Fifteen was not a bad force for a small village to host, including Elara and I to make up that final number.

‘Plus we have our secret weapon.’ Misty struts along at my feet, well aware of her place and her value to me. ‘Just you be careful, girl,’ I tell her with a frown. She responds with a little huff.

Of the group, I knew only Merl, Jake, and Paolo well. The others I had seen in passing as we had mixed our shopping with investigating.

All were garbed in a mixture of well-worn but cared-for leather with the odd bit of steel reinforcement. Two had bows, and the rest, including Jake, had a mix of swords and bows, apart from Merl. He wielded a large, intimidating hammer with both his meaty hands. Swinging it about a bit to get its weight comfortable, he then rested it across his shoulder, gave me a grin, and put himself towards the front of the group with Paolo.

As we set off, I send Misty ahead as normal. One of the archers, I think his name is Lars, also heads off to take point. Apparently, he is a hunter, one of the best in the village. ‘Should be a good scout and used to moving unseen.’ The rest of us move forward at a steady pace; the path is narrow, so we can only move along in pairs. We are trying to maintain at least a semblance of stealth, but if I am honest with myself, we are not quite as noisy as a herd of elephants. We can’t travel as fast as Naomi managed in her astral form, but we do make good progress. After about an hour, I get a familiar nudge from Misty up ahead.

‘Rock hole now.’

I give Paolo a tap and whisper to him,“Misty tells me that the quarry is just ahead.” He nods and holds up his hand to call a halt.

“I’m going to go forward and have a look; Lars should be up ahead as well, so I will see if we can get a good vantage and figure the best route into the pit.”

I quietly move the rest of the way along the path. I feel the presence of Elara a couple of feet behind me and look back to give her a reassuring nod of encouragement. After a couple of hundred yards, the woods end at the edge of a long-disused quarry. It appears as a large, rough-hewn pit cut deep into the side of a hill, dropping perhaps 50 or so feet to a floor littered with gravel and part-carved blocks of grey stone. To my left a bit and perched up in a tree, I see Lars, bow in hand, watching for any movement below. Taking care not to slip, I edge closer to the lip of the large hole.

To my disappointment, it is an almost sheer cliff. At regular spots about 10 to 15 feet apart are ledges jutting out a little from the wall. I would guess that at one point ladders led down, one to another, until the bottom was reached. In the opposite wall at the base of the hill was the cave mouth Naomi had seen and entered. ‘Our path is clear, but that is going to be a total bitch to climb down.’“We need rope,” I say quietly to Elara. “I have some, but not enough. Head back and see if Paolo and the men managed to pack some.”“On my way,” she answers quietly and disappears back up the trail.

I look back down into the quarry and catch sight of a small ginger form hunkered down behind a small boulder near the cave, watching it intensely.

‘How the hell did she get down there?’ Stupid question, trying to figure out how she does many of the things she manages seemingly without any issue. While I wait, I study the area carefully, looking for anything out of place. I come up blank. To my eyes, it is just an old quarry long out of use and returning slowly back to nature's grip.Turning away from the ledge, I pull my rope from my pack and tie it firmly to a stout nearby tree. ‘Bloody rope climbing, last time I climbed a rope was back in school gym classes.’ I grumble to myself as I begin tying knots in the rope every 3 or 4 feet. ‘I was shit at it then and am probably going to fall and break my damned neck now.’

As I get to the end, I spot Elara coming up with the rest of the group on her heels.

With hushed voices and as quietly as they can, most of the men go and peer over the edge to see what we have to do next. There is a mix of bravado and nervousness among their looks. Merl takes the end of my rope, shakes his head sadly at my efforts, and drops his backpack to the floor.

With a smile, he pulls out a well-made rope ladder that had been coiled up within.

‘Right now, I could bloody well kiss you.’ The relief all over my face makes him chuckle.

“You told us it was a quarry, what the bloody hell did you think I would bring? Sandwiches?” And he fixes the end of the ladder securely to the tree I had been using. With a flick, he throws the rest of it down into the pit below.

I see Misty’s head whip round at the clatter of the ladder unrolling down the rock face. She gives a little stretch, then resumes her watchful observation of the entrance.

With the ladder in place, we climb carefully downwards. The ladder creaks a bit ominously, but it is strong and up to the job. Having decided to leave Lars in his tree on overwatch, the rest of us gather at the foot of the cliff.

