Marisa stared at him blankly.
“Have you ever been in a cave?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you know how stalagmites and stalactites are formed?”
“I think so, but remind me again.”
“Stalactites are formed when calcium carbonate flows through the rock and starts to drip. It hardens into a ring from the top down, growing downward. The liquid that drips to the ground and builds upward hardens to form a stalagmite. When the two of them join, it forms what is known as a column.”
“So why are these caves so dangerous?”
“They are covered in a thick layer of ice, making them extremely slippery. In the caverns, it is extremely dark and exceptionally cold. Unless one knows how to navigate through it, a person can get lost in there and even freeze to death within minutes.”
“Sorry I asked,” she muttered.
Several hundred feet up ahead, they spotted the opening of the cave where hundreds of milky-white icicles hung down. It looked like a dragon’s mouth with its jaws wide open and the icicles appeared as long, sharp daggers. Marisa imagined that they were probably just as dangerous.
As they neared the cave’s entrance, Darian dismounted and unsheathed his sword. In one swift motion, he knocked down the icicles to clear the way. Then he took a rod and cloth from his saddle and used them to make a torch.
After watching Arrie dismount, Marisa followed his lead and climbed down from Siena. “Aren’t we going to ride through the caves?” she asked.
“Too dangerous,” Darian replied. “The ceiling of the cave isn’t high enough. Trust me—you wouldn’t want to brush your head against one of those low-hanging blades of ice.”
Darian entered the cave and the others followed behind. He held the fluttering torch as high as possible to light their way as he led Obsidian with the reins.
An icy gust of wind rushed past Marisa, and she shivered. Squinting as they entered the blackness of the cave, she strained to see anything in the dark. Once her eyes had adjusted, she gasped at the wondrous sight.
The cave was just as Arrie had described, with hundreds of stalactites and stalagmites staggered everywhere throughout the massive cavern. It reminded her of a field trip years ago with her fifth-grade class to the Oregon Caves National Monument. Everything inside these caves, however, was covered entirely with a thick layer of ice.
As the yellow limestone shone through the ice, the entire cave glittered and glowed as if it were made of pure gold. Carefully shuffling and sliding across a hardened sea of yellow crystal, Marisa was in awe of the translucent beauty of this natural phenomenon.
“Don’t touch the columns, and be very careful where you step,” Darian warned. “We’re moving along a high ledge in the cave wall, and you wouldn’t want to fall into that.”
He motioned below, pointing the torch downward. She saw that there was only about eight feet of the ledge, and after that, it dropped off into a large cavern and what looked like a deep, dark abyss.
Marisa glanced up at the ceiling of the cave. Thousands upon thousands of dagger-like icicles hung down only a few feet above her head and if just one fell on her, she’d be dead. She was amazed that such a place of beauty could also be just as dangerous.
All of a sudden, her foot slipped and she started to slide away from Siena. With lightning-fast reflexes, Arrie grabbed her arm just before she slid off down into the deep cavern below.
“Marisa, are you all right?” he asked.
She nodded. Her heart was pounding wildly.
“Do be careful, Marisa,” Darian said.
Stupid, stupid! Embarrassed, she scolded herself to pay better attention. For the next several minutes, she followed behind Darian as they advanced slowly but surely through the length of the cave.
She couldn’t resist the temptation to take a photo of the cave’s interior. She rummaged around in her satchel for her phone. She pulled it out and swiped the menu items until she came to the camera function. Holding it out to the side and angling it toward the ceiling of the cave, she pressed the camera icon.
The flash from the phone bounced around the cave and spooked all three horses. Concrete reared up and backed into her, pushing Marisa off the slippery path.
With no traction on the glassy surface, she struggled for balance. But the momentum was strong enough to send her plummeting over the edge. In a single instant, she dropped out of sight and slid down into the main cavern below.
“Marisa!” Darian and Arrie screamed in unison.
That’s it—I’m dead.
As she raced down the steep wall of ice like a runaway bobsled out of control, she flailed in the darkness, trying to grab hold of anything that could break her fall. But the ice-covered stalagmites and columns were too slippery to clutch. Sharp pieces of ice sliced into her hands and arms and the cold quickly seeped through her clothing all the way to her skin.
Her body slammed into something. She was immediately jolted to a stop, caught by what felt like a large tree trunk between her legs. As she groped in the darkness, her hands encircled the cold pillar and Marisa realized that only a single column of ice was keeping her from plunging into the bottomless pit below. Her arms and legs were shaking as she strained to see anything in the dark cavern. Her body was quickly losing its warmth in what felt like a subzero meat locker.
Arrie and Darian’s voices shouted down to her from somewhere far above. “Marisa! Where are you! Are you still there?”
“Help,” she cried weakly.
Can they even hear me?
As she glanced high above her, she saw a small source of light dancing to and fro and realized that it was Darian’s torch as he paced back and forth across the ledge.
“Marisa, you’ve got to show us where you are! Say something!” Darian shouted.
“I’m here,” she cried softly, terrified of falling at any moment.
With no rope or climbing equipment to speak of, she knew that it would be almost impossible for them to reach her down so deep and her hopes began to fade.
