The Shadowed Land

by Ryan W. Mueller

  "Rik, hit it with some water!"

  He let the light from his staff go dark, but the creature provided enough light to give him an easy shot. Calmly, he sent a powerful blast of water at the creature. The fiery being faded into nothing.

  She put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm glad to have you by my side."

  He relit his staff. "It was nothing."

  "I still feel like there's something else here," she said. "I don't think that's what I felt. Or if it was, it wasn't alone."

  "Let's not think about that," he said, face pale in the light from his staff. They resumed their trek through the passage, following countless twists and turns. Nadia's feet ached, but she ignored the pain and remained alert for additional threats. The farther they walked, the more she felt as if she couldn't breathe.

  When she told Rik, he said, "I don't think that has anything to do with your fear. When I'm casting light with the staff, I can't also cast a shield. We've gotta breath the disgusting air."

  She laughed. "That might explain it."

  "I wish I understood this thing better." He turned the staff over in his hands, keeping it lit. "I don't even know if I'm one of the better channelers out there."

  "Whatever you are, you're very useful to have around."

  He chuckled. "Don't think I've heard that too often."

  "Rik, I understand that you've felt like you don't belong with us. I don't want you to feel that way. You were such an important part of our quest to defeat Warrick, and now you're the only person who can help me save Markus."

  "I understand that," he said. "I guess I'm still having trouble getting over the way I deserted you when you needed me most."

  "But you came back. That's what counts."

  "And what if I'd been too late?"

  "You weren't," she said, "and that's all that matters."

  He walked a few steps in silence, sweeping his staff's light from side to side. "There's still the fact that we failed. I mean, what's our purpose in life now? Yeah, I know we have a chance to save Markus, but what're we gonna do after that?"

  Nadia hesitated. "I haven't given it much thought."

  "I mean, do we just settle down somewhere outside the Empire?"

  "What other choice do we have? We had our chance to kill Warrick, and we failed." It took a few moments before Nadia felt the full weight of her words. For more than four years, she'd lived with one purpose. Now that purpose had been taken from her. She had Markus, but was her love for him enough to sustain her?

  And what about Rik? He had Nadia and Markus as friends, and that was it. Settling down sounded like their best option, but it felt wrong. How could they find a normal life after what they'd been through?

  Distracting herself from these thoughts, Nadia returned her attention to her surroundings. Her unease had faded a little.

  Soon the passage opened into another larger chamber. There was no lava to light their way. Rik shifted his staff's light across the chamber, revealing that no monsters lurked in the shadows.

  But Nadia did see something unusual on the walls. "Rik, shine your light on the wall to the left again."

  He did so, and now she could see unusual markings. They looked vaguely familiar.

  "I think these are Luminian symbols," she said. "Keep the light steady, Rik."

  He cast the light upon the wall, and she scrutinized the symbols. Why had somebody carved these into the cave wall? This seemed an unlikely place. Even more interesting, who could have written these? The Fire Mountains were a creation of Warrick's, just like the Plain of Storms and the Forest of Darkness.

  No Luminian had entered the Empire since its creation, or so she'd always thought. Now that she'd met Angeline, she knew people could enter the Empire. Still, why would anyone leave a message here?

  "What do they say?" Rik asked.

  "Give me a few moments." She examined the symbols, taking care to read them properly. Luminian wasn't a written language like her own. The symbols required interpretation. In some ways, they were a safeguard against prying eyes.

  It was a short message, but it still took some time to decipher. Nadia tried to ignore Rik's impatience. He might not find these symbols interesting, but she did.

  "All right," she said. "This first one is the symbol for daughter. The second is a crown. The third is a city on fire." She felt suddenly queasy. Luminian symbols left a lot up to interpretation, but this message seemed clear. The daughter of the ruler of the burning city.

  "I don't understand," Rik said.

  "I think it's about me. The crown is often used as the symbol for a ruler of any kind, which fits my father. The ruler of the burning city."

