The Shadow Wanderers

Chapter 30

Trapped in the dark, Calista made her way forward, her legs trembling with trepidation.

She kept repeating Zayden's words to herself, I promise we'll find you soon. I promise I'll find you.

For now, she was alone, and it was not entirely a bad thing. She had gone out for adventures alone before when she'd broken the quarantine rules to explore Vakenes. And she had been through some bad times alone too; being in the capture of the Shadow Wanderers for two days. Then what was this irrational fear circling in her mind for the Forbidden Cliffs?

Every danger she'd heard about this place had originated from people's speculations. They were the first ones walking over this forbidden land, but Calista doubted they could change people's fearful assumptions. So far, they had seen enough horrors in the Forbidden Cliffs and it was just a confirmation of those horrible speculations.

Calista shook her head. Drowning in the thoughts about all the possible threats this place had to offer was not going to help her at all. Ever since Arik had escaped, her life had become a whirlwind of bad days. Calista thought hopefully, she'll go through this by herself as well. Zayden wasn't always going to be there to rescue her.

Calista kept looking around to see if the halo of light appears again. She blamed it for separating her from the rest of them. But when she really focused on Ransley's words, it made sense to her that the Cliffs tried to separate her from them on purpose by distracting her through the halo of light.

For what, she didn't know and she didn't want to think. She just kept silently praying that whatever test the Cliffs put them to, they would succeed with flying colors.

She had been walking forward by tracing her hands along the cave walls, just hoping and hoping there would be a way on the other side, and all her tiresome walking would not go in vain.

The ground trembled beneath her feet, and Calista would've mistaken it for her the staggering of her legs had it not been for the growls that reached her ears. Her heart dropped and her skin turned to ice. She was not ready to face anything on her own.

She fastened her pace, practically running along the wall despite her tired limbs. The growls reached even closer mixed with the sounds of something tapping recurrently on the ground.

Calista stumbled on a stone she could not see and fell on her knees, her heartbeat pounding furiously. As a terrible shriek reached her ears, something grabbed her ankle and took her by surprise. She could not see anything even if she focused with all her might. In the heat of the moment, Calista did not realize she had taken out a small blade hidden in her skirt and slashed it desperately near her feet.

A satisfied cry of pain came from the attacker and she was free. She helped herself to her feet but winced as she realized she could not put weight on her injured ankle. Terrified out of her mind, she started running despite the pain, having so sense of direction. The growls reached ever so close behind her.

Suddenly, she saw a dim ray of light, and hope bloomed in her heart. She ran with all her might as the light from the other end of the cave poured in. Relieved, she dashed toward the blinding sunlight—

She was forced to stop in her tracks.

She was on top of the hill, standing on the exit of the cave, looking down below at the huge body of water. Her heart dropped as she noticed the river's current flowing atrociously, her ears filling with the sweet melody of the waves crashing into each other. But nothing was sweet about this situation. She was trapped.

If deciding to go to the Forbidden Cliffs felt like a full circle moment to her, it was nothing compared to this very moment. She felt like she was on the edge of the Erinian cliff, looking down at the sea as the Erinians all stood behind her, ridiculing her. In this case, the Erinians were the monsters chasing her, she literally was standing on the edge of a cliff, and below was the raging water ready to swallow her up.