Still stretching, and cursing his sore muscles, Flare moved over and leaned against the far wall. His eyes felt leaden, and they kept trying to droop closed.
To stay awake, Flare slowly moved around the narrow cavern. He amused himself for a while with trailing his hand through the water, but that got boring rather quickly. He got bored of walking around the cavern after about the third or fourth trip. Finally, after almost being bored to tears, he decided to make a trip to the privy. It wasn't actually that he needed to, but it was something to do at least.
They had made the privy a little ways back the way they had come, just around the first turn in the passage. Flare slowly walked the short distance down the passage, carefully scanning the passage as he went. The torch he carried gave off a feeble light as it was almost spent, but it was enough.
After spending several minutes trying to do his business, he gave up and prepared to head back to camp. He pulled his pants up, and tightened them around his waist. He took one step, and tripped over a protruding rock. The torch went flying and went out, leaving him in pitch black.
“Thal be damned!” He cursed, pushing himself off of the ground. He turned his head, looking around, but the blackness was total. Cocking his head, he listened for a moment, but the only sound was the sound of the water dripping down the side of the wall of the cavern.
“Il-lum,” Flare said quietly, picturing the light he desired in his mind, and a small white flame popped into existence, hovering just slightly over his head. Scurrying forward, Flare grabbed the fallen torch and spoke another word of magic. “Ignum.” The end of the torch burst into flames, and actually was brighter than it had been when he had left camp.
Flare glanced around once again, but could see no one. He relaxed, and glanced up at the small white flame hovering above him. “I guess you have to go,” he said, grinning upwards. “Negas Il-lum,” he said quietly, concentrating, and the floating light went out. Glancing around one more time, he headed back to their camp.
At the end of his watch, Philip woke Atock and Flare. It seemed all too soon to Flare, but he tried to portray a cheerful mood, which was made harder by Philip being grouchy again.
Flare just gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the other man, but it was a hard thing to do. Philip just sat at the edge of the water, watching both Atock and Flare. His eyes were red, and he complained of sleeping poorly, but then again they all were. Flare said another silent prayer that they would find the sword soon.
They packed up the camp, which really amounted to putting away their meager food supplies and rolling up their blankets, and left the cavern. The passage picked up on the far side of the cavern, and headed to their left and downwards at a steep slope. This passage was different from all of the rest, in that the sides were slimy with the water oozing through tiny cracks. The floor too was slippery, and they each fell several times. This only deepened Philip's mood, and Flare had thought the man was as low as he could go.
They walked in silence for a little more than a quarter of an hour, when they entered another chamber. It was rectangular, much longer than it was wide, and the floor was covered in water. Actually, the floor was water. It seemed to be an underground lake, but there was a bridge than cut the room in two. The bridge was made of stone, and man made columns lined the sides of the room, coming right up out of the water and disappearing into the darkness overhead.
There was something in the room that just didn't feel right, and it bothered Flare. Atock opened his mouth to speak, but Flare waved him to silence. Both Philip and Atock were watching him, and he put his finger to his lips, indicating silence. Then moving quickly and quietly, he started across the long stone bridge.
The waters were dark, and they looked to be very deep. The slapping of the water against the bridge was almost relaxing, but not quite. Something was still bothering him, goose pimples covered his arms, and he constantly scanned side to side.
Atock and Philip could sense Flare's unease, and they followed him closely. They too, scanned the water and the sides of the cavern.
The cavern turned out to be about three hundred yards from side to side, and at last the far side came into view. Another passage continued on through the far wall, and it was maybe forty yards away now. Breathing easier, Flare glanced back at Philip and Atock, only to have the blood freeze in his veins. A gigantic head had risen from the dark cold waters, and was silently moving towards them. The head resembled a snake's head, except in size, this monster's head was a good five feet across and several more feet high. The head was suspended on a neck that also resembled that of a snake, but the thing that really stood out about the creature was its eyes. The eyes were huge and pale white. This was definitely a creature that wasn't use to the light. The monster opened its mouth, and row upon row of needle like teeth gleamed in the torchlight.
Atock was the first to notice Flare's widening eyes, and look of horror. But before he could even look around, Flare shouted, “Run!” Without waiting to see if Atock and Philip would follow, he turned and sprinted towards the opening in the far wall.
The other two followed closely; in fact they sped up once they had glanced over their shoulders to see the horror behind them.
Flare glanced back and was amazed at how fast the creature was moving towards them. The enormous head was still sticking up out of the water, but now it was moving towards them in a quick but jerky movement. The unusual swimming style of the beast was causing water to lap up over the edge of the bridge.
Gauging the distance between the creature and themselves, it was clear that it would reach them just before they could get into the passage. “Keep going!” Flare shouted, skidding to a halt, as Atock and Philip ran past him. Perhaps he could distract the creature, win a little more time for them.
Flare switched the torch from his left hand to his right. Then, taking careful aim, he reared back and heaved the torch at the monster. The torch flew end over end, the spin of the torch made the flame seem circular.
