The tweeting of the forest birds feeding her ears, and the harmless rays of the sun working wonders on her delicate skin, and the sweet fragrance of the grasses and flowers which pleasured her sense of smell was what waked Iliya. 
  She flicked her eyes open but sun shine smiled into her bright blue eyes and she shut them immediately.
So she turned around and opened her eyes to see where she was lying down, it was okay. And when she tried getting up, she then realized that she was really weak and needed an energy boost. 
  She got up regardless at the remembrance of Pradai and what she might be going through at that moment, it gave her enough strength to forge ahead. 
  She staggered her way through the thick unpredictable forest and with each step she made, she held herself so as not to fall down. 
  She threaded like that and after some big time had passed, she came upon a cleared portion in the forest which was void of any disturbance, peaceful and quiet, which was also a bit odd, but in her current condition, she didn't think much about it, and when she walked into the very middle spot of the cleared portion, she then realized something, but it was too late. 
"Oww oh" she exclaimed as the spot softened and she fell inside – it was a trap, one she was familiar with. 
  She fell unconsciously in the big hole, but it only took some seconds for her magical body to intervene and she regained consciousness. 
  She stood up and looked around the hole, which was dark and empty. She cleaned her clothes of dirt and mistakenly took a step backwards, and she heard a piece of wood crackle. Her eyes widely gleamed and her heart started beating fast against her rib cage, because she knows what it meant. 
"Yes of course, I'm to be hanged as well" she growled with frustration and immediately strong ropes came running helter skelter from diverse directions, but she remained still and calm– she was expecting it. 
  And in a twinkle of an eye, she saw herself above the ground level in the hole, pressed against the wall with the ropes holding her tightly, and in a few seconds, the ropes started intertwining and slowly changing positions and soon, she saw herself hanging upside down. 
"Can't be any more interesting" she shaked her head and sighed. 
Foot steps approched, and they got into the hole from another entrance. Iliya remained calm as they stealthily came close behind her. 
  They quickly dropped their weapons and gasped at the sight of who they saw. 
"If not the so called underground masters…" Iliya snarled, and they looked at each other in surprise and fear especially, they were three. 
"When I taught you dumb heads about this trick I never said it is used to trap Elves!" She yelled, while still hanging upside down. 
They tried to calm her down, but she wouldn't stay calm 
"Bu… but we only set it for animals, and any Elf who came close would know" one of them stammered, and the others nodded in agreement. 
  Iliya didn't say a word and they were silent for a while, she kept on looking at them with a threatening face which made them nervous and afraid, but they couldn't hide their faces. 
"So, you mean that I'm a stupid and foolish Elf?" She said slowly, picking the words carefully and dropping it on the wall of their ears as she continued. 
  They quickly got down on their knees with fright
"No no we never said that please forgive us!" They begged. 
"You never said that? Please forgive us? Why are you even begging me? You never said that… really" she said in a soft tone which was rather sounding treacherous. 
"So am I going to ask to be let out of this damned trap!?" She yelled at them, and immediately the three Elves stood up and started undoing the trap– everything about it. 
"And be fast about…" before her sentence could run to it's finish line, she was already on the ground, with a hard thud, enough to make a human being break a rib. The three Elves looked at each other with their heart beats trying to beat out their chest skeletons.
  The elf who cut the rope was shaking, he didn't go easy with the rope. As Iliya was still on the ground trying to recover from the hit, the others looked at each other, and when she was about to stand up, they made the best use of their legs leaving the other one behind. 
  They threw away their leather bags which hanged across their shoulders and only had their knives which was shoved into their leather satchel and varnished into the trees. 
  And the Elf stood their motionless and frozed in fear of what was about to befall him. 
"Uhh damn it" Iliya expressed pain as she stood up, and saw the fear ridden Elf. 
"So what do we do with you mm?" 
  The Elf couldn't bring himself to say something, he was afraid that any word spoken by him might make things worst. He gulped his saliva as Iliya removed the ropes and the rubbishes from her body. 
  She raised her head and looked at him with a serious but blank face "friends shouldn't leave friends behind, no matter what" she let those words slip through her mouth slowly reminiscing each word as if she was talking to herself. 
"Now tell me, where can I find Drukk?" 
"Ermmm um…." The Elf kept on biting his lips without being audible or saying something meaning. 
"Okay. Fine. I will ask again with a more friendly tone , where can I find Drukk?" She patiently asked again, waiting for an answer which didn't come as soon as she wanted.  
  The Elf was still gulping, and on his words, and was having trouble with his speech. 
"Damn it dumb head! Where can I find Prince Drukk?!" Her voice echoed through the hole to the forest and it shaked the Elf with terror. 
"Sometimes he goes to the blue water's cave. You can find him there!" 
Iliya smiled, and jumped out of the Hole. The Elf looked at her and guided his eyes down to the ground she jumped out from, calculating the distance. 
