by C. Gold
“We have to get out of here. Can you stand?”
“For you, I can do anything.”
Amira rolled her eyes at his not so ineffective charm, then pulled him up and allowed him to lean on her longer than he probably really needed. This was not a side of him she wanted to know about. That’s when she noticed his ripped tunic and blood dripping down his chest. “Radcliff, what happened?” she asked before realizing the futility of questioning a man with no memory.
“Is that my name?” he whispered, sounding vulnerable.
She ignored the stirrings of emotion and dug into her bag, retrieving a small cloth. Carefully, she wiped up the blood and inspected the gash. While long, it wasn’t deep enough to require stitches, and the bleeding had already stopped. “Yes, you are Radcliff, I’m Amira,” she replied while looking over the rest of his body. Aside from a bloody fingertip, she found no additional damage. She grabbed the spare lantern and stuffed it and the cloth in her bag, preferring the smaller mage light in case they needed to go dark fast. Once Amira had everything in place, she grabbed her staff. “Let’s go,” she ordered.
After taking a few steps with him leaning on her, she pulled away, and he seemed to take the hint. He walked with a slight limp but maintained his distance. They walked together in silence until they reached a fork, at which point Amira decided to lay out their problem. “You were taken here. I don’t know why. Enemies surround us, but most should be at the entrance, fighting.” She paused, remembered the oath and swore under her breath. “We are looking for a girl and another exit. I only hope we find one.” She knelt to examine the floor, but neither path had many footsteps. She tossed up the decision to her best guess and stepped down the right path.
“This way.”
Radcliff’s voice startled her. Amira turned to see him gesturing left with an arrogant confidence reminiscent of his long ago self. “Why?” she asked with suspicion. Was he just trying to be contrary?
He lifted up a strip of his ripped tunic and held it in front of her face. It remained limp. Then he shifted to the left path and lifted it up again. It fluttered. “See?” he replied. “Air current. The exit is this way.” Amira begrudgingly let him lead the way. For a man with no memory, Radcliff was amazingly resourceful and intelligent. No wonder the council feared him.
Radcliff led the way in silence. Only the tap, tap of her staff and their footsteps echoed in the winding tunnels. Amira lost track of how long they spent navigating the maze. When the wizard faltered, she called a halt, and they ate a quick meal. Neither spoke a word as they resumed their trek. The shadows in the tunnels preyed on Amira’s mind and had her looking back, expecting to see the Nothing hunting them. She didn’t realize how close she’d crowded the wizard until her arm brushed up against him. She jerked it away and scowled, mentally kicking herself for seeking comfort from her stupid fears. I don’t need or want his company. Then she took another look around. Yeah right, ok, that’s a lie, she finally admitted. She’d take her enemy’s company any day in this underground nightmare.
Just when Amira thought they’d be lost forever, a girl’s ear splitting shriek of absolute terror broke the silence. Amira readied her staff for battle as she sprinted down the tunnel. She could hear angry voices now along with more cries of alarm. When she turned into a side tunnel, the space opened into a large cavern. A huge mound of rubble, likely from a collapsed upper tunnel, filled the entire back left corner. Two thugs in black leathers stood at the base while three others were scrambling up it chasing after a thin waif who dodged and darted around the larger boulders with surprising agility. As she surveyed the scene and came up with the beginnings of a plan, Radcliff caught up, wheezing from the run. Amira dragged him off to one side, dropped her packs, and stuffed the light in his hand. “Wait here.” Without waiting to see if she was obeyed, Amira pulled up her hood and stalked forward.
The girl found a tiny crawl space under one of the larger rocks and backed into it. One man tried to reach in and yanked his arm back with a curse, sporting a crushed fingertip. The second one unsheathed his sword, but the third grabbed his sword arm. “Are you crazy? He wants her alive.” The second one grunted and sheathed the weapon, then he unbuckled his sword belt. Holding the sheath as a makeshift club, he carefully picked his way past the first man.
