Isiah was going to vomit. He bent over, hands planted on his knees and retched, but nothing came up. Nerin was next to him in an instant, awkwardly running a hand up and down his back. He couldn't see his friend. Whatever cave they had run into was pitch black. It made him nervous; who knew what hid in the dark. Something worse than Jonin's blade could be waiting for them.

Through the stone walls, Jonin roared, his words indistinguishable. They wouldn't have the equipment to get through the stone. If nothing was waiting for them in the cave, they would be safe. All they would have to worry about then was how they would get out. There was no light to see by, which meant no nearby exit.

He jumped when another, bigger hand grabbed his arm. "It's just me," Rina said. "Are you alright?"

He shook his head before he realised she couldn't see him. "No," he whispered. The Father was dead, killed in the most violent way possible. He'd done nothing to deserve it, but Sir Jonin hadn't cared. The knight had skewered him as though he were a piece of meat. It hadn't even mattered to him.

Isiah had barely known the man, but he was a high member of his faith, a pacifist faith. He didn't deserve to be torn down like he was nothing. There would be no one to look after the Sanctum anymore. No one would ever know about it because there was no way he would escape to tell anyone about it. The Sanctum would be forgotten again.

Too many people had died in such a short space of time. One of them had been at his hands and now one of them was his fault. If he hadn't decided that they should go west, the Father would still be alive. Now, he was a lump on the rocks where no one would ever find him. All because he'd tried to stop Sir Jonin from hurting them.

It wasn't fair. Nothing had been fair since he left the Mother and the Sanctum. He should have waited until after the Princess left before he started his pilgrimage. It would have made everything easier. He never would have gotten caught up in her mess. He would have just been another servant when war hit Vishera. He wouldn't have thought anything of it.

Knowing the truth didn't even make it worthwhile. He wanted to stop and lie down and never move again so that he wouldn't have to worry about whether or not he was going to die. Every waking moment, he thought about it. He was twenty, too young to be dealing with such things, definitely too young to be running from his death.

"Can you see anything?" Nerin asked, his voice loud in Isiah's ears.

"No," Princess Sharina answered, worry lacing her voice. "But I can feel the walls. There's some kind of path heading further in."

Isiah made a noise in the back of his throat as he straightened. "Further into what?" he asked. He hadn't even wanted to go in when he saw the cliff face opening, but Rina had pushed him in and there'd been nowhere else to go unless he wanted to face Jonin's sword.

"It seems like a cave to me," Rina said. "Maybe there's an exit further in." Or maybe there wasn't and they'd just walked to their deaths. There was only one way to find out.

He took a step forward and reached out an arm to touch the rough walls. "Then I suppose... We had best have a look around."

The faint sounds of their attackers' yelling followed them as they took the first tentative steps forward. There was no adjusting to the dark. Everything was pitch black, no matter how long they were there. After only a few steps, Isiah tripped on the uneven ground and stumbled into the wall. He hissed at the pain in his palm and the feeling of liquid slowly running down his hand.

He kept his other hand on Nerin's shoulder to make sure the boy was still there. Rina had hold of the back of his coat and occasionally tugged on it when they were moving too fast for her. Isiah didn't know what would happen if he lost that contact with them. He'd be lost almost instantly in the darkness.

He prayed to any God that would listen that Jonin didn't find a way to break through the stone. It didn't look like it was going to open again any time soon, but if it did, they needed to be as far away from the door as possible. Sir Jonin wasn't going to leave until he found a way to get to them, that much was certain.

The knight had followed them down the valley. Isiah's idea, while it had been a good one, hadn't accommodated for the dogs. He should have realised the second he saw them that heading for the mountains would be a bad idea, but he'd been so sure that they would be safe. It had been childish of him, naive, and it had gotten someone killed.

The Gods wouldn't take him into their arms when he inevitably perished. He would be forced to return to the realm in another body to repent for what he had done. It would be a long time before they embraced him as one of their own and let him pass on completely. A peaceful non-existence where he wouldn't have to worry about a thing.

