Not having any way to track time, Maela and Darla walked along the road for as long as they could, using two more torches in the process. They made good time, as the road was intact and mostly free of rubble.

"How much longer?" Maela asked.

Darla stopped and looked at her sputtering torch. "Not long, but we should probably rest. We don't want to exit while exhausted."

Maela nodded. "That's a good idea. I'm not sure how much longer I can walk."

The two decided to rest and then finish the trip out of the cave the next day.

Darla sat down and started to remove her boots as Maela looked into the distance. "We only have four torches left." They were in the middle of the road and there was nothing to prop the torch on, so Maela held it. "How long will this take do you think?"

Dale wiggled out of a boot and set it on its side. As she stretched and set her head on the boots, she replied, "Not long. The exit must be a good way south, and we're not sure if this road is absolutely straight. Just keep track of the torches, and if we get down to two, let's continue even if we're still tired." Darla added with her eyes already closed, "The exit cannot be far."

"That will work," Maela replied.

As Darla rested, Maela decided to investigate the cave and the road. They were clearly in a tunnel, but it was difficult to tell if it was natural or carved out of the stone of the mountain. Maela couldn't fathom how a tunnel that large could be carved out of rock, so she assumed it was natural.

The road had a decorative curb that was made out of single laid bricks. The walls of the tunnel rose just beyond each side of the road and varied in distance from a few feet to as many as twenty feet from the curb.

As she examined the wall, something caught her eye. Walking up the road in the direction they were heading she noticed a sconce holding an unlit torch. Removing it from the wall, Maela returned it to the camp. She hoped they wouldn't need it, but it was good to have.

Maela woke Darla as her torch started to die out. Maela showed her the new torch, but they agreed to not change their plan and to move on after Maela got her rest. Maela lowered her head but found it difficult to sleep with the ghostly sounds echoing through the tunnel. The noise had lessened considerably once they left the giant cavern, and the sounds were easy to ignore as they walked and talked, but with eyes closed the ghostly sounds reached deep into Maela's skull. She eventually fell into a fitful sleep.

Maela awoke to Darla shaking her shoulder. "Time to go."

As they walked, Maela kept an eye on the wall, but all of the torches she found were already spent. Darla broke the silence by saying, "I have only been to Harvest House once, but I don't remember much of the visit. Can you tell me about the outside?”

Maela was relieved that Darla had thus far not asked her about her past. They had chatted first about things they had in common—weapons, sparring, and dealing with men who assumed that they were weak. They laughed over stories where they had defeated one arrogant man or another.

Asking about the city was similarly safe to Maela. She could talk for hours about its secrets—both the beautiful and the ugly. The time went by fast as Maela described to Darla a city she had never really seen.

Several hours later they had fallen to silence until Maela finally spoke up. She could not deny the truth any longer. "We chose the wrong direction." Darla continued to walk, not saying anything. "Darla. We need to go in the other direction. We've walked too far. This is leading us into the mountain, not out of it."

Darla stopped and turned to face Maela. "I know, but we have no choice. We don't have enough torches to make it all the way back. We could feel our way along the curb of the road, but what if it splits or it is damaged and a chasm opens across it?"

"Do we have a choice?" Maela wasn't sure how moving deeper into the mountain would solve anything.

"This road has to lead somewhere. The wind that blows through the tunnel is strong and is coming from that direction." Darla pointed down the road. "Also, we know that there may be torches ahead of us on the wall. There are nothing but spent torches behind us."

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

Maela nodded. "What about food?"

"Have you seen the rats?" Maela shook her head. She had been focusing on the walls, looking for torches.

"There are rats. If we need to, I can kill them." Darla patted the knife at her waist. "I'm skilled at knife throwing." Maela was horrified at the idea of eating a raw rat and hoped that they wouldn't have to resort to that.

With no other options, they walked on in silence.

Darla broke the silence. "You aren't a Harvest guild member, are you?" It was the first time Darla asked specifically about Maela. The question came so suddenly that Maela stammered before replying. "Why would you ask that?"

"Your description of the city, and the things you've seen. That isn't something a member of our guild would experience. You would have to travel far and wide to every corner of Ness. Also, you said you were a warrior, and our guards don't wander the city like that." Darla didn't seem mad, more curious. "Are you a Knight Protector?"