“Ok, we don’t know exactly what to expect up ahead,” I tell them quietly. “But in that cave is a long tunnel that ends in an open cavern. A few hours ago, we know at least Vita and Emily were in there near a fire pit.” I look around to be sure I have everyone's attention.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“We know very little of the man who took them, if he is working alone, or if he uses magic or ordinary weapons. About the only thing we know for certain is a black cloak and the use of Listwort.”

“Not exactly a lot to go on,” Jake says.

“True,” Paolo responds. “But those are our people in there, and we are here to get them back.” His tone brooks no argument, and I can see determination in every face.

I give my little ginger demon a nudge. ‘Can you hear or smell anything?’

After a moment, she responds. ‘Some smoke, peoples, strange sleep thing. No noise.’

I relay to the group that Misty can still smell the villagers along with the traces of Listwort and the campfire. Apart from that, all seems quiet. Having done that, I look at my little cat and send her on ahead to investigate.

‘Stay safe, girl, no risks, you hear me.’ Damn, that cat was too fucking brave for her own good. But I smile as I get a mental ‘Huff’ back at me.

Slowly and carefully, we make our way across the quarry floor. It’s a couple of hundred feet and a rough oval in shape. ‘I wonder why they stopped using it.’ My idle curiosity ponders the thought. The odd stone clatters from beneath boots more used to farming and crafting than sneaking about; muffled curses are quickly stifled. At least we knew the quarry itself was empty, and we had sniper cover above. That gave me a measure of comfort. ‘What the hell have you got yourself into, Del?’ I carefully skirt round a large rock. ‘I swear, when I get out of this, that fucking computer is going in the bin.’

As we close in on the dark entry ahead, the air gets a definite chill to it, the coldness seeming to emanate directly from the broad opening. From outside, we could only see a few feet into it, the light failing to penetrate very far, as if sucked from existence in that forbidding place.

‘Misty?’ I nudge her cautiously to see if she has any update. She doesn’t respond, so I indicate we wait for a bit to see if we can manage to get any fresh information.

Elara taps me on the shoulder. “I can see in the dark pretty well,” she tells me. “It's something all elves can do.” She shrugs a little self-deprecatingly. “Not as well as dwarves, but we don’t spend our time hiding under mountains.”

“Are you suggesting you join Misty in scouting the tunnel ahead of us?” I ask, concern obvious.

She simply nods and slips her bow off her back and plucks an arrow from the quiver.

“One of us has to, and I can go without giving myself away by needing a torch.”

I know she is right, but I don’t like it. ‘Why am I surrounded by such brave people? I don’t deserve it, that’s for sure.’ I look towards Paolo and see he has no better idea. Reluctantly, I give her a nod and watch as she quietly makes her way inside and out of sight.

The wait is painful; every moment, I feel the seconds ticking by like the toll of doom I can’t avoid. ‘You are being melodramatic, Del. Pack it in.’

I let her have five minutes; no sound comes from that black void, just the chill of the air sucking everything from me. In the end, I can handle no more, and despite the lessons learned from watching too many horror films in my youth, I indicate it’s time to move forward.

Unsheathing my sword, and the others following suit, we break out the torches and head into the depths ahead.

At first, the going is fairly easy. The floor is smooth and worn with the tread of the many workers who had once filled this place. The wall appears to be a mix of natural cavern and hand-hewn sections to widen the path or remove choice rocks.With such a collection of booted feet, silence is impossible, and our footsteps echo around us, creating an eerie feeling of sound appearing and disappearing from random directions. At one point, I can hear the drip of water, and the chill soon becomes a bone-aching cold. The air is getting musty, and the touch of smoke in the air grows stronger as we go.

Behind me, I hear the rapid scuffle of a foot slipping and a muffled curse as one of the men trips up. In the flickering torchlight, it's hard to see with all the shadows leaping and flickering as we go. My eyes are constantly scanning, looking for things that probably aren’t there. A flicker in the distance grabs my attention, my heart skipping a beat, only to realise it was yet another shadow-cast illusion.

‘Paranoia is not a good look, Del. Worry about the real shit, not the imaginary stuff.’

The way becomes narrower, and we are forced to string out more. Soon we can only go two abreast and still have the potential to use our weapons if needed.Up ahead, I hear a gasp and a sharply whispered,

“Del? Get up here.”

Immediately, I pick up my pace at Elara’s voice and move ahead quickly.

‘Please be ok.’ I feel adrenaline surge at the possibilities her call may bring.

Elara is crouched on the ground by a small ginger shape. Rushing forward, I see my cat, softly letting out a mix of gentle purrs and snores. Clutched in her paws is a small bag that smells clearly of Listwort.

Up ahead, from around a bend in the tunnel, the flickering of a fire casts more shadows on the walls.