by Dawn Dagger
Levanine, Kasha, and whomever else took it upon themselves to help with the duty sewed the torn sails. The job was tedious and painful, and Levanine more often than not had to redo Kasha’s sloppy stitches, which made her crabby.
After fixing a few of the tears, she would stand and wander around the beach, stretching her stiff limbs. She watched to make sure Silva returned from each job unharmed, and to see if the Captain wanted anything more from her.
Finally, they had all three sails repaired as well as was going to be done, and remounted. Levanine had never been proud of her work, she was not stupid enough to do that. She had learned after many years her work would never be enough.
But she had to admit that the sails looked fairly nice.
About the time that the sails had finished being remounted, the men had finished repairing the holes that had been ripped into the ship when they had beached unexpectedly. Levanine helped Braxton make a greasy soup of rat and the last bits of rice that they had on the ship for lunch.
After lunch the Captain gathered all of the men on the beach, beginning to do a roll call as Palae, and Rakifi counted supplies. Quinn sat on the edge of the ship, watching quietly. The bruises on his face had begun to fade.
They unfurled the sails and lifted the anchor. The ship rested mostly off of the beach, ready to be pushed out into the dark ocean with the oars.
After doing a thorough role call, they realized one of the groups they had sent out were still missing. The group included Silva, Awla, and another man whose name she did not recognize, who had all gone to try and find animals other than rats or anything else of importance they may have missed in their earlier combs of the island.
The Captain cursed, then marched toward Quinn to speak with him. The Captain dismissed the men to finish tearing down their makeshift camp and board the ship, pulling Rakifi, Awla, and Levanine aside to help him find the missing men.
The men donned swords and cloaks and waterskins and lanterns, and Levanine donned all but the sword, keeping only her dagger. The Captain did not force her to take one, as they both knew full well she wasn’t strong enough to carry it.
The Captain gave her a small nod, then they left the beach, starting in the direction the missing men had gone.
The group of four climbed over rocks and wandered along narrow, sharply twisted paths, calling for the other sailors loudly. Their voices echoed through the hissing mists, making Levanine feel as if they were very alone. The aloneness soon was replaced by a feeling of being very lost.
All of the rocks looked the same, and the mist seemed to grow thicker, suffocatingly damp. The rat that skittered past and looked at them, was that the one they had seen just a few minutes back?
Levanine was sure they were lost, as they stumbled down a rocky cliff face and landed in a small valley of yet more grey stone.
“Captain,” Norrin said suddenly, stopping. “Are you sure this is the right way?”
Levanine could not believe that he had dared question the Captain, but swallowed her disbelieve as he turned and nodded, tilting his tricorn hat to the side of his head. “Yes. But I do not understand why they would have gone so far. All we’ve seen are rats and rocks.”
He turned to Rakifi and opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it and turned away. He suddenly pointed, and Levanine ran her gaze along the way he was pointing, noticing the small opening to a cave. On the outside of the cave hung one of their lanterns, gently tossing rays of orange.
They quickly climbed to the opening of the cave and looked around, being quieter than they had been on the trek there. There were no tell tale signs of the men outside of the cave, save the lantern. The Captain ducked and peered into the dark, cold cave mouth. He lifted his lantern and glanced around. Levanine peeked around his side.
The cave mouth led deep down, veering sharply and disappearing from sight. Norrin walked over to the side of the cave and lifted his lantern to peer at the wall. The wall was ragged and glistening with droplets of dew, but distinctly drawn onto the grey stone was a charred smear that resembled the Red Running Royalty’s emblem.
“They came in here.” Norrin confirmed.
Rakifi nodded. “I’m glad they finally listened to us and started marking where they’ve been.”
The Captain nodded and stepped into the cave, stooping a little as he wandered down into the tunnel. Levanine followed close behind him, Norrin and Rakifi behind her. Rakifi looked pale when she glanced behind her, but she figured it was the sickly pale light. She was unmoved by the closeness of the cave and the men around her. She had never been bothered by small spaces.
