Page 75 of Kingdom of Rot & Ruin
The strong prevailed, and the weak died. It was the way of the world. Adapt or die. Thrive and survive.
“Shall we?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. I’d rather begin my adventures with just Zariah and without a trail of girls and a young boy.
He rolled his eyes, shifting back into the dragon. Crouching down on all fours, he lowered his neck in a clear invitation to clamber on.
“What, don’t feel like dangling me from your claws today?”
He huffed, and a trail of embers flew from his nose, smoke wafting up in tight curls.
“Fine,” I relented, climbing up.
His scales were warm underneath my body, and I settled myself up above his wing joints, grabbing onto the large spikes around his neck.
“Where do you think you’re going?” I groaned as Shava emerged from the cave, arms crossed over her chest. “I?—”
Zariah flinched, his dragon ears flattening tight against his skull. His body flattened to the ground.
“What is it?” I asked.
Zariah shook me off, depositing me right in front of the small sliver on the cliff’s side.
Then he flew away.
My shoulders shrugged, but inwardly I was pleased.
“Well, it appears I have no choice but to explore this cave and see where it leads. You can help the … new one settle in,” I offered magnanimously.
Her eyes narrowed further.
“Cerys.”
What? Oh. That must be the woman’s name.
“Just so,” I said. “Not much choice either way, since I can’t get back over until Zariah returns. Might as well explore.”
Her eyes rolled. “Just don’t die.”
Someone didn’t wish me dead; what a novel experience. I gave her a grin that didn’t feel as confident as I would have liked and squeezed my body in through the narrow cave opening.
There’s nothing in here that can harm you. It’s empty, dark space, and nothing more.
It was one thing to say it, quite another, when the stone walls squeezed in on you. My brain spun all the scenarios of my being crushed to death, or asphyxiating.
“Don’t be stupid. Shava wouldn’t be afraid.”
That thought alone propelled me forward, pushing my body through the narrow slits and praying there was a larger chamber up ahead.
The silence played tricks on my brain, the sounds of my body scraping and sliding against stone loud and panicky in my ears. The path narrowed even further until stone pressed in on me from all sides. If I went any further, I would risk becoming trapped, unable to turn around and get back out. The ignominy of dying in a tunnel facedown with my ass in the air made me hesitate.
Until the entire cave shook.
Adrenaline and fear spiked through my body in a potent cocktail as everything rumbled and shook around me. Rocks tumbled and slide behind me and desperately I tried to stay calm. The small bit of light that had been at my back reminding me of the way out disappeared, plunging me into complete, inky blackness.
Don’t panic.
It only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like hours. Would the walls fall and crush me? Would the cave-in behind me cut off all the air, and I’d greedily suck the last bits down until I hyperventilated, passed out, and died?
The rumbling stopped, and everything was once again still.
