Enter the Frey

Chapter 12

Selena stood at the mouth of the cave, listening to the howls echoing from its depths. She shifted her feet, asking them to take the first step inside, but they did not want to move. 

“Get moving, Selena,” Ziel barked, and her feet moved of his accord, spraying gravel as they sped forward towards certain doom. She felt her heart race as they moved further down the sloped path, feeling the cold emptiness of the subterranean squalor. 

The combination of the enclosed, tight space, and the crushing reality of the tonnes of rock sat directly above her head was enough to throw Selena into a spiral of panic. Her breathing became erratic, and even as she assured herself it was due to anxiety and not a lack of oxygen, she couldn’t switch it off.

“Oh, no,” she muttered, becoming dizzy. She had to steady herself against the cold, slime-covered wall.

“What is wrong with you?” Ziel asked. He sounded annoyed. Agitated.

“I—I just… I don’t like this at all,” Selena tried to explain her trepidation. There wasn’t any way to put her feelings into words. Nothing she could think to say would convey the depths of her overwhelming sense of dread. 

The thick, inky blackness made it impossible to see, but somehow Selena felt Ziel rolling his eyes.

She reached her hand in the direction of his voice and found his. 

Pulling at his hand she asked, “Please can I wait here?”

“What?” Ziel cried, as though the idea were preposterous.

“Please,” Selena asked again. “I don’t think I can do this. I can’t breathe. It feels like I’m dying.”

“Are you poorly?” Jack asked, voice full of concern.

“N—no… I’m… I’m just struggling with this… place,” Selena tried to explain.

“Don’t be silly. It’s just a cave,” Ziel said, dismissing her panic-stricken pleas.

Looking back over her shoulder, Selena could just barely see the light from the entrance—a tiny spot of hazy comfort that would die out in a few steps. Once again, she had trouble convincing her shaky legs to move.

“Please, just… let me wait here. Ziel, I’ve done everything you wanted without question. I’ll happily serve you until I die. I’ll never complain again, I swear, just please, please, allow me to stay here. I beg you,” Selena pleaded.

She heard Ziel let out a long-drawn sigh.

“Please, Ziel, I don’t think I can do this.”

“Jack, what do you think?” Ziel asked. “Can we do this challenge without her?”

‘Please, please, please say yes,’ Selena prayed silently. ‘Please say yes, Jack.’

“Well, erm, the clue scroll said the team must venture into the cave and find the treasure within,” Jack said. “So… I think it means the entire team. I’m sorry Selena.”

“Come on, and don’t open your mouth again until we get to the bottom,” Ziel commanded.

Selena felt her jaw meld shut. Breathing rapidly wasn’t easy through nostrils alone, and she quickly became lightheaded. 

A warm hand slipped into hers and squeezed ever so slightly. 

“You’ll be fine,” Adam whispered. “Just hold on to me.”

She leaned into him and grabbed desperately at his waist, holding on to him for dear life as her feet moved her further away from the light. They had to be close to the bottom of the cave. Surely. It felt as though they had been walking for hours.

Adam radiated heat, despite the inherent coldness permeating from the walls. Cold that seeped past her skin and into her bones, filling her with an icy chill that made it difficult to breathe. Without him, the world would be devoid of warmth.

The group slowed to a stop.

“We’ve hit the end,” Ziel said. “But there isn’t anything down here.”

“How can you tell?” Aim gasped.

“I can see in the dark,” Ziel revealed. 

“It’s alright for some!” Aim complained. “So, tell us… what’s down here?”

“Well, there’s a load of nothing, some more nothing, and oh yeah… that great big pile of nothing over there,” Ziel announced with a sigh. “Why could it not just be easy for once?”

“If it was easy everyone could do it,” Jack pointed out. Selena couldn’t see Ziel, but she knew the look he was giving Jack right now.

With a huge sigh of relief and influx of air, Selena realised she was able to open her mouth.

‘Best to stay quiet,’ she warned herself, ‘Unless you want to end up with lockjaw again.’

Selena opened ad closed her mouth a couple of times, rubbing the sides of her jaw to ease the built-up tension.

“Oh, crap,” Ziel said. The sound of his voice was ominous. She almost didn’t want to hear what was coming next. “The way out is blocked.”

A small gasp of terror escaped her lips. She had to smack a hand over her mouth to stop the flow of garbled horror-laced cries from spilling out into the room.

Adam tightened his hold on her, and although she appreciated the sentiment, the feeling of being trapped become too much to bear. She ran from him, scrambling around the walls, searching for anything that might be a clue or a way out. 

“I’m gonna try and punch a hole through,” Ziel announced.

“Erm, are you sure that is a good idea?” Darian asked. “You could bring the whole place on top of us.”

With that thought, Selena couldn’t restrain her fear any longer. 

She collapsed to the floor and rocked back and forth with her palms pushed against her ears, crying over and over, “No, no, no.”

Nothing the others did or said registered with her. The only things that existed were the eternal darkness and mind-numbing terror. 

Selena had no idea how much time passed before someone placed their hands over hers and slowly peeled them back from her ears.

“Everything is fine. You are fine. Believe when I say that everything is going to be okay,” a gentle voice whispered.

“Ziel?” Selena frowned. She breathed deeply, feeling her thudding heart slowly return to its resting pace. “I feel… okay.”

Shakily, Selena stood and laughed with relief.

A tiny flicker of light appeared, as though a firefly rested on the wall. Then a couple more appeared. 

“Wow,” Aim said, spinning in the glow of the small shimmering lights. They illuminated the cavern and pointed to the exit.

“I don’t get it,” Ziel said, shaking his head. “We didn’t find anything.”

“The treasure within?” Adam asked. “It’s kindness, Ziel.”

“Well if you knew that all along why didn’t you say so?” Ziel shouted.

“Well… I didn’t know all along. I figured out when you showed kindness and the door appeared.”

“This is ridiculous,” Ziel spat. “Why does the Ight of War care about kindness? He’s a monstrous being who could wipe out an entire army with one sweep of his sword.”

“Maybe he doesn’t want his power to fall into the hands of someone who has no business wielding it,” Adam said.

“What would you know?” Ziel huffed. “You aren’t even from this world. I’ve been studying the Ight of War since I was old enough to speak.”

“Okay,” Adam conceded, throwing his hands up in defeat. When he fell silent and let himself fall to the back of the pack, Selena decided it was time to thank him.

She matched his pace and looked up at him, her eyes mapping the lines of his face as he stared out at the horizon. 

‘Perfection.’ She sighed.

“Hmm?” he looked down at her.

“Oh,” Selena blushed, wondering if she’d spoken out loud. “I just wanted to thank you… for keeping me warm earlier.”

“Oh,” Adam waved her thanks away. “It was nothing. I wish I could have done more.”

“It was enough,” Selena said, holding eye contact with him for a moment.

He smiled and looked back at the sun, leaving her to walk at his side.

“I feel bad that Ziel forced you to be here,” Adam said. “But… I’m really glad you are here.”

“M—me too,” Selena stammered. “I mean… glad you are here, too.”