Page 95 of A Tempest of Intrigue
He sent up another bolt and then another until I saw where the coiling pathway ended about ten stories above us. At the end of the path was a large door etched into the ceiling above the last of the monsters.
“Ryker….”
“I saw it.” He shook the stone dust from his hair as he returned to us. “Do you want to try for the door or turn back?”
I looked from him to Mouse as the dark settling around us again shut out the creatures, but I could feel them out there. I held my breath while I waited for one of them to awaken; nothing stirred.
In the dim glow of our light, Mouse pointed into the cavern and nodded. When he looked behind us, he shook his head.
“You want to go for the door?” I asked him.
He nodded.
While I didn’t think this was a decision a child should make or a responsibility that should be on his shoulders, I agreed with him. Walking back to where we started, and then who knew how much further beyond that, sounded exhausting.
And we could end up at a dead end… or somewhere worse.
We were exhausted, thirsty, and while my stomach had stopped rumbling, it was only because it was now a knotted mess of hunger pangs. I wasn’t sure I had the energy to make it back and beyond.
We didn’t know if that door was a way out, but it was a chance, and even if it meant walking past all those monsters, I was willing to take it.
“I agree with you,” I said to Mouse before looking at Ryker.
“So do I. I’ll lead the way.”
Arguing with him would be pointless, so I saved my breath. When he moved away from us again, Ryker held his hand out to illuminate the way before him as he strode to the right and the start of the pathway.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE
Ellery
From what I’d seen,the path wound around the cavernous space as it spiraled toward the door. The cavern, circular in structure, had to have at least a five-hundred-foot radius.
It would take a while to make it to the doorway, and that would only happen if we didn’t get eaten first.
I shuddered at the possibility and grasped Mouse’s shoulder to keep him between me and Ryker. Thankfully, my legs and head had completely healed and wouldn’t hinder me if I had to run.
My energy level wasn’t where it should be, but I was sure I’d have enough adrenaline and lightning to fight them off if these things tried to eat us. I just hoped lightning worked against them.
When Ryker’s light revealed the start of the path, I held my breath as he stepped onto the hardpacked dirt. Would his presence on the pathway be the thing that woke these creatures?
We’d agreed to this, but everything in me screamed against Ryker moving further onto the path. When nothing stirred as Ryker progressed a few more feet, my breath rushed out. He kept moving, getting further away as Mouse remained before me.
Then I realized he wasn’t moving because I had a death grip on his shoulder and was holding him in place. When Mouse gazed up at me, I forced a smile and guided him forward.
Tension thrummed through me when we caught up to Ryker. As we walked, I held my light high to illuminate as much space as possible.
I didn’t look at the monstrosities tucked into the alcoves carved into the dirt and rocks surrounding us, but I felt like they were watching us. Maybe they were waiting until we were higher in the cavern and more vulnerable to an attack.
I gulped at the possibility as the adrenaline thrumming through my system sent little tingles throughout me. The sensation made my skin feel almost uncomfortable.
After we’d moved a hundred feet without them attacking, I couldn’t keep my eyes away from them anymore. With a growing sense of dread, my head turned toward the creature tucked beneath the stone archway carved into the side of the cavern.
I couldn’t see how far back the alcove went, but the monster was tucked a couple of feet away from the opening. And it wasn’t the only one, as five feet beyond that alcove was another one, and so it went, all the way to the top of the cavern.
The archways and spaces between them were set up the same, creating a perfect pattern of dirt, opening, and more dirt to the top of what was beginning to feel like some underground lost city. I wondered if the alcoves were all connected in the space beyond the creatures.
If these things awaken to eat us, could they scurry from one alcove to another?
