***
I couched and gagged, turning over. Dirt fell to the ground from my dry mouth. I looked over to see Seth fall back on the ground, breathing heavily. I looked around the room and up at the sky, but I couldn't really see it.
“Seth, where are we?” I asked, my voice hoarse.
He sat up. “I think we're in some underground cave. When the ground collapsed, it must have carried us here.”
“That stinks,” I said. “Are we stuck here?”
“Not unless you know a way to grow wings with nothing but dirt.”
I stood up and tried to rake the dirt out of my hair. “We're stuck here.”
Seth sighed in frustration and brushed his blue hair. He fluffed it up but the dirt was still stuck in globs. I rolled my eyes at his attempts.
I turned around to see an entrance. I walked over and bent down. There seemed to be some kind of sign or symbol. It was two circles with a sword through the center of both.
“Seth, look!” I said and pointed to it. He came over and bent down, tracing the sign with his finger. I waited and finally said, “Well, do you know what it is?”
Seth dropped his finger. “It means, 'slayer of worlds'. Does that ring a bell?”
“How do you know that?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I don't know how, I just do. Maybe that's my power.”
“Well, I want to go this way,” I said and pointed to the entrance. “If something like that is on the entrance, I want to know where this goes.”
“I agree but aren't we supposed to be trying to find Emily and Jason?”
“I have an idea,” I said and pulled my bow off my back. I removed one of my arrows and put my bow on the ground. I walked over to Seth and pulled his sword out of its sheath. He grabbed for it but I already had it in my hands. I put the tip against the arrow and carved the same sign as the one on the wall. Then I tossed Seth's sword back at him, which he caught without a problem, and picked up my bow. I notched the carved arrow and released it. It whizzed up and out of sight. “There, now they'll know how to find us.”
Seth whistled. “That's a good idea.” He gripped his sword and walked through the tunnel. “Follow me.”
I followed his steps as we. “When you tell someone to follow you, it usually means that you know where you're going.”
“Not this time,” he said over his shoulder.
The tunnel ended and opened up to the sky. For a second I thought we were back on the plain, but we weren't. The sky was blood red and a crescent moon was rising up. From the feeling of the air I knew we weren't underground anymore but I didn't know where we were. Skeleton trees were scattered to the sides. There were long hills ahead, the grass a light gray.
“This place looks like it’s from a book about hell,” Seth said.
“Where are we now?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Do we ever know where we are?” I shook my head and he sighed. “Exactly, we never do. You really got to stop asking that question.” He started to hike the hill. “We‘re trying to find out.”
I walked up behind him, my leg muscles cramping. When we got to the top, I fell on my knees and breathed heavily.
Seth looked over his shoulder, his eyes twinkling in amusement. “Am I too fast for you, Jazell?”
“No way,” I huffed. “I just need to catch my breath.” I stood up and looked around. The hill was pretty high and I could see better. The land was hill after hill, tree after tree. It didn’t seem to end.
“Hey, I’m king of the hill,” Seth joked and reached for the sky.
I walked over and pushed him gently. He fell backward on his butt and I laughed. “More like goof of the hill.”
He stuck his tongue out. “You’re just jealous.”
“Of what?” I asked. “What do you have that would make me jealous.”
“Uh…” he stumbled. “I don’t know, that’s what you usually say in this type of situation.”
I laughed. “Then what happens?”
“I don’t know.”
Seth whipped out his leg and tripped me. I landed with an oof, and got dead grass all over me. He chuckled as I gave him a deadly glare.
“Oh!” He said. “You’re jealous because I’m not covered in grass.”
“Not yet,” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
I lunged at him and he rolled to the side. I kicked dirt at his face and he spit it out. I kicked at his legs but he moved, and I kicked his arm instead. The whole time we were laughing like two crazy six year olds. Who knew that you could have fun in a place like this?
Life is full of happy surprises.
Fall of Igneeria: The Half-ling Page 25