Melissa shrugs. “I dunno, it probably has something to do with everything that has been trying to kill me over the last twenty-four hours.”
Tash chuckles. “Okay, point taken.”
With that, she struts bravely through the water towards the closest flower. Her bravery doesn’t last long, though, and she begins to slow until she is arm’s length from the nearest flower. Tentatively, she reaches towards it. I watch in amusement. Given the experiences of the past few days, I really can’t blame Tash for her newfound fear of vegetation. Even so, watching a grown woman approach a flower no bigger than a thumbnail much in the same way that someone in the arena would approach a wild and unpredictable beast is funny.
Tash finally touches the flower with the tip of her finger and smiles victoriously when the flower doesn’t maul her to death. Carefully, she perches on a moss-covered rock and regards the cavern around her in awe.
“Let’s stay here for a while, it’s a nice place to sit and rest,” Tash says to the group and smiles over at Nathanial, patting the moss-covered rock next to her.
The massive warrior saunters past me and over to Tash where he drops onto the small rock, apparently quite content. Even if it is on a moss-covered rock surrounded by tiny purple flowers in the middle of a glowing pool of water.
“Very manly,” Lucas mutters to Melissa. They both snicker before they wander off to inspect the stalagmites closest to them.
I glance at Lexa as she carefully plucks a pink fruit from the moss and studies it. The green line on her arm still stands out vividly. It is taking much longer to heal than it did the last time.
I glance at my own arm and see that most of the lines have faded, and just a handful of small, sore blue cuts remain. I fiddle with the gem in the hidden pocket of my pants. Even if we manage to find the others, how are we supposed to use them against Darkmor?
If this is the consequence of using the magic against nature, what would it be like against someone experienced in sorcery?
I shake my head and dismiss the thought; it doesn’t change the fact that we have to try.
Carefully, I move towards one of the larger rocks and climb up onto it, glad to finally have my legs and feet out of the water, even if they do glow brilliantly.
I lean on my elbows and stare at the shimmering roof. Who knew Darkmor's underworld dominion could have beautiful places like this?
Lexa calls out to the group. “Lucas, I believe these are Elmaras. What do you think?”
I sit up and watch the interaction. Lucas sloshes over to Lexa in a hurry and inspects the small berry in her hand. “Yay, Claire doesn’t have to eat me!”
Lexa gives him a smile. “I take it that you agree with my assessment then?”
Lucas nods enthusiastically, and to prove his point takes the fruit from Lexa's hand and pops it in his mouth. “Mmm,” he mumbles. “Nice and sweet.”
The group spreads out and picks from the abundant bunches of berries that hand about the rocks. I move to get up, but Lexa climbs on the rock next to me and holds out a cluster of the small pink fruits for us to share.
I flash her a smile. “Thanks.”
Carefully, I take a small berry and place it in my mouth. The skin is crunchy, and the whole fruit seems to burst over my tongue when I bite down on it. A fantastic array of sensations appears as the sweet juice rolls through my mouth only to be followed by a tangy after-flavor.
I have never tasted fresh fruit before. It is so much better than the dried fruit I occasionally received in the compound. Eagerly, I pop three more in my mouth.
Lexa chuckles and crosses her legs as she settles down across from me. “Eat it slowly, there is plenty here and I don’t need you choking. This is also the first time you have had this fruit, so you should limit your intake until you are sure how your body will respond.”
I smile and slow myself down. I watch as the light of the water dances across the walls and roof. “It’s so beautiful.”
“The way the light moves is pleasing to the eye,” Lexa confirms.
My lips quirk into a smile. Lexa has this way of talking that is different from anyone I have ever encountered.
I eye the bundle of fruit. “Are you going to eat some?”
Lexa holds up her hand. “No. I had an unpleasant experience with Elmaras when I was much younger. I will not be eating them again.”
“Ate too many?” I enquire.
Lexa smiles. “Hives. It turns out I am allergic and I did not know that until after I had eaten a handful.”
