Chapter 6
Gabriel woke before the sun rose and began setting himself up for the next couple of days. He wasn’t planning on going anywhere else and figured he needed to set up in such a way that he didn’t have to do anything when he finished in the cave. He hadn’t expected to find the cave so quickly but he was glad he didn’t have to trek across the mountain looking for it either.
As the mountain across from him lit up in the early morning light, Gabriel slowly walked over to the caves entrance and started to look around. The only thing that this cave appeared to have in common with the cave he had explored the day before was the fact that it was set in the same mountain.
This cave was dry and seemed to be void of life, and the further in Gabriel went, the darker it became. He had no light to guide him, he hadn’t thought to make a torch and didn’t want to go back to find the materials he needed to make one. He figured that if he ended up needing one, he could go back then.
Sighing, he walked in as far as he could and once it became too dark, he turned around and went outside. He was annoyed with himself for not going back earlier or considering the fact that the cave would most likely be dark and he would need a light, to begin with.
Cursing to himself, Gabriel began hunting around for materials he could burn but all he could find was a few twigs and some leaves. There was nothing he could make a torch out of and he didn’t want to have to build several fires inside the cave, especially since he wasn’t sure how many he would have to build. He wasn’t even sure if he had enough material to keep one alive for long.
Sighing, Gabriel sat down on the edge of a large rock and looked out at the valley beneath him. He could see the sun light spreading across the valley, lighting up areas that hadn’t seen the sun since the day before.
Cursing again, Gabriel stood up and looked at the cave entrance. It was large enough to let ample light in but the light would have to be on the other side of the mountains, pointing directly into the entrance itself.
Feeling he had no other choice, Gabriel relaxed and waited for the sun to move across the sky to the west. He hadn't relaxed for that long since they had left the beach to head south and was even enjoying the opportunity to spend some time alone.
While Gabriel loved Kaiden, he needed some time to himself. They had been together for so long now that they would probably both benefit from being apart, even if it was only for a couple of days. Although, Gabriel also knew he would be glad to see Kaiden, they were safer together. They both had their strengths and those strengths seemed to complement each other, which had added to the relative ease of their journey.
Once the sun light hit the top of the caves entrance, Gabriel grabbed some food and water and headed back inside. He knew right away that he had made the right decision to wait because the cave was brighter than it had been earlier and as the sun continued to dip in the sky, the cave also continued to brighten.
As he made his way toward the back of the first cavern, where Gabriel was presented with two choices. The cave split into two directions, one to the left and one continued straight back. After taking a moment to ponder which way to go, he drew an arrow in the soft dirt beneath his feet, pointing to the entrance, ensuring the back of the arrow came from the direction he planed on going and headed left.
The slim tunnel was darker than the area Gabriel had just come but he could still see where he was going. There were mineral deposits throughout the tunnel, making it difficult for Gabriel to move through without brushing up against them. The course surface of the deposits, scrapped against his skin, opening it up in several places.
By the time the tunnel opened up into a spacious cavern, blood was trickling down his arms and legs from where the mineral deposits had cut into his soft flesh. The cuts stung and since no one was around to judge him, he looked down at his limbs and winced.
After wiping some of the blood off, Gabriel started looking around, it was like he was standing inside a large ball. There only appeared to be one way in and one way out, and this made him nervous. He wasn't use to being in enclosed areas and if the roof collapsed, he was going to be trapped with no way out, his fate would surely be sealed.
In the middle of the cavern, there was a pool of water so clear that it looked like glass. The dim light gently reflected off the water and onto the surrounding walls, creating different patterns that danced around when Gabriel ran his fingers through the water.
Smiling, Gabriel moved his fingers around the water before he realised he had no idea where the water had come from. He then started pushing his hand deeper and deeper into the water and was surprised by how deep the small pool was. He had gone passed his elbow in water that didn’t look deep enough to cover his hand and found himself becoming quite intrigued.
Looking at the water and his hand curiously, Gabriel sighed and continued deeper into the water, until his cheek sat on the top of the water but he still couldn’t feel the bottom. As he pulled his arm out of the water, he stared into it, trying to work his way around the illusion in front of him.
Sighing, Gabriel took his boots off and started rubbing his aching feet. As he sat there, he couldn’t help but wonder what was at the bottom and why there was a pool of water in the middle of a seemingly dry cave. Was the staff at the bottom or was something more precious down there, perhaps there was nothing at all and he was just wasting his time.
With curiosity getting the best of him, Gabriel took a deep breath and dropped into the water. He didn't sink like he thought he would, instead his body floated until he started kicking his legs and stroking his arms, as if he was swimming in a river. He had to work hard to even submerge his body but once his entire body was under the surface, his strokes seemed to become easier.
After swimming deep enough to touch the white sandy bottom, Gabriel ran his fingers through the soft sand and collected some. He then released the sand as he moved it around in front of him, creating a cloud of sand. It was something that seemed to mesmerize him, as he watched the gains of sand gently float down to the bottom before settling.
As he smiled and picked up another handful, something metallic glistened in the dim light catching his eye. Curious, he brushed away the sand and waited for the sand to settle before looking down to see a jewelled pendent nestled in the sand.
Picking it up, he held it in his hand for a moment, feeling the cool metal in his fingers before the lack of oxygen started getting to him. He then pushed himself off the bottom and jetted up through the water before surfacing and wiping the water from his face.
Floating on the surface, Gabriel gasped for air in an attempt to replenish the supply he had exhausted. As he breathed, he could taste the salts and minerals in the water and wondered if that had contributed to the difficulty he had, had diving. His mind was swimming with questions as he pulled himself out of the water and sat down by his boots.
After making himself comfortable, Gabriel looked down at the pendent in his hand and wondered why it had been at the bottom of the pool. Was someone trying to hide it or was it dropped into the pool on purpose because it had brought someone a great misfortune, he couldn’t even begin to contemplate the possibilities. It was beautiful, there was no doubting that and would make any woman happy to receive such a jewel. The pendent itself was an infinity symbol covered in black and white diamonds, as if the diamonds were vines wrapped around the white gold.
In fear of loosing the pendent, he looped a piece of leather through it and secured it around his neck. Looking down at it, he laughed, it looked far too feminine for him and covered it with his shirt, not that anyone was around to see it.
Taking a final look around the cavern, Gabriel figured there was nothing else for him to explore and pulled his boot over his wet socks. He then headed back to where he had drawn the arrow and erased it with his foot before drawing another one coming out of the other tunnel.
As Gabriel made his way through the tunnel, everything became darker until all that he could see was a slit
her of light behind him and a small rounded light ahead, guiding him to another part of the cave.
Slowly the light ahead grew, while the light behind him shrunk and finally became nothing but a light glow. Eventually the light ahead grew large enough that he could see what was ahead, another cavern. However, this one was not like the other, it had three other tunnels and nothing but soft dirt on the ground.
Looking around the cavern, he could see the light was filtering in from holes in the uneven roof but the fact that it had rained the night before and the cavern was dry confused him. Shrugging and deciding it was a question he was not going to find an answer for, he decided to focus on the three tunnels but not before drawing an arrow pointing him to the tunnel he had just come from. He had no intention of getting lost and intended on meeting Kaiden at the bottom of the mountain, like he had planned.
Each tunnel appeared to vary in size but there were no clues as to which way he needed to go. There wasn't even a single clue in the cavern he was standing in, just mineral formations on the roof and floor.
Sighing, Gabriel drew a cross in front of the entrance furthest from the tunnel he had come from and tentatively walked in. He wasn't completely comfortable with being in the cave to begin with but was glad that the tunnel was short.
The cavern was smaller and darker than the others he had been in and as he looked around all he could see was a small hole at the base of the wall opposite the entrance. Not sure where the staff would be or how big it was, he went over and kneeled in front of the hole before taking a look inside.
He could barely see in, the room was too dark and the hole was too small allow much light in. All he could see was the soft dirt that covered the rest of the cavern and darkness beyond the light sat at the entrance. Letting out a deep sight, he leaned over and carefully put his hand inside before he began to feel around.
Cringing at the fact that he had no idea what was inside, he continued until he felt a smooth, hard object. Pulling the object slightly forward, he continued to feel around and when he came up with nothing else he pulled the object out.
Taking a step away from the wall, Gabriel looked down at his hand and saw a polished black stone with a symbol engraved on one side. The symbol was similar to the ones he had seen the day before around the arch but all this did was add to questions piling up in his mind.
Sighing, he dropped the stone into his pocket and headed back to the other cavern. He had no clue what the rock was for but figured that since he only had a certain number of daylight hours left, he needed to keep moving. He then drew a cross in front of the next entrance and headed in.
The next cavern was dome shaped with a large cylindric shaped stone in the middle. There were several markings on the top and two depressions opposite each other. One depression had the same symbol as the stone he had just obtained.
Pulling the stone out of his pocket, Gabriel placed it in the depression. It was a perfect fit, it was obviously supposed to be there but the moment he moved his hand away, the sound of stone sliding against stone filled the area, causing his heart to leap in his chest.
Gabriel looked straight to the exit and sighed with relief, he wasn’t trapped and he was more than grateful for that. He then inspected the other depression in the stone and knew he would have to explore the remaining cavern.
Drawing a circle around the cross in front of the entrance to the cavern he had just left, to ensure he knew where he had been and where he was going. He then entered the next cavern and looked around.
The cavern was similar to the first one he had gone into and just like the other cavern, there was a hole in the wall. As he reached into the wall, he felt around to find an almost identical stone to the other one he had found, the only difference was the symbol.
Once he pocketed the stone, he headed back into the cavern with the cylindrical stone and placed the stone in the remaining depression. He then took a deep breath and stood back.
The sound of stone sliding against stone filled the room again but this time, a large stone dropped in front of the entrance, blocking his exit. At the same time a smaller cylindric stone appeared in the centre of the larger cylindric stone.
Cursing at the top of his lungs, Gabriel raced over to the exit and started to push on the stone blocking his path. His heart raced and his mind clouded over but he didn’t look around to see what was on top of the stone behind him, instead he continued to focus on getting out.
It wasn’t until he had exhausted all his options and energy that he turned to lean his back against the stone blocking his path. He gasped and slowly walked over, his numb mind slowly clearing as he walked.
Glistening in the dim light was a staff completely made out of gold, it was long, almost as tall as Gabriel and had a clasp at the top but the clasp held nothing, making him wonder what it was for, if anything. He stared at it for a moment but as he reached out for it, the shine was taken from the staff as the room darkened and when he tried to lift it, nothing happened. His fingers just slid along the length of the staff before sliding off the top. It was as if the staff was so heavy that not even the strongest man could lift such a thing.
Groaning, Gabriel used the last of the day’s light to try and lift it but no matter what he did nothing worked. He was now in complete darkness with nothing but the food and water he had brought with him and the clothes on his back.
Feeling around the cylindric stone, he felt for the stones that had triggered the lifting of the staff and the decent of the stone blocking his way out. He tried everything he could to free them but they were stuck, giving him no other option but to make himself comfortable for the night.
Gabriel vowed that in the morning he would try and free the staff and force his way out. He also vowed to never enter another cave, despite how warm and dry it was.
After eating a small portion of his food, ensuring to save as much as possible incase he was trapped for longer than he wanted, he rested his head against the smoothest part of the wall as he could find and closed his eyes. He couldn’t help but ponder how he was going to get the staff free and figured he would try everything he could at first light.
After hours of thinking, he finally fell asleep and was rewarded with a dream of the girl in the ocean. She danced in the water like she usually did, except this time there were no waves, the water was so still, it was like glass.
It had been so long since he had seen her, that he had missed even the sight of her shadow. While he still wanted more, he knew that this was better than nothing and was happy to just watch her.
As he watched her with a broad smile on his face, he inadvertently attempted to take a step forward and was surprised when he was able to move. Sighing happily, he continued into the water, taking each step quicker than the last.
Although she was still just a shadow, once he was in reaching range, he extended his hand to touch her but just before he was about to make contact, she disappeared. A mournful moan escaped his lips before he cried out in frustration and slammed his fists into water, as he sunk to his knees.
With an aching heart, Gabriel dropped his head and stared into the water. He had never been so close to her before but somehow this seemed to hurt even more.