Chapter 11

When the glow worms' light started fading, Red panicked. "Why is it getting darker? Are the worms ok?" she asked, nearly hysterical. Ваўка stroked her hair with a paw. "They are fine. If I remember correctly, this only means that it is getting bright outside… it's morning. Soon the tunnel will have sunlight shining through." Red yawned and shook her head. "I hadn't realized that it has been that long. Last time I checked for time was just before the attack and that was barely after lunchtime," she said.

Ваўка yawned as well. "If anything, we need to sleep now," he said. Red nodded and, after Ваўка had laid down on his stomach, stretched out on the ground and rested her head on his side. The combination of his earthy, musky scent and the pattern of his breathing was calming enough that, very soon, Red fell asleep.

Red awoke to the dreadful sound of the wolves howling. Not knowing how long she had slept, she slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes. At some point, Ваўка had moved out from under her and was now sitting in front of the tunnel. Red crawled up next to him and sat down. "Those things are still searching for a way in. By the sound of that howl, I think they got an idea," he said. Venom dripped from his voice. Red shivered. They were running out of time quickly if the wolves had a plan.

She crawled around the cave's perimeter, thinking. She yelped when a sharp rock on the wall scraped her shoulder. Ваўка leapt over immediately. "What happened?" he asked frantically. Red giggled. "There is a sharp rock on the wall and it just cut my shoulder. It's nothing deep, it just startled me," she replied, feeling the blood slowly run down her arm. Suddenly there was a grating sound and Red saw something move in the darkness. It was a fraction of the cavern wall. The wall had moved aside to reveal a small tunnel- about the same size that they had entered by- on the other side. "Must be a trap door triggered by the rock you brushed against," Ваўка said. Red wasn't even listening. She crawled into the tunnel and found that it had a slight slope upward. She kept moving and felt the air shift as Ваўка followed her.

The walls started shaking and for a moment Red thought that the tunnel was collapsing before everything went dark. The wall must have moved back, she thought. Red forged on in the darkness, turning her body whenever she hit a wall in front of her.

The darkness was suffocating. Red started to believe that the tunnel had no end. She didn't dare to stop though. The thought of those wolves catching her was more unbearable than the never ending darkness.

"Stop," Ваўка said.

"What is it?" Red could almost hear the hysteria in her voice. "Sit down," he said calmly. She did as he told her and tried to still her trembling limbs. She felt him get closer. Felt his warm breath against her hair. Ваўка nuzzled his head against her cheek.

"It's all right. You will be ok. I promise." He crooned. Red lifted her arms and hugged his neck. Neither said a word, they both knew the other's unspoken fear. Fear of the wolves, fear of the tunnel, fear of what might happen.

Red pulled away and kissed Ваўка on the nose. She got back on her hands and knees and went on crawling down the tunnel. Ваўка sat where he was, stunned as the tingling heat from Red's kiss remained on his nose. He shook his head. It must be my imagination. Probably some lingering effect from my injuries, he thought. He crawled quickly to catch up to Red, and ran head first into her rear end. "What is it? Why did you stop?" He asked, a little more harshly than he meant to.

"It stops," she said. "It just...ends. There is no more. We're ...trapped." With that, her voice cracked. She started trembling and Ваўка could smell the salt of her tears. He grabbed her leg and pulled, hard, causing her to fall onto her stomach. She rolled over and opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Ваўка crawled on top of her and started licking her cheeks and eyes.

Once she stopped crying and Ваўка finished licking her face clean, he leaned his muzzle down to her ear and whispered forcefully, "What is it with you? You rush in fearlessly to help someone who is in danger, but then you panic if you fall a few feet from a tree or you get trapped in a small dark place. I can't tell if you are the bravest person I have met, or the craziest." Red sniffled and Ваўка hit her head with his. "Stop crying. I can't stand it whenever I smell your tears. It makes me feel sick." All she did was nod. He shifted and signaled for her to move back.

With great difficulty, Ваўка managed to get in front of Red. He dug his claws into the wall and started digging. "Keep your eyes closed, I don't want you going blind because you got a rock lodged in your eyes," he told her.

Ваўка had only dug about three of four feet into the wall when he had to stop. He was panting heavily. "This is hard work for someone who hasn't had food or water in almost two days," he said. Then he collapsed. He was aware of Red's dulcet tones calling his name just before he passed out.

Ваўка looked all around and knew he was dreaming. He was human again. The air was lighter and cleaner and he could see something other than darkness. Red was in front of him, clad in a beautiful ball gown that intensified her natural beauty. Only, this beauty was obscured by the paint court women wore to "enhance" their features.

"Red? What has happened to you? Why do you look like that?" he asked, walking slowly toward her with his arms outstretched. "Why, I would do anything for you, your highness," she said.

Ваўка stopped and thought. Something was out of place with Red, besides her appearance, he just didn't know what. "Come to me, my dearest prince. Embrace me- man to woman- and I shall be eternally yours," she said hopefully. It dawned on him; what was wrong was her voice. Those were not her sweet, low tones he had heard before, but a higher, beckoning sound. He backed up a few steps. "You...what is your given name?" He asked.

