Free The Elder's Path by J.D. Caldwell Page B

circumstances.
    Lyn turned her head to s ee Alir watching her, clearly sharing her unease. They were creatures of the sun and sky, Lyn and Alir; they were not accustomed to such enclosed space. A cold sweat began to form underneath all the layers Lyn had bundled herself up in and she pulled uncomfortably at her collar. Though her heart pounded in her ears and she could feel the blood rush from her face, Lyn swallowed hard and kept moving, one hand in front of her and one on the wall to guide her. Alir’s sight was better than her own and after only a short time, the sound of wind picked up noticeably. Alerting her to this fact, the great raptor let a piercing cry that reverberated off the stone tunnel surrounding them. Heartened by her companion, Lyn picked up the pace and soon detected light, which revealed her surroundings. They were indeed in a cave, a surprisingly small one by the looks of it. The unfortunate news for Lyn and Alir was that the storm outside had not subsided, and in fact seemed to be picking up.
    The young traveler thought for a m oment, fighting against two powerful instincts; to get out of the enclosed space, and to stay safe out of the storm. Ultimately, she decided safety was more important than alleviating her discomfort, and with a great sigh she set about making a camp.
    Unli ke their previous shelter, which had an enclosed back end and a recessed opening, this cave was more of a tunnel and as such received full punishment from the wind. With this in mind, and against her better judgment, Lyn set their things back further in to the cave, away from the mouth. It was not ideal, but it was better than nothing and dryer than the opening promised to be. After setting down her extraneous equipment, Lyn ventured out only a small way from the cave to gather wood. Luckily, this particular area seemed to have some larger trees around that had stood against the wind and snow, bearing branches and boughs for her to scavenge for fuel. She returned grudgingly to the cave bearing an armful of the precious firewood, piled it on the floor, and sat down to build herself a fire.
    Lyn woke up shivering. It was somewhat lighter than it had been before, so she assumed it was daytime. Bundling herself up in some furs, she stepped nearer to the entrance to get a view of the weather. The storm raged on, the snow flying by so quickly and in such density that Lyn could barely make out the individual clumps; it was a cold, violent white wall. The Druid gritted her teeth and turned back in to the cave. The light traveled further into the stone tunnel than the night previous, revealing a little more than she had been able to see before. She pondered a moment, chewing her bottom lip absently.
    Looking over to Alir, she shrugged and said apologetically, “It’s just too cold here. May as well push back just a little farther.”
    By that evening Lyn had managed to gather a small amount more of firewood, but they were running dangerously low. She decided that the next morning, she would take one of the remaining sticks and fashion a torch to make her way back the way the y had come. Hopefully her shoulder would be well enough to climb out of the ravine and they could continue on their way. If of course they were going the direction they should have been, regardless. True to her intent, the next day she lit a sizeable branch and set off into the darkness. She left Alir behind to guide her back if necessary. After all, who knew what she’d find in such a dark place?
    With absurdly applicable timing, Lyn made out a divergence in the path leading into darkness. Lyn thought over h er options, and with a look back in the direction she had come, she turned into the tunnel and proceeded to follow it into the depths. The temperature of the tunnel began to drop, and soon it opened up in to a larger cavern with large icicles hanging from the ceiling. The ice on the roof and walls glistened and shone, and Lyn saw there were cracks and small