Heading in
Rhapsody watched as the light of the sun faded from the sky. The last few hours had been excruciating to realize how close she was to Achmed and was unable to make it to him. Now the time had come that she and Omet could repay their debts to one they both cared for deeply.
As the last ray of sunlight flickered out of sight, Rhapsody signaled Omet that she was going to take the far guard and he was to take the nearer one. She slipped from his side and positioned herself behind a boulder near the entrance of the tunnel. Omet came behind her and took up his place behind another boulder, waiting for her to make the first move.
Once they were both in position, Rhapsody nodded her head once to Omet before she rushed out of the cover, drawing her sword a split second before striking. The clarion call and the flame of the sword was the last things the solider heard and saw before his head left his shoulders and his body crumpled to the ground. Before the other could react, Omet had come behind him and drew his own sword across the Nain's throat, ear to ear. He was dead with in seconds.
They paused for a moment and looked to each other before they both turned to the entrance of the cave and headed in together.
She was getting close. Achmed could feel as Rhapsody worked her way to him. She was in the caves by now and somehow was making progress and not getting lost in the labyrinth of tunnels and passageways. He didn't know how she was doing it, but of course she was probably being led somehow since the F'dor wanted her to find him.
It wouldn't be long now; Achmed could feel the possible last minutes of his life slipping away with every beat of his wife's heart.
There seemed to be very few Nain within the tunnels once they entered. Omet and Rhapsody passed freely along the passageways, ready and expecting resistance at any time. Omet walked with his sword drawn while Rhapsody traveled with her hand resting on her sword hilt, keeping it sheathed so the light wouldn't give them away.
There was some dim lighting along their way revealing their path. As they came to a fork in the tunnel, one was not as well lit as the other. Both of the tunnels led in the same general direction and both went to where she could sense Achmed's vibrations coming from. Pausing for a moment she stared down the two paths.
Finally she chose to try the path to the left where the light was not quite as good. Not far in, the tunnel turned sharply to the left. As they came around the turn, they met their first resistance.
About twenty Nain soldiers were there, seemingly waiting for the two to come around the bend. Rhapsody drew her sword, nearly blinding the Nain for a moment with the brilliant flash of light. As they were clearing their eyes, Omet took out three of them and was engaging with a fourth as Rhapsody brought down two of her own. But then the Nain recovered from the light and began beating them back.
Curiously, though they were fighting very hard, they were not bringing any harm to either Rhapsody or Omet. They were defiantly causing more damage, but there seemed to me more Nain coming up behind the first ranks and replacing the fallen.
Rhapsody and Omet we forced back to where the tunnel had divided when suddenly, most of the Nain just disappeared, fleeing back down the passage they had come down. A few remained who were quickly taken out by Omet and Rhapsody.
When they were once again standing alone in the cave, they looked to each other, wondering what had just happened.
"What was that?" Omet whispered to Rhapsody.
"I have a feeling that we are supposed to go down this passageway," she answered while waving her still drawn sword towards the passage on the right.
Omet took a look down the right tunnel and how it was much better lit than the left one. "I have a bad feeling about this," he said.
"I do too, but there's not much that we can to about it. If we are being herded through these the passages, the chances are that they want us to find Achmed for some reason or another. It probably is some kind of trap as we feared, but what are we going to do?"
Omet shrugged, "Your right, we have no choice. If we are being led to Achmed, then it shouldn't be hard to find him."
Shaking her head, Rhapsody turned to the right tunnel, sheathing her sword once again and heading down the path.
They came across many other divides but every time that they went down a darkened or not as well lit path, they came across resistance. After a while, they just chose to go down those paths that we well lit, signaling where they were supposed to tread.
But of course, as soon as they decided to do this, they came to a division where both were completely dark. Choosing the one on the right they journeyed on. Rhapsody pulled her sword a fraction of an inch from the sheath to cast a minimal amount of light on their path. She led the way in with Omet just behind her. As they traveled along, they noticed that this passage was much wider than others. The light from Daystar Clarion was not reaching the walls, leaving them walking in a small pool of light with no idea what was just beyond their little island.
They tried to pass through this section swiftly, but the low amount of light caused them to pass slower than they really wanted. Rhapsody was just about to ask Omet if he thought it would be safe to raise the light some when suddenly she heard a noise behind her that chilled her to the heart.
"Rhaps…," was all she heard from Omet before his voice was suddenly cut off. Spinning around, Rhapsody pulled her sword forth, searching for the new attacker only to find absolutely nothing there. No attacker and no Omet.
Staring down the path they had come then turning in a slow circle scanning the area for any sign of her friend or the person who took him, Rhapsody found nothing but blackness. It seemed that She had Omet had passed into some sort of cavernous room and, even with her sword completely drawn, she still could not see the walls.
Carefully she moved from her spot, hoping to find a wall. As she began to move, she could just barely make out some type of movement at the edges of where the light from her sword reached. She stopped again, staring into the darkness, hoping and fearing to catch a glimpse of what was out there.
After a few moments, the figures she had seen moving at the edges of the light began to step into it. Numerous Nain soldiers with swords drawn faced her, nearly completely ringing her except for one direction.
Well now it was obvious which way they wished her to pass. Knowing that she would never be able to break through in a different direction and being left with no other alternative, she began to slowly back out in the direction that it seemed she was going to be able to pass. The Nain stood their ground and were soon left in darkness once again as she took the light with her.
After leaving the soldiers behind, Rhapsody turned to find that a light flickered ahead, bringing her back to the tunnels. She stopped, wondering what she should do. She could feel Achmed ahead of her but somewhere back there, she had left Omet. Of course, she thought, if Omet was still alive he was probably taken somewhere else by now. It was perhaps just as likely that he was taken to where ever Achmed was being held.
Hoping that this was the case, she sheathed her sword and continued on from lighted path to lighted path, finding no more resistance.