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AMY WOKE WITH A START. She must have been asleep for ages. What had woken her?
The flapping of wings made her jump, and she half rose to her feet, hand grasping at her knife. Then when she saw that it was only a bird, she relaxed, settling back down onto the sandy floor. Taking no notice, the bird hopped across the burrow.
“Hello, there.” Amy smiled at the raven, remembering what Elroy had once said about them. “They can be quite helpful,” he had said. So many people disliked them, calling them an ill omen. But to her, they were the ones that had carried the cure for Sir Clint’s poison last year and helped to save her father.
Elroy. She wished he were here now. There were so many questions she would have liked to ask him. Questions about Finnigin. And questions about himself. What had Finnigin meant when he said that Elroy had dark secrets? Where was he out in the midst of the darkness?
The raven interrupted her thoughts, cawing cheerfully past the piece of rolled up paper in its beak. It dropped the paper onto the sand beside her and with a wag of its tail feathers, began to investigate the stack of wafers next to her.
“Oh, is this for me?”
It cawed in response, then turned back to pecking at the wafers.
“Oh, of course, you can have one. Here you go.” Amy took one of the wafers, broke into four pieces, and set it on the floor in front of the raven.
As it croaked and wagged its tailfeathers, Amy picked up the scroll of paper. It was the tiniest little slip of paper, rolled up tightly, and tied with a red thread. The note inside was just as small, written in Prashlandish:
Walter, Airdella, and Aaron need your help
Follow the raven
– a friend of Elroy
The League of the Friends of the Guardians
Amy snapped her head back up to look at the raven, her breath catching in her throat. The raven looked up at her, surrounded by wafer crumbs, and cawed happily. “What happened? Are they hurt? Captured?” Or worse. She could not bring herself to ask if they had been killed. “Or is this all a trap?”
But she received no answer, for the raven could not speak. It puffed out its chest feathers and tugged on the edge of her blanket cloak with its beak, then flew back towards the entrance of the cave.
Where, oh where was Elroy at a time like this? She so needed his help. What could have happened to the others? And how was she supposed to help them?
“They can be quite helpful,” Elroy had said. She trusted the raven. But this was too little information. Whoever was sending her the note could have said why they needed help, could have warned her, could have given more information.
Or perhaps, Elroy’s voice said in her head, it was just the right information.
The raven flew back towards her, croaking all the while.
Amy made her decision and let out her breath in a puff of air. “You have to take me to them!” She tried to get up, but still could not put weight on her ankle. “Rats.” Crawling on her hands and knees, she worked her way out of the cave entrance. There was nothing outside but the stillness of the ravine. Not even the wind was blowing.
Her palms stung with the cold, and her knees came down onto a few rocks. She was also tripping on the blanket cloak. This was not going to work. It took her a few minutes to come up with a workable solution. First, the front trailing edge of the blanket had to go. She could not afford to have it getting under her knees and fall flat on her face. With shaking hands, she cut the extra bit of blanket into strips and wrapped them around her hands and knees as best as she could. That provided some padding and protection.
“Alright then,” she turned back to the raven. “Let’s get moving.”
The bird was already continuing ahead, bouncing on a rock a few feet away.
It was slow going, frustrating her as she kept wondering what had happened to the others. The snow was soft enough, but there were occasional patches of ice or a rock just underneath the surface. Her trembling body was unsteady on the ice, slipping or giving way. But she kept following the raven.
It continued up and out of the ravine, and then down and westwards across a meadow. As they went, her ragged breaths calmed, and her arms and legs grew stronger. Her fear kept her focused and gave her the fortitude to keep going. It was not that far before that they came to a few large boulders heaped together. The ground was more short grass and gravel here with only a few patches of snow. The raven halted, resting just beside one of the boulders and puffing out his feathers.
“Alright, the boulder,” Amy panted. She crawled around, examining the rock and the dirt around it, trying to guess what the raven wanted her to do from here. “What am I supposed to do now? Push it down the mountain? There’s a hidden weapon?”
She would have missed it if she had not been on her hands and knees. A particular cranny in the shape of a handle was only visible from that angle. Reaching up, she pulled down on the rock. As it gave way, a faint knocking sound vibrated inside the rock, and the ground in front of her collapsed, opening a hole into the side of the mountain. The raven croaked, bouncing down inside.
“Alright. A door.” Amy hesitated a moment, a small feeling of panic rising as she looked into the small space. She had so willingly gone through other magic doors before, but how different this was from the door at the bottom of Thunder Falls. That had been big, open, with at least a little light. But here – here she was climbing down into a tiny hole in the dark where witches and monsters lurked.
But Airdella and Walter and Aaron were counting on her. They needed her. She took a deep breath, swallowing and forcing the feeling in her throat back down, and crawled forward into the hole.
