by LJ Davies
The full truth and consequences started to sink in. The world was counting on me, the small, pale-scaled dragon, the unusual oddity that didn’t quite fit in.
I can't keep thinking like this. I can't let it get to me. They need me as much as Tarwin does and I’m not going to let them down!
Furrowing my brow, I collected my thoughts, picked myself up and started to make my way back. The faint light of the amulet guided me through the claustrophobic darkness until I found myself back in the previous chamber. I knew the crevice on the opposite side led to the others and taking a route around the random ice pillars, I was able to make out the outlines of the other passageways. There was no time to discover where they all might lead, I only had a few moments to scan each one, checking closely for any signs they may lead to the outside world.
I systematically made my way round, peering into the inky blackness and allowing the amulet’s dim light to penetrate as far as possible. Most of the potential exits seemed to go nowhere, until finally, something about the last of them caught my attention.
Like all the other crevices it looked dark and empty, however, it wasn't its appearance that stimulated my interest, it was the subtle flow of air brushing gently across my face.
That breeze can't be passing through solid ice, there must be an opening.
I pulled my head back, opened my eyes and looked toward the final passageway. I wasn't going to be so stupid as to blindly allow confidence to cloud my vision. There was no doubt that we were going to have to take a chance, the air may easily be coming down an inaccessible exit. With only that faint hope, I moved over to the passageway leading back to the others.
What other choice do we have?
As I clambered back up the tunnel a flickering orange light caught my attention.
Fire! The thought of its radiating warmth suddenly drove me on.
I sped up the remainder of the corridor, the icy floor giving way to the soft, black sand. I slowed as I approached the exit, not wanting to scare the others with a hurried entrance. All three lay on the sand around a fire magically generated from the tip of Ember’s tail. As I got closer, they raised their heads. Ember and Boltock remained seated, but Risha stood to welcome me.
"Did you find anything?" she asked quietly, her voice still a little weak.
It took me a few moments to respond as I considered exactly what I'd found.
Can I tell her about it? She'll think I'm a lunatic.
"Yes, yes I found a tunnel," I replied, nodding at the crevice. "There's a passageway with an air flow, it has to lead somewhere."
As I spoke, I saw her eyes fix on my amulet. I'd forgotten it was there, and quickly tried to provide an explanation, shifting slightly in an effort to distract her attention.
"Sorry," she said, shaking off her fixation. "Where did you get that? It's beautiful."
I wanted to tell her everything, but I could barely believe it myself.
Hey, this is Risha, she's the most open-minded dragoness there is.
I could tell her it had been dropped long ago and sunk to the bottom when the ocean was still liquid, but to lie was to betray everything she'd done for me.
I'll tell her, I trust her.
I was just about to open my mouth to respond when a loud rumble interrupted. The sound echoed down the collapsed chasm, swiftly followed by a thundering resonance of creaks and groans as more ice began to crumble.
We all jumped up, the fire snuffed out as Ember's tail whipped back. The bitter cold almost instantly regained its lost ground when another huge chunk of ice broke free, collapsing in a cloud of white dust and debris before crashing into the water, sending a large wave across its surface. I glanced at the others; their eyes focused on the rough liquid clawing at the shore.
"We should get going, it's not safe here," I urged as the ice let out another pained symphony.
"He's right," Risha added, glancing back at me. "I can feel it, it’s been moving for hours."
There was a nod of agreement from the others.
"Lead the way, Blaze," Risha added, walking up next to me as I turned to face the crevice.
Confident that they would follow, I moved towards the fracture’s inky blackness.
We have to get out, the whole world's depending on it.
Chapter 12
Through the Eyes of a God
"We'll have to go in single file," I instructed from the mouth of the opening.
Each of my friends looked at me with trepidation as Risha stepped forward.
"You should go first," she proposed, gesturing to my luminous amulet.
I glanced down and nodded. "Okay, just stay close."
Taking the first step I began venturing back into the depths, and it wasn’t long before we found ourselves in the chamber where the tunnels converged. Maintaining a hurried pace, I quickly led them over to the crevice I believed would allow our escape.
"It’s this way," I beckoned, feeling the air flow on my wings.
The longer we delayed, the more my eyes drifted over to the lonely tunnel on the chamber's far side.
"Are you okay?" Risha asked.
"Yes... yes, I'm... I'm fine," I answered, wrapping a foreclaw around my amulet before hurriedly pressing onward.
The new crevice led into another narrow cavern, the gentle flow of cool air on my scales the only encouraging feature of the claustrophobic space. We continued in single file for what felt like miles, the amulet’s faint light bouncing off the walls and revealing no more than a few paces ahead.
The trek dragged on, every step taunting my tired eyes as I dreaded what the inky veil before me might be hiding. The only thing keeping me going was the constant movement of air, even so, after hours of meandering through the tunnel I was beginning to despair.
Is this just an endless chasm? Is there any way out?
Without warning something out of the darkness came into focus and I suddenly stopped. A chink of light grew from a small speck into a shimmering beacon of hope, I almost lost sight of it as the others bumped into my tail.
