Tin Thoughts (The Downfall Saga Book 2) Read online

  “How was that?” he asked, handing a pod to Donovan.

  The salt pod was white and roughly oval. Many grains with sharp corners and flat edges were melded together to form the whole. He held it up to the sun and saw several dark spheres in the middle of the pod.

  The water rushed back over top of the two heractis, causing ripples to flow over the surface of the tidal pool.

  Donovan reached out and helped Ravyn to her feet.

  “Your finger,” said Ravyn, “you need someone to look at it.”

  Donovan held his swollen finger in front of his face and pretended to study it.

  “Happy?”

  She grabbed the pod out of his other hand and stormed off.

  “What?” He looked around at the others still standing there. “I looked at it, like she wanted me to.”

  Eva punched him in the shoulder, a little harder than she needed to.

  “Stupidity knows no bounds.” She walked off after Ravyn, Brighid close behind.

  “It was funny. You thought it was funny, right?”

  Treowe shook his head before heading after the rest of the group.

  “Kort would have laughed!” he yelled after them. “He always has my back.”

  He tried wiggling his finger. He could still bend it, but it hurt when he did so.

  He trailed a ways behind as the five of them followed the coastline around to the western edge of the island. Mangrove trees grew beside the ocean, there intertwined limbs nearly impassable, so they moved inland to a drier region where they could travel quicker. They continued to travel until the mangroves disappeared and were replaced by a rocky shore. Making their way to the shore they looked down at steep rock cliffs rising out of the sea nearly a hundred feet below them.

  They followed the top of the cliffs, searching for any caves near the water’s edge. Eva spotted what looked like a cave half submerged under water, at the bottom of a nearly vertical section of cliff.

  “Who’s going to go down?” asked Eva.

  “We got the salt pod for you, so maybe you two could collect a pulsing clam for us,” said Ravyn.

  “Not going to happen.”

  She tapped Treowe on the shoulder and the two of them walked along the top of the cliff for another thirty feet before stopping to have a conversation.

  “Who’s climbing down?” asked Donovan.

  “I ... I can’t handle tight spaces for long,” said Brighid.

  Donovan looked over at Ravyn and waved his injured finger in the air. “What’s are we going to do, captain?”

  Ravyn looked down the near vertical face of the cliff and back at Donovan. “You’re going to have to do it.”

  “Me? I can’t even make a light to save my life.”

  “What do you mean that you can’t make a light?” asked Brighid.

  Eva and Treowe returned from their conversation, and Donovan was saved from having to explain to Brighid that he was severely limited in what he could do with his magic.

  “So, who’s coming with me?” asked Eva, dropping her pack on the ground and pulling out a coil of rope.

  “I am,” said Donovan, likewise dropping his pack.

  “I’m not carrying you back up.”

  “I’ll manage.”

  They both stripped down to only the essentials. Donovan felt weird not carrying his sword, or even a knife, but he knew they’d only slow him down. He crossed his arms and tried not to shiver, now that he’d taken off his warm cloak.

  “Get a fire going for us, okay?” he said.

  Treowe proved to be adept at using ropes. He fashioned two harnesses which he tied around their pelvic region. He pulled the end of the rope through a loop in Donovan’s harness, and showed him how to slow down or speed up his descent. Treowe walked over to several large rocks and began tying the other end of the rope around them. He motioned for Donovan to go.

  Donovan stepped backwards to the edge of the cliff. He gave Ravyn a wink, hoping that it would mask his nervousness, before taking a small step backwards which took him over top of a long fall.

  He slowly walked backwards down the cliff face, the rope in a death grip in both of his hands. A turtle could climb up a muddy hill quicker than he was moving, but he didn’t care. He kept his attention focused just below his feet, and was moving slow enough that he had plenty of time to carefully pick each spot where he was going to place his foot. It felt like he had been suspended on the rope for an eternity when he finally saw water below his feet, and he lowered himself onto a partially submerged outcropping of rock. He pulled the rest of the rope through the loop on the harness and waved at the anxious faces watching him from above.

  The rope snaked its way up the cliff face and disappeared over the edge. A moment later, Eva appeared high above him. She sped down the rope like a spider from its web, and before he knew it, he was helping her to stand on the outcropping as she freed herself from the rope.

  She took the lead and they waded along the edge of the cliff, careful to keep a firm grip on the rocks with their hands so the current couldn’t pull them into deeper waters.

  The place that they’d spotted from above was indeed a cave running under the island. The water was waist deep near the entrance.

  Eva summoned a ball of white light which floated above her hand for an instant, before she sent it deeper in the cave. The cave sloped downwards, and her light eventually reached a point where the entire cave was underwater.

  “We might as well try it,” said Donovan.

  She brought the light back to her, and had it hover over top of her shoulder as she started into the cave.

  Donovan held one hand up in front of his eyes to shield them from her light and followed after.

  His body slowly adjusted to the frigid water, but it was a strange sensation moving through the water with only a narrow gap of air near the top of the cave. He fought to keep his breathing under control, but refused to stop to regain his composure, as he watched Eva gliding through the water in front of him, completely at ease.