She tilted her head questioningly. "Why my prince, don't you remember? I am Red, your beloved servant. The person who loves you." He shook his head. The impostor had just proven him right. "You are not her. Who are you really?" he asked calmly. He was disappointed but he wouldn't let it show. The figure changed in a sickly twisting of features. It was faceless, with the paints marking where eyes and mouth should be but weren't.

"Sirene has been watching you princeling," it said. Ваўка wasn't sure how it spoke without a mouth, but then again, this was a dream. "She fears you. Fears that girl- for what she can do to you, and what she can do to Sirene with you. That is why she sent the hounds..." The faceless thing was cut off as a pair of hands came down and tore it to pieces like a paper doll. The hands tried to reach for Ваўка, but he was back in wolf form and he bit the nearest hand. He drew blood and the hand jerked away. "Sorry Sirene, no matter how hard you try, I will prevail. No, we will prevail," he said as the dream faded.

Ваўка jerked awake as something hit his head. He shook and found that it was cold and wet, and more was dripping down to hit him. He shook again and called out into the darkness. "Red? Red, where are you? What's going on?" He heard something crawl toward him and grab him. She is hugging me again. Why does she like hugging me so much? He thought with more than a little bit of happiness.

"I was so worried when you collapsed. I decided to dig a hole straight up to see if we were even close to the top when I found the water. I know where we are! We are about six feet under the lake at the top of the smaller mountains. I drank a bit and started digging straight instead of up. I dug straight up in a couple of spots to mark how far I was from the edge of the water. I think I am almost to the brink of the lake." she said frantically. Ваўка put his paw on her shoulder, concerned. "How long have I been out?" Red sobered up immediately, he could tell by the tension in her shoulders. "Long enough for me to dig at least a dozen feet through..."

"A dozen feet?" he asked, astounded. She had no tools so he knew that had to have taken her the entire day-or night, who knew anymore? - plus a few more hours. "I am so sorry," he said. "You must be exhausted.

"No more than you were when you collapsed. Besides, I got water in my system," She said. Suddenly he was even happier to have her near him. The girl in his dreams treated him like a prince. The real Red treated him like a friend. Wait, she said water. I haven't had any in days, he thought. With that, he reached a paw up and scraped at the hole that Red had made. He made it wide enough so that he could brace himself on the side so he was able to reach higher. He scratched the spot where water was dripping through. The drip increased to a steady trickle and he drank slowly- it did no good to drink so fast that he got sick- then he sat back down. He found Red giggling uncontrollably.

"Why?" was all he said, knowing that she would understand. "Oh, just a thought. It's strange to have a wolf climb to get water," she giggled some more. Ваўка just shook off and walked down the tunnel.

He reached the end of the tunnel after a few minutes and found a medium sized rock that was formed to a point. So that's how she dug so far. Very resourceful, he thought with just a hint of pride. He redoubled on himself. Why should I feel proud? It's not like she's my woman. She's my...friend. Ваўка blushed. He had never had an actual female friend before. He had his stuck up guy friends of course, but all the girls he knew just wanted to bed him and attempt pregnancy to make a place in his family for them. He hadn't sired any children, of course. It is impossible to sire a child without going to bed with anyone. I am too feminine, he thought. Wanting to only go to bed with the woman I will marry! Ваўка knew that if he told anyone then he would be a laughing stock, so he just let everyone believe that he was harboring secret lovers in the depths of the night.

Ваўка shook himself and began digging. Red came up behind him and dug another hole straight up. "We are almost there," she said. "I am having to clear away more mud to get to the water." Ваўка started digging faster. Suddenly, he had to stop. He had run into a wall of solid stone-he couldn't dig through. "Red?

"What?

"How far from the edge are we?" He heard the scraping as she dug upward. Mud splattered on the ground behind him. "We are in the middle of the bank as far as I can tell. Far enough that we can still get water.

"Good enough. Prepare to get wet," and before she could protest, he dug vigorously upward.

The onrush of cold water shocked his body, but he kept digging. He climbed out into about five inches of water. Red finally followed and came out shivering. "Why is it, that since I met you, I can't stay dry?" She demanded. Ваўка only laughed. Then he saw Red push a big rock over the hole and coat the edges in mud. "To keep the wolves from finding us," she said when he asked. Ваўка had forgotten about the wolves, being so caught up in escaping the tunnel.

He sniffed around, caught the scent of magic, and followed it all the way to the edge of the mountain. He looked down and saw that the wolves were just lying in front of the hole, waiting. Ваўка quietly went back to the lake and found Red building a fire. At first, Ваўка thought this a bad idea. Then he realized that they were too high and too far over for the wolves to see or smell the smoke.

Ваўка sat down next to Red in front of the fire. He could feel her shivering through the space between them. Her clothes were soaked through-again- and it was colder at the top of the mountain than on the ground. Ваўка rose and walked over to Red. He sat and put his paw on her hand. "Take it off.

"What?"