  Rik shuffled closer. "So you're saying this message is about you?"

  "It might even be intended for me."

  "But who would expect you to come here?"

  "Someone who can read the Webs of Fate," she said.

  "So Warrick might have left this here?"

  "I don't know," she said. "People from outside can get into the Empire. Maybe one of them left it here. Maybe there's some other sorcerer out there trying to guide us."

  "I hate to say it, but that's a weak argument."

  "I know," she said before returning her attention to the symbols. To her disappointment, there wasn't much more to read. The next few symbols indicated a man of the forest and then great sickness. That was obviously Markus.

  When she told Rik, he said, "Yeah, I think I can see that. This is strange. Do any of these symbols refer to me?"

  "Let me finish reading them."

  She moved along the wall, trying to keep her shadow from obscuring the symbols. The next symbol indicated a long journey, and after that, the final symbol was one she'd known for years: the symbol for Luminia.

  She turned to Rik. "I think I know what this message is saying. It says that Markus and I have to make the journey to Luminia."

  "You sure it says nothing about me?"

  "I'm sure."

  "What if that means I'm not gonna live much longer?" he asked.

  "Rik, the future isn't set in stone. That's what lies behind the Webs of Fate. Nothing is ever certain, but some outcomes are more likely than others. Even if you read the Webs of Fate and saw your own death, it wouldn't mean you're going to die at that moment, or at any time for that matter."

  "That's still not very comforting."

  "Don't worry about the future," she said. "If you die, you die. Worrying about it will only make life more difficult."

  She looked at the symbols again, worried she'd missed something, but now she had trouble reading them. Orange light flickered against the wall.

  "Rik, your light's flickering too much."

  "It's not me."

  They turned to see more than a dozen of those fiery spirits hovering toward them.

  Chapter 20: The Dragon's Lair

  Nadia's legs trembled as Rik sent a burst of water at the closest fire creature. It dissolved, but at least a dozen of the creatures remained. Rik turned frantically from one enemy to the next, sending blast after blast of water, but he wasn't sustaining them long enough. None of the creatures were vanishing.

  Nadia and Rik retreated. Maybe they could escape these creatures if they returned to the passage from which they'd come.

  "Is there anything else you can do to stop them?" Nadia asked.

  "I don't know. I'm doing the best I can." Rik kept sending bursts of water as they retreated. One creature dissolved, then another, and another. Nadia and Rik kept running, but the creatures were gaining on them.

  "Just keep doing what you're doing," Nadia said. "Eventually, they'll be gone."

  "I'm not so sure about that. I can already feel myself weakening."

  They raced through the twisting passage, guided by the light from the flickering creatures. Nadia tried to think of something she could do, but these creatures were made of fire. Arrows and swords would go right through them. Rik was her only hope.

  Rik fired a jet of water. Another
creature dissolved. But still the rest—six or seven of them—gained on Nadia and Rik. Rik fired another jet of water, but it turned to a feeble trickle.

  "Damn," he said. "I've got nothing left."

  "Then we'll have to run."

  They raced through the narrow passages as the air grew hotter. Rik held a shield around them to keep the worst of the air away, but Nadia felt as if she couldn't get a full breath. They were about to step into one of the larger chambers when more of the fiery creatures came from in front of them, blocking their path.

  Rik's face had gone deathly pale. "What're we supposed to do now?"

  "I have no idea."

  The fiery creatures hovered closer, and the heat became intense. The creatures were only a few feet away. Nadia felt so weak she struggled to stay on her feet.

  "I've got an idea," Rik said, "but it's completely insane."

  "I don't care. Anything's better than dying like this."

  "Stick close to me," he said. "I can still keep a shield going. It's a different kind of magic. Maybe it'll protect us from the heat."

  Rik strengthened his shield and grabbed her, and they raced right through the nearest creature. The heat burned against Nadia's skin, so intense it took all her determination to keep going. Without the shield, it would have killed her.

