Tin Thoughts (The Downfall Saga Book 2) Page 27

  They were on a narrow, sandy beach, having just finished swimming across the narrow bay. A thick, impenetrable mangrove forest rose up on the far side of the beach. The thick, intertwined branches made passage nearly impossible. A cold wind blew off the water, peppering the air with the smell of salt water.

  They’d left early that morning, a quarter hour after Eva’s team and a half hour after Aplite’s. They pushed themselves hard, knowing that this was the final leg. The sun wouldn’t reach its zenith for another couple hours, but they were already exhausted.

  “Come on, we have to keep moving,” said Donovan.

  “Did anyone pack anything to eat?” asked Kort.

  “No,” said Donovan. “I’m surprised that you didn’t bring anything with you.”

  “I tried, but she found my stash.”

  “I told you to pack light,” said Ravyn.

  “Let’s keep moving before we get too cold,” said Caddaric.

  He got to his feet and helped Ravyn to stand up.

  Donovan reached out a hand and pulled Kort to his feet.

  Donovan started along the beach towards the river that they were going to follow. He showed no effects from the leg injury from the previous day, despite refusing healing on multiple occasions.

  Caddaric stayed behind the rest of the group so he could make sure that everyone kept moving. They walked in single file, leaving a trail footprints in the wet sand in their wake.

  Donovan waded out into the river which flowed out into the bay, without pause, and started walking upstream.

  “That’s brisk,” said Donovan.

  The rest of them followed more reluctantly. The current fought them with every step they took, but the water provided easier travel than hacking their way through the tangle of mangroves near the shore. The terrain changed as they walked along the river. The mangroves disappeared as they left the ocean behind to be replaced by towering trees and the thick moss of a rainforest. They left the river and walked along its edge until they reached a waterfall cascading down from the towering rock wall high above. The sound of the water crashing into the pool at its base was deafening.

  A series of plateaus loomed above them, in three tiers. Water cascaded off the edge of each step until it finally made its way down to the ground. It collected in a large pool at the base, before joining the river flowing down to the ocean. The grey rock walls were sheer, and looked difficult to climb.

  “The nest should be on the second highest plateau,” said Ravyn, pointing upwards.

  “Which way?” yelled Caddaric over the sound of the waterfall.

  “This way!” yelled Ravyn, leading them around the large pool of water at the base of the waterfall.

  They followed the rock wall until they came to a low opening in the rock. They ducked under the opening and slid down a rocky slope to where it opened up into a large underground cavern.

  Three balls of light flared into existence. Caddaric and Kort guided their balls outwards to explore the cavern while Ravyn and Donovan consulted the map.

  The light reflected off a large placid lake filling one side of the room. They could hear the sound of dripping water hitting the lakes surface. Moss covered most of the cavern. Caddaric tried to breathe through his mouth to avoid smelling the musty air.

  “This way,” said Ravyn.

  They walked across the cavern floor, carefully trying to avoid slipping on the wet, mossy floor. Kort and Caddaric took the lead. They swept their lights along the walls as they searched for the passages leading out of the chamber, so Ravyn could track their progress on the map. Donovan walked beside her, guiding her around obstacles, so she could focus on the map.

  “Hold up,” said Donovan, bending down in front of a moss covered rock on the ground. “Did either of you walk this way?”

  Caddaric looked over at Kort who shook his head. “No.”

  “Well something did. Some of the moss has been torn off this rock, and this rock was rolled over.” He pointed to a small rock on the floor, the top surface was wet, but free of moss. He picked it up and turned it over to show them that the other side was covered in moss.

  They continued on until Ravyn directed them towards a side passage. The cavern sloped upwards until it nearly met the ceiling. A thin, tight slit ran for perhaps thirty feet before it started to open up again.

  Kort wormed his way into the opening. Lying flat on his stomach, he pulled himself into the opening. He slowly inched his way along until he finally was able to pull himself free on the far side.

  Caddaric went next. He lay on his back, and pulled himself into the opening. Soon the rock was so close that he had to turn his head to the side to prevent his nose from scraping against the ceiling. He stared up at the rock above him, imaging the immense weight hanging above him. He had to pause to catch his breath, but every time he inhaled, his ribs pressed painfully against the rock. He tried to take shallow breaths, but it only made things worse.

  He was trapped.

  He couldn’t breathe.

  He wanted to yell, but he couldn’t catch his breath.

  He was stuck there for an eternity. He’d never escape from this tiny prison.

  How had Kort made it through? It was impossible.

  “Are you stuck?”

  He heard the angel’s voice, but it took a minute for the words to sink in.

  They could never know. He could do this. He had to do this.

  He ran his fingers along the roof of the tunnel until he felt a narrow crack. He wedged his fingers into the crack and heaved himself several inches towards Kort. With each pull, he slowly inched towards his freedom. He focused on finding the next grip until he reached out and felt a hand grab his wrist. Kort pulled him out, and he was finally free.

  Ravyn and Donovan squirmed their way through the slot without incident.

