Princess Ahira (18 page)

             
“We need
you at the council right now—”

             
“On my way,” Kohath snapped waving his hand through the ball of light. It evaporated as Kohath turned to me. “
I apologize, Ahira.
You’ll have to walk yourself home,” he said, sounding almost sorry.

             
He whirled away before I could cheer and/or object. I watched him depart, disappearing into the woods.

I
shrugged and set
down the road. After walking for several minutes I suspiciously checked over my shoulder. Seeing no one, I left the path and plowed into the forest.

Yes, I know it was a very dumb
thing to do. Almost every fairy
tale has a stupid girl who leaves the path and e
nters the forest. Heeding fairy
tales no mind, I plunged off the main path and went into the forest, confident that I could find my way back home.  That was
a
mistake.

             
It wasn’t until I had walked for about
half a mile that I realized
the forest seemed
different
. Everything was darker, colder, and dangerous. 

             
I stumbled around for half an hour, scared and worried. I lost my way, like any good heroine, and was dreadfully frightened.
(Mother would be so proud.)

             
It was then that the valkyrie stumbled upon me. 

             
I was sitting on a moss
y
log when a cruel, high pitched voice spoke. “So this is the huma
n that’s caught the eye of a d
uke.”

Fearing the worst, I looked up. Standing before me was a strange sort of warrior woman, a valkyrie.

I had heard about the valkyrie before. They were beautiful women who had enchanted voices. When they sang they were able to overtake your senses and manipulate you
, essentially cursing you
. They weren’t very modest creatures, and they hated humans with a passion that was only rivaled by their loathing for dragons.

             
As I stared at this valkyrie
I felt some of my fear and respect for the enchanted beings drop. This valkyrie was wearing the shortest skirt I had ever seen
paired
with high-heeled blue boots
and a short
,
blue blouse. Hardly the clothes of
choice to be stomping around in a forest
.

Her blond
hair was coiled into a braid, which she flip
ped over her shoulder as her
tapered ears twitched. The braid snagged on her black, beetle like wings, effectively yanking her head back. She howled and tugged on the hair until it released.

Really, I shouldn’t have been surprised. The stupid/beautiful unicorn should have been enough of a warning.
But even as I watched the blond
e
valkyrie shriek as she accidentally pulled her own hair out, I felt cheated. Once again the stories had failed me.

             
“Who are you?”  I asked, unimpressed. I fingered the folds of my skirt, trying to nonchalantly search for my dagger.

             
“I
am Trila! I am the spy for the west v
alkyrie army,” she proudly replied.

             
Even though I was fearful I couldn’t stop my sharp retort. “You must not be a very good spy.”

Another
mistake.

             
“Why do you say that girl?” she snarled, suddenly looking very scary in spite of the miniskirt.

             
I licked my lips and decided I should proceed with care. “If you go around telling everyone that you’re a spy how can you get any secret information?” I logically asked as I finally felt the hilt of the dagger deep in my pocket.

             
The valkyrie seethed. “Aren’t you afraid of me? Of my beauty, my voice, my intelligence, my power?” she spat
, totally ignoring my point
.

             
I decided a false bravado might be exactly what the situation called for. “Um, no.”

             
Trila looked crestfallen for a moment before she became totally enraged. “How dare you! I’ll make you pay!” she roared.

             
Her red face serving as the perfect target, I ripped my dagger out of my skirt and threw it at her. Sadly I had forgotten the legends I knew oh so well. Weapons don’t work against valkyrie. 

             
Trila broke off her howl and sang a couple of high-pitched notes. My dagger dropped to the ground a few feet away from her.

             
There went that idea. I eyed the dagger
,
but my mind moved on to a new plan. Instead I discreetly searched my pocket for the unicorn flute.

“Killing you, pathetic human, will bring me so much pleasure!” Trila declared before launching into a song. 

             
I grimaced whe
n I heard the first few words. I
t was “The B
allad of Sir
Frankfort,” a particularly long
winded
song
that I hated with
the
burning
passion
of a dragon’s flame
. 

             
I could feel her voice dislodging my brain and fogging it up.
It
wasn’t as if
her voice
hauntingly beautiful or anything. In fact I’m pretty sure a dwarf could
sing
soprano better than Trila, but the
cursing
magic
in
her voice was what got me.

             
E
ven with my hazy mind, I had the good fortune of pulling the unicorn horn out of my skirts.

