The Deepcombers

Chapter Sixteen

Every step Jarl took made him weaker, but the lionfeigor kept his discomfort to himself. He tirelessly plodded through the passages that wormed away from the slimy cistern. The underground tunnels were made by mountain storms which had flooded the caves in the spring and cut through stone. The rivers had made round channels with smooth bottoms in places where torrents had gouged-out granite.

In the darkness, Tharus took the lead and soon perceived a faint glow. A natural skylight illuminated the cavern ahead but after further inspection they decided the crack was so adversely positioned it was impossible to do anything more than just be thankful for its presence.

This area may have sheltered feigor once or was a stable for animals. There were stalls and the cave smelled like musty linens. Around a middle pillar they found a block wall in which there was an ancient wooden door.  The planks were so dry they saw daylight through the cracks. The decrepit portal had a rusty chain and padlock on the other side.

Tharus gave the center plank a kick and it crumbled at his feet. Warm sunlight shone through the gap. He kicked again and made a bigger hole.  Jarl moaned as he stepped forth and Clyde helped him through the threshold.

Outside they found an open mouth cave that was probably ancient mine head with stone ovens and rusty chain rubble on the ground. One side had been a kitchen. Broken pottery pieces and grimy black walls testified to centuries of cooking fires. At their feet were bits of burnt wood and animal bones, pottery shards and scorched stones. 

Lon looked beyond the opening to discover what lay outside, and his heart sank. The life-sucking bog was all he could see in every direction.

The cave mouth opened directly onto the marsh. The cliffs beside the opening had steep sides with no footpaths. A pool of deep water lurked on the left which made it impossible to hug the shoreline without swimming. It was late afternoon, and instead of being exhilarated by the natural beauty before their eyes, Lon was depressed by the sight of so much wetland. It was no-land; the terrain was drowned in ankle deep water from the edge forward.  An unnatural mist danced in little torrents around the bone white tree stumps. These woods had drowned decades ago and the trunks had lost their bark to become ghostly white spires that cast grotesque shadows in the soupy gauze.

"Out of the sewer and into the swamp," Jarl huffed. The grumpy lion was the first to embrace the leaches, snakes and bugs that waited in the wetland. He was the first to enter the marsh.

Lon shivered as the swamp swirled about his boots. They were not watertight.

"Should we not stay here and rest?" Clyde suggested, but the idea was met with frowns. Jarl couldn't lie down. He'd never rise again. They needed to find help urgently.

"You tried lad." The lion sighed. He was resigned to their wet reality and his miserable death. "It's unavoidable." The cave opening disappeared in the mist behind them.

"I likess swampss," Tharus shrugged. He shouldered the pole with their provisions and high-stepped through the bog in a style befitting a reptilian.

Lon marched ahead and warned the others to be cautious around him. The ground underfoot were slick with algae and the air had a faint sulfur smell. Jarl used his crutch and leaned on Clyde's shoulder and the four feigor trudged through ooze for some time. 

Minutes became hours and the sun crept lower and Lon tried to find a solid shoreline but there was only more stumps and swirling mist. The fog billowed across the marsh and seemed alive with ghostly shapes that played about in macabre performances. He wondered if they were traveling in circles. The view never changed.

Jarl continued to weaken. His whiskers drooped and he took smaller steps and got slower as the afternoon wore on. Then he vomited.

This was it, Lon knew, soon the veteran from lambspetal would bravely tell them all to go on without him. Lon knew they needed to find dry land soon. Time was not on their side. Yet he could do nothing to help. He had nothing to offer except a stupid heavy stone that he carried around his neck for no good reason.