The Unsuspecting Mage (50 page)

“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.

When he’s about a third of the way across, he places his foot on a board and hears a loud cracking noise as soon as his weight settles upon it. Realizing the board is about to break, he takes his foot off the board and pauses on the bridge. The board after the one that was cracking is broken as well, only half of it remains. Now he’s faced with a gap of two boards, he looks at it wide-eyed, paralyzed with fear.

Seeing Miko stop, James hollers out to him, “Come on Miko, it’s not much further.”
further…further…further
…

“The next board is cracking,” he hollers over to James, “and the one after that is broken in two. I can’t make it!”
it…it…it…

“Yes you can, just calm down,” James says trying to reassure him. “Put your feet on the side beneath the handrail and scoot your way down to the next board!”
board…board…board
…

Working up his nerve, Miko does what James advises and places one of his feet on the side, then the other. Sliding slowly, he makes his way past the board that’s cracking and then past where the next one is broken in two. When he’s close enough to the next good board, he cautiously sets a foot on it and sighs with relief when it holds his weight. Once again he slowly makes his way across the bridge, one board at a time.

It seems an agonizingly slow time, but he eventually makes it to the other side where James stretches out his hand, helping him the last few feet.

“Great job,” he says, patting Miko on the back. “I knew you could do it!”

Miko’s knees begin to shake and he all but collapses on the ground before falling over.

“I guess now would be a good time for a rest break,” James says as he opens a bag searching for food. When the bag containing the food comes up empty, he realizes they gave all their food to the families last night. “Uh, oh,” he groans.

Giving him a look of annoyance, James says, “You know, you’re awfully negative sometimes. We are not going to starve to death, it takes days for that to happen and we should be out of here by then or at least found something to eat.”

Miko just looks at him for a second then stretches out and lays on the ground, not saying anything.

James allows him to rest for a few minutes to calm his shaky nerves before getting him up and pressing onward.

The cavern continues past the chasm for another hundred feet until it begins to narrow and ultimately end at another passage that had been carved out of the rock. This new passage is as narrow as the previous one and the sides are wet with water that seeps through cracks in the rocks. The floor of the passage has a thin coating of algae which makes for a slippery surface.

As they follow the passage, the water that’s seeping through the cracks slowly begins to create a small flow running along one side of the passage bottom. It continues to grow until the passage abruptly comes to an end where the water flows over the edge and down toward an unseen bottom. They have come to another subterranean cavern. How big it is and how far from the bottom they are is uncertain as the orb’s light fails to illuminate the cavern in its entirety.

The drop-off before them extends almost vertically downward to an unknown depth. Standing at the opening they feel a slight breeze blowing from the cavern and into their passage. A narrow flight of steps has been carved out of the side of the cavern and descends into the darkness below.

“Wonder what’s down there?” James asks. Placing one foot onto the uppermost step, he holds the glowing orb out as far as he can. The light doesn’t illuminate very far and all they can see are the narrow steps disappearing into the darkness below.

“I don’t know,” Miko replies. “I hope we can get out of here soon.”

“I’d like that too,” James agrees. “Be careful, the steps may be slippery.” He takes another step and begins descending the steps, being careful as the water flowing from the passage cascades over the first six before moving off.

They don’t descend very far before they notice the sound of a distant waterfall coming from somewhere below. Soon after that, mist begins to float upon the air. The further they descend, the louder it becomes until when they finally reach the bottom of the steps, the sound is practically deafening. They are unable to see where the sound is originating from as the light from the orb doesn’t extend quite that far. The stairs end at a stone platform that has been carved out of the wall of the cavern.

Upon the stone platform, sitting on a wooden rack is a small boat that looks as if it could seat four people comfortably. Mounted on the wall next to the boat are two oars resting on several pegs. At the edge of the platform flows a fast moving underground river. It disappears through a wide tunnel in the wall, whose ceiling seems barely high enough to allow adequate clearance for the boat let alone any passengers.

Upstream to the left, they hear the crash of the mighty waterfall as it plummets down, forming the river somewhere out in the dark. The mist from the waterfall fills the cavern, leaving everything slightly damp.

“Looks like we ride from here,” James says as he drops his backpack on the platform and goes over to inspect the boat. He takes a second to try and figure the best way to remove it from the wooden rack without wrecking it.

Motioning for Miko to help him, he takes one end of the boat while Miko takes the other and together they gently lift it off the rack, setting it slowly upon the platform.

“Stay afloat and swim as best we can, I guess,” James says. “But the wood looks sound, even if it has been down here for a long time.” He whacks the side of the boat with his hand, showing Miko that it still has some strength and durability left in it.

Miko looks dubious, but holds his tongue.

James removes the two oars from the wall and places them inside the boat. Then he grabs his backpack and places it inside as well.

Miko follows suit and places his bags inside and then they slowly work the boat over to the edge of the platform. The end of the platform gently slopes downward until it is only a few inches from the top of the flowing water. James eases the boat into the water, all the while maintaining a firm hold to keep it from being pulled out onto the water and through the tunnel. He signals with a jerk of his head for Miko to get in.

