Activity

@backwardslivewriter

Ooh! Can’t wait to see how Liorah will respond to that! (There’s no magic in my world, so that could get interesting)

@joelle-stone

Thank you so much! As for not doing anything stupid, I can’t promise anything there.😂

@wingiby-iggiby

Thank you so much for answering my questions! It really helps a lot!

 And btw, I love the Liorah’s head-jewelry!

Thank you! I needed some method of identification in my world for plot reasons.

Okay, here we go!

Liorah

Entering the cave had not been my best idea. I brushed a hand along the stone wall. Sadly, it hadn’t been my worst either.

I’d been out riding with my mare, Maewyn when I spotted the opening. I had some hours left before I had to get back to the camp, so I’d decided to explore it. The cave had gotten deeper and deeper, and colder and colder.

I bit my lip. A tingle of uneasiness crept up my back. Perhaps it was better to turn back now.

I turned on my heel and walked a few paces back, but to my surprise, I could no longer see the spot of light where the entrance had been.

I placed one hand on the rock beside me and stretched out the other to feel the width of the tunnel. It was now so dark that I couldn’t see anything. Before I’d reached far, my fingers scraped across the other side. I let out a long, shuddering breath. Okay, this was less than ideal.

I whistled through my teeth, letting the high note echo and reverberate across the chipped stone. I strained my ears for Maewyn’s whinny but heard nothing. I frowned. That mare. Couldn’t she listen just this once?

My breath became slightly more shallow as I assessed the situation. It was dark, it was cold, the passage was narrow, and the entrance had disappeared.

A slight smile tugged at my lips. I was glad Gavril wasn’t here in my place. He despised any sort of cramped and dark space.

I took my only option and turned around again, so I was facing in my previous direction.

I reached one hand ahead of me, so I could feel when I bumped into a wall. This happened more often than I cared to admit. I kept my right hand firmly on the other wall, so I didn’t stray too far away.

The passage twisted like a long trailing ribbon. I lost all sense of time and direction. Whenever I came to a crossroad, I turned right, in an attempt to get back to Maewyn. I might have been in the passage for ten minutes or two hours.

My scabbard screeched against the opposite wall. The sound made the hair in the back of my neck stand on end. In an attempt to keep myself from going insane with boredom, I started talking to myself.

“I’d better not tell this to Gavril. He’ll never let me hear the end of it.”

“Why is it this cold? It’s hot-season! It’s not supposed to be this cold. Stupid, miserable weather and stupid cave.”

“I nominate Wen!” A voice broke through my mindless soliloquy. I frowned, indignant at being interrupted, even though the owner of the voice didn’t even know I was here. I couldn’t place the accent. It didn’t even sound like the common language, though it was close enough to be intelligible. A glimpse of light came from the same direction as the voice. Breaking my pattern of turning right, I turned toward it.

As I neared the light, an opening became clearer. It led out into a cave, where several people were gathered. Some stood off by themselves, others huddled together in a group.

A bolt of apprehension shot through me, and I yanked my scimitar out of its scabbard. The soft zing of the steel exiting the scabbard was a comforting sound.

I kept my sword low, curved tip pointed downward. Not aggressive, but formidable and anything but inviting.

There were a lot of people inside the cave, and I doubted I could fight them all, but I could certainly try. Besides, not all of them seemed like dangerous opponents. One was a slight girl with a huge dog. I eyed it. Those teeth were much too sharp for my liking.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” I snapped,

_______

Okay! I hope that was alright! (And I got to use the word soliloquy! I love that word😊)

I tried to solve the language barrier as best I could😉

Just a quick mention, if Riure needs to identify Liorah by her voice, she has a strong accent. I can’t connect it to any real-life accent, but it’s a bit clipped-sounding. (Hope this helps!)