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In the Five Kingdoms of Saol Eile, magic is the only currency and those who have the most cast long shadows across the land. Amidst lavish parties, sumptuous banquets, and sprawling castles, despicable tyrant...
A powerful rumbling interrupted their battle, intensifying, booming deeper and louder. Cecily barely had time to access the situation when rocks began tumbling around her. She give a long, piercing cry as Hael grabbed her wrist and moved her backwards.
"Aedan!" Cecily screamed, stumbling backwards, slamming into Hael when she saw the image of the hooded figure fleeing from the cavern. With thunderous clinks, stalactites began snapping and plunging into the cavern's floor. When she looked again, he was gone, nothing but falling rock and echoing rumbles within the stone enclosure.
"Leave me here," Cecily pleaded. "I won't let him die alone."
"He's already dead," Hael replied firmly.
"No, he isn't. I know he isn't!" she cried. "We can't leave him."
Hael turned to retreat, shouting, "Raven!" as rocks began falling around them. "He is dead. There is nothing more we can do."
The other side of the chamber where Aedan had fallen was already caving in on itself. Cecily shut her eyes tightly. This is not real. This is not real.
Then her eyes shot open when Hael's hand clamped around her arm. "We must go or we too shall be taken by this wretched mountain!" he screamed as he pulled her forcefully.
Amidst the chaos, a glowing light across the chasm caught Cecily's attention. There, resting on a jutting ledge, as the walls were crumbling around them, was a familiar piece of parchment - another piece of the Cursed Map.
Stunned, Cecily froze, as Hael's voice abated, sounding distant as her heart began to race. The map was calling to her.
She resisted the dwarf's strength, straining to focus on the ledge across the chasm. Hael followed her gaze and pulled again, screaming louder as the ground began to shake violently and crumbled in on itself. Hael dragged a stumbling Cecily away, pushing her to the front just as a massive falling rock crashed at their feet, snapping her back to reality.
Adrenaline pumping, Cecily freed herself from Hael's grasp and ran as fast as her legs could carry her. When she arrived at the ledge, she reached for the map, grasping it in her palm as she tripped, falling to her side.
She looked back, realizing Hael was right behind her, his wing-like arms shielding his head from the falling debris. "Raven!" he shouted and he leaned over to help her up. Cecily stumbled again before regaining her footing and held on tightly to Hael's hand as they took off running; a shower of rock debris hitting their bodies.
The intensity of the rumbling increased, and a total collapse seemed inevitable. With terror mounting, the pair quickly maneuvered through the small tunnel on their hands and knees, staying on course, keeping to the left of the cavern where they encountered the spiders and their enormous web.
As they approached the fork up ahead, a soft glow emanated from Cecily's palm, distracting her as they neared the split. In her fear and panic, she thought to summon the dark magic to stop the crumbling and save Aedan. She stopped, her mind racing anxiously. Why shouldn't she use the darkness for good? She knew it could be done. Something inside nudged at her.
Hael kept running toward the opposite tunnel. "Do not stop now!" He turned back to Cecily.
Cecily shook her head and looked down at her palm. The nudge was gone and, imagined or not, something stirred inside her. She turned back to Hael as the cave walls shuddered.
"Fire-Child!" Hael shouted urgently, beckoning her forward. "This way - together."
"Together!" Cecily cried out suddenly and headed toward the tunnel.
The pair picked up their pace and broke into a run again, steadier now on more solid ground, oblivious to whatever might be following behind them.
Hael bellowed as a large rock landed in front of him. He jumped back, dropping his axe. Before he could pick it up, a large slab fell behind him. Up front, Cecily faltered, hit by falling debris. Hael rushed to her and grabbed her arm.
"I'm okay, I'm okay. Go!" Cecily said anxiously.
"By the Five!" Hael picked up Cecily and threw her over his shoulder, continuing in what was now a race for their lives as they rushed toward the faint glow at the end of the passageway.
Behind them the cave folded in on itself, with deafening crashing sounds that sent shivers through Cecily, now too terrified to look back. The faint light ahead loomed larger as Hael sprinted in its direction, running solely on adrenaline and instinct. As the cave came down, Hael dove forcefully into the light, screaming as a thick dust cloud engulfed them.
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