My brother grabbed my shoulder to make sure I was steady. “You alright?” He asked, looking down at me.
“Do I look alright?” I groaned back. ‘I’m honestly curious, do I look as bad as I feel? I’m so tired I can’t even feel my feet anymore like my heart just stopped putting in the work to circulate my blood all the way.’
On the one hand, I felt fine… Whatever that even meant. On the other hand… Well, the other hand was just missing. I felt like everything that had happened should have shattered my spirit and broken me into pieces, at least mentally, but for one reason or another, my mind was working the same way it always did. I let out a long sigh. “It’s not like we have time for me to not be anyway. Let’s just get going.”
I knew full well how disjointed I sounded, but he didn’t press any further. It was almost like he could read my mind as I secretly prayed that I wouldn’t have to test if I had the energy to say another word.
We continued down the middle path, but I couldn’t help but feel like we missed something. ‘It just doesn’t seem right. I mean, it’s too easy. Anyone that could read Orcish would be able to figure it out, and even if they couldn’t eventually someone would get lucky.’
My body felt like it was ready to fall over. I had used up all my manna to the point I was crying blood, and although that was a while ago, it was still too early for me to be using my magic again, it made my whole body sting with pins and needles. I placed one hand on the wall as I stopped for a moment to catch my breath.
‘Choose carefully… Why was that written in our language If they used Orcish script?’
Airsidh stopped beside me. “I can make Zu carry you if you want.” He said, nudging me gently.
I tried my best to stand up straight, keeping my balance, even if I had to stagger a bit. “How do you say Choos carefully in Orcsih?” I muttered.
Without question or hesitation, he answered, as if he wasn’t even surprised I asked. “It’s Cley dah dun.” Honestly, with how quietly I spoke I was surprised he even heard me.
‘Why does that sound familiar?’
“We were closely related to the orcs, so we still use some of their words. Cley dah dun is an old war saying they used. Unlike its literal translation, they use it to say that there is a second option, or that there is always another way, there is something else we could try, that sort of thing.”
“Another way…” I mumbled, looking down at the ground. ‘The stone that makes up the floor is a different color than the rest of the path.’ I turned back to the wall. “The walls are the same… Why is the floor almost white like marble?” ‘Am I just overthinking this?’
I stopped again. “Maybe I need someone to carry me after all…” I mumbled. ‘I only used one spell, and it shouldn’t have even put a strain on me… No, really it’s a miracle I didn’t collapse sooner. Usually, I black out when stuff like that happens.
I felt the abyss calling out to me like a sweet dream every time I blinked. That was the only reason I forced myself to keep opening my eyes after they closed.
Airsidh suddenly pulled out his sword. “That’s not good…”
‘Can he feel it too?’
Keigan came running back from further down the path “The sun is setting.” He said quickly.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“I thought we had a few hours left?”
“I did too, but the sky is turning black.”
I looked out through a crack in the tunnel wall. “An artificial night…” I muttered. “We have to hurry then, get to the spring.” ‘Even if the problem is bad the solution is simple right?’
“It’s a dead end.”
Suddenly I started to realize why he was in such a hurry. “We don’t have time to make it back to the 34th,” I murmured, my voice cracking as I looked through the crack in the cave toward the artificial sky.
“We try another path!” He growled heading for the entrance.
‘No… This is the right path, it has to be… Right? No… Was I wrong?’
I grabbed his arm as he walked past me, stopping him. “it’s here… There wasn’t a trap, we’re just missing something.”
He paused for a brief moment, but soon pulled his arm away. I was having trouble standing as it was, so his slight movement made me fall to the ground, but I didn’t even feel my knees scrape as they hit the brabbled vines covering the floor. ‘It has to be this one… Second path… Another way… But that’s just how we interpret it isn’t it? That’s how the phrase changed. Originally, the Orcs used it to say hidden path, the hidden way, or unseen way, the way everyone looks for when planning a fight, the path to victory. I’d never forget something so cool.”
I felt like I was starting to mumble but in my mind, it clicked. ‘This is the right tunnel, there is just another path, one that we aren’t seeing. The hidden path to victory that you can only find after you enter the battle!’
I looked around one more time. The floor was a different color, almost pure white, but the reason I didn’t think much of it was because most of the floor was covered in vines, so the discolored stone didn’t stand out much. ‘A stone slab that’s a different color than the rest… Could there be a more obvious secret door? I need to clear the vines.’
“Airsidh, grab her let's go.”
My brother carefully looked between the two of us, and I could tell by the look in his eyes that he had picked his side… And that it wasn’t mine.
‘This is it I just need to clear these vines!’ I focused all my manna into a fire and in a single burst, I surged heat through the cave that covered the floor in ash, revealing the stone underneath. Somehow I didn’t burn anyone though, just reaffirmed how freakish they were…
A wraith-like scream echoed through the wind as the artificial night fully covered the sky. “Airsidh!” My father yelled as if commanding him to hurry up.
I was breathing heavily again, but underneath the ash, I could see, a handle carved into the floor. “I FOUND IT!” I yelled with what little strength I had, brushing the ash off the door with my hand. “It's right here! Airsidh, lift this stone!”
He rolled his eyes. “Took you long enough.” Ash and dust fell past the hatch as he lifted it with one hand. The sound of stone grinding against stone echoed through the chamber, and it revealed a pitch-black tunnel that led straight down.
My father groaned again as the chilling cries of monsters grew louder. “Well hurry up then!” He shouted.
“We can’t even see the bottom,” Airsidh said bluntly, squatting down and tossing a rock. No noise ever came back.
I heard another loud screech. “A broken leg is better than a missing one,” I growled, pulling enough strength together to slide down into the hole. The full way down pressing my palms against the sides of the tunnel to try and slow my fall just in case.
“SIAY!” my brother's voice echoed throughout the chamber, quickly growing distant.
“BLAST IT ALL!” my father yelled, dropping his pack before following the others down with me. As he came down he sealed the hatch and complete darkness followed.
My feet hit the ground so hard my knees buckled as what little manna I had left once again drained from me to catch my weight. Overall the drop wasn’t actually that far, but it was far enough. The reason the stone didn’t make any noise was because of the soft, ground that caught me like a pile of snow.
Just as everything settled, I started to hear footprints claw at the stone above us giving me chills as the noise made me feel like it was my bones they were scratching at instead. It was all pitch black and no one dared to so much as breathe as I finally started to shed tears under the pressure.
I gulped as my mind started connecting the feeling of the mud to the feeling of mushy gore that surrounded me, and suddenly I was too nauseous to move. My whole body relaxed as I lay down, finally starting to breathe easy as every muscle in my body gave out at once.
‘I’ve been getting by off luck, but that only goes so far. The challenges I face are growing faster than I am and I lost… I finally lost… My luck ran out and I had to be saved. I can hardly even remember what happened, or who even saved me. Even this time I barely made it, so what happens next time, or the time after if I’m lucky enough to make it that far…’
I quickly wiped my tears and started feeling around for a way forward to keep my mind off it. ‘It’s always hardest right before you win…’ I sniffled, pulling myself together. ‘Even if this gore, and not mud, it’s not like laying down will get me out of it faster… I’ve been knocked down enough times… Even if I can’t stay on my feet, shouldn’t I at least be good at standing back up by now?’
I almost laughed at the irony. The space was too cramped for me to move much at all, much less get back on my feet. ‘Screw this, I’ll find this stupid spring, sever the connection with the demon, and use Rafi’s power to destroy its heart so it never comes back. I’ll even cut its head off if I have to! And when I’m done…’ I let out a long sigh, finally calming down. ‘One thing at a time…’