Wet Fire

Breath of the Earth (E8)

Adair

The dark air was damp and heavy, and he lay there for a few minutes, wondering what to do with himself. Then, the noise sounded again, a high pitch scream, and the cloud of mist suffocating him blew away in a warm gust of wind. Wind. Adair jerked upright, his limbs shaking. More noises drifted down the passageway--grunts, and steel scraping on rock. A flickering light grew rapidly brighter in the distant reaches of the cave. There were people.

Adair's heart leapt up. Finally, he would be found. "Uncle! Cass! Over here!" he yelled, his voice echoing endlessly in the darkness.

But the light paid him no mind, and became fainter until it was no more than a tiny pinprick. No. Adair scrambled up onto his feet and dashed off down the hallway, leaving the treasure far behind him. He held out both of his hands and moved as fast as he could, careful not to trip and fall onto the uneven ground.

The narrow passage opened up into a vast cavern, even larger than the treasure chamber that he had just visited. Here, several dark tunnels converged into a single path, which led into the deep. Water glimmered off the ceiling in drops like stars, which fell into two identical bodies of water of either side of the room. The tiny light bobbed in between the rock formations out in the distance, and Adair followed it along a narrow ledge in-between the two pools. "Hey! Over here, stop!"

The flickering light descended into a tunnel off the cavern, and he could see shadows dance off the walls--the shadows of a man and a woman. Adair knew it was them, and sped up into a sprint before feeling something bite at his heels. It was cold and thick, like a wall of soupy ice coming down upon him, like what he had felt earlier, only now it was stronger and more threatening. The air grew ice cold puddles of water along the passage froze into a slush. Adair ran as hard as he could manage, his body hurt in so many places.

As he went deeper, the air became thinner, and he started feeling pressure inside his ears and inside his lungs. He was suddenly growing more tired, and began to slow. Whether it was from the depth, or from what was that was following him, he could not tell.

Adair felt an icy hand lock around his left leg, and then another around his right. His momentum thrust him forward into the wall, and he barely caught himself on the frozen rock before letting go and landing on the ground. The hands were gone, but the cold mist enveloped him, and he could feel the blood on his nose crust up. Claustrophobia began to set in and he struggled to breathe, his chest heaving up and down. Adair turned over onto his knees and gasped for air.

Nearly a minute passed and Adair lost feeling in his limbs, he couldn't move his arm or his legs, and he couldn't call for help. His eyes were wide open in shock, and his breathing was faint, but his mind raced, fully aware of his surroundings. He felt as vulnerable as a newborn baby in a bear's den.

"Stay close behind me. And be quiet, girl." It was Kade's voice.

"I won't leave!" Cass sobbed, "Not without him."

"I said quiet!"

The two of them emerged from the mist, with Kade leading the way, waving the torch around wildly and dissolving the cold around him. Cass followed , her hair glowing golden from the yellow light. When she saw him, she hurried over and collapsed at his side, lifting up his head. "Adair..."

Cass's eyes gleamed with tears and she looked up to Kade. "Wha--what's wrong with him? Why can't he move?"

I'm here. Adair wanted to say. He wanted to get up and show them that he was alright.

Kade gestured for Cass to stand. She did, and he handed her the torch. Kade knelt down next to Adair and put an hear to his chest. "He's alive, but paralyzed."