Chapter 16

Darkness claims the light. It is time.

For having such a horrible life, Tracer sure seems to be blessed recently. There is only one guard and he is asleep. Here before Tracer is an example of their arrogance. He does not see the need to take the life of this man. His teacher taught him to never leave an enemy at your back, but Tracer is certain that stealth is the better option. Tracer passes by no more than two paces from the guard, and he can smell strong drink emanating from him.

Once inside a new problem confronts him. There seem to be a million and one different caves. They are natural caves that have centuries of work done to them that make them seem almost manmade. They are dark gray, and have various elements glittering from the walls, ceiling and floor.

From the oil lamps and torches that hang from pegs fitted into the sides of the caves and scones every ten to fifteen paces, Tracer can see crystals, rubies, emeralds and sapphires twinkling like stars in the night sky, and he can see veins of gold and silver running through the caves like ghostly fingers reaching out to grab him. If not for the situation, he would have stayed and marveled at the beauty of it all.

But he has other more pressing matters. Do they all lead to his desired destination, or is there only one that leads there and the rest lead to his death? In the huge open cavern Tracer can hear many voices echoing about, but it is impossible to tell from which tunnel or tunnels they originate.

Tracer notices that all the tunnels leading off the main cavern entrance are big enough for a wagon to fit through, and almost all of them have scars from the wheels and hooves. He has no choice; he flips the proverbial coin and picks one. If not for the many torches spaced about, he would not be able to see his hand in front of his face.

"Well at least this cave is angling up." Not the clearest sign, but a positive one, anyway.

Things seem to be going well for about two hundred paces, until Tracer comes to an intersection and four more caves split off from the one he is in.

"No reason to change my direction now. I will continue to follow this one for as long as I am able."

Tracer hears voices and footsteps all about him, but he has yet to see anyone at all. Once he thinks he sees a shadow, but it is gone as quickly as it appeared. No time for hesitation. Tracer moves on. And on and on and on. If he wasn't here for a specific reason he could spend the rest of his life exploring these caves. Then the thought strikes him that he might get lost in these caves for the rest of his life.

Tracer can't tell the passage of time. Day and night blur into one. On goes this endless cave system. Sometimes going up, sometimes going around and round. Tracer isn't concerned until he notices it starts to go back down. The last intersection is far behind him. Does he turn around to try another, or does he see where this one leads him?

He decides, "I will follow this one a while longer, but if it does not change direction I will backtrack and find another." Tracer involuntarily ducks his head when his ramblings echo of the walls of the cave a little too loudly.

Lost in the bowels of darkness. Tracer swears that he has been at this intersection before, but they all look alike so it is hard to tell. Tracer has no choice, he has to start marking his direction at every intersection. It may give him away, but what's the difference if he stays lost down here forever, anyway.

Tracer is moving in a fog not knowing where he is going, and then all of a sudden he walks right into the chest of a Dark Priest. Tracer goes to pull his dagger, but remembers he lost it in a wolveris as it fell. Tracer doubles back with all his strength and clocks him right on the jaw. His eyes roll back into his head and he falls and clatters onto the floor. Tracer is quite impressed, for he has only dropped somebody with one punch once before.

"No doubt my desperation and surprise aided this one. Now what do I do? Certainly I am going to take his robe, but should I kill him now, or try and get information from him first? I remember that these Dark Priests are magic users also, so I probably shouldn't take the chance. Hopefully I can get him out of his robes before he awakens." Killing somebody with a sword is always messy.

Once Tracer takes his robes and slits his throat, he realizes he has another problem. "What do I do with his body? It's not like there is an abundance of places to hide something this big amongst the rock walls."

Tracer guesses he can put him in his clothes and start yelling at the top of his lungs that he has killed an intruder. Tracer isn't sure if he is ready for that yet. Then Tracer remembers that the Dark Priests can sense Katiely, so he must assume they can sense each other as well. That will make his disguise weak, but all it has to do is allow him to get close enough to use his sword before they can use their magic.

"Damn, there is nothing I can do about it." He has two choices; leave him here to be found eventually, or carry him around with him. He looks heavy and most definitely he is bloody.

"Oh, what the hell." Tracer drags the dark priest behind him, at least for a while.

Of course Tracer notices right away, even in the yellowish orange flickering light of the torches, that he is leaving a trail of blood. It seems that no matter what he does he is screwed. Tracer wraps the priest's wound so it will stop dripping blood and flings him over his shoulder. He weighs at least a hundred and eighty stonelings. This isn't going to last for very long.

On the positive side, the cave starts heading back up. Eventually Tracer finds a huge crater that disappears into the darkness and the unknown. Tracer drops the dark priest in it and listens to his body bounce off the walls all the way down, until eventually even that sound fades, for this crater must be deep indeed. "Hopefully it doesn't lead down into a room full of these dark priests, but that can't be helped now." Tracer is just happy to be free of his heavy load.

"How many days have I been down here now? My feet hurt and my food supply is starting to run low. It has to be four days now, at least, and I'm going around in circles and back and forth."

In all this time he has only seen the one person. He must be on the wrong trail.

"I'm sure glad Katiely is here to keep me company, or I would have gone insane a long time ago." Tracer is talking to himself again.

Tracer is lost in his thoughts when he walks by another cave that seems strange to him. He backs up and looks again. This is no normal cave. It is a set of stairs that disappear into the darkness as it makes its way upward. At least here is something he can understand. Tracer takes the stairs two at a time until he becomes exhausted, and still sees no end in sight. Tracer sits down and takes a well-needed rest.

Tracer awakes with a start. "Damn, I fell asleep. I guess four or more days without sleep will do that to a guy." In a way he is grateful, because things don't seem so strange.

When you lack sleep things have a tendency to move and sway. Your brain needs to dream. And dream he does. It is of the cottage, and there is Katiely in her pretty yellow dress. Ram roams free in the woods without a care in the world. Nearby sleeps a silver dragon, who is undoubtedly named Trinity. The smile stays on Tracer's face long after he continues his climb.