“We don’t even know where we’re going, or what we’re looking for, do we?” Thea asked. They had been trudging through the snow for hours. The sun, higher in the sky and warmer, was making the snow thick and heavy. Her legs were soaked, cloth clinging to her skin and chafing, water soaking down to her feet. Her cheeks stung from tears coming and going, and the winter wind chilling them against her cheeks when they did come. She felt numb half the time and despair the other half. The others were gone. She was unlikely to see them again.
“We know it’s under this mountain. We know there must be a way,” Nyla replied.
“There are caves,” Arik added. “We know of them. We don’t delve into them, but they must lead under the mountain.”
“Well why didn’t you tell me that?” Thea asked, frustrated.
“Didn’t think of it,” Arik replied.
“So we’re just going to walk into some random cave and check it out?” Thea asked.
“Pretty much,” Arik replied, also getting frustrated with her questioning.
Nyla interjected. “The caves are supposedly a giant network. All connected, under the mountain. If that’s true, then likely the Key will be in there.”
“Probably deep in there,” Arik said.
“Yes, probably,” Nyla agreed.
“Where are the caves?” Thea asked. “How do we find them?”
“We are close to one now,” Nyla said. “The Sidhe have known these parts for generations. We have a place to start.”
Thea trudged on with the others. Another hour passed, then two. She was barely aware of her surroundings, lost in her grief. Then finally she almost bumped into Nyla when the Sidhe woman stopped. She raised her eyes and saw the other two peering up the slope to her right. Following their gaze, she saw a dark shadow on the slope. Arik moved ahead, then Nyla. As they drew near, Thea saw it was an opening, mostly obscured by snowdrifts. This must be one of the caves.
“This is what we’re looking for?” she asked.
“Think so,” said Arik. He walked up to the opening and forced his way through the drift. For a moment he was out of sight, then his head reappeared, and he motioned the others forward. “Come on, it goes deeper.”
Thea and Nyla moved to the cave entrance. Now that Arik had trampled through the drift, she could see that the opening was wider – well above the height of even the tall Sidhe. They could walk into it, at least for now, without crawling on hands and knees squeezing through rock like Thea had imagined. There was no telling how deep it went, so Arik must have gone in further to know that it continued.
Stepping in, she immediately felt warmth. Not hot, especially not right next to the opening and the cold winter outside the cave, but definitely noticeable. She faced inward, not looking at the light outside, waiting for her eyes to adjust. As they did, she realized that it wasn’t completely dark further in. A very dim glow emanated from the walls, and by that glow she could see that the cave did indeed reach deeper under the mountain.
“We follow this?” She asked
“From here we don’t know. The tunnel could be short, it could be miles long. We only know from the stories that it is here somewhere.”
“Or maybe it’s the wrong cave,” Thea asked. “Or maybe it’s a maze of caves. Then how will we find our way out?”
“Valid questions, all,” Arik replied. “Both could be true. But we have to start somewhere, and this was the one we found first.”
Despite the dim light, Nyla went back to the horses. She untied a lantern from the strap holding it to the side of the saddlebag, and a second and third from Arik’s and one of the riderless horses. Striking her Sidhe firestick a few times got the small flame flickering to life. She transferred the flame to the other two and closed the glass cage.
“What about the horses?” Thea asked.
“Take what we might need. We’ll have to leave them. Sidhe horses know the snow and the mountains, they will forage and wander,” Nyla said. “It’s not ideal, but we have no choice. There’s a good chance they’ll make their way to where someone will find them and take them in.”
“Yeah, someone like those things!” Thea protested.
“We don’t have a choice, Thea,” Arik added. “Chances are those things are hunting humans not animals, but even so, we have a mission.”
“I know,” Thea sighed. “I just don’t like it. I’ve seen what they do to horses.”
“None of us do,” Arik answered, heavy hand on her shoulder. “But let’s go. Lantern oil’s burning.”
Thea turned. Nyla stood back by the mouth of the cave, lantern raised to peer inside. Thea and Arik stepped up beside her. “Here we go,” she said, and they stepped inside.
Thea felt the heat immediately. Not unbearably hot, but warm. The heat of a summer day, despite the chill winter just outside. Warmth seemed to be flowing out of the cave mouth, like some great beast breathing onto them.
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By lantern light they had a better view of the sides of the cave. It was mostly round, almost a tube, and smooth. The walls and ceiling undulated slightly, not exactly even but wide enough to stand all abreast and tall enough to be well above even Arik’s head. The stone was black, not like rock exactly, but more like the color of coals after a campfire died. Greys and blacks made a patchwork on the walls and ceiling. The floor was flatter, giving the three decent footing, though uneven in many places. Rounded areas seemed almost to bubble up in spots.
Spiked protrusions of all shapes and sizes pointed down from the ceiling. Some were tiny, like little needles. Many were longer and thin, and some were wider and longer still, forcing Arik to duck his head and be aware when he walked. From beyond the light cast by their lanterns, a dim glow showed them that the cave went straight into the earth, at least for some distance.
They walked, stepping carefully so they didn’t trip on any of the rounded mounds on the floor of the path and avoided cracking their heads on the few spikes of rock that projected down to their level. As the entrance shrank behind them in the distance, the heat increased until they were sweating under their heavy clothes. They left them on, but Thea didn’t know how long she could do so. If the heat continued, she’d be dropping her coat on the ground and leaving it. Carrying the bulky thing with her didn’t seem much more appealing than wearing it.
