Silver had no idea how long she had been down here. Time had lost all meaning in the dark, dangerous and winding tunnels of the tomb. She knew that she was hungry. She knew that her thirst had increased. She also knew that the only chance to find a way out now was to carry on. Through the twists and turns, past the pitfalls and around the kergrim. Once or twice, she had had to duck down a side passage or try to conceal herself behind an unknowable something as she'd heard the grunting, shuffling creatures draw closer, only creeping out again when she was sure that they had long passed by.
Her legs ached. Her back ached. Her arm ached from being constantly held up to touch the walls. Her jaw ached from the clenching of her teeth. Her head ached from the straining, the concentration, the lack of fluids...
Her mind began to drift.
She thought of Haritha, the woman who had gotten her into this mess. No. No, that wasn't fair. Haritha hadn't forced anything upon her. She had never twisted Silver's arm, never threatened, cajoled or bribed. She had asked for help and Silver had agreed to give it. She could only hope that Haritha was safe, unmolested, or at least soon to be.
She thought of Owena and Loakee. The former such a sweet woman, if often too naive and trusting for Silver's liking. The tea she so freely offered, the laughter and talk. The wonderful baked goods wrought by her hands. The latter still made Silver wish to punch his smug face more often than not, but he was certainly preferable to her current company. She would take one of his tiresome snipes about her chosen attire over the grunts and snuffles further ahead.
She thought of Rahvic. How lost he always seemed, how alone. How very alike herself in some ways, but less jaded, less battered by life. Less cynical. A brother in all but blood and one that she was surprised to find she had come to care about a great deal. Her real family could twist in the wind for all she cared and for all they cared about her, but that one skinny Haradi man, how she would hate to lose his kinship.
She thought of Neyaa. That beautiful face. Those warm and slightly squishy hugs. The friendly advice, both bad and good. The light that always remained in her heart no matter how dark those around her were, no matter how awful the world in which she lived.
She thought of Crow. An interesting stranger still, and likely always. A man of poise and thought. Closed off, shut in by his own hand but yearning to be freed, or so it looked to her. Twisted and tortured by a life hard lived. Was the sweetness she had seen in him an act? Probably. Likewise his offer to give her a kiss upon her return to Towerglan. Joke or not, she might just take him up on it after all this!
She thought of Rowan. Was he in Trestlebridge still? Did he live or had he succumbed to his illness and pride? Was he the Rowan of old again? Or had he reverted to the monster she had met in the ruins? Which version of the man was real?
Her musing was abruptly interrupted by an angry roar from behind. She had been discovered! Shit! No time left for prudence.
She ran. She fled through the blackness, not knowing what lay ahead, knowing only what followed behind. On and on, boots crunching on scree and, possibly, discarded bones. Headlong into the unknown. Recklessly into the obscure.
It's a wonder I haven't tripped and bro...
The ground was no longer beneath her feet. She sailed through the air for what seemed like forever but was truly no more than a few seconds before her body hit the floor. The blackness this time was born not of a lack of light, but instead a lack of consciousness.
The first thing Silver noticed when she awoke was that she was still alive. Grand! The second thing she noticed was that she ached all over. Far worse than before. Not so grand. The third thing she noticed was the sound of trickling water. Grand again! Turning over with a muffled groan, she crawled toward its source; a small pool collecting at the bottom of the high rock wall. Greedily, she drank from it. It was a little brackish, but she didn't much care. She needed the moisture.
It was only afterwards that she realised she could again see. There was light down here! Light streaming in from an opening far above. Light that illuminated a large cavern and... a giant turtle? What the...? Also, the turtle's last meal; presumably the very kergrim that had chased her through the tunnels. Hah! Served it right!
She wanted to laugh, but she forced herself to silence. For now, belly full, it looked like the turtle slept. Best not to disturb it lest she become its next victim. So, after checking that she still had possession of the satchel and the book therein, she made her way around the edge of the cavern as silently as she could. There was only one path open to her; upwards.
Gritting her teeth against the pain she knew would shortly come, she began to climb. Up and up, sideways and up further still. It was painstaking work, finding hand holds and foot holds, ledges to take short rests upon before forcing her aching limbs on to even further heights. Once or twice she almost lost her footing. Once or twice she almost fell to her death. Once or twice she wanted to, even if only to make the pain stop. But up she went all the same, determined, driven, stubborn and tenacious. After all she had survived these past thirty-five years, after all she had gone through, nothing was going to stop her from getting out of here. No steep climb, no faceless rock, no lifeless stone would be allowed to defeat her now!
As, blinking, she crawled up out of the hole into the light of day, she finally allowed herself to laugh. Shivering from the evaporating sweat of exertion, her muscles shaking, her mind adrift with the rapture of survival, she laughed.
At least until she saw that the island she was sat upon was yet a few miles from the shore.
Fuck!
