Born To Hail

Chapter 15

Sebastian knew not where he was. It was dark, so very dark. The air was damp and cold. He could feel rivulets of the cold liquid run down his face. With arms spread wide like an eagles unfurled wings he spun around trying to find some sort of surface. He found none. In the distance he heard a consistent dripping of water on stone.

He could smell cold in the air, like one smells the approach of winter. Yet, somehow, the cold seemed unnatural and out of place. Mingled in with the scent of cold was the musky hit of mildew. Since he could not see he continued using his other senses to discern his location. That's when he first noticed a rhythmic rumble echoing around him. The sound seemed oddly familiar to him, yet couldn't place it.

With his right hand he rubbed his left shoulder as if he could vaguely remember something being there. He tried thinking of how he got to this place or why he was here. He couldn't though; his head would get cloudy when he tried to remember, so he gave up on it for the moment. Next he tried putting the sounds and smells together. They all seemed so familiar to him as if he should know them, or use to know them and now they were from a faded memory. Well all except the cold. He couldn't shake the feeling of it being out of place, preternatural. Nothing sat right in his stomach, he could feel the wrongness of his situation.

"I wish I could see." He said to himself. Sebastian had never been one to be afraid of the dark, but not being able to see was a different story. He shoved his hands into his pockets trying to find something that may help him in and way. Finding something smooth in his right pocket he pulled it free. By feel alone he found it to be a lighter.

Thumb on the tiny metal wheel he pushed it down causing a spark from the flint, to ignite the fuel from within. Like magic he held fire in his hand. Magic. That word jumped out at him from his mind.

"Magic, magic, magic." He repeated to himself, trying to remember. Of what he knew not. So he continued to repeat the word, mulling it over in his head while rolling it around in his mouth. With each time he said the word he seemed to grasp at something.

"Magic!" He exclaimed. "I... I have magic." To prove his memory correct he looked down at the meager flame. He let go of the tiny button fueling the flame, the flame remained in place by his will. Next Sebastian sent the flame upward, making it grow as it went. Finally the fire, now the size of a beach ball, stop at the ceiling of what appeared to be an immense cavern.

Stalactites hanging like icicles of rock gave account to the dripping he heard. Strange thing was that there appeared to be any stalagmites on the floor. His miniature star wasn't nearly large enough to penetrate all the darkness of the cavern. With the knowledge of being underground made him aware of tons upon tons of rock and dirt hovered above him, able to give out at anytime. Maybe that was what the rumbling was, the ceiling about to give way.

By listening more carefully he noticed that the rumble wasn't coming from above but from further into darkness. Out of curiosity he moved in the direction of the sound. As he walked his star moved with him, and the cold increased. Within a score of steps he could see his breathe escape his lips in a thick white cloud. Several more steps he began shivering, off at the edge of his light he saw a massive pure white boulder protruding out of the cavern floor.

Sebastian's interest spiked upon realizing the rumble emanated from the boulder. He was unable to make it all the way to the boulder, the cold was unbearable. He was still several yards from the base yet still close enough to see a pattern in the stone. He discerned spade spades of differing sizes on the visible surface of the stone. Now shivering violently he mentally lowered his little star closer to provide warmth lest he freeze to death. The tiny ball of fire could barely do the trick against the overpowering cold, seemingly radiating from the strange stone.