128 – Joyful Reunion

  “Hello, there. Yes, it is both of us. Do we pause here and rest, or go on?”

  Cyrril looked around and evidently spotted Alex, and then chittered noncommittally.

  Steven was only a few feet off the cavern floor. “Watch out, I am getting down.” As he stood, Cyrril let go and took wing disappearing into the darkness.

  Steven stepped out and dropped about half his height to the floor. The burner put out just enough light to see to the next pillar where Alex sat, watching.

  “What was that, Dad?”

  “That was Cyrril. He belongs to a friend. It means that that light is most likely near your mother and sister. I think they are going to come this way.”

  “I think I can see them from here. A man in front with the light. Then I guess that is Mom and Diana behind him.”

  They waited. Alex giving some updates as the light got closer. Steven got his gear together and ready to leave. He had given Alex one of the two spare water skins to carry. Steven saw in the low light that his son had it slung on his right side counter to his sword, on his left.

  Steven stood by the pillar his son sat on as Rox and Diana came into view. Caspian and his light were slightly away, evidently looking at something.

  Diana ran up and embraced her kneeling Daddy as Alex jumped down and ran to his Mother.

  This was shortly a family group hug. For a bit no one wanted to let go.

  Rox found words first. “Have you been waiting long?”

  Steven answered, a few tears on his cheeks. “We stopped here to sleep. When we woke, you were on the tracker so we waited.”

  “The trackers.” Rox deadpanned, as she let go a little to step back. “I forgot to even look at that after I got Diana.”

  “What happened?” Steven leaned against the pillar next to him.

  Diana and Alex were still attached to one parent or the other.

  Rox answered Steven. “Oh, we smashed a few big buildings in their village. Then we spent half of the last day playing dodge the search party.”

  Alex interjected, from Rox’s side. “Is that who that was.”

  Steven picked up on this. “Who what was?”

  “Last night while you were asleep, a group of noisy people ran by on the road.” Alex replied.

  Rox looked at Steven. “Could be.”

  Steven responded. “Must have been some party. I just walked in and identified myself. Alex identified me and we walked out. However there was some bit of a domestic squabble among the locals. We haven’t seen anyone since.”

  Rox nodded “Caspian suspects the elves are still trying to search for Diana. There is one way to be sure they can’t track us easily.”

  Rox turned to Alex. “You have magic about you, young man. I need to take it off you, with the help of a Mage. Soon as he gets over here.”

  Steven had listened to this on the trail here, but not fully. Now was as good a time as any. “So what exactly does that entail?”

  Rox looked briefly down at Diana, who was winding her hair around her fingers. “It means I need to draw a magic circle, Alex needs to strip naked, and then I dispel the spell I put on him just after he was born.”

  Alex looked at Diana then at his mother. “Will it hurt?”

  Diana answered. “No. It’s embarrassing, like going to the doctors; but no shots.” She seamed almost completely preoccupied with her hair.

  Steven could not see all the features of his family in the dim light of the small camp stove on the ground and two meters away. But he could hear in the voices that this was necessary, and potentially embarrassing. Also that Diana was still a bit uncomfortable about something.

  Caspian took that moment to walk in, his staff radiating dimly, Cyrril perched on his shoulder, his robe looking a bit more singed and road dirty.

  “No one is about. Now is as good a time as any, Roxanne. Steven. I see you were as successful as we were. Did you get the book?” Caspian was his usual brusque.

  Steven had to shift mental gears for a moment, and the memory of being handed a scroll replayed itself in his hand. At the time it had not meant anything. The scroll now sat in his backpack. “Yes. I think. I did not ask for it, they just handed it to me.”

  Caspian nodded. As Steven looked around there was enough light that he could see Diana’s hair was a different color than he remembered. It was much lighter, the way that Rox’s was now.

  Steven looked at Rox. “Magic hair dye?”

  Rox smirked. “Closer to the reverse of that, removing the magic hair color.”

  Alex brightened a bit. “I get to have silver hair, like Cable?”

  Rox did not approve of Alex watching that cartoon, but it was one fight she was not about to dredge up now. “Yes, like him. And me, and your sister, and grandmother.”

  “Cool.”

  Rox turned to look at Caspian, as she pulled her staff from her hip quiver. “Take Diana and step aside, to give us some privacy. And this too.”

  Rox unslung her bow, and unencumbered herself of her other equipment, and handed them all to Steven, who took them and stepped aside with his daughter. As he listened, he was mildly surprised and very pleased to hear Rox take the lead over Caspian in this magic.

