The Edane warriors led Kaden, Hasla, and Evandrel through a honeycomb of tunnels and natural caves. He’d been handed a skin of wine that seemed to push back some of the effects of the poison. He could walk and he finally noticed that half the shaft of the arrow still stuck from his shoulder.
“Leave it there.” Evandrel’s hand was gentle, but it still sent fire through his arm and chest. “If you pull it out you will bleed more. We will remove it when we have a chance.”
Kaden nodded and then he saw the blood. All three of them were covered in it. Black and red mingling and seeping into clothing. Blood dripped from his fingers, splattering the floor with scarlet. He could see no pattern or markings that the fire elves followed as they picked each new passageway without thought or hesitation, but Kaden knew he could follow the blood back out and into the light if he had to. Gusts of warm air flowed up and over the group, carrying hints of charcoal and the tangy scent of molten metals.
The Edane men stepped to the side as they came to a section of cave that widened and opened up on total darkness. Gelsadim pointed down the tunnel. “We can take you no farther. You must enter the Den of the Ancients alone.”
Hasla pulled out her light globe and set it ablaze. It hovered next to her shoulder, showing how haggard she looked, as she stepped into the dark cavern.
Kaden followed, his right arm dangling limp at his side. I’m sure I look worse. He grimaced as he stepped on carvings in the floor that he thought resembled Egyptian warnings against trespass. Didn’t those always come with curses?
The Light Bringer’s globe made the symbols crawl and bend as though alive. I miss the fire elves’ torches. Nothing like fire to make you feel safe... “You sssure thisss isss a good idea, guysss?” His tongue still liked to slur a little. Stupid tongue. Stop that!
“It is the only idea we have, for good or ill.” Hasla matched his grimace in the blue-gold light of her globe.
“That’s reassuring. What are these Ancients like anyhow?”
“Very big, with teeth, claws, and wings to match.”
“Haha. Good one, Hasssla.”
She took his good arm, hissing in his ear. “Shhh! I make no jokes. You shall see very shortly. Can you not smell them?”
Now that she mentioned it, Kaden could almost taste the tang in the air, metallic, electrical, mingled with smoked meat and age. Kaden’s stomach growled loudly. It had been a while since he’d eaten meat. The Keitane seemed to be vegetarian.
The cavern opened wide and they hugged to the right, losing the far wall in the distance. The rock glittered as Hasla’s light bobbed along beside them, bouncing off crystals in the stone. The ceiling also pulled away as they traveled deeper until Kaden could no longer see even a hint of stone above them. The Ancients must be huge. You could fit the Statue of Liberty in here.
They continued walking into the giant cavern without being greeted by anything, Ancient or otherwise, but Kaden felt eyes upon them and he could hear deep breaths in the darkness beyond the circle of Hasla’s light. It wasn’t until they reached a large gold disk in the floor that anything happened.
Kaden thought it looked like pure gold, perfectly inlayed into the stone. There was no way to gage how thick the metal might be. Could be half an inch, but could also be three feet thick. He stepped to the edge, where gold met stone.
“Do not step any closer. The Messenger’s Seal is not for you tread upon.” The voice came out of the dark cavern thick and deep, like gravel in a steel drum.
YOU ARE READING
The Crystal Bridge
ActionKaden is a typical teenage boy, except he can open wormholes to far away worlds. His first trip almost killed him. He’s been afraid to try another. Aren is far from a typical teenage girl. She has the ultimate gift of empathy, seeing into the memori...
