Shifters

The Ravine

Nervousness beckoned at him as Josh made his way down the narrow path. On his way over, he'd been so caught up with the recent, mysterious happenings that he'd somehow overlooked the ravine's enormity. It'd been over an hour since he'd begun his descent yet there seemed to be no sign of him reaching the bottom of the ravine any time soon. 

'I wonder how much farther I need to walk,' he wondered, sighing deeply, as he stared into the darkness below.

At first he was concerned about the air quality, however, after a half an hour of travel, the clouds of dust vanished without a trace replaced by a steady, warm breath of wind. Removing the veil, he was now able to breathe comfortably. As he continued down this seemingly never-ending path, slivers of darkness swirled around him as beads of perspiration dotted his forehead. Concerned he would be unable to find his way in the darkness, Josh placed a hand on the stony walls of the ravine, using it as a guide. To his surprise, a faint heat emanated off its rough surface. Although intrigued by the new discovery, he carried on his route, wiping sweat away as it slid down the sides of his face.  Just as his visibility was about to disappear, Josh spotted a dim light hanging off the side of a wall. He cautiously made his way over, hoping this signified he'd arrived at the bottom of the ravine. To his dismay however, as he neared the unremarkable glow, a second light, similar to the first, appeared at a lower point. Deciding to rest for a few moments, Josh studied the light source closely. As he'd suspected, the makeshift wall lamp was in fact a small crystal shard similar to those on the sky above. Realizing Herman was still awaiting his arrival, Josh continued down the narrow path, passing similar crystal shards of light embedded in the ravine's walls. 

After what seemed like hours of nonstop walking, the path ended abruptly, revealing a vast stretch of land, as far as the eye could see. Scattered about the floor, lay similar crystal shards spaced at odd intervals casting an uneven glow. Following Elle's instructions, he turned left bringing him to a small portion of the ravine's wall, riddled with open tunnels. 

"Which tunnel is the right one?" he wondered aloud, "Elle didn't say anything besides turning left and following the path with the lit cave walls."

Unfortunately for him, several caves dotting the wall spewed light at its entrance. 

"Could this be the wrong place?" he asked aloud once more, looking around, hoping someone was nearby to guide him. 

"No! It can't be," he said with certainty. 

He'd followed the path religiously, stopping only for short periods to rest. There'd been no deviations, no secondary paths and certainly no other cave entrances other than the ones that stood before him. 

'What if I'm at the wrong side of the ravine?' he thought. 

Straining his eyes, Josh stared in the opposite direction of the wall, however, he couldn't discern anything further than a couple meters away. Earlier, he was able to spot the other side with ease, but after his descent, his eyes could no longer penetrate the thick veil of darkness. 

"I really wish Elena came with me," he sighed, frustrated by her lack of willingness to complete the assigned task, "Guess I'll choose one and hope for the best."

Deciding it would be better to take a chance than to wait for a guide that may never show, Josh choose the left most, lit, cave entrance. Progressing his way through the mineshaft, he was surprised by the use of roughly cut stone pillars as the choice of support beams rather than the usual wooden structure. 

He paused as the thought crossed his mind, "How did I know that?"

He stood in silence, hoping the vague thought would trigger any past memories of his, however, no such thing happened. Although frustrated by the lack of progress in solving his amnesia, Josh bit his lip as he continued down the sloping tunnel. After a couple minutes of walking, his ears picked out the sounds of movement coming from up ahead. Quickening his pace, Josh broke into a small man-made cavern. At it's center stood several people fidgeting with various mining equipment. Surveying the group, he realized that Herman was not present among the faces. As they began to notice his presence, a woman with short, red hair crossed over to him. Facing him directly, she stood a couple inches taller, with a mischievous twinkle buried deep within her fiery, red eyes.