  They ran through one creature, then another, then another. With each passing moment, the heat grew more unbearable. Nadia struggled to remain conscious.

  Then, at last, they passed through the final creature. Rik let the shield die, but they kept running. Nadia's strength and balance gradually returned. She glanced back every few seconds, watching the creatures' progress. The fiery beings were gaining on them again.

  "We survived for now," she said. "But what else can we do?"

  "I don't want to think about that right now."

  They returned to the chamber containing the symbols, then darted into the passage at its other end. This passage twisted along like all the others. With the fiery creatures so close behind them, Rik didn't need to light his staff.

  Nadia's breath came in sharp gasps, and she nearly doubled over in exhaustion. Soon they reached a place where the path branched off in two directions.

  "We need to go left," Nadia said. She had no idea why she was so certain.

  "Is this one of your strange intuitions?"

  "I think so."

  "Then let's follow it."

  They scrambled into that passage as the heat grew more intense. Nadia glanced back. The creatures were maybe ten feet behind them. The sudden change in direction had surprised them, but only temporarily.

  Nadia clung to Rik as they sprinted through the dark passage. A strange rushing sound came from the distance, and Nadia couldn't identify it at first.

  When they got closer, though, she identified it. A waterfall.

  "Is that what I think it is?" Rik asked, hastening his pace.

  Nadia didn't have to answer, for when they rounded the next bend, the waterfall came into view. It covered the entire exit from the passage. Nadia had no idea what lay beyond the waterfall, but she didn't care. All that mattered was that her intuition had been right.

  This waterfall would stop the fiery creatures.

  She and Rik leaped through the waterfall. There was nothing on the other side, and Nadia's stomach lurched as she plummeted. She screamed and flailed her legs for a few tense moments, and then she hit the cool water beneath.

  It took a few moments to swim back to the surface. By the time she emerged, Rik had already made it back to the surface. They both looked up, toward the sound of the waterfall. Their pursuers were no longer in view. In the darkness, Nadia couldn't see anything.

  "Well, that was fortunate," Rik said. "What're the chances?"

  Nadia pushed against the fast-moving current. "It's not as strange as you might think. Remember. These mountains are right next to the Raging River. Streams like this one must feed into that river."

  "Which means we should probably find some dry land," he said.

  Nadia swam to her right in the darkness, struggling as the current tried to pull her downstream. The last thing they needed was to end up in the Raging River. Rik and Garet had been lucky to survive it once.

  Exhausted as she was, swimming toward the rocky shore was almost impossible. More than once, she thought she'd fall beneath the water and never reemerge. She could only hear Rik splashing next to her. In the darkness, she couldn't see anything.

  At last, she felt the shore against her hands. She scrabbled out of the water on her hands and knees, coughing and feeling utterly exhausted. Rik coughed next to her, and they both collapsed a few feet from the water.

  "Do you still have your staff?" Nadia asked breathlessly.

  "Yeah, I made sure to hold onto it. Give me a second and we'll have some light." A moment later, orange light illuminated the cavern. Rik swiveled the light around. "Not sure where we're supposed to go from here."

  "For now, I think we should rest."

  Rik offered no argument, so they sat on the rocks, waiting until they felt stronger. At some point, they'd lost their belongings, so they had no food. At least the straps holding Nadia's canteen hadn't given out. She filled it a few times with water from the river.

  They rested for maybe half an hour, then moved about the dark chamber, examining their surroundings in the light from Rik's staff. There was nowhere to go in the direction of the waterfall, so they tried the other direction, where they found a narrow passage off to the left. As soon as they stepped into the passage, Nadia felt the same kind of resistance she'd felt before when crossing invisible barriers.

  Rik led the way with his staff. "How do we even know we're going the right way?"

  "It's the only way we can go," she said, "and I think there might be something really dangerous down this way. I felt an invisible barrier."

