The Shadowed Land

by Ryan W. Mueller

  "We'll find our way out," Captain Davis said, "and we will succeed."

  "I wish I had your optimism right now."

  "I avoided what should've been certain death," said the captain. "The way I look at it, I shouldn't be alive. Might as well make the most of every moment I have."

  "That sounds like something Aric would say." Ander stopped at the exit of the large building, atop the steps leading up to it. "I wish I knew how Aric was doing."

  "You'll see him again one day. I'm sure of it."

  Ander shook his head. "I'm sure I won't. There's no way I can pull off what I intend to do without dying. I've accepted that. It's the only way I can make all these deaths matter."

  "There's no law saying you have to die, too."

  "No, but it's going to happen. I can feel it."

  "That doesn't sound very rational," said the captain.

  Ander shrugged. "I can't really explain it. It's just something in the way Cyrus looked when he told me what I had to do. I think he knew he was sending me to my death. I could see the regret in his eyes. Maybe I didn't figure out what it meant back then, but now I know."

  "Just remember that nothing is certain as long as you keep fighting."

  "Don't worry. I will keep fighting. If there's a way to survive this, I'll fight for it."

  The captain clapped him on the back. "That's more like the Ander I'm used to."

  Ander glanced back, expecting to see the Silver Wisps pursuing them, but the air was still and silent. This whole city, with its magical green light, was eerie. The sooner they left it, the better. He glanced around, finding the ramp they'd used to enter the city on their previous trek through these caves. That had to be the right way to go.

  But these caves were unpredictable. He shuddered to think how long it might take to make their way out, or where they might exit when they did.

  They walked the deserted streets of the city, each step amplified in the silence. Whenever Ander glanced back, he thought he saw shadows sliding out of alleys, but when he turned, there was nothing.

  They followed the sloping path as it wound along the edge of the vast chamber. Soon they reached the top and entered a narrow passage. Ander had no idea if it was the same passage through which they'd entered the city before. In these caves, everything looked the same. It was suffocating. Terrifying.

  Captain Davis lit the torch that Sarah had handed him before departing. As they walked through the dark and narrow passage, Ander kept a tight grip on his staff. Again and again, he thought he saw shadows stirring at the edges of his vision. He didn't think these caves had been so terrifying before, but now he'd seen the horrors that might lurk anywhere.

  They walked for hours and hours, choosing paths at random. The caves seemed empty, but they didn't risk speaking. Soon the silence became oppressive. Ander felt as if the darkness were a thick blanket, smothering him.

  Every now and then, they rested and ate from their meager supplies. In the chaos of their previous battles, they'd lost much of their food, and there was nothing to eat here in the caves. Ander didn't want to think of what might happen if they took too long to find their way out. This quest was too important. They couldn't fail like this.

  But Ander had already failed so many people. Perhaps he'd fail everyone now.

  In the tunnels, there was no day, no night. Ander and Captain Davis wandered in the darkness with no idea if they were growing closer to the exit. Days might have passed, but it was difficult to tell. Soon they ran out of food, and they could find nothing to eat. There were some mushrooms in the caves, but Ander wasn't brave enough to try them. Not yet at least.

  They hadn't encountered anything more than a few monsters, which they handled easily. A few months ago, Ander would have been terrified to see some of these creatures. Now they were nothing more than a minor nuisance.

  "What're we gonna do once we get out of here?" asked Captain Davis as they sat on the rocky ground, wishing they had something to eat.

  "Well, if we want to get to Taylorville, we'll have to take a path farther north across the Empire. We should probably head for Marion and make our way from there."

  The captain frowned, torchlight dancing across his face. "Across the Plain of Storms?"

  "Yes. And the desert. I know. It won't be easy."

  "At least we've got magic on our side."

  Ander turned his staff over in his hands. "I hope it's enough."

  He hated the way he felt these days. All his life, he'd been confident. Now he doubted everything, especially his own skills as a leader. Was he headed toward failure again? No matter how much he prepared, Warrick would know he was coming.