"What is it?" Risha asked.
I glanced down at the amulet, the gem wasn't responsible for the new light, and I was sure it wasn't a trick.
"This way, follow me!" I declared, breaking into a sprint.
I heard Risha's paws shift as she darted after me with the others close on her tail.
This is not the end; we're getting out of here!
Eventually I came upon the light's source, discovering it was indeed the sun. My sudden burst of joy was short-lived, the beam of light streamed down from an inaccessible crack high above, the narrow walls impossible to climb. I peered up at the streaming rays gracing my face, so tantalisingly close and yet so far away.
No! Stupid cave, just let us out!
My eyes dropped to the floor as my enthusiasm drained away. Through the blur of my despair a different view of the amulet’s light greeted my gaze. Its dim flicker had grown in strength. As if the sunlight itself had given it a new energy, it drew in the rays, amplifying them into a continuous beam that illuminated a path deeper into the passageway.
"Blaze..." Risha came up next to me, glancing up at the crevice. "There's got to be another way."
I nodded and moved on.
The strain of walking for so long without rest soon started to show. My companions’ silent march said it all, and I was becoming increasingly concerned about Boltock’s injuries. As reluctant as I was to stop, they had become painfully slow and I finally had to accept that I couldn't push them as much as I could push myself.
I'm just as much a freak as the Ethereal said I am. I'm not even weary yet.
I slowed and eventually brought the whole group to a halt. Barely able to turn my body, I cocked my head to glance back. It was clear they were tired, Boltock in particular.
"Is everyone okay?" I asked.
The answer I'd anticipated was confirmed by a combination of weak nods and mild groans.
"We should rest," I added.
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"No, we can go a little more," Risha replied, standing up straight, only for her quivering limbs to stagger.
"No, you need to rest," I pressed.
She gave me a defeated look before turning back to the others.
"I–I... I know, I just really want to get out of here," she admitted breathlessly.
"I know, I do too. It can't be far now, there's got to be a way," I responded, glancing ahead.
I stood for a moment watching the cold plume of my breath disperse into the freezing air, and to my surprise, a rather strange odour met my senses. As much as my curiosity was awakened so was my caution, whatever it was it didn’t smell like ghauls or wyverns. It was drifting up from ahead, where the passageway dove back into the depths.
"Do you smell that?" I asked, raising my snout and sniffing the air.
Risha nodded as she did the same.
"I smell it too," added Ember, Boltock also muttering in agreement.
"Stay here and rest," I instructed, waving the trio down with a flap of my wing. "I'll go and check it out."
"How come you're always the one going to check?" Risha questioned.
I paused, responding with the only obvious answer. "Because I'm the one at the front."
I thought she might insist she accompany me. I knew I wasn't good at deterring her, but despite a look of worried disapproval, she held back.
"Be careful," she added, before anxiously settling down.
I nodded reassuringly before moving forward into the darkness once more. The floor dropped steeply, the slippery incline making it hard to stand. Nonetheless, I managed to navigate my way to the bottom where the smell became much more apparent. Through the gloom I recognised the flickering motion of a flame, the dancing glow gently deflecting the darkness. Lowering myself to the floor, I crawled along the ground towards the source of the smell. As I drew closer the tunnel began to carry strange noises, similar to some sort of small, nattering animals.
Unlike creatures like mice or birds, the rapid chattering started to sound more like language, spoken quickly in rough, high-pitched tones. Eventually, I reached a point where the tunnel opened out into a chamber, and creeping over to a shallow bank of ice, I peered in.
Several messy fires, fuelled by sticks and mangled chunks of driftwood, lit the chamber. The floor sloped away from my vantage point, flowing down several layers before it levelled. Opposite my position, at the chamber's lowest point, was the first thing to draw my attention. Stretching up from the wall was the carcass of a whale. I'd seen the people back in the village catch them for food and oil, often providing enough of both for a whole winter. They were so big and hard to hunt that whenever they were successful, the villagers would celebrate with a ceremonial feast. I'd loved those parties, I’d sit at the top of the hall beside Tarwin and her father for hours, more like a prized guest than a pet.
What? You can't think of that now. Focus on what's in front of you!
The full force of the acrid smell filled my nostrils as I gazed upon a mob of unruly creatures, skulking around the chamber like chattering rats, unlike anything I’d ever had the displeasure of seeing or smelling before. They were small, grey-skinned beings with stubby arms and legs sticking out from their rotund, pot-bellied bodies. Their heads were also round and stubby, while their mouths bore an under-bite, showing a row of disfigured, sharp looking teeth. A long, pointed nose and ears, combined with small, black beady eyes completed their notable features.
They didn’t appear to be friendly. Some wore sets of fur clothing, while others displayed fur from the top of helmets. Most unsettling of all was the small animalistic bones strung across their shoulders. The creatures gathered next to the carcasses' open under-belly. Unlike the ordered dissection the villagers performed, these creatures squabbled and swarmed like ants, greedily pulling chunks of flesh from the rib cage. Some of the larger ones held wooden spears, tipped with what looked like ice. While other's used blades to slice the whale's blubber with ease, staining the pale floor with a crimson hue.
