Ten

Ten

Slowly, and still supporting Renn, Torak edged inside. All at once the terrible smell of rotting carcasses engulfed them. Torak and Renn began to gag and not far away Torak could hear the sound of Wolf throwing up. As quietly as possible, Torak continued down the small cave, his eyes watering terribly.

"Is Bale nearby?" Renn croaked, her voice slurred.

"Don't know." Torak muttered. "But he is defiantly in here somewhere." Renn suddenly stumbled, forcing Torak forward. As he fell, his torso didn't hit solid ground, but instead overhung from a cliff.

"I'm sorry!" Renn cried, helping Torak to his feet. She looked down. "Torak," She said. "How do you suppose we're going to get down there?" Torak looked at her bemused, then realized what she meant; there was no other path, nowhere else to go but down. He glanced to his right. In the corner of his eye he saw a small ridge, only about half a fore arm in breadth.

"Over there. There's a small ridge. We can use that." said Torak, pointing at it.

"What about Wolf? How will he get down?" she asked, glancing around.

"Don't worry. He can use small ridges like this." said Torak. He walked over towards the ridge and carefully stood on it. He grasped at the slimy wall, trying to find something to keep him steady. Finally he managed to get balanced and began to edge his way across.

"Come on Renn!" he called looking around, but was unable to see her through the darkness. He heard the crumble of stone and the soft echoing of pads as Renn and Wolf began to walk across the ridge. Torak continued but nearly fell as it descended steeply. For what seemed like an eternity, Torak slowly clambered his way down. Eventually he reached firm ground. As he leant against the wall, trying to get the feeling back into his legs, Renn and Wolf joined him.

"We need to find Bale soon if we plan on leaving this awful place tonight." said Renn as she began to go in search for an exit. A distant 'humph' told him that she'd found it.

"Are you ok?" Torak asked her as he fumbled his way around the cave. Suddenly he tripped over something, causing him to fall. As he got up he realized that it was Renn's legs that he tripped over.

"Why didn't…" he began, but Renn quickly shushed him.

"Look down there." she whispered, pointing. Torak lent over the ledge. There, on a stack surrounded by a red lake was the shadow of Bale, who was sat at the edge of it.

"There has got to be away across." said Torak, looking around for a ridge like the one they had just climbed. Wolf padded up to Torak. "Follow me!" he said as he trotted back into the darkness. He beckoned Renn then proceeded in Wolf's footsteps. He guided them to the cave wall. Squinting, Torak could just make out a small hole, only just big enough to fit him in. "Thank you, pack brother." said Torak, scratching Wolf's flank. Carefully, he lowered himself down. Feeling the walls, he soon realized they were in some kind of tunnel.

"This way!" he called to Renn as he began to crawl along it. They had been crawling for some time when Torak saw light creeping into the dismal tunnel. He carried on, but banged his head on the wall.

"Why have we stopped?" asked Renn as she bumped into Torak.

"Dead end, but I think we can get through. Can I borrow your axe; I lost mine in that lake." Renn quickly unlatched her axe and handed it to Torak who began to chip away at the wall.

Renn listened to Torak chipping at the wall, immersed in thought. She wondered if Bale was okay, praying that he wasn't seriously hurt or worse. Wolf began to shift uncomfortably beside her, obviously not keen on the demons that dwelled nearby. Renn began to drift to sleep. In her dreams she saw Fin-Kedinn, his face etched with worry as he was talking with Saeunn.

"He said he wouldn't harm her, so he won't!" hissed Saeunn, turning around

"But his whole clan has gone missing, including Renn!" replied Fin-Kedinn

"You should trust your friends!" said the old mage, raising her voice.

"There were whispers he'd gone over-"

"Don't listen to rumors!"

"I sent her there against my better judgment-"

"She is a strong girl, she will be alright-"

"What if she's not? It will be my fault!"

"FINE!" shouted Saeunn. "If you don't think Renn can handle it, go and find her!" She turned on heel and stormed into her shelter. Fin-Kedinn sat down on a nearby rock, his head in his hands.

"World Spirit," he whispered. "Please watch over my niece. Please see to it that no harm befalls her." Suddenly Renn woke up. She could hear a tremendous crash as Torak broke through the wall. Peering through the large opening, she could see Bale staring up at them, his jaw hanging loosely. He then split into a huge grin.

"I knew you'd find me!" he said.

"Grab my feet Renn, so I can haul Bale up!" shouted Torak. Renn quickly grasped his ankles and slowly, inch by inch, began to drag Bale into the tunnel. After many agonizing minutes, Bale was finally sat by the opening, wiping sweat from his brow.

"You're okay!" said Renn, smiling.

"Yeah, I guess." panted Bale

"What happened after they took you?" asked Torak.

"Well, the demons, they took me here. It was awful, the smell I mean. I couldn't sleep or anything. But the weird thing is that they gave me this." Bale un-tucked a hide necklace from the neck of his jerkin. Attached to the end of it was a red stone; the Fire Opal. "They told me to destroy it."

"Why would to do that though?" said Renn. "I would have thought they would want it keeping safe."

"Well, whoever owns it controls them." said Torak, absently stroking Wolf. "They obviously don't like being controlled." Renn thought about what Torak had said. He knew he was probably right. Then it clicked.

"Give me the Fire Opal." she said. Bale gave her a quizzical look before handing it over.

"What are you doing?" asked Torak as she hung it around her neck.

"My demons!" she cried "Come and take us from this realm. Return us to our world so that we can destroy the Fire Opal." For a moment everything was silent. All of a sudden there was a great howl as a gigantic demon in the shape of an auroch landed on the stack below them.

"Get on its back!" cried Renn, her heart thudding in her chest. What if it tried to kill them? Ignoring this awful thought she clambered onto the auroch behind Torak who had Wolf between his legs. As soon Bale had jumped on its back, the demon bellowed before cantering back towards the mouth of the cave. The monster twisted and turned, spiraling all over the place. As they left the cave, it flipped upside down, causing the Fire Opal to slip over Renn's head.

"Bale, catch it!" she shouted. Bale managed to lean back far enough to catch the necklace between his fingers. The auroch soared into the sky. Renn looked up and saw the portal becoming closer and closer. They crashed through it and came out inside the stone mouth, but they didn't stop there; the demon swooped through the mouth and cantered into the fresh air where it stopped abruptly, sending all four of the toppling off its back. Torak, Wolf and Renn landed on top of each other however, Bale was rather unfortunate and ended up rolling down the hill and into a bush at the bottom. As Renn began to stand up, she felt a stabbing pain in her shoulder and saw with horror that an arrow was protruding from it. She looked towards Torak who was writhing with pain, an arrow in his back. Wolf was beside him, trapped under a net.

"Well, well, well, who do we have here?" said Thiazzi.