The other side of the jump was rocky, with a brisk wind that raised goose bumps on Emily’s arms.
“Oh wow, what a view!”
Emily stepped out of the way of the jump and stood next to Tanis, even though it was very close to the cliff’s edge. The view was amazing. A deep green valley spilled below them, far below them, fading up into bare grey rock ornamented with stunted shrubbery. Emily held Tanis’ hand as they drank in the sight.
“Oh cool, we’re going into a mountain!” Ian smiled, pointing at the cave opening Emily and Tanis hadn’t noticed.
“It’s a bit of a walk down.” The hare tried to peer around Ian’s shoulder to see the cave. “But we should encounter a dwarf pretty quickly and then we can take a cart down.”
“Like in cartoons?” Tanis clapped her hands gleefully.
The hare blinked slowly at her. “Sure.”
The breeze picked up and the sylph appeared.
“Fuck me, you followed us here?” Emily stepped close to him, staring the air spirit down even though he was nearly a head taller. Tanis and Ian flanked her instinctively. Scrabbling sounds came from the carrier as the hare tried to turn in his basket and see what was going on.
The sylph spoke casually as he flipped back his braid. “I wasn’t going to let you make me a fool.”
“Get over yourself, if you think we’re dumb, what does our opinion matter?” Tanis scoffed.
Ian snickered, “I am thinking of like three metaphors around learning how to change the channel when you don’t like what’s on, but I don’t think you’d get ’em.”
Watching an angry copper flush across the sylph’s face, Emily slowly grinned. “Hold up guys, I think I know what’s going on.”
“What is going on!” The hare was trying to climb onto Ian’s shoulder.
“Shut up, hare.” Emily didn’t look away from the sylph. “You owe us and are bound, aren’t you? Because we cut you out of that bag, so now you’re obliged to us.” She laughed. “How long are you stuck with us—do you have to save one of our lives or what?”
He practically spat his answer. “You are correct. I owe you. The whole stupid bunch of you, except the rabbit.”
“Hare.” Tanis corrected.
“And so, I am obliged to accompany you.” He spat, waving a hand at the cave entrance. “Even into living rock where no wind blows. Do you have any idea how wretched that is?”
Emily cocked her head. “Any way we can pre-emptively free you of this obligation?”
“No.”
Holding his stare, she waited for more of an answer. When it was clear the sylph was through talking to them, she shrugged and went to the cave entrance. “Well, gang, let’s go.”
***
Emily had been apprehensive about going into the mountain. Closed spaces didn’t bother her, but journeying down into untold depths was something she’d done before and it hadn’t gone well. Even so, once they’d passed the artfully strewn bones in the mouth of the cave that the hare insisted were set dressing, Emily began to enjoy the tunnel. The floor was just uneven enough to keep walking from being monotonous and their way was cleanly lit by the pretty pastel glow of mushrooms growing wherever they could on the walls.
Tanis caught up to her easily; the tunnel was low-ceilinged, but wide. “We should go spelunking when we get back.”
“If we get back.” Emily regretted the words as they left her lips. “I’m sorry.” She reached out to touch Tanis’ arm.
“It’s okay.” Tanis shook her head as if to clear it. “It’s true. Besides, we’re spelunking now, right?” Loose stone and grit crunched under their feet and they held hands for a moment.
The sylph walked behind Ian, hunching even though he had a couple inches clearance above his head. Emily could hear the hare trying to engage him in conversation, without much success. She smiled at Tanis and they rolled their eyes in unison.
Rounding a bend, the tunnel widened before ending in a larger circular space that felt more like a lobby than a cave, with clusters of the glowing mushrooms and raised areas of the rock floor for seating.
“Hare?” Emily circled around Ian as he entered the cavelet, the hare leaning forward in his basket, paws on the edge. “Now what?”
“We wait. Someone should be here shortly. They monitor the entrances.”
Everyone but the sylph sat down to wait. He paced the small circumference, keeping his distance from the group. Tanis ate an energy bar and rested her head against the wall, closing her eyes. Emily wasn’t certain if she was dozing.
It seemed like they waited a long time. Ian pulled out his pack of cards and they played in the dim, but sufficient, light. Tanis cracked her eyes open and watched them play a few hands before she sat up with a grimace and left the cave, going past the bend and into the tunnel. She looked sad when she returned.
“I feel bad, peeing in someone’s tunnel.” She sat on the ground in front of Ian and Emily. Ian dealt her a hand. She started to pick up the cards, then motioned at the hare. “Come here, you can sit in my lap and I’ll hold the cards for you.” He bounded over and gingerly stepped onto her criss-crossed legs, watching his nails.
The hare lost as much as he won, but was an enthusiastic shit talker and turned out to be fantastic at bluffing.
“This is an utterly simplistic game, I don’t understand how any of you lose.” The hare tapped three of the cards in Tanis’ hands and waved his paws dismissively for her to discard them.
“You did just get rid of half your hand.” Ian shook his head and dealt the hare three fresh cards. “That sure of yourself?”
“I always am.”
Emily laughed. “Never a truer thing said!” She threw her cards down. “I’m out.”
“You know we could try to read Tanis’ face for tells, instead of yours.” Ian sorted the cards in his hand. “Your little bunny face is basically inscrutable.”
The hare puffed up his chest and stood fully, his ears flicking straight back indignantly. He pointed a paw at Ian. “I am not a bunny, you two-legged lummox!” He pushed on Tanis’ wrists so his cards would show. “I’m a spectacular specimen of Lepus and that you are unable to fully discern the rich and varied range of my emotions is merely further proof of your own ignorance.”
Ian looked at the hare’s cards. “Okay, but you did lose though.”
“Luck is granted more generously to the truly stupid,” the hare huffed. “Deal again.”
This post is part of The Consoling Divide – Serialised. See the archive and overall content warnings here, and find more of my writing here. I’m over on both Comradery and Patreon, if you feel like supporting my creative endeavours. If you’d like to subscribe to this story, here’s a handy email box for you: