before we were completely over run by the cursed beasts Lupino called again.
“In ‘ere, cap’n, ‘urry!” The stray yelled to us and what was left of our crew rushed to his voice, I had not noticed it before but there was a large hole in the face of the mountain’s stone surrounded by large boulders and rocks.
“Inside, go.” Lupino himself fought the lumbering bodies off with great zeal and with haste we gathered into the cave opening, Rike was the last of us to step into the entrance and as he made his way Lupino grabbed his arm.
“Follow the light within the ceilin’ o’ the place, cap’n. Ignore all that which you ‘ear, for this place aint what it seems. Be sure to follow the light.”
“‘ow do you know this, lad?” The captain hurriedly replied stepping into the cave with the rest of us though Lupino did not respond. Suddenly, and most unbelievably the stranger grasped a humongous circular shaped rock and with no visible struggle dragged it across the face of the cave opening to enclose us within. We each stared with disbelief at the feat though as the gap between the stone became narrow Achilles dashed between it and made his way out between the lumbering bodies and beyond into the jungle.
“Achilles!” Rike called out, trying to follow his dog but the stray captain blocked his way.
“It be too late, cap’n, good luck.” We each heard Lupino speak to the captain between the incredibly narrow gap, though only Rike saw him, as he uttered those two last words our captain leapt backwards from the opening, and looking bewildered fell upon his back. He hastily forced himself backwards with his hands and feet until he collided with the cave wall behind him without a moment passing that he did not gaze fearfully at where the small opening in the cave entrance had been.
Suddenly from beyond the stony boulder that now completely concealed the cave entrance a number of horrifying sounds resonated out in the air within the cave and beyond. ‘Twas the exact sounds I had heard coming from Davey’s room many moons past though this time with a much greater ferocity, the entire crew gathered at the back wall of the cave with the captain and we all huddled together staring with terror.
“I wish Davey were ‘ere now.” A deckhand whimpered.
“Indeed, it would be most settling.” Sollertis quietly replied.
For much time no man dared say a word. We listened to the deep horrific growls and snarling that echoed in the air, one of the deckhands had been reduced to tears at the event, I myself shook uncontrollably for whatever was occurring at that very moment was truly terrifying.
“What did you see, cap’n?” I whispered to Rike. He was still breathing erratically and would not allow any man to rest their hands on him. He closed his eyes and for some time leaned against the wall of the cave, we each glanced between him and the cave entrance not knowing what to do or say. I recall being stricken by fear at the mere sight of Rike acting in such a way, very little tested his nerves, yet at this moment in time he seemed as though he had glimpsed his own death. ‘Twas not for some time after the ferocious sounds outside the cave had died down that any of the crew dared to move, in silence I crept towards the boulder that kept us safe, and listening as best I could for any sounds still stirring outside the cave, I held my ear to the stone. After a moment I looked over at Sollertis and shook my head, the boatswain turned to look at Rike who still appeared frozen in horror.
“What did Lupino say, Rike?” Sollertis this time tried to get a response from the stricken man.
“Achilles,” he whispered at last, “‘e ran off into the trees.” Rike sat slouched and with a sorry look stared at the ground, ‘twas as if at the loss of his dog he had lost a part of himself.
“I know, Rike, I am sorry. The light fades rapidly however, we cannot afford to rest here if we are to make it back to Roselyn before we are lost in the darkness of this island. What did Lupino say to you?” The captain drifted his gaze up to look at Sollertis however their eyes did not meet; the captain seemed to stare into oblivion, beyond us all.
“‘e said to follow the light in the gaps o’ the cave ceilin’. That be all, Sollertis. That be all.” Sollertis moved close to the captain and kneeling by his side he rested his hand upon his shoulder, this time Rike did not resist.
“Come, I wish to get away from his place as much as any man here, but you are our captain, we cannot go where you do not lead. Stand up, Rike, get us away from this place.” He hooked his arms around the body of his old friend and with a struggle lifted him to his feet. The captain stood with a dreary look in his eye, whatever had scared him had truly caused him some trouble, he had seen what we had all heard, and I dare not to think upon what it might have been.