  A low growl caught Ander's attention. He tensed, grabbed his staff, and peered into the darkness beyond their circle of torchlight. The growl sounded again, even closer, but Ander couldn't see anything. He took a few tentative steps toward the sound, figuring it was better to confront the danger instead of waiting for it to come to them.

  Something shot out of the darkness with incredible speed and slammed against Ander's chest, knocking him back. He couldn't hold onto his staff, and it clattered away in the darkness somewhere. Struggling to get his breath back, he crawled along the ground.

  He couldn't see the monster anywhere. Where had it gone?

  Ander found his staff and illuminated its tip. He expected to see a monster, but there was nothing. When he felt in his pack, his stomach lurched. The scroll was gone.

  He cast the light from his staff upon his surroundings, but he didn't see the scroll anywhere. A horrifying thought struck him. What if the monster had intended to take the scroll? Could a monster be that intelligent?

  "We have a problem," Ander said. "That monster took the scroll."

  "Then we've gotta find it," said Captain Davis.

  "But how are we going to do that? There's no pattern to this place. We could wander for years and never find out where that monster went."

  "Well, we have to do something. We can't let everything we've sacrificed all be for nothing."

  Ander paced. "Maybe we're just not seeing the scroll. I can't believe that a monster would know what that scroll is. I've seen a lot of strange things recently, but that's a little too strange."

  He retreated down the passage, searching by the light of his staff, and still there was no sign of the scroll. Up ahead, a new passage had appeared. Ander stepped into it. A few feet beyond the entrance, the path ended abruptly, and beyond that was a drop of more than fifty feet. Ander directed his staff's light onto the ground far below. There, just visible against the rock, was the scroll.

  Captain Davis stopped next to him. "How're we gonna reach that?"

  "Isn't it obvious? We have to climb down."

  Before Captain Davis could say anything, Ander strapped his staff to his back and started down the cliff. The rocks on the wall were uneven, giving him places to put his hands and feet, but he still felt as if the world were spinning around him.

  Step by step, he made his way down the cliff. Blue magical light filled the chamber, so he didn't need the light from his staff. He had a few near-slips but made it safely to the bottom. The captain followed perhaps a minute later. Ander gathered the scroll, which looked undamaged. But how had it come to be here? Had the monster stolen it?

  "Should we go back up the cliff?" asked the captain, breathing heavily.

  "No. Let's see where this place leads us. One path is as good as another in this place."

  They stepped across the large chamber, guided by bluish magical light. There was no sign of the monster that had collided with Ander, and he wondered if it had been a monster at all. Its behavior hadn't seemed right.

  They kept an eye out for threats, but nothing stirred in the glowing light. At the other side of the chamber was a narrower passage, which they followed as it sloped gradually upward. Darkness returned, so Ander relit the captain's torch. There were no sounds apart from their steps, no signs of life at all.

  They followed the tunn
el until they came to its end. There were no other passages to take. Ander felt queasy as he thought of climbing up that cliff. He was about to turn around when Captain Davis clamped a hand around his arm.

  "Where do you think you're going?"

  "There's nowhere to go here. We have to go back."

  "You sure there's nowhere to go?" asked Captain Davis. "You told me how you entered this place before. Try touching your staff to the wall."

  "Of course," Ander said, feeling stupid. He placed his staff against the wall. At first, nothing happened, but then a low rumble filled the air. The rocks in front of him slowly shifted out of the way, and sunlight streamed into the cave, nearly blinding him.

  "I can't believe it," said Captain Davis. "I never thought we'd get outta there."

  "I only wish Talia were here with us."

  "As do I. But we've gotta move forward. We have a mission."

  "I know." Ander stepped out into the brilliant sunlight, wishing he could feel victorious, wishing even more that he could feel certain of anything. Everything about his task was doubtful. Even if they did make it across the Empire, they still had to catch Warrick by surprise.

