Whirling around, Rowan watched as a wounded wolf bolted into the room. Its front left paw was raised, and its own head whipped towards Rowan as it seemed to realise he was there. It whimpered and backed into a corner, growling at the three weary youths.
'It's... Scared? Why did it even come here if it's not going to attack us?'
Not wanting to waste a moment, Rowan stabbed forward, sinking his spear into the cornered wolf's torso. Yelping, the beast struggled against it, but its movements grew sluggish, already exhausted. Stepping backwards, Rowan watched as it looked at him, panting. It looked afraid, trapped alone in a room with its kin's lifeless bodies around it.
A soft whimper escaped its snout, before a glaze formed over its drooping eyes.
An unsettling weight settled over Rowan's heart. He knew the beasts had been trying to kill him just a moment before, yet this had felt different. The wolf had been cowering, head lowered to the floor in submission.
As his bloodstained spear dripped in proof of what he had done, he sighed. They were the creations of a Hell.
'I shouldn't have sympathy for them. For all I know, that was a trap for me to lower my guard. Whatever. Doesn't matter now anyway.'
Pushing the thought out of his mind, he peered down each hallway, confirming there were no nearby wolves. At least not yet. Nadia and Avery each cleaned their weapons and gear, wiping the blood off the blade and straps. Rowan decided to copy them, with nothing else better to do. Staring into his blade, he caught a sight of his reflection. His brown hair had blood streaked through it, and his gaunt face had streaks of black, where sand had clung to the blood spatters there.
Sighing, he moved to wipe his face with his hands, but froze when he realised they were no better off. He wiped his hands against his pants as best as he could before checking the tunnels again.
Nothing.
"We should probably get a move on before more arrive. The bodies here should deter them, or at least make them warier about following us."
Nadia and Avery nodded, probably thinking the same thing. Standing up, Rowan once more peered down the tunnels, trying to see further into the darkness. Was his mind playing tricks on him, or was something moving down there? Looking further down the tunnel the wounded wolf emerged from, Rowan recalled how it had been surprised to see them.It had been limping, and rather than return the way it came, it had tried to hide and appear non-threatening. As the movements in the darkness drew into the light, he realised it had been running from something.
A grim and bloodied Aoife approached them, sword covered in dirt, blood and grime.
"Aoife! You're alive!"
Nadia exclaimed, joy overflowing on her face as she stood up and jogged towards Aoife, embracing her with a hug. Aoife returned the hug, though it was slow and lethargic. Nadia took note of it and loosened her grip to examine Aoife's face.
"I'm not injured, I'm just tired. When I heard the howling, I came running, but there were a couple of wolves in the way.
"Rowan blinked at that, not quite sure how to react. He knew Aoife would be competent, but to hear that she had killed those beasts by herself was surprising.
"We should go back the way I came, quickly. I found a good spot for an outpost."
Without waiting for an answer, she turned and began walking back into the darkness, not looking back at the others. Avery, Nadia and Rowan barely had to think about it as they followed Aoife into the darkness. No longer alone, the darkness seemed less oppressive, and Rowan found himself able to relax slightly, only having to worry about the attacks coming from behind.
They walked deeper and deeper into the tunnels, and Rowan once again found himself losing his sense of direction.
"How far away is the outpost? I don't know how long I can stay in these tunnels."
Nadia's voice sounded smaller than before, significantly more timid than she normally was. Rowan found himself feeling sorry for her, wondering how much worse she felt in this place.
'She must be scared of the dark. Probably one of the worst fears you could have in these caves.'
"Not long. We're already halfway there, and it should start getting lighter soon."
The entire group was relieved at the idea, and their march picked up speed, eager to be able to escape, though none more than Nadia.Other than that brief conversation, they remained deathly silent on the journey, not even a whisper between the four of them. Rowan bet it was the nature of the dark, how it was present all around them, suffocating them.
It left a lot of time for thinking, and he found his thoughts drifting back to the last time he had someone he could count on. Back when his sister was still alive.
She had been six years older than Rowan, but having been six years since her death, Rowan was as old as he remembered her being. She had died in her first Hell, after promising she would come back.
Rowan had blamed her for years, cursing her for leaving him all alone. But he always knew she had simply meant what was best for him, trying to become an awakened so she could protect him from the gangs and hunger that plagued the complex.
Brushing the thought from his mind, he continued following the group. It wasn't the time to get sentimental, not when they were so deep in the tunnels.
'Can't afford to get distracted. Who knows how many wolves might be following us.'
Shivering at the thought, he threw a glance over his shoulder, finding the familiar impenetrable darkness.
><><><><><><><><
After the group had tripped over the wolves Aoife killed, they finally found the tunnel walls lighting around them. The ground had grown rocky once more, even more so than where Rowan had first appeared.
"Finally..."
Rowan found himself agreeing with Nadia's whisper, relieved that he wouldn't have to take each step tentatively, waiting for a stubbed toe.
The glow from in front grew brighter with each step they took, well beyond the simple light the rooms had contained with their crystals.
As the light reached its crescendo, the group stepped out into an enormous cavern, the ceiling and walls stretching far off into the distance. The ceiling itself was spectacular, huge growths of the shining crystal grew on the ceiling like stalagmites, the peaks glowing a brighter white than stars in the night sky.
Dumbfounded, Rowan found that it was like standing in a field with the sky above them. Every detail around them was in crisp detail. Including, to his surprise, the ruins that sprawled across in front of them.cobbled together stone houses sprawled along the otherwise empty cavern, totalling up to what must have been hundreds of different-sized buildings, each made with rock and mortared with a strange black mortar.
"What is this place? The wolves can't have made this. It's impossible."
Biting back the reply that it was a Hell, anything was possible, Rowan did find himself agreeing with Avery's statement.
"I don't know. But when I first appeared here, there were wolves living inside the buildings. I've killed them all, of course, but that's not even the best part. Follow me, we need to get that bandage of yours changed."
Water. Aoife had found water.
Moving quicker than they had in the tunnels, the group passed through the buildings. They noted how, despite the buildings being in seemingly good condition, there was never anything inside them. No furniture, or any other sign of life.Rowan found himself thinking about the wolves as they passed them. Some of them only had a single wound on them, either on the throat or the chest, and he couldn't help but marvel at Aoife's skill.
'She's not Colm Lane's daughter for nothing, I suppose.'
Eventually, the sound of running water met them, and after passing a few more rows of buildings, they saw what Aoife had led them to. A trickling stream passed through the cavern, from one side to the other.
Along the stream, odd bushes grew, bearing small red fruits without any leaves on the branches. Ignoring the strange plants, he knelt down and scooped up a handful of refreshing cold water.
After sating his own thirst, he moved to help Avery with his bandages, but found Nadia already there. Aoife sat off to the side, munching on one of the fruits. Figuring that if she was eating them, they were probably safe to eat, Rowan grabbed one and took a bite.
He nearly gagged, spitting out the chunk he had bitten off.
"Oh yeah. They're pretty bitter."
Aoife smirked as she said this, taking a bite of her own fruit.