The minutes ticked by, but they seemed like hours, and her thoughts started to drift. She could still hear Darian and Arrie calling to her, but she didn’t have the strength anymore to answer. Her whole body shook from the cold penetrating into her skin. Arrie had said that the temperature in the cavern was low enough to freeze a person within minutes.
Without warning, a monstrous roar followed by a shrill whistle erupted from somewhere deep in the cave. Marisa’s eyes flew open. She peered around in the darkness to detect any sort of movement, but it was no use. Zero visibility.
Danger! Something screamed inside her.
The roar and whistle came again, but this time they seemed much closer. The sound reminded her of the roar of the rijgen. Knowing they’d probably disturbed some monstrous beast sleeping in the cave, a fresh wave of terror rippled through her.
Garon, give me wisdom, she prayed. Think—think!
By some miracle, she had managed to hold onto her phone, which she still clutched in her hand. It was almost frozen between her fingers that had rapidly grown numb from the cold, but it might be her only chance. Shivering, she felt for the power button and turned it back on. Another howl and whistle.
It was definitely moving closer.
Arrie shouted something, but she couldn’t understand what he was saying as the terrifying roar reverberated through the cavern.
The screen illuminated, and she waited impatiently for it to load before swiping her finger across it in search of the flashlight function. She pressed it a few times before it eventually turned on.
Once the light glowed, she raised the phone above her head and waved it back and forth as high as possible.
Another roar and shrill whistle.
Get out of there now!
Suddenly Marisa heard something large crawling down the wall of ice several feet above her. Should she switch off her phone? Was its light leading some horrible beast right to her?
Le
t your light shine, said a voice in Marisa’s head.
Her mind was numb with fear as she heard sharp claws digging and scratching into the ice right above her, moving dangerously close.
“Marisa, I see you!” It was Darian. “Stay where you are and don’t move!” he shouted, his voice resonating through the cavern.
“Please, hurry,” she mouthed, her teeth chattering.
“Hold your light higher so I can see where you are! We’ve got to get out of here!”
Struggling to hold the phone above her head, Marisa waved it back and forth as a beacon in the darkness. A moment later, she could hear Darian digging into the ice on a shelf just a few feet above her.
There was a deafening roar from the creature that sent tremors across the cavern floor. The unmistakable sound of Darian’s sword being unsheathed echoed in Marisa’s ears. His blade clanged as it smashed into the walls of ice when it missed. The piercing shrieks of the beast reverberated throughout the cave.
Small chunks of ice pelted her, and she quickly covered her head with her cape. Sounds of scuffling could be heard as the beast whistled and roared in anger.
Hugging the wall of ice, she breathed on her hands, trying to warm them as her teeth chattered violently.
Darian grunted somewhere in the darkness, and the beast howled in pain. Again the sword clanged as it missed the animal and slammed into the walls of the cave. She winced as a thousand tiny splinters of ice rained down around her.
She listened to the terrifying struggle going on just above her as the creature’s howls and snorts mixed with Darian’s grunts and shouts. She had no idea what he was up against but could only pray he would be able to defeat whatever it was.
Suddenly, the monster screamed in agony.
Marisa jumped as the lifeless creature tumbled down past her, only visible for a second or two as the dim light from her cell phone reflected in the creature’s pupils.
After an extended pause, there was a loud, echoing thud that resonated upward from the cavern floor deep below.
“Marisa! Where are you?” Darian called to her.
Unable to think or speak, Marisa couldn’t muster the strength to respond. Her eyelids were drooping, and her teeth chattered. She continued to shake her cell phone light above her head.
Darian scurried down the icy slope just as fast as he could go without losing his footing. Within seconds, his head popped over the edge just above her.
“Oh, thank Garon!” He exhaled with relief as he quickly climbed down to her. “Marisa, we thought we’d lost you. We must get you out of here right away. Are you hurt?”
He looked her up and down, trying to see if she had been wounded. Her clothes were soaked and freezing, but she didn’t appear to have any broken bones. In the low light of the cell phone, Darian saw that her face and hands had already started to turn a deathly bluish-white.
“Marisa? Marisa—look at me!”
Darian sounded as if he was far away, and his face was only a blur. If she fell asleep now, she’d never wake up, but Marisa no longer seemed to care.
“Put your arms around my neck. I’m going to carry you up on my back, but you’ve got to hold on. Do you think you can do that?”
She nodded, barely able to make out his blurry shape in the flashlight of her phone. He took it from her and slipped it under his belt to light their way.
“Now I want you to put your arms around my neck, grasp your wrist with your hand, and hold on as tight as you can. Wrap your legs around my waist, and whatever you do, don’t let go. Are you ready? Let’s go.”
Marisa couldn’t feel her feet or thighs anymore, and there was barely a hint of feeling in both hands. She locked her arms around Darian’s neck and struggled to hang on. It felt as if she hadn’t slept in days.
He slowly began to scale the wall using a small dagger to delve into the ice. Using his other arm to hoist them both up, he sought solid footing, bracing his boots against the stalagmites and columns. Slowly, they ascended higher above the cavern floor.