They wound through dark tunnels that got smaller and smaller, until they were nearly crawling. More than once she thought she heard Rakifi whimper, but decided not to draw attention to him by glancing at him.
The tunnel opened suddenly, all but dumping them into a larger belly of the cave. The space was towering and massive, with giant, white stalactites hanging from the dark ceiling and stalagmites rising from the floor that were twice as tall as the Captain.
As soon as they hit the open space, Rakifi dashed behind one of the stalagmites and the sound of retching filled the cave. Norrin looked as surprised as Levanine was, but the Captain was undeterred, beginning to examine the stalagmites.
The cave was dark, with only small pockets of grey dotting the ceiling to reveal there were tunnels that led to places other than deep into the mountain they must have been in. Their lanterns’ glow sharply outlined the rocks and each others’ faces. Wind hissed around them as it had where they had set up camp.
Norrin began to wander around as well, but Levanine waited awkwardly for Rakifi to finish emptying his stomach. Rakifi came around the side of the stalagmite, wiping his mouth with his sleeve and looking green in the glow of the lantern.
“Are you alright?” she whispered.
He nodded, taking a long drink from his waterskin. “I don’t like small spaces,” he wheezed, looking bashful and still sick.
Levanine nodded, offering him a small smile, and they began to wander side-by-side through the stalagmites, being sure to keep the Captain’s bobbing orange light in their line of sight. Levanine found it odd that in this massive cave, no rats littered the floor. There were rats all over the island. Everywhere but the one place that would be a good home for normal rats? She did notice pairs of beady eyes on the ceiling she assumed were bats, however.
Crack!
Levanine and Rakifi froze, their eyes widening fright as the noise exploded through the cave. A few of the eyes on the ceiling shifted and sleepy-sounding squeaks twittered through the space. Pebbles cascaded down off of the ceiling. Norrin turned to look at them, then gestured to his feet.
He had stepped on a bleached bone- something larger than a bone of one of the rats. Perhaps another animal? The bone was too clean to have just been something that had crawled in and died.
“Men, come here.” The Captain suddenly hissed, sounding angry. They all rushed forward, then Levanine stopped short in horror as she came up beside the Captain. A mangled body lay before them, some of its limbs missing and his blank eyes staring in horror at the ceiling of the cave. Blood freshly soaked the grey ground.
“Is that--”
“Yes,” The Captain interrupted Rakifi. “It’s Doch.”
Levanine felt her stomach twist. It was one of the three men on the search party. So where was Silva, and Awla? She felt suddenly frightened. What had killed this man? What had eaten this man? Surely no rat could have ripped entire limbs off…
Was it the thing that had been following her on the beach? Was it… Her blood went cold and she held her breath. Whatever it was… was it still in the cave with them?
“We need to leave,” Rakifi said quietly. “We can’t risk--”
“Not without Awla!” Norrin hissed. “We have to find the rest of the men, you coward!”
Levanine felt torn. She agreed that they should leave the c
ave as soon as possible, in case the ghoul or monster or whatever it was still in their with them. But she also felt scared for Silva, and wished she knew he was alright.
Rakifi had his mouth open to argue, but the Captain lifted on hand, his eyes flashing. “Hush up, you idiots!” He hissed between his teeth. Pebbles rained down around them. The Captain raised his lantern higher, peering up at the stalactites. Levanine found herself following his gaze, then drew in a sharp breath.
Had one of the abnormally shaped rocks shifted? Levanine felt a chill run down her spine as one of the white stalactites moved. It seemed to morph upwards into a blob along the ceiling, then slowly walk in a misshapen form closer to where they stood. Sweat gathered on her forehead, and she saw the same glistening on the men’s faces.
Her heartbeat pounded in her ears as the white mass rippled and moved, its leathery hide concealing muscles. The creature suddenly fell from the stalactites and onto the floor behind a stalagmite with a thud that shook the cavern and sent waves of bats screeching and flying in circles above their heads.