  They paused to catch their breath and consult the map, before continuing on. The tunnel ran fairly straight, with a steady incline. Their shins began to hurt. As they moved deeper, the air became thicker, and they began to smell a pungent odor which started to irritate the inside of their noses. The temperature rose, sweat began pouring off their bodies, and their breathing became labored.

  “We should have brought more water,” said Kort, finishing off the last of his supply.

  “We’ll be out of here soon enough,” said Ravyn. “There should be a side tunnel up ahead. Ignore it, and keep going straight.”

  They began hearing sharp, hammering sounds as they moved along the tunnel. They heard the clinking sound of something metal hitting rock, followed by heaving boot steps running away from them.

  Caddaric and Kort drew their swords, before hurrying down the tunnel towards the source of the noise.

  “Get down,” came a voice from out of the darkness.

  A small flame appeared from far down the tunnel, illuminating a series of shapes crouched on the tunnel floor, and began moving towards them.

  Caddaric saw several small piles of rubble on the floor ahead of them. His eyes drifted upwards to where he saw several bags attached to the ceiling.

  The flame rose as it headed towards them.

  “Run!” yelled Caddaric.

  He shoved Kort towards the side passage up ahead, and waited for Ravyn to pass in front of him. He put his hand on the center of her back and pushed her ahead of him.

  He had to duck his head to avoid getting hit by the flame.

  He dove towards the opening to the side passage.

  The flame struck one of the bags on the ceiling.

  Silence.

  The tunnel exploded into a series of blinding lights.

  An invisible force threw him into the wall of the side passage.

  The world started to collapse around them.

  Chapter 29

  Donovan watched as the small flame silently moved through the air, growing larger as it neared them.

  “Run!” yelled Caddaric.

  He tried to grab Ravyn to pull her back, but his fin
gers closed on empty air as she ran towards Caddaric and Kort.

  It was too late to catch her.

  He turned around and dove to the ground. An incredibly bright light flared a moment later, followed by a wave of intense heat which washed over his back. An invisible force threw him into the air. He felt his back hit something hard before the world went dark.

  What was that incessant ringing?

  Donovan tried to open his eyes, but his right eye was gummed shut by something. He let out a groan which he vaguely heard over the ringing in his ears as he felt the large lump on his forehead. He brought his fingers to his lips. He could taste the grit and grime from the cave, with a sweet, iron aftertaste. He’d tasted his own blood enough times to recognize its flavor.

  He felt in the darkness for his water skin, and poured a small amount onto his right eye. He managed to force open his eye with his hand, but it didn’t help. He was surrounded by darkness.

  “Hey,” he croaked. “Is anybody there?”

  He was met by silence.

  He spent a few minutes checking himself for serious injury. When he didn’t find any, he slowly climbed to his feet.

  He felt around until he found the cave wall. With only two choices available to him, he started moving along the wall to his left. If he didn’t find anyone in a minute, he’d turned around and try the other way.

  “Hey!” he yelled. “Is everybody okay?”

  His voice echoed around the cave, but he heard no response.

  He groped his way forward until his foot hit something. Reaching down, he felt a large chunk of rock, the edges on it were sharp and it felt warm. He carefully stepped over it and continued on, until he felt a wall in front of him. Feeling around, he realized that it was a pile of debris. He didn’t want to risk causing an avalanche by blindly moving the wrong rock, so he gently felt around, trying to find a path through the blockage. He yelled for his friends, but he couldn’t hear a response.

  What if they were buried under the rocks?

  He came to the realization that the blockage was complete, and he couldn’t crawl over or around the pile of rocks.

  He gently banged his head against the cave wall, trying to focus his thoughts, so he could decide what to do next. He could spend hours trying to move the rocks, but he was more likely to shift the wrong rock and become pinned underneath it when the pile shifted.

  He screamed one final time, before turning around and moving away from his friends. He was oddly calm, neither sad that they’d been crushed under the rocks, nor angry at whoever had collapsed the tunnel on top of them. He walked along, trailing one hand against the wall, neither hurrying nor slowing down.

  He ran head first into the rock wall where the cave contracted. The fresh pain jolting him out of his stupor.

  He laid down on his stomach and started pulling himself through the tight opening. It felt like the ceiling was slowly lowering and he would be crushed under its enormous weight. The floor finally began to slope downwards and he was released from the earth’s colossal grip.

  He blindly made his way down the decline, and didn’t comprehend what the lights floating in the air meant until Eva grabbed him by the shoulders.

  “Donovan!” she snapped.

  “What?” he asked, shaking his head to clear it.

  “What happened to you?” She reached out and brushed the hair aside from the lump on his forehead.

  “Tunnel. Collapse. Gone. They’re all gone.”

  “If you think you can trick us into turning back, you’re dead wrong.”

  “No, no, no,” he stuttered. “You can help them. Move the rocks. Please, hurry.”

  “Move out of our way, and we’ll continue on.”

  “I’ll go with you.”

  “No.” There was a firm finality in her voice. “We’re not going to do anything to obstruct you, but we will not keep a spy with us.”