Before he could poke at the girl with it, Amira called out in challenge. “What are you doing here? You are needed at the entrance.”
Five pairs of eyes turned and glared at her before quickly widening in fearful recognition, then looked down. The fifth man, apparently their leader, spoke. “Prime Seer. The master ordered us to catch the girl.”
“I will handle the girl. You will handle the intruders. Go now,” Amira ordered in her best arrogant tone. She only hoped none of them really knew the Prime or this ploy would backfire terribly. Five to one odds was never good, and these men were hired killers. She held her breath as they grumbled but crawled back down the mound. She made sure to keep in the shadows as they approached and stepped aside when they came closer.
When they left the room without a backward glance, Amira exhaled and giggled with relief. She couldn’t believe that worked! That joyful feeling slowly ebbed as she realized they took all the light with them. Her unhelpful mind flashed back to an image of the corpse and memories of… it… Amira gripped the staff tighter and struggled to control her breathing. She would not let her fears rule her.
Light flared up by the entrance and she whirled around, poised to attack. When she saw the wizard’s craggy face, she lowered the weapon and used it for support while she calmed her racing heart. He looked as battered physically as she felt mentally. While he limped towards her laden with all of their stuff, she began climbing the mound to rescue the girl. It was well past time to get out of here.
CHAPTER 8
Escaping the Cave
It should have been easy to grab the girl and go, yet Amira’s knees were aching from kneeling too long on the rough stone and she was seriously debating leaving the stubborn child behind. Only the oath kept her there, trying to coax the child out for the umpteenth time.
“It’s safe, but we need to go now,” she pleaded again. Her falsely honeyed voice was laced with irritation and she had to bite back a snarl as the girl scurried even farther back. Amira didn’t realize the space was that big or perhaps the girl just shrank in on herself. Only her eyes could be seen in the shadowy crevice. Those stared back with distrust, fear, and a fierce glint of stubbornness.
Amira reached in and snatched her hand away when the girl hissed and attacked with a rock. She should have remembered that from before—it didn’t work well for the thug either. Her other hand unconsciously tightened on the staff. Like that last brute, she had a half mind to use it to prod the child free—the staff was certainly long enough to serve. She was still debating the wisdom of such an action when a hand landed on her shoulder. She twirled around with a retaliatory strike and barely halted in time to avoid smacking the wizard’s knee caps.
“Let me try,” he said, standing there nonchalant and calm as could be despite the near hit.
“Gladly,” Amira growled back. It would serve him right to get annoyed too. When she stood, her bones creaked so loudly they surely heard her back at the entrance. She stalked away and stood by the exit in case those men returned. At the sound of humming, she turned around and her jaw dropped at the sight of Radcliff sitting cross legged and juggling four uneven rocks. His pleasant tenor voice rose and fell with the arc the largest rock made in its motion between his hands.
The girl no longer looked terrified and Amira held her breath as she crept closer. The wizard ignored everyone, his brow furrowed in concentration as the juggling grew wilder. The girl actually gasped when the wizard nearly lost control. With a flourish, he recovered just in time to save the rocks from hitting the ground and began to swirl them around more swiftly.
The girl exited the crevice, completely fascinated by the display.
Rad
cliff’s humming grew faster and more intense as the rocks whizzed about, just one hairs breadth shy of disaster. Then, he made a strangled sound like something dying and the rocks flew in all directions except where the girl crouched, entranced. One shot straight up and when it landed on the wizard’s head, he made a conking noise and let his head sink into his chest like he’d been knocked out. The guilty culprit rolled off his head and plopped onto the ground right in front of the girl.
She shot looks between the rock and Radcliff, finally breaking into a quiet laugh as if she feared attracting attention. When Radcliff didn’t respond she grew silent and looked worried. Taking another step closer, she tentatively stretched out her hand to touch his face.
The wizard’s eyes slowly opened and he smiled.
The girl gave him a tentative, shy smile back which quickly turned into a huge grin and a hug.
