As a young girl El was scolded any time she ventured out of her mother’s sight, or took unnecessary risks in tall trees, or jumped into shallow water from questionable heights. The chiding tones of her mother’s voice sounded in her head, “you’ll get yourself killed one of these days.” She never believed those words. Not until she found herself trapped inside a flooded cave.
The muscles in her legs burned as she treaded water and her chest tightened from sudden panic. When El’s father taught her how to sail, he’d spent several lessons on ocean survival techniques. She found it frustrating for those lessons to come to her mind in that moment. The space between the surface of the water and the ceiling was barely a hands width tall. A far cry from the open water of the ocean. As she thought through her lessons though, she recalled an important lecture.
“Panic kills,” her father had said. “It clouds the mind and makes it impossible to use good judgement. If you find panic consuming your thoughts, take control of your body, and force the calm into your breathing, then relax your muscles.”
El closed her eyes and took slow breaths. It felt at odds with her situation, and didn’t push the panic away at first. The key was to keep breathing, then focus her attention on different muscles, forcibly relaxing them in turn. As she did, the calm came on slowly.
No longer overcome with panic El could feel her leather boots pull on her knees with every kick. That extra weight tired out her legs and would quickly steal her ability to tread water. With a deep breath she let herself sink under the surface, then twisted around until she found the buckles to her boots, unbuckled them, then pulled them off. The leather footwear fell and as she watched them sink she noticed something on the cave floor. A necklace sat below her, the chain broken but still looped through a pendant. She dove deeper to reach the bottom, grabbed it, shoved it in her pocket, and headed for air.
She broke the surface and took a deep breath. It was easier to swim without the boots, which afforded her time to think of a solution to her current predicament. Clearing the rockslide that had blocked the exit wasn’t an option, not while she was fighting to breathe. Heading deeper into the cave to find shallower water was practically suicide, but it soon felt like her only option.
Her legs burned once more, and she could feel her muscles come close to failure. Since the floor was only inches from her feet, El let herself sink to the bottom. Relief flooded her weary legs, and she stood under the water for as long as her lungs would allow. When she couldn’t hold her breath anymore, she pushed off the floor and treaded water again.
El repeated the process until she got used to the rhythm. Her time at the surface shortened with each iteration though, so unable to think of a better idea, she swam deeper into the caves. She swam slowly to conserve her energy until she found a place where she could touch the bottom and keep her face above the surface. That allowed her to move faster, but it wasn’t long before the tunnel sloped downward and below the surface of the water. If she wanted to continue El would be forced to dive under the surface without knowing if there was another air pocket beyond.
The potential lethality of her situation settled into her gut and tore at her insides. She wanted to wait for help, but there was no way to know if anyone would come. Not to mention the fact that Ki, the slave, and that insufferable man might not have survived the wave that swept her into the tunnels. Stay put and wait for help, that’s what she was told to do if she was lost. In her current situation there was a real chance she would be waiting for no one and be left to die. A quick glance at the vine wrapped around her hand told her she didn’t have much time before it lost its light. It was a grim reminder of how long she’d been in the cave, and how important it was she find her way out.
To El, there was only one choice.
With a series of quick breaths, she submerged under the water then headed deeper into the tunnel. It turned in ways she didn’t remember from walking through earlier, then her lungs begged for air sooner than she expected. She felt at the ceiling, hoping she’d found air but felt nothing but the jagged edges of the lava rock. She thought about turning back but worried she’d already come too far. A life or death decision, but somehow barely a consideration in her mind. She continued.
The tunnel made a sharp right turn and panic returned as her lungs screamed at her for a breath. She started to grab the rocks against the cave wall and pull herself along.
Eventually, the floor rose with the ceiling and led El out of the water. As she breached the surface and sucked in a breath her panic settled in and mixed with the pain of limbs at the edge of failure.
The weight of her own tired muscles held her to the floor as she fought to catch her breath. Exhaustion, both mental and physical consumed her, and as her breathing slowed, unconsciousness followed.
v
Pain pounded against her skull and brought El out of unconsciousness with only the pitch black of the cave to greet her. The vine on her hand had lost its light. She sat up and unwound it, then tossed it away. It splash into water. At least she knew from which way she’d come.
The side of the cavern was within her reach. She kept one hand on the wall as she scooted to put her back to it, then sat for a time. It was nice to take a moment to rest, but just like before, she knew she couldn’t sit still forever. Getting her hands under her, she managed to push herself up by sliding her back against the wall. Once she felt steady on her feet she continued deeper into the cave.
A few steps in, she came across the pile of rocks the man had been stuck under. Luckily, she’d done the work to clear them earlier, which allowed her to scramble over the remains of the pile and past it. Continuing with her hand touching the wall El felt when it turned from rough lava rock to rocky earth. In the pitch black she had no idea how far she’d gone, or if the tunnel had secretly forked. If it did, she’d have no way of knowing, but pushing on despite the risks had taker her this far. She wasn’t about to stop now.
Time passed, but in the dark El had no idea how much. Eventually she saw a soft green glow that emanated from around a corner ahead. Hope welled in her chest and she picked up her pace.
Around the corner the tunnel led to a large open cavern. Unlike the cavern with the collapsed rocks, this one was adorned with remnants of rotted wood, clay pots, and the last palm-sized tatters of wool cloth. Recesses were carved into the cavern walls, one for a bed, and another for a desk. Thin ones up high held the dust of what she could only assume was decayed books.
