Raw Winter

Chapter 38: Pitch Black

It was extremely dark as she moved through the tunnel, but she didn't need to see to know where she was going. As Whistle had said, it was straightforward. The thing less tolerable was being in the open area inside the wall in the pitch dark. It was night at this point and just as dark as when she had come with the others. She thought to go out further to explore but was suddenly very conscious she might not find her way back if she left where she came in from. After watching Adders go down, it felt more closed in than ever. It almost felt as if this was the actual place he died. She felt a twinge of guilt about not being back at the ship, watching and waiting for him to die.

But thinking about it in those terms put it into perspective. It wasn't as if she was going to do anything for him or be a comfort at this point. All she could do is make sure not to get her men into more danger than she already had. This could be the last time they saw each other, and she would not watch them die.

Standing in the dark really made it obvious she didn't know what she was doing. She knew most of her expertise came from her scarce moments with Hades Smith. The rest came from the novels she read when she was younger. It was easy to conjure them and their exploits to mind; how they always won against impossible odds. The brave knight, the clever thief, the wise sage. They always knew what to do, but not her. This was a story she could lose.

The longer she stood there frowning and staring into the dark, the more she felt the need to return to the ship and admit she didn't know what she was doing, but a sound caught her attention. It was soft at first. She could assume it was a mouse, but the scraping grew louder and more obvious until a miracle happened. She saw the faint moonlight crawling through the cracks as a slab of stone was slowly pushed forward to reveal a passage.

She didn't stand there and gawk, but moved to press herself against the wall and wait in the safety of darkness. She didn't move, knowing movement caught people's attention, and they wouldn't likely notice her unless they were specifically looking for her. She didn't think they would expect to.

"Hurry, after you," the voice of a young man said.

"Are you sure we should be here?" A girl answered.

"No, we're not, but they'll not know. It's my secret and they'll have no idea we're here. Just trust me and get in, and we'll have all the privacy in the world," he said.

She replied, "How do I know you're not trying to brick me in? It's dark as hell in here."

"Come on, baby," he said. "I love you. I would never do anything like that to you. Now hurry before someone comes and finds my secret. You're the only person I have ever shown this to and you can trust me."

"Sure, me and all the other women you've bricked in here," she said seriously before they both laughed and the young man stepped in with her, a lit torch in hand, before sliding the stone back in place.

Rawintr practically held her breath as she noted where the entrance had been and tried to guess whether the torchlight would reach far enough for them to make out she was there. She decided it wouldn't. She would be a trick of the light against the stone wall if it did.

She tried not to turn her head too much, but it wasn't easy to make out the two with only one eye on the opposite side of where they were. She could barely make out his face. He was grinning as he placed the torch in a makeshift holder. Rawintr figured none of them noticed it because it was so close to the ground. They expected the entrance to be anywhere but ground level or there would be a convenient and easy set of stairs leading to it. In reality, it had been right by where they had stood.

She felt nervous about whether the young man knew about the cove and had brought the girl here to take her there, but it was clear the two had little intentions of going further. The torch was a little lower than it had been when the man was holding it, but it was high enough for her to make out their silhouettes bouncing off the walls and the places his hands were already going. If he intended to show her the far more romantic cove, Rawintr figured he would have by now.