Divinity

Chapter 8

"Hey! You look nice." Liam offered as I carefully walked towards him. The ground here was rather unstable, I could feel the rocks beneath my feet dislodge themselves with every step. I was glad I had worn a pair of hiking boots - though they were a little tight on my feet, the added stability in my movements was appreciated. 

"Thanks." I replied as I came to a stop beside him. The caves he had promised to show me loomed above us, the darkness within them doing nothing to dissuade my plans. The odds of the caves in my strange dream being these ones were small, I had to admit. But there was still a chance - the angels all had special gifts for searching. They could find rare things, things that had been hidden, things that were one of a kind. Was it possible that those gifts had influenced the place they had chosen to hide me? Could the sword be awaiting me, deep within these very caves? "Are you ready to go in?"

"Um... yeah." He seemed hesitant, a guarded expression resting on his face. "We really shouldn't go far though, like I said, people get lost in here all the time."

"What's the furthest you've been?" I asked, climbing over one of the dark rocks that partially concealed the entrance. I heard a click behind me and the area became flooded with light, I turned to see Liam had thought to bring a torch. I was glad, it hadn't even occurred to me that we would be unable to see down here.

Upon entering the cave, instantaneously the air I breathed in seemed different, more moist than I had been expecting. Water trickled down the cave walls, ending up in small puddles that ran along the ground. It was mostly flat here, easy to walk across, though I could see further ahead that the floor seemed more jagged and far less safe. 

"Further than I should have gone, really. I used to bring string so that I could find my way back." He shrugged sheepishly, and fished a roll of tightly wound twine out of his backpack. "Just in case." 

I smiled, surprised. "I thought you didn't want to go in further?" 

"I figured you would do it anyway." He muttered, seemingly embarrassed. Perhaps under normal circumstances I would have been offended that he would think I was so reckless. But then again, he had guessed correctly that I would not be staying at the entrance. 

"Is there any... mirror rooms, in here?" I asked, venturing deeper into the cave. The space around me was completely foreign, I didn't seem to recognise anything. Though in the dream I had only been looking forwards... barely even noticing which way I was turning. 

"Erm... not that I know of. We can go in further though, take a look around." Naturally, Liam seemed baffled by my question. And why wouldn't he be? In all fairness, it was a stupid question. What kind of cave would contain a room full of mirrors? 

We walked in silence for a moment, I was constantly surveying my surroundings, searching for something, anything, that looked familiar. So far I seemed to be hitting a brick wall. Liam didn't seem to have much to say, or at least if he did he kept quiet regardless.

That was, until we reached a fork in the path. I slowed down as we neared it, looking at the three different paths ahead of me. 

"I like the right path, personally." Liam spoke up, gesturing to the third path, which seemed to curve around and upwards. I looked at it for a moment and sighed, I had no idea which way to choose. Which would be the most likely to lead to the sword? I truly had nothing to go on, it wasn't like I'd ever been here before.

Except... I had. In the dream... I had found my own way to the sword.

"Would you think I'm crazy if I said I think I know where I'm going?" I turned to face Liam, who looked bewildered. 

He shrugged, "Maybe a little... but we can go whatever way you want." He ducked down where a stalactite stuck up from the ground and tied the end of his string around it, standing up when he was finished and looking at me expectantly for my decision.