Chasing Sparks

Chapter 17

The break in the weather had lasted for two days and Wren and Quizi had made good progress. They were cold but bearably so, and were still following the same northern track albeit slightly north east now.

Wren reckoned by looking around him they had another day or so at these high altitudes before the path started to descend. The highest peaks seemed to be behind them or to the south at least. However, he could see in the distance the weather was changing and not for the better.

“We should find shelter before the storm hits,” he said.

Quizi didn’t reply.

They had been pushing hard, taking advantage of the calmer weather but it meant Quizi was very tired. Wren felt fine but any Runner would, he was just worried about Quizi.

Wren started scouting a bit ahead. He was looking for a decent shelter, something a bit more substantial than a hollowed out snow drift. They had passed several decent sized caves on their journey, so he knew they were out there. He also knew the Tunnels ran pretty much everywhere under the continent and that this place would likely be no different. But knowing there were caves and finding the entrance to one, were two totally different things.

He’d been searching for a while now, whilst periodically checking on Quizi and it wasn’t looking good. He’d found nothing and she desperately needed to stop and rest. Thinking it might be time to give up and start digging a hole in the snow, he spotted a dark crease in the mountain face.

As he approached, the crease turned out to be a crevice easily big enough for two people to fit in together. Thinking his luck might be changing, he looked into the crack and noticed it widened out deeper inside, perhaps into a cave where they could sit and eat.

Wren could feel his hopes rising but he also knew caves in an environment like this were often a double edged sword. A chance of respite from the weather, definitely, but at the same time, you ran the risk of sharing your respite with something far more dangerous than the weather. But there was a chance this space was empty and Wren knew they had to at least to scope out the possibility.

He retraced his tracks and returned to a clearly exhausted Quizi. He then carefully led her to the split in the rock face. It was a good couple of feet wide and easily wide enough for him and Quizi to move down. A larger creature however, would have struggled to fit, which Wren took for a good sign.

As they began creeping into the mountain, Wren could hear the wind picking up outside, the storm that had threatened all day was finally arriving. They wouldn’t find anywhere better now.

Quizi was also more alert now, understanding the danger of the situation. Despite her tiredness, she was ready to react should anything try to surprise them. But nothing did.

The crevice opened up after twenty paces into a wider space. As Wren looked around the hairs on the back of his neck started to stand up. This was no purely natural cavern, it looked more like an entrance hall.

There were signs everywhere that the cavern had been widened and shaped manually. This had the feel of someone’s home, but looking around carefully, it was empty right now and provided excellent shelter.

Wren did notice a small tunnel leading deeper into the mountain on the other side of the hall, but couldn’t see anything in it. And he had no intention of venturing any further inside given they were already well and truly sheltered from the storm. So he just hoped that whatever used this space wouldn’t be using it tonight.

Warming up already, Quizi walked over to the other side of the hallway, examining the walls, “Something was here recently,” she said.

“How can you tell?” asked Wren, coming over to look.