  Steven led Diana around a pillar for give Rox and Alex privacy. Steven carefully put his wife’s equipment down next to his own, and sat down. Diana crawled into his arms and did not let go as she started crying. Steven held her and let her cry herself out, feeling his own tears run.

  Alex was not quite as reluctant as Diana, for any number of reasons, and there was less to deal with in removing all the active and passive magic on him. Rox later wondered if part of it was that Caspian could not see Alex in the dark, as opposed to Diana realizing that Caspian could see her. The other option was that the local elves had done something to Diana already, and its after affects should be watched out for. After the casting was finished, Alex got dressed quickly. As there was not as much light to deal with, the color change of Alex’s hair went unobserved.

  Shortly the party was fed as much as they wanted, packed, and ready to go. Steven put out the torch he had previously lit, and once cool enough packed it with the other one in his pack. Steven and Alex were a bit off from the others as far as their individual schedules. The family and Caspian hiked along the floor of the Rift for several hours. The kids took turns holding dad’s hand as he could not see in the dark. The other one held mom’s hand just to be near her. Steven did not relight a torch, instead letting his kids lead him, and letting the light from Caspian’s staff lead the way, as he walked out front. Cyrril spent some time on Alex’s shoulder. Diana reported that he has already done the same to her in the smaller tunnels.

  The rock garden passed by a larger spring; a short spur of the road looped past the pool fed by the spring. The outflow from this pool went directly into the wall, along a narrow tunnel. Caspian and Rox had passed by this place while going the other direction without stopping. This time, everyone turned here and filled up their respective water bags. Near the respective afternoons, they left the rock garden behind. While the surface was relatively flat in general appearance, it undulated a little and had a subtle rise in elevation in the direction they were heading. They passed into a noticeably warmer area, with a slight upward breeze.

  Then the road took a sharp turn and started up an incline.

  “This is it,” Caspian stopped. “We can rest now, and take the hill in one go tomorrow, or we can get about half way up, and stop. There are water and camp spots along the way.”

  Rox nodded, remembering the way down. “It’s really not that long, but for the end of the day, I don’t want to start.”

  Steven could not see much, save what Caspian was currently pointing his staff at. The luminescent lichen he had dealt with for half of his journey was evidently not here, possibly due to lack of moisture. But listening he could tell that he was in a box canyon, and that the walls only went up. He looked at what he could see of his wife and kids. Both kids were at the ends of their energy, but eager to go wherever their parents went. Rox was tired, and she was fidgeting with the straps of her bags and equipment. He realized he had been fidgeting with his own for the last while.

  “We rest. Is there a spot her, out of the way?”

  Journal of Steven Caplan: Day 148 (retrospect)

  My children are back. My family is back together. Diana and Alex are with Rox and Me.

  We were still in a deep hole in the ground with about a day and a half or so of hiking to get out. There might be search parties out for Diana. Rox and Caspian evidently caused a lot more commotion that I did.

  Karen said that getting Alex would be harder, than getting Diana. I guess she meant that it would be harder not to fight for my son. There was still some squabble as Alex and I were sent out. I wonder how well I might have actually done. Maybe that is part of why it was harder. She seemed of the opinion that if I had tried to fight, I would have gotten stomped on.

  Camping with the kids had always been enjoyable. For the most part Alex was the adventurous boy turning over every rock and playing at the typical boy’s games that proved his youthful immortality and that he was the hero of what ever story he was playing through. Diana was typically girly in keeping herself clean despite the dirt while either playing with her younger brother, somewhere in orbit of her parents, or investigating whatever local fauna caught her attention. Both were willing to take their turns with the chores and help when asked, provided they were not absolutely engrossed in something else.

  Now, with Steven being effectively blind while the rest of the family could see, Rox took charge of breakfast with Diana’s help, and Alex led Steven and Caspian over to the dunny.

  For breakfast they sat around Steven’s camp stove with the breakfast pot on it, eating a local variation of grits.

  Steven kept looking up into the darkness. “How high up is it?”

  Rox answered before Caspian. “It only took up a couple of hours to come down. I can see a few switch backs before the hill slants out of view. It was not that hard, but long.”

  Steven nodded. “Caspian, remember that spell you did in Veradale, so that we could jump levels. Can you do that here?”

  Caspian considered. Like most mages, caution had been drilled into him, to the point of not using magic when mundane efforts would suffice. He finished his mouthful of food and he mulled over ideas.

  “I would not want to risk separating people. You and I can’t see in the dark, the way Rox and the kids can. My initial concern is being able to see where we are going and avoid obstacles.”