The cave tunnel turned sharply and Isiah followed its passage with his stinging hand. He longed for even a little bit of light to see by instead of blindly clambering about the place. Nerin knocked into him with a grunt but said nothing. His nervous breath were the only sounds Isiah could hear next to their echoing footsteps.

"What's that?" Rina asked behind him. "In front of us."

It took Isiah a moment to see it, but far in front of them was a small patch of light. He hurried his steps and immediately tripped on a rock. If the exit was so close, he didn't trust that Jonin's group hadn't already found it, but it was worth checking out anyway.

But it wasn't an exit. "Gross," Nerin said. "What is that?"

"Looks like moss," Isiah answered, his throat sore from his earlier retching. It was only a small patch attached to the rock, but it looked nothing like normal moss. It glowed a faint green-white, barely enough to see by, but better than what they had been dealing with.

Nerin let out a quiet groan. "It's warm in here," he said. For the first time since they'd entered the cave, Isiah could see him, but barely. Most of his small face was shrouded in shadow, but the outline of his features was visible, as well as the worried creases in his forehead.

"Better than the cold," Rina replied and pulled down her hood. The white of her hair caught the faint light, almost making it seem like it was glowing too. It didn't feel any different to Isiah, but it definitely didn't feel cold. "Maybe there's something in here that makes heat. I don't know."

"I just want to get out of here," Isiah muttered and squinted down the tunnel. In the distance was another patch of moss, but it wasn't enough to see by. They would still be feeling around for a long time. He placed a hand on Nerin's shoulder again and walked.

The cave was completely silent bar the noises they made. There were no animals, no sounds of water or air flowing around them. It was as if the save was frozen in time. Nerves bundled in his stomach and once again he felt like he was going to vomit. He didn't know much about caves, in fact, he didn't know anything about them, which only made him more nervous.

It could be that their only way out was the way they came, if the door would even open again. There was no doubt that Jonin and his group were still there, waiting for them to show up again. They had better luck stumbling through the cave. He'd heard no animals so far, so maybe there wasn't anything in there with them like he had first assumed.

Whenever they reached the patches of moss, they'd stop for a break. The dark would send them insane if they didn't stop every now and again. Isiah already felt like he was losing himself, especially after everything he had seen on his short journey. If he ever made it back to the Sanctum he'd grown up in and if they accepted him back in, he would have a stunning story to tell.

Next to him, Nerin's breathing grew laboured, as if he was in pain. Isiah stopped and turned towards him, grunting when Rina walked into him. "What's wrong, Nerin?" he asked, worry lacing his voice and a lip between his teeth. "You weren't hurt, were you?"

"No, no, it's just really warm in here," he said in a tired voice. Isiah frowned. It didn't feel any different to him, warm, but not uncomfortably so.

Rina hummed behind them. "Pass me your coat. I'll get one of the water canteens," she ordered. It was hard to do in the dark, feeling around to make sure nothing was dropped and lost. For a long while, Nerin's loud gulps filled the tunnel and Isiah almost laughed. "Is that any better?"

"Yeah, thanks, Rina." Another round of awkward shuffling to get the canteen back into a bag and the trio was off again. Isiah had no idea how long they walked for. It could have been hours or only mere minutes, but it felt like forever. The only sign that they were actually going anywhere was the spots of moss, which were growing closer and closer together.

Even though Isiah anticipated it, there was no rumble to signify the opening of the cliff face again. For now, Jonin was not a threat. That could change in an instant and he had to be ready for it. Ready to run, not to fight, that was Rina's job, not his. He wouldn't kill again if he could help it. It hurt too much.

The second Rina was over the border and in Minisia, he would run. Nerin would be able to find his own way back to Ishmar, especially if the army was getting ready for war. He would go back to the Sanctum and if the Mother wouldn't take him back in, he would find out what was beyond the mountains or the Neverending Sea. He would run far, far away from Vishera and its problems.

All he'd wanted was to go on his pilgrimage and see the world. He was still going to do that, but it had to wait until he got Rina home. He was angry at her and himself and everyone for getting him caught up in everything, but he wasn't going to abandon her when she needed him.

