by Jamie Davis
Cari thought about what they might face inside the mountain. She found herself concerned by what Chrrrak had said about other creatures setting up shop in the tunnels at the bottom of the ravine. She had hoped he was wrong, but it was likely he knew exactly what he was talking about.
She settled back against the rock wall beside the cave and ate the rest of her breakfast with the others. She, too, forced herself to eat as much as she could. She wanted to be as strong as possible for what lay ahead.
Chapter 11
It didn’t take them long to pack up camp once breakfast was finished. Their packs were loaded up after unpacking all the rope they’d carried up into the mountains. They gathered the lines salvaged from the Sailfish, which were just long enough to reach the bottom of the ravine when tied together and used them to lower Francesca and then Helen to the bottom.
The two of them scouted to either side for a few minutes then came back to the bottom of the slope where the others above could see them. Helen gave Cari a thumbs up and they hauled the rope back up to lower the rest of them down one at a time. It was a lot easier with the additional strength of the trolls to help them.
Percy went next. Followed by all of their packs. That left Cari and Jaycee to go last. Cari used an extra length of rope to tie the girl to her belt. There was about 4 feet of slack between them and Cari intended to have Jaycee hold onto the line just in front of her as she backed down the slope with the trolls letting out slack as she went.
The first little bit wasn’t too bad, although there were places where the stones were loose, and she kicked away some of them with her feet before placing her toes in a crevice or on a small ledge so she could gain purchase. Jaycee was actually having an easier time of it, probably because she was lighter and small. Things were going well at first and then Cari’s feet slipped out from under her. Luckily, Jaycee managed to maintain her footing and for a bit, Cari lay against the steep slope with nothing holding her from a long sliding fall except for the rope tied around her waist.
“Do you need help getting up?” Jaycee asked.
Cari chuckled as she gathered herself to continue downward. “No, I’m fine. You just make sure you hold on tight to that rope. You see how easy it is for someone to slip.”
“I’m not worried. You won’t let me fall.”
Cari shook her head. The girl put a lot of faith in her. She didn’t want to let the young princess down. Cari signaled to Chrrrak at the top of the ravine. He and his trolls began to let out more rope and she continued to descend to the floor of the ravine.
By the time Cari reached the bottom, her calves and thighs ached, burning with lactic acid buildup from the exertion of the descent. Her arms were tired, too. Even Jaycee seemed to relax once they reached the bottom, though she never stopped grinning the whole way down.
“I think I found the entrance to the tunnels,” Helen said as Cari untied herself and helped coil up the ropes, dropped down from above by the trolls once she was safe.
“Which way?”
“Over here to the left. It’s not hard to spot once you reach it.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ll see when you get there.”
The five of them shouldered their packs. Even Jaycee had one. They couldn’t spare not having someone, even her size, carry part of the load.
Cari looked up and waved at Chrrrak at the top of the ravine one last time. He waved back, then he and his trolls disappeared from the edge. “All right people, let’s get moving.”
Cari saw what Helen meant as soon as they’d walked about 20 yards along the bottom of the ravine. To the left against the sheer cliff wall of the opposite side of the gorge lay a rectangular doorway.
The sides and top of the doorway were carved with runes. Cari couldn’t read them. For all she knew, they could be an advertisement for some restaurant that used to be inside the mountain. As she stared at the entrance, a message floated in her eyes confirming this was their way through the mountain.
* * *
Quest completed — find the tunnels under the mountain
10,000 experience awarded
* * *
“I guess this is where it starts. All right, I’ll lead the way, followed by Helen, then Jaycee, Percy, and Francesca. Got it?”
The others all nodded. Cari took a small oil lantern from a clip on her belt. She was glad Francesca had found them aboard the Sailfish and thought to bring them from the ship’s stores. It would be way easier to light their way with the lanterns instead of some sort of improvised torch. She only hoped they’d brought along enough lamp oil.
* * *
Quest accepted — travel through the mountain
* * *
Lighting the lamp and holding it up in front of her, Cari stepped into the dark opening. The floor was smooth and paved with quarried rock. The sides of the walls were also made of worked stone.
These tunnels had not been used for a long time. Once she got inside about thirty yards, there was a thick layer of dust on the floor. Occasionally she saw animal prints below in the dust but nothing that looked too large.
The passageway sloped downward but not at too steep an angle to navigate easily. The tunnel led them deeper underground as well as farther into the mountain. Cari hoped this meant it would eventually let out lower on the far side of the mountains. That would make it easier for them than a long steep descent after leaving the tunnels on the other side.
“I hadn’t counted on it being quite so chilly down here,” Helen said.
“I think I read somewhere once that below ground, the temperature doesn’t change very much unless you’re near a source of a volcano or an ice flow or glacier of some sort. I’d guess that means it shouldn’t get any colder than this. Check on Jaycee, though. Make sure she’s warm enough.”
