Fearless (Nameless #3)(39)
“Wake up, Zo. It’s time.” Raca gently nudged Zo’s shoulder.
Zo blinked the sleep from her eyes as she rolled over to attend to her bedroll and pack. Outside, the sky showed no sign of welcoming the day, and the chill air made her wish for another hour wrapped in her woolen blanket.
Ikatou pulled open the trapdoor in the floor and stepped aside to allow one of his brothers to climb down the ladder. As the bear disappeared into the darkness beyond, Ikatou gestured for the others to follow. When only he and Zo were left in the room he said, “You are the weakest member of the group. If you show bravery, the others will feed off your courage.”
Zo nodded. She hadn’t been too nervous until now. She placed a foot on the top rung of the ladder and accepted Ikatou’s hand as she took the first steps into the darkness.
“More than anyone else, Murtog will see your blood oath as a sign of the Allies’ commitment to the Kodiak. Whatever you do, don’t cower in front of him. Though you are small, he must see you as a large, powerful person.”
Zo nodded and, rung by rung, lowered herself into the black shaft of the Kodiak Caves. Above her, Ikatou mounted the ladder, pulling shut the trapdoor and snuffing out what little light the cabin had offered.
Never in Zo’s life had she experienced such utter darkness. “Talon? Raca?” Zo whispered.
“You’re almost at the bottom.” Talon’s voiced echoed all around her, taking on a ghoulish cadence. A hand touched her leg, another her arm, and finally her boots found purchase on the stone floor of the cave.
“It’s cold down here.” Her teeth chattered as she spoke.
Ikatou joined her at the bottom and the group huddled together around him. He pulled out a fist-sized stone that glowed warm yellow. I wondered if the natural properties of the stone made it glow or some other Kodiak mystery. The little light it offered was only enough to see the faces of those huddled around it.
Ikatou handed a bristled, knotted rope to the members of the company. Each knot in the rope formed a loop large enough to slip a hand through. He said, “It’s dangerous to cast too much light around the caves, but there are places where the trail narrows and drops off on either side.” He threaded his hand through one end of the rope and the rest followed his example. “From here on, no one talks. If we do this right, we should be able to get into the belly of the cave in about two hours.”
Zo’s spot on the rope put her second to last in the line, with a Kodiak behind her and Raca in front. Standing so far away from the glow of Ikatou’s stone made seeing any part of the trail impossible. She clutched the rope around her wrist with one hand and held the other out to feel for jutting stone and winding cave walls. Occasionally the rope would tug from someone falling. Their muttered curses and gasps of surprise were fair warning that the way required extra caution.
Zo’s outstretched hand connected with Raca’s back, signaling the caravan had stopped. Whispers filled the cave and eventually Raca leaned toward her to pass along instructions.
“We’re approaching the steam cavern. Ikatou said to lean against the rock at your left so we’re ready if someone falls.”
Zo swallowed hard, nodding even though she knew Raca couldn’t see her. She passed the message on to the Kodiak behind her and doubled her grip on the rope as they descended deeper into the dark tunnel.
The faint smell of sulfur reached Zo’s nose and the air grew wet and warm. Though she couldn’t see the walls around her, she sensed the room widen into an area much larger than the tunnel they’d been traveling. She reached out to feel for the wall at her left and placed each footstep with care. Water dripped high above her head, echoing as it connected with stone to create a chorus of music that might have been soothing were it not for the slippery stone beneath her boots and the blind drop only inches away.
The deeper into the cavern they traveled, the more intense the heat. Water beaded down her back and ran from her brow into her eyes. The air turn so thick she could barely draw it through her lungs. Even if there were light, she doubted she’d be able to see anything through the thick steam surrounding them.
A sharp tug on the rope accompanied a ripple of gasps and one deep cry of surprise. Zo lurched forward, her nails raking stone to stop the rope from pulling her off the narrow ledge. The force of the weight dragged her wrist down and brought her to kneel on the trail.
“Please,” came Raca’s desperate cry. “Help us.”
Raca, and she assumed Talon, hung off the side of the ledge. Their combined weight threatened to tear Zo’s arm from its socket.
“Take her free hand!” the Kodiak behind Zo commanded.
Unable to see Raca, Zo reluctantly reached out into the darkness as the rope pulled and swayed with Raca and Talon’s weight. Zo’s fingertips brushed against a hand, but failed to grasp it.
The steam suffocated. Zo couldn’t breathe.
“We have Talon,” Ikatou whisper-yelled from somewhere ahead. “But we can’t lift them both.”
Behind her, the Kodiak growled, probably wishing she could trade him places.
“My hand! I can’t hold on much longer,” cried Raca.
Zo leaned even farther over the ledge, one hand batting the air around where Raca should have been.
And then, finally, their hands connected. “I’ve got her!” she gasped, choking on the thick air.