Souls of Aredyrah 1 - The Fire and the Light (16 page)

Dayn stared into the cave’s mouth, the musty
stench of it assailing his nostrils. He shivered; even his coat
could not protect him from its chill. It was hard to believe he had
come from such a place, but he would never know for sure if he
didn’t venture in. He took a bold step toward it.

“Dayn, wait. It’s too dark to go in there
without some kind of light,” Alicine said.

“Oh, I didn’t think—”

“Think what? That we would need some light?
What do you think demons do, glow in the dark? I don’t recall you
ever keeping me up at night with your radiance.”

Dayn’s face went hot. “Well, I don’t know
exactly what demons do, now do I!” he said. “It’s not as if I was
raised by them.” But then he wondered if a demon would steal a baby
from its mother and not tell it the truth its whole life.

Alicine stood quietly for a moment, then her
face lit with a flash of inspiration. “I think there’s something in
the bag with the food.” She grabbed the bag, then set it on the
ground and rummaged through it. Pulling out an amber bottle, she
stretched her mouth into a victorious grin.

“Look. Herbal oil. For the bread,” she
said.

At first Dayn thought his sister had lost her
good sense, but then he realized the oil could be used for fuel. He
scrambled about, looking for some firestone, bits of kindling, and
a branch sturdy enough to fashion a torch. He eyed Alicine’s skirt
regretfully.

“We’ll need some cloth,” he said.

Alicine nodded and lifted the hem of her
skirt, then ripped strips from her petticoat. “Fine,” she said,
“but not the dress.” She handed him the cloth.

Dayn wound the ruffle around the stick,
tucked bits of grass and twig between it, and poured on some of the
oil. Then he set about starting a fire.

“What about your feet?” Alicine asked.

“What about them? Drat!” He scowled, both at
the reminder of his feet and the stones he was striking together
with little success.

Alicine glanced toward the path that led down
into the cavern. “It looks rocky in there and—”

“Ah-hah!” Dayn exclaimed as a tiny flame
leaped from the kindling. He lit the petticoat wick and held the
torch up, grinning.

“You’re going to have to put your boots back
on, you know. Where are your socks?” Alicine asked.

“Soaked, and tucked in my equally soaked
boots.”

“Here.” Alicine reached down and pulled more
strips from her petticoat. “Sit. Let’s see what we can do about
wrapping your feet.”

Dayn sat down on a boulder, wriggling to get
comfortable, and stretched his long legs in front of him. Alicine
frowned at his feet and wiped them with a strip of the material,
then went about wrapping them with the remainder.

“Well, it’s not as good as warm, dry socks,
but at least you should be able to put your boots back on,” she
said.

“Let’s not use up that petticoat too soon.
We’ll need to save it for the torch later. I’d sure hate to have to
start using that dress of yours.”

“Oh, no, the dress is off limits. Maybe we’ll
just have to start using some of that coat of yours instead.”

Dayn clutched the coat with his free hand and
shook his head. “I’m never taking this coat off again.” He laughed
and pulled the boots from around his neck.

The area that led into the cavern was rocky
and slick with the excrement of birds or some such creature, but
improved the further in they went. They picked their way down a
spiraling path until they stopped before a bend that would take
them from the light altogether.

Dayn held the torch out in front of him with
a shaky hand and looked longingly at the sunlight that was
disappearing at their backs. He hesitated for a moment, then took a
deep breath. Grabbing Alicine’s hand, he squeezed it tight and
pulled her into the darkness.

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Chapter 10: Faces in the Dark

D
ayn and Alicine
approached yet another bend and cautiously slowed their pace. The
path descending into the cavern had thus far led them to many sharp
turns, and with each one it had been difficult to tell what lay
beyond. Dayn held out the torch and peered around the next corner.
Other than that which was illuminated by torchlight, he could make
out little else in the darkness. He held his breath and listened
for any sign of movement, but all he could hear was the melancholy
drip of water nearby and a strange droning noise somewhere in the
distance. He took a hesitant step, motioning for Alicine to
follow.

