Cupcake’s front paw pressed onto the brittle stone, sending a small cascade of pebbles skittering down the mountainside. The clattering echoed down the steep slope, each stone bouncing and tumbling until it disappeared into the hazy distance below. Emily watched the scattering stones with a worried frown, fully aware of the risks this unstable terrain posed. This side of the mountain range was strikingly different from where they’d first entered—a stark contrast that marked the change from solid footing to a treacherous descent.
The transformation was most obvious in the rock itself. At the start of their journey, the ground had been rough but steady, dominated by resilient granite that held fast underfoot. Here, though, the stone had softened into a crumbling sandstone that fell apart at the slightest pressure. Its muted, tawny hues were marred with fine cracks and edges worn thin by years of rain and wind. Emily snorted, realizing how strange it was to care about rock types—but right now, the difference mattered. Where the granite had endured like a fortress, this sandstone had slowly crumbled, leaving a landscape riddled with fragile holes and hidden crevices.
As they continued, the terrain shifted even more dramatically. The familiar peaks gave way to an uneven expanse of pockmarked stone and fractured cliffs. Deep gaps opened up in their path at random, creating jagged obstacles and forcing them to move with painstaking caution. Cupcake held her leaps in check, placing each paw with uncharacteristic care. Neither she nor Emily could tell which surface might hold or crumble beneath them. Yet, despite the risk, the wolf and human pressed on, their excitement raising to the surface. Even here, on this difficult path, there was a spring in their steps, a glimmer of hope carried by the thought of a warm bed and a real shower—one that wasn’t cold rainwater.
Danger lurked in every loose rock and groaning stone pillar, but Emily’s resolve only sharpened as she glimpsed their destination. A few hours into their journey across this fragile landscape, she spotted something in the distance—faint and dreamlike, but unmistakable. Through the mist, an immense ravine scarred the horizon, stretching out for kilometers in both directions. And while the natural phenomenon was certainly eye-catching it wasn’t what had given Emily pause. That honor was given solely to the spire-like city that rose up on the other side of the ravine. Growing up its side like a gnarled root from the depths. The entirety of the city rose beyond the gap like a beacon, drawing one’s attention to it as if by way of magnetism, even though it was still days away.
The mountain range around them seemed to ripple downward, its peaks and ridges flowing like an ancient river toward the looming chasm. This gradual descent carried them ever closer to the enormous ravine, a natural wound in the earth’s surface that seemed to beckon. The sandstone gave way to narrow ledges and fractured plateaus as the elevation dropped, and Emily found herself navigating alongside swift, foaming streams that wove through the rock. These streams gathered force as they hurtled downward, converging in a rush towards the great crack in the land before plummeting over the edge in roaring waterfalls.
The ravine seemed alive, both majestic and menacing, a reminder of nature’s raw power. Every step brought them closer to its towering edge, and though it was still far off, the sheer scale of the landscape hinted at the enormity of what lay before them.
Trees and foliage gave way to stone and sand, the colors shifting from deep charcoal to lighter greys, then to warm reds and, finally, vibrant oranges.
There were also creatures living amongst the rocks but they were few and far between. Emily tried her best to avoid anything that looked out of place, but unknown dangers still lurked in the most surprising places.
The first night in this place was not too bad as there were dozens of places to take shelter from the rain.
It was on the second night that things went very wrong.
After a full day of traversing the fickle terrain, they’d found a set of large tunnels that bored through the sandstone itself. It looked to be an old tunnel that water had eroded away but it was now dry and warm.
It was interesting that the lower they got down the side of the mountains the warmer it got, so even the little bit of water that had collected on them dried faster.
Cupcake was out like a light before Emily had even managed to get her saddle off, but after some maneuvering, she managed.
Once that was done Emily scrounged through her pack for ration and the Rime wolf’s nose twitched at the scent.
“You better not have had me wrestle that thing off you because you were lazy. Cus lazy mutts don’t get food.”
Cupcake's eyes cracked open for just a second and eyed the last of their meat.
Emily took out a large chunk of elven meat and flashed it in front of the wolf. She snorted in disgust, eyeing the last of the rock ferret they’d caught.
“Don’t even think about it.”
Cupcake eventually grabbed the elf and chewed the meat once before swallowing it mostly whole.
Out of curiosity, Emily had tried a bit of elf meat, and, true to the warnings, it was unbelievably foul. The taste was sharply reminiscent of petroleum, with an overwhelming odor that filled her senses and made the experience wholly unpleasant.
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Emily's stomach had gurgled for hours after that one bite, but luckily her blood took care of the host of bacteria and disease that followed. The taste however was a different story, as it lingered in the back of her throat like fish oil, refusing to go down.
It was during the early hours of the morning, as Emily was snoozing that she started to hear the distant rain picking up as the clouds thickened above them.
This was nothing new to them by now so Emily ignored the heavy rain until she felt something wet brushing up against her leg.
Emily’s eyes snapped open, ready to fight whatever was coming their way but she was quickly disappointed.
What she thought was some predator coming from the shadows, turned out to be a stream of water running directly through the tunnel they had holed up in. It followed the gradual decline past them, soaking Emily’s pant leg as it headed toward the distant shadowy depths.
