Dungeons & Disappointment

Chapter 49: Take a Rest

"Trevon?" Finana asked again.

I pushed off of the Drider's corpse, staring at the crushed head more and more, wary of the other sounds in the cavern, and I slowly made my way over to the large pool of water that was in the cave. I stumbled down into the water, submerging myself as I scrubbed myself clean in the water, letting it lift all the Drider blood and bits of flesh off of me. I stood out of the water, then made my way back to the land, and Finana intersected my path.

"Trevon?" She asked. "Are you alright?"

I looked up at her without saying a word, meeting her eyes and giving her a little smile, but she saw through it.

"Trevon, please." She said, getting in front of me again. "Please, talk to me. Are you okay?"

Part of me wanted to tell her. As the cool air in the cave chilled me, a little nagging voice at the back of my mind rasped at me, nearly bringing me to tell her the truth. But I couldn't.

"Finana." I said, grabbing her hands and looking her in the eye. "Listen to me."

She was silent for a moment. I had her attention.

"I'm alright." I lied. "I just got mad. I'll be fine, trust me."

She didn't look happy about it, but she looked like she believed me, and she nodded slowly.

"Thank you." She said.

I nodded. "A hug would be appreciated, though." I said, squeezing her hands.

She pulled me into a hug, and I held her, in the silence of the cave, as BahnBarr, Haneen and Ormgaul started setting up camp. They rolled out sleeping bags, set up an unlit fire with some pieces of the shattered mining equipment, and BahnBarr was unpacking a little bit of food.

"We sleeping here for the night?" I asked as Finana and I walked back to the small camp.

"Its about as good a place as any." BahnBarr said as she took a small flame from her staff to light the fire. "According to the map, we're not far from the ancient city, and once we're there, we fan out and find the princess."

"Good." I replied, sitting around the fire as it slowly grew larger. "Never thought we'd be camping in a cave."

"You never slept in caves in your world?" BahnBarr inquired.

"BahnBarr, I've never even been in a cave in my world." I said. "We don't have dwarves like these guys."

"It's just humans?"

"Yup." I said, and BahnBarr started nibbling on a little bit of hardtack. "And the world is a lot more advanced."

"Well, would you go back if you had the chance?"

Silence. I looked around at the rest of my friends, and I saw that they were all looking at me, and Finana was looking at me with an imploring look.

"My father is in this world. I have to find him."

Everyone looked at me. I hadn't told anyone about my dream, but I supposed that now was as good a time as ever.

"I had a dream. Before we met....Alocertha." I said, my voice shaking a little bit. "The cave I told you about. After that dream, I changed, and there was a dark tower, overlooking a village on the side of a mountain. The entire sky was dark, and I heard my father's voice."

BahnBarr's face dropped, and Finana paled as she looked at the fire.

"You...you know something about that place?"