Free Unbearable by Tracy Cooper-Posey

around.”
    Tally eased Riley out of the stroller and she began to fret as she woke. I took her from Tally and settled her against my shoulder. “You need both hands,” I told Tally.
    She rested her hand against my other shoulder briefly. “Thank you.”
    We climbed cautiously down the damp steps into the cave proper. There was concrete walkway leading deeper into the cave and lights, making it bright and warm. There was signage everywhere, with history about the cave complex, warnings about wandering off the path and trivia about the cave itself.
    I don’t think I have seen a less gargoyle-suitable cave than that one. We might have been strolling through a museum display. I hitched Riley into a more comfortable position and patted her back as she resettled with soft baby sounds. “You two should go ahead,” I told Nick and Tally. “If Lirgon is here, he’s not going to be sitting out where the tourists can see him. You’ll have to step off the trail and explore.”
    Tally looked at Nick.
    “Well, we’re here now,” Nick said philosophically. “It will eliminate this cave, at least, if we search it properly.”
    They moved ahead faster than the three of us. Farther back into the cave system I could hear the echoes of the bicycle group, laughing and talking, throwing rocks and shouting to set up even more echoes. Nick and Tally would have to skirt around them, too.
    Even more distantly, at the farthest extent of my hearing, I could hear water dripping into a bigger pool of water, making it splash and ripple.
    “We should walk through, too,” Miguel said. “Nyanther and I can step off and check things out if we need to.”
    “It will pass the time,” Nyanther said in agreement and from his tone, I knew he had reached the same conclusion. There was no possible chance that Lirgon was hiding out in here. It was too commercial. Too populated.
    We strolled along the smooth, flat pathway, climbing steps occasionally and traversing plank bridges here and there. There were more signs, pointing to highlights and more warnings about moving off the path. We stopped at each viewpoint and read the signage and looked up as directed.
    After ten minutes of it, I realized that my chest was tight and my heart was beating by itself. Miguel seemed to be oblivious to the thickening atmosphere. I glanced at Nyanther. He was frowning down at the ground.
    He met my gaze.
    “Something….” I said.
    He nodded and reached inside his coat and gripped the handle of his sword. He didn’t draw it, because we could stumble upon humans at any point.
    Part of the reason for my growing tension occurred to me. “Sunset,” I breathed.
    Miguel looked at me sharply, then looked around the narrow traverse we were in. The wooden bridge we were on was twenty feet above the rocky, uneven floor. There was nowhere to go except backward or forward.
    “Move on,” Nyanther said, his deep voice rumbling. “There’s nothing behind us.”
    “I should take Riley back,” I said.
    The scream was inhuman, pitched at a point that would be beyond most human hearing. It was agony-filled and died away, leaving the very air throbbing around us.
    “Too late,” Nyanther said, pulling his sword out.
    Miguel hurried forward and we followed him.
    A hundred yards on, the zig-zagging bridge turned back into concrete walkway as the ground rose up to meet it and the way ahead opened up in to a large cavern. Naked light bulbs were strung around the edges of the cavern, but the roof was far too high to see. Only a dozen yards ahead the walkway turned into another bridge, this time spanning a pool of water that glowed unearthly blue. There was a wider platform in the middle of the bridge for looking down into the water without holding up other tourists.
    To our left, where the walkway was still concrete, there was a fold in the wall that created a shadow, narrow and black. My night vision compensated and I saw that the shadow was in fact a vertical crevasse and deeper