The old, dry stone left resonating sounds as we walked hastily through the winding, seemingly endless maze of a cave. I wondered how long we’d been down here, or how the others felt of this situation. Just trying to exit the cave. My wonders were soon told to me, as Roirk called for a break.
We sat down on the cold, nearly damp stone. The torchlight illuminated everyone’s face, giving a sense of seriousness that was called for, but not there. Roirk gave a hard, cold look at the wall, deep in thought. I soon turned my gaze to Ad’Zul, who was sitting there, waiting for a sound. For someone to break the silence. Without any end to it in sight, he asked, in an odd, timid voice which did not seem to be able to come from him.
“Where are we?” Were the words spoken. The words in everyone’s mind right now. The truth being, nobody knew where we were. It began near the surface of the cave, but that place felt so far away from this vast darkness. This cave… seemed nothing like the entrance fortold. We expected easy ore, in a shallow, yet resource-given cave. But, we have traveled far underground, with little mining done. Down to a few torches, the darkness encroaches on this one, posing a threat to it, as inanimate as it is.
Roirk turned around, “Nobody knows where we are, Ad’Zul. We are going to leave when we find an exit.” He looked amazingly serious as he said it, while the torch flickered light across his face like paint onto a canvas. Roirk, always the leader, always the one that knew best, what to do, where to go.
“Let us be going, we cannot let a torch be burned out on idle conversation.” That was all I had to say, before we each slowly stood. Ad’Zul stayed in the back of the party, following me, while I followed Roirk. The torch began lighting things within range of my sight, each step a mystery as to what twists, turns, and bends would come up next.
I watched the sword adorning Roirk’s back as it glistened in the torches range. Forged of hatred, as he told us. Given to him for the pure reason of eradicating the minions of An’Thar himself, it truly was forged in such a way. The sword glistened, a polished black meteorite chunk. The sword had a shine to it, even if it came from a flaming space rock. As you moved up the blade, you saw the runes intricately carved into it, these were for show. Roirk knew not how to work the runes. As I moved past the runes, I moved towards the polished bronze handle that finished the piece, the sword, a meteorite, a metal, and a piece of magic all combined.
I watched this creation swing out of his hand at a seconds notice many times, to watch it hit it’s very mark, and to see it slay many a foe. I suppose just the same, he has seen many of my arrows pierce the skull of many a foe. And just the same have I watched some of Ad’Zul’s magic slay such a fiend.
As we walked through the cave, in the distance, was a small light. The light barely visible, yet within our grasp. However, small distractions distract petty people I suppose, and we are petty people. Before we moved any further, we rustled through Roirk’s bag for our iron pick, as we just found a small deposit of a rare gem used in rune-making. An’Thar’s Tear, I believe it was called, as it was once used against the evil man, to take away his power… momentarily.
We found the pick without problem, dull, and well-worn as it was, we could not get a new one on any of the stops through our journey so far. I took the worn, wrapped up wooden handle in both hands. We took turns striking at the deposit of ore, each time nudging it closer to coming out. Every swing left shards of it flying, but we needed the piece intact, with enough of it for a good amount of coins after we sell it.
Finally, as Ad’Zul took a final swing to it, it nudged from the surrounding rock. A somewhat large, yet not too large chunk fell from the side of the cavern, leaving a rather large hole in the wall. We all let out a silent, relieved sigh that we could move on towards the light nearing us. Ad’Zul laid the pick down, and wiped his face. His hair seemed longer than it normally was, and it was long already, falling into miscellaneous spikes without a natural curve. He had pale skin, as we moved further through the cave. Roirks skin also turned an odd shade of whitish pale in the midst of this odd light. As we neared, it was obvious that it was no exit, and I suppose we all had the silent wonder of what it was.
We came to the light, nearing it with every step. We arrived later, wondering why this was here. A lantern. And, since lanterns do not last more than a few hours, it was new. We soon looked up, to find that the assumption that it was new was correct, there was a trail of them, leading either deeper in, or closer to the outside of the cave. Nobody was sure at this point. We all agreed without hesitation to follow the lantern trail. As we walked, shadows flew around the cave, and our torch began it’s last smolder, as it slowly went out in the lantern path.
We threw the smoldering piece of charred stick to the side of the cavern as we walked along aimlessly. We neared another lantern, and another, and another. A seemingly endless path of twists and turns, ups and downs, and lit up chunks of metal. However, they were more than a chunk of metal I suppose. They were a possible way out, a path, and more likely, our source of hope for now.
We had been here awhile now. Hadn’t we? Was the time getting to us? Nobody was sure… That’s all I say, ‘Nobody’s sure’. As we made a final turn, we saw something that we longed for, a glint of sun coming through a crack in the roof of the cave. We could exit the civilized way, through the caves exit. But we had been here days too long, and swung the pick maniacally at the ceiling, breaking chunks of rock as we attacked it.
Then, something wonderful happened. The ceiling opened up for us. We each struggled out of the ceiling, arriving near the exit where we entered. We knew this because of the landmark we left, a post of wood with two unlit torches on the sides.
“Now that were out, let’s go to our next stop,” Roirk said, breaking the journeys silence.
“It’s not another cave, at least,” I replied. A cave was the last place we needed to be right now. The next stop… I looked at the beaten up map to see what it was exactly. It was a Rus’gen village, a while to the north. We would need to take an airship there, or near there. The journey was too long by horse, and an airship tower was within ten miles of here.
“Let us move on.” Ad’Zul said, speaking for once. Which was a bit odd, he was so quiet lately, and spoke without his usual voice for the last few days. I forgot the deepness, as well as seriousness in it. It nearly scared me, as he spoke with such a submissive voice the last few days… Now assuming a leaders voice, even though he did not normally lead, and rather followed us.
The grass, air, and wind hit us all, as we openly welcome it’s accompaniment in our journey. We began walking once more, as the sun was just rising, the moon leaving remains of mist until it’s next unveiling on our world.
