"Mmm..." Zilian groaned sleepily. As he stirred, he felt a tingly feeling running down his pants. He rose with a start fearing he had wet himself in sleep, but found only a stream of water coming from the tunnel next to him. The water trickled on the rock, forming pools in the cavern. He decided to step closer and scoop up water to drink, taking advantage of the newfound refreshment.

"Hah..." He sighed with relief. He couldn't drink anything last night, they ran out of water.

He pulled out his canteen and filled it up with water, now he could go on for several more days in these caves now. He walked up to Sarri and nudged her on the shoulders, she moaned tiredly.

"Sarri, there's water." He nudged her again.

She muttered, "No there isn't kid. Water would likely be in a different section in these caves."

"But there's a stream now."

"What do you mean by a stream now!" She did not wait for a reply, and exclaiming, "On my god. Get your bag, now!"

"What's wrong? It's just water." He asked curiously, what was so harmful of a small stream of water?

Of course, she was not paying him any attention. She wrapped her bag around her shoulder, ran to untie the horse and jumped right on.

"What are you waiting for? Get your pack and hop on, we don't have time!" She continued.

"What do you mean? What's wrong?" Insisting for at least an adequate answer.

Urgency was in her eyes, she pointed at the small stream, "That stream is gonna be a river in minutes, now get on!"

Zilian still was not understanding but the water suddenly widened, raising the pool into covering the whole ground in this cavern now. Now that he saw the danger coming, he snatched his bag and hopped on the horse behind her. Sarri did not wait to make sure he held on tight, jolting the horse forward into the tunnel where the water was coming from.

"This is crazy! We're riding a horse in a pitch black tunnel. What if we fall off a ledge or hit the ceiling?"

"That is a risk we’ll have to take." She said as she kicked the horse to make it run faster.

He considered how crazy this was even for Sarri, riding a horse in a nearly pitch black cave away from some possible danger. Where the horse ran, water was sprayed everywhere. Within moments, the flow widened and deepened even more. From their limited viewpoint, it seemed the water was a foot deep now.

"Why are we running to the water?" He asked.

"We are down stream, we need to get up past the point of the water resting level."

The horse stopped in a cavern with crystals that glowed. "Wish I could have been here before I met you guys." She remarked.

"I wish you would have been here instead too." He agreed with her. Sarri’s reaction however was a rebuking look, but her main focus was on the route ahead.

She steered the horse to the left where the water was coming from, and what came from there scared him to death. A huge torrent was crashing through the tunnel.

"We're too late." He croaked.

"Hah, and this is where a sense of adventure will trump late." A nerve racking grin grew on her face, which provided no ease of mind whatsoever to him.

She kicked the horse into another sprint forward, and it galloped into the tunnel where the wave was coming from. Zilian held on tight to avoid falling, nearly losing his grip from how nervous he was. The horse crashed into the first wave, giving its whole might against fighting the wave. The water was now up to the horses neck. Zilian was amazed of this creatures strength; then again, it could have just been the heat of the moment.

The horse neighed in fear as it began losing its footing, slowing down as the torrential waves crashed harder. Sarri looked around and ahead only to see there was more water up to the ceiling, meaning moving in further was not an option. Through the darkness, she pointed up to the top of a wall on the right.

"There!" She cried out. The water was up their necks, getting into their mouths.

Zilian could not at first see what she was pointing up at, but there was a ledge three feet high and safe out of harms way. Next thing he knew, she kicked the horse to move closer to the wall that was just a meter away. The horse kicked forward, edging closer to the ledge until it was right over them.

"Go!" Sarri ordered.

He did not need a moment to wait, he jumped off the horse and grabbed on the ledge. Almost losing his grip from the torrent being much more intense then anticipated, but he pulled himself up safely. He unstrapped his sheath and pack from him and tossed it safely inside, then turned around to help Sarri up only to find that she was already safe. She was even holding on to the lead tightly, trying to pull up the horse to safety with them.

"What are you staring at kid? Get this thing up here!" She commanded him.

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He helped pull the horse up by its lead, aiding it to get its front hooves over the ledge then use its back hooves to climb up the rest of the way safely up the ledge. Now that they were all on the small platform safely, Zilian noticed there was no exit except from the torrent they had came from.

"Um, Sarri. We're stuck here." Zilian stated.

She explained standing near the ledge staring at the moving water, "No kid, that water gonna drop and we'll be able to go on."

Sure[ly] enough, the water started to slow down and drop slowly. Zilian sat on edge, looking at the flood recede. The horse heaved itself to a corner and laid down. Sarri approached the beast and whispered in its ears.

He barely heard speak, "Good boy. You did great." She purred while patting the horse.

She sat next to him looking at the water drop too. "I bet dad's militia school would never have this kind of training." She commented casually.