“We will have to find you something to eat for you then,” I say looking up at the hive of bees. I wonder if they make honey.
“I will be okay,” Lexa says casually. “Not all of us have the same appetite you do.”
I lay back with my hands behind my head and watch a glowing white lizard dart onto one of the moss-covered rocks and work on prying one of the small fruits from the bunch hanging nearby.
The moss is so soft against my back, the sounds of the quiet little cave and the warmth of Lexa beside me helps me to drift into a relaxed sleep.
I awake to find green eyes gazing at me thoughtfully as Lexa twirls a small purple flower in between her fingers.
Our eyes meet, and Lexa’s cheeks gain a shade of pink to her olive complexion. I take a moment to admire the slight tinge of red across her cheeks before I admit to being awake enough to sit up.
I stretch my arms. “How long have I been asleep for?”
Lexa shrugs. “A few hours perhaps. All is well.”
My eyebrows pull together as I study the weariness in Lexa's features. She really should have been the one to sleep. Her small green lines have healed, and only the long green one on her forearm remains. It is obvious the healing is using up the little energy she had left after the bubble.
“Lexa,” I say. “How are you really feeling?”
The other woman looks at me. “I am well and I can keep going for another few hours at least. Being the leader of a rebel camp certainly brings one's endurance to its peak. There was not much time for resting then either.”
I reach out to touch her hand gently. “There is no need to push yourself so hard here. There are five others who can share the responsibility.”
Lexa gives me a small smile. “Perhaps next time. Now we must continue on. I worry we have stopped for too long as it is.”
I have to agree with her there. “Let’s collect some of this fruit first. It probably won’t keep for long, but it would be nice to have some food with us.”
Lexa nods and with a sigh climbs off our mossy rock and back into the glowing water. I slide down with a loud splash, which stirs Tash who is asleep using Nathanial's leg as a pillow and a small pile of unfinished fruits lay beside them.
I raise my eyebrow at the two of them. It will be interesting to see how that turns out. I grab a bundle of fruit and pack it into the small pouch that contains the coins and rings. The pink berries fill the whole space, and I tie the bulging bag to my belt once more.
Lucas is splayed across a rock nearby, snoring loudly with his hands and feet dangling off the edge to dip into the ice blue water. His mouth is stained with pink from the Elmaras.
Lexa is waking Melissa, who fell asleep against a rock of her own, fruits still held protectively in her hand.
It is weird we all fell asleep. Surely Melissa and Lucas had enough sleep before the dog's attack? Certainly, a lot has happened since then, but they should be more awake than the rest of us.
My eyes fall on the cluster of pink fruits nearby and spy the small white lizard sleeping peacefully, a half-eaten fruit beside it. I eye the pink fruit with suspicion.
I turn back to look at my sleeping companions and Lexa shakes Melissa vigorously, but the dark-haired woman remains peacefully asleep.
Concern rises in my stomach as I splash towards Lucas and attempt to wake him. He remains unresponsive and snores loudly at my attempts to wake him. Well, at least he isn’t dead.
I move away
from him and over to the nearest cluster of fruits growing from one of the moss-covered columns. They look innocent enough.
I look over at Lexa. “Is it the fruit?”
Lexa turns to me and rubs her hand across her face. “Elmaras do not have this side effect.”
Gulping, I raise my eyebrows. “What if they are not Elmaras?”
Chapter Six
Shaking
Lexa's eyes widen. “It is possible we misidentified them, but it is unusual for Lucas to be wrong in regards to botany.”
The world around us rumbles, and ripples appear throughout the water as it shifts with the cave. Small rocks fall from the roof and land in the water with enormous splashes, and the cave pillar in front of me cracks. Long ribbons of lines appear along the ice blue surface of the rocky pillar and climb all the way to the roof.
Lexa splashes over and pulls me into her arms, away from the pillar as it collapses into the shallow water sending waves of water in every direction. I had been standing there just moments before.
