Richard Tuttle - Island of Darkness

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Mistake led the way up the side of the mountain. The narrow footpath they had started on was a distant memory. They had abandoned it when it appeared to skirt the base of the mountain rather than climb the side. Angry clouds still moved across the night sky allowing the full moon to only peek through at times. After a long hike through the darkness, Mistake called a halt.

“We need to get some rest,” she said softly. “We have no idea where we are going, and there is not enough light to see well.”

“You will get no argument from me,” replied MistyTrail. “Let me lead for a bit. I will look for a flat spot for us to rest on.”

Mistake nodded and MistyTrail took the lead. She found a small ledge, but it was much too narrow to sleep on safely. She changed direction and followed the ledge hoping that it would grow wider. It did indeed grow wider, but even better, she found the mouth to a small cave. She knelt on the ledge and squeezed into the narrow opening. It was totally black inside. MistyTrail ran her hand over her head and found that the small cave opened up enough for her to sit up.

“Crawl inside,” MistyTrail called softly.

Mistake crawled into the cave and felt around until she felt her partner. She sat down in the darkness.

“Small,” commented Mistake, “but it will keep us dry if it rains. I am ready to nod off. I doubt that we will need to keep watch here. Get some sleep.”

MistyTrail nodded in the darkness and then laughed inwardly at her gesture. She stretched out on the floor and fell asleep.

When the morning sun broke over the mountains, a faint sliver of light lanced into the small cave. MistyTrail opened her eyes and stretched. She gently nudged Mistake and then rummaged in her pack for some food. She took out two pieces of dried meet and handed one to Mistake as the thief rubbed her eyes and sat up.

“Are you alright?” Mistake asked the Sakovan warrior. “You don’t hate me for getting you into this mess, do you?”

“No,” MistyTrail replied. “I am fine. I was just a little tired last night. Don’t blame yourself for this mess. I would rather be with you than have you go through this alone. I am glad that we are together.”

“Do you really mean that?” brightened Mistake. “I heard you crying last night, and I thought it was because I dragged you into this by leaving the Sakova.”

“Crying?” MistyTrail frowned in confusion. “What are you talking about? I wasn’t crying. I slept through the whole night and just woke seconds ago.”

Suddenly a sharp crack was heard in the distance immediately followed by a scream. The sounds were quite distant, but both of the women had the same reaction. Mistake beat MistyTrail to the mouth of the cave. She eased herself outward slowly and cautiously until her head was sticking out of the mouth of the cave. The sky was clear and sunny, and she squinted to shut out the brightness. Her eyes scanned the valley as she tried to locate the source of the sounds. She watched for several minutes and saw nothing. She heard nothing and slid back into the cave.

“What is out there?” whispered MistyTrail after Mistake had reentered the cave.

“Nothing,” answered Mistake. “It is a bright and sunny morning.”

“You couldn’t see who was using the whip?” asked MistyTrail.

“I thought it sounded like a whip,” shrugged Mistake, “but there is nobody outside that I could see.”

“Well maybe we can’t see them from here,” frowned MistyTrail, “but I bet they will see us when we try to leave. Now we are trapped in here.”

“It was only one sound,” chided Mistake. “It sounded like a whip and a cry, but this cave probably played tricks with our hearing. Canyons can do that sometimes. I think it has to do with how sounds echo off the rock walls.”

“One sound?” retorted MistyTrail. “There were three more while you were out there. How could you miss them?”

“Three more?” frowned Mistake. “You are joking?”

“I don’t consider beating somebody with a whip a joking matter,” scowled MistyTrail. “I saw too much of that in my youth when I visited Omungan cities to think it is funny.”

Mistake sat stunned for several moments. “Those sounds did not come from outside,” she finally said as she turned around.

She crawled into the darkness of the cave, her hand before to find the wall. MistyTrail moved swiftly to avoid Mistake’s feet as the thief changed directions as she ran her hand over the back wall of the cave.

“Here it is,” Mistake whispered. “It is smaller than the entrance. We will have to leave our packs here.”

“To go where?” asked MistyTrail.

“This cave leads somewhere,” Mistake said as she stripped off her pack. “I want to see where it leads.”

“Can’t we just go to the city?” objected MistyTrail.

“No,” Mistake said adamantly as she crawled into the tiny tunnel.

MistyTrail sighed anxiously and removed her pack. She followed Mistake into the black hole. Mistake moved slowly through the dark, one hand always before her testing for walls or drop-offs. The narrow tunnel meandered for fifteen paces before it gradually opened up wider. Mistake’s ears listened for any telltale sounds, but dripping water and her own breathing were the only things she could hear.

As Mistake rounded a bend she smelled sulfur, and smoke drifted in the air. She crinkled her nose and continued onward. After another forty paces, she saw a dull flicker of light ahead and stopped. She waited until she felt MistyTrail behind her and then continued slowly. The flickering steadily grew brighter as she crawled forward. The tunnel widened quite a bit, although the ceiling remained low.

Another fifteen paces brought the pair to a ledge high in a vast chamber. The ceiling domed high above them, but what captured their interest was the floor twenty paces below them. Torches lit the room below them brightly, and people moved about in large numbers. MistyTrail crawled alongside Mistake, and they both stared down in wonder.

Tunnels ran out of the great chamber in many directions. In the center of the room was a huge horizontal wheel that was being rotated by large ape-like creatures. In the center of the wheel was a large hole in the floor of the chamber. Passing into the large hole was a loop of rope with numerous large buckets tied off at regular intervals. Above the wheel was a wooden tower with a large pulley for the rope and a wooden walkway that passed over the wheel to a flight of steps.

People wearing gray tunics and gray knit hats walked over the walkway and waited for a bucket going down. When the bucket came, the person stepped into it and held the rope. They disappeared through the hole in the floor as the rope descended. Mistake did not see any people coming up in buckets on the other side of the rope loop, but there were people constantly moving between tunnels.

A commotion came from one of the tunnels. The crack of the whip was loud, as was the cry that followed it. A small man ran from the tunnel and climbed the steps to the walkway. A large giant of a man followed and cracked the whip at the small man to make him move faster. The small man ran across the walkway and swiftly stepped into the first bucket available to him. He disappeared through the hole in the floor. The large man with the whip disappeared into one of the tunnels. Mistake tapped MistyTrail and moved back from the edge of the ledge.

“What do you make of this?” whispered Mistake. “What have we stumbled across?”

“I am not sure,” replied MistyTrail, “but I do not like the looks of it. I wish we had not come here.”

“At least we can leave,” declared Mistake. “I do not think those going down the rope have a choice. Come on, we will leave now.”