The hole turned into a tunnel, which was really more of a space in between a lot of rocks that were all sandwiched together. The floor of the space was uneven, and the rocks sometimes shifted beneath her. There was only just enough room to crawl through it. If she had not been so small, she most likely would not have fit. She had to slither along like a snake as often as she had to crawl. But at least she was not walking on her ankle.
The raven was always there, giving encouraging croaks and caws. During moments when she rested or felt paralyzed by claustrophobia, it would snuggle up to her and let her pet it. And so, not having any other guide, she continued to follow it. Not like she had a choice at this point. She could not have gotten back out by herself, and the raven seemed to have no intention of leading her back.
It was slow progress, because she had to gingerly feel her way on her hands and knees. There were times when she felt the rough stone turn to rough gravel and then to softer sand. Her wrists grew tired, her knees and shins were bruised, and she was desperately wishing for a light.
Then the path she was on smoothed out and sloped gently upwards. She could feel a drop off to her left, and from the sound of it, the area around her had probably grown into a cavern of sorts rather than a tunnel. Everything she did echoed in the silent rocky space around her. Including her voice.
Since there was no one else to talk to, she had taken to talking to the raven and herself out loud, much as she had when she first found the tunnel. As softly as she whispered, it filled in the unbearable darkness with something to distract and reassure herself. She spoke mostly about what she was feeling, like, “Alright, now we have sand. At least this sand is nice and soft,” which would often be followed by, “And now we’re back to gravel,” or “Well, this stone is nice and flat, but it could be a little smoother.” Occasionally, she commented on the state of her knees or her shins or her hands. She wondered aloud how safe it was to keep talking. She did not know if something dangerous might hear her. “But they would probably hear me anyways,” she decided. “Everything I do echoes in here. Especially that.” Her hand hit a pebble and sent it flying over the edge to her left. It took several moments for her to hear it clatter against the bottom below. She paused and looked at the darkness to her left, even though she could not possibly see through it. “That’s a long ways down. Careful, Amy, we do not want to fall over the edge.”
She really did not know how long it was. She had no way of measuring time. But then, she saw a light up ahead. She stopped her talking, not wanting to alert anything that could be nearby, and tried to crawl as noiselessly as possible.
The light came from a gap in the floor in front of her. Peering down, she could see that she was on top of another tunnel, though this one was more of a carved hallway with lanterns spaced along at intervals. Well, fire was bad news – the witch might be able to sense where she was.
The raven was very interested in the hallway beneath them.
“Are they down there?” Amy whispered.
It had ceased its squawking, but it hopped around the gap and looked at Amy expectantly.
The gap was just wide enough for her to squeeze through. Lowering herself down feet first, Amy felt with her feet for footholds in the wall of the hallway. She found a nook and braced herself with her left foot. It was an awkward climb downwards of lowering herself with her arms, bracing on one foot, moving her arms down, and lowering herself again. But when she reached the rocky floor, she was grateful to be able to stand up straight. Testing her weight on her right ankle, she found she could limp and put minimal weight on it by using the wall for support.
The raven bounced back and forth for a moment, as if trying to decide which direction to go, but then fluttered off ahead down the hallway to Amy’s left. Only this time, it was too fast for Amy to follow. She almost called after it but stopped herself. She did not know where she was or what enemies might be lurking inside. So she followed after the raven, making as little noise as possible. She stuck close to the side of the hallway opposite the lanterns. The lanterns were spaced far enough apart that it was very dimly lit and not hard to stick to the shadows.
Up ahead, she saw the end of the hallway. It opened onto a cavern with a large sandstone dome in the middle of it, almost like a house in the middle of a clearing. She stopped short in surprise. Two enormous lizard looking creatures lay on the floor, out cold. Given where they lay in front of the gates to the sandstone dome, she guessed that they had been guards of some kind.
But who or what had taken them down? Had it been Walter and Aaron? As she looked closer, she could see telltale pools of black blood beneath them and slash marks across their throats. She shuddered, an uncomfortable feeling arching up her back.
The golden sandstone wall rose in front of her, glittering in the light of the lanterns placed at intervals along the wall. Unum had said that the red crystal was locked inside of iron and gold and sand. If this was the place where the witch kept it, then perhaps the others were near at hand. Why had the raven led her here? The raven came to land on her shoulder, staring at the gates with its beady eyes.
The gates were locked, but after she put her key into the keyhole and turned it, they were easy to open. Inside the dome, the walls were lined with shelves, shelves filled with curious objects, two of which she immediately recognized – Aaron’s sword and Airdella’s pouch. Her breath caught in her throat. What had happened to them that their most important things had wound up locked inside this dome? Were they also locked up somewhere in the mountain? And what about Walter’s sword? Was he still with them?