I cling to her as the world shakes more vigorously and growls like an angry animal. Sections of rock fall from the roof, and more columns follow the first into the water.
The rumbling ceases, and the ground below us stops moving, I stand inside Lexa's arms for a few more moments until I am sure it has truly passed.
Gently, I pull away from the warmth of the strong woman beside me and look over at our companions. They are still asleep, but Lucas has a cut across one cheek, and everyone seems to be covered in a light dusting of dirt from the cavern roof.
I look over at the fallen pillar and swallow. “What was that?”
Lexa shakes her head. “I don’t know. It was similar to a cave in. Perhaps there was one further down in one of the tunnels we explored earlier?”
Nathanial stirs and rubs his face. He looks around in confusion, his glazy eyes focusing on the destruction around him and finally at the sleeping woman in his lap.
A small smile tugs at the corner of his mouth before his brain registers the danger he slept through.
Nathanial rubs his face again and spots us. “Was there a cave in?”
Lexa nods. “A few moments ago.”
Nathanial looks around. “And I slept through it?” His face slowly tenses as his body works through the sleep fog.
Lucas lets out an extremely loud snore and startles himself awake. “What happened?” He asks with a yawn as he rubs his bleeding cheek.
“The ground shook,” Lexa states bluntly. “I do believe we misidentified these fruits, as we were unable to rouse you, and you slept through this whole cave system shaking.”
Lucas frowns and stretches. “I don’t misidentify plants.” Sluggishly he crawls off the rock and staggers through the water. “Although, there is a first time for everything.”
He grabs hold of a bunch of fruit and squints at it, slowly pulling individual berries apart and scrutinizing them every step of the way.
Melissa stirs and looks confused at the cluster of fruit in her hand. “I feel like I have been drugged.”
Lucas nods. “That is because we were.” He holds up the mangled fruit in his hand. “These are not Elmaras. They look the same in every way, except the skin on the inside of the fruit is purple and not red like it should be.”
Lexa brushes the dust off her leather tunic. “Perhaps a cousin that evolved over time to have this side effect?”
Lucas nods. “Maybe, but why?”
I shrug and glance at the cracked cave walls. “I don’t know, but I don’t really want to hang around to find out.”
Nathanial gently shakes Tash who lays still and doesn’t respond. He looks up, and I detect panic in his eyes. I head over to answer his unasked question.
I approach Tash and quickly notice her slow even breathing. I put my fingers to her throat the way my mother showed me when I was a small girl. Her blood steadily pumps under my fingers, and I let out a sigh of relief.
I look up at Nathanial. “She is still asleep, but she will be okay.”
Nathanial tries again to stir Tash. “The rest of us are awake, why isn’t she? We ate the same amount of fruit.”
I nod. “My mother used to tell me about her job as a medic. Once she told me of a goblin who was so fat she had to give him twice the amount of sleeping medicine for his surgery, and that if she had of given that dose to a smaller goblin, it would have made them sleep for twice as long.”
Nathanial's eyebrows frown. “I don’t understand.”
I gesture to Tash. “Tash is a lot smaller than you are, and if you ate the same amount of fruit, it will take her twice as long to wake as you did.”
Nathanial looks at me, and for the first time, I realize his eyes are brown. “Are you certain?”
I consider my words carefully. “I am not certain. I don’t have much medical training. But I am confident that this situation is like the goblins.”
Nathanial seems satisfied with my answer and gently scoops the small woman into his arms. It is truly amazing to see someone as powerfully built as Nathanial be so careful with the woman.
Everyone groups together, and tiredly we stumble out of the shallow underground lake and up the winding tunnel. It is weird moving out of the brightly lit chamber and into the darkness of the sweeping tunnel.
The glowing rocks we collected before leaving the underground oasis provide our only light. The eerie glow casts little shadows and reveals the deep cracks in the tunnel walls.
This place won’t survive another shake like the one we had before.
I walk beside Lexa and a cast a glance at her face. “What will you do once we are free?” I ask.