As soon as he got the chance, he would be gone. No one would have any idea where he was. That was if they ever got out of the cave. The longer they were there, the more sure Isiah was that they would never leave. They were slowing down, their legs weak and tired.

Every time he looked to Nerin when they stopped by a patch of glowing moss, the boy looked worse and worse. A thin sheen of sweat covered his face and he panted with the effort of walking. There was something seriously wrong with him but Isiah could figure out what it was.

"We need to stop again," he said when they reached another patch of moss. He immediately pressed his hand to Nerin's forehead, which was warm and covered in sweat. "Maybe you have a fever."

Nerin shook his head furiously. "It's not a fever! It's boiling in here, can't you feel it?" he replied, his breathing laboured.

Isiah looked back at Rina. "Can you feel it?" he asked. There wasn't anything to him. It wasn't hot or cold, just normal. He didn't understand what Nerin was feeling.

"It's a little warm to me, it's uncomfortable, but nothing like what Nerin's describing," Rina replied and ran a hand through her hair. It was starting to frizz up and spread around her face, making it obvious that there was some kind of heat in the tunnel that he wasn't feeling.

"I-" He frowned, teeth chewing on his bottom lip again. "Get him more water."

Nerin took a long sip of the canteen. "I don't think I can walk anymore," he gasped. "I'm so tired and it's so hot."

Isiah hissed in a breath. "It can't be that much further," he muttered. They couldn't stop now, not when they'd come so far. There was an exit somewhere. There had to be.

"We don't even know where we're going!" Nerin yelled and gestured at the dry stone walls around them. "Please, just let me rest."

Rina placed a hand on his shoulder. "Isiah, I'll look after him. You go ahead and see what you can find," she told him. "Take some of the moss, make a trail. Come back when you find something, alright?"

"Are you sure?" he asked, warily looking between the two of them.

"Yes, now go. He'll be fine. I might move him back where it's cooler." She gave a small push towards the wall. With his sore hand, he grabbed a tuft moss and pulled it off the wall. It wouldn't last him long, but it would have to do. Once he found an exit, he could come back and get the other two. They'd probably have to carry Nerin, but it didn't matter, as long as they got out.

He dropped small sprinkles of the moss on the ground as he walked. They were tiny, but it was just enough for him to see. The sound of Rina and Nerin talking followed him down the tunnel, but it wasn't long before he couldn't understand what they were saying. The tunnel twisted and turned and he struggled not to walk into the walls and hurt himself more.

Whenever he ran out of moss, he would grab another handful from the wall. He'd gone through three by the time he needed to take a break. He could have been walking for hours or only a few minutes. Time still felt frozen with no sight of the sun or sky.

The tunnel turned again and Isiah sighed at the dark stretch before him. There had to be an exit somewhere, it wasn't possible that the door in the cliff was the only way in and out. He didn't even understand how it had opened in the first place. There'd been a painting one second, and darkness the next. Nothing made sense to him, but it was far too late to go back now.

Again, the tunnel turned and this time, Isiah froze. Off in the distance was a dull orange glow, different from the glow of the moss. It didn't seem like daylight, but it could be sunset. He hurried his steps, ignoring the uneven ground and rocks. He tripped, but it didn't matter. There was something close by, an exit or something else. Either way, he needed to find out.

The tunnel opened into a tall cavern. Isiah froze in the entranceway, his mouth and eyes wide. In the centre, sitting on a rocky pedestal, was a glowing stone. It wasn't very bright, but enough to light up the whole of the small room. It was tiny, a little smaller than his fist, and as smooth as a pebble pulled from a river.

Something about it called to him. Slowly, he stepped forward. He knew he probably shouldn't go near it, not without knowing what exactly it was, but still, he moved forward. He swallowed a lump in his throat and squinted at the light. There were no other passages in the cavern. It was a dead end. All he could do was move towards the glowing stone.

With a shaking hand, he reached out. His fingers grazed the top of it and he marvelled at how smooth it was, like touching a well-polished crystal. Before he could think about it clearly, he wrapped his fingers around it and pulled it from its pedestal.