  “Why don’t you keep a light near the exit to help guide us back?” she asked.

  “A little darkness never hurt anyone.” He couldn’t bring himself to admit his inadequacies to her, so he tried to maintain a brave face.

  When they reached the point where the cave became completely submerged, she showed him a technique to slow his breathing.

  “Keep practicing,” she said. “I’m going to take a quick look. Back in a minute.”

  She disappeared under the water, and he found himself alone and surrounded by darkness. He focused on his breathing to distract himself from thinking about what could be hiding in the water. He looked back at the pale light shining through the opening to the cave, surprised to see how far away it was.

  Something strong grabbed his leg, and he tried to find something to hold onto before he was pulled under.

  The pressure on his leg disappeared, and Eva surfaced a moment later. She took a slow, deep breath.

  “There’s another pocket of air further on, and I think I saw one of the clams not far past it.”

  Eva took a minute to catch her breath before disappearing under the water again.

  Donovan dunked his head under the water and followed her. The water was crystal clear and he had no trouble finding her lithesome form. She moved with the grace of a fish through the water, while he pulled himself along by the wall of the cave. He tried to mimic how she kicked her legs, and found that it helped him move a little bit quicker. His eyes drifted up her muscular legs to where the water had plastered her clothes against her tight backside. He nearly let out the breath that he was holding, and admonished himself for losing his concentration.

  She stopped, and stood up not far ahead. When he neared her, he oriented himself so his head was facing upwards. He reached upwards with his hand and found a void empty of water. He pushed himself upwards, and took a deep breath.

  “I thought you weren’t coming,” she said.

  “T
ook a detour.”

  He took several deep breaths before ducking back under the water. He rested his hand against her thigh to steady himself as he looked further down the tunnel to where he could see several flashing lights. He took an extra moment to study the curve of her thighs before resurfacing.

  “Looks promising,” he said.

  “The book said that most of these caves are littered with the clams.”

  “What’s the plan?”

  “Swim down, grab a couple clams, and come back.”

  “It’s so simple that it might even work.”

  She gave him a dazzling smile before they both ducked back under the water’s surface.

  They swam towards the pulsating lights which gave the clams their name, and found themselves entering a large underground chamber. Eva moved her light through the clear water towards the center of the room. It passed by a creature gliding through the water. It had a bulbous head and eight long legs. Its skin was translucent, allowing them to see two dark lobes inside of its head, and a series of suckers on each leg shining in the light.

  Eva turned to face him, her eyes alight with wonder.

  He pointed towards the nearest clam.

  She gave him a slight frown before moving towards the crevice in the wall where the light originated from.

  The clam was about the size of a helmet, with a beige shell and thin orange tentacles around its mouth. The lips of the clam sent out bright flashes of light which illuminated the area around it. The book about the island hadn’t mentioned if the pulsing light was a defense mechanism or a way to lure in unsuspecting prey, but either way they weren’t too worried about a clam.

  Eva turned back towards him and pointed at something beside him. He turned and saw a long wormlike creature, as long as his forearm, swimming through the water. Its flat face passed within a foot of his own and he got a good view of its round mouth full of tiny teeth, and three pincher like appendages protruding around it.

  It swam past them as if they weren’t even there. Donovan followed it with his eyes until it disappeared into the darkness, before turning back to the clam. A thick inky substance shot out of the clam’s mouth towards Eva’s head. He tried to get her attention but she was already turning away from him, directly into the substance.

  She thrashed around in the water. Donovan saw a stream of bubbles leave her mouth, before the light disappeared.

  He swam towards where he’d last seen her, and grabbed the first thing he felt, which turned out to be her arm. He felt his way up her arm with his other hand until he clamped it over her mouth and nose, trying to prevent her from losing any more air. He wrapped an arm around her chest, and began to tow her towards the tunnel, hoping they’d reach the pocket of air in time.

  She fought against him at first, before relaxing and letting him pull her through the water. He found the entrance to the tunnel and thrashed his way inside. He thought that they must be nearing the pocket of air when she went completely limp in his arms.

  He had a moment of indecision, before letting go of her face and turning her body around to face him. He reached out and found the back of her head with his hands. His lips found hers in the darkness. Holding her tight, he opened his mouth and let his air flow into her.

  It was a moment that he knew he’d never forget. His first kiss was exotic and memorable, but he couldn’t help feeling weird about it being underwater, in complete darkness, with an unconscious, yet beautiful elf.

  He reluctantly pulled his lips away from hers.

  He pulled her along the tunnel, feeling the ceiling periodically until he found the pocket of air. He pulled both of them up to the surface. He turned her around to face him, but she was unresponsive. He felt helpless, not knowing what to do if she didn’t start moving, when her body was beset with a violent coughing bout and she spewed all of the water from inside of her onto his face.

  He continued to hold her until the coughing subsided.

  “What happened?” she asked in a raw voice. “Where am I?”

  “In a cave beneath the island, hunting clams.” He hoped that his humorous tone would help lighten the mood.

