Soren managed to find his way back to the drop off point and from there, now he could see clearly, he was able to make his way back to where he, Alissa and Finn had been stationed all night.

“Where have you been!” Alissa cried, as he approached.

“We thought old Alaric had gotten to you”, said Finn, as they both stopped what they were doing to come over to him as he placed down the empty cart.

“I know I know, i’m sorry. I can explain”

“You better!” said Alissa. ‘We’ve been worried sick”

Soren took a second to catch his breath, “I can see you’ve been busy”, he said, glancing at the pile of wood they had deposited between two fallen trees.

“Yeah, we just kept working as if nothing strange was happening. We only had one guy come by last night to check on us, not someone either of us have seen before, but he seemed satisfied when we explained you were just dropping of the wood. Luckily for you…”, said Finn.

“That is lucky… I was worried walking over here that you’d be in trouble because of me”, replied Soren.

“So come on, where have you been?”, asked Alissa, “clearly Alaric didn’t visit you again or I don’t think you’d be here right now”

“Yeah, so i’ve had… an interesting night”. Soren took a seat and gestured for them both to do the same, and then he explained everything that had happened that night. From making his way to the drop off point, to getting lost on the way back, to falling in the hole, and to discovering the staircase leading downwards.

He chose not to describe the fuzzy feeling he had felt near the staircase, partly because he didn’t know how to describe it, and because he didn’t want to worry his friends.

“That’s quite a tale”, said Finn. “And you said the circle flame symbol thingies were on every step?”

“Yep. each and everyone. Well, for as far as I could see before it got too dark”

“And you didn't recognise them? Can’t say I've heard of them before”, said Alissa.

“Nope, they were new to me”

“Well I know one thing”, said Finn, “I want to know where those stairs lead”

“Probably nowhere, said Alissa. We’re pretty far from any major city, all that’s out here are the small towns, and they’re all pretty new. If there was some secret underground bunker that close, i’m pretty sure someone would know about it”

Frowning, Soren replied “hmm maybe, but it's definitely man made. Those steps weren’t natural and the symbols, what else could do that?”

Conceding, Alissa nodded her head, “yeah, I suppose you're right’, she said.

“So when are we doing this then?”, asked Finn, grinning.

Soren stood and stretched his arms above his head, “I see no reason to wait. You two must be tired though, I had a bit of a… rest. But you two have been hard at it all night. How about tomorrow, at the end of the shift, we each go home and gather some things, We’ll need to bring torches for light, it was really dark down there’,and maybe some food and water just in case, and then meet at my mothers house, say, 2 hours after sun down?”

“Sounds like a plan!” replied Finn, jumping to his feet.

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“I suppose… I can’t say i’m overly keen on walking into a dark abyss, but I will admit those symbols have got me curious”

“It’s settled then. Tomorrow night we go exploring”, said Soren.

Alissa stood, “For now though, we better get back to work. Suns been up for a while now and we haven’t delivered a cart in a while. I’ll take the next one” she said, glancing at Soren, “wouldn’t want you wandering off again”.

“Agreed. Although I wouldn’t worry too much about us falling behind, the lady at the drop off point seemed pretty pleased with our progress yesterday”, replied Soren.

The rest of the day passed without much incident. They chopped some wood and delivered 3 more carts with no one getting lost or falling down any holes.

Alaric did come back about midday, but without his bird this time. He didn't say anything to them, he just stood glaring, a slight smile on his face, as he leaned against a tall tree.

At the end of the, Alissa and Finn were clearly exhausted. Even Soren, having 'slept' for some of last night was spent.

They all made their way slowly back to the village, each of them going their separate ways once they reached Sorens house, whose street was one of the main entry points leading onwards.

Soren's mother greeted him anxiously as soon as he stepped through the door.

"I was worried sick last night", she said. "Then we realised that none of your wing had come home after sundown, so a group of us went out to your muster point to find out what had happened. I can't believe they made you work all day and all night. And your face! What happened, you've blood all over you".

"I was a little late yesterday," replied Soren sheepishly. "it was a bad day to be late, something about us not meeting quota? You know how they can be, they don't see as us people half the time, and I just happened to be the one they decided to make an example of".

"Animals…" she replied. "Well, you must be hungry. I've made a double portion of mutton stew with fresh bread. Give me your clothes, I'll see if I can get that blood out. And go wash up, you look like you haven't washed in a week".

Soren spent the rest of the evening cleaning himself up and then eating himself into a coma. He was more tired than he realised and he woke the next day to his mother's calling. She'd risen early as she didn't want him to be late again, caring as she was.

Soren was on time to work that day, but there was still no sign of Thalor. Alaric greeted them that day and, staying true to their 'friendship', sent Soren and his friends high up the hill again.

They spent the day theorising what lay down the staircase.

"It's probably just a storage room", said Alissa.

"Yeah, to hidden treasure I recon", said Finn.

Soren was quieter, posing few ideas, which was often his manner anyway, as his mind was distracted, unable to stop thinking about the fuzzy feeling. Strangely, he found himself longing for it, found himself looking forward to feeling its strange embrace again.

Before long, the sun had dipped below the horizon and the day's work was over. They laid down their axes and made their way home.

As usual, Soren’s mother greeted him and they chatted briefly about each other's day. Dinner was a standard affair of bread and soup, his mother not having the time to do anything more, having only just finished work in the fields herself.

Soren ate quickly, his thoughts elsewhere. Once he was done, he excused himself and headed to his bedroom. He grabbed one of his sacks and placed in it a torch, a simple wooden stick with oil soaked cloth tied around the end, and a woollen jumper in case it was colder underground.

Soren headed downstairs to gather some food and water to take with him. His mother gave him a curious look as he placed some bread into a cloth and tucked it away, followed by one of their waterskin pouches.

“Heading somewhere?”, she asked.

“Alissa, Finn and I are just going for a night time hike”, he lied. “We heard the moons going to be bigger tonight, so big that it will light up some of the other planets in the sky, so we thought we’d head up to higher ground for a better view”.

His mother looked at him dubiously, “as long as your'e back before I go to bed”, she said. “I don’t want to spend another night worrying that something might have happened to you”.

‘Sure thing mother”, he said, feigning innocence. He hated lying to her, but she wouldn’t let him go out if she knew he was going to explore a mysterious dark cave with a staircase leading into the unknown. “I won’t be long!”

Soren headed outside his house to meet Finn and Alissa. He was early, but he was too jittery to sit around inside. The same was true for Finn and Alissa it turned out as they both showed up not fifteen minutes after he stepped outside his house.

“Shall we?” asked Finn.

“Yep”, replied Soren. “Lets”.