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So many questions danced across my mind, but I knew better than to waste this opportunity. Hallucination or gift from the gods, I’d take it.
“Follow my lead.” I jerked on Jake’s hand, ignoring the surge of unease causing my breath to stutter. Each time my fear pulsed, so did the light. They seemed to be connected.
“By all means, lead the way,” he said, his lips quirking.
Heat spread down my arms and legs as I followed the path, which was lined with the same light leading the way forward.
Unfortunately, that path brought us to a dead end.
Focusing on the wall in front of me, I dropped to my knees and inspected the rock, noting just the barest hint of an opening.
“We dig here,” I instructed the others. “I, uh, feel an opening,” I lied. It wasn’t as if I could explain why I’d been granted such otherworldly vision; all of it should’ve been impossible. “We have to move some debris. I think that stream we heard lies on the other side.” I brought Jake’s hands to the stones and he assisted Nic, who continued guiding the rest.
Their faces remained blank masks as we clawed at the dirt and jagged rocks, moving the debris behind us as we cleared the path. It took longer than I thought, but time was a fleeting thing in such a place. It could have been minutes or hours.
Wintry air rushed from the fissure, and the sweat on my brow grew cold. My heart skipped a beat as my vision wavered, the distorted light seeming to dim along with my adrenaline. Whatever miracle I’d been given waned. We had to hurry.
“We’re almost there!” I cried merrily, ready to bathe the grime from my skin and feel the comfort of the torch and sunfire lights from above.
Jake dug earnestly, grunts echoing as the wall of stacked stone gave way to a passageway. It was narrow, barely large enough to fit through, but it would have to do. With an elated smile, I stepped through the void, pulling the chain of recruits behind me.
We were going down rather than up, but therushing sound of water grew louder the farther down we traveled, and my hands grazed the cavern’s wall to steady myself.
The opening brought us to a thin ledge, no more than two feet in width, the icy waters spraying my clothes as they churned against the jutting rock. I tapped my foot on the uneven landing, making sure it wouldn’t crumble beneath my weight.
It didn’t.
To the others, I said, “Keep close to the wall. There’s a ledge.”
Not waiting for their assent, I pressed my back against the coarse stone, the cave’s craggy surface biting through my thin shirt.
We shuffled together, still linked, our heavy breathing drowned out by the whooshing waters. If anyone questioned how I’d brought us this far, no one voiced it, though I’d likely be harassed the moment we passed this loathsome trial.
Five minutes came and went, and my pulse was hammering in my neck. I wasn’t going to be able to last much longer. I needed more light, moreair. The sensation of being trapped crept into my bones and settled like a hive of bees beneath my flesh.
“All right, we’re almost—”
A jerk on my hand sent me stumbling, swaying from side to side, my knees bending as my balance became nothing but a dream. There was a loud splash, the sound of a body striking the roaring waters, a cry, shrill and garbled.
Someone had fallen in.
…
“Help!” The forlorn plea was choked as water entered the boy’s mouth.
My mind raced. There was something in those waters, something whose growls I’d first heard upon entry. It was massive, and knowing the Knights, it would be deadly.
“What do we do?” Patrick cried from down the line. Our trembling link of hands shook, the boys fighting to regain balance, composure. I felt guilty that I was thankful it wasn’t him who’d fallen.
In a fit of terror, I realized the cavern was dimming.
The more I struggled to hold on to the light and clutch it with both hands, the weaker it became. I let out a pained noise when a blanket of pure black cloaked the world.
The fallen recruit howled, his voice carried farther down the stream. The current wasn’t strong, but it would rush him to where we couldn’t reach.
“Hurry!” I roared, stepping briskly along the precipitous ledge, spiked adrenaline coursing through my icy veins.
There was resistance, but the rest of the boys followed, allowing me to lead, just as they had before. They trusted me, but now that I didn’t have the advantage of sight, the sudden weight of their trust was crushing.
