Page 72 of Dawn of Hope
Mara is cut off by a scream as the ground drops out from under us. Before I know what is happening, we are tumbling, head over foot, down a steep slope that is completely shrouded in darkness. My body slams into the hard ground as rubble and sharp rocks stab into me while we tumble. I clench my eyes, trying to block out the dirt and gravel kicking up into my face.
Mara cries out as my body slams into hers, coming to a halt against a wall.
“Fuck!” Mara groans as she rolls onto her back, untangling herself from me.
My entire body aches from the beating it just took. I open my eyes and try to look around, but wherever we fell is pitch black, and I can’t see my hand in front of my face.
“You alright?” Mara says.
“Yeah, yeah I’m fine.” I stand and reach my hands out, trying to feel anything around me. My fingertips find soft fabric and I grab onto Mara’s arm. “But what do we do now?”
“We need to find a way out.” She takes my hand and places it flat against the wall we crashed into. “Grab on to me with the other. We need to feel along the wall to see where this goes.”
We make it a few steps forward, sliding our fingertips along the wall to guide us when a torch lights suddenly in front of Mara’s face. The flames illuminate the tunnel in front of us, but only as far as a few steps. Packed dirt and hanging roots make up the roof, and a damp musty smell meets my nose.
“So we just blindly follow it?” I ask, squinting into the darkness to make out if there are any threats just past the ring of light.
Metal sings through the space as Mara draws her sword. She grabs the torch and extends it in front of her. “We just blindly follow it.”
I unsheathe my dagger and hold it at my side. I’m regretting dropping my bow into the river right about now, thinking how much better it would be to have the ability to strike any opponent from a distance.
This will have to do.
We follow the tunnel in silence, but on high alert. I have no idea what direction it is leading, and there’s no way to get my bearings.
“How far do you think this goes?” I ask, breaking the silence.
“I don’t know,” Mara says. “I haven’t been in one of these in a while.”
“So this isn’t the first time this has happened?”
“First time I was dropped into the ground? No, but the first time it happened in that spot.”
She said it so nonchalantly, yet my mind is still reeling from falling into the ground and how this tunnel which would have taken months to dig out back in Blackwood is just here today, and possibly gone tomorrow.
“Do you ever think you’ve gotten close?” I say after a few moments more.
“To the cure?”
“Yes.”
Mara sighs. “Maybe? There’s not really any way of knowing. There have been times where I thought I must have gotten there, only to be met with a dead end. It can be hard, especially after such a long time. It’s easyto get discouraged and wonder what it is about you that can’t figure it out, or isn’t enough.”
“What makes you keep going?” I ask. “Especially after all this time.”
Mara stops and turns slightly to face me, the light from the torch illuminating the soft look on her face.
“Hope.” She turns back and keeps walking.
That one word fills me with warmth. It isn’t just me that feels it, that needs it to be here. Hope is driving all of us and keeping us going. Despite all of our previous lives, our backgrounds, our relationships, we all have something that binds us together and gives us a purpose.
I hurry to catch up. Just as I am about to reach Mara, my foot depresses into the ground and I freeze.
“Uh, Mara?” My voice wavers as I try to figure out what that step just did. She turns back to me and looks down at my foot, sunken into the ground. Her eyes widen and she quickly scans the tunnel around us, looking for whatever is coming.
A deep boom sounds, and the tunnel around us shudders. We stare at each other, unable to move. I watch as Mara’s face changes from wary to terrified.
“Run!” she screams and bolts into the darkness.