The next thing Amanda knew she was waking up to the clinking sound of someone throwing rocks against rocks. She groggily pulled herself upright and when she saw what was making the sound she came to pretty quickly.

“Stop!” she commanded at Indi who had been the source of the sound.

While Amanda had slept Indi had too for awhile, but then she’d woken hungry and restless. So to distract herself she had decided to practice her shielding.

Cat and Kass had also rested for a bit but now they were sussing out a line up the wall. Whispering between themselves. Figuring out a plan. They turned at the sound of Amanda’s voice.

Indi stopped what she was doing. The shield she’d placed around a nearby mushroom instantly vanished.

Her practice had involved putting up a shield and throwing rocks at it, only she’d had trouble telling where the rocks had gone after she’d thrown them so she’d decided having a target would help. Hence the shield around the blue mushroom. So far she’d been doing pretty well.

She gave Amanda a confused look, unsure if she was talking to her.

“Don’t throw anything at those mushrooms. The spores are paralytic,” Amanda explained.

“What?” Cat exclaimed. “You didn’t think to mention that before maybe? There’s dozens of those things around.”

Indi dropped her hands and eyed the blue mushrooms warily. “Are we safe here?”

“Yeah, sorry,” Amanda said between winces as she pulled herself into a more comfortable position. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep. They should be fine as long as you don’t stand on them or light them on fire. No force, no heat, then no spores.”

“You still could have mentioned that before,” Cat replied crossing her arms in front of her chest and scowling.

“Sorry,” Amanda shrugged. “There weren’t enough of them out in the open that I thought anyone was likely to stand on them and they’re pretty obvious. That kind of colour you shouldn’t be touching unless you know what it is anyway.”

Behind Cat, Kass had lent over and was studying one of them a bit closer.

“Still, I wouldn’t get quite that close, Kass,” Amanda warned.

Cat turned around to see what Kass was doing. She shook her head. “You guys are intent on killing yourselves.”

“What are they?” Indi asked.

“Phsciolorio something, nicknamed Blue Phi. My sister would know. I just know you don’t set them on fire, or touch them. They’re not deadly, not in small doses. If you set the whole room off you might be in trouble. But they can affect you for quite awhile. Make it hard to breathe and move. Some people take them for fun, in veery small doses.”

“Who would find that fun?” Indi asked.

“You would know that,” Cat directed at Amanda.

Amanda shook her head and gave an amused smile. “I’ve never taken these. It’s hard to get the dose right.”

“Do people use them for poisons?” Kass asked.

“And you would ask that,” Cat replied with a roll of the eyes.

Amanda shrugged. “I expect there’s better things to use.”

“How do they survive if they need fire or force in order to release their spores?” Indi asked. “I mean, being in a cave.”

Amanda shrugged. “They have a very slow life cycle I think, and their tendrils travel pretty far underground. This might even just be one plant. It’s not just fire though, sufficient heat will also release the spores so if the year is warmer than usual, or if there’s volcanic activity, or if a plain old cave dweller of some sort wanders nearby. You’d be surprised at how much life is in caves. These mushrooms like to feed of remains off other lifeforms anyway. I expect that has something to do with it.”

Indi screwed up her face and eyed the nearby mushrooms warily again.

“Great we’re stuck in a cave with cannibalistic mushrooms,” Cat complained.

“Technically cannibalism would be if it ate itself,” Indi corrected more cheerfully.

Cat narrowed her eyes. “This is not a place for technicalities Indi,” Cat replied, but the tone was lighthearted as if she didn’t really have the energy for it.

“Did you figure a way out while I was asleep?” Amanda asked.

Kass took a seat on a nearby rock looking somewhat deflated. “I don’t know.”

Cat picked up where Kass left off. “We could climb up here but we don’t know where it goes. Might be a risk for nothing and given what you said about the mushrooms I doubt you’re keen to throw a fireball up there. The other option is back the way we came but we don’t have enough rope to get back through that underwater tunnel and I doubt there’s any rope left going back up that small drop you fell down.”

“The tunnel might not still be there,” Kass ventured. “That dragon was pretty big and it had no qualms about destroying the entrance at the top of the waterfall. It might have ripped a bigger hole further up too.”

“What about following the river?” Amanda asked.

Cat shook her head. “No way, we couldn’t even see where the water goes down.”

“It looked like it was flowing pretty fast?” Amanda hazarded a guess, trying to recall.

