Burning the Alpha

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The earth had done a full rotation on its axis and the sun was back at its mid-day zenith when we finally reached our destination. The four of us had no need for sleep, and had walked through the night, well out of the bounds of civilisation.

The end of our journey was quite anti-climactic. We came to a halt infront of a great wall of stone. There had been no signs, signals, or omens that could indicate our path had led anywhere special, and I saw nothing on the immense rock infront of me that that piqued any sort of interest.

I was starting to wonder if it had all been some kind of incredibly annoying and inconvenient trick, when I turned to River and noticed just how intently he was studying the stone wall. I watched as he walked right up and pressed his hand to it.

Something changed in that moment. This will sound crazy, but it was like the stone breathed, or sighed, like it had waited a millenia - longer, even - to feel his touch. A memory stirred - of a time when the Earth was barren, and all mortal life was bound to the ocean - and River had a companion who never left his side.

"Pigney," was all River had to say, and the earth nymph stepped forward in understanding.

The stone infront of us shuddered and shook. Cracks began to form, fracturing and crumbling, falling away to reveal a large archway. With the fascade gone, all I could see within vast a vast, dark emptiness. It seemed like the entire mountain was hollow.

"Avril."

I turned back to River, to find him watching me expectantly. I looked back into the cavern, then back at him.

"Lead the way," he hissed through his teeth.

Sure, it seemed obvious enough once I thought about it - we couldn't see inside, fire casts light - but it's not like River had given me a copy of his plans to memorise.

I took out my trusty lighter and turned back to the darkness, feeling rather uncomfortable at the thought of going first. The lighter sparked to life, and I took that comforting flame in my hands, helping it grow as I stepped forward into the great hollow.

It wasn't as scary as I had imagined. As the flame grew, it illuminated a straight path infront of me. A comfortable distance from the clear path, I could see that the walls had been decorated. Depictions of humans - from when their foreheads were bigger, and their vocabularys were much smaller - were littered along the way. I couldn't help but smile at the tales they told; tales of adventure and discovery, love and loss. Simple and beautiful, human things.

As we continued to walk, the path became narrower, like the walls were closing in, until another archway took form infront of us. I couldn't understand why the darkness beyond it resisted my flame until we got closer.

There was nothing. As in, the path ended where the arch began. It broke off into a cliff that went straight down, further than me light could shine.

"This will be me, then," Vole announced, stepping to my side.

They laced their hands infront of them, then turned their head from side to side, like an athlete, preparing for their big moment.

A force of air whipped around us, and I started to regret all choices that had led to this point.

As a group, we were jolted forward, towards the void. My flame flickered, as I lost concentration.

"I'd rather not--" I started to say I'd get my own self across, when River interrupted.

"--you keep that flame up," he hissed.

Vole launched us off the ground. If I had a stomach, it would have lurched in that moment. It's been a long existence, but I have to say, having no control as an air nymph flung me off a cliff into a massive cavern of nothingness was one of my least favourite moments.

My flame sputtered, but River's sizzling hand on my wrist snapped me back into focus mode, and I managed to get it steady again.

"More," he ordered.

I took this to mean he wanted more light, and expanded my flame until we could see walls once more.

It was not a smooth ride, to say the least, but - to Vole's credit - they did manage to propel us to the other side of the cavern without dropping us so...that was a win...

I wanted to kiss the earth when we landed back on solid ground, but River allowed no time for celebration.

The next cavern was much like the first, but the paintings were different. They were the other humanoids. The blood-suckers, the shape-shifters; formed like humans, yet different. A werewolf caught my eye, teeth bloody, and howling at the moon - these walls told his story - but the way was short, and River allowed no time for further study.

I should have expected what came next, but it still managed to surprise and horrify me. The cavern ended in a wall of stone, but it had a stream trickling vertically from beyond sight above, into a small, but very deep looking pool of water.