“Ezra!” Bet yelled. She ran to the rockfall and began to shove away the pieces that she found easy enough to muscle. “We’re going to get you out of there. Hold on.”

Will heard no answer from Ezra, so he decided to follow Bet’s lead and do the same. They were lucky that nothing too large had fallen directly on top of the wall of underbrush that Tenebrim had grown. Will and Bet worked together to push off several particularly large stones until eventually, a clear space was created toward the upper side of the thorns.

“We need to get them out,” Bet said.

“Step back,” came a muffled voice. It was Ezra. Bet turned to Will and hugged him hard. The two of them jumped down from the mess of rocks and shrubs, then watched to see what would happen next. Nothing changed.

“We’re away,” Bet said. “We cleared away the top edge.”

Seconds later, the brambles shredded from several sharp slices. A few blasts of leaves puffed into the air and drifted back down to the cave’s dark floor. Then Ezra appeared, climbing up and out of the portion that Tenebrim had slashed open. He slid down the edge and smiled.

“That was good thinking,” he said. “Great teamwork.”

Bet ran to him, wrapped her arms around his stomach, and pressed her head to his chest.

“You did good Will,” Ezra said.

“Thanks.”

Behind, Tenebrim climbed out and made his way down from the shrubs.

“Are you guys ok?” Will said.

“I think so. Tenebrim got the thorns up just in time. Lucky for us, nothing too large landed directly on top.”

Once the blue mantis was out, the three of them stood a long while in the dark.

“Now what?” Bet broke the silence with the obvious question.

“Well… we need light. Somehow we have to find out what we’re dealing with.”

“Swoop can do it,” Will said. “She has to. She’s our only light source. We can’t really make a fire or anything.”

“I think you’re right. She’ll have to do. In here there’s likely nothing to burn.”

Will extended his arm and Swoop flew to it. He took a moment to scratch behind her neck.

“Listen,” he said. “We need you to show us what’s in here. Can you fly around and do that? Don’t get too far away. Just stay a bit ahead.”

Swoop seemed to understand. However, she reacted strangely. Will expected her to fly away, but instead she flew back to the ground and opened her wings wide. This provided a fair amount of purple glow. She then hopped awkwardly forward.

“I think she wants us to follow,” Will said.

The three of them did so. It took a fair amount of time, but it turned out that the the inside was rather small, at least by cave standards.

Since it likely wasn’t a real cave, and instead more of a burrow for the Sarat, it seemed to only be a few times larger than the giant lizard’s body. There were no steep drop-offs or strange jutting edges. The entire inside was smooth. It had one wide corner, and once the group had rounded it, they saw a soft pinprick of light in the distance.

“There,” Ezra said, as if no one else was aware. “That’s our way out.”

They approached the opening cautiously and found that it slanted upward allowing sunlight to spill inside. It was almost as if it had been purposely placed there for a bit of airflow. It was wide enough for the three of them fit inside, and the incline sloped enough that they could manage the climb. Though the three of them were quite exhausted, they forced their way up and eventually into the bright light of the sun.

They found themselves in a sloping valley tucked between the towering canyon walls. It was quite different than the landscape on the cave’s opposite side. This was lush and green, and the grass descended into a full grove of thin trees with tough, black bark.

“There it is,” Bet said.

Nestled among the trees was a small house. The house of the Darkhand teacher.

What does the house look like?

Nice, but completely free of doors or windows

Fortified as if whoever live there expected to keep others out

Run down and depleted

This Poll is Closed