  "It seems kind of strange, doesn't it?"

  Ander broke out of his thoughts. "What's strange?"

  "That shadow monster. All it did was take the scroll. Then it left that scroll on the exact path we had to take to leave the caves. That seems like too much to be coincidence."

  "It does," Ander said. He recalled what Cyrus had told them. Warrick could read the Webs of Fate better than anyone, and it seemed likely that he could guide their quest in some way. But it didn't make sense. Warrick would never help them succeed?

  No. It had to be someone else.

  But there was no point worrying about it. Ander had always been a practical man. He needed to focus only on what he could control. For now, a return trip to Varner City was in order. It was a dangerous proposition to return to a city where Imperial Guards were waiting for them, where Tylen could easily recognize him.

  But that was their only choice. They needed a chance to rest and restock their supplies. Ander prayed he wasn't making the wrong decision.

  Chapter 19: The Fire Mountains

  It didn't take long for Nadia and Rik to reach the base of the mountain. They entered, and it felt all too familiar. This time, however, they were running toward something. The cure.

  Soon they reached the place where they'd taken the narrow passage that had led them out of the Empire. They passed it and continued north.

  "So why didn't we climb the mountains?" Rik asked.

  "Monsters," Nadia said. "I've read that a dragon makes it home on these mountains."

  "A dragon? I didn't think they actually existed."

  "Let's just hope we don't run across it."

  "I don't know," Rik said. "I mean, how many people get to see a real dragon?"

  Nadia gave him a half-serious glare as they walked. Up ahead, geysers sprayed molten rock across the narrow bridge they had to traverse. Nadia saw no pattern to when the geysers sprayed, and she didn't think Rik's shields would be much help.

  "I don't mean to be negative," Rik said, "but how the hell are we supposed to cross that?"

  Nadia examined the bridge. It was perhaps five or six feet wide, though a few spots looked narrower. She wasn't sure how stable it was. The barrage of molten rock had stopped for now, but how long would that last?

  She was about to start across the bridge when more lava sprayed from below. "I have no idea."

  "No plan at all. Just how I like it." He examined the bridge. "I say we run for it and hope for the best. What could go wrong?"

  "Do you think a shield might work?" she asked.

  "I don't know. I can try."

  Lava sprayed across the path, coming from the pool perhaps a hundred feet below. Once the lava stopped, they started running, Rik in the lead. The ground was uneven, and Nadia was terrified she'd catch a foot on the rocks and plummet to her death.

  Sweat clung to her forehead. The fumes inside the cavern had grown so thick and disgusting that she had to hold her shirt over her mouth. The entire cavern rumbled ominously, primed to unleash a geyser at any second.

  The cave quaked violently, and Nadia lost her footing. She felt a rush of adrenaline as she slid off the bridge. When she tried to grab onto something, her hands slipped.

  At the last moment, she grasped the edge of the bridge, but her fingers were slipping. Rik fell to his knees beside her, holding out a hand to lift her up. She tried to grab his hand, but it was too sweaty, and she slipped out of his grip. Her legs flailed wildly, and she screamed, sure she was going to fall into the lava.

  "I've got you," Rik said, tightening his hands around her arms. He grunted as he lifted her, and she helped him by kicking her legs against the rock wall.

  At last, panting with exertion, she rolled onto the bridge. Her heart pounded wildly, and she could barely keep track of her thoughts.

  "Can you run?" Rik asked. "I think there might be another geyser at any second."

  Nadia struggled to her feet with Rik's help, then staggered after him as the mountain shook. Small geysers were spraying far below, signaling that a larger one was sure to come. Nadia felt dizzy.

  The mountain gave a mighty shudder, and a geyser shot up, showering the bridge with lava. Nadia and Rik nearly sprinted as the geyser grew in area behind them, coming closer and closer. Nadia glanced back. The lava was maybe ten feet behind. A stable looking area safe from the geysers was perhaps forty feet ahead, but that looked like a mile.