  Rik groaned. "Not what I wanted to hear."

  They continued down the passage, and nothing threatened at first, but then the passage opened into a wider chamber. Deep in the recesses of the chamber, something enormous stirred. Rik made the mistake of shining his light in its eyes.

  The creature let out a low growl that shook the cave. Rik got rid of the light from his staff, but the monster had already noticed them.

  For a few moments, they stood silently in the dark, but then a great plume of fire illuminated the cave. In the light, Nadia saw the monster for the first time. Though she'd only read about dragons, she knew without a doubt that she was seeing one.

  It stood perhaps twenty feet tall, and it unfolded wings that made it just as wide. Giant scales covered every inch of its body, and spikes adorned its back. As it continued to breathe fire, it showed off teeth as long as swords and a mouth that could swallow them whole.

  "I thought we were trying to avoid the dragon," Rik said.

  Nadia kept her voice low. "We did take a detour."

  "Got any ideas?"

  "I'm thinking." But Nadia couldn't come up with anything. She could only stand there and stare at the dragon as it watched them. Though it had unfolded its wings, it had not made any aggressive moves. Surely it wouldn't let them violate its domain.

  "Maybe if we back away really slowly," Rik said.

  "And go where? There's no way back where we came from."

  "Damn. Didn't think of that."

  The dragon turned its massive snout toward them and opened its mouth, ready to spew flames. Rik raised his staff to cast a shield. The flames surged toward them, and Nadia almost closed her eyes. But, no, she had to see her death coming.

  When the flames hit Rik's shield, they spread out, but Rik looked as if he were ready to collapse. He couldn’t hold the shield much longer.

  "Let's go back," Nadia said. "We'll think of something else later."

  Rik kept the shield going as they retreated, returning to the narrow passage from which they'd entered the dragon's lair. Once they were safely away from the flames, Rik let his shield dissipate, and they settl
ed down on the ground, covered in sweat and exhausted.

  Though the ground was uncomfortable, they decided to rest. Maybe a good night's sleep would help Rik replenish his magical energy. It took Nadia a long time to drift off to sleep because she spent all her time thinking about how they could elude the dragon.

  Or worse, how this delay might cost Markus his life.

  When Nadia woke, she had no idea how much time had passed. Here in the caves, there was no way to tell day from night. It felt as if the weight of all those tons of rock had settled over her. She roused Rik from sleep.

  He groaned, looking up at her. "What is it?"

  "Can you tell if your magic is back?"

  He frowned and closed his eyes. "No idea. I won't really know until I try to use it, and I don't want to use it if I don't have to."

  "We should see if the dragon's still there. From everything I've read, it spends most of its time flying around the northern side of the mountain. We probably caught it while it was sleeping." Her stomach churned. "Or at least I hope we did."

  Rik sighed loudly. "What else is there to do?"

  Nadia gave him a stern look. She didn't want Rik to become bitter again.

  "Sorry," he said.

  They remained silent as they returned to the large chamber. Rik shined his light toward where the dragon had been before, and it wasn't there. Nadia felt as if a weight had left her chest.

  "Let's get moving," she said. "There's no telling when it might return."

  They crept through the dragon's lair, struggling to find footing amidst the uneven rocks. Soon Rik no longer had to use his staff, for natural light streamed into the cave. Nadia glanced up, hoping they'd left the caves, but they hadn't. Instead, there was a massive opening far above them. That was how the dragon had left its lair, but it wouldn't help them.

  "There's gotta be another way," Rik said. "We just haven't found it yet."

  Nadia smiled at him. "Now that's the Rik I like to see."

  "I do try, you know. It ain't always so easy."

  They walked through the dragon's lair, expecting to see the dragon at any moment, and quickly left the light behind. Rik lit his staff again, and by its light, they found a narrow passage leading away from the dragon's lair. When they entered the passage, Nadia felt the barrier.