Chapter 14 – Towards Exit

Not another word was spoken between them, not for a while. Aadi gently brushed the blood and gore off Ember and using the hem of his woollens, cleaned and polished the stone. In the erratic darkness and light of the cave, Ember shone brightly with alternating blue and purple hues. The stone’s light illuminated his face and Aadi took comfort in the perceived warmth of its glow. A moment later, that comfort diminished as his eyes fell on the corpse of Aaron Flint, the Unflinching. The headless body lay near his feet. The blood puddle that emerged from its neck expanded ever outwards. Along its route, it flowed into small cracks and holes in the cave’s floor. Staring at the blood, he felt uneasy. On top of that, he wasn’t certain what to do next.

The fight between him and the Unflinching had gone on for a long time, seemingly. Inside the cave, Aadi couldn’t gauge the time that had passed since he had entered it. To him, it might as well have been days. He didn’t know how long he had been unconscious earlier, either. The fight had taken all his focus and attention. Apart from the time he had shared Ember’s memories, all Aadi remembered was Aaron Flint and the hard fight he had fought against him. Now, in the sudden silence that pervaded the cave following Flint’s demise, Aadi felt a sense of emptiness. His mind was devoid of thought and his eyes were locked on the bloody remains on the floor. He felt it strange to think nothing at that moment.

“Are you alright?” asked Ember, breaking the silence. Aadi simply said, “Yes.” In his mind, he felt that the magic stone took a deep breath. “So,” said Ember, “What’s next?” He glanced at Ember sitting silently in the palm of his hand and took a moment to reply, “I am not sure.” Aadi thought Ember smiled; the stone said, “You won.” He replied, “Yes. We won.” “So,” said Ember, “What’s next?” Upon hearing the question again, he shook himself and took a fresh look at his surroundings. He couldn’t remain standing there all day, after all. Suddenly, Aadi remembered why he had embarked on this adventure in the first place. “Appa. Shan,” he said and turned towards the direction in which his loved ones lay. Tears brimmed in his eyes as he recalled finding them dead. Was that only a few hours ago, or had it been more than a day?

“I need to get appa and Shan home,” said Aadi and looked at Ember, “How do we leave?” The stone replied, “I don’t know.” Aadi asked, “What?” “I don’t know,” repeated Ember. “I found you here,” said Aadi, his voice rising in alarm. “Yes,” replied Ember and added, “I don’t know the way out.” He stared at the magic stone and if his eyes could have popped out of his head, they’d have been bouncing and rolling on the ground by now! “How did you get here?” he asked Ember incredulously. The stone replied nonchalantly, “I was here.” “That’s not what I asked,” protested Aadi and Ember replied, “I know. I suppose I must have arrived here a long time ago.” “Do you not remember when or how?” asked Aadi and he felt Ember shake its figurative head.

He let out a sigh in dejection. How was he supposed to carry the bodies of his father and best friend out of this cave, when he didn’t know where the exit lay? A sense of helplessness loomed in his mind as his eyes flitted about the cave. He didn’t see any source of wood or other flexible material. That meant he couldn’t fashion a stretcher or a sled to help him transport his dear dead. What was he supposed to do? Aadi’s mind was entirely blank. He shook himself repeatedly and tried to gather his wits, but inspiration failed to make an appearance.

“There’s no use standing here,” said Aadi finally and walked towards his father and best friend. He thought he might as well occupy himself preparing their bodies for transport. Perhaps an idea or two would occur to him in the process. His father and best friend lay on the ground, where the Unflinching had tossed them earlier. The battle between Aadi and Flint had concluded with the dead being the least concerned about it. They hadn’t fought anywhere near the bodies of what Aadi thought to be the missing hunters, Pati and Quince, or those of Viraat and Shan. The dead had been left undisturbed. Having been in a hectic battle only a short while ago, the dreary serenity of this makeshift graveyard made Aadi feel odd.

“It’s strange, isn’t it?” he remarked to no one in particular. He heard Ember mumble in reply, “Seems like the calm after the storm.” “Let’s get to work,” said Aadi. He examined the dead carefully and removed the weapons on their person. When he found any tools, knives, or waterskins buckled to their belts, he set them aside too. Gently and reverently, he doffed their shoes and kept them next to the rest of their equipment, neatly. Lightening the load would make it easier for him to move the bodies. However, he realised that he hadn’t taken the missing hunters into account in his plans. Was he supposed to just leave them in the cave? Surely, they had families waiting for them, too. Aadi gazed at the four bodies in front of him and felt a bit of despair and quite some frustration. Inspiration hadn’t struck yet.

“We should search for the exit,” said Ember, causing him to turn his attention to the stone. “Any ideas?” asked Aadi and in his mind, he felt the stone shrug. “You could retrace your steps,” said Ember. It was Aadi’s turn to shrug. He rose to his feet and turned around. Trying his best to remember the direction from which he had entered this cave, he attempted to retrace his steps. The alternating lit and dark areas of the cave didn’t make it easy. He wasn’t sure he was even headed in the right direction, but trying something was better than sitting on his hands. He avoided the boulders and rocks along his path and skirted around any rock pillars that stood in his way.

Gradually, Aadi began moving towards the right-hand side of the cave. As he neared the cave’s wall, he casually stuck his right hand out and placed his palm on it. It was wet! Aadi stopped instantly, his eyes snapping to his right palm and the wall. He didn’t remember there being any water or other wet surfaces here. Without the benefit of the light streaming in from the cave’s open ceiling, he couldn’t identify the liquid. He withdrew his hand from the wall and made his way to the nearest lit area. In the light, he examined his palm. There was a deep red liquid coating it. Startled, Aadi almost flinched. It was blood! Where had it come from? Why was it on a wall of the cave? Whose blood was it?

He stared at the wall he had just touched, but the shadows in the cave prevented him from discerning details. At this moment, they were all-important details. Aadi reached for the hand-lantern in his knapsack. Luckily, he had retrieved his bag after his fight with Flint and it didn’t take him long to fish the lantern out. He lit it and held it up towards the cave’s wall. It took everything he had not to recoil in horror. A veritable stream of blood was spreading across the wall! Dark tendrils of the red fluid spread across the basalt, branching out into smaller veins repeatedly. As they ran across the wall, those veins burst and coated it in horrifying red.

As Aadi beheld the shocking sight before his eyes, his limbs were frozen. The lantern hung in mid-air, held stiffly with his right hand. He didn’t blink. He didn’t even sway. It was Ember who broke the silence once more. “Look up,” said the magic stone. With difficulty, Aadi tilted his face upwards and looked at the open ceiling. Bright rays of sunlight had been streaming in therefrom. Until now. As he watched, the shafts of bright light began to dim. Gradually but surely, they were losing their intensity. A sheen of red was overwhelming them. Aadi traced its source back to the cave’s wall, where the blood had quickly spread to cover its entire surface, including the parts Aadi couldn’t see. Now, the dark fluid was rising towards the cave’s ceiling, forming a dome-like enclosure that was cutting off the sunlight!

“What is this?” asked Aadi, his shock evident in his voice. Instead of replying, Ember said, “Hold me up and focus.” When Aadi didn’t respond, Ember repeated itself firmly, “Hold me up and focus!” That brought Aadi to his senses. Without saying another word, he placed the hand-lantern on the ground. Holding Ember tightly with his right fist, he raised his arm straight up and focused on the magic stone. Ember’s blue and purple hues blinked for a fraction of a second and then, light, with an intensity fit to shatter darkness, burst forth from it!