“Yeah,” Cat agreed, “but it goes fast under the rock, no gaps. I wouldn’t want to attempt that even if I liked swimming.”

“I think back is best,” Kass replied, although she sounded hesitant.

“Hey guys,” Indi interrupted. “Does it look lighter up there?” She was looking up the rock face, the one they had been considering climbing.

The others turned their faces up.

“Is that sunlight coming in?” Cat asked. “Surely it hasn’t been that long?”

“How long was I out for?” Amanda asked.

Kass glanced at her. “Awhile,” she replied, then turned to look back up the rock wall. “I change my stance, I say we try this way.”

Cat nodded.

“There’s mushrooms growing half way up the wall,” Indi observed.

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Cat nodded but she didn’t seem too perturbed by it.

“Just watch where you put your hands,” Amanda noted.

Cat nodded again.

“How are we going to get Amanda out though?” Indi asked.

Amanda shook her head. “At this point we just need to get someone out.”

Cat turned to her and screwed up her nose. “Don’t be silly, we’ve got enough rope. We get one of us up there we can get you up there.”

“I don’t think the rope will go all the way.” Indi said, sounding worried.

“It doesn’t need to,” Cat replied. “This bottom section is easy.”

Indi frowned not understanding.

Amanda snorted. “What, you’re going to carry me up that on your back are you?”

Cat shrugged. “Easy as lemon meringue pie.”

Indi, who had never seen Cat bake anything ever asked, “Have you ever made lemon meringue pie, it’s not that easy.”

Cat frowned. “Then why do people say that?”

“I don’t think anybody says that,” Indi replied.

“You’re probably thinking of ‘Easy as pie.’” Kass remarked.

“No, I’m sure there were lemons in it somewhere,” Cat replied indignantly.

“I actually think my mum did used to say that, but she made a mean lemon meringue pie.” Amanda stated.

“You ever make lemon meringue pie?” Indi asked.

“Once,” Amanda said then added, “sort of.”

“Sort of?” Kass asked.

But before Amanda could reply Cat interrupted. “Okay why don’t we stop talking about lemon meringue pie and lets get out of here.”

“You’re the one who brought it up,” Kass replied as straight-faced as she could, only the edges of her mouth tugging upward in betrayal.

Cat gave her a disapproving look but there was a glint in her eye. Then she turned back to the rock wall and sighed.

“I’ll go first,” Kass volunteered.

“What! No you won’t. Whoever goes first needs to carry the rope and then be strong enough to pull the others up,” Cat replied.

“I thought you were going to carry Amanda up?” Kass asked.

Cat shrugged. “I was thinking maybe we try pulling first. That way she can put some of her weight on the wall and we just use the rope for balance.”

“Except for the shortness of the rope.” Kass reminded her.

Cat paused. “Right...” she said after a moment’s thought.

Kass waited patiently for Cat to agree on what they were doing.

Cat frowned and turned to her. “Are you going to be able to pull her up though?”

“I’m not the one who’s shot,” Kass reminded her.

Indi, who was half listening, half eyeing the mushrooms, briefly frowned at the use of the word ‘shot,’ but then brushed it off as a synonym for tired.

“I feel like we’ve had this conversation before,” Cat groaned.

“Why doesn’t one of you climb up and just see what’s up there first. Preferably the better climber and anchor builder,” Amanda suggested. “Which would probably be Kass,” she added as she saw Cat start to open her mouth.

Cat closed it and nodded.

“Alright,” Kass said as she wiped her hands on her shorts in preparation.

Amanda would have told Cat to spot her from the bottom except Cat was way ahead of her and already getting into position below where she could hopefully help with the landing if Kass were to slip.

“Indi, get ready to shield, just in case,” Amanda told her.

“You think it goes out?” Indi asked.

“It does look lighter up there now. We just have to hope that’s not some tiny hole or steep shaft.”

Indi nodded but she didn’t look happy.

“What’s up?” Amanda asked.

“If it’s sunlight up there I...” she trailed off.

Kass, who was listening and had just placed a foot on the wall, jumped back down again. She turned to Indi and pulled off her backpack. “I almost forgot. I’ve got your sunscreen in here.”

Indi’s eyes widened as if not quite sure she could believe it, but when Kass pulled the bottle out her whole face lit up.

“I wasn’t leaving that behind, not after we went all the way back for it,” Kass replied with a smile.

