Chapter Five

Whoever had entered the cave had walked around the low chamber at first, inspecting, searching. Soon they had neared the rock Istelle was hiding behind. Istelle readied herself. They were coming closer. About to reach the rock and look behind it.

Istelle leapt out and landed on whoever it was, pinning them to the ground.

It was a boy, perhaps Istelle's age, dressed like a bandit and quietly moaning in pain; his head had hit the ground hard when she had landed on him and knocked him over. Clearly, this was no warrior.

"What do you want?" She snarled at him.

In response, the boy called out "She's here! Get her!"

Istelle looked up. Two more thugs were crawling through the hole towards her. She could probably defeat them, it didn't look like any of them had much real fighting experience. Istelle was of course, weaponless, but she had been practicing her fighting since she could walk. And before that, she had watched training. It was all part of being the daughter of the Akeefa chief. Of course, now she was going to be helping the Lette like the bird by her house had instructed her...Istelle shuddered, reminding herself of the most important thing. Liz had almost run out of time by now. The only way she could possibly save her friend was through a miracle. She jumped to her feet.

"What do you want? I come in peace!" Istelle heard her voice crack and her eyes blurred slightly. Past Istelle had never cried but she was now a mix of that Istelle and Istelle Williams. It would be her fault if Liz died.

The two jumped at her. The following fight was not one Istelle was proud of. She tried to defend herself standing up, but they somehow dragged her to the ground and there was much rolling around on the cave floor and flying of fists and feet.

Finally, she got back on her feet. That's when the first thug got back up and jumped on her, almost knocking her backward. The other two were on her as well. She was surrounded. Abandoning strategy, she began trying to kick and push them off. It was difficult to fight in such a small, dark space.

Suddenly, one of her attackers flew off her. No, they were pulled off her. She saw a figure behind them, though she couldn't make out who it was.

Help had arrived.

With the assistance of whoever it was helping her, she freed herself of the three bandits and got out of the cave. By this time tears were pouring down her face. Liz's time was out.

Istelle was out of the dark of the cave and back in the light of the sun. She collapsed to her knees. A silent storm raged on her face and inside her. She felt a hand on her shoulder. She spun around. It was Jude. He was covered in bruises and dirt. His right arm was bleeding.

"It was you! You helped me! How did you find me?" She gasped through her tears.

"It was nothing Istelle. What's wrong?"

Linaria rushed up to them. "Guys! I'm so glad you're okay, but we've really gotta run!"

The bandits were crawling out of the cave towards them.

"Get the redhead! The wizard said she was most valuable!" called one of them.

Linaria shook her head in disgust, helping Istelle to her feet. "Arin! Alistair!" called Jude, "run!"

Istelle and her friends took off. Running with them was a humongous grey wolf. There was an adorable little girl riding it. She didn't have time to wonder where they had come from.

They ran and ran, shouts ringing out behind them. Linaria stumbled and almost fell. Istelle helped her and they kept on running. Istelle saw something ahead.

"Guys stop!" she yelled to her friends. It was too late; Jude and Linaria plummeted off the edge of a cliff.

"Nooooooooooooooooo!" Istelle screamed.

A flutter of wings. Istelle blinked in surprise. There was a female swan Ashy hovering in mid-air, holding Linaria. Jude was in the safe hands of a male pegasus Ashy. A bat Ashy and a raven Ashy, both young girls, hung around the other two. A beautiful red fox Ashy looked at them from the cliff across from Istelle.

"Jump!" the fox Ashy called to Istelle.

She did and the other two Ashies caught her together.

The Ashies carried Istelle and her friends to the other cliff where the girl waited for them. The wolf had somehow jumped the ravine.

By this time, the shock had worn off on Istelle. As the Ashies placed her and her friends gently on the ground, her tears began to flow once more.

"What's wrong with Istelle? Is she okay?" Linaria asked.

"I have no idea. She doesn't look okay…" Jude looked uncertain of what to do then.

Istelle was kneeling on the ground, facing away from the rest of them. She was shaking and crying silently. There was war and chaos raging inside her.

"Oh!" Arin gasped and ran over to where Istelle kneeled and wrapped her arms around her. "Istelle, Liz is okay! She's alive and safe!"

The noises of the war raging inside Istelle quieted. The self-demolishing slowed to a halt. "What?" Her voice was quiet, pleading.

"Liz is safe! She's not dead, she's being healed! Do you wanna come see her?"

"Who are you?"

"Arin. I'm eight and a half, almost nine years old! That's Alistair," Arin gestured to the wolf, then stood up and gave Istelle her hand. They both got on Alistair and held on tight. "We'll see you later!" Arin called to the others as the wolf took off through the forest.

Jude, Linaria, and the five Ashies watched them go.

"How'd Arin know what was bothering Istelle?" asked Lina in wonder.

Jude shrugged and turned to the Ashies.

"Thank you for saving us! I'm Jude, and this is Lina. Who're you guys?"

"We're Ashies," replied the fox woman with wavy brown hair tied in a ponytail and freckles, "I am Dayna."

"Alexa," nodded the bat girl. She had long, dirty blonde, unbrushed hair.