“Can you walk, Rike?” Sollertis went on.
“Aye, Sollertis, I’ll be fine. We’ll make our way through the caves, ‘e said follow the light and that’s what we’ll be doin’, ‘e knew more than ‘e were lettin’ on, no surprise, let us just ‘ope the light shall lead us to an exit.” With a nod, and seemingly much calmer than he had been in the passing moments the captain signalled we begin our descent into the darkening cave in hopes that whatever Lupino’s last words were would save us from this dreaded place.
10.
For the first time within the cave I looked about our surroundings. ‘Twas a dank place and now the excitement of the moment had passed I noticed how chillingly cold it was within, however the air was almost a pleasure to breathe in so fresh it was. The sun light that seeped through the gaps that lined the ceiling of the cave was fading rapidly and with a troubled mind I began to fear we would never make it away from the place.
“Come.” Rike called out to his crew as he made his way amongst us, “we must make haste.”
Whether the captain chose to ignore what we had just experienced or had truly overcome the sudden burst of horror he had been stricken with, he stepped once more to the front of his crew and began to lead us into the darkening cave. There was only one route as we first made our way amongst its rigid walls. The light guided us as Lupino had promised it would, though for not near as long as we had hoped it would, so too did it reveal something within the cave that the crew could have done without seeing. The floor of the cave was parted by a slim stream of water that I suspected ran from its source to the cave’s exit. ‘Twas upon the verges of the water however that we came across, from time to time, the bones of what was either animals or humans, for there were no skulls left on the cave floor for us to distinguish what we were looking at.
Already troubled by the sight of the bones that lined the cave’s floor, the crew would become increasingly agitated for ‘twas not long into our descent that the light of the sun faded so greatly that our vision of anything within the cave would have been lost.
“What’ll we do?” Austin whispered, however Sollertis was already moving amongst us towards Rike.
“Rike, have you any gunpowder?”
“Aye, Sollertis.” The captain withdrew his pistol and handed it to the boatswain who took apart the weapon with surprising speed and skill. Without stopping to think for a moment Sollertis removed his waistcoat and grasping one of the bones from the ground of the cave wrapped his clothing at one of its ends. Laying the bone down he delicately sprinkled a small amount of the powder upon the material and then, grasping two stones he smashed them together. Upon contact a flurry of sparks flickered from the stones and those that touched the powder lined linen flared brightly causing the waistcoat to burst into flame.
“All of you that have spare clothing wrap whatever you can find as I have just demonstrated. We will make our own...” The boatswain suddenly lost interest in speaking to the crew. He glared at the black walls of the cave. They were lined with white etchings from top to bottom, and seemingly for as far as the cave wall stretched, invisible to us in the feeble light that the sun had offered.
“What they mean, bos’n?” A deckhand gawped. We each stood gazing at the unreadable symbols.
“How in Davey’s Locker should I know? It is most certai
nly a scripture of some kind though it is not worth pondering upon, it will get us nowhere.” Sollertis stepped forward and handed Rike the light he had just crafted, nodding at one another the captain turned back about to lead his crew into the darkness of the eerie cave.
‘Twas for some time we walked, the cave’s single way was becoming increasingly narrow, and the strange writings on its walls had not broken for the entire distance we had travelled. No man spoke, however I am sure that every man amongst my company had bizarre thoughts in his mind concerning the bones, and etchings on the walls. There was a great tension in the air and each of us moved with a careful step, on edge for our unfamiliar surroundings.
Most abruptly the crew came to a halt, as I made my way to the front of the men I realised Rike had stopped us for the cave split into three routes.
“Bastard.” The captain muttered under his breath as Sollertis joined us to look outwards into the darkness of the cave walkways.
If only we had reached this separation amongst the cave whilst the light was still there to guide us, for we were truly unprepared for the events which were to occur as we made our choices within the forsaken cave. The tunnel which lead straight ahead of us ran into an incredibly narrow tunnel, no markings lined its walls nor did it appear as