The brightness of the torch seemed to blind the creature, and it pulled up short, emitting a piercing shriek.
Whether or not the torch hit it or not, Flare didn't know, because as soon as he had thrown it, he turned and started running towards the passageway again.
Philip and Atock reached the passage first, and they stopped, still breathing hard, and looked back.
“Keep moving!” Flare shouted as he too entered the doorway, barely slowing as he ran past them.
They ran another several hundred yards down the passage before stopping. They stood with their hands on their knees, gasping for breath. The passage here was sloping up and away from the room with the water, but the walls and floor were still slick with water and algae.
“What was that thing?” Philip asked between gasps. He was staring back the way they had come; actually they were all watching the passageway.
“No idea.” Atock said, shaking his head. “I have never heard of or seen anything like it.”
Flare kept silent, thinking back to his flight from the elven forest. The creature in the river had been similar. Strange enough to send a shiver down his spine. He stared back down the passageway in the direction they had come. A faint noise could just be heard. “Come on. Let's get moving.” Just then another of the monster's shrieks echoed down the passage.
They followed the passage for another hour, moving along at a good pace, but no longer running. They could no longer hear the shrieks of the monster, which was understandable, as they had gone a considerable distance. The passage was not straight, but it continued in the same general direction, and at a slight upwards slope. There were no rooms or passages that splintered off of the main passage.
They kept looking over their shoulders, determined that nothing was going to sneak up on them.
They stopped at about the one hour mark, drinking a little water and eating a little moldy bread and cheese. They sat on the floor, and Flare sat looking back the way they had come, wiping the sweat off of
his face as he did so. He ate his last piece of cheese, forcing it down as he certainly did not enjoy it. But if things didn't change soon, then they would be out of food, and he would be wishing for some moldy cheese. He drank his water gratefully, though, as his throat was extremely dry.
The passageway here was no longer wet; in fact it was bone dry and crumbly. This part of the passage appeared to have formed naturally, and then someone had widened the sides. Flare wished they had made it taller as well, as he kept hitting his head.
Atock glanced at Flare, and then something beyond Flare's back caught his attention. “Look!” Atock said, pointing over Flare's shoulder.
Flare and Philip both turned, looking for whatever Atock had seen.
The passage continued for another thirty or forty yards, before curving to the right. There wasn't anything in the passage, or the far doorway. It took a moment for Flare to realize what Atock had seen. The part of the passage where they were standing was deep in shadow, but the far end of the passage was actually brighter. There was a light source somewhere beyond the doorway.
Intrigued, Flare stood and motioned for the other two to follow.
They approached the doorway quietly and with caution. After the spiders and the water monster, they didn't want to rush into anything unexpected.
Flare led the way, and he paused at the doorway, peeking around the edge. The passage continued for another ten feet or so, and then ended in a much larger room. He couldn't really see anything beyond the end of the passage.
He slipped around the corner and moved to the end of the passage and peeked around at the much larger room. It was simply stunning.
“Well?” Atock asked from somewhere behind Flare. “What is it?”
Flare glanced around, making sure there wasn't anything or anyone in the cavern alive, and then he moved forward. “Come see for yourself.”
They entered a huge oval shaped cavern and stood on a ledge that overlooked a huge lake of molten lava. Heat broke over them, and the sweat immediately broke out all over their bodies. At least they now knew where the light was coming from.
The cavern was naturally formed, with rough uneven walls and a high natural ceiling.
Flare's first thought was that this was a dead end. They certainly couldn't swim across the lava lake. His stomach tightened up at the thought of trying to find their way back through the catacombs. Even with the water they had found, the food would give out days before they got back out of the catacombs.
“Look! Over there.” Philip said, pointing along the wall to the right.
Flare and Atock pulled their gazes away from the lava. The ledge they stood on sloped down at a sharp angle, and then a stone bridge spanned the gap to another rock ledge. Actually, the bridge ended in a large solid hill that jutted up out of the lava against the cavern wall.
“It keeps going. Look there's another one.” Atock said, pointing to the far end of the hill.
Flare's eyes followed the first bridge to the hill, and then he spotted another bridge on the far side of the hill. It too appeared to end at another rocky hill. “It's hard to tell, but it looks like there's another bridge beyond that.” Flare said, straining his eyes to make it out. The heat boiling off of the lava made waves that made it hard to tell. He turned his eyes back to the left side of the ledge where they stood; searching to see if there were other paths or bridges, but there wasn't any other way over the lava.
Philip nodded at the stone bridge, “Looks like the only way over.”
Flare glanced at Atock, who nodded in ascent. “Okay. Follow me, but let me completely cross the bridge first.” If there are any problems with the bridge, he didn't want them all to get caught in it.
Stepping to the end of the ledge, and with his heart beating faster, Flare cautiously stepped out onto the edge of the bridge. Visions ran through his head; visions of the bridge collapsing underneath him and falling through to a fiery death. The sweat ran down his face and cheeks, and not all of it was due to the heat. The fear was for naught, though, as the stones underneath his feet was as solid as could be. Breathing easier, he slowly walked the twenty or so yards of the bridge and stepped onto the stone hill.
