Having hardly slept anyway, he was up and ready when the Toguai arrived, slipping quietly out of the dwelling. He felt partially naked without his usual array of weaponry with him. He didn’t feel comfortable walking into an unknown situation without them.
“You must leave all of your weapons behind,” Orna instructed. “Where you are going, they cannot be taken.”
Unarmed. Unaware of where he was going or what he was even doing. It was all counter to his every instinct. Every experience he had ever had as a bounty hunter told him it was foolhardy. But he had agreed, perhaps against his better judgment, leaving with the Toguai on this mysterious journey into the foothills of this place.
They had spent the better part of the morning traversing the difficult and, at times, dangerous terrain, winding an impossible to follow path up into the mountains, scaling the steep slopes, moving along treacherous cliff walls and through deep rocky crevices that eventually led them deep into the cavernous bowels of the mountains themselves. Jarred knew that many adventure seeking beings enjoyed cave spelunking as a recreational pastime, but attempting it without the assistance of any climbing gear made the task that much more arduous, not to mention extremely dangerous. They hadn’t even brought any lighting equipment with them. It wasn’t until they had crawled into the first of the dark tunnels and away from any natural light that he understood why. The cave walls seemed to glow in spots, a shimmering array of blues and greens that looked almost alive. Upon closer inspection, he found that it was indeed alive. Some kind of luminescent algae that lived off the minerals in the rock, he guessed. It provided enough light to at least see the immediate area in front of them. Not that that made the trek any less difficult.
The Toguai’s claws seemed to easily cut into the rock, allowing it to move across most surfaces with relative ease. Jarred didn’t have any such advantages and found himself struggling to keep up, having more than a few close calls along the way. He was relieved when the narrow tunnel network finally exited into a large open cave, probably a kilometer long and half as wide. The luminescent algae blanketed the majority of its surface area, and as a result, much of the massive chamber was clearly visible. Wondrous looking speleothem rock formations hung down from the ceiling and stood like monoliths spread out in areas across the base of the cavern. A large pool of water had formed in the center of the cave which reflected the light of the algae in dancing waves back onto the chamber walls. Gazing out across the cave’s expanse, he could see why places like this were such popular attractions.
The Toguai continued on, seemingly untaken with the sight, moving at a brisk pace across the floor of the cavern. As they walked, Jarred noted numerous tunnel openings of varying sizes that branched off from the central chamber at different angles. It would be easy to get lost in such a place and he found himself hoping that this Toguai actually knew where he was going and wasn’t just aimlessly wandering. Uncharacteristically of himself, he was putting his trust into this creature to lead him into the dark depths of this place, in search of something he knew nothing about and, as such, wasn’t even sure existed. He was doing a lot of things lately that he usually wouldn’t have. Maybe he was losing his edge.
As if to answer his unspoken concern, the Toguai came to a stop in front of one of the many tunnel entrances. Jarred watched him as he stood motionless for a long moment before finally turning to return his gaze. With a gesture of his head, the Toguai motioned him to go through the opening. From the creature’s own reluctance to enter, Jarred guessed that this was the place. Orna had told him that once they reached the so called
sacred place
, the Toguai would go no further.
“The Toguai are the guardians of what is hidden within these mountains,” she told him. “They have protected it for many generations, waiting for the one that is worthy to finally arrive and enter. They will guide you to the entrance of this place, but will not accompany you inside. They will take you as far as they can, but then you must go on alone, for that which is inside, is
for
you alone.”
Peering inside, this particular tunnel did not look any different from the many others they had passed. But it
felt
different. Jarred felt again compelled to enter. It was as if he were a piece of metal being drawn in by a powerful magnet. He felt almost unable to resist. This was definitely the place.
He stepped into the opening and spared a final glance at the Toguai, who grunted back at him, what Jarred thought might have been some kind of reassuring gesture. He nodded back at the creature in return and turned to move down the passage.
There was less of the glowing algae on this tunnel’s surface, as compared to the large cave it branched off of, which kept him from seeing the actual length of the passage or where it led. He simply had to continue moving forward, cautiously. He did so for what seemed like ages, though at the slow pace he was forced to walk, he wasn’t certain of how much ground he was covering. More than once he considered turning back, wondering why he had even embarked on the ridiculous journey at all, each time feeling the same strange compulsion to continue on. And so he did.
Finally, staring into the darkness ahead, he thought he could begin to see an end to the passage. A brighter source of light in the distance that appeared to open into another chamber. Reaching the opening, he stepped through into the large chamber and let out a labored breath. Scanning the open cavern, he counted nearly two dozen additional tunnels from the one he had exited. For a long while, he stood in the center of the chamber, considering his options. Exploring each of the passages was out of the question. He had no idea where any of them led or how deep into the mountain they delved. He had to choose.
Orna had said, “You will be tested. Only one who is worthy shall be permitted to find that which is hidden here. If you are worthy, you will be shown the path.”
Jarred considered her words. The feelings he had been having
had
seemed to be leading him this far. The strange feelings of familiarity he had been experiencing since arriving in these mountains, which had become an urging. A coaxing that almost seemed to have a presence, a will that was leading him deeper into this place. He had felt it grow in strength at certain times, when he had first entered the mountain and when the Toguai had led him to the tunnel entrance that had brought him to this chamber. It had urged him forward when he had felt doubt.
And it was speaking to him again now.