She turned her attention to the crimson crystal heart on the pedestal in the center of the room. So, the red crystal was here, and so were their weapons. With their weapons on the shelf, locked up here with the red crystal, the others clearly had not been able to complete their quest. Perhaps, that was why the mysterious friend had sent the raven to her. Moving up to the pedestal, she braced herself and reached out to touch the crystal heart. As the tip of her finger touched it, she jerked it back, sucking in her breath sharply. But nothing happened. She reached forward again and picked it up. It was hard and hot to the touch; she would not be able to carry it in her bare hands for long, especially not if she had to crawl back through the tunnels.
Her eyes turned back to the shelves, scanning them for anything useful to carry the crystal in. She was surprised as they came to rest on a familiar looking glass orb wrapped in netting. How had the witch come across one of the glass containers of Elroy’s cure? Amy saw that the other objects that filled the shelves were an odd assortment of rocks, weapons and jewelry set with precious stones, leather pouches, and various other items. Taking one of the pouches, she dumped its contents out and dropped the red crystal inside. The orb wrapped in netting she tucked into another pouch. She slung both of the pouches from her belt, then turned back to Aaron and Airdella’s things.
Airdella’s pouch was still filled with stardust, and she slung it onto her belt opposite the crystal and orb. The sword was too long to hang from her belt. Taking the straps off of a few other items, she made a shoulder strap for it and slung it across her back. Now she was ready to go look for her siblings.
Laden down, she turned back towards the gates. She slid as quickly as she could into the shadows of the hallway with the raven flittering along. Once again, she leaned heavily on the rock walls to support herself as she limped along. Her ankle was throbbing at this point, but her back and knees and hands had been grateful for the short reprieve from crawling.
Climbing back up the wall was more difficult than climbing down had been, but at last, she lay in the darkness above the hallway, glad to have the weight off of her ankle. But the sword digging into her back reminded her that her work was not done yet. She still had to find the others. Except she had no idea where they were or where she was or how to get out of this tunnel without the raven leading her.
“Thank you for your help,” she whispered. “But we need to go find my siblings. They’re in danger and need our help!”
The raven gave a reassuring croak and a tail wag, then hippety-hopped down the tunnel. As they moved away from the opening onto the hallway, the light faded, and Amy could no longer see him. But the pitter patter of his little feet, fluttering of wings, and croaks told her he was still there just in front of her. Back through the tunnels she followed him. She moved slower than she had before. She was tired, her hands and knees were sore, and she was carrying the weight of the crystal, a glass orb, Airdella’s pouch, and a sword.
Although it was difficult and mostly uphill, it was not very long before there was daylight up ahead, and they popped out of the tunnel onto the snowy mountainside.
It was wonderfully cold and refreshing after the hot stuffiness in the tunnels, and Amy took a moment to breathe deeply. Her ankle was by now very swollen, as were her hands and knees. Burying her ankle in snow, she rested for a moment and let the cold numb her pain while she examined her surroundings. She had no idea where she was; she had not come out of the mountain at the same place she had entered it. It was snowier here and less rocky, with a stand of trees nearby.
“We can’t rest for long,” she told the raven. “We have to find my siblings. Or are they out here?”
The raven cocked its head at her but did not answer. He puffed out his feathers, spread his wings – and flew away.
“Wait!” Amy shouted. “Come back!”
Fear and panic bubbled up inside her again. Aaron, Walter, and Airdella were in danger, possibly captured, possibly killed. And she was alone in the snow on the mountainside, not knowing where she was or how to get to them. If she went back inside the mountain without the raven, she would only get lost.
She stared down at the vast mountainside. Stranded alone in the snow, she was exhausted, worried, weak. Then far, far below her, she caught a glimpse of moving white figures followed by a few black ones. Oh, if only she had Airdella’s eyes! Amy could just barely make them out, but yes! That had to be! It was Walter, Aaron, and Airdella in their churuk coats!
“Oh good!” she sobbed with relief. “So they’re alright? They’re alright.” Amy took deep breaths to calm herself down.
Even if she had screamed as loud as she could, there was no way that they would hear her. No way for Amy to make it that far on her own. No way to get their attention. Or was there?
There was a stand of trees nearby. Amy sat for a moment, thinking through her plan. Her ankle felt a little better having been covered with snow, but it was still swelling and throbbing. Her knees hurt more at this point, aching and trembling, her hands stung from the cold, and her wrists were about to give way, unable to support her weight anymore. But she could make it to the trees.
Once there, she gathered branches together and built a fire, making sure to sprinkle it with a pinch of Airdella’s stardust. The blue smoke signal rose high into the air. Surely, the others would see it? It was all she could do.
Amy caked her ankle with cold snow and dropped the red crystal into the snow, glad to be free of its weight and the heat that was trying to scorch her. Wrapping up in her blanket cloak, she prepared for what she hoped would not be a very long wait.
.