The slivers had taken Dillenger deeper inside the cave. He tried to keep a mental list of all the turns they had made in case the slivers decided to turn on him and he had to retrace his steps back. After spending hours in this cave though, after all the separate tunnels and passageways he had to navigate, at some point in this expedition, the acolyte had lost his way.
There was no turning back. Dillenger knew that this was a one-way trip for him now. There was no way he could recall his way back home.
The tunnel led to what appeared to be a dead end with the exception of a small crevice at the bottom of the sheer rock wall that faced him. Shinning minerals deposited over years of water dripping covered the face of it giving the wall a shiny foam appearance. Dillenger placed his hand on the wall to get a better understanding of it; he had never seen anything like this before. It was wet, cold and hard.
The slivers piled into the crevice hurriedly and disappeared. Dillenger got on his hands and knees to follow after the last one had entered. Raising the dragon’s heart for light, he peered inside the dark hole.
The crevice was no more that eleven inches high, just enough space for him to wriggle into. He could just barely make out the last of the slivers crawling on the ceiling of the narrow opening, making its way through.
He entered it. His body lay flat as he pushed with his toes and pulled with whatever his one free hand could grab, the other hand holding tightly to the dragon’s heart. Where he couldn’t find a handhold, his toes had to do all the work. He could feel the weight of the rock pressing ominously against his body. In some areas, the path was so narrow that it cut deeply into his back.
A jolt of pain seared through his back and into his spine each time he inched his way forward, but pain was something Dillenger was used to. You couldn’t study the Chaos arts and survive without being familiar with it. Dillenger spent countless nights screaming from the agony his master would put him through. He learned how to shut the pain out now. It was almost nothing to him.
Before he knew it, the crevice opened up into another tunnel of the cave. Dillenger got back on his feet and lifted the dragon’s heart up high to get a better look. He could see the beady eyes of the slivers looking up at him, encouraging him to move on.
Before moving on though, he reached his one, free hand behind him to assess the damage to his back. His shirt was shredded and he could feel deep wounds in the areas he could reach. The pain that lingered was dulling now, but he knew it would get sharper when his body started the healing process.
He brought his hand back around and saw it covered in blood. Dillenger knew that if he did not get this looked at soon, he would be in big trouble. He gave the slivers a small nod, telling them that he was ready. Silently, he hoped that the smell of blood would not encourage them.
He followed the slivers without comment, trying to keep his breathing down to normal. Though it didn’t look it, traveling through this cave required more exertion than he would have expected. The pathway was sandy, but it sloped up and down continuously. It was laboring for him.
He had no idea how long it had been since his master first brought him into this cave, but he knew it had to be at least a full day. He had not eaten or slept for at least that long too.
He was beginning to trip over his feet as his body protested to the prolonged exertion he was subjecting it to. He could not even keep his head up as he walked. It bobbed slightly as his chin tried to rest on his chest. His arms were like wet noodles against the sides of his body, swinging slightly to the rhythm of his walk.
Suddenly, Dillenger felt the rush of a warm breeze assault him. It was a shock to his cold body. At first, he thought he was dreaming it, he was half asleep as it was. But then he saw the shafts of light. The beam, though subtle, was enough to almost be blinding when you remain in the darkness of the cave for as long as he had been. Dillenger squinted as he lifted his arm to shield is eyes to it.
