Chapter Twenty Two
The tunnel they find themselves in is quite narrow, wide enough to accommodate them side by side and barely tall enough to allow them to pass without ducking. Once through the door, it begins to swing closed again until finally shutting tight. The orb gives them sufficient light to see, illuminating the tunnel as it continues deeper into the mountain.
James hands his things to Miko and then begins searching the area near the door in an attempt to find the hidden mechanism that will allow them to reopen the door from this side. After several minutes of fruitless searching, he gives up, unable to locate the trigger mechanism. “Let’s hope that we don’t need to come back this way in a hurry,” he says to Miko while he takes his things back.
“Yeah,” agrees Miko nervously, “let’s hope that.”
When his packs are situated properly about his person, James again takes the lead and heads off down the tunnel. Ten feet or so from the door, they come across a bundle of torches. Miko removes his knife and cuts the ties holding the bundle together. Taking several of the torches, he places them in one of his bags.
James looks at him questioningly and Miko just shrugs and says, “You never know.”
Nodding his approval, James turns and leads them further into the mountain. The tunnel continues for some time before opening onto a subterranean cavern. The orb’s light reveals many stalactites and stalagmites, the play of shadows as they pass through gives the cavern an eerie feeling. From all around comes the steady drip, drip, drip of water coming off the stalactites.
“Wow,” Miko says, in awe of the extraordinary rock formations revealed by the orb’s light. After a brief pause to marvel at the rock formations, they continue on. The orb’s light reveals further marvelous, breath taking sights as they wend their way through the cavern, some being quite brilliant with many contrasting colors. Miko stops briefly to touch one.
“Pretty impressive isn’t it?” James asks, coming up behind him.
“I’ve never seen anything like it in my life,” he replies. “How did all this get to be here?”
James indicates one of the stalactites hanging from the ceiling, “Water drips through cracks in the ceiling and runs down one of those stalactites.”
Miko looks at him, confused.
“Stalactites are what the ones from the ceiling are called and stalagmites are the ones rising up from the floor,” he explains. “Over a very long time, hundreds and thousands of years, the continual passage of water leaves minerals behind. Over time, they harden to form the structures you see here.”
“Amazing,” Miko says as he rubs one, “it’s as hard as rock.”
“It is rock,” James explains. “Over time the minerals come together and form the rock.”
“Hard to believe,” Miko says in wonder. “Wouldn’t have if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.”
“Come on, we need to get going.” James hurries Miko along and they make their way further through the cavern.
In pools and scurrying among the rock formation they encounter many strange animals in this subterranean world, most being pale in color. In one large pool of water, Miko notices little dots of light moving below the surface.
“James,” he hollers, “come here, you gotta see this.”
James comes over to where Miko has again stopped and kneels down, looking into the water. Seeing the little dots moving around, he says, “It’s probably just small fish.”
“Fish?” Miko asks incredulously. “With lights?”
Feeling like a school teacher out on a field trip, James explains, “When there is a total absence of light, fish and other animals will often produce their own.”
“How?” Miko asks.
“That I don’t know,” he admits. “I just know they do.”
“That is so weird,” Miko says, continuing to watch the dots flitter around.
“Yes it is,” James says. “Now, can we please hurry through here without all the stops?” He gets up and continues on, making Miko rush to catch up or be left behind in the dark.
The cavern continues on for another several hundred feet before they reach an open chasm cleaving the cavern in two. It looks as if the mountain had pulled apart some time in the past, leaving a rift over a hundred feet wide. A wooden bridge in poor repair spans the gap, some of the boards are missing and others are badly cracked, altogether looking as if it wouldn’t support their weight.
James checks his compass which indicates that their path continues across the chasm. He shows it to Miko.
“You’ve got to be kidding!” Miko exclaims. “There’s no way that’s going to hold when we cross. We’ll be dropped into whatever is down there.” He moves to the edge and looks down, but only sees blackness within the chasm. “We’ll die!”
“There’s no other way to go,” James tells him. “We can’t go back, so we have to go forward. Besides, I haven’t seen any other passages we could possibly have taken.”
Miko gives him a defiant look and stands his ground.
“Okay scardy pants,” James says mockingly, “I’ll try it first. If it will hold up for me it should hold up for you.”
“But what will I do if you fall and die?” Miko asks. With a wild look on his face he shouts, “I’ll be trapped here!”
Coming over to where he’s standing, shaking slightly in fear at being alone here, James tries to calm him. “Look, I won’t ever leave you like that, but someone has to go first and see if it is safe.”
Miko gives him a look that could only be called pitiful, but nods his head. “Alright,” he says in barely a whisper.
James casts a short spell and the orb floats up and hovers above and a little behind his left shoulder, following him as he moves. He walks over to the bridge and takes hold of the single rope handrail on the right, the one on the left had long since fallen off. He places his left foot gingerly on the first board as far to the edge as he can and slowly eases his weight onto it. When the board is supporting his entire weight, he turns and looks over at Miko and says, “See, it’s going to hold.” Then he takes his right foot and places it on the next board.
Slowly, he repeats the process, board by board, until he gets about mid span. Suddenly, a board breaks in two from his weight, causing him to lose his balance as his foot goes through.
“James!” Miko screams from where he’s watching.
He catches himself on the handrail and is able to prevent himself from falling. Turning slightly, he waves back to Miko letting him know he’s fine.
Once his nerves settle down and his heart stops racing, he steps over the broken board and then tests the next board before trusting it with his weight. He’s relieved when the board holds firm and then continues on as he tests each and every board until finally making it to the other side.
Once safely on the cavern floor, he hollers over to Miko, “I made it!” made it…made it…made it, his voice echoes throughout the cavern. “I’m sending the orb back so you can use it during your crossing.” crossing…crossing…crossing… Concentrating, he makes the orb float across the chasm to Miko. He has the orb settle over Miko’s left shoulder and keeps it there.
“Okay, now it’s your turn,” turn…turn…turn… he hollers over to Miko. “Just keep your feet to the edge of the boards and they will hold your weight better.” better…better…better…
He watches as Miko approaches the edge of the bridge and hesitantly sets his foot on the first board. When he realizes it will hold his weight, he moves his other foot cautiously to the next, making sure to keep his feet as far to the edge of the board as possible. Both hands clutch the handrail in a grip only fear of imminent death could produce.
Slowly, board by board he makes his way across the bridge. Upon reaching a board that doesn’t look as if it will hold his weight, he steps over it and places his foot on the following board. It’s a stretch, but he makes it with no problem.