(suspenseful music) The Thieves Guild
by Jake Care.
Episode 56:
A Steep Path.
Mailer hadn't spent two minutes in the tunnel to freedom when she had strongly
considered turning back. Each stop brought her closer to
otherworldly wailing that got louder with each step.
Pausing, she tapped Darla's shoulder.
"That is the wind?"
"Yes, there is a strong wind that blows through the chasm and the many crevices
and small caves that dot the path down create the sounds."
Darla squeezed Mailer's arm. "You will see."
Mailer nodded and followed as Darla continued forward.
The tunnel they were in was small and barely fit one person.
It was a natural cave with narrower and wider sections, and parts where Mailer
had to duck her head.
"We are at the chasm. You must be careful. The path down is treacherous.
Always have a hand on the wall to your right, and with each step, assume it will give way, so when it does,
you will be able to catch yourself."
"The path will give way?"
Mailer wasn't a fearful person, but the ominous dark lit only by Darla's
single torch, which flickered in the wind, and the horrendous screeching combined to make
difficult footing almost one fear too many for her.
"The path is not steep. It is like a small ridge, but there are rocks and pebbles.
You will take a step that won't be secure, but just try again.
It's not dangerous if you take care."
Darla walked forward.
It was the change in the sound of the wind that alerted Mailer that they had entered the
cavern. As bad as the shrieking was in the tunnel, it was even worse in the open air
of the cavern. And as it echoed from distant walls and the ceiling, it
created an even more frightening sound.
"No wonder everyone thinks this tunnel is haunted," Mailer muttered.
"Yes, and those who enter to prove their bravery often slip on the path and
don't return."
Darla stopped.
"And now the path is clear for a while.
Just keep your hand on the wall to the right and follow me. We will pass some caves.
They're empty and nothing more than dead ends.
Just keep your hand prepared to touch the wall again once we pass the opening."
"I will." Darla was right. The path was relatively flat and
easy to navigate. Mailer found herself peering into the black to the left.
She could see nothing. It was clear that a huge opening was there, but it was
as black as the Cloak of the Thieves. Just how big the chasm actually was,
Mailer couldn't tell.
"The path ends here."
"What do you mean? I thought you said there was a path all the way down."
Mailer did her best not to sound nervous, but it was difficult.
Everything was so alien.
"The easy path from here on out, it is the small ridge I mentioned.
It is not so steep you can't stand on it, but it is still not flat.
The real danger is that the pebbles may slip out from under foot. It'll be slow-going.
Please, do not be impatient."
"Trust me, I'll be going slower than you will."
They moved forward and Mailer could immediately tell what Darla had meant.
They weren't so much on a path as a slightly less steep part of a rocky cliff.
She couldn't even use her boots to carve out support in the dirt as they were walking on rocks and
stone.
Almost immediately, Mailer's forward foot slipped, but she caught her weight on her back
foot and leaned toward the wall to stop from falling.
Darla turned back to her, the concern on her face lit by the flickering
torch. "Are you okay?"
"Yes." Mailer took a deep breath. "That was good, actually.
I now have a feel for what it is like to have my boot slip."
Darla nodded.
"The torches are not helping, however."
They both had at least a half dozen torches tied to their backs.
Mailer noted that they wouldn't be in the cavern long enough to be weighed down so heavily,
but Darla refused to budge on leaving a single torch behind, even going so far
as saying that they should have stolen some food too.
Agreeing that it was too dangerous to venture back into the mine for food, they hoped for the
best on that count.
"Do you want me to carry them?"
"No, I'll manage. I'm just complaining.
Never mind me."
Mailer smiled and Darla returned it before turning back to the path.
It was difficult to gauge time, but Mailer was certain that they had been
incrementally moving downward for over an hour.
"How much longer?" she asked. "We're probably halfway."
Darla turned and smiled. "See? Not so bad."
The shift of her weight must have loosened some stones, and to Mailer's horror,
Darla's feet slid right out from under her.
The torch was in her left hand, and she held onto it rather than grab towards the
wall.
The flickering light made the surprise on Darla's face look even more frightening as
she threw her right hand toward Mailer in a desperate attempt to get her body
on solid ground. Mailer reached out and caught Darla's sleeve.
Planting her feet, Mailer put all her weight back toward the cavern wall.
Darla desperately scrambled with her feet, but they slid down toward the chasm
below, and soon the only thing keeping her from falling was Mailer's grip.
"Toss the torch. You can help climb up," Mailer exclaimed.
"I can't," Darla said through gritted teeth as she desperately tried to
find a purchase for her feet. "Darkness is death here."
