Chapter 313 - A Cacophony in a Cave (1/2)

”A cave?” asked Tigin. When Sevis had told him they were going to get help, he didn't expend to ride for half a day to a cave in the middle of nowhere.

”Stop being so cynical,” said Sevis. He dismounted.

Tigin pointed back in the direction they'd come from, ”We could have been halfway to the Black Sands City by now”.

”Yes,” Sevis admitted, ”And either captured or dead. Possibly both”.

Tigin sighed, then dismounted and followed Sevis towards the entrance of the cave, ”So what's in the cave that's going to help us?”

”The only thing that can,” said Sevis, he paused just before the entrance, turning back to Tigin with a strange look on his face, like Tigin should have figured this out by now.

Tigin frowned, looked at the cave, then back at Sevis. Understanding suddenly dawned in his expression, ”You have got to be kidding me”.

Sevis shrugged, ”He's the only one who can help Rima”.

”He hasn't helped in over a year, exactly what do you expect from him now?” Tigin scoffed.

Sevis rolled his eyes and turned to walk into the cave, ”If you think he's been gone all that time, you're sorely mistaken”.

Tigin hesitated, then followed Sevis into the cave.

It was strange, at first Tigin thought it was a trick of his eyes, but the further he walked into the cave, the more he could make out something shining in the back of the cave. When Sevis paused in front of it, Tigin realised it was a mirror. He scoffed, ”I never took Aegin for the vain type”.

Sevis just smiled, then he moved the mirror ever so slightly to the right.

As soon as the light caught it, it reflected to a tunnel to the left that Tigin had failed to see in the shadows. That tunnel promptly lit up for a few metres, then veered deeper into the cliff-face once more.

Sevis followed the tunnel, Tigin still surprised by the mirrors. He'd never seen them used like this.

Around that second corner, the light was much brighter, filling the cavernous room beyond. The room was filled with several mirrors on the walls and roof, all reflecting off of each other to amplify the light. There were several mirrors around the room that were turned away though, as if the room could be brighter if it needed to be.

Around the room were several pieces of handmade furniture and cloth. There was also a rack of weapons. There was another tunnel off to the side as well, from which came several scraping noises. Like stone on metal.

Sevis promptly went down that tunnel, Tigin trailing behind as he looked around. This place…it had been lived in for several months. Tigin ducked down the secondary tunnel. Usually in places like this it got cooler the further away from fresh air you went, but there was heat here. Due to the desert heat outside, Tigin hadn't really noticed it at first, but this felt different, and it seemed to only be getting hotter.

Tigin frowned, walking behind Sevis. He could see a light glowing at the end of the tunnel, not like the mirror's reflected light though. This looked more like the glow from a fire.

The heat was becoming unbearable. Tigin gasped, ”What is this place?”

”You'll see,” said Sevis, though his voice appeared strained too.

They came out into another large cavern, this one far larger than the previous one, but about twenty metres from where they tunnel was, the ground dropped, and the orange glow came from whatever was at the bottom.