His screams are heard, echoing through the cave. The climbing cams wedged between the rocks came loose, and it fell apart from there. One by one, as he fell, the climbing cams were not appropriately positioned, snapping until there was no more rope left, hope left, and every gear he had used fell apart. 

I don’t hear the breaking of bones. I don’t hear when the screams abruptly end; they just… end. No gargled cry, abrupt cut from the vocal cords. Nothing. It simply fades until we’re standing there, looking down, waiting for him to say he’s okay.

He’s not okay. He is most definitely dead. Flattened. Broken. Fucking no coming back from that one. 

Vidian leans forward from above, a low whistle coming out of his mouth. “He should have listened to my advice and went slow.”

He leans down, lowering his hand to me. I step up and reach out through grit teeth, clasping my hand with his. Vidian’s muscles tighten, and he holsters me until I am in his arms. There is warmth and a little heat from his short, hot breaths.  

I step back, grab my flashlight and move toward the opening. “Where did the others go?”

“Ahead.” Vidian scratches his black hair, and his dark brown eyes narrow. “You and Remus were taking too long.”

My grimace pulls into a frown as I crabwalk through the opening. “Remus was taking too long. I wanted to see the other passage.”

“Found anything, Inari?”

My throat tightens, and my hand clenches tighter on the flashlight, causing it to tremble before I regain my breath. “Waste of time,” I lie. 

“Huh…” Vidian says. “You were in there for a fair while.”

I crouch lower when the tunnel slopes, gradually moving down until I’m flat on my stomach and crawling through the dank space. With every breath, dust picks up, muffling the already claustrophobic, dense cave. 

“Yep,” I grunt, shuffling forward. “And it was all for nothing.”

The gap opens up, expanding into a cavern room. Flashlights ahead shine around the room, and murmured conversations overlap. 

Crawling out of the space, my hands instinctively move to my pack, but when Vidian keeps an eye on me, my hands move forward, and I help him out of the gap. 

“Where are you from?” he asks. 

“Wyl.” I focus away from Vidian, eyeing the group ahead. 

“Where in Wyl? I know you’re from Wyl. Only Wood Elves live there. But which part of Wyl? There are many parts. Good and bad.”

I throw him a dagger of a look. “You don’t trust me.”

Vidian nudges his head in the direction of the group. “I don’t trust anyone here. We’re all here for one reason and one reason alone, but we knew we couldn’t do it by ourselves.”

I purse my lips. “I could, but I chose not to.”

“Why?”

I beam a grin. “It’s more fun this way.”

His dark eyes narrow. 

Vidian towers over me. Doesn’t help that he’s a High Elf, and standing beside a Wood Elf, no taller than five foot two, he can seem intimidating. He is the most intimidating character on this journey, and being a High Elf over six feet doesn’t help. 

“I don’t trust you, Wood Elf.”

I smile cruelly. “You shouldn’t.”

He steps toward me but hesitates to say anymore when the group ahead calls for us and tells us we’re advancing. 

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Having a hold of my pack, keeping my grip tight, we join the group but make no move to talk. They bicker, wondering which tunnel to go down. Some even move their fish oil lantern down a path, wondering if a breeze of wind will waver the flame to know which way is out. 

“We must be cautious now,” the human with a quivering lip says to the group. “If we follow the wrong path, we may land in the cave where Rialdrenth, the Dark, slumbers.”

“The black dragon,” many voices hiss, whispering through frightened, cracked lips. 

“Which way, then?” another human says. “Where is the dwarf? He knows these tunnels, does he not?”

“He died,” Vidian called. “Remus did not fasten his climbing cams well enough.”

I press my lips thinly, biting the skin. 

With his round, flat ears and ageing face, the human turns to me and says, “And you, Wood Elf? Did you see it?”

“Yes.”

“Fuck,” the human with blond hair hisses. “That’s two gone in an hour. First was the collapsed tunnel, and now our Map Maker died. What the fuck should we do now?”