Darla had rid herself of her armor, but she was still not light.
And while Mailer seemed to have solid footing, there was always the possibility that she would slip
too.
Using all her strength, she tried to pull Darla up, but it was no use.
The Harvest Guard was too heavy to lift with one hand."I have an idea,"
Maila said through gritted teeth as she strained to hold on. "I'm going to swing you.
Try to get back on the path with your hands and knees when I swing you high enough."
"Okay."
Maila knew it was absurdly dangerous.
Swinging Darla only increased the pressure on Maila's unsure footing.
It was entirely possible that they would both tumble down the cliff before Darla
found stable ground, yet she knew it was the only option, so she did
it.
It took a few swings before Darla moved very far, but when she did, she cried
out. "There's a spot here, I can feel it with my knee.
Just swing me a little further."
Maila gritted her teeth and swung harder.
She was worried that she would lose her grip.
The pressure on her fingers and shoulder filled her with searing pain.
The only thing that gave her hope was that she appeared to have solid footing.
With one more swing, the torch slammed to the ground, sputtered, but didn't go out.
The pressure on Maila's hand lessened, and she watched as Darla scrambled on her knees
up to the small path. Her right knee slipped again, and Maila's heart fell,
but Darla tossed her body forward and against the wall.
Huddled against the wall and at her feet, practically prone on the path, Darla lay
still, taking large breaths. As she did, Maila watched as the
torches slowly slipped from the ropes on Darla's back and fell one by
one into the abyss below, but that didn't matter. Darla was safe.
"Are you okay?" Maila asked. Darla nodded. "Thank you.
You saved my life."
She slowly pulled herself up along the wall and checked her footing.
"You would have done the same thing for me."
Maila rubbed her hand. "You did do the same thing for me.
You saved me from a life in a cell."
Darla ignored the comment and touched her back with her free hand.
"I've lost my torches."
She sounded alarmed. "It doesn't matter. I have five or six.
We should be fine."
Darla nodded, but appeared concerned over the loss, although Maila blamed that on
her recent brush with death. Soon they would be free and the descent along the
chasm would be a story they would use to regale their friends.
After Darla's near fall, they descended more slowly and reached the bottom two hours
later. Maila immediately tossed herself onto the ground and lay on her stomach,
hugging their floor. "I don't think a stone floor ever felt so wonderful."
While Maila felt joy over finally being on solid ground, Darla was holding
the torch up and waving it around, peering into the distance.
"There's the cart track. We may have quite a bit of walking to do on this solid ground
though. The cavern appears to have no end." "Well, there's only one way to
find out." They followed the mine cart into the darkness, walking side by side.
Darla made a point of telling Maila to take care with her steps.
They didn't know what kind of damage could have been done to the path, with cave-ins and
landslides entirely possible within the mine.
An hour later, Maila wasn't sure how far they had progressed when the cart path
ended at what appeared to be a wooden loading dock of some sort.
The wood was warped and decayed. Darla walked around the structure.
"This is used for loading wagons."
Darla pointed to a collapsed wooden beam.
"That lifted the ore into the wagon via an operator."
She walked away from the dock and into the distance. Maila hurried to catch up.
"We must be near the entrance, no?" Maila asked.
"The wagons would need access to the road out of the mine."
Darla was standing still, staring at the ground.
"Maila?" "What?"
She hurried over. "Th- this is the road."
Maila looked down, and Darla was right.
They were on a road that looked like it was paved with wide, flat stones. "Stone?
Who in their right mind paves a stone cave with a stone road?"
But that's exactly what it was, a road with packed dirt between flat
stones. "This makes no sense," Darla replied, walking
further into the darkness. Maila followed, looking at the ground.
It was indeed a paved road in excellent condition with no grass obviously
overgrowing it, without any sunlight.
"Here's the other side."
Maila shook her head. "This is wide enough for two wagons, maybe three, to ride side by side."
"Well, our path is at least clear. We follow the road."
They both looked up and down into the darkness of where the road led.
"But which direction?" Maila asked. She was completely turned around.
She had no idea which way led to the exit.
Darla walked over to Maila and pointed at the torch.
"I think we follow the road in the direction from where the wind is blowing."
The torch was flickering in the direction directly behind them.
Together, they looked up the road in the other direction.
"Looks like the wind is coming from that way," Maila said.
"The exit," Darla replied. "Yes, and it shouldn't take long.
Maybe it winds south and then out to the old quarter, so if we walk slowly and with care, maybe a day?"
Darla nodded, and they started down the road, a joyful spring in their step.
They would be free soon.
(instrumental music plays)