“I am fine, Cari,” the tiny voice said from behind her. “This tunnel is amazing. What kind of people must have lived here long ago?”
“I’m more concerned with what kind of people live here now,” Francesca said from the rear of the group.
The group fell silent, and Cari cursed under her breath. It was silly of Francesca to say something so stupid. She didn’t need everyone freaking out about problems they didn’t have. “Let’s not worry about that. For all we know the people that live down here now are as friendly as the trolls are up in the mountains.”
“We’ll see, ma’am,” Percy said. “I hope you’re right.”
After they had walked for what Cari figured was approximately two hours. The passageway opened up into a larger chamber. There were branching passageways leading off to the left and right as well as another one continuing on straight ahead. Cari realized it would be very easy for them to get lost down here. “Helen, I don’t suppose you have any chalk or some other way we can mark these tunnels as we pass through them?”
“As a matter of fact, Cari, I do. I don’t know why I thought to pack it but I’m glad I did, now.”
Helen took off her backpack and dug through it for a minute until she found what she was looking for. She held up a four-inch stick of chalk about as thick as her thumb. “Will this do?”
“Perfect. I’m going to mark the tunnels with an arrow pointing in the direction from which we came and an ‘x’ on the tunnels we don’t use. That way we’ll know how to get back to the surface if we get turned around.”
“Are you thinking there isn’t a way out on the other side?” Francesca asked.
“I have to think there used to be. But we have to be prepared that it may have caved in over the years. We just don’t know. This way, at least, we won’t be stuck down here wandering for the rest of our lives.”
Cari walked over to the tunnel they’d just exited. At shoulder height, she drew a foot-long white line with an arrow pointing back the way they came.
“Can everybody see that?” Cari asked, holding up the lantern next to the mark she’d made. “Just in case any of us get separated from the others, I want you to be
able to recognize the marks I make. That way you’ll know which direction we traveled. I’ll make a similar mark on the other side of any opening like this where there are multiple exits. That will tell you which direction we went.”
Cari walked straight across the chamber and made another line with an arrow pointing back towards the other tunnel. Her father had once told her that you could never get lost as long as you knew how to get back to where you started. The thought made her smile. Her mother didn’t subscribe to the same theory and it was a frequent topic of discussion on family trips. Time to see how it all works in real life.
“Let’s stop here, have a snack, and rest a little bit. Make sure you all have something to drink but not too much. I’m hoping we’ll find an underground stream or spring where we can replenish our water supply, but we can’t be sure that we will.”
The group settled down for a brief rest in the dim light of their lanterns. After about fifteen minutes, they rose, shouldered their packs once again and started down the opposite tunnel. This one was much like the first. It continued to slope downward and was smooth and covered in worked stone.
Cari noticed several places where there were more runes like the ones over the doors in the ravine. The previous residents carved them into the rock walls.
They were all at about the height of her elbow. She figured she’d missed them at first since she wasn’t looking down and wondered if there had been some in the initial passage down from the surface. It was strange that someone would make markings down there like that. Cari shrugged. Maybe they were directions for lost children or something.
The passageway continued for quite some distance without opening up into any other side passages. They stopped after several hours of travel on two different occasions before they reach the bottom of the passage.
Cari figured it was getting on towards the night and she thought about stopping and camping inside the passage. Then the passage ended and suddenly opened up into a large cavern. Cari stood in the opening of the passage and raised her lantern as high as she could.
The yellow glow of light extended out about 15 yards into the gloom in all directions. She couldn’t see the far wall or the ceiling from where she stood. The floor of the cavern was smooth and worked just like the floor of the tunnel was, but the cavern’s walls to either side of her were rough natural stone. That indicated this was probably as much a natural opening in the mountain as it was one that had been smoothed over by intelligent hands.
“Let’s find a place here where we can safely camp. I figure it’s got to be close to nightfall outside. I think it’s best if we try to stay on a normal schedule while we’re down here.”
“I’m not sure how we will do that, Cari,” Helen said. “I don’t even know how long we’ve been down here.”
“I’m just guessing too, Helen. We’ll have to do the best we can.”
“Which way?” Percy asked standing next to Cari and trying to peer into the darkness around them. “I can’t see anything in any direction. I’m not sure I want to camp out in the open down here.”
“You’re right, Percy,” Cari said. “Let’s head to the right along the side of the cavern keeping the wall in sight and look for an opening or a small cave like we found last night at the top of the ravine. We just need somewhere we can set up a place to sleep for the night as well as someplace we can use to defend ourselves if something shows up while we’re sleeping.”
“Still expecting trouble?” Helen asked.
“If we expect trouble and none arrives, the worst case is some of us lose sleep because of guard duty. On the other hand, not preparing could leave us all in dire straits.”
Helen nodded in agreement and gestured to the right. Cari once again took the lead and started along the edge of the cavern holding her lantern out to the left so she could see as far as she could into the large open cavern while keeping the wall of the cavern to her right in sight.
