Halls of Darkness

Chapter Six

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It was a tunnel, dark and twisting, winding aimlessly and leading deep within the heart of the Mountain. Fear crept over her like a living creature obscured in the dark, clinging to her like the moss she had left behind.

She walked unhindered through the passage, but there was nothing comforting about the absence of tangible enemies. Perhaps the darkness was alive and would absorb her into itself.

This fear reminded her of startling awake in the middle of the night, forgetting she was in her own bed and sensing the presence of evil glaring down at her.

As if in response to that thought, a red light flared up in the distance like the eye of a devil opening and fixating on the intruder that had wandered into his subterranean home. Aliya did not rule out that that was exactly what it was. Still, she pressed toward it. The tunnel widened on all sides as she drew near the frightful aura that waited for her.

The walls and the ceiling became visible as the light reached it, revealing broken pillars and half demolished statues lined up among them. Their faces frowned down on her and appeared to contort in alarm and anger as she walked past.

Aliya expected one to cry out and alert a more animated resident in this eerie temple.

Now her way was fully lit by the aura of crimson and orange. The widening passage opened onto an abyss—the sheer drop going on fore miles, and from the unseen roared a fire large enough to light this massive cavern.

Aliya remembered from her tutors many years ago that beneath the layers of earth she walked, there was eternal churning heat melting the very rocks and ore within it, creating an ocean of liquid fire that will never go out. Perhaps this was the gateway to Hel Inanna had mentioned in passing.

What do I do now?

There were no walkways ahead of her, no bridges across this vast expanse. This did not appear to be a place designed for the safe passage of humans such as herself. It may have even been a trap laid for an adventurer who happened to make it this far.

But are there other things that traverse this more easily?

She looked to either side of her and found spaces, cracks and crevices in the rock-wall, some of which she could fit her hands and feet within. She could potentially scale the wall of the cavern and search for a way around it.

There would be no second chances though if she fell. Would she be guaranteed to return to the Spirit Realm if that happened? If she returned to the Queen without having fulfilled her mission, would Aliya be able to return? If Michael and Sarah did not make it, could she still bring them back?

She was fearful of the unknown limit to her powers, and she was afraid that if she failed, she would lose her siblings forever and wake up in that dark place filled with anger and terror with no hope of escape.

Perhaps the stranger in the swamp was leading me down the right path, and I was foolish for defying him. That thought did a lot to convince her. She looked at the sheer drop from where she stood into the inferno and looked around for some other way to traverse only to find nothing more than what was presented.

It was an easy decision that appealed to her desire to stay alive, but Aliya was unsure of it as she turned around.

She didn't make it a single step. What was once an open archway now slammed shut with the sound of two granite walls smashing against each other, shaking Aliya where she stood. She lost her balance and fell to the ground, the edge lying only inches away.

There was no way out of it now. Whether this was an obstacle or just an outright trap, Aliya had no way of returning to safety. She stood up, brushed the rubble off from her nightgown and grasped onto the jagged stonewall.