Miko shouts “Don’t let go!” and climbs into the boat, sitting down in the rear of the two bench seats.

James concentrates on the glowing orb and it floats over and takes position at the stern of the boat. He looks at Miko and hollers, “Now, when I get in we’ll each take an oar, and use them to keep us away from the walls and anything else that may pop up in front of us.” James waits until Miko gives him a nod, indicating that he understands and then pushes the boat out and jumps in yelling, “Stay down and watch your head!”

The boat moves out from the platform a little as James settles into the front seat and takes an oar. Then the current grabs hold of them and shoots them toward the tunnel, picking up speed rapidly. They begin going faster and faster until they pass from the cavern and into the tunnel. The ceiling is only about six inches from the tops of their heads. James places the oar back into the bottom of the boat as he quickly realizes that if he were to use it against the sides of the tunnel, at the speed they are going, it would be ripped out of his hands.

They both scrunch down as far as they can and hold on for dear life. Luckily the current is keeping them a comfortable distance from the sides of the tunnel, so they have little worry about hitting it. The walls of the tunnel rush past in a blur and James can hear faint sounds coming from Miko but he’s not sure if he’s crying or laughing.

James is scared to death and loving every minute of it.
This sure beats the hell out of any log ride I’ve ever been on!
Letting out a cry of enjoyment, he grips the sides tightly and rides on. Rushing headlong into the unknown, the possibility of being killed at any moment, is an exhilarating rush for him.

From up ahead they begin to hear a change in the sound of the water, it’s getting slightly louder and the tunnel seems to be growing narrower, causing the boat to increase in speed. Fortunately the tunnel is still sufficiently wide to accommodate the boat. Then all of a sudden the ceiling of the tunnel opens up and the river suddenly goes over a steep, ten foot drop.

At the speed they are going, the boat flies out over the waterfall, becoming airborne. A scream of terror comes from the back of the boat as they sail through the air, but James dares not look back to see if Miko’s okay, for fear of falling out. Unable to contain his excitement, he lets out a scream of his own, “Yeeeeee Haaaaaa!”

Wham!

The boat slams against the surface of the water, almost knocking them out of the boat. James tries to regain his breath after it had been knocked out of him from when they hit the water. The boat slowly begins reducing speed as it floats upon the placid water. He looks around and realizes that they are upon an underground lake.

His lack of enthusiasm somewhat dampens James’, but he can still feel the thrill of it when they went sailing over the waterfall and landed on the lake. Grabbing the oars, he begins to row in the direction the boat is currently going.

He glances over his shoulder and sees a small island poking out of the surface of the water directly in their path. He turns the boat a little to the right and they sail around the island, which isn’t very large, and continue on their way. For a brief moment he has visions of riddles and rings.

He continues rowing for a little longer before Miko suddenly exclaims excitedly, “James, there’s light coming from up ahead!”

Looking over his shoulder, he can see a small patch of light in the distance ahead of them. He angles the boat toward the light and rows harder. “Maybe it’s the way out?” he says.

“I hope so,” Miko replies. “I want to get out of here!”

Pulling on the oars with renewed vigor, he rows toward the patch of light, which continues to grow as they approach. When they’re closer, they can see that it’s an opening in the cavern wall, allowing a small stream wide enough to accommodate the boat to flow through.

“Should we take it?” James asks, knowing the answer even before he hears it.

“Yes!” exclaims Miko.

James heads for the opening and as they get closer, begins to see trees and bushes on the other side. Excited, Miko gives a whoop and holler as they enter the sunlit world, leaving the underworld behind them.

The stream flows through a tangle of trees and undergrowth, flowing steadily and smoothly. As it turns out, the stream is barely deep enough for the boat to keep from scraping the bottom. Twice, they become stuck when the boat runs aground where the stream becomes too shallow. Using the oars, they push off from the bottom until they are once more in deeper water and the boat is able to float free.

It isn’t far until the trees open up and they realize that they are now at the bottom of the gorge. Through the trees ahead they can see where the stream will be joining the river as it flows on its way into Madoc. Having no more need of the glowing orb, James cancels the spell.

As they join the main river, they look up and can barely make out the road that they had been on earlier in the day, way up the side of the mountain. “Hard to believe that we were way up there just a few hours ago,” Miko says.

James looks at the shadows on the mountain and realizes that they had been in there far longer than a few hours. “I think that we were in there most of the day,” James corrects him. “Gauging by the shadows the sun is casting on the mountain, it’s more likely early evening. We left the way stop just after sunup.”

“Guess that’s why I’m so hungry,” Miko says, looking at James.

“Let’s find a good spot for a brief camp and we’ll see what we can do about that.” He maneuvers the boat to the center of the river and doesn’t worry too much about rowing, except in maneuvering them around obstacles, the current here is fairly fast. He sits back a bit and rests his arms, which have been growing tired from all the unaccustomed rowing.