It was clear that they weren’t the servants of any Dark Guardian, and if they were, they didn’t appear as deadly as the wyverns or ghauls. Even so, I knew that to judge them too quickly could have dire consequences. What struck me most was that if they had managed to get in here, then there must be a way out.
I turned back towards the passageway and being careful not to make any noise I scampered back through the tunnel and up the slope to the others. Reaching the top, I looked back to see if anything had followed, thankfully finding nothing. The others were still resting in the confines of the crevice when I eventually reached them, Risha lifting her head as she asked.
"What's down there?"
"Some kind of small, grey-skinned, stubby-legged creatures," I replied, indicating the height of the beings by raising a forepaw.
I hoped she'd know what I was talking about, but she appeared puzzled. I paused for a moment, silently assessing her condition and that of the others, before turning back towards the crevice.
"Come take a look," I suggested, gesturing towards the passageway.
Risha glanced back at her brother. "Ever heard of anything like that?" she asked.
"I've heard of lots of creatures," he replied, looking up at his sister with a shrug. "They just sound like fat goblins to me."
Risha sighed and looked to Ember.
"Don't look at me, he's the one who said he knew everything," she swiftly countered, nudging Boltock with a forepaw.
"W–well, I'm sure I can tell you if I see them," he declared, puffing up and smirking at Ember, "Let's go."
She is such a good motivator for him? I noted as I set off into the tunnel.
"Be careful, it's quite steep and slippery," I advised as I slid down the incline.
Risha followed, her attention instinctively redirected to the next of us to face the slope.
"Are you okay with this?" she called quietly.
"My wing’s broken, not my legs," he replied sharply.
She turned away, feigning a lack of interest as he clumsily slid down the slope, before finally turning around to steady his bumbling descent with a forepaw.
"Told you," she cooed, brushing frost from his good wing as he grumbled.
Ember demonstrated a much more controlled descent as she navigated her way down. Meanwhile, I looked out towards the bank of ice I'd just used for cover. It was easily large enough to hide all of us, and the creatures seemed to be too distracted to notice.
"We'll sneak over to that ice bank, we'll have to be quick and quiet," I whispered, watching each of my companions nod.
"We'll follow you," Risha replied.
I crawled out to the cover, checking for any sign that I might have been spotted. Confident of my security, I turned my attention to the others, signalling for them to move. Risha was first, quietly creeping over in a similar manner to me, while Boltock and then Ember brought up the rear. As soon as we were all positioned behind the ice bank, I peered over. As expected, the industrious beasts were completely unaware.
I could see discarded spears laying on the ice or sticking out of the whale's fatty blubber. Another group had collected more driftwood, using the unburnt pieces to construct a crude scaffold in an attempt to reach the top of the whale’s open underside.
"What's happening, what are they?" Boltock whispered impatiently, fumbling to get a good view.
"I don't know, I can't see with your wing getting in the way," Risha scolded.
"Roblins," her brother declared, finally peering over the cover.
Before anyone could utter a disapproving response, he instantly rose to his own defence.
"See, told you I'd know what they were."
"What's a roblin?" I asked, ducking back down.
"They're scavengers, primitive creatures; they take anything they can, making their own weird weapons and tools from it," he explained, glancing at Ember eagerly.
His giddy expression collapsed when he found she'd hardly notice
d his intellect. Although I felt obliged to reward the value of his knowledge, all I could do was ask the most pressing question on my mind.
"Are they dangerous?"
"Well... they can be defensive of their things – and they've got quite a big thing down there," he replied, jabbing a wing at the whale carcass.
They didn't look too threatening, even so, whatever tipped the end of their spears was strong enough to pierce through whale blubber with very little effort.
"Blizarium," Risha announced, smirking at her brother. "Don't tell me you didn't notice."
Boltock knowingly ignored her.
"Their blades, they're made of blizarium," she added.
Boltock reluctantly looked over the primitive weaponry, responding, much to his dislike, with a subtle nod. The mention of blizarium, and the clarity of her words, took me back to her life story. Despite the momentary remorse it summoned, I remembered her telling me of the city built from the magical material.
"How did they get a whale in here?" Ember asked.
Surely it would take a thousand of them to move an animal as large as that. Risha and Ember both looked to Boltock for answers.
"I... er, it must have been frozen in the ice," he suggested, tripping over his words. "Yeah, they must have dug it out or something... yeah, yeah, that's probably it."
Moments later there was more chattering as several roblins entered from behind the carcass, the four of us quickly retreating behind our cover. Their appearance confirmed my original conclusion, that there must be a way out.
"They're between us and the only exit. We have to get around them," I suggested, looking to each of my companions.
"How do you know?" Risha asked.
"They have to be coming in from somewhere, and I don't think they can walk through walls," I replied.
"So, we have to get around them," I repeated.
"How do you suppose we do that?" Risha added, glancing at her brother, who shrugged and suggested.