They continued on, startled by the occasional
sound of a wayward pebble, jumping at shadows that seemed to lung
out of nowhere. The droning grew louder and louder, until at last
the sound of it became almost deafening. Dayn kept the torch
extended, his eyes trained on the farthest reaches of the light.
The pathway before them was narrow and slick with moisture, but
appeared to widen further up.

They stepped gingerly along until at last
they found themselves standing before a large chamber. They had
come across many prior to this one, but the sameness of the rooms
had become almost predictable. This space, however, held more than
the usual milky pools and spiraling rocks; a rush of gray-green
water could be seen plunging down an embankment on the far side of
it. As they walked toward the falls, a gentle mist settled on their
faces, but the power of the water itself seemed to vibrate through
their bones.

“Why, it’s an underground river,” Dayn said
loud enough to be heard over the roar. He reached a hand into the
water, then snatched it back. “It’s freezing; probably melted snow
from the mountaintop.” He smiled and turned his gaze to Alicine,
but she didn’t look particularly impressed.

“It probably connects with the river back
home,” Dayn said. “You know, like a lifeline.”

Alicine’s expression brightened. “So if we
follow it, it will take us back to Kirador?”

“Yes. Well, maybe.” Dayn ran his eyes along
the shoreline in both directions. If they followed the river to the
left, it would lead them upward, but if they followed it to the
right, the direction the water was flowing, they would end up
facing a wall of rock where it plunged into an opening beneath.

“We’ll have to go this way,” Dayn said,
nodding to the left.

Alicine sighed, clearly disappointed that
they would not be following the river out.

They trudged up the shoreline, occasionally
slipping on the steep wet trail. After some time, the ground became
more level and the path easier to traverse. The river skipped in
and out of the rocks, then eventually disappeared altogether. They
continued in the same direction, but the course of the trek seemed
monotonous without the river to guide them. Their surroundings were
brown and dull, and there were few landmarks to mark the way
back.

“How do we know we’re going in the right
direction?” Alicine asked. “And what is it we’re looking for
exactly?”

Dayn glanced at her and felt his insides
squirm. Alicine had always been afraid of the dark, even to the
point of climbing into bed with him when she was little and bad
dreams invaded her sleep. Now here she was stumbling around with
him in the bowels of a cave.

“I don’t think it will be much further,” he
said, trying to sound optimistic. But in reality he was worried
they might never find their way out.

“Let’s go back,” Alicine said. “What if we
keep going and don’t find anything? What if we get lost and never
find our way home? What if we end up in here forever?” She grabbed
his sleeve and attempted to tug him in the other direction. “What
about food and light? Dayn, please. This torch won’t last.”

“It can’t be much further. It can’t. Listen,
if we don’t come across something soon, we’ll go back. I promise.”
But he hated making her that promise. To go back would mean
returning to a life of lies and loneliness. He felt a renewed
determination to press forward. What he saw next validated it.

He rushed to a nearby wall and ran his
fingers along it. “Look,” he cried. “Runes!”

Alicine stared at the spot where Dayn had
moved the torch. They glanced at each other in surprise. The runes
were clearly Kiradyn.

“What does it say? Can you read it?” Alicine
asked. She raised up on tiptoes and craned her neck for a better
look.

“Rejoice,” Dayn said. “It says
‘rejoice’.”

“What is there to rejoice about in this
place?”

Dayn frowned. Surely if he were from this
place there was something to rejoice about.

As they continued on, Dayn was pleased to
find more runes, no doubt written to mark the way. But the path
didn’t need marking as there wasn’t much choice in the matter. The
few times there appeared to be an alternate path, they quickly
found themselves blocked. More runes appeared, and Dayn felt
certain they were headed in the right direction. The messages
always put them back on course. So far the runes had said
“rejoice”, “heart”, and “spirit.” Dayn continued his search. He was
anxious to complete the message that would surely lead them to
their destination. But he soon found himself disappointed.

