☠Sterling Everest☠
NO ENTRY
☠Bonnie Everheartte☠
She shivers in front of a pool of fire.
No, Bonnie thinks, not fire. Lava. They're in a cave full of bubbling lava. Which makes sense, she realizes, as the temperature had gone up the moment they entered this particular cave. A hand is clutching at her arm, nails digging into her skin.
"Bonnie," Georgina's voice wavers, her fear as palpable as the blistering heat surrounding them, "We need to get out of here."
"We can't go back, though." Bonnie replies, looking at the younger girl.
Georgina's eyebrows scrunch together in confusion. Distrust glints just beneath the fear in her eyes, but Bonnie is quick to explain. "You remember those weird gases from the other cave?" they had escaped the gas just minutes ago—it had stung the skin at contact, but neither girl had stayed to find out what happens if you expose yourself to it for too long. "If we go back, the gas could be waiting for us. It brought us here for a reason."
Bonnie watches the younger girl ponder about it, while warily watching the lava from the corner of her eye. Finally, Georgina nods, "But we'll find another exit?"
"I promise." Bonnie's almost a hundred percent sure an exit isn't the only thing they'll find.
"What if we just get lost in here?" Georgina asks, keeping herself as far away from the lava as possible.
They'll need a marker, Bonnie thinks. She walks near the lava and sticks one end of the wooden spear she had gotten from her brief trip to the cornucopia into it carefully. It glows a deep red, then turns black instantly, and she pulls it back. With the charred end, she writes an 'X' on the wall. She turns to give her ally a small, reassuring smile.
They start walking, footsteps steady yet cautious. Bonnie lets Georgina lead, while tries to memorize the rocky surfaces and adds an 'X' mark on different crevices. It could lead a tribute to them, but between fighting a tribute and getting lost in a cave full of lava, Bonnie would rather risk the former. She'd at least done that before.
They get to a few hundred yards when they encounter a sort of crossroad. There's another path headed left, while the one they are on goes straight ahead. Something echoes from within the left path, a soft, lulling sound that Bonnie is familiar with.
"Do you hear that?" Georgina asks, eyes wide, "That must be water!"
"Yeah. It sounds like it's dripping." Bonnie isn't sure if water in a cave is a good indication or not, but at this point, they are both sweaty and thirsty. They each had a water bottle, which were both in Georgina's backpack, but it's only a matter of time before they run out. Bonnie marks their spot and suggests, "Maybe we can take the left. See where the water is coming from?"
Georgina nods, smiling, "Maybe there's no lava in there. And, if it's not any good, we can turn back."
Minds made up, they go left, hoping to find the source of the water, and, if they're lucky, an exit. If they find neither, Bonnie hopes it will at least give them some reprieve from the sweltering heat of the lava. The path seems to glow red, and Bonnie's heart sinks. There's lava in there too. The heat seems to multiply as they go deeper, and Bonnie almost tells Georgina to turn back when the smell hits her.
It is unfamiliar, but isn't unpleasant; on the contrary, it's actually quite welcoming, like a mother's open arms beckoning you to come closer. It fills the cave with a scent that's almost like a forest, fresh and minty. It gets stronger as they walk on, but Bonnie finds that she doesn't mind.