While they bicker again, desperate to flee from the cavern they wanted to expedition in, I examine the two entry points. It’s dark down either one, with no hint of light, air, or scent of moss in the air. We’re still deep down, but I wonder if this is the passageway we need or if I need to go down deeper. 

“Wood elf,” Vidian says, standing beside me. “We will not get anywhere if the humans keep panicking. What do you suggest we do?”

“Are you not the most intelligent species in Ellarian?” I eye Vidian. “What do you think we should do?”

“Ellarian is not what it used to be. The New World changed many, and now they’re filled with greed and hunger for power and money.”

I laugh bitterly. “Yet, you cannot trust me.”

“Yes. You came on this venture last—stumbled upon us in the woods, making the humans swoon over your naive appearance of an innocent mythical creature that would not harm a fly. But I know Wood Elves cannot be trusted, Inari.” 

With a shrug of my shoulder, ignoring his words, I place my hand on the stone between the two passageways and close my eyes. I take a deep breath in, and when I breathe out, the murmured, panicked conversations behind me turn into a mild ringing in my ear. 

Deep within the cavern, the fingertips on my right side vibrate. A drawn breath sucks in, and when it releases, vibrations tingle my fingers again. 

Removing my hand, I turn to Vidian and say, “I know where to go.”

“How?”

I shrug. “A feeling in my bones.” I then point to the right and say, “That way is the way out.” 

He scratches the top of his head. “I do not want to listen to you, but I have an inkling you don’t want to die tonight with dragon’s breath.”

He goes to the group to tell them of the direction we’re moving through. As he does that, I sling my backpack in front of me, unzip it and take out the parchment scribbled with charcoal to show the relic on the walls. There are two passageways; one right tunnel leads to the Black Dragon, and the other leads to the pit. To escape, we must follow the pit. 

I stare into the depths of the tunnel, hearing the faint sound of Rialdrenth, the Dark. 

Stuffing the parchment back in the pack, I take out the waterskin and a swig of lukewarm water. 

“Is the Wood Elf certain?” the blonde-haired human says. 

“Wood Elves are the closest to Ellarian when it comes to nature. We should follow her lead—but ensure she moves last.” My ears twitch when Vidian leans in and whispers, “I do not trust her.”

“Then I will move ahead, and you follow behind her,” the blonde human says. 

How… disappointing.

Holding a flashlight with trembling hands, the blonde human moves ahead while the other two humans follow. I stand there for a moment, a tug of a grimace and the presence of the High Elf behind me, watching my movements. His external pressure of heat bites its way down the nape of my neck, making it known that whatever move I make, he is there to prevent it.  

“I smell something,” the human ahead of us says. The sharp sounds of inhaled breath follow. 

I breathe in, my frown tugging into a smirk at the sharp, dank smell of decay, fresh and festering. Breathing in sharply, I taste the iron and spilled blood on the tip of my tongue. 

“Are you certain this is the way?” the blonde human calls. 

“Most certain,” I respond. 

They keep venturing forward like ants marching to the orders without questioning where the orders are coming from or their intentions. 

“I know you’re lying to them,” Vidian says, his voice soft. 

“And?”

“It makes me question more about you.”

I stop walking, turn to the High Elf, fold my arms across my chest and arch a quizzical brow at him. He stands tall, towering over me, with muscles crunching under the weight of power who wants to use Ellarian words to persuade me to talk. 

I don’t like High Elves. Unlike Wood Elves, who have no power, High Elves can manipulate words, emotions and feelings. It takes time to do and is only used in the proper setting. It is why they are the High Lords and Ladies of Ellarian. They can be very persuasive. 

“You messed with Remus’s equipment, didn’t you?” Vidian narrows his eyes. “He found out something, and you did not want him to tell the rest of the group. So… you loosened his climbing cams.” He arches his chin and looks down at me. “Who are you, Wood Elf?”

The corner of my mouth twitches. Slowly, a cruel grin reaches my face, and I stare at Vidian with utter disgust. “I also collapsed the cave.”

“Why?”

I tilt my head to the side. “I needed bait.”

The ground trembles and dust falls from the ceiling when the dragon growls deep within its belly.