Borne of Fire

Chapter 28

By the time Braxter and L'non had caught up with Ja'aris and Randyl they were indeed reaching the end of the tunnel, identified as such by nothing more grand than some tree roots and dead leaves gathered up against what otherwise looked to be a dead end.

Ja'aris sighed and glanced at L'non with a look of disgust on his face.

"Well it has been a while brother." He said with a smile.

Ja'aris tutted and crouched before the roots, pulling a few of the thinner ones loose and scooping the leaves first to one side and then the other.

Randyl slouched against the wall watching casually with his hands on his hips.

"What's going on?" asked Braxter. "How do we get out? Where do we get out?"

"Through there." L'non pointed at the leaves and roots Ja'aris was struggling with. It looked as if he was trying to empty water from a bath while someone was continually filling it up. "It's grown over from the other side so Ja'aris is clearing us a path. The Rigorass encourages natural camouflage to protect itself. This one hasn't been used for many a year it seems."

"Many, many a year," grunted Ja'aris giving a final pull and throwing handfuls of roots behind him. "There now. That should be enough. Bit of a squeeze, but enough."

Braxter crouched to look but could see only darkness leading on from the remaining few roots. His recent experiences of crawling through darkness into places unknown didn't make him feel any easier about doing it all over again and he looked at Randyl nervously.

His friend gave him a quick smile and crouched next to him. "I'll go first. I'm the largest so I'll see if I can't make it a little larger as I go. Don't worry my friend, I'll be right on the other side waiting for you." He clapped his friend on the shoulder reassuringly and moved as if to crawl through the small space.

"Wait!" L'nons voice halted him. "We don't know what's on the other side, you are correct Randyl. Just take fair warning." He chose his words carefully but Randyl laughed his warning off.

"Whatever lies on the other side of this hole," Randyl almost growled the words, "they should be the ones to take fair warning!" And with that he leapt smoothly, his feet kicking once before he disappeared through the gap in the roots.

"Hells! I'm next" said Ja'aris before doing likewise, a small pile of loose earth falling back into the tunnel to mark his transition.

Braxter and L'non looked at one another before the watcher made the decision for them both. "You go next - I'll be right behind you. It's just the same thing as when we first entered the Rigorass - just a small hole in a tree under a bush somewhere maybe. Hence the leaves.

Braxter clenched and unclenched his fists, biting the inside of his cheek as he tried to steal his nerve. He breathed in slowly. He breathed out slower. He looked at L'non. He looked at the hole. He looked back at L'non.

The watcher raised an eyebrow "Brax-" he started to say.

"Oh, alright!" blurted Braxter and in one movement dropped to his knees and pushed himself head first through the root shrouded hole...

...And fell out under a thorn bush.

"Ouch!" he yelped, clutching at his backside, his heels digging at the ground as he tried to stop his fall down the hillside onto which he'd emerged. Laughter sounded from behind him but was quickly subdued as he turned to look up the hill. Ja'aris and Randyl stood on either side of a bush grinning down at him in the faint light of what looked like an early morning. A thin mist hung in the air and immediately began to make his face and hair feel damp, a surprisingly refreshing change from the dry and dusty surroundings of the Rigorass.

"Did L'non have to actually throw you through then boy?" Ja'aris laughed as Braxter pulled a row of thorns out from under him - the relief was immediate.

"No, I came through myself actually." He said petulantly. "How was I to know we'd come out on the side of a mountain?"

"Hardly a mountain Braxter." L'nons head poked out from under the bush. "But I did try to warn you as you took flight - caution is not something to take in small measure when leaving the Rigorass. You could quite literally be anywhere." He gave a shove and rolled gracefully and smoothly out of the bush and came to rest next to Braxter, managing to avoid each and every thorn as he did so. He gave the younger man a warm smile, gently pulling a couple of slim twigs from his hair.

"Are you injured?" he asked.

Braxter shook his head, a few more rogue leaves landed on his shoulders and fell to the grassy hillside.

"Then let us go." He stood and looked around slowly as if getting his bearings. Braxter did likewise but the poor dawn light coupled with the fine mist meant that he couldn't see very far in any direction.

"Where?" he asked throwing his arms out helplessly. "Which way, I mean?"

"Heldaro lies at the bottom of these hills so we travel downward and then turn North before the land slopes up again." L'non set off walking at a brisk pace.

Braxter hadn't the first clue how L'non could be so sure about this but knew better than to question the watcher. He was getting used to simply following blindly along. "Course it is, should have known." He settled for mumbling sarcastically to himself quietly, but not quietly enough it turned out.

"There's no need for the attitude boy." Ja'aris growled. Randyl walked past him giving him a puzzling wink as he did so, caught up to L'non and carried on walking, leaving Braxter behind.

"But how do we know where we are?" he called after them but L'non and Randyl either didn't hear him or simply ignored him. Either way it was left for Ja'aris to answer him.

"A watcher knows the land better than a man knows his wife's face boy." He grinned as he too walked past him. "Plus he can smell breakfast cooking." He added over his shoulder.