  “I ... I felt like I was trapped and couldn’t escape. Then it went dark.”

  “The clam emitted something into the water which hit you in the face.”

  “How do I look?” she asked, summoning a light below the surface of the water, which lit her face in its gentle glow.

  “The same as when I met you,” he said, ignoring the first response which came to mind.

  “Just give me a minute, and we’ll go get the clams.”

  “No. I’ll get them while you stay here to recover.”

  He gulped down a deep breath and disappeared before she could argue.

  He swam away from her light and towards the dark abyss. The pulsing lights from the clams was the only thing that he could see ahead of him. He could sense when he’d swam into the large chamber, he didn’t know how he could tell in the darkness, but it just felt like he was no longer confined by the tunnel.

  He saw two sources of flashing light off to his right, and swam towards the furthest one. He could see the clam wedged in a deep crevice, its pulsing light nearly blinding him. He braced one arm against the edge and reached for the clam.

  Something brushed against his leg.

  He wanted to kick at it, but knew he shouldn’t.

  He wanted to scream, but stopped himself before he lost any air.

  He stayed motionless for an eternity, before deciding that he had to move or he’d run out of air. Ignoring whatever had touched his leg, he reached for the clam. It resisted his pull at first, and he had to brace his knee against the wall to gain the necessary leverage to pull it free from its home. He tucked its large shell under his arm, and pulled himself along the wall to where the other one was living. He had to shield his eyes from the intense flashes of light, and when he looked at it again he saw the same black substance shooting towards him. He swung his arm in front of his face, and tried to twist away, but ended up just spinning around in the water.

  The flashing lights disappeared.

  He opened and closed his eyes several times, but couldn’t see any flashes of light from the clams. It was dark and the walls were closing in on him. He tried to force them apart, but he just kept spinning. On his second or third revolution, he noticed a faint light in the distance.

  Wait. Why was he spinning? How could he see a light shining through the crushing walls? He rotated one more time before he remembered where he was.

  Reasoning that the light must be Eva’s shining in the tunnel, he reoriented himself towards the wall, and blindly felt around for the second clam. His hand brushed past many small, soft things which he guessed were the tentacles around its mouth. He reached around behind its shell and pulled it loose.

  With one clam under each arm, he kicked his way towards the light.

  The trip out of the cave was slow, and uneventful. They tied themselves to the rope, one at a time, and let the other three pull them up.

  When they were both safely back on top of the cliff, Donovan curled up on the hard rocks by the fire and closed his eyes.

  Someone draped his cloak over top of him, and he felt a warming sensation envelop his body. He enjoyed it for a while, before forcing himself back to his feet.

  Eva was sitting against a large rock with Treowe tending to her. Ravyn was stowing one of the clams in her pack while Brighid kept watch of their surroundings.

  “I should have brought some dry clothes,” said Donovan.

  “It’s my fault. How could I not have realized that finding something that lives underwater would result in us getting wet,” said Ravyn.

  Ravyn began to laugh. It started as a low chuckle, but slowly grew into a bout of hysterical laughter. The tension drained from her body, and Donovan saw her relax for the first time in many days.

  He walked over and gave her a long hug.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

/>   “I can’t be the only one who’s wet.”

  “Get off.” She shoved him away. “Go get ready.”

  He walked over to where he had left his belongings. He strapped his sword belt around his waist. He strapped the sheath for his knife around his wet pant leg, before slinging his pack onto his back.

  He walked over to where Eva and Treowe were similarly getting ready to leave.

  “I guess we’ll see you at the second task,” he said.

  He reached out his hand toward Treowe who nearly crushed it in his powerful grip. Treowe bowed his head before releasing his grip. Donovan reached out his hand to Eva. She ignored it and gave him a hug instead. He let the hug linger and he inhaled the smell of the sea in her hair. She finally released him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

  “I didn’t want to hurt your hand anymore,” she whispered into his ear before releasing him.

  The two elves said their goodbyes to Ravyn and Brighid before heading off.

  “Let’s hope that everyone else did as well as us,” said Ravyn.

  They hurried towards the camps on the hill in the center of the island. They’d chosen a small cluster of leafy trees as their gathering spot before heading to the safe zone.

  They didn’t see anyone as they approached the trees. Ravyn confidently led the way into the stand of trees and shrieked in terror as Kort jumped out from behind a tree.

  She slapped him hard on the ear.

  He fell to the ground, and proceeded to roll around, laughing.

  “You fool! I nearly peed my pants.”

  That only made Kort laugh harder.

  Donovan sat down beside him as the two women walked away.

  “You got it?” asked Donovan, once Kort had stopped laughing.

  Kort nodded. “You?”

  Donovan nodded.

  They bumped forearms together, and waited in silence for Finian and Caddaric to return.

  The sun had neared its zenith by the time they heard them pushing their way into the stand of trees.

  “Let’s make sure that we have everything,” said Ravyn. She withdrew the clam from her pack and handed it to Brighid. “One pulsing clam, and one salt pod from a heractis.” She pulled out a piece of cloth and unwrapped the salt pod for everyone to see.