Vines and roots penetrated the walls and hung from the ceiling. They cast their green luminescence throughout the space.
“How old is this place?” she said to herself.
El stepped over to the ancient living area and rummaged through what she confirmed to be remnants of furniture and cloth. Those remnants crumbled in her hands the moment she touched them. The surface of the dirt-covered desk showed a clean circle where an object had recently lied.
The memory of the pendant she’d grabbed from the cave floor flashed in her mind. El fished it from her pocket and placed it in the clean circle. It fit perfectly.
She held up the pendant to inspect it for the first time. It was made of a greyish-silver metal that shined unnaturally bright and glinted a strange blue color even in the soft glow of the roots and vines. Set in the center of the circle was a blue gem, and for the first time El noticed it glowed dimly. A soft mist fell from the stone as well, dissipating quickly. Bringing it closer to her eyes she noticed the light undulated slightly. It reminded her of the movement of light on the cove floor through the shallow beach water.
“What kind of stone is this?” El touched it gingerly with her finger. It was pleasantly warm at first, then without warning the gem melted into her finger. She jerked her hand away and shook it out of reflex in hopes to get off. The ring of the metal pendant as it hit the stone of the cavern floor echoed as a warm sensation spread from her finger, through her hand, up her arm, and throughout the rest of her body. A pulling sensation tugged at her spine and she lurched backward out of her body.
v
White flashed in front of her eyes. When she regained her vision she was standing in a field as soldiers battled around her. The clang of metal on metal rang between the screams of the injured and dying. The sickening crunch of bones as they shattered and broke mixed with the rest to assault her ears. El had never been on a battlefield before, only having heard of them in stories, but this was more brutal and terrifying than anything she imagined. Her body moved on its own and in a panic El tried to regain control, but couldn’t. She stepped over the dead corpses of soldiers and toward a man on horseback as he rode up to her. The man was clad in silver armor and carried water pouches attached to his belt. As many as he could fit.
“Report, Inkul,” she said, but a man’s voice came from her mouth instead of her own. What is happening? she thought. Whose voice is this?
“Obration’s forces are pushing us back to the west. Thaidur and his men are holding as best they can, but he’ll be forced to retreat soon enough.” The man looked over his shoulder suddenly and with a swipe of his hand water from one of the skins shot into the air, then froze into a sheet of ice. Caught in the ice were a clump of arrows. With another motion of his hand the water melted and returned to his water skins. The arrows fell harmlessly to the ground.
“Where in creation is Resar when you need him?” El said, or the person whose eyes she looked through said. “Gather our men, we’ll support Thaidur and—”
v
A moment of darkness passed and El was dropped back into her body. Disorientation caused her to stumble, but she managed to catch herself. Surprisingly, a layer of the fatigue in her body had vanished. She found she had to work saliva back into her mouth as it had gone completely dry. Anxiety wrapped around her chest once more, though there was no immediate threat, and nothing to be done. The vision disturbed her for how incredibly real it felt. Whose body had she been in, and who was the man on the horse? So many unanswerable questions rolled through her mind it was hard to keep track of them all. As frightening as the experience was, escape came before anything else.
The only way out of the cavern was the way she came in, which left her once more, with only one option. The green glowing vines escaping from cracks in the cavern walls would have to do for a light source.
Stepping over to one, she placed her foot on the wall and yanked, which easily ripped the vine free and caused her to fall on her back. It knocked the wind out of her. After she caught her breath El got to her feet, brushed the dirt off her clothes, wrapped the green vine around her hand, pocketed the necklace, and made her way back. There was surprisingly little pain in her back from the fall. The way her luck had gone so far, El decided not to question that bit of good fortune.
The way back was easier with her vine to light the way, but the green light, and the fresh memories of her vision, made El jump at every shadow that shifted at the corners of her eyes. As annoying as it was, she managed to push through it and make good time. A remnant of anxiety stabbed her gut when she arrived at the rock pile and drove her to pick up her pace. She had to find a way out of that cave.
Eventually the tunnel sloped downward and El noticed the floor, walls, and ceiling were dripping wet. This must have been where she’d emerged from the water. The fact that it was no longer submerged gave her hope and she almost started running.
“El!”
She stopped in her tracks, convinced she imagined the voice.
“El are you there?”
She recognized Ki’s voice and rushed forward. “Ki? Ki is that you?” she cried.
“El, we’re coming!” It was her father’s voice this time. The sound drove her stumbling forward while tears streamed down her face.
A bright white light rounded the corner of the tunnel in front of her. Once her eyes adjusted to it she saw her father carrying a white vine lantern. Ki followed closely behind him and when the two noticed her, they practically ran the last bit of distance between them. El’s father scooped her up into his arms immediately.
“I left to get your father as soon as you went into the cave.” Ki said.
“Thank you,” El said through her tears.
Her father ducked to keep his head from hitting the ceiling. His frame thick from years of Uklak hunts filled the tunnel. El could remember his powerful build inspiring terror in her as a child. Now, it was the most glorious thing she’d ever seen.
“Are you hurt?” he asked. His arms felt like a warm blanket covered in a steel shield.
“I’m fine now,” she said.
“Let’s get you home.”
“What happened to the man and his slave?”
“They’re fine.” A twinge of anger in his tone lined the edge of her father’s voice.
“And my Velel?”
“I asked my dad to take it back to the harbor,” Ki said. “He’s sailing it there now.” “It’s all taken care of,” her father said. “Let’s just get you home.”