As Marisa fought to stay awake, she could feel the power of his back muscles flexing underneath her. Her body grew steadily weaker as her consciousness finally started to slip away. At last she shut her eyes.
All she wanted to do was sleep.
Darian reached the ledge where Arrie waited with an outstretched arm. He pulled her up over the slippery edge, and was startled by the bluish-white color of her skin as he peered down into her unseeing, glassy eyes.
CHAPTER 15
CONVERSATIONS
AS MARISA FINALLY REGAINED consciousness, she awoke with a strange jostling sensation. She opened her eyes slowly to find herself sitting on Obsidian just in front of and facing Darian. Startled by their proximity to each other, she sat up quickly and glanced around.
Her legs were extended over his, and her arms encircled his waist under a white linen shirt. He had removed his armored breastplate, and his arms were stretched out around her to grasp the reins and to keep her from slipping off.
As Marisa felt his oblique muscles flexing under her fingers, she sat up straight and stared directly into his amused eyes.
“Good afternoon,” he said softly.
Without breaking his horse’s stride, he gazed down at her, and his eyes seemed to sparkle from within. Her face was close enough to his that they almost touched, and she had the overwhelming urge to kiss him. She decided that it probably wasn’t a good idea at this point.
She squinted in the brightness of the afternoon sun and leaned out to see Arrie leading Siena at the rear. “What happened?” she asked, rubbing her forehead.
“You fell.”
“Yeah, that part I remember. What happened after that?”
“You slipped and slid off down the wall of the cave. If that column of ice hadn’t broken your fall, you would have tumbled over the edge into the abyss just like that yarmout did.”
“Yarmout? Was that the hairy, freaky monster you killed?”
He nodded. “Your body temperature dropped so far that you blacked out. We got you out of the cave as quickly as possible.”
“So why do I have my hands inside your shirt?”
“You became under cooled. We had to warm you up as fast as possible. Are you able to feel your hands again?”
“Yes.” She blushed. “How long have I been out?”
“About an hour, I think,” he said softly.
Sinking her head back into his chest, Marisa relished in his warmth. Her muscles felt weak, and she knew they’d probably be sore by morning. Sobered by the fact she had narrowly escaped death that day, she sought comfort in his firm body. As she looked down, a startling realization came over her.
“Uh, Darian—Your Highness?”
He glanced down at her from where he’d been concentrating on the road.
“I’m not wearing the same clothes that I put on this morning. These are the extra clothes I put in the sack.”
He nodded. “Your garments were wet from where the ice had melted through the cloth. The only way we could warm you up was to remove them.”
Marisa’s eyes widened.
“We had to get you into dry clothes immediately, or we might have lost you forever. You have nothing to be ashamed of.” He looked down at her with a smirk.
Her face flushed, and she quickly looked away.
In the late afternoon, they crossed a shallow river and stopped there to allow the horses to drink. Darian dismounted and then lifted her off his horse, setting her down on the ground.
“We’ll set up camp back in those woods,” he said to Arrie. “I’m going further upstream to find some firewood.” He raced off into the woods.
Arrie unrolled the small tent he’d been carrying on his horse and cleared a small patch of ground about a hundred yards from the river. He quickly pitched the tent and built a fire pit.
Darian soon returned with an armful of wood and a giant hare he had killed. “I found us some dinner,” he announced proudly.
&nbs
p; Marisa’s jaw dropped in amazement. She watched as he removed a small dagger from his belt and skinned the hare within just a few minutes. She shook her head. This guy was more like Tarzan than a prince.
Once the wood was burning, Arrie whittled some sticks to build a makeshift spit and placed the skinned rabbit on it to cook. The flames licked the flesh, gently roasting their dinner.
Marisa noticed the sun was beginning to set on the horizon, so she stood up to go wash off in the river before it got dark. As she walked through the forest toward the water, she rolled up her sleeves to examine her arms. Sharp edges on the ice had scraped her arms in a couple of places, but by some miracle, she hadn’t gotten frostbitten. Although she had been bruised badly on her hip and back, Marisa was relieved nothing had been broken.
She reached the rocky stream and kneeled down next to a large boulder, gazing at her surroundings. She admired the tall trees that towered along the banks of the river and Marisa inhaled the fresh scent of pine and cedar. The tranquility of the woods back in Oregon had always provided peace for her soul and the place where they were camped out now reminded her so much of home.
She closed her eyes, and for a few brief moments, her troubles and worries seemed to melt away. The sound of the water rushing by was soothing, and Marisa realized that she was quickly falling in love with the breathtaking wilderness of Carnelia.
As she stared down at her rippling reflection and splashed water on her arms, her mind wandered back to Darian. She thought about his confession of love by the lake and was sobered by the fact that it would never happen again. She pulled her hair into a ponytail and stood up to go.
She bumped into Darian who was standing right behind her. Startled, she lost her balance. In a lightning-fast reaction, he reached out and caught her just before she fell in. She steadied herself and glared at him.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you,” he said.
“Well—you did,” she said angrily.
“I didn’t think you should be down here alone. This area is a favorite watering hole of many large animals.”
“Oh. I didn’t know that.”
The Carnelian Legacy Page 14