The monster leapt through the air and caught three bats at once, landing heavily once more, this time only ten paces from them. Levanine thought she might vomit as her heart fell into her stomach. The monster was white, and stood on its back two legs. It appeared to be a lot like a short, fat wyvern with a thick hide. Short, however, was a relative description, as its head reached the tops of the stalagmites as it bobbed along.
The monster shook its massive head and swallowing down the bats it had captured while the rest screamed in a flurry above their heads.
Its head was by far the most terrifying part of the creature. It looked as if its neck had been cut short, where its head should be was nothing but a gasping pit of fleshy pink and rings of teeth that spun in opposing circles, grinding the bats into nothing with spurts of blood that decorated the cavern floor.
“Move,” the Captain hissed in her ear, his hot breath hitting her neck, “while the bats are loud.”
Levanine began to tiptoe as fast as she could in the direction away from the monster. She was not sure where they had entered from, she was lost in the maze of cavern, but headed for the nearest hole she could find, praying it would not lead them deeper into the cave.
And as suddenly as they had begun shrieking and flying in a wild pandemonium, the bats resettled onto the ceiling of the cave, going silent. Without the shrieking, they had no cover, and it felt all too quiet in the cave. The monster breathed heavily and gnashed its teeth. The lanterns crackled loudly. Levanine wished they could blow them out.
The creature huffed and stumbled away from them, its face pressed against the cold ground. It appeared to be smelling for something, like a terrifying, headless hunting dog made of leathery white skin and bulging muscles.
Levanine shuddered involuntarily as it sniffed at the edge of a dark spot on the cave floor. She realized that if the monster did not know it was blood, it must have been were Rakifi had been sick.
They were ready to escape to the wrong side of the cave. The idea chilled Levanine, but she knew there was no way to get around the beast. She prayed to all Saints.
Norrin’s eyes suddenly brightened and turned, raising his arm. Before any of the three could cry out or grab him, the lantern flew from his outstretched hand and exploded in a shatter of glass and ball of flame against a stalagmite. The monster let out its shrieking roar and lept to the stalagmite, its claws gripping around the rock as it smashed its face against the charred part of the rock, attempting to devour the fire.
As they ran towards the nearest cave exit, a hole in the wall above Levanine’s head, she realized that the roar was indeed the one she had heard on the beach. How close had she been to death?
Levanine let out a surprised scream as she was suddenly hoisted into the air. The Captain tossed her up to the hole and she reached out, falling hard against the rocky wall. Levanine gripped the rock inside the tunnel and clawed, kicking her feet as she attempted to climb into the space.
She crawled forward into the tunnel, which seemed to be flat, then tried to stand. The space was tall enough for her to crouch, so she gained her footing as more hands braced themselves in the entrance of the hole. Levanine went to move forward, to move out of the way so Norrin and Rakifi and the Captain would be safe, when her boots caught pebbles and suddenly went out from under her.
A cry peeled from her lips as she suddenly began sliding downwards. Rock scraped her arms and palms and she attempted to stop her descent, and her tunic and pants tore. Her lantern tumbled from her waist and disappeared down, down, down, leaving her screaming in the sudden darkness, picking up speed as she slid.
Suddenly, she felt herself floating, being tossed through the air. Levanine fell hard into a dune of sticks that scattered from beneath her with a strange clacking noise. Levanine saw nothing as her body hit the rocky ground hard, and her body twisted, rolling through the sticks for a moment, before she finally fell still.
Levanine laid on her stomach, gasping for breath as the sticks fell on her back and head and dust filled her mouth and nose, choking her. Levanine coughed and pushed herself up. A thump and a clatter sounded nearby. Another thump. Someone cursed violently. A shrieking roar sounded far, far above them.
