Into the Dark
"Hurry up, Alex."
I grunted as I climbed over the ledge, hauling myself up and over the stone cliff. My arms had long since turned to jelly with the effort of hauling myself up rock.
When I got up, I glared at my brother, who was holding a torch that cast eerie, monster-shaped shadows across his face and the walls of the cave. His eyes though, were bright with euphoria. Every time he found a cave, he'd drag me inside to look for coal or precious gems.
"What now?" I griped. We'd been in here for the past hour. I stood and shooed away a bat that fluttered around my face. It squeaked and disappeared into the darkness behind me.
Steve pointed with his torch. "I think there's an abandoned mine down there."
Another one? I peered into the shadows, trying to spot any indication of rails or support beams. When Steve began heading for it, I looked at his torch longingly.
I took out the sword at my belt. I'd found it in an abandoned village years ago, rusted and bent. After using the blacksmith's anvil, it's been repaired and restored to its shining glory.
A feeling nagged at me. I took the shield off my back and braced it. "Steve," I whispered loudly. He kept walking. "Steve," I snapped, a little louder this time. We passed a column of water.
Steve turned to look at me, his dark brown hair matted to his skin thanks to the sweat on his forehead. We both stopped to listen, the only sound coming from the underground stream and the whoosh of his torch.
A white face appeared over Steve's shoulder. I screamed and lunged, driving my sword into the skeleton's ribs. It cackled, its jaw rattling and clicking as if it laughed. In the blink of an eye, it had its bow braced at Steve.
I yanked my brother back, trying to shake him out of his stupor. He merely gaped at the skeleton and its drawn bow. I moved just in time to put my shield between it and us just as it released a well aimed arrow. "Move," I hissed at my younger brother. "Now!" I shoved him in the direction we came from.
With him now running away, the cave was plunged into darkness once more. I seethed but kept quiet, trying to listen for the click of bone.
I heard the creak of wood bending and lifted my shield just in time. Another arrow buried into it. I was breathing hard, inhaling the humid air as if it would be my last breath. My arms aches from the power of the knock back. I even stumbled a few steps to regain my balance.
My eyes found the direction Steve went. All I saw was the torch, disposed on the ground, still alight. I sighed but quickly blocked another arrow. This time I slashed in the direction it came from, hoping to disembowel the skeleton. Another clatter sounded, this time to my left. I leapt blindly and came across a wall. I couldn't stop myself if I wanted, so I met the stone with my face. Blood poured out of my nose, but I didn't hear anything break, thank goodness.
I didn't bother wiping my face onto my sleeve, but I was a little dazed. I stumbled back a step when a hand grabbed the back of my head and shoved me against the wall. Pain exploded across my cheek, but I could only focus on the ice-cold hand holding me hostage. From the corner of my eye, I saw the skeleton's bone arm.
A plan formed in my mind right when something whizzed behind me and struck the skeleton. It fell to the ground and fell apart. I stared at my brother's torch and saw him with a bow and an arrow on fire. When I looked at the skeleton, a flaming arrow was embedded into its skull.
"Nice shot," I muttered. Bad idea. A bit of blood got into my mouth. I spit it out, praying I didn't chip a tooth. Thankfully I hadn't. My cheek was scraped up and my nose hurt, but other than that, I was not injured. And from the look of Steve, he wasn't either.
I was exhausted as I climbed down the ledge and trudged to Steve. When I reached him, he smiled broadly and handed me a ripped portion of his already tattered shirt.
"Don't worry, Alex. We still have a mine to search."