A wall of jumbled rocks towered before them.
Dayn pushed a hand against it, but it did not budge. “Now what are
we going to do?” he grumbled. He handed Alicine the torch and
pushed again, both hands this time, desperately and with great
effort. Hope of finding any evidence of demons or of his real
mother became fleeting. He pushed again and again, grunting and
kicking, but it was no use.

Alicine watched mutely, then spoke in a
hesitant voice. “Maybe we should go back.”

“There has to be another way,” Dayn said,
inspecting the wall again. “Maybe we just missed it.”

“Maybe,” Alicine said, “but—”

Dayn didn’t wait for any more opinions from
his sister. He turned and brushed past her, taking the torch from
her as he passed. Making his way back toward the last rune they had
seen, he muttered to himself. Perhaps there had been a turn in the
path somewhere, he reasoned. It had been a while since they had
located the last message, and the two before that had been spaced
fairly close together. That was it. They’d missed the turn. They
had gone too far.

Dayn retraced the corridor carefully,
searching for a missed rune or even the tiniest crack in the rocks
which could lead them down another path. Then he sprinted forward.
“Look, Alicine! Another message—here! We must’ve missed it!” He
raised the torch closer to the spot on the wall where another rune
could be seen etched into the rock. “Dag—Dag—Daghadar?”

“Rejoice, heart, spirit, Daghadar?” Alicine
said. “What does it mean?”

“I don’t know, but look—a passage! We missed
it. I knew it. We missed it.”

Dayn wormed into the narrow space between the
rocks. Alicine followed. Once through, the path widened and the
grade began to descend more steeply. Before long their feet were
moving one in front of the other without any effort at all.

The foul stench of sulfur hit their nostrils.
They each raised a hand to cover their noses. The air, noticeably
warmer, wrapped them in a sticky mist that beaded against their
skin. Everything was wet and slick; even the path oozed with slime.
Dayn stopped, throwing out an arm to block Alicine’s advance, and
swept his eyes over the room. The chamber where they stood was
large and dank. Hissing coils of putrid steam rose from gaping pits
in the ground.

Dayn lowered the torch and waved it back and
forth at his feet.

“What are those?” Alicine asked, pointing at
the pools that bubbled around them like cauldrons.

Dayn did not respond, horrified by the
realization that they must be near the place where the demons
lived. He shivered, what little nerve he had dissolving. Taking
Alicine by the shoulders, he spun her to face the corridor from
which they had come.

“We’re going back,” he said.

They took a step toward the exit, but a
sudden rumble brought Alicine to her knees. She screamed and
grabbed Dayn’s coat. He reached for her, but a strange noise
diverted his attention to the ceiling. A dark shape could be seen
rippling along it, rising and falling like a great black canopy
blowing in an underground wind. Dayn blinked and wondered whether
his eyes were deceiving him. But before he could ponder it further,
or deny its existence altogether, the canopy took sudden flight and
descended upon them in a screeching, swirling vortex of wings and
claws.

Alicine screamed and covered her head with
her arms. Dayn yanked her up and waved the torch over his head. He
half-pushed, half-threw her forward, but the creatures that whirled
and shrieked around them had blocked the way. Spinning his sister
in the other direction, Dayn pushed her again. He knew it would be
a further retreat this way, but there was a dark crevice up ahead;
maybe it could offer a hiding place until the fury subsided. He
risked a glance behind them, then took a misstep and slipped. The
torch dropped into the wetness. Its flame hissed and sputtered, but
managed to stay lit. Dayn retrieved it and pushed himself up, then
grabbed hold of Alicine, who was twirling, waving, and screaming.
They fled past the belching fumes and headed for the space between
the rocks. It was barely visible in the distance, but it at least
held the hope of sanctuary, if they could just get past the living
nightmare that filled the room.

The corridor beyond the crack was narrow, and
at first Dayn feared he might not fit into it. He pushed Alicine in
and twisted his body behind her, sucking in his stomach and lifting
his arms. The flames of the torch crackled and cast distorted
shadows in the passageway. Dayn and Alicine made their way through
as quickly as they were able, stopping only when they were
confident the creatures had abandoned their pursuit.