Young Writers Society

     Racen watched as the dwarf with his pickaxe and Wold, with her paws and claws dug down deep through the floor and down into the ground during the morning into the afternoon and all through the evening without stopping, save to get a bite to eat once or twice. She gathered a supply of food that she found lying around in the dark corners of the closet and made sure that they had everything they would need underground. There wasn't much that she could do aside from taking over for RP, while he was taking a short break, and encouraging the two as they worked. However as the dark of night closed in she curled up on the blue carpeted floor and fell asleep. I wonder when those two will be done. It is time for bed. Sleep. Sleep! Those were her last thoughts before she drifted off to sleep.

"Wake up! Wake up!" Racen opened her eyes to see the same silvery light shining from the glass ceiling above her and the form of the grey wolf standing above her. She let out a squeak of terror, forgetting where she was and who the wolf was. At that noise the wolf yelped backing up away from her. The high pitched noise startled him. Wolves have very sensitive ears.

"Good grief. That high pitched noise almost made me jump out of my fur! You startled me.

Racen realized with relief that the wolf in front of her was Wold, not a predator.

"Whew! You startled me, not the other way around. I thought that you were trying to kill me."

"That's alright." Wold said with a chuckle, licking her sleek grey fur. I can imagine how you might have thought so. Just try not to yell so loud next time." Racen smiled and sighed in relief.

"Well, what was the reason you woke up for? Did you get anywhere yet?" Wold nodded.

"We made it down several hundred feet. But you will never believe what we found!"

"What? What did you find?" she asked furrowing her brow. "Is it a monster of some sort?"

"No!" Wold exclaimed. "I can't exactly describe it to you. You will just have to see it yourself."

Racen stretched and yawned. She looked up at a large clock on the northern wall of Typo Alley and read the time. It was barely five in the morning. Why in the world would Wold wake me up no matter what he found at this unearthly hour? I must really be something really important.

She walked over to the box and pick up her bow and knapsack. It never hurts to be prepared in life! When she was ready to she walked over to the tunnel and followed Wold. All was silent.

The tunnel was barely four feet high. Racen, being an elf, had to bend herself over double. The going was slow and there wasn't very much air to breathe. As the two continued on Racen became more and more apprehensive. Good grief! How far did RP and Wold dig?

After almost five minutes Racen was about to stop and turn around; but then she saw a light of some sort shining ahead of them. That's strange. There should be any light down here. The one and only light source underground is...fire! Peals of alarm bells began to sound throughout Racen's brain. Is this really the safest thing to do? Come on Racen! Think strait.

"Where in the world is that light coming from?" she asked. She was quite perturbed by it.

"Don't worry. You will find out what is soon enough," Wold said calmly. "It's a secret for now."

Racen continued forward with apprehension welling up in her stomach. The knot of worry seeped up into her throat as they came nearer and nearer. But then she began to see that the light wasn't reddish like the light of a fire. It was golden like the light of the sun. That's so strange isn't it? I the light of the sun should be far above us, not down below in the earth.

After another minute they came to the light. Racen clambered through the opening. She was flooded by light. She closed her eyes and covered her face until her eyes grew accustomed to the light. She looked around her and found that she was in a cave. The mouth wasn't more than a few yards away.

"Where are we?" She asked, stupefied. She could see stalactites and stalagmites back in the recesses of the cave along with a few bats that were hanging fro the ceiling.

"We have no idea," RP said stroking his beard. "We think this may be the Story World!"

"Oh my!" Racen exclaimed. "That would be something! The question is what do we do now? These provisions won't last us long. They might last the three of us four or five days, if that. We'll need to get out of this cave and have a look around. Perhaps I could try to climb a tree. There are hundreds of pines here in this forest!"

"Yes," Wold said. "That pine with all those low hanging branches would suit our purpose."

RP agreed and Racen walked over to the base of the large tree. It's branches spread in a large labyrinth encompassing a good portion of that corner of the forest. With a little boost from RP she was able to reach the first branch of the tree and put herself in a good position.

"Make sure my bow is safe," Racen called down when she was several yards above ground.

"It's not as if there is anything that could harm it," RP replied grumpily. He was rather tired as a result of staying up nearly all night. This made him unusually cranky.

"Well just make sure!" She said. Even though she had only just received it, she had grown quite fond of it in the short time she owned it. That reminds me, I shall have to practice with it for a long time. It is a good thing that elves have an uncanny ability to use bows!

"Are you almost above the cover of the trees yet?" RP called up after five minutes. Why does he have to be so impatient! I bet he would take five minutes just figuring out how to get to the very first branch after all! However Racen merely replied that she had a ways to go yet.

As she reached the uppermost section of the tree Racen pause to take a breath. She had just emerged from the cover of the trees. The sight that met her took her breath away. To the west the forest stretched for miles and miles running up against the horizon likewise it ran for miles to the north. But to the east she could see the peaks of mountains jutting up like bubble from a pan of boiling water, though they were perhaps a little bit sharper. Yet the view of the south was what struck her. The sea glistened like a sheet of diamonds.

For a moment Racen sat atop the tree taking in several deep breaths. Climbing is hard work. I don't think very many people take that into account. Then again most people don't decide to go up and climb to the top of a sixty foot pine every day either! Racen looked up at the mountains to see a black cloud coming over the mountains. That's strange. It seems to be moving awful quickly! Wait! It might be a large flock of birds migrating over the mountains. No they would be flying south. And it appears to be summer now based on the warm temperature. After watching the birds for a while she remembered her friends below as their cries began reaching her ears.

"Just hold on a second guys! I will be down there as soon as I can. I was just getting all my breath back and enjoying this wonderful view climbing trees is awful hard work!"

"Well then you'd hurry up about it!" Wold howled up to her.

Racen took one more look at the flock of birds and then began the long descent to the forest floor below her. It was several minutes before she reached the thin layer of needles below.

"Well tell us what you saw when you were sitting at the top of the tree for an hour," RP said.

"I was not up there for an hour!" Racen said. "You don't have to be soooo demanding either!"

"Well that's easy for you to say. You haven't been stuck down here on the forest floor waiting and waiting for you get back down from the the top of a tree and tell us how in the world we're supposed to get out of this blasted pine forest!" Racen cringed. Maybe I have been up there a little bit long. But if I was I really didn't mean to. I'm sorry if I did but RP could be a little nicer.

"Sorry," Racen said meekly. "I guess I was too tired and the view was so breathtaking!"

"Well dear, it would be nice if you could tell us a little bit more about it and how to get out of here," Wold said kindly. Racen silently chided herself, cleared her throat and began.