  Donovan opened his mouth to speak, but she raised a finger in the air, and he stopped to listen to what she was going to say.

  “This is the most direct route up to the top of the plateaus. If there is a collapse, then we’ll try to clear a path through it. If we find your friends, then we will help them as best we can. If we see you again before the task is over, we will make sure that you regret your decision to follow us.”

  She shoved him roughly to the side. He stumbled on the uneven surface and fell onto his back.

  He watched as the six of them climbed up the slope, and disappeared through the slit in the wall.

  He made his way down the rest of the slope and into the large cavern. The light from the entrance shone far in the distance. It was his only beacon in the darkness. He stumbled over the slick, mossy rocks. He fell more than a few times as he made his way towards the light.

  He was nearing the entrance, when he realized that the ringing in his ears had stopped, only to be replaced by the dripping of water. The light from the entrance reflected off the surface of the shallow underground lake. He walked over to its edge, and began wading into the frigid water. He threw himself backwards and floated on its surface. Its icy tendrils embraced him and slowly sucked away his pain. As his head began to clear, he felt a growing sense of hopelessness well up inside of him. What could he possibly do on his own?

  He had no idea how long he floated there, but he eventually became aware of two silhouettes standing in the entrance to the cave. They ducked under the low threshold and started walking towards him, a small ball of light perched behind each of their shoulders.

  “Donovan, is that you?” asked Brighid.

  Donovan got to his feet and waded over to them.

  “Things aren’t good.”

  He went on to tell them about the collapsed tunnel, which he thought the dwarves had caused, and that the elves were ahead of them.

  “What are we waiting for?” asked Finian. “We can catch up to them while they’re moving rocks.”

  “No. They made it clear that they’ll tolerate no interference. They outnumber us two-to-one, and I don’t fancy starting a fight with them.”

  “Then what?” asked Finian. “Sit here until someone else wins.”

  Donovan looked at both of their expecting faces, waiting for him to tell them what to do.

  “No. There was only one path through the caves marked on the map, and both of our competitors are already ahead of us. The caves are long and winding, and come out miles from our destination. We need to find another route, a quicker route, which will get us there first, so our friends sacrifice wasn’t in vain.”

  They left the cave and paralleled the steep rock wall. They walked along the edge of the trees, craning their necks upwards, searching for a way up.

  They’d been warned not to try climbing up to the plateau where the manticores lived. If a patrolling manticore caught them while they clung to the wall, they’d be dead before they knew it. They were not agile flyers, but they made up for it with a ferocity that would send all of them plummeting to their doom onto the rocks below.

  Donovan wagered that they would be okay climbing up to the first level, but they would need to find an alternate route after that.

  “It’s getting warmer,” said Finian.

  “I think you’re right,” said Brighid.

  A mist slowly filled the air as they travelled along, and they started to hear a bubbling sound ahead of them. They eventually reached a point where they couldn’t see the rock face through the thick mist.

  “I don’t like the look of this,” said Brighid. “We’ll never find a way up if this continues.”

  “If we could find a place to climb, then the mist would hide us from prying eyes,” said Donovan.

  They moved closer to the rocks and continued on. Donovan continued to stare up at the rocks. The climb would be difficult, especially with the water condensing onto the rocks, but he thought that he could make the climb if he needed to.

  “Have either of you ever climbed before?” he asked, looking at the steep wall.

>   “A couple of trees,” said Brighid.

  “Nothing like that,” said Finian.

  “I don’t suppose either of you have any rope?”

  “Unfortunately not,” said Brighid. “Caddaric and Kort were carrying the rope.”

  “Let’s keep looking,” said Donovan.

  They came to a stream flowing out from under the rock wall. Donovan reached down and stuck his hand into the water. The water was warm and foul smelling, like eggs left out in the sun for too long.

  “Now we know where the mist is coming from,” he said.

  “What do you mean?” asked Finian.

  “Warm water and cold air makes mist.”

  Donovan bent down to examine the spot where the water flowed out from under the wall. The opening was small, and the gap at the top between water and stone was barely a couple of inches wide.

  He stood up, and jumped across the warm stream. The warm stream curved and ran in roughly the same direction as the rock wall. They walked through the thick mists, barely able to see each other a few feet away. Donovan carefully felt the ground in front of him before transferring his weight onto his other foot, his right hand pressed against the wet wall of stone to guide him. He listened for his companions footsteps to make sure that they didn’t become separated.

  He heard the sounds of a waterfall in the distance as they continued on their journey, and the mists began to thin. The water fell into a small pool at the base of the rock wall, which drained into the warm stream which they had crossed.

  “Where’d the mists go?” asked Finian.

  Donovan walked over to the waterfall and stuck his hand under the cold water.

  “This water cools off the stream when they join together. This is the end of the warm water, and the end of the mists.”

  The end of the warm water? What did that remind him of? The map! Begin where the warm waters halt. Start your journey to the skies. He knew that they were in the general area where the square was drawn on the map, but could they have possibly found the spot?