It felt as though the tunnel would wind endlessly into the deepest, darkest parts of the world, until the shadows were so thick that even the sun would not have been able to penetratethem. Only the continued airflow gave him hope that they would eventually find a way out.
When he first saw light ahead, it seemed unreal, impossible after the tunnel had been dark for so long. Perhaps it was reflections on gem deposits upon the walls? He and Callie covered the glowstones they were using to illuminate their path.
The light down the tunnel persisted.
With newfound energy and caution, Urkot and Callie strode onward. The light grew brighter and clearer with their every step. The tunnel sloped gently upward as it neared an opening, through which that bluish glow spilled.
Sounds carried to Urkot. The burbling of running water, the erratic scrapes and clacks of tools, and hints of harsh voices made indistinct by distance and a mild echo.
His fine hairs rose, and something heavy sank in his belly. He stalked forward, keeping low until he reached the crest of the path and peered over it.
The narrow ledge he now found himself upon overlooked a vast cavern. Glowing crystals, luminescent plants, and glowworms bathed the space in blue, leaving deep shadows on the ceiling from which pointed rock formations jutted down like jagged, irregular fangs. A winding stream divided the cavern unevenly; for much of its length, the right bank was only a few segments wide, cluttered with plants, rocks, and boulders.
To the stream’s left was a wide patch of fairly level ground that led to the cavern wall, which had been shaped into tiers connected by sloping paths and worn climbing spots. Many, many openings were carved along those tiers, some with their own dim lights shining within.
Dens. They were dens. Homes to the spiritstriders who, with their glowing hides, stood everywhere around those tiers. A hundred, at least, perhaps twice that.
“Shaper, unmake me,” Urkot rasped. “Fuck.”
The vrix were conversing, working, and eating below, sometimes raising their voices and snapping at each other. Occasional clicking echoed through the chamber when spiritstriders navigated the space.
Callie moved up beside Urkot.
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, covered her mouth, and drew her against his side. She put a hand over his but made no effort to pull it away. Together, they sank lower, nearly flattening themselves atop the ledge.
Urkot surveyed the cavern. The stream continued to the far end, where the walls tapered into a dark crevasse. Several larger openings scattered around had the look of passageways and tunnels. There could’ve been eighty ways in and out of this place for all Urkot knew—and there was no way to be sure where any of them led.
The airflow was diluted due to the cavern’s size, making it difficult to determine its source, but he guessed it was coming from somewhere across the cave. That narrowed the choices down to any of five or six openings.
Rushin roolet.
He really, really disliked this game.
Callie gently drew his hand down from her mouth. Voice so soft that he barely heard it, she whispered, “It’s…a hive.”
Hive. That was an apt word. Yet though he did not doubt the spiritstriders would swarm were they to discover his and Callie’s presence, they were not mindless insects. They were vrix.
And that made them very, very dangerous.
Callie turned her head toward Urkot and met his gaze. The lighting made her eyes appear much darker than usual, enhancing their usual depth. “What do we do?”
He looked around the cavern again, mandibles falling. His friends would’ve come up with some clever plan and carried it out with confidence. Despite all he had in common with them,he sometimes felt as though they perceived the world in ways he would never understand. A life of dirt and stone had taught him rigid rules, had taught him responsibility, but things like this…
He’d always relied upon Ketahn’s judgment, Rekosh’s cunning, and Telok’s experience in such matters.
What do we do?
The only answer that came to mind waspush forward. Turning around again would do no good. The other path likely led past the long abandoned shadowstalker dens and right to this place, and he and Callie would have to backtrack a long, long way to find an alternate passage that had any reasonable chance of bringing them to the surface. And though they could forage more food, it would not long sustain them, especially Callie. According to Diego, humans required varied foods to remain healthy.
That was not an option down here, not without Callie taking risks on potentially harmful foods.
Yet continuing through this cavern would be more dangerous than anything they’d done so far. He had no idea if he could outrun all these spiritstriders, but he knew he could not fight them all off.
What would his friends have done?
That does not matter. They are not here.
All that mattered was what he would do. He and Callie needed to keep moving, and for a delver, the path forward was often through.
