Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 165

Chapter 165: Breakable promise
“You told me never to lie to you,” Anaisa managed to bring a smile to her words. “I promise I’ll try to stay safe.”

Trace stared at her for a long moment, then shook his head as he turned away.

“If I didn’t already love you…” He mumbled.

“Then you would now.” She finished the sentence in a whisper. He looked over his shoulder and smiled, then held a finger to his lips.

He drew his sword, which made Anaisa trepidatious, and stepped carefully into the dim entrance of the cave.

They both had to duck, and neither had a torch. Just before they left the last of the sunlight behind and ventured into pitch blackness, a faint glow appeared ahead in the tunnel.

Trace paused, probably letting his eyes adjust more fully to the darkness, or trying to assess what lay ahead. There was no noise, no speaking, so it seemed unlikely that there was more than one person, if anybody, at the light source.

Perhaps this was a guide left behind for the others to come back to.

The ground in the cave wasn’t flat or smooth, and Anaisa took a moment to gain her footing. Trace held a hand out behind him, flat, palm towards her, which she understood as a signal to stay back while he continued forward.

The passageway here was narrow; she could reach out her arms and touch each wall with her fingers without stretching all the way out. There was not much place to hide other than shadow.

She moved to one side anyway, gripping the small knife in one hand. It would do little good to her as a weapon, but it was better than nothing. Crouching down into the inky blackness, she watched as Trace stepped carefully forward and around the curve of the tunnel. She held her breath and waited. His footsteps were nearly silent as he disappeared from her view.

Half a minute passed. She swallowed and tentatively stepped forward before she heard a thump. Holding back a gasp, she froze.

The rustle of fabric.

Anaisa snuck around the corner, peeking out to see Trace tying up a man who must have been snoozing lightly, and was now completely unconscious.

Three down. There were three more, at least according to the information they had.

Trace glanced over at her and frowned, and she held still. They were in a room that an adult could comfortably stand in, with passages that stretched in three directions. One, they had just come down. The other two, she could not tell where they went.

Trace finished tying and gagging the man, then took Anaisa’s hand and squeezed it lightly. The light in the room was coming from a torch hanging on the wall, and Trace looked at it for a moment before taking it.

Anaisa frowned. That would as good as announce his approach, but the only other choice was to wander about in utter blackness and risk getting lost. Turning back, she made a note of which passage led to the outside–a thick stalagmite marked its position.

It was damp in here. And chilly. She turned back towards Trace as he released her hand, following him a distance behind as he continued down the righthand passage.

How far would he go? If only there were a map… He brought the torch closer to the wall and Anaisa noticed markings for the first time. Symbols, not quite like arrows, but clearly made by human hands. He studied them for a moment and continued down.

The passage opened up to a wider space. Anaisa felt her mild claustrophobia fade, but instead felt exposed somehow.

There was nothing here. At the far end of the visible hall, there was another turn… and out of it came some light.

Trace strode forward quickly and quietly. Anaisa lingered.

Voices. There were voices.

“Those fools. I don’t care if they never come back,” One was grumbling.

“I care, as long as they come back with fresh mutton.”

“As if Ash would share.”

“We’d make him. No way he can eat a whole ram by himself.”

“That animal’s mean. Bet his meat’s tough anyway.”

“Shut up, Martin.”

“Tell me to shut up again.” A rumble in the cave made Anaisa quiver, and Trace paused.

“Fine. Whatever. Showoff.”

“Jealous. Once you earn the Boss’s trust, maybe he’ll let you get powers, too.”

“I could go down and try now.”

“And I’d have to stop you,” Martin warned. “Maybe I’ll close it all off right now just in case.”

“You’re mighty big for your britches. Maybe when it’s my turn I’ll get the power to squish you like a bug, then you’ll give me a bit of respect.”

“Doubtful, but maybe. We’ll see.”

Anaisa shot Trace a worried glance, but he was shifting into a crouched position at the turn of the hallway. He’d laid the torch down on the stone floor and gripped his sword with both hands.

“Isn’t it time to check on the prisoners?” The third voice seemed to try to play peacemaker between Martin and the other.

“Sure, fine, whatever you want. You just want me to open all the places and let them all out?” Martin challenged.

“Well, you did leave that woman’s room open earlier when she had breakfast–”

“And she didn’t escape. She’s still there,” Martin cut him off with something between anger and embarrassment in his tone.

“I’m saying, if you open ’em up real fast, we’ll be able to see them all from sitting here, and then you can close ’em right back so none of us have to get up and look at people,” The lazy argumentative one took the conversation back over.

“That’s a stupid idea.” A thwack punctuated Martin’s rebuke.

“Fine. I’ll get up and go look at the stupid people to make sure they haven’t died or suffocated since last time you closed the walls up on ’em.” The malcontent responded. There was a scraping of footsteps across the floor, and Anaisa watched as Trace tensed.

When the sound of stone moving echoed again, he raised his sword and leapt beyond her sight.