The Fickle Winds of Autumn

49. Into the Darkness

"Well," said Ellis, "there's no point in trying to dig our way back out through the entrance - we could never shift those boulders."

"And in any case," Aldwyn added, "that would just leave us stuck at the top of a huge cliff, behind a waterfall, with no obvious way down to safety."

"We'd better explore and start looking for another way out, then," said Kira. "Harath wouldn't have wanted us to get this far, only to fail now."

"Then we should start moving," Aldwyn suggested. "My old bones will seize up if we stay here much longer. The cave seems to be much darker over in this direction - perhaps there's a way out further back here?"

Kira stared softly at the mound of stones covering her friend; her sorrowful heart knew there was no more to be done here - as cruel as it seemed, it was time to move.

She closed her eyes and lightly rested her hand on the damp rocks. She had not had many friends in her life - and understood their true value.

The loss of Harath was a bitter blow, but she must summon the will to continue living - even without her brave friend alongside her.

"Courage!" she whispered to herself and turned to crawl back over towards Aldwyn.

The roof of the cave was a bit higher near the far wall, and the cramped pain of the stones digging into her vulnerable knees compelled her to risk standing and trusting her weight to her sore ankle.

She levered herself up; the grateful blood rushed down into her numbed legs. Although the shortest of the group, she still had to stoop her head and crane her neck at an uncomfortable angle. She paused to allow her body to recover and adjust.

Her limbs and clothes, like those of the other two, glowed with smeared blotches of the luminescent algae.

The curious mottled stains floated and moved and betrayed her friends' positions.

She cautiously felt her way with uncertain feet towards the darker area near the back of the cave; the loose rocks wobbled and rattled beneath her weight, their echoes rippled sharply around the tight cavern.

"Well, at least there is some cave here to explore," said Aldwyn from just in front of her. "It doesn't just come to an abrupt end."

"Yes, but it's much darker back here," said Ellis.

"Mmm, away from the spray of the waterfall, the rock probably isn't moist enough for the algae to thrive, so we'll have to do without its guiding luminescence from now on," said Aldwyn.

Kira scraped slowly forward into the empty blackness. Her thoughts wrestled and writhed - they did not want to leave the pale comforting glow of the algae - or the final resting place of Harath.

But Aldwyn was right - she couldn't allow Harath's sacrifice to be for nothing - they must press on and hope to find a way out.

A little further into the murky dimness, the cave floor cleared of debris, and became flatter and smoother; she could stand upright and began to trust her feet, but was still cautious not to become over-confident.

She shuffled into the prowling gloom.

The rumble of the waterfall died away; only the anxiety of her own breath, and the blood pumping through her watchful ears, disturbed the cold empty silence which clung tightly to her.

"The rest of the cave just seems to be an endless wall of black," Ellis whispered.

Her tense shoulders were relieved to hear another human sound in the thick depths of the void.