The fire blazing in the huge stone hearth warmed the rustic room adjoining the tavern where several locals were lounging. They eyed the newcomers through the open doors between the two rooms. A woman, probably the innkeeper’s wife, came to the front desk and Kalena greeted her with a smile. The woman hesitated and then smiled back.
My wife and I need a room