Page 49 of In Darkness Forged

Shouldering his pack, Tal strode grimly forward and plunged into the eternal night of the Darkspring.

* * *

Thanks to his father’s heritage, Tal could see just enough to make his way through the darkness unimpeded, though it did not make his path an easy one. Enough others had passed this way that there was a bit of a trail to follow, but it was rough underfoot, and the ceiling occasionally lowered to the point that he was forced to bend double in order to keep moving forward.

The mosses and ferns near the cave entrance soon gave way to bare rock, occasionally split by the gnarled roots of a tree that had burrowed deep beneath the ground in search of water.

From time to time, light dappled the floor from some small opening in the rock far above. Water, too, was relatively plentiful, trickling through cracks in the rock to create a home for tiny creatures that coated the walls with an eerie purple light.

Other things lived in different parts of the cave. Larger, hungrier things. There were bats and salamanders and fish that swam in the underground lakes, and then there were the creatures that fed on them. Cave serpents occasionally hunted in daylight before dragging their kills underground to devour them. Wyverns nested in the upper levels and protected their eggs with fierce vigilance. And the wild cave aranthas outnumbered them all, living and hunting and multiplying in darkness, with very few predators who dared confront them.

On occasion, there were also night elf wildings who sought shelter in the caves and lived their lives far from any contact with their kin. Tal preferred not to encounter any if he could help it—they were usually strange and unpredictable, and might not respond well to a human in their territory.

Once he found her…

He dared make no plans. If Aislin was hurt, he would have to carry her out, and if she was not, they would simply find a new path to the aranthas’ nest.

But how? He’d not thought that through with much specificity, and now that he was within the caves, the many difficulties of their errand presented themselves with grim clarity.

In his urgency to rescue Aislin, he’d acquired no additional reserves of food beyond what Vanadar had provided. Wrapped tightly in oilcloth, the unappetizing squares of nuts, berries, and dried meat would last for several days, but after that…

Water, at least, would not be a problem. There were sufficient sources within the cave that they would not die of thirst, but Tal doubted the human would be willing to live on bats for the duration of their sojourn. And a human would not be able to see as he did. If only Vanadar had bothered to equip them properly, he might have given them a moonstone, but it was far too late to wish for such a thing.

So instead, Tal turned his attention to the magic within him. It had always been there—a brilliant ocean of power waiting for his command—but only recently had he begun to wonder whether it might be used for anything other than death.

He’d learned early that he was gifted with weapons and devoted himself to that gift with single-minded intensity. When he was young, all he cared about was proving himself before his peers—showing them that he was as good or better than they were and did not deserve their derision. Later, he’d used his gift to protect himself and Lani and ensure their survival in the wilds. Brute force had always been enough, up until that day when no amount of power could turn back time or wash away his guilt and grief.

The truth was, he’d been lazy, and rarely bothered to use his magic for anything more finicky than lighting campfires or purifying water. He had, on occasion, used it to find game, or search for enemies in the forest, but he’d never bothered to practice—secure in his conviction that he could deal with whatever he might encounter.

Now all he could do was try—experiment with his magic until he discovered some way it could be used to find Aislin.

Shutting his eyes, Tal cast outward with his mind, letting a soft wave of power wash over the cave walls as he searched for a path. It worked, to a point. He could sense where the magic rebounded from the stone and where it continued into the darkness, suggesting tunnels that led off in several directions. Without much more to go on, he chose the tunnel that seemed most likely to head towards the place where Aislin had fallen.

But once he was on the right path, would he be able to identify the bright spark of Aislin’s life in contrast to any other living things nearby? In the forest, one spark of life looked much the same as another. But here beneath the ground, surrounded by barren rock, would it be simpler?

Releasing another surge of power, Tal allowed his senses to linger on the walls of the tunnel he had chosen. If he focused, he could sense the thin green filaments of tree roots and hazy blobs of energy where the glowing purple algae clung to the walls, but his ability to discern anything else quickly faded as the magic receded into the distance.

Perhaps when he was closer. For now, he would simply have to keep moving in what he hoped was the right direction.

Twice, he was forced to turn around and take a new tunnel when the path shifted or was blocked. He made one harrowing climb down a nearly vertical wall, fell twenty feet or more when the ground gave way beneath him, and scraped through spaces that looked barely wide enough for a child. All this while outside the cave, the day wore on, and fatigue pulled at him like a weight dragging at his limbs.

He knew he had to be getting close. Even if he was in the wrong tunnel, his sense of direction told him he was in the correct general area.

Tal was about to send out yet another wave of magic when some undefined sense alerted him. Whether it was a barely discernible movement of air or the tiniest whisper of something brushing against the rock of the tunnel, it stood the hairs on his neck on end and triggered a reflex that ended with his blades in his hands.

“Is someone there?” A quavering voice called out of the darkness, first in the common human tongue used by traders, then in elvish.

Tal knew that other night elves occasionally made their home in the cave, but this was far beyond the entrance—too isolated and dangerous an area for anyone to frequent. What would another night elf be doing this deep? Unless, like Aislin, they had fallen and could not find their way out.

“Yes.” Tal answered in the human language but did not lower his blades. “I’ve come seeking a lost companion. What brings you here?”

He heard a low moan of pain or grief.

“I’ve lost my way.” The voice sounded old, weak, and female. “Came in search of mushrooms and twisted my ankle. Now I cannot find my way out again. Will you help me?”

A scowl twisted Tal’s lips. He could not afford delays, but however urgent his errand might be, he was not a complete monster. “I have my companion to find, but you are welcome to accompany me.” He tried to disguise his impatience as he moved towards the sound of the voice.

Just ahead, at the narrowest part of the tunnel, he saw her—a miserable bundle of rags, huddled against the wall, mouth drawn as if in pain.