Her sleep-addled mind stared at the water meandered past but as the flow began to increase her eyes widened and she climbed to her feet.
Emily turned to follow the origin and noticed that further up the tunnel, near the bend, more water was pouring forth.
A sound of rushing water bounced along the tunnel's walls making it hard to pinpoint how close the water was. Emily realized if they stayed here they would swiftly find themselves washed away to wherever this tunnel led.
“Cupcake, up!” was all the time Emily had before knee-high water came rushing into sight. Emily reached for her blanket and pack picking it up to avoid it getting swept away.
She’d started walking towards the tunnel's opening and was halfway there when a gurgling sound, like that of a tube filling up, issued from deeper in the tunnel. It was followed by another increase in the current that crashed into Emily's chest.
Cupcake spread her stance to hold against the water but the current was increasing by the second.
Emily had to use her blood to grab onto the edge of the opening, but the current was pushing against them. Dragging Emily away from the exit.
“Fuck! Cupcake, get us out of here!”
The cupcake pushed against the flow of water, getting nearer to Emily. When she was within reach, Emily grabbed the reins, but before they could do anything the current strength doubled, and Cupcake's footing slipped out from under her. Emily’s thin cord of blood could not hold both her and the Rime wolf so when it snapped they both went hurtling backward down the tunnel.
The water had risen to more than three-quarters the height of the tunnel and all Emily could do was extend her gown out around her to prevent herself from crashing into anything solid. She clutched onto Cupcake’s reins and cast vital shell around Cupcake.
Hurtling down a dark tunnel to who-knew-where was far from the most enjoyable experience of Emily's life, but luckily it wasn’t a long one. After a few minutes, the world dropped out from under them, and they found themselves in freefall. Moments later, they plunged into an icy underground pool. The water churned around her, and Emily took a second to gather her bearings.
When her head broke the surface, she spluttered and cursed, her voice echoing off the cavern’s hollow walls. It was pitch black; she couldn’t even see her hand in front of her face.
“Why’s it always so damn dark? If I get out of this, I’m learning a light spell or something,” she grumbled as Cupcake splashed beside her, the two searching the water for a way out. After some time, they found a sloping bank.
As soon as she had solid ground beneath her, Emily shrugged off her pack and rummaged through the soggy contents. She’d lost her blanket somewhere in the depths, and she wasn’t about to go looking for it. As she searched blindly, her hand brushed against a glass vial and a soaked coin purse before finally finding a hollow metal cylinder. She sighed in relief—it was a torch she’d taken from Alex’s pack for a rainy day. Even now, she was reluctant to use it, but the circumstances left her little choice.
Drying it off as best she could, Emily searched for the release catch. The metal snapped into place, and vents on the side opened, allowing a spark to ignite the fuel. An orange glow filled the chamber, finally giving her a clear view of their surroundings.
The chamber wasn’t large, but it surprised her with multiple columns of water flowing down into the room from above. The one they’d come from could have been any of them, making it impossible to return the way they came—and Emily wasn’t sure she wanted to.
As she scanned the chamber, she noticed another opening at the far end. Water poured through the room and down a narrow tunnel, just barely spilling over the lip. It reminded her uncomfortably of a waterslide back on Earth, though this one almost certainly led somewhere unpleasant. Still, with little else to go on, it seemed like the only way forward.
Taking a closer look, Emily couldn’t help but smile wryly.
“What do you think, girl? Should we go for a ride?”
Cupcake’s uneasy whine mirrored her own reservations.
“Okay, maybe not,” Emily muttered.
As she looked around, she noticed a faint hissing sound above the crashing water. Her light couldn’t quite reach the ceiling, but when she saw movement overhead, she immediately went on guard. Almost instantly, a shadow dropped down beside her, and without hesitation, Emily sent a crescent of blood slicing through it. The creature hit the floor with a heavy thud, revealing itself in the torchlight as a light-brown rock monitor, about the size of a small boar. Its cold, gleaming eyes glared—not at Emily, but at the light in her hand.
Emily frowned, sensing a surprising amount of life force radiating from the lizard, almost on par with an elf. She was still processing this when more hissing filled the chamber.
Her head snapped up as she raised the torch, catching glimpses of a writhing mass along the ceiling. Hundreds of lizards clung to the stone, beginning to fall, splashing into the water and landing on the ground around them. Cupcake lunged, catching one in her jaws, while more of the creatures dropped down relentlessly. Emily dispatched a few more, but she knew they’d soon be overwhelmed.
Grinding her teeth, Emily grabbed Cupcake’s reins, pulling her towards the ominous “slide.” She cut down any lizards in her path, but they kept falling all around them. They plunged through the water towards the tunnel’s edge, even as the lizards, swimming just as well as they crawled, bit into her wherever they found purchase.
“Why does everything have to bite?” she shouted, yelping as another jaw clamped onto her thigh.
Finally, Emily pulled herself up onto the tunnel’s ledge, only to be jostled by Cupcake, who, fighting her own battles, leapt up and knocked Emily backward. They both lost balance and tumbled into the depths, the rock monitors snapping at them as Emily’s scream echoed and faded into the darkness below.
Blood points: 287