Levanine managed to push herself into a sitting position, and glanced around. She realized the space they were in was tinged with a turquoise light. The light was soft and distant, only enough to outline the edges of the smooth sticks and her palm, but it was enough for her to see two figures sit up.
“Hello?” She whispered.
“Levanine?” Her heart thumped as the Captain called her name. He was alright. “Norrin? Rakifi?” One of the figures stood and began to brush them self off.
“Here.” Rakifi said in a small, miserable voice.
“Aye,” Levanine said, rising to her own feet. Oh, her body ached. Blood welled into her eyebrow and dripped into her eye, as well as stung in a hundred cuts on her body. She wiped her eye with a groan.
“Norrin!” The Captain barked.
There was a coughing and spitting. “Aye, aye. I’m here.”
“Good.”
Levanine examined her surroundings as she began to approach the figures, wading through the piles of sticks that duned all around. Her lantern was not to be seen, but the turquoise light was enough she was not terribly bothered. The ceiling of the tunnel they were in was not as soaring as the cavern with the monster, but it was still high enough that she believed it might not bother Rakifi.
The rock in this cavern was smooth and dry, with patches of blueish-green moss clinging to it. Levanine felt uneasy as she examined the bleached sticks around her. She could not figure out why they looked familiar enough to turn her stomach, but not familiar enough she could identify them as anything other than too smooth sticks.
It was just wood, wasn’t it…? She gingerly picked up a stick with two fingers, then let out a startled cry, dropping it.
“What?” The Captain demanded, approaching her.
“They’re bones!” She gasped. They were surrounded by hundreds of bleached bones. Piles and piles. She thought she might vomit. There were no skulls, just arm and leg bones. Some broken apart rib bones as well.
“They cannot hurt us. They’re already dead.” The Captain said bluntly, clearly unconcerned.
Levanine did not share his feeling, but hugged her cloak around her shoulders and tried to pretend that it was alright. Perhaps the monster deposited the bones in this hole when it finished ripping people apart? Or the rats might have drug them down here…
Neither explanation was convincing, nor comforting, but she had nothing else to believe.
Rakifi and Norrin approached. No one else had lanterns, she noticed. She also noticed a large dark spot on Rakifi’s trousers, but did not mention it, to save him embarrassment. Norrin, on the other hand, snickered.
Rakifi glared at him. “My water skin broke in the fall,
ass.”
Before Norrin could bite back, the Captain spoke up, “Come on, let’s find out what the source of that light is.” Although it seemed he was ignoring their squabbling, she could see the annoyance glimmering in his blue eyes.
Norrin and Rakifi threw him matching glances of alarm and dismay.
“We have no other way to go besides toward it. Besides-” he gestured to a charred emblem that broke apart one of the larger patches of moss- “someone is still alive.”
Chapter 10
Norrin, Rakifi, and Levanine followed the Captain through the room of bones, and into a slightly skinnier tunnel, though it was still large enough for them to walk in pairs beside each other. The further they walked, the less bones were piled, until there were only scattered femurs and arm bones along the edges of the cave, and then eventually no bones at all.
The deeper into the tunnel they ventured, the brighter the turquoise light grew, though they could not see its source. Levanine felt as if the path were leading downwards, but chose to ignore the possibility. The cave walls were soon covered in a thin layer of the soft-looking moss.
Around the top and sides of the tunnel, large, jagged crystals grew. Levanine could not tell if they were clear and reflecting the turquoise light or if they were truly like jagged pieces of the sea frozen in place.
Rakifi seemed interested in the crystals, but did not stop to examine them. Levanine shared her waterskin as the floor of the tunnel became carpeted with a tangle of leafy vines. Levanine could not help but feel that this tunnel was truly beautiful.
The air smelled sweet and began to vibrate with a low melody. The blue light was bright now. So bright in fact, that Levanine could not see through it.
The Captain stopped for a moment, examining what seemed to be a wall of light. The humming seemed louder. Levanine could almost believe it was a real singing.
