eyes were changed to light brown. Maple's became silverish and Arden's became dark brown.

After digging for a long time, downwards and then sloping upwards, accompanied by plenty of breaks and another meal Aiden had packed (he was very resourceful, though I didn't tell him so), we were far enough to come back to the surface. Judging by mine and Aiden's recollections of the village.

But we had still changed our appearances, for safety reasons. Just in case. Aiden turned back, looking up. He pressed his hand to the roof of the tunnel- and soil crumbled down on us. We hadn't foreseen this occurrence.

I pressed my lips and eyelids together to avoid dirt falling into them. When it was over, I cautiously opened my eyes, brushing the dirt from my skin. Then I looked up and met Aiden's eyes. As per the plan, he'd changed them to dark gray.

I'd seen him before with his appearance changed, but I was still surprised that even though he looked different, I could still see him in that disguise. I recognized him even though he didn't look like himself.

He nodded at me and looked up cautiously. "Let's go." He climbed up onto the ground. I followed his example, blinking hard at the bright sunlight after so long underground. When my eyes focused, I realized we had misjudged.

We weren't completely out of the village. But we were right at the last row of houses, and no one was outside, which was lucky. I heard Maple and Arden climbing out. Aiden glanced at me. "Why is everything so quiet?"

He jinxed it.

Or maybe I did, by saying we were lucky. Either way, right at that moment, a parade of soldiers rounded the corner. For a moment we all froze, staring at each other. Then the General spoke. I recognized his voice- from when he had killed the soldier. "Who are you? What are you doing outside?"

Aiden spoke quickly. "V- villagers, Your Honor. We were g- going inside." He played the part of a meek, frightened villager just fine, and I supposed our frightened faces backed him up. The General continued to glare at us. "What are your names?"

"I- I am-" Aiden cleared his throat, buying time. Arden interceded. "Your Honor, he is Basalt Tuff. I am his brother, Bauxite Tuff. These are our neighbors, Breccia and Scoria Slate." I was, apparently, Breccia, and Maple was Scoria.

"Hmm." The General grunted. I thought we had convinced him, until he muttered something to the soldier behind him. The young soldier passed him a piece of parchment on which something was written.

Without knowing why, I felt dread consolidating in my stomach.

The General read down the parchment, passed it back to the young soldier, and looked at us. "Basalt and Bauxite Tuff and Breccia and Scoria Slate, you say?" I exchanged a nervous glance with Arden.

"Your names are not on our list of villagers." He said, almost too soft to hear, posing it as a question. But it was still menacing. I looked at Aiden, who was staring at the General. Then he looked back at me. I read the message he was giving us. Run.

We were all silent. I could make out the minutest sounds, like water dripping slowly inside a house. Then the General screamed, "Capture them!"

We turned and fled.

We were making progress- in fact, we were out of the village when they started gaining on us. Aiden looked back, evidently realized the same thing, and thrust out his hand. The soldiers suddenly banged into something invisible, and stumbled back. I realized Aiden had used the air to stop them. His eyes lightened to their original color.

The soldiers fell back, but the General didn't even stop. He banged at Aiden's shield relentlessly, and was soon joined by the others. Aiden bore this well for only moments before he stumbled. Arden pushed him back up and pushed his hand back, moving the air to support Aiden's shield, and his appearance changed to normal.

Then the General raised a wall of dirt, supported by all the other soldiers, and pushed. I felt a blast of air, and knew the shield had broken. We ran for our life, but they were gaining on us. We crossed into the trees, leaving the village behind.

They pursued us, but I sensed something. A very large lake was nearby. I raised my hands, but Maple pushed them down. "El, don't! They'll recognize you!" She hissed. She was right, but we had no choice if we wanted to escape.

I shook my head, and raised my hand, focusing. I felt a jerk in my head, and water rushed in behind us, wiping away the soldiers. The others stopped and stared at the now empty (albeit very wet) Forest behind us.

I turned, but as I did, I felt a familiar sensation.

My vision dimmed to black, and I felt Nalvia's presence, showing me another vision.