Secret Fire

Chapter The Third

Other things wait for darkness. The tracker stood and pointed. He whispered to the leader and the huge man nodded and rumbled his approval. He looked at the mountain and chuckled as he thought, "The boy will lead us to them. Fool." He stopped and licked his lips at the reward promised him. He thought of his home land in the south, then he turned to look back at his thirty or so men. All southern, swarthy brutes with missing teeth and thick accents. Fools. Every one of them. He thought back to the talk that had brought him to this barren, cold little place. He had been sitting on his warm terrace of his palace when a raven had flown in from afar. The raven had a letter tied to its leg and when he unrolled it he nearly choked. A face appeared in the blank paper. He had done business with the witch before, the red haired one. But now it seemed she needed them again. She explained that a hunter had failed her and now she needed this little mess cleaned up. "Take care of the boy, the girl and the huntress." She had said. Then the faces of each had appeared on the parchment. "And my reward?" He had said stroking his chin. The woman had rolled her eyes in disgust. "You may have the Hills of Long Forgotten." She had finally conceded. The man had thought this over. He had long wanted those hills. It would give them direct access to the harbor towns to pillage. So he had said yes. The tracker stood but the chief shoved the young boy out of the way sending him stumbling. The men chuckled and sneered. The chief mused, "What is he? 20? Too young. Too soft. Some shoving will do him good. He must only be as old as the little dog-boy that seems to be following the girls. He knows his way around alright. But where are the little females headed? Where would... The Ruins. Of course." Grimes, the leader of the Southern Killers, wheeled his horse about and made for the camp. "We'll just have to beat them there."

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Tracer swore under his breath as for the hundredth time his tiny spark went out. Even as he made the slight sound bats flew out and swirled around his head. He swatted at them but it only made them screech in their tiny, needle-like voices. He hunched over and just ignored them as they swooped around his head. He gave up and curled up into a small ball to sleep. Tracer made his way down the dark tunnel when he knew it was dark out. He walked to the end where a torch stuck out from the wall. A dead end. Or so it seemed. Tracer pushed on the torch and the end of the tunnel swung in reveling the hidden door. He slipped in on soft feet that made no sound as they padded down the rounded tunnel. It was made of light colored bricks and had low arches made of the same. It wound around curving and twisting. He had no need of a torch as little holes placed so strategically that from the mountain no human eye could see them unless right next to them. The floor was made of a gravel and shallow steps every few yards. Tracer stubbed his toe on a step and fell heavily, crying out in pain.

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Nia froze and listened with her body. Her eyes were closed and she tensed every muscle in her inside. She poised slightly leant forward in place. Cobalta did the same but crouched to the dirt and put a hand down, feeling. Nia opened her eyes and nearly fell over with the whole slightly leaning thing. She blinked rapidly a few times to get her balance. They had left that night. Cobalta had taken them to a secret tunnel that led right into the heart of the mountain. They were walking down it now when they had heard a 'thump'. She noticed Cobalta scowling at her but ignored it. She left her crouch and stood facing Nia. "Let's move." She said already striding away. Nia trotted to keep up with Cobalta's long stride. "Where does this tunnel go Cobalta?" She asked. Cobalta huffed. "Through the mountain. We can't walk under or around it. And we can't walk over it so we go through." Nia scowled at Cobalta's 'your-an-annoying-little-girl' tone of voice. She shrugged it off though. Cobalta kept up a steady trot through the darkened tunnel. The sun was beating down through the crack and holes in the tunnel. Hours began to drag by. Slowly it began to cool and Nia could no longer see far in front of herself. Cobalta came to an abrupt stop and Nia nearly broke her nose running into her backside. Cobalta gave her look and grunted. She began to take off her packs and Nia followed suit. Nia stared at the wall opposite her. She was sitting against the side of the tunnel cool, rough stone to her back. Cobalta was on the other side, starting a small fire with some twigs she had gathered along the way. She looked at Nia then and rolled on the balls of her feet. "Tired?" she asked. "Dead." Nia replied, leaning her head back and closing her eyes. The last thing she heard before sleep took her was the crackle of a small flame. Nia awoke to darkness. She closed-her eyes and nothing changed. The darkness was deep she could feel the blackness breathe. Inhale. Exhale. Laugh. Nia opened her eyes wide then, trying to see anything. She was rewarded with nothing. Nia was about to close her eyes again when a dim light appeared. Nia reached for it out her hand passed through it like water, and like water it rippled, sending light ripples all around her. She realized her hair was splayed out around her, and she was floating there. Then the ripples vanished, taking the light with it. Tiny lights flickered around her when the ripples left. She marveled at their beauty. So many colors! She tried to touch them but they evaded her, blinking out only to reappear somewhere else. She was having a lovely time but then became frustrated and gave up. A steady, pulsing light began to grow brighter, brighter, brighter, Nia was being blinded. Then a whisper, just a faint sound on a breeze, "Fight...fight...fight..." "What? What do I fight?" Nia was then falling, falling, falling, Cold stone. Hard rocks. Someone shaking her. "Come on lazy. Get up already!" Cobalta. Nia blinked awake. "I'm up!" she grumbled swatting at Cobalta's arm. Cobalta grunted then turned around and grabbed her pack, swinging it up over her shoulder. Nia sat up on one elbow, yawning. Cobalta threw Nia 's pack at her hitting her in the shoulder. "Hey! That hurts you know." Cobalta grunted her one-in-a-million laugh. Nia rubbed her shoulder, shooting her a dirty look.