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“We’ll need to go single file,” Alek says, positioning himself in the lead. “Bring up the rear, Damon, in case something comes crawling in after us. I trust your ability to fight it off.”
“What am I?” Nahla says annoyed. “Chopped liver? I can fight as well as any man.”
“Most men, yes,” Alek agrees, “but Damon is stronger. It’s just a fact, Nahla. I’m not putting you down in anyway. You haven’t seen him fight. I have. Trust me. We want him guarding our back.”
“I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.” I’m truly shocked by his compliment.
“Well don’t get used to it,” he replies tartly. “I’m just stating fact.”
Without another word, Alek starts to make his way down the tunnel. We follow behind him, trying to stay a good distance away from one another, so we don’t trip over each other’s feet in the dark.
“Aren’t we there yet?” Nahla complains about ten minutes later.
“How much farther is it?” Oliver asks. “It’s starting to get stuffy in here.”
“I noticed that too,” I say from my position in the rear. “It’s almost like we’re nearing a heat source of some kind.”
“We’re about halfway there,” Alek grumbles. “Stop asking so many questions. You’re wasting air. Let’s just keep moving.”
Ten minutes later, we don’t seem to be any closer to our destination than we were ten minutes before. However, none of us mention this fact. We simply trust that the light at the end of the tunnel has to be leading us somewhere.
Twenty minutes later, the light becomes brighter, giving us hope that we’re finally reaching the outside world.
“Oh my god,” Alek says as he peers out the hole.
I strain my neck in a vain attempt to look past the others.
“What is it?” I ask. “What do you see?”
“Paradise,” Alek says in a long breathy voice. “It’s absolutely gorgeous.”
“Look,” Nahla says excitedly. “There are stairs to get us down.”
“Ow!” Alek says. “Why did you pinch me?”
“To make you move, fool. Get out of the way so the rest of us can enjoy the scenery.”
Alek grumbles something I can’t hear underneath his breath before moving.
Once I reach the entrance, I can’t believe my eyes.
The interior of the mountain is like a tropical oasis. Groves of various fruit trees stretch out for almost as far as the eye can see. Moonlight streams into the interior from a myriad of holes in the mountain, much like the one we fell through. There are even birds flying here, but none of them are as large as the mutant bats who abducted us. They look normal in size, at least from this distance.
“What do we do now?” Oliver sounds excited about this turn of events, but I remain cautious.
“We search the area for a way out and meet up later by that pond.” I point to the only visible water source around. “We’ll be transforming soon so that should make scouting out this area faster.”
“Four legs are better than two,” Nahla jokes. “Let’s get down. Maybe I can grab one of those luscious mangos I see on that tree over there before I turn into a wolf.”
Nahla barely makes it in time to get her mango, but she’s only allowed one bite before she changes into her wolf form.
Since there are four of us, we each take a different cardinal point. I choose to go north. Nahla goes south. Alex and Oliver go east and west, respectively. To the north, I find mostly nut trees. Along the way, I stop to snack on a few chestnuts, even though their prickly hulls are a pain to get around. Animals, such as squirrels, rabbits, and deer, populate this paradise unafraid of the big bad wolf in their midst. At most, they stop and stare at me but show no fear that I’ll attack them. Odds are, they’ve never seen the likes of me before and possibly never will again.
Did the fae make this place? I don’t see any other answer. The holes that close and open in the mountain didn’t make themselves. But why make it? Are they running some sort of experiment here? Possibly. The Barrens are just that,barren. If humans and fae are to live together here, we’ll need the whole planet to be healed. Maybe this is what fae magic can do to dead earth, bring it back even better than it was before.
Unfortunately, I’m unsuccessful in my search for a way out of the mountain. I was hoping to find another tunnel, or even a door since I believe the fae visit this place. If for nothing else than to harvest food or check on whatever mechanism controls the opening and closing of the holes.
When I return to our rendezvous site, I’m the only one present. After lapping up some of the water, I lay down and rest my head on my paws, only intending to take a short nap. The next thing I know, I’m being rudely woken up by a violent shake to my already sore shoulders.