Maela could understand Darla's theory—Knight Protectors wandered the streets, upholding the laws and assuring the safety of the citizens. What Darla didn't know was that Knight Protectors were assigned to specific quarters and rarely were moved to others.

"No. I'm not a Knight Protector."

Maela was still trying to come up with an explanation of her guild when Darla said, "But you didn't deny not being a Harvest guild member."

"No," was all Maela could think to say in response.

Again, before Maela could come up with an explanation, Darla spoke, "It's okay. You don't need to tell me your secrets yet. You will when you're ready." She then reached over and put her hand in Maela’s, intertwining their fingers.

Maela squeezed Darla's hand, ostensibly to keep her from asking more questions, but the truth was that in the dark, lonely, and eerie tunnel, holding Darla's hand was a welcome feeling.

They were down to one torch when Maela found three straight unlit torches on the wall. "I think we'll be okay. There aren't a lot of torches, but there are enough that we should be fine as we make progress."

Nodding her head, Darla replied, "All we need to worry about is food." Maela didn't want to think about that. There was no way she was going to eat the raw meat of a rat.

A day later Maela greedily gnawed the meat off the bones of a scrawny animal. Darla had called them rats, but Maela wasn't sure what they were. They seemed bigger than rats, but had rat-like fur and tails. Whatever they were, Darla had missed her first few throws at them and Maela worried that they had waited too long and that Maela was too weak to be able to throw with force and accuracy.

When she finally hit one, the two of the screamed out in happiness and hugged.

There were a lot of the rats, and they seemed not to fear the two of them or their light, so Darla didn't have much trouble gathering food. The real problem was water. They both drank the blood from a few rats, but knew that it wouldn't be enough. They had to find water.

"Are we going to die under this mountain?" Darla asked, as the two of them stopped to rest. They were stopping more often as their bodies became weaker with thirst.

"No!" Maela exclaimed. "Even if this damn road leads all the way through the mountain we've made good enough progress that we have to be near the end."

Darla killed every rat she could see, but they still grew weaker. The only good news was that the supply of torches from the walls was just enough for them to be able to keep their way lit. Maela couldn't tell how many days they had been traveling. Two? Three? Weeks? Months? She couldn't focus from hunger and thirst. Darla hadn't killed a rat in over 24 hours, as her aim was becoming less true due to weakness. They held hands, out of desperation, not so much affection, dragging their bodies forward and supporting each other.

After stumbling to her knees, Maela looked up at Darla. "I'm not sure how much farther I can go."

Darla knelt down beside Maela. "I wanted to see the sun and sky with you." Her voice was a hoarse whisper, and Maela knew that if she had the tears to do it, Darla would have been crying.

"I wanted to show you Ness, from the Thieves Tower to Founder's Park and all of those places I told you about." Maela felt a deep sadness over losing the opportunity to share those things with Darla. But they both had come to an acceptance that they were going to die in a dark tunnel full of ghostly wind.

Then it hit her: Darla had spoken in a whisper, and Maela had heard her. She looked around. The light wasn't flickering off the walls of a tunnel, and the wind was nothing more than a breeze. Something had changed. "Darla, the sound from the wind is gone."

Looking around and then cocking her head, Darla replied, "I hear something, though."

Maela closed her eyes and didn't move a muscle. The wind still blew slightly, but the screeching was gone. Everything was deathly quiet. Then it was there—a murmuring in the distance.

Grabbing Darla's arm with her hand, Maela exclaimed, "Those are voices!" She looked at Darla, and the smile on Darla's face told her that she already knew. Not saying another word, the two scrambled to their feet and hugged each other tight. With the last of their strength, they stumbled down the road.

Soon they saw a dim glow in the distance that illuminated the tunnel, which had at some point grown to almost ten times the size of the road. The light and the voices grew louder, and as they staggered around a bend, a bright, glorious light blinded Maela. Covering her eyes from the glare, Maela could see nothing as the shouts of men and the sound of stomping boots filled her ears.

[https://i.imgur.com/Xqgb2MS.jpeg]