They traveled about 500 yards along the edge of the cavern when they encountered the first building. It was a small stone hut with a single room inside. It might have been the dwelling of a small family. Cari couldn’t be sure. Based on its size, it might have also been some sort of a storeroom.
There was a wooden door fitted to the stone opening and even a small open window with wooden shutters built into the front wall. The back of the building was set against the wall of the cavern, using the cavern wall to form the rear wall of the building as well. Cari walked around to both sides to check for any signs of habitation. That’s when she saw the other buildings spreading out into the cavern beyond the first one.
“It looks like we stumbled onto some sort of abandoned underground village,” Francesca observed.
“I wonder who lived down here?” Percy asked. “I can’t imagine living underground like this.”
“Whoever they are,” Cari said. “They were a good deal shorter than us.”
Cari stood by the doorway to the small hut. She had to duck under the lintel as she opened the door to check inside. Looking around the single room, she saw a table and three chairs. They were all made lower to the ground than would be normal for a human adult. Cari wondered if some other race of people lived here or if they were just pigmy humans.
As in the cave outside, there was a thick layer of dust on the floor indicating that whoever had lived here, had been gone a long time.
Cari turned and called out to the others. “Come on in. There’s plenty of room for all of us in here and, if we close the door, we should have some measure of safety.”
The others came into the small room and settled down to get the rest of their camp together. After a meal, including the last of their venison, everyone unrolled their blankets and made themselves a place to sleep.
Cari detailed guard duty for the night after dinner, dividing up the time between herself, Helen, and Francesca. Percy objected, saying he deserved a chance at guard duty as well, but Cari overruled him. She knew he wanted to earn his keep, but she figured it was best to have the more experienced adults be on guard.
Cari was glad she’d opted to be cautious and sought out a defensible position. The night’s visitors from the caverns arrived in the middle of Francesca’s shift on guard. She had been the second to take over guard duty in the middle portion of the night after Cari. Helen was scheduled to wake up early and relieve her.
Cari woke when Francesca gently shook her shoulder and whispered in her ear, “I hear noises outside.”
Cari sat up. Peering around the room in the gloom. They left the lamp lit but shuttered it to keep it as dim as possible so less light would escape the confines of the small hut. Her eyes adjusted well to the darkness, though, and she was able to make out everyone else in the room as Francesca moved around to wake the others.
Moving to the door, Cari pressed her ear against it listening carefully. At first, she didn’t hear anything. Then, she heard what Francesca must have heard. It was a sort of shuffling sound followed by the clicks of something against the stone floor of the cavern. It was almost as if someone were tapping a cane or a staff on the stone, sort of like a blind person would.
“I hear it too, Francesca. There’s definitely something out there,” Cari whispered. “Part of me thinks we should see if it passes on by, rather than checking to see what it is. On the other hand, I don’t think we want something breaking in the door to get in here with us. It would be no fun having a fight in these close confines. Any ideas?”
“I am with you, on that one, Cari.” Helen pointed to the door. “If there’s something out there, we should probably have a look and see what it is. It might be some harmless underground animal going about his business. If that’s the case, we can all go back to sleep.”
Cari was skeptical about the harmless animal idea, but she agreed with Helen. They needed to find out what was out there and now was as good a time as any. Cari checked to make sure her pistols were loaded and settled her sword baldric over her shoulder. Everyone else had armed
themselves as well.
“All right I’ll open the door and go out first. The rest of you follow me. Percy, you stay in the doorway with the lantern and guard Jaycee.”
“I want to come with you. I want to see what it is too,” Jaycee said. The little girl had drawn her belt knife and held it in front of her ready to come join the adventure.
Cari shook her head. “Jaycee, this is all about getting you back to the capital. If there is something out there that we can show you, and it’s safe to come outside, I’ll return and get you so you can see it for yourself, all right?”
Jaycee’s lower lip thrust out in a pout and she shoved her belt knife back into its sheath and crossed her arms. Cari decided that would have to be good enough. The little girl was unlikely to be happy no matter what she said. She didn’t have to be pleased with the idea of staying in here with Percy to guard her, she just had to obey Cari.
Gripping the latch to the door with one hand Cari prepared to lift it and swing the door open. “Everyone ready?”
The others all nodded, and Percy lifted up the lantern ready to open the shutters and throw light on whatever was outside. Cari nodded and thrust open the door, running out to stand to the left of the doorway and make room for Francesca and Helen to come behind her.
As soon as Percy reached the entrance behind the others, the lantern spread a glow of light out about 20 yards into the cavern.
Cari spotted the source of the sound instantly. She was also immediately sorry she’d decided to come out.
A quartet of enormous spiders spun around in place and froze for a few seconds, startled by the sudden light appearing in their midst. That didn’t last long, though.