"Did you just…" gulp "with your broken leg?" 
"Broken leg? Oh that's what your stupid hole caused"... "Oh I've found a better explanation for my leg" she said to herself, and smiled inside her heart. She knew that when she sees Prince Drukk, he would ask her about the leg. 
"Please can I go now?" Pleaded the Elf. Iliya looked down at him puzzled and she thought of the best thing to say to him. 
"Um no? You can stay here and have breakfast, and then lunch and probably dinner with rodents. Call your friends, the moles and grass cutters as well mmm silly" she rolled her eyes, shaked her head and walked away. 
***
  Curl and Little Ben laid down together on the big root of the tree near Curl's Safe tree house. They watched the colour of the sky as it was not in a good mood, the birds of air that sang sweet melodies weren't around and the flowers didn't give it's sweet scent.
  Probably, they were all hurt and lonely, just like the two young Meivs whose mouths had ceased to talk and whose stomachs had refused to let any food in, for the past day and whose hearts knew nothing at that moment but pain and sadness which took the best of them and was the master over their soul. 
"Are we just going to sit here and do nothing?" Little Ben asked Curl in a soft tone. Finally, the mouth had spoken since the past day. Curl wasn't in the mood to talk and it seemed like the words were heavy, as his heart was, and locked as well, and he didn't even try to push those words out. 
"This. This isn't going to help anyone. Who knows what has befallen Iliya? Even if she's just being unreasonable and stupid. We should do something as well, she took the risk, so should we." Little Ben lamented. And finally, Curl managed to say something. 
"No, not at all. We aren't going to stay here and do nothing, we are going to go out there, right there Little Ben, and get killed before we could even introduce ourselves! Go do something if you like" Snarled Curl. 
  Little Ben shaked his head and looked at Curl with disappointment. 
"You know… " he started with a soft tone and gently, so that his words would paint the picture as perfect as he wants in Curl's mind and heart. 
"… I used to think much of you and Kar, thought you two are really something, thought maybe you two were really special. " He paused and sighed. 
" … But now, Kar has disappointed me so much and you, you're starting to give the same impression and you're just as dumb as…" and before he could finish, Curl raged in anger and punched him in the face. 
  Little Ben fell down on the ground and no words came out from his mouth except blood. He wiped it off on one side and looked at it dripping down from his finger. Curl pounced on him and held his head, and started hitting him violently without holding back. 
"Yeahhh come on hit me! Hit me you dumb fool! Hit me you weak Meiv!" And with each word, came more hits , and earned him more punches on his face. And he started smiling, with his bloody face. 
  Curl stopped and helplessly sat on the ground beside him. Little Ben was in excruciating pain, and he kept spitting and coughing out blood. 
"Huh are you done? Mmmm? Come on hit me again! You have the chance now? Look you're a hero! You made me bleed! Yes yes yes hero, no one has ever made me bleed…" he yelled and weakly carried himself up. 
"And you know why? Because I never let them. But I let you make me bleed. And next time Curl, I might never let you." He said and left, and Curl watched his friend leave. He felt sorry for what he did but it was too late to apologize, he looked at his hands and started bashing it on to the ground, he cried out and kept bashing it until there was no strength left again to do so. 
****
  Iliya reached the blue water's cave and stood at the entrance. She exhaled deeply as if she was going to meet her maker. 
The cave's entrance was protected with a magical boundary and only Elves could pass through, not just any Elves though. 
  She stretched her hands and it passed through the boundary and she felt the soothing coldness of the cave on her hand. And when she stepped in, she was greeted with the timely drops of water which made a rythmic sound and pleased her ears. Shadows of water anointed the surfaces of the cave's wall but no water was seen. 
  She kept on limping forward, touching the walls of the Cave as old memories flashed in front of her eyes. She remembered when she was younger, the blue water's cave was one of her favourite place. She smiled when she felt that the one she seeked was there, she just needed to find him. 
  He could be anywhere, and the water could be anywhere. Everything could be anywhere, you just needed to see it. 
"Is that how you greet your sister?" Iliya said, looking around where she stood and a figure appeared, as if he had been there the whole time. 
"My sister who hasn't shown her face for two years you mean?" Prince Drukk said with a majestical smile. His faced shined even in the cave, and his eyes was as bright and peaceful as the moon. His smile would make any heart merry. His royal robe was appreciated with precious stones.
And on his side was a sword, it's head was made with gold and the blade was forged with the dragon's breath. His hair stretched down to his waistline and he had a strong build like a great warrior. 
Iliya didn't know what to say but just shrugged. 
"I wish sorry could solve that problem" she confessed. 
"Haha. You're as good as our late mother. But we will come to that later." He smiled and the look on his face changed. "Now tell me, why do you come looking for me , Princess?"