by Duke Kittle
Chapter 11
Luna set her backpack down and removed a pair of torches from it. After lighting them with a flint and tinder, she handed one to Kravek and put the flint and tinder away. She then headed into the tunnel.
The tunnel they passed into wound from one side to the other and back again before opening up into a much larger chamber. The tunnel leading to the chamber had only been about thirty feet long. But the chamber they entered was much larger. Comparing the room to Kravek's height, Tina estimated the ceiling was about thirty feet high, and the far end of the cave, which narrowed into another tunnel, was at least sixty feet away. The walls were curved, and the ceiling was rounded, but fortunately, the floor was mostly flat. Because of the shape of the tunnel leading into the chamber, all light from the outside was blocked which made the torches burn all the brighter.
Tina had been watching the walls of the tunnel as they'd entered. Inside the cavern, she was looking around the walls as well. “Hm. This is peculiar.”
“What is?” Luna turned to look up at Tina on Kravek's shoulder.
“Well, it could be nothing, but--” Tina didn't get to finish her sentence before the sound of pebbles falling from the ceiling caught her attention. “...We need to get out of here!”
Luna raised the torch. “What? We just--”
“NOW!” Tina shoved on the side of Kravek's neck.
Luna grunted but quickly turned to run back to the tunnel entrance. The sound of falling pebbles behind them grew to the sound of rocks colliding with one another. Kravek was quick to follow Luna, but before he could reach the entrance, Luna let out a startled cry! Tina saw Luna's torch fly from around the corner and crash into the wall in front of the entrance, throwing up a swarm of embers. Luna came running back around the corner an instant later and skidded to a stop next to Kravek, using his arm to catch herself.
Kravek snorted. “Luna, what happened?”
“The rocks are moving!”
“...What?”
Luna jabbed her finger toward the tunnel entrance. “There!”
Fully illuminated by the light of Luna's dropped torch, they could all see a massive figure made from stone lumbering into the entrance. He came to a stop in the entrance and crouched down, blocking the light of Luna's torch. His body merged with the walls of the entrance and blocked the passage leading out. A head rose from the newly formed wall. Its lower jaw was lined with jagged, rocky teeth, and as it spoke, its deep, rumbling voice flooded the cavern. “You have disturbed the grave of Kaelus. So too shall it be your grave.” The rumbling of its voice merged into a rumbling from the entire cave, and rocks fell from the ceiling. As they struck the floor, they shattered and sent shards flying.
Tina punched the side of Kravek's neck to get his attention. “RUN!”
“To where!?” Kravek turned about and swung the torch so he could see more of the chamber.
“There!” Tina pointed to the only exit from the room far at the back.
Luna took off quickly, and Kravek was immediately behind her as they ran for the far end of the cavern. Rocks continued to fall from the roof, each one shattering in an explosion of shards.
“Rocks aren't supposed to break like that!” Luna called out as she ran.
“They're enchanted! Just move!” Tina watched the ceiling above them as they ran. One rock fell on a course straight for Kravek's head, and Tina threw her hands up. The rock stopped in midair and spun wildly before it exploded. The shards pelted them all but did little more than leave a stinging pain where they struck fur and skin.
The rocks falling increased in number. Tina did her best to deflect as many as she could. But twenty feet before they reached the exit at the back, a rock slammed into the ground too close to Luna. She let out a pained cry before she crashed to the ground and rolled to a stop. She managed to push herself up to her knees, but Tina could see blood coming through holes in her leather armor. Tina stopped another rock from landing right on top of her, and Kravek ducked, swinging his arm out without hesitation and looping it around the mink's waist. He threw her onto his free shoulder and ducked through the cavern's exit.
The rumbling continued behind them as Kravek ran, but as he rounded a corner, he came to a sudden stop as their path was blocked by another humanoid figure made of stone. Upon seeing Kravek, it lifted its head and growled at them. “This is your grave.”
Tina rose to her feet and leapt from Kravek's shoulder. She landed on top of the figure's head, though it didn't even seem to notice her. A ripple in the air like a wave of heat surrounded Tina as she put both her hands down on the stone figure's head and rapidly chanted. The sphere around her expanded until it surrounded the creature. It then collapsed together and crushed it into a solid boulder. The creature rumbled but fell silent as it tumbled to one side. Tina dropped down onto the ground and waved Kravek on. “Come on!”
Kravek moved forward and rounded the boulder with Luna still in his arms. As he passed Tina, she grabbed the tuft of fur on the end of his tail and held tightly.
“Where are we going?! We're just getting deeper.”
“Just look for an alcove, quickly!” Tina looked back at the boulder. As they ran, it suddenly rolled back into the center of the tunnel and barreled its way toward them. “I can't emphasize ‘quickly’ enough!”
Kravek was looking around the walls as he ran with the torch in one hand and a groaning Luna on his shoulder. The tunnel ahead turned sharply in front of them, and Kravek had to skid to a stop, put his hoof on the wall, and push off to make the turn. The metal shoes on the bottom of his hooves pounded against the stone floor of the cavern as he ran, but the rumbling in the cave was growing louder and louder. Tina glanced back to see it was not just the sound of the boulder rolling after them, but the ceiling of the tunnel was caving in behind it in a shower of rocks. She wanted to slow the rocks, but clinging to Kravek's tail, she couldn't make the somatic gestures needed for a spell. The boulder was too close for her to let go and cast a spell in time before it would have crushed her.
Kravek was looking for an alcove anywhere in the tunnel, but the walls were smooth and without an indentation deep enough for all of them. He looked ahead to see another sharp turn in the tunnel. He skidded and pushed off again to maintain his speed as he shot around the corner. But the next skid of his hooves brought them all to a sudden stop. The tunnel ahead of them was collapsing in a shower of rocks.
“Tina, the tunnel!”
Tina dropped from Kravek's tail and landed on her feet. She looked ahead and saw the falling rocks. Behind them, the boulder rounded the corner and started building momentum again as it barreled toward them.
“Tina, what do we do!?”
Tina looked back and forth between the boulder and the many rocks about to be falling on top of them. Her mind raced for a solution, but there were no alcoves, no exits, and no way out.
“Tina!”
“Brace yourself!”
The sound of the impact of the rocks crashing together was a deafening boom. And then, there was only silence and darkness.