You are tired after only a few hours of the journey. The area outside of the wicks, called the Braken, is a mesh of trees and ferns around the boggy land. The Pillars and fields where the wicks reside have level and easy to navigate lands, but these woods are so thick, you should have brought along some type of implement to cut your way through. You rest momentarily to catch your breath when thoughts of what happened begin to weigh you down. At once, you begin weaving through the trees again. Branches of low-lying trees and bushes brush against you, while some leave cuts from their thorns.
Before the daylight fades, you finally emerge from the trees into the full blast of the sun as it is setting. The darkness your eyes had become accustomed to leaves you paralyzed for a moment. When your eyes readjust, you perceive that you are on a flat, dry surface, the horizon showing your elevation. Not having realized the wicks were at this level, you gaze in wonder at the higher elevations above you in the far distance. Ahead of you, there appear to be openings in the rocks, and you walk toward them and then stop, hesitating. You realize these are the caverns that you have heard about since childhood, and you feel not only fear but loathing.
To your left but a ways, there is a sheer drop off the mountain, and to your right there is a stone pathway leading off the mountain into the distance. The pathway appears to be very ancient, and the sides show holes where poles and ropes might once have held a railing to easier passage. Now only the crumbling pathway remains. It is passable to take with slow steps, but it is narrow enough you would not be able to go quickly. As the light dims further, you look back at the forest, more menacing at twilight, not desiring to travel back into its depths.
“Truly, I now understand the saying ‘between a rock and a hard place,'” you grimly ponder. The trogs only come out at night from the stories you have heard, and the choice where to go needs to be made quickly.
PATH SELECTION
Choose your path. Do you want to journey:
LINEAR SELECTION