At last, the way unfolded with the rope, and they kept going down, sinking with the waterfall, toward the glimmer under them, far below where they were.

Aien saw it now: the cord had been chewed. The responsible snake must have fallen off to oblivion with the stream.

The glow below intensified.

They reached a small balcony of stone, suspended on the cave’s wall, over the void, and all the streams of water around them kept searching their way down, in the deep.

The light they followed came from an adventurer’s sphere, tied here on the wall, with a string. It shines on a piece of writing:

“We went there. Follow us if you dare. To the Braves!”

“... There where?” they thought in unison.

“Actually, there is a crack in the rock,” Nila said.

Yes. Down here, there was an entrance.

“It’s so tiny, I missed it!” Ran said.

There was a hole in the wall at their feet, so small it barely reached their knees.

“You can’t get there unless you crawl!” said Lise.

“Why would they go so far?” said Nila.

“We will know if we go,” said Aien.

“Should we?” said Nila.

“Do you hesitate? I know it’s hard, but what if they need us?” said Ran.

“Fine,” Aien said, “I will go first. If something comes in front, I have my blades on me.”

“What if you get stuck?” Lise said.

“Then pull me!”

“What if there is a snake?” she said.

“Then fight with me!”

“What if you die?” Nila said.

“Then come with me!”

“What about Lycia?”

Touché. Aien was suffering for his wife before all else. But they must keep going and rescue them, or all the sacrifices and pain would be in vain.

“If I flee and let my allies die, she will hate me,” he said.

Fair enough, and he contemplated the doubts vanish.

“We go there and back again, like Kings,” Ran said.

So they left the light source and Aien crawled first inside the pit.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

They remained close to each other. The way was pressing them on all sides as if a house had crumbled on them. They already knew the previous team had gotten through, therefore there was a way. The danger was high, but they didn’t do it for themselves.

Going forward, they kept talking to each other to give themselves courage.

“Hey, what’s your favorite dessert?” said someone.

“Anything with a lot of cream!” said someone else.

It didn’t matter what they talked about. They just tried to forget the rocks, the cold, the snakes, the water, the smell, and the constant noises.

“I enjoy my pastry with many fruits. It’s healthy, so it’s fine if you eat sugar with it.”

“I disagree, bakery is like a break in a tough day, so there should be as much sugar as possible. It’s good for morale.”

“I’m hungry…”

“Me, I’m out of food AND morale.”

“Take a candy in the bag.”

“I can barely move anyway… Aaaaah I dream of sugar… ♪ crystals of joy on my lips ♪.”

“Not sure if it’s the time for poetry.”

“Don’t care, I want food!”

As Aien pushed away the darkness ahead, a red ball appeared right in front of his face: “Snake!”

It came from nowhere, and its curtain of teeth shined on his face from an inch away.

Yet, it, too, was restrained by the narrow pass, and Aien was prepared. A blade in his hand, directly into the thing’s eye, and he pushed it to the side… As if the place wasn’t narrow enough.

They resumed crawling, passing by the red lizard. The scales slid, so somehow moving wasn’t that harsh.

Then, they heard a loud “BANG”, and the Earth shook again. It moved and trembled as if the entire place was moving somewhere else. Aien was crushed as if the ceiling had fallen over him… He couldn’t breathe.

“Lise, it was useless!” Ran shouted.

“It wasn’t me!” she said.

Small snakes rushed past them in panic. They fled from something ahead. They didn’t bite, but slid frantically as fast as they could, like wild animals fleeing from a forest fire in the night. There were screeches all around, from the many ways the group passed by, near or far, in front and behind.

The earthquake ended… Aien was fine. It was just the stress… the air came back into his lungs.

“Keep on going… We are close to something!” Aien heard in his back.

Finally, some answers close by, good or bad… Anyway, they couldn’t go back. This journey might be their last.

Nila was shaking in panic. Aien held her hand. She got calm again. A short moment of warmth in the twilight.

At last, the path widened, and they emerged one by one into a cave room on the other side. They stood up, proud of the work done. They stretched to relax, their bodies had been pressed on all sides for a while. They made sure to mark the path as they went by, so they could find their way back.

“Now, where to go? Several paths look right…” Ran said.

“What do we do? We can’t split up!” Nila said.

“Indeed,” Aien said.

Lise stepped in: “I’ll find the one way,” then she put her two hands against the muddy wall.

“I wish no moves! Not a whisper, or I won’t see what I must in my head.”

They deployed themselves in a defensive circle around her. No harm shall come, as they stood their ground, breathless and immovable, like pillars.

She monitored the energy in the rock, the tremors in the mud, the waves in the walls. The feelings got mixed with the ambient noises of the cave, coming from everywhere, but she was fine.

“Center,” she claimed, and so they slipped into the human-sized corridor in the middle of the three.

They kept going again, observing everywhere. Their lights began to fade. They weren’t supposed to go so far away.

“Just a little further, my friends. We don’t escape!”

Were they mad or brave? Only the outcome will tell. Even at the freezing bottom of the world, the flames within them kept blazing, like beacons for the boats in the tempest.

A wider room showed itself and…

… And what was that?