Amira couldn’t decide whether she wanted to puke, strangle the girl, or throw something at the wizard, but at least he succeeded and they could finally get out of here. “We need to leave,” she whispered, trying not to alarm the child or send her back into hiding.
The girl flinched and snapped her head to look at Amira with wild eyes, like she’d forgotten anyone else was around, but Radcliff whispered something that snagged her attention and had her smiling again. He held her in his arms as he got up and she clung to him as if he was her most prized possession. Amira could only shake her head as she gathered their things and led the way back out of the cavern. “We need to find another way out,” she tossed over her shoulder to remind him.
The girl whispered furiously in his ear. Radcliff whispered back. Amira ignored the pair as she edged into the main tunnel, looking both ways for enemies before stepping out.
“I can lead us to the exit,” Radcliff stated with great confidence.
“What?” Amira whirled around in surprise.
“The girl found it last summer. She was trying to reach it when those men discovered her escaping and chased her under that rock.”
“Humph,” Amira grunted. She wasn’t sure how much they should trust the child but it wasn’t like they had much of a choice. “Lead on then.” She waved him forward and stepped aside to let Radcliff slip past. Following behind with her staff gripped firmly, Amira strained to hear or see any danger before it came into view. If they were attacked from behind, she was confident about holding them off in the narrow confines. However, threats from ahead posed a problem.
Her anxiety was at an all-time high when Radcliff stopped abruptly. She nearly plowed into him before noticing. “What is it?” she whispered through clenched teeth.
“The exit is through there,” Radcliff whispered back and pointed at a dark spot in the wall.
Amira moved the mage light closer. It revealed a smooth round hole that was barely tall enough to reach her waist. “That’s it?” she squeaked nervously.
Radcliff was already on his knees crawling after the girl.
There was certainly a strong air current blowing out from the hole which would indicate a possible exit. Unfortunately, the air stank like a dead something or other had been rotting for weeks. Amira wrinkled her nose in disgust. She dropped the packs and opened hers. Rummaging around, she finally found the small rope and tied both packs together so they could drag behind her one after the other. After tying the free end around her waist she studied the so-called exit tunnel one last time. The staff could be a problem if she came upon a tight bend but she didn’t want to leave it behind. Shrugging, she decided to chance it.
Amira got down on all fours and plunged in. After several minutes of crawling, her knees were complaining, her breathing sounded like a wheezy bellows in the narrow space, and her thoughts began fixating on getting stuck, especially after the third time her shoulders brushed both sides of the tunnel at the same time. It was stupid, she knew, given that Radcliff was still moving and his shoulders were wider despite his gaunt frame. This was the first time she wasn’t sorry that he’d starved all those years—he wouldn’t have fit otherwise.
While she wasn’t afraid of tight spaces in general, the idea of becoming trapped escalated to the point where Amira couldn’t breathe and her muscles were locking up. Only the greater fear of being left behind forced her to keep moving forward one halting crawl-step at a time. Then Radcliff began humming and she felt like laughing at how stupid she was being. Grinning, she sped up until she could see him again.
The tunnel began to gradually slope downward which Amira took as a good sign. She wasn’t sure how far below the plateau’s surface they’d already traveled but she figured they still had a ways to go, assuming the exit came out close to the base. Unfortunately, the smell got worse. Breathing in through the mouth didn’t help much and she was one more bad smell away from gagging.
The girl’s shrill scream made Amira almost jump out of her skin. “What’s going on?” she called out while trying to steady her galloping heart.
“I can’t see well enough to tell for sure but it looks like a corpse,” the wizard replied.
That would explained the odor.
“Can you pass me the light?” he asked.
In this tight space? Amira crawled forward and raised the light to watch where she was going. Radcliff was currently lying flat in the tunnel looking back at her. She managed to crawl over his legs and up his back until she could place the light in the hand stretched over his shoulder. Then she slowly crawled back, shoving the bunched up packs back until she was clear.
