Andras nods and draws his sword but says nothing. He simply turns his horse and disappears into the darkness. Chitai follows closely behind, but when Elianna picks up her reins, Kaelen shakes his head.
“We’ll go next. You follow with Trick, Bern, and Neville.” Then, more quietly, “Ready, Soli?” He reaches out and clasps his hand around mine. “I’ll be right next to you.”
Trying to keep my breathing under control, I urge Cloud forward into the tunnel, fighting the unhinged urge to dub it the Cave Mouth of Despair. I hold Kaelen’s hand so tightly, my fingers ache. We stop just inside the entrance, because we can truly see nothing at all.
A slight noise sounds just before a small flame appears, illuminating Andras holding a makeshift torch—a branch with cloth wrapped around one end, burning steadily. The light from the torch doesn’t reach far, but it’s enough for us to see in the flickering shadows that the cavewe’ve entered has a sharply downward-sloping floor, a high ceiling, and rounded walls.
Elianna, Trick, and Bern stop just behind us. Elianna immediately waves a hand in the air, and a trio of glowing balls of white light appears in the cave over our heads, lighting up the space more fully.
From what we can see, the cave gradually becomes a tunnel. Or at least there’s a darker space, maybe another cave, in the back wall.
“It makes sense it goes down, since we’ve been climbing steadily since we entered the Barrows,” Kaelen says. “It may be a way through. A way out, once we retrieve the key.”
“Or it may be the path to the place where the draugrs eat unwary travelers,” I mutter. “And I don’t see anywhere a key might be hidden.”
“We have to go forward, because the Zhagarn may force the Fell to obey them at any moment,” Kaelen says. “I’ll lead the way. Andras, stay with Soli.”
“I’ll follow with the wagon to protect the sorcerer,” Chitai says.
“Maybe I’ll protect you,” Elianna snaps back, but she looks relieved.
“We’ll stay out here to guard your backs until one of you comes to get us,” Neville says, gesturing at himself and Bern.
“If you don’t see or hear from us in ten minutes, follow. We’ll either be dead or need rescuing,” Kaelen says.
“This gets worse and worse,” Trick mutters, shaking his head.
He’s not wrong.
Kaelen, Andras, Trick, and I all dismount and lead our horses down into the tunnel, with Chitai and Elianna behind us. Elianna’s balls of light dance through the air above us, illuminating the way. We walk along in total silence for what feels like a very long time but is probably only half an hour of steady descent. Then the tunnel widens and opens up into a giant cavern, eerily lit with sparkling luminescence from a profusion of gems studded in the walls, ceiling, and even the floor.
“How will we ever find a single key in all of that?” I can hear the hopelessness in my voice even as I ask the question.
“Oh, dear goddess,” Trick whispers, and I know the Guild thief in him must be overwhelmed.
I’m not even a thief, and I’m overwhelmed. “Is this … are those really precious gems?”
Trick bends down to touch a huge red stone before I can shout at him to stop. He lifts it up and waves it at us. “Do you know how much this must be worth? It’s a nearly flawless ruby, from what I can see in this light! We’re rich, Soli. We’re rich!”
“Quiet,” Kaelen snaps, but in a low voice. “We don’t know who’s listening.”
“You shouldn’t touch that, Trick,” I whisper. “It’s such a basic rule. Don’t touch the gems you find in random caves, especially when dangerous creatures may claim them.”
He laughs. “Never heard that rule. But do you know what these are worth? We can just take a few.”
“I hope they’re worth our lives,” Andras snarls, holding his sword high. “Because you just woke the draugrs.”
Here we go again.
Little one, little one, you must wait for the sun.
Why the crying? Why the sadness?
What has made your peace undone?
Little one, little one, you’re the light of my eye.
May you settle into slumberUntil the sun is in the sky.
