Ant Hill

It had been a while since I had seen Tali. I found out recently that she’s been spending most of her time with Creed, deciphering ancient texts. Creed was filling in the blanks where information was missing. They were attempting to locate the exact spot where the seal is kept. It was such a big secret that even Five, someone who regularly guarded the king, wasn’t sure of it’s location. The only thing she knew for sure is that it was underground.

“We found it!” Tali exclaimed as she ran up to Tyler. He and Demi had been discussing the training sessions. Tyler opened his arms and Tali jumped into them. “Really? That’s great. Now we can solidify our plans.” Tyler excitedly responded, lifting Tali up and twirling her. My jaw dropped. Since when were they this close? Tyler’s group was more interested in Tali’s words than their public display of affection. Perhaps only my group was surprised; except for Demi, but he rarely reacted to things he felt was none of his business.

“So you guys located the relic?” Trent approached with a grin.

“Yes, surprisingly the palace was built on top of an old shrine. The wizards were sealed in the same place they had sacrificed others to use forbidden arts. It’s kind of poetic.” Tali explained.

“Wow, that’s kind of ominous. Is there a separate entrance to the shrine?”

Tali’s joyful face dimmed at Trent’s next question. “Well...that’s the only catch, we’re not sure where the entrance is. We only know where the shrine’s located.”

“That’s a major setback.”

“Not necessarily,” Demi mused. “You said it was underground right? Well, we have an earth elemental.”

Tyler’s eyes widened and Tali regained her hopeful expression. We all turned towards Jer, who, up until this point, was leisurely eating an apple. He paused mid bite, his eyes resembling a startled deer.

Demi gave him a big, crinkly eyed smile. “Come this way, Jeremy.” Demi left the cave, and Jer, as well as the rest of us curious onlookers, followed. He stopped beside an ant hill. “Now, touch the ground and see if you can map out the design of the hive.” Jer passed his half-eaten apple to Brandy and did as he was told. He crouched down, placed his hands on the ground, and closed his eyes. I’m not sure what he visualized but it seemed to be working. Soon, with his eyes still closed, he started drawing lines in the ground. When he opened his eyes and removed his hand from the ground, a map of the ant hive was drawn. Demi patted Jer’s shoulder in pride. “Great. We’ll leave finding the entry in your capable hands.” Jer, still somewhat dazed, glanced at Demi. Observing his confident demeanor, he eventually smiled and nodded.

“I guess all we have left to do is get Jer close enough to draw a map,” Tyler remarked.

“There are many secret passages in the palace. At least half are exists. I know a few of them and since they’re secret, they aren’t guarded. I’ll take Jer to one that connects to a forest.”

“I guess having a prince in the group is helpful after all,” Tyler joked.

“If only the same could be said for you.”

I stifled my laughter at Demi’s comeback. It was decided that all of us would head down the mountain in the morning. We would gather supplies in Tal before heading to Jer and Tyler’s mansion in Taloff. From there, we would make our way to their mansion in the capital, which was about a twenty minute carriage ride from the palace. The entire trip would take about a month. In essence, we were a month away from the finish line.

It took two full days to descend the mountain. The journey was slightly slower with a large group. Because of our numbers, when we reached the cabin at the halfway point, the men were forced to camp outside while the women slept in doors. Chivalry aside, there were double the number of men to women so they wouldn’t have fit in the cabin anyway. It was easier to divide by gender than some other condition like roles or class. I thought Creed might complain because he seemed a bit picky but he was surprisingly excited to camp. I heard from Tali that Creed was greatly interested in astrology. Since this was one of the rare moments that could talk to Tali without any men interrupting, I decided to ask what I had been curious about.

“Tali, are you and Tyler dating?”

Tali was a bit startled by the question but soon answered, “Yes, we started dating shortly after fleeing the capital. We spent so much time alone together, before meeting the others, it just naturally happened. Everyone else knew so I didn’t think to mention it. I’m sorry if you felt excluded.”

“No, no,” I quickly waved my hands and shook my head in denial. “I had just never seen you express affection before so I didn’t realize...I thought you were just close partners.”

Tali observed me for a moment before confronting me with what I left out. “But you’re not happy because you don’t like Tyler, right?”

Embarrassed, I avoided eye contact. “Well, his personality is...a bit difficult. If it weren’t for the obvious resemblance, I wouldn’t believe he’s Jeremy’s older brother.”

Pfft. To my surprise, Tali laughed. “Difficult is a kind way of putting it. He can just say it- he’s an ass.” My eyes widened. What a way to describe someone you like. It’s true but still. “Of course he isn’t to me. I didn’t realize what his personality was actually like until I saw him around other people. He was initially kind to me because he wanted a favor but later...well, I guess we all want to show our best to the person we like.” That’s true. I’m glad he at least treats my sister well. “What about you and Demi? It feels like something changed in your relationship?” I blushed.

“We confessed to each other but our relationship status is ambiguous. We decided that definitions can wait until after this is all over. For now, it’s enough to know that the feelings we hold are mutual.”

Tali nodded in understanding. “I like his highness. Things might become complicated for the two of you in the future because of the status difference. But I’ve seen how he looks at you, so I’m not worried. Actually, at first I felt bad for him because it looked like his feelings were one sided.” Now I was fanning my flushed face.

“I, I had a crush on him,” I stammered. “But though there’s plenty of reasons for me to like him, I didn’t think there were any reasons for him to like me. So I ignored the feeling and pushed it to the back of my mind. I’m pretty good at keeping my priorities straight, so it wasn’t hard.”

“Haha, well I’m pretty sure you are his highness’ priority, so I feel much better knowing my little sister isn’t trampling on a prince’s heart.” Tali laughed heartily as I grew increasingly more embarrassed. Brandy heard the laughter and joined in on the conversation. Eventually, all the women had gathered, swapping stories of their men or past escapades. Even Five came to listen. She didn’t say anything, but she looked curious about other people’s romantic experiences. Knowing her profession, I doubt she had many experiences getting to know the opposite sex normally. The entire atmosphere was jovial and light hearted. We resembled little girls at a slumber party. We talked well into the night, until the men started yelling at us to be quiet and go to sleep. Laughter faded into the deep breathing of slumber.