Lexa’s eyebrows rise at my question. “I had not considered it.”
“I want to be an artist.” I say.
“An artist?” Lexa enquires.
“Yeah, I used to draw what I thought the world above looked like on the walls of my cell when my parents snuck me in some charcoal. I often got in trouble though.” I smile at her. “I was supposed to be doing math.”
Lexa smiles and we walk in silence for a while. “I would like to be a mother, assuming the children I have could live free lives.”
That stumps me and my heart sinks a little. “A mother?” I ask wondering at my reaction.
“I often spent time with the orphans in our rebel camp. I would teach them to read,” Lexa replies. “Some of my happiest memories are with those children.”
The corner of my mouth quirks as an image of Lexa with a small child in her lap while they read together springs to mind.
We walk for nearly an hour before Tash stirs. Nathanial sets her down on the ground and walks behind the stumbling woman, ready to catch her should she fall.
Her wake up is more brutal than ours, it must be so strange to wake up in a place where you didn’t fall asleep.
We take another turn and squeeze through a narrow pass. Every time we meet one of these places, I am afraid we will find another dead end. I don’t like the idea of having to brave the land of mushrooms again, and that will be our only option if this tunnel ends.
Lucas sighs loudly. “It sure is nice to be in a place where things aren’t trying to kill us,” he comments, opening and closing his arms in a snapping motion that mimics jaws.
“What about the poison berries?” Melissa questions.
“I am not sure the berries were trying to kill us,” Lexa says, twirling a purple flower she picked between her fingers.
“What I am trying to say,” Lucas says, waving his arms around. “Is that I haven’t run screaming for at least four hours, and that’s a nice change.”
“I’m fairly certain if someone so much as sneezed when Tash first approached those purple flowers, she would have run screaming,” I joke and step out of Tash's reach.
Tash sends me a death glare that could rival my own. Melissa pats her on the shoulder and grins. “Don’t look at her like that. You were kinda twitchy around the flowers.”
Tash sig
hs and rubs her temples. “Those mushrooms messed me up. I may never trust plant life again.”
Nathanial steps up beside Tash, offering quiet comfort, and perhaps protection from any attacking vegetation. Tash smiles up at him as they walk side by side.
I peer up the tunnel and get the smallest sense of light coming from ahead. I glance at the group. “Is it getting brighter?”
Everyone ceases their quiet conversations and turns their attention to the tunnel ahead of us.
Lexa clears her throat, “I believe so.”
Melissa skips a step. “Yes, let's get out of this damned tunnel. The thought that even the slightest sneeze could bring on another tunnel collapse has been weighing on me.”
I nod and eye the deep cracks in the wall. Melissa is not the only one to be thinking along those lines. I feel as if the echo of our footsteps will be enough to bring the cave down.
The closer we get, the more apparent it becomes that the way out will require us to squeeze through a small gap and climb some rocks to the exit, all of which sits about eight meters off the ground. Down the right-hand side of this pile of rocks is a gaping black hole.
I eye the unsteady slope of rocks that lead to the narrow nook and the pitch-black pit standing beside it. Why can’t these things be easy?
I take my place behind Lexa, and Lucas leads the way up the narrow pebble bridge that leads to our only escape from this hellhole. I begin my climb, struggling to find sure footing on a shifting landscape. I am halfway up when the rock I place my foot on slides out from under me. I fall to my knees and rocks shower in all directions. Only Melissa and Lexa's quick acting hands prevent me from following the rocks down the slope.
The little stones clatter and tumble into the dark hole at the base of our small rock bridge. It takes a long time for the rolling rocks to stop their noisy movements. Sweat breaks out across my skin as I deliberately steer my thoughts from what could have just happened.
Lexa lays her hand on the small of my back and asks, “Are you okay.”
I look up into her green eyes. “Y-yes,” I stutter and climb to my feet. My shaking limbs doing their best to betray me as I resume the perilous climb.
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