“Thank you,” Indi said with a smile of her own, as Kass handed her the bottle.

“I’ll take the backpack,” Cat said holding out a hand.

Kass nodded and handed it to her.

“Have you got food in there?” Amanda asked.

Kass nodded and Cat opened it up to have a look and then handed it down to Amanda.

“Oh my stars, I’m so hungry.” Indi moaned.

Amanda grabbed something to eat for herself then sat the bag between her and Indi so Indi could help herself.

“Alright, get climbing,” Cat instructed Kass. “Unless you’re hungry?”

Kass shook her head and stepped back towards the wall. “Later,” she replied, eager to get out.

Cat nodded.

Kass climbed with the rope looped over one shoulder while the others watched in silence.

A few seconds went by before Indi noticed she was holding her breath. As she breathed out loudly Amanda turned to her with a smile. “Relax, she’ll be fine. Just keep watching.”

Indi nodded but she still felt apprehensive.

Kass made it look easy for the most part. There was only one section where her foot briefly slipped, but it had been as she had been placing it so she still had three other points of contact on the wall.

Cat sucked in a breath and then clenched her fists.

Indi held her breath again until Kass had gotten past that section. Eventually Kass climbed over an edge and out of sight.

“Do you think she’s at top?” Indi whispered. “What if there’s nothing to attach the rope to?”

“Don’t know. It could curve after that bit, might even get steeper, may just be a lip.” Amanda replied not taking her eyes off the place where Kass had disappeared.

Sometime later Kass’s face appeared back over the lip, a big grin on her face.

The others looked up expectantly.

“There’s a way out,” she called back down. “It’s going to be tight but I think we can manage it. You should send Indi up next. There’s not really enough space for four and we might need her shield to get out.”

“What do you mean you might need her shield to get out?” Cat called back up.

But Kass had disappeared again.

“Might want to put that sunscreen on,” Amanda told Indi.

Indi nodded and she picked up the bottle again with shaky hands.

“Relax, you’ll be fine,” Amanda told her reassuringly.

Cat waited. Eventually she called out, “Kass?”

Kass appeared at the ridge again and a moment later the rope came uncurling down. “I’ve made a knot block in crevasse a wee way back. I’ll hold it as well but try not to bounce the rope too much.

“What do you mean we’ll need Indi’s shield to get out?” Cat called back up again, repeating her earlier question.

“There’s a bit of a hole in the floor just after the next bit. You and I can bridge no problem but Amanda might have trouble. If Indi’s on the other side, plus one of us with the rope then I think we should be alright.”

“Did you manage to get outside?” Cat asked.

“Yep, I could see a way,” Kass replied.

Cat nodded, satisfied. She turned to Indi. “Right, you’re up.”

Indi got to her feet. She shivered and wasn’t sure if it was from nerves, although it wasn’t too cold in here. Maybe she’d been using too much magic practicing. Gosh she was tired. She looked up at the wall, noting all the sharp points and dark slick of the rock. She gave another involuntary shiver.

“Can you help her up the first bit, Cat?” Amanda asked.

Cat nodded. “I don’t know how much I can do. Just don’t look down okay,” she told Indi.

Cat studied the lower section. It was six or seven metres to the bottom of the rope. It was pretty easy climbing, just not a nice height to fall from.

She turned back to Amanda “I think it’s better if I’m at the bottom.”

Amanda nodded.

“What do I do when I reach the rope?” Indi asked, her voice shaking as much as she was.

“Just grab a hold of it and I’ll come up and help okay.”

Indi nodded.

Cat glanced down at Amanda who’s face was contorted into a worried grimace.

Amanda noticed Cat’s gaze and immediately the grimace was replaced with a reassuring smile. It didn’t quite reach her eyes though.

Cat just gave her a nod, an acknowledgement of how they were both feeling about this.

“Right,” Cat turned back to Indi. “You ready?”

“I think so,” Indi replied managing to sound more confident. In the short time she’d spent looking at the wall she’d managed to make herself focus on just the lower section. Just getting to the rope. In breaking it down and telling herself that there were lots of handholds she’d made herself feel better about the climb. Worst case she did have her shield. A memory flashed through her head of falling through branches and and the sharp pain from when she’d hit the ground. That had been many many years ago though, when she had fallen out of a tree and completely forgotten to shield. She quickly pushed it from her mind and focused on the goal. Today was not going to be like that.