The Undertaking

Part 10

I woke up to a foggy morning. Looking up I could barely see the sun. standing up, I lookedfor my Terrin, only to see fog. I searched the perimeter of my makeshift camp, but the beastwas no where in sight. Looking down I realized why. The ground had no grass it was onlystone. I knew there was no point in continuing to search, especially in the fog.I collected my pack and began to walk towards the mountain. On a mount it wouldhave taken only two or three hours, but now it would probably be midafternoon before Iwould reach my goal. As I walked, I felt the wind against my face and saw the fog swirlaround the ground. By late morning, the fog had been cleared away, though the sun was stillblocked by the clouds.I took out my las roll and ate it. Hopefully, civilization will be nearby, after the test. Icontinued to walk at a steady pace for the next couple of hours. By noon I was close enoughthe see the few trees on the mountain, as well as many cave entrances. The ground hadgotten much rougher. As I continued the ground became filled with more pebbles sharp andrough. The sun had finally come out behind the clouds, so I could feel the heat beat acrossmy neck. Rubbing it, I could feel how tender it was, and I knew I had to be sunburned bad.It was around mid afternoon when I first saw it. Looking forward, there was asquare stone block with a symbol on it. Looking closer at it I realized it was the symbol forpath. Under it was a small arrow pointing to the right. With any luck I should not be too farfrom the entrance. I began walking right, every hundred yards there was another stone. Icontinued to follow them for the next half hour before coming to the side of a cliff with asomewhat small path leading up it. I began to move up it keeping as close to the wall aspossible. The further I got up the mountain the fewer trees there were, as well as the widthof the path. At one point I had only about a foot of room for twenty yards. I moved throughit carefully hearing some rocks fall down the cliff side.Making it to the other side I was glad to see the path had widened again. It tookanother half hour of walking before I found a giant clearing at least thirty feet wide. As Imoved forward and away from the cliff's edge, I came upon two giant stone statues twentyfeet tall. If I had to guess they were statues of the god-king himself, the giver of magic to usVigenere. He was dressed in armor and a cloak. Between the statues was a wide cave entrance.I looked back to see the miles of the canyon below me. Taking I deep breath, I repositioned mypack and walked into the darkness.I only walked about ten yards into the dark cave before I could see a light glow that lit upthe ground in front of me. At first I was afraid that it was another snake, but I noticed thatthe glow was a golden white light not the greenish glow of the snakes. I continued through thecave coming up to multiple branches, always picking the one that glowed the brightest. Thesides of the cave were smooth as if they were hallways and not natural cave paths. The glownever got stronger as I continued to follow the light, in fact sometimes it would be so dim Icould scarcely see it. As I continued to walk, I could feel the path move up and down and turn,so much that I had no idea how far into the mountain or how high I was. It felt like I had beenwalking for hours as I marched through, my stomach rumbled with hunger. How much longermust I go? Making a sharp left turn I three steps only to run into a solid oak door.Looking at it closely it seemed to be a mid-brown and completely smooth, with nomarkings or notches in the wood. I could see no hinges on the side, and there was no handle. Ilooked at the floor and could see the light seeping out of the door. It was the brightest it hadbeen. I could see my hands clearly as I pushed open the doors.