Free Restless Soul by Alex Archer Page A

angling up from below. It wasn’t strong, but it was steady.
    The flashlight he’d brought, she realized. He’d found it in the dark and was sweeping it in an arc trying to find her.
    “I’m fine,” she finally called back. “Don’t worry about me.” Then she pulled herself higher, tugged the sword free and repeated the motion. This time the blade sunk in even more easily and dirt came free around it, showering her face and stinging her eyes.
    The earth wasn’t at all hard packed, and when she wiggled the sword free more dirt came loose. “Hollow. It feels hollow,” she said.
    Annja used the sword for digging. It was awkward but effective.
    Clumps of dirt and gravel spewed down, and she closed her eyes as she continued to frantically worry away at the wall. Her eyes were no good here, anyway.
    There was more than simply dirt. There was a hollow spot behind it. She couldn’t tell how big, though.
    Luartaro’s light was too dim to be of any help that way. Still, her spirit soared in hope. Maybe the hollow was just big enough for her to climb up into it. She’d be able to give her arms and legs a rest before she attempted to free-climb to the slit. She might even be able to retrieve her flashlight and use it to get a better idea of her bearings and to see how many pitons she had left.
    She worked furiously, digging at the soil with the blade. Dirt and rocks pelted her face. Moments later, she sent the sword back to the otherwhere in her mind and hauled herself up into the niche she’d dug out. She crouched on hands and knees and sucked in several deep breaths. The taste of earth and the river and the scent of her own sweat were strong on her tongue.
    “Annja! Where are you?”
    She maneuvered around so she was facing out toward the cavern, still on her hands and knees.
    Far below, Luartaro’s flashlight was feeble but it faintly reached her.
    Her fingers tested the lip of the niche and she cautiously peered over. She couldn’t see him, only the spot of light that was doing little to punch through the darkness.
    Carefully, she shrugged out of her backpack and retrieved her flashlight. She turned it on and pointed it down. The beam wasn’t as strong as Luartaro’s, and she flicked it on and off like a firefly’s light. She could use Morse code to send him a message, but she doubted he knew the language.
    “I’m okay. I’m in a—” She paused and swung her flashlight behind her. “Tunnel.” It wasn’t a simple niche that she’d carved; she’d managed to knock away a wall of earth that had concealed another cave tunnel.
    “I’ve found a tunnel, Lu!” she called back with as much voice as she could muster. “I’m going to check it out. I’ll be right back. If it’s good, I’ll lower a rope.”
    “Hurry!”
    The panic in Luartaro’s single word spurred her. She spun around and, leaving the pack and coil of rope on the floor, she crawled deeper as fast as she could.
    After several yards, she was able to stand.
    Flashlight in one hand, she jogged toward what she prayed was a way out. The passage canted up slightly, buoying her hopes. She knew they couldn’t be far from the surface because of the tree roots.
    Her footsteps echoed against the stone. From somewhere up ahead, she heard the squeak of bats and the patter of rain. Thunder boomed and she felt the vibration through the stone.
    Annja knew she wasn’t high in the mountains; they’d not traveled upward enough for that. But she was near the surface somewhere, a low spot in the range or perhaps a cleft between peaks.
    Thunder sounded again, and she sucked in a great gulp of stone-scented air and plunged ahead faster. The sensation of insects dancing on her skin threatened to send her into a scratching fit.
    The tunnel descended again, and just when she worried it might take her back to another water-filled place, she stepped through an opening and into another chamber.
    It had a hole in the ceiling that opened to the sky.
    Free me.
    Rain