             
I knew I was in trouble, and not just because of Trila. I didn’t know if playing the horn
flute
would help or hinder me, and worse yet I didn’t know how to play
any
instrument, much less a
flute. I silently cursed m
y lack of musical talents
and my lesson
skipping habits
(Perhaps Mothe
r did ban me from the stables for good reason)
as I brought the flute to my lips. To my surprise my fingers danced across the flute, playing a sweet and beautiful tune. 

             
As I played my mind cleared and I started to feel immensely better. I was the only one, however, with those sentiments.

             
To
put it
mildly, the v
alkyrie
became infuriated and gave me a
death glare as she sang louder.

As tho
ugh to match her terrible voice
the notes from the unicorn flute increased in volume as well, drowning out the effects of her bad singing.

             
Tril
a stopped and
unsheathed her swo
rd. Unfortunately, I was lost in my own word, continuing to play the flute.

             
“
Be quiet
! Stop it!” s
he yelled as sh
e flew towards me, her sword poised to stab me
. 

I
dropped my flute and
froze
in terror of the miniskirt and the sword.
I clench
ed my eyes shut and prepared my
self for a blow, which never came. 

             
The clang of metal
meeting metal echoed through
the forest
, and I slowly opened my eyes.
Kohath
was
standing in front of me, his beautiful and regal sword locked in combat with Trila’s puny blade. 

             
They both jumped backwards, Kohath landi
ng scant inches in front of me.
“If you know what’s good for you, yo
u’ll leave Princess Ahira alone,”
Kohath rumbled, looking dangerous and dark. 

             
“Possessive are we?” the valkyrie taunted.
Kohath
growled, and panic broke out on Trila’s dim looking face.
“Well I’ll
be back, you can be sure of it! Remember, valkyrie don’t retreat. W
e just d
isappear for the time being!” s
he taunted before a puff
of smoke gathered around her.
There was a popping so
und and the smoke cleared. She was no where to be found.

             
Kohath, needing some way to vent his frustration,
turned on me.
“What d
id you think you were doing?” h
e roared. “
Why did you go off the path?” h
e yelled as he took my shoulders and pushed me into the trunk of a tree, his hands forcing my shoulders to stay still. 

             
“I
wanted to go into the forest!”
I squirmed.

             
“
The forest is dangerous now!” h
e yelled
.

I opened my mouth to sharply reply when my gaze caught hold of his eyes. Even
though Kohath
l
ooked furious beyond all belief
his eyes
were glazed with fear
.

A part of me
snidely
tho
ught he was probably afraid what
Azmaveth would say if he lost me. But the pleasanter side of me chimed in that he was quite obviously worried about me.

             
“I’m sorry,
”
I said after a moment.

He shocked me out of my mind when he reached out and dragged me into a close embrace.

“Be more careful next time,” h
e whispered in my ear
before releasing me and spinning
around, stom
ping off into the woods.
I assumed I was supposed to follow, which I did so after picking up my flute and dagger. 

             
He silently led the way back to the road and we walked down the boring dirt path all the way back to
Azmaveth’s den
. 

At the cave entrance I thoughtfully paused.
“Kohath, why is the forest around our cave so nice,
but
around Behemoth’
s place it
is
scary and dark?”
I asked.

             
Kohath carefully considered his words.
“The
Keeper
is missing.”

             
“The what?”

             
“The Keeper.
He’s a unicorn t
hat watches over the
Endless
Forest
.
He keeps e
verything pure and untainted.
Now that he’s gone
parts of the forest
are
misbehaving.
Like this area
. It’s too pure, too clean. The other day I saw a wolf let a squirrel ride around on his back,” Kohath marveled.

“
Other parts are so dark even dra
gons have to travel in pairs
for safety.
We don’t know where he is, but we have to find him if we want
to be able to fairly fight the valkyrie. H
e’s able
to keep them out of the forest,” Kohath called to me as he
started to walk away
.

             
“Kohath?” I asked.

Kohath
stopped
walking and didn’t turn around. Clearly he hadn’t quite forgiven me yet.

“Thanks for saving me.” 

Kohath twisted
to face me
and nodded before heading off.

             
I
stepped into the cave before closing the door. I hummed a little as I made my way to my bedroom. I had
just
entered
the kitchen when the d
oor
bell rang. I groaned before turning around and heading back to the door. It
was probably a traveling sales
wizard. Those guys were getting more
persistent
recently.

When I reached the door I yanked it open and barked, “What?”
 

             
It was only Aaron, looking scared and bashful.
“Um, I
was just wondering how you were,” h
e whimper
ed.