Free In The Shadows of the Cavern of Death (Shadows of Death Book 1) by Angelique Jones Page A

behind me, I asked, “What do you think Tristian?” wanting to know if he felt it, too.
    “I don’t know, but something isn’t right. It’s as if the area has been abandoned,” he said, moving to look through the door to the rest of the house.
    Yes, but why was it abandoned? That’s the question. Placing my bag on the floor, I motioned for the girls to sit. “Stay there, don’t explore, don’t speak above a whisper, and stay away from the windows,” I told them as I sat down and pulled out the map.
    Sitting down next to me and studying the map, Tristian said, “We have to figure out how far we’re inside the entrance––it’s the only way we’ll be able to find the fissure.”
    “What do you mean we have to find the fissure? I thought we were going through the shaft, the easy way,” Tina interrupted.
    Not bothering to look up, I said, “Do you see anyone in this home? Anyone in the streets? Do you hear the sounds of people? No, you don’t, which means there is no one for us to blend in with. If we tried to go through to another cave, they’d know we don’t belong,” I finished, unable to keep the exasperation out of my voice at her density in the situation.
    “That doesn’t mean anything. We have to go to the next cavern,” she argued, making no sense.
    Raising my eyes from the map to look at her, I asked, “Why do we have to go to the next cavern, Tina?” wondering why it mattered to her.
    Turning her head to look out the window, she stuttered, “It’s just that Josie and I can’t climb as well as you two,” her face flushing.
    “I it will be OK. Tristian and I will be there to help you two, there’s nothing to worry about,” I explained, hoping that this would allay her fears.
    But instead of acknowledging my words, her face turned stubborn and her lips into a thin line.
    Shaking my head, I gave my attention to Tristian. “We have to get moving, we can’t risk someone realizing we’re missing. I think the entrance to our cave is in this direction, but I’m not sure how far we are into the Loyalist Cavern. Let’s move in this direction and see if we can get a better sense of the distance.”
    Slowly nodding his head, he countered, “I think you’re right, that’s the best plan of action, but I think we should go farther over to this side, where the fissure is located. That way we’re close enough to access it quickly, especially if we’re seen.”
    “It sounds like a plan,” I agreed, wanting to get as far from here as we could. There was something very wrong about this place and I had a bad feeling.
    Putting the map back in my bag, I motioned for the girls to rise as Tristian went to check the way before we left, and after a moment he signaled for us to follow. Keeping the girls between us, we made our way through the twists and turns of the houses, never hearing a sound until about four hours later. We had stopped at another abandoned house to check the map, going to the top floor to get a better view. We could see the entrance to our cavern in the distance, the fissure was closer to it than we realized. Wanting to give the girls a rest before moving on was the only thing that kept us from getting caught.
    We had been just about to put the water away when we heard the voices. “I don’t understand why we have to patrol the streets. There’s no way they’d be this far toward us. They’re headed in the other direction,” the voice whined.
    “The informer said that there was an exit in this cavern. Once they realized they couldn’t  hide among the population here, they would make for it,” the answering voice growled. 
    “That impossible, we’d know if there was a way to the surface through here,” the first voice scoffed.
    “It’s an unexplored exit on an old map, who knows where it really leads to, but the informer told the commander that the girl said it was there. So we will search until they are found,” the second voice said, fading as it moved past us