Grunts and mumbled cusses played counterpoint to the girl’s whimpers. And a soft buzzing noise? No, that was just the girl who was climbing backwards down Radcliff’s back. It was impossible to tell in the low light but Amira swore she was even filthier than before.
“Ok, I’m going to have to push it as we go.” Radcliff’s voice sounded strained.
The girl refused to leave Radcliff’s back, so he had to slither through the tunnel with her on top. “We have mud up ahead,” he warned.
Hah, this just keeps getting better and better. As if to punctuate her sentiment, Amira’s hand squelched into a thick ooze paste which came up to her elbow. “You didn’t say it was elbow deep.”
The wizard just grunted, shoved, and wriggled.
Amira was coated in mud and wrestling with stuck packs when something squirmed against her skin. Then something beetle-like flew across her face. “There’s things crawling around.” Her voice was shaky and she bit off a scream when something slimy pressed against her neck. “Please tell me there’s no snakes.”
“There’s no snakes. Just insects.”
“Oh good.” Not. Good. At. All. Stifling a whimper—she wouldn’t show weakness in front of the child—she mentally urged Radcliff to move faster. If her mind had any magical push to it, they’d be shooting out of that tunnel faster than they could take another breath. Her skin itched all over as she pictured creepy crawlies under her clothes, in her hair, and everywhere.
“Please tell me the exit is close,” Amira pleaded under her breath before mentally chastised herself for having less courage than the girl. Of course the kid was clinging to Radcliff like an extra appendage and was staying above the mud level. Then she realized Radcliff must be reducing the level of mud like a plow before she reached it. Amira shivered at the thought of how deep it really was. Plus, he had to shove a body in front to make way. Was she such a bad, bad person for being happy that he was in front?
Her hand smooshed into something distinctly fleshy. Her shriek sounded overly loud as it echoed in the darkness.
“What’s wrong?” Radcliff stopped and raised the light behind him.
“Don’t stop!” Amira cried out, half embarrassed and half ashamed. So much for acting courageous, she thought as she clawed her hand through the mud trying to wipe it clean of fleshy bits. She wanted out of this tunnel yesterday.
Radcliff gave her a quick once over then started up his slow slither crawl.
Amira followed and tried not to think about wh
at she might be crawling over or through. She felt as though every inch of skin was filthy and crawling with maggots, flies, worms, and worse things. No snakes she repeated to herself like a mantra. It wasn’t until the darkness looked noticeably lighter that her mind started working again.
“Is that the exit?” she asked, hopeful.
“Yes, we are close now,” Radcliff replied.
Amira couldn’t help it, she began to cry. Several emotions surged at once but relief was the clear winner, followed by a desperate need to feel the warm sunlight on her face. Never again would she go into a cave. Never. Ever. Not even if a snake was chasing her. Well, maybe in that case...
As soon as her companions exited and Amira saw that bright light, she charged it like an unstoppable force and finally stood in the open. She stretched her arms wide and closed her eyes, turning her face up to the sun to enjoy its warmth. Freed from confinement and darkness, her spirit soared and she smiled.
The ticklish feeling of legs crawling down her spine shattered the spell and Amira began frantically scratching and wriggling. Once her eyes adjusted to the sunlight, Amira saw just how much mud was caked onto her clothes. Some of the wetter clumps had maggots wriggling free. Eww. As she tried to scrape herself clean, Amira spotted salvation in the form of a river.
Without wasting any time, she ran to the water. Only the rope jerking her at the waist made Amira pause long enough to scrabble at the ties. Once freed, she didn’t stop there. Off came the boots and then the belt. The pants were stiff with mud and resisted coming off, but eventually they landed with a thud on top of the growing pile. It took longer to remove the tunic because the mud and maggots were wedged into the ties, making them slippery. She may have ripped one or two in her haste but she didn’t care—everything had to come off now. Finally stripped naked, Amira wasted no time running into the water and dug around the river bottom until she gathered enough gritty material to scrub her skin until it turned red. Then she unbraided her hair and pulverized it between two small rocks until she was sure no mud or bugs remained.