The Unsuspecting Mage - Brian S. Pratt [164]
Working up his nerve, Miko does what James advises and places one of his feet on the side, then the other. Sliding slowly, he makes his way past the board that’s cracking and then past where the next one is broken in two. When he’s close enough to the next good board, he cautiously sets a foot on it and sighs with relief when it holds his weight. Once again he slowly makes his way across the bridge, one board at a time.
It seems an agonizingly slow time, but he eventually makes it to the other side where James stretches out his hand, helping him the last few feet.
“Great job,” he says, patting Miko on the back. “I knew you could do it!”
Miko’s knees begin to shake and he all but collapses on the ground before falling over.
“I guess now would be a good time for a rest break,” James says as he opens a bag searching for food. When the bag containing the food comes up empty, he realizes they gave all their food to the families last night. “Uh, oh,” he groans.
Miko turns his head and looks at him, “What?”
“We’re out of food,” James tells him.
He wraps his arms around his legs, rests his head on his upraised knees and groans, “Great! Now we’re going to starve to death.”
Giving him a look of annoyance, James says, “You know, you’re awfully negative sometimes. We are not going to starve to death, it takes days for that to happen and we should be out of here by then or at least found something to eat.”
Miko just looks at him for a second then stretches out and lays on the ground, not saying anything.
James allows him to rest for a few minutes to calm his shaky nerves before getting him up and pressing onward.
The cavern continues past the chasm for another hundred feet until it begins to narrow and ultimately end at another passage that had been carved out of the rock. This new passage is as narrow as the previous one and the sides are wet with water that seeps through cracks in the rocks. The floor of the passage has a thin coating of algae which makes for a slippery surface.
As they follow the passage, the water that’s seeping through the cracks slowly begins to create a small flow running along one side of the passage bottom. It continues to grow until the passage abruptly comes to an end where the water flows over the edge and down toward an unseen bottom. They have come to another subterranean cavern. How big it is and how far from the bottom they are is uncertain as the orb’s light fails to illuminate the cavern in its entirety.
The drop-off before them extends almost vertically downward to an unknown depth. Standing at the opening they feel a slight breeze blowing from the cavern and into their passage. A narrow flight of steps has been carved out of the side of the cavern and descends into the darkness below.
“Wonder what’s down there?” James asks. Placing one foot onto the uppermost step, he holds the glowing orb out as far as he can. The light doesn’t illuminate very far and all they can see are the narrow steps disappearing into the darkness below.
“I don’t know,” Miko replies. “I hope we can get out of here soon.”
“I’d like that too,” James agrees. “Be careful, the steps may be slippery.” He takes another step and begins descending the steps, being careful as the water flowing from the passage cascades over the first six before moving off.
They don’t descend very far before they notice the sound of a distant waterfall coming from somewhere below. Soon after that, mist begins to float upon the air. The further they descend, the louder it becomes until when they finally reach the bottom of the steps, the sound is practically deafening. They are unable to see where the sound is originating from as the light from the orb doesn’t extend quite that far. The stairs end at a stone platform that has been carved out of the wall of the cavern.
Upon the stone platform, sitting on a wooden rack is a small boat that looks as if it could seat four people comfortably. Mounted on the wall next to the boat are two oars resting on several pegs. At the edge of the platform flows a fast moving underground river. It disappears