"Raven," said a dark-haired and skinned raven Ashy

"I'm Zarnieth," a boy with pegasus wings and a tail introduced himself.

"Cygnus." said the swan Ashy, shaking her dark hair away from her face.

"So what's you guys' story?" asked Zarnieth, "how come you were jumping off that cliff?"

"We weren't jumping," said Linaria.

"So uhh, we met this wizard in the forest," explained Jude, "and he lead us out of the uhh 'Akeefa territory' and to the 'Lette territory.' Then he gave us a snack, and one of our friends, Liz, she got this stomach ache and the wizard gave her a little bottle that was poison and she drank it...then Istelle, the one who just rode off on the wolf, she went to the caves to get a cure. But while she was gone, Arin and Alistair found us and took us to their home. A man lives there who is able to cure Liz, so while he was doing that, Linaria, Arin, Alistair and I went to go look for Istelle, who was under attack by bandits. We were running away but Lina and I didn't see the cliff and so we just fell. Thanks again for the timely rescue guys."

"Why was your friend crying?" asked Alexa, confused.

"I think...if Arin is correct, then Istelle was crying because she didn't know Liz was safe, she thought Liz had died from the poison."

Linaria shuddered. "Maybe we should go back now Jude," she said.

"Wait," said Zarnieth, sending a look back at his companions, "could you tell me about the wizard who poisoned Liz?"

"His name is Altair, he's got light brown hair, he's tall, young and he carries a sack and wears a cloak." said Linaria impatiently, "why?"

In response to her question, Zarnieth took off into the sky "thanks, we'll take care of him for you!" he called down to them. Cygnus took off after Zarnieth, and with much grumbling and mumbling, the other Ashies followed suit, except for Dayna of course.

Dayna sighed and went to follow her friends along the ground. "See you guys around" she called back to Jude and Linaria, waving, then disappearing into the trees.

The two began to make their way back to the cabin, tracing back their earlier steps.

The wolf Alistair took Istelle and the little girl Arin to a log cabin at the top of a hill. When they arrived, Arin jumped off easily and Istelle followed, marveling at the young girl's wolf-riding skills. Never had she seen an eight-year-old with such skill and agility. Then again, a wolf was this girl's main transportation.

"This is my home," said Arin, "my friend Evan built it a very long time ago. Could you reach the knocker?"

Istelle knocked and the door was opened by a worried-looking wolf Ashy who introduced herself as Gwanwyn.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Istelle."

"Gwanwynnnn, Istelle wants to see Liz!" said Arin impatiently.

"Yes Arin, Istelle will see Liz," came the reply, "but where are Linaria and Jude?"

"They'll be coming soon, please can I see the Sky Room with Istelle?"

"You must ask Evan, Arin, but I do not think he will let you in." Gwanwyn opened the door wider for them and they entered a large, cozy room. Alistair laid down on a rug by the fireplace and Arin danced inside, followed by Istelle and Gwanwyn.

An old man stood up from a rocking chair next to the fire. Arin rushed over to hug him and he greeted Istelle, introducing himself as Evan, his arm around the little girl who was beaming with happiness.

"Liz is this way," he guided Istelle to one of the doors on the side, gently removing himself from Arin, whom he told to go sit with Alistair and await Istelle's other friends. He opened the door and Istelle gasped in amazement.

She stepped inside.

Above her was a clear blue sky, not a cloud or a bird in sight, just blue sky. The same was the case all around her. There were no walls. The floor was a large flat platform made of white marble. The walls and ceiling were just sky. Walking to the edge of the platform Istelle saw that it was the same below her. She could jump off if she wanted to. She couldn't see anything to land on. She turned to look at Evan in complete bewilderment.

He smiled at her. "There is no bottom. If you fall off, you will fall forever through the big blue sky until you die. You are completely free and yet trapped. The way out is the door," he gestured to the door behind them. An open doorway stood up, frame supported by nothing, giving Istelle a bit of a view of the rest of the cabin. The walls around the door had disappeared.

She took a step back towards the middle of the platform and took a deep breath to calm herself down. Okay.

On the other side of the platform lay Liz, fast asleep. Istelle walked over to her. She thought she might cry again, this time with joy and relief.

Liz was breathing, completely and wonderfully alive.

Istelle stroked her friend's mess of short brown hair. Liz was covered in sweat as if she'd just run a race in the sun but her face displayed calm.

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to get you the cure," she whispered, then turned around and silently exited the room.

Evan was waiting for her on the other side, smiling.

"Thank you so, so much Evan," said Istelle, grasping his hand and looking into his eyes.

Evan gently pulled his hand away and guided Istelle to the large round table at the other end of the room where Arin was already seated, sulking.

Istelle, glowing with gratitude and happiness, patted Arin on the back.

"You okay there?"

"I'm not allowed to go inside the sky room."

"It's for your own safety, if you fall off, you'll never find your way back up."

"But I can be careful!"

"I'm sure you can. Cheer up, Lina and Jude are probably going to be back soon, and we can eat."

Right then there was a knock at the door.

"There they are!" Arin ran to greet their friends, her sadness forgotten.