Flare looked back, and motioned the other two to come over, but Philip had already started. Turning back to the stone hill, he was disappointed to see it was a naturally occurring formation. It was a solid stone protrusion where the top had been artificially leveled and smoothed, and the diameter wasn't much more than ten feet across. Another bridge was attached to the far side of the hill and led towards another hill about forty yards away.
Flare looked back just as Philip stepped off of the bridge to join him and Atock started across. “Philip, I'm going on to the next one.” He motioned towards the next bridge.
“You don't want to wait?” Philip asked, a note of apprehension in his voice.
Flare looked back, surprised. “No. Let's keep crossing the bridges one at a time.” He turned back towards the bridge, “You can start, once I have reached the other side.”
Flare reached the next stone hill, and turned back to motion Philip across. He was a little irritated to see that Philip was already a quarter of the way across. His blood was simmering; he had specifically told the man to wait until he had crossed the bridge.
Forcing himself to breathe slowly, while he waited patiently for Philip to reach him. He was ready to snap the man in two.
A few moments later, Philip stepped off of the bridge, a smile playing across his face. He pointed past Flare, “Look, another bridge.” His mood actually seemed pleasant.
“Philip,” Flare said, trying to keep his voice calm. “I told you to wait until I crossed the bridge before you came across. So why didn't you follow my orders.”
Philip's face was stony, showing no emotion. “Oh. Sorry about that. I didn't understand that you wanted me to wait until you were completely across the bridge before I started.”
Taking a deep breath, Flare let it pass. Philip had been in another of his moods today, and honestly Flare didn't blame him. There was a lot of pressure on all of them, what, with trying to find the sword, and running low on food. “Well, this time, wait until I am completely across the bridge before you start across.”
Philip gave the smallest of nods in answer.
They kept moving around the lake via the bridges. There were a total of twelve bridges in all, spanning from one side of the cavern to the other. The bridges followed the arc of the circular side of the cavern. Several of the bridges were fairly short, ten to twenty yards, but most were longer than forty. Each of the bridges ended in a solid stone hill, a small island in a great sea of lava.
The last bridge ended onto another ledge. This ledge was bigger than the one on the side where they had entered the cavern; much larger, in fact. Actually, the wall hung over the ledge in many spots, making what looked like little caves all along the side of the ledge.
Flare stepped off of the last bridge, and slowly moved forward scanning the ledge. At the very center of the ledge, up against a small overhang, was a stone rectangular box.
Exhilaration flooded through Flare, and quite a bit of apprehension as well. He heard a sound behind him and turned to see Philip stepping off of the bridge, with Atock not too far behind. It didn't even register that Philip had to be following right behind him to already be at the ledge. It wouldn't have bothered him even if he had realized it. Kind of hard to blame them for wanting to be here.
Flare walked slowly towards the stone box, not even noticing that the others were right there with him.
“What is it?” Atock asked.
He didn't even take his eyes off the box, but just shook his head in answer. “Only one way to find out.”
As they neared the box, more of the details came into view. The box sat under a small semi-circular overhang, and actually it wasn't a box at all. It was a stone coffin. The top cover was a solid stone piece that had been carved into the likeness of a man. Well, not really a man, but an elf.
Flare's insides seemed to knot up, just looking at the carving. If they were correct, the carving was a depiction of his ancestor, King Osturlius. That was thrilling in one respect, but scary in another; his ancestor, the last of the Dragon Order.
As overwhelming as finding the grave of his ancestor was, he didn't spend much time thinking about those things, because something else quickly caught his attention. On top of the carving, lay a sword.
It was a rather plain looking sword, certainly not something any of the Telurian nobles would have worn. The long blade had runes etched on it, completely down the center of the blade on the Fuller. He looked closer, and realized that there wasn't even a spot of rust anywhere on the blade. The Cross-guard was slightly curved, but not very ornamental. The grip was covered in what looked like leather and then wrapped with wire. The grip was long enough for two hands, even though the sword looked short enough to be wielded with just one hand. A small metal pommel at the end of the hilt contained a white stone. Not a shiny or bright eye catching stone, but a dark stone that wasn't all that noticeable.
A small lump formed in Flare's throat. He was excited about finding the sword, but that was tempered with anxiety about what the sword meant. Too late to think about that now, though.
He started to take a step forward, but Philip moved first. Stepping up to the edge of the stone coffin, Philip reached out his hand to take the sword.
Irritation ignited within Flare, but he forced it back down. Then another thought occurred to him. If he let Philip carry the sword back, then perhaps he could avoid this awful destiny. Hope began to grow within his chest. Perhaps there was a way out of this after all.
Philip, still in the act of reaching out, froze.
“What's the matter?” Atock asked quickly.
“I don't know.” Philip answered. “There's something blocking me from reaching the sword.”
Ossendar: Book Two of the Resoration Series Page 49