The tunnel continued on and on. Not featureless, every part had a different fluid pattern – as if mud had flowed and hardened – and some areas of the ceiling were dense with the pointed stalactites, but some were smoother. But endless. Thea lost track of time as they made their way deeper.
The air became more oppressive. Smells of sulfur and brimstone first tickled the edge of her awareness, but as she continued became an assault on her nose. The heat only got worse, until her clothes were damp and chafing her skin. She could see the damp patches on the back of Arik and Nyla’s shirts also. Then another smell – musty, like wet fur. Animalistic. Faint at first as well but also growing stronger.
The tunnel opened up on the left side, a side passage yawning with darkness. The three paused for a moment, indecisive, but Nyla pressed forward and continued straight. After a few minutes, another tunnel opened on the right. They stopped.
“This is where it turns into a maze,” Arik said. “Which way leads us where we want to go?”
“Straight has to be the best way,” Nyla said. “It’s direct and heading down. If we get sidetracked and start taking twists and turns, we’ll get lost for sure.”
Arik looked dubious but nodded. They all knew it was a weak argument, but they had none better. They continued straight.
After only a short time again, Nyla stopped and held up her hand for the others to halt, then quickly put a finger in front of her lips, demanding silence. They stood still as Thea’s ears adjusted to the quiet. Then, faint enough that she wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, she heard a scuffling coming from ahead of her. She froze, heart pounding. Then another, louder, easily discernable after the loud pounding of her heart. Something was coming.
Nyla stepped back, motioning the others to do the same. The noise of movement ahead got louder, and then an animal shriek pierced through the darkness ahead.
“Run!” Nyla said, not bothering to whisper. “Go!” She rushed back towards Thea, grabbing her shoulder and turning her and pushing her along with a hand on the back. “Go go go!”
More shrieks and screams and howls cut the darkness, along with another, deeper roar, full of rage.
They ran, trying desperately not to lose their footing on the sometimes-uneven ground. Nyla led, Thea right behind and Arik in the rear. The sounds behind them – almost voices, but bestial, howling and slavering – followed, getting closer. The tunnel was too long, they weren’t going to make it.
One shrieked just behind them, seemingly right over Thea’s shoulder. Her skin prickled. She glanced over her shoulder to see Arik turn and draw his sword. From the darkness just outside his lantern-light, a figured launched itself at him. This thing was shorter than him and covered in fur. Eyes gleamed with reflected light, and jagged pointed teeth were bared as it attacked. Arik dropped his lantern and swung the sword with both hands, edge of the blade sinking into the thing’s skull with a solid thunk. The blow diverted the creature’s momentum, and it fell to the ground right beside him, not moving.
“Drop the lanterns,” he shouted, running again. Thea hesitated, then realized – these things lived in the dim light. Their small flames were a beacon for them. She dropped hers and continued to run. Nyla did the same. Behind them, howls echoed down the tunnel, too close now, and closing.
A grinding roar shook the cave – not from behind them, but from the mountain around them itself. The walls shook, the floor kicked up underneath them. Thea slammed a shoulder into the rough wall, her breath punched out of her for a moment. Arik and Nyla stumbled. Nyla went to one knee for a second, then Arik caught her under the arm and yanked her back to her feet. Stones fell, dislodged from the ceiling, and some of the stalactites were shaken loose, falling to the ground around them. They did their best to keep their feet, hoping that their pursuers were having the same trouble.
The mountain shook them for minutes that seemed like hours as they struggled to run, knowing that their lives depended on it. Then, as quickly as it began, the rumbling stopped. Thea’s relief lasted only seconds, as the renewed cries behind her told them that the chase was still on.
The tunnel narrowed ahead and brightened. Not with daylight, but with a glow the color of embers. As they rounded the slight curve, she could see a wide, jagged crack in the side wall, a couple feet wide and just taller than her. Whether the shaking of the mountain had broken it open or whether it had always been there, she didn’t know. The orange light came from there.
Nyla took a second to look in as she passed, then stopped.
She thought for no more than that second, knowing they were out of time. “Here,” she said. “It’s narrow, we have to use it.”
Arik nodded. “Go!” He pushed Nyla in, then motioned for Thea to follow. She had to turn slightly sideways to squeeze in, but it immediately opened to just wider than her shoulders. She felt Arik move behind her, heard another bestial scream, and then the sound of Arik’s sword hitting flesh. He squeezed himself in, then was just able to square up behind her. His body pushed Thea forward as he backed down the hallway.
There were more now. Arik blocked the way, body shoving her as he stabbed with his sword in the small space. Thea took a glance back. There wasn’t much room around Arik’s body to see, but she could glimpse movement. Too much movement. Too many short, greasy-furred bodies moving, darting back and forth, trying to find a way past Arik’s sword in the narrow space.
Thea turned back to watch where she was going, just as the passage opened up into a massive cavern. They were on a ledge, several feet wide but with no immediately obvious way off. She caught a glimpse of glowing orange fire and black rock, the ground a couple dozen feet below them. Then she drew her own sword and turned. She stepped beside Arik, Nyla on his other side, to hold onto the narrow chokepoint as the creatures tried to pour through.
