Chapter Five
All of the fear I had been trying to suppress as I followed the warriors to the cliffs suddenly hit me as I stood there looking into the cave. The torch in one hand, the dagger in the other, and the lingering feeling of Ty's lips against mine, however, gave me confidence as I squared my shoulders and started forward into the darkness. Zuri and Leia followed me, coming close to my sides but staying just a step behind as if allowing me to take the lead.
We walked carefully, none of us knowing what to expect as we stepped past the opening to the cave. None of us had ever been inside it before and if I didn't miss my guess none of us were familiar enough with the topography and composition of Uoria to know if the caves on this planet were anything like the ones on Earth. I had only gotten the chance to read up a little bit on the planet and all I had learned was that there were many different areas of the planet and a huge enough variety of climates and features that I could safely guess it did not maintain the same rules as Earth. While that was an exciting thought if I had the opportunity to just roam around and explore, it made venturing into the darkness of the cave even more frightening because I had no idea what I was going to encounter with each step.
I could hear my own breath as we walked through the wide first chamber of the cave. The torch splashed orange and yellow light through the chamber, cutting through the darkness and illuminating the sandy ground at our feet. The floor of the cave was studded with sharp stalagmites, the tips sparkling like ice in the light of the torch even though it wasn't cold enough in the cave for them to actually be frozen. As we walked deeper into the cave I noticed that the walls that had been far enough apart that I hadn't even been able to see them in the light of the torch were starting to close in. We took a few more steps and I saw the entrance to the tunnel that Pyra had talked about. It would have been easy to miss if we hadn't been looking specifically for it. As it was, I almost didn't notice it.
The walls seemed to close in completely, giving the impression that the first chamber was the entirety of the cave. Behind a particularly massive stalagmite that disappeared up into the darkness, however, was a narrow, low opening. The edges of the opening were uneven, but smooth, so it was difficult to tell if the wall had formed like that, or if someone, or something, had broken through the wall many years before and the edges had weathered over time.
"Yeah, there's no way that the warriors could get in there far," Leia said as I held the torch a little higher so that more light shined on it.
"I'm surprised that Pyra was able to even get in it at all, much less go a few feet into it," I replied in agreement.
"I don't even know if Ero could make it very far in there," Zuri said. Leia and I both looked at her and she shrugged, "I love my mate dearly, but he is tiny compared to the others. I've embraced it."
We laughed, thankful for the moment of levity that broke the fearful tension that was building in the cave. I let out a breath and handed Zuri the torch.
"Hold this up so that as much light as possible gets in there. I don't know how tight it is past this entry so I don't want to be in there with an open flame." She nodded and held up the torch. Leia stepped up and stood to her side so that her body would block some of the light and prevent it from dissipating throughout the cave, "Alright," I said, "Here I go."
I ducked my head and stepped through the opening. I probably could have walked through it without ducking, but I thought I would be cautious until I made it into the tunnel. As soon as I stepped in, I reached above me and found that the ceiling was higher than the top of the entry, but still only a few inches from my head. I opened my arms as far as I could get them and found that the walls were so close my elbows were still bent when I flattened my palms on either wall.
"Are you OK?" Zuri asked from the outer chamber of the cave.
"I'm fine," I replied, taking a few more cautious steps, "It is really tight in here. There is definitely no way the guys could have gotten a whole lot further than I am right now." I paused for a second, "Even Ero."
Both of the other women laughed and I started forward again. The light from the torch illuminated several feet ahead of me, but all I saw was the darkness. I held the dagger tightly in my hand, occasionally adjusting my grip so that I felt I had absolute control over the blade just in case I came upon another visitor of the tunnel who was less than pleased to see me.
The tunnel got no wider as I walked, but I could feel the ground beneath my feet start to dip so that I knew it was leading me down through the cliff and into the ground. It was a strange feeling, knowing that I had started many feet above the heads of the warriors and in a few moments I would be beneath them. Orienting had never been my strong point, but I was struggling with every ounce of processing ability that I had to keep track of the direction that I was moving and figure out where I was headed so that I could tell Pyra when I made it back. I couldn't let myself think "if".
"Zuri, it's tight in here, but I'm running out of light, do you think that you'd be OK bringing the torch in?" I called back over my shoulder.
The path ahead of me had gotten so dark that I wasn't able to see more than a few inches and I wasn't comfortable continuing on without light if I didn't absolutely have to.
"Do I think I would be OK like you think I might get stuck in there, or do I think I would be OK like you think I might catch us on fire if I go in there?" she called back.
"Well…both…maybe…just a little bit," I said cautiously, trying not the offend her.
Zuri was beautiful, but the truth was she was a little bigger even than me, and I wasn't entirely convinced that she would be able to navigate the tighter curves of the tunnel, especially if it got any smaller.
"Well, damn. That's comforting," she said.
I could hear in her voice that she wasn't upset. Ero had done amazing things for her in even the small amount of time that they had spent together and I would have to remember to thank him for the love, comfort, and confidence that he had given this woman who had meant so much to me during some of the most difficult times in my life.
"Sorry."
"It's alright. I'm on my way. Leia can bring up the rear and at least her tiny self will be able to get out in case all goes to hell and we burst into flames in here."
"Geez, Zuri, you sure do know how to make a girl feel better when she's creeping through the darkness holding a dagger."
"The things we do for our men."
I heard Zuri's voice close behind me and felt the warmth of the flame from the torch glowing on my back. I glanced over my shoulder at her and smiled.
"Don't I know it," I joked back, "But with the things that Ty is capable of, I am just fine with this little contribution."
Zuri let out a sound like she knew exactly what I was talking about.
"I am fine with just about anything as long as Ero keeps doing the same things to me that he was doing when we were on top of this cliff."
I laughed, but as soon as the sound made it all the way out of my throat, I felt the tension build inside me again. We were trying so hard to talk casually and joke about our men to distract us from walking down the tunnel, but it didn't have as much of an effect as we were hoping. Instead, as soon as I stopped talking, I felt even more nervous than I had before.