Eternal Darkness (The Cimmerian Cycle #1)

Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Kiayani was walking around the cave again under Mik’s instructions. She was looking for anything that might help her get out. She completed the loop and went back to the crevice that lead to the outside. She sighed loudly, “It’s no use.”

“There has to be a way!” said Mik angrily.

Kiayani thought hard about what she could do. Perhaps the only way in was the way she had come?  There had to be a way back up the trapdoor.

“Mik, give me your knife,” she said certainty.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Give me your knife,” she repeated with a tone of authority.

“Kiayani. . .”

“I said give me your knife!” she yelled at him.

She heard him undo the buckle at his belt and watched him slide it through the gap in that wall. She took it in both hands, tracing the blade with a finger.

“I’ll meet you around the other side,” she said standing.

“Kiayani!” he called out but it was too late, she had made up her mind. She went back into the room beneath the main temple and walked over to the hole in its ceiling and looked up. She could no longer hear hissing. She put the knife into her pocket.

She stood on the piece of the floor that she had fallen down on. It was a perfect square and she examined it carefully. Kiayani frowned, it appeared to not have any form of mechanism attached to it whatsoever. So instead she turned to the walls. She could see the scrape mark from where it had dropped down. As her eyes travelled upwards she noticed something peculiar. There seemed to be tiny groves in the wall. She leant closer as to see better, for it was hard in the dim light. How was she going to get back up there? It was too high for her to try jump it. Confused she sat down on the trapdoor.

She jumped back up immediately because it had made a cracking sound. Kiayani picked it up to find that it wasn’t very heavy at all and threw it away. She was amazed at what she saw. There was a shoot leading down beneath the room. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed it before, even with the trapdoor sitting on it.

She peered down into the hole. She couldn’t see much at all, it was not made of the same glowing stone like the rest of the temple. She took a deep breath as she slid to the edge and begun to lower herself down slowly. She had to give it a go. Her feet still had not touched the ground so she closed her eyes and let herself fall down the rest of the way. It turned out that it wasn’t so deep after all, and she landed awkwardly, falling over.

She looked back up into that small room she had dropped from. Not much light travelled down into the passage. She used her hands to feel the sides of the hole and Kiayani quickly discovered that it must be some kind of tunnel.

Kiayani groped her way through the darkness and soon stubbed her toe on a wall. She was puzzled, her hands had hit no wall. She bent over and felt the ground beneath her hands. It was just a step. She gave a sigh of relief. She continued through the narrow tunnel finding that it wound around in circles and she got a little bit dizzy.

Eventually she found her way blocked and she had to stop. Surely the tunnel had an exit. It wouldn’t just lead to nowhere. She was about to turn back and see if she missed something when she thought she saw a flicker of light. Excited, she knelt down and examined it.

There seemed to be a tiny slice through the thing which was blocking the tunnel and light was able to just get in. Kiayani pulled Mik’s knife out of her pocket and unsheathed it. She shoved the tip of the blade in the gap and jiggled it around for a bit. Then something clicked softly and the wall swung open like a door, Kiayani had to shield her eyes from the light.

After she blinked away the brightness she stepped out of the tunnel and looked over her shoulder. It appeared she had come out of a large piece of stone or something. As she moved further away she saw that it had some sort of distinct shape. Then as she backed up more she found a wall at her back. She gave a gasp of shock.

She had climbed out of the back of the statue. She grasped the hilt of the knife so hard that her knuckles went white. The spiders were going to be in here still. Her heart pounded and she took a deep breath. She had to hold herself together. It was the only way that she would be able to get out and find Mik and the others.

Trying not to look up at the roof where she knew the spiders would be, she focused her gaze to the door on the far side of the temple. It wasn’t really that far way she reasoned. One step at a time she walked her way to the temple door, the knife clutched tightly in her hand. She thought she could hear the hissing and the clicking of the giant spiders but she pushed it aside. If she saw them fear would bind her to the spot like an angry snake and she would not make it out.

So she kept her head raised and stared at the two large pieces of wood that would give her her freedom. It was only a metre away… a few inches. Kiayani placed her hand on the door and before she could push it open there was a loud clicking right above her. Her mind kept telling her to panic but she held herself perfectly still. She could not let one spider get the better of her. The blood was pounding in her ears.

She tried to ignore the disturbing sound, pushing the door in front of her open and not daring to look up. She slid through the gap, only looking out into the gardens that surrounded the temple. When she was mostly out she mustered up all of her speed and shot out the door and jammed it shut behind her. There was a horrible crunching sound and she turned around to see what it was.

The spider’s leg was half sticking through the door, squashed flat where it had shut. Worst of all it was twitching. Holding back a scream, Kiayani turned and fled.

She wasn’t quite sure where exactly she was running, only to get away. Those spiders were horrible and she felt very sick in the stomach. She found the path which she was almost certain she had come in on and ran along it. She didn’t stop until she found the wall. Without looking back she went down the other way. If only she had gone to her left rather than her right, she would not have been in this strife. It was all the ruddy fog’s fault! If only she had not chased after that strange figure she wouldn’t even be anywhere near this temple.

Kiayani stopped and looked into the valley. The fog had completely disappeared. Frowning she set on her way again, not wanting to get distracted, only to find Mik. She had figured that the cavern with the paintings must have been on the other side of the mountain in which the temple was built. If that was the case then she would just have to follow the base around until she found Mik. It mustn’t have been that far away either, Mik had only got there in just over an hour.

She followed the rocky base of the mountain around, beyond where the giant, vine covered, glowing wall, as it curved around. She felt very weary and tired as she walked. It took all of her energy to not look up at that spider in the temple.

It felt as though it had taken days, but eventually found Mik. He was sitting down, his head between his knees.

“Mik,” she called out to him and he raised his head fast.

He jumped up and hugged her tightly before she could say anything else, “I’m glad you’re all right.”

He then pushed her away from him, hands on her shoulders, “Don’t ever do that to me again,” he pulled her back close to him, “I was worried.”

Kiayani felt very flustered and had no idea what to say. Awkwardly she held out his knife, “This is yours…”

He took it back and Kiayani watched him clip it back on his belt. He looked up at her, “I guess we should find the others.”

“Hmmm…” she mumbled back.

They walked onwards, somewhat blindly as they had no idea where the others might be.

Mik and Kiayani found the others easy enough and the first thing that they did was hastily and clumsily undo their bedrolls and get some much needed sleep. They did not even stop to recount their experiences, they would have plenty of time later. Before Kiayani lay down her head she looked up at the mountain in which they were headed. It looked so close, but it was still so far away.

The next few days they didn’t talk much to each other at all. Koran only giving the order to stop for the night so that they could rest.

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