The Prince of Earthen Fire by B C Penling

Author:B C Penling [Penling, B C]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-12-31T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 19

BENEATH MOUNTAIN’S SHELL

The silhouette of the mountains stood tall against a backdrop of winking stars. The constellations were stuck in their perpetual voyage across the night sky; twinkling, unbothered by time. The moon had not yet risen but shown its hazy light along the horizon, teasing nocturnal travelers.

Lana. A distant voice whispered. Lana.

Her head felt like it was spinning. She slowly opened her eyes. Something thick, sticky and partially dried covered one of them and made it difficult to open it completely. She was almost prone but was halfway on her side, facing the cold, wet earth. Her legs were partially in water and her head was leaning against something hard. Her shoulders hurt terribly and her back was wracked in spasms.

She looked around in a heavy stupor. The world was difficult to perceive. It was dark, well past suns’ rests and there was dirt. Her face was near dirt. She dragged her arm painfully toward the ground near her chest. She pushed feebly and managed to roll onto her back. She was sore from head to toe.

Lana, are you alright? Caeda asked. She put her little hand on Lana’s forehead. You’ve been asleep for many hours.

My head hurts. My body hurts. Where are we?

We’re at the lake at the foot of the mountain. Zen leapt from the cliff to escape. It was a long way down and the water was shallow.

“Zen!” Lana gasped. It was as if a match was struck to light a lamp and illuminated the past events and current situation. She sat up, searching for him, hoping. In the low light of the slowly rising moon, she noticed that he was right beside her. Her head had rested in his hand.

“Zen?” she called. “Zen, are you alright?” There came no answer. Tears welled in her eyes. “Zen!” she cried.

“Rrrrrminds me of a youthful mistake,” he grumbled roughly. “Don’t let me do that again.”

Lana sobbed with relief. “I was worried you were…” Her voice caught in her throat.

“Dead?” Zen finished her sentence. “It’d take a spear through the heart to stop me, or even more, if it meant I could keep you safe.”

Lana crawled closer, clumsy and uncoordinated from the pain all over her body. She hugged his neck. “What do we do now? I don’t think any of us are in any condition to outrun them.”

“And I’ve run out of cliffs to throw us off from.” Zen lifted his head and nodded to the mountain. “There’s a cave over there. We can hide inside.”

“Won’t they find us in there, though?” Lana asked.

“Not if we seal the entrance,” he replied. “The mouth isn’t too large.”

With the short amount of time she felt they had, the cave sounded like the only feasible opportunity for survival. She stood unconfidently, her knees weak and threatening to buckle beneath her. Her head felt heavy and confused. She ambled forward in the direction of the cliff, sunrest from where they were. She treaded through shallow water, tripping over bits of rock that had fallen from above and made it to the lake.

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