  "Come on, Nadia," Rik said breathlessly. "You can do it."

  The air had grown as hot as a blacksmith's forge. Nadia's entire body was drenched in sweat. When she glanced back again, she saw that the geyser was still growing.

  At last, they reached the safe platform beyond the bridge. Exhausted, they tumbled over one another, then crawled a few more feet. Lava sprayed across the bridge right where they'd been moments earlier. Nadia watched in awe and terror, unable to move.

  "That was a little too close," Rik said, getting to his feet with difficulty.

  Nadia followed a few moments later, wavering on her legs. "I feel like I can't breathe in this place. I'm so tired. I just want to sleep."

  "Let me try something." Rik raised his staff into the air, and a moment later, the air shimmered. Nadia felt she could breathe again. The air wasn't fresh, but it was cleaner than anything she'd breathed in these caves.

  She leaned on Rik for support. "How did you do that?"

  "I don't know. I figured that the shield might give us cleaner air. I mean, it protects us against a lot of other things."

  "I'm glad it worked," she said. "I just wish I could understand the magic the way you do."

  "I'm not sure I really understand it. Alana gave me an introduction, but I feel like I'm learning new things every day." He glanced around. "So where do we go now?"

  Nadia closed her eyes, focusing on the map the Spirit of Malavia had planted in her head. Instead of seeing the map, she felt it. Strange.

  "Follow me." She started off to their right, remaining within the cleaner air of Rik's shield. The lava far below cast a dim red glow. Soon they came to a narrow passage. Not as narrow as the one in which Markus had panicked on their way out of the Empire, but still too tight for comfort.

  Rik stepped in front of Nadia. "Maybe I should take the lead."

  "Probably a good idea. There's no telling what might live in these caves."

  Rik entered the passage, casting light with his staff. Nadia flinched at every shadow. She heard no sounds apart from their steps and breathing as they followed the twisting passage for what felt like hours, unable to keep track of time in the darkness.

  At last, they entered a larger chamber. It appeared calm and empty, but Nadia's skin was prickling. She peered into the darkness, checking for movement. "I feel like something's watching us."

  Rik swept the light of his staff across the cham
ber. Rocks cast shadows against the walls, but there was nothing else to justify her sudden fear.

  "Maybe I was imagining things," Nadia said. She didn't think it was true, but she couldn't let this strange fear stop her from saving Markus. At the other end of the chamber, perhaps thirty feet distant, was another small passage. She tugged at Rik's arm, and they moved forward hesitantly. Every sound echoed in the silence.

  "I'm not seeing anything," he said. "You must be imagining it."

  "It could be a ghost. This feels a little bit like Woodsville."

  "But what ghosts would there be in a place like this?"

  "I have no idea," she said. "Let's remain alert, all right?"

  Rik nodded, and they crossed the empty chamber, taking care on the uneven ground. Soon they reached the next passage, where Nadia's skin prickled more than ever. Step by step, she tried to calm her nerves. There was nothing here. It was just her imagination. She'd never heard of monsters or spirits residing within the caves.

  Of course, few people entered these caves, and those who did probably didn't return to talk about it. Perhaps it would have been better to take their chances with the dragon.

  No. She couldn't think like that. Nothing supernatural had threatened them yet, and there was no proof they'd face anything of that nature. But as they delved deeper into this passage, following a gently downward slope, Nadia's nerves felt more and more frayed.

  There was no cold like she'd felt in Woodsville, but that same unease consumed her. She wished she could feel a chill, if only to confirm her fears.

  A fire flickered up ahead. It didn't look like the constant reddish light of the lava. No, it was a normal fire. Was someone else in these caves? Nadia shared an anxious glance with Rik, and then they continued forward.

  They rounded a bend in the path and came upon the source of the fire. Floating in front of them was a fiery being that resembled a ghost. Within the flames, deep black eyes stared back at her. She shivered although the air was brutally hot. The creature hovered toward them, and the air grew even hotter.