Zilian almost could not believe what he heard, her dad is in a militia group. Seems like Sarri quickly realized her mistake too, because she suddenly became quiet again.

"So, your dad is in a militia?" He probed her temptingly.

"Well, not really. He... uh... well, perhaps owns a militia." She stuttered.

"You mean that your dad is a leader of a militia?" Now he could connect some dots, and he was curious to how much more there is to know.

"Maybe, perhaps two?" She scratched her head insecurely.

"Two?" He exclaimed in disbelief.

"See, this why I didn't want to talk about him." Arguing seemed to be her only drawback and steer attention off the topic at hand.

"You are the one who stated it first." Contending on the fact he did not start the conversation, again.

"Yeah, well, I am not saying anything more about him." She declared adamantly.

He paused for while, "Then why did you leave him?"

She remained silent for a moment, thinking about her reply carefully, she sighed in defeat, "Because I didn't like fighting. It was the same thing every day, fight and become stronger. Try to be the best. In the militia, you are not an average soldier, you are a feared seasoned warrior. I didn't want that, I guess I was an annoying stupid kid then. Either way, I didn't want that. I wanted to be on adventures, digging and finding things, getting into trouble. Not in war trouble though."

He thought for a moment, "Well, at least you got what you want. Lots and lots of troubles. Oh, I still think you are annoying and stupid." Teasing her about her self-examination of the past.

She laughed, "Thanks kid, you are almost decent. Maybe one day you’ll be useful."

"What's that supposed to mean? Remember, I had to pull you up from that death pit. If it weren't for me, you would be a carcass by now."

She patted him on the head, "Yeah, and thanks for that."

He was shocked, she said thanks?

She retorted the look of disbelief on his face, "What? Can't a girl be allowed to show their gratitude? I didn't have to say it you know."

He smiled at seeing the Sarri he knew. The water was finally low enough for them to walk on through the cave ahead, she jumped down and he followed after, picking up his stuff. He splashed in the shallow puddle, then whistled for the horse’s attention, the animal momentarily jumping down to them.

He asked, "So, where to now?"

She pointed upstream, "Where the water came from, the source would almost certainly lead us outside."

Zilian said, "Now that we're safe from that current of water. Mind explaining what happened?"

She answered as they walked through the tunnel, "Flash flood, must have been a heavy storm last night. Water would typically settle in area not far from where it first gets in. We are in deep, so that means water broke past its banks. Not to mention that we were on a decline, I knew we need to get up high, such as a platform, ledge or cave where the water wouldn't settle in."

"That means that water behind us shows us how close our we were to dying." He observed.

She mocked, "You catch on pretty quick. Who knows, maybe you might have half a brain."

"As if you can even tell what half is."

"Don't worry, not gonna pick a fight with you. Not while you have a sword at least." She teased slapping him on the back.

He stopped in his tracks.

"You really think I would use this on someone?" He asked.

She stopped too.

"Well yeah. Why else would you have it? You can't say you're pacifist if you're carrying that thing everywhere."

"It's not mine. It's my dad's, or at least it might be his."

"What do you mean?" She stopped to let him explain, evidently she sensed an interesting story where he could not find.

He looked away unable to tell with a straight face, "He gave this to me the day when he..." Trying to find the right word, "When I lost him." He concluded.

"Well, sorry about that. Probably was a great warrior." She commented.

Now he is curious, "How would you know?"

"I have seen many weapons in the militia camp. In a word, your sword is beautiful, distinct down to the hilt of the blade."

He nodded curiously, "The thing is, he wasn't a warrior. He hated fighting and tried to do everything the peaceful way. He was just a dad where I was, then suddenly, he brought this out from a secret compartment, saying I should protect it."

"Strange request, taking that if he hated fighting." She remarked pointedly.

"Sometimes I wonder if I even should bother with this. I read a bit how to handle a sword and practiced, but there is something when I unsheath it. I guess in a word, it scares me when I draw it." He did not want to go into detail of what this sword is capable of.

"Well, that's why I left the militia."

"So you're saying I should throw this away?"

"Look kid, I am not going to tell you anything. Guess it is my turn, my dad told me to uphold and take responsibility of what I say, even if it costs my life."

"What does that have to do with this?" Signaling to his sword as he pointedly lifted it.

"What I am saying is, I will not take responsibility of what I tell you what you should do. Except for this, honor your father's wishes, even if it is weird or not convenient for you. It is the least you could for him, after all in your young age, you haven't done much for him. Yet that is."

He pondered in what she had said, understanding the depth of significance behind it, "I guess you're right. You told me I should keep it, so that will be on you." He grinned.

She smiled, "Isn't it always? Now to adventure!" Tossing her fist in the air, enthusiastic for more.

While she had taken the lead again, Zilian felt a fire coursing in his bones. What she said was right; whatever his father had wanted him to do with this blade in the future, he would have to figure it out or wait till fate deemed him ready to know.