Jarred slowly turned to look at one of the dark passages on the far side of the chamber. One he felt himself being drawn towards. He crossed the chamber to stand before the opening, the feeling of compulsion intensifying. He was being led, by what he did not know, but this was the correct path. He knew it was. He couldn’t explain how, but he could
feel
it.
Without further hesitation, Jarred moved into the darkness.
* * *
Storming up the boarding ramp of Jarred’s stolen ship, Sierra nearly ran face first into Kern.
“Have you seen him?” she demanded.
“Whoa,” Kern returned, raising his grease covered hands, defensively. “Slow down. Have I seen who?”
Sierra placed her hands on her hips, impatiently. “Who do you think?”
“Oh,” Kern said, wiping his hands on the front of his already filthy coveralls. “Him. Nope, haven’t seen him.”
“Well, where is he? I’ve been looking for him all morning.” She in fact,
had
been searching for him all morning and most of the past day as well. He had been avoiding her since after his secret talk with Orna, the details of which she was very interested in knowing. What had they discussed? What could they possibly have
to
discuss? The fact that he was obviously avoiding her for the purpose of not revealing what had been discussed made her only more suspicious of the incident.
“I don’t
know
where he is,” Kern said, thumbing back into the ship. “I’ve been in here all morning trying to get this boat up and running again. Thanks for asking.”
Sierra rolled her eyes at him, following as he moved into the main hold. “Don’t pout, Kern. How are the repairs coming?”
“Better than I would have expected,” he answered, taking a seat in one of the swivel chairs that surrounded the main hold’s centralized table. “Don’t ask me how, but these Toguai sure know their way around the guts of a ship.”
“It’s strange, isn’t it?” she remarked.
“What’s that?” Kern asked.
“That Orna just happened to know they were here.”
“I guess. Hadn’t really thought about it. I’m just glad she did, otherwise we’d be in a whole mess of trouble right about now.”
“That’s my point,” Sierra said, taking a seat in one of the chairs. “It almost seems
too
convenient.”
“Here we go again,” Kern said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“This is just what you do. You question everything. You’re
suspicious
of everything.”
“I’m not suspicious of
everything
,” Sierra said, defensively. “I’m cautious. We have to be.”
“Yeah, well, there’s cautious . . . and then there’s you.”
“All I’m saying is that it’s strange, alright.”
“Well, welcome aboard,” Kern said, mockingly. “If you hadn’t noticed, there’s a lot of strange things about Orna.”
“I
had
noticed. That’s why I need to find Jarred. I want to know what they went off to talk about yesterday.”
“Oh,” Kern said. “Is
that
why you’re looking for him?”
“Yes,” Sierra replied. “That’s why I’m looking for him. Why else would I be?”
“I don’t know,” Kern said, shrugging. “Maybe you wanted to take off from where your argument ended yesterday.”
Sierra frowned. “Why would I want to do that?”
Kern shrugged again. “From the way you two were going at it, it seemed like you might have been enjoying it.”
Sierra felt herself begin to flush with anger, at least she told herself that’s what it was. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it?” Kern asked. “I’ve seen your face less red in the middle of a firefight.”
Glancing away, Sierra cursed inwardly, furious with
herself
for allowing physical signs of what she was feeling, whatever it was, to show so obviously to others. She was better than that. She turned her anger towards Kern.
“Kern, if I didn’t need you to pilot us out of here, I would shoot you where you’re sitting.”
“Thanks for proving my point,” he said, folding his arms across his chest and leaning back in his chair.
“What
is
your point?”
Kern squirmed in his seat, awkwardly. “You tell me?”
Sierra glared at him for a long moment before her eyes widened with surprise. “Are you
jealous
?”
Kern’s face suddenly flushed. “No, I’m not jealous. Why would I be jealous?”
“Exactly,” Sierra pressed. “Why
would
you be?” Sierra had known Kern for a long time and they had bee paired together on more missions than she could count, but she had never seen him act this way before. Frankly, she was a bit uncomfortable with the idea of him having jealous feelings with regards to herself. It would mean that he had feelings for her and she wasn’t sure she could handle that.
“I don’t know,” Kern answered. “Because I’m not.”
“Well, there isn’t anything to be jealous of.”
“Of course there isn’t . . . because I’m not jealous.”
“And there’s nothing going on between me and Jarred,” she clarified.
“It’s not like I would care if there was,” he answered.
“Well, there isn’t.”
“Great.”
Sierra stood up from her seat and moved towards the corridor that led to the boarding ramp, glancing back at Kern. “You’re acting really strange, you know.” As she rounded the corner of the main hold and headed down the corridor she heard him mumble back at her.
“
You’re
acting strange.”
* * *
As Sierra approached, her stride brisk and purposeful, Elora knew what it was she was coming to talk about. Or more so,
who
she was coming to talk about. The woman had been circling the village and the surrounding area, searching for Jarred for the better part of the day. She was definitely determined, but had obviously had no luck in the endeavor.
Jarred had left before the others had awakened. Unable to sleep, Elora had been lying awake when she heard him leave their dwelling. She had thought about getting up to talk with him, but remained in her nook instead. He was avoiding everyone for a reason and she thought it better not to press him on it. He would talk to them about it when he was ready. Telling herself that made her no less curious though. She also wanted to know what Orna had talked to him about, especially considering how it had affected him. He had kept his distance from everyone for most of the previous day and now he had up and disappeared, where he had gone, she didn’t know. What she
was
sure of was that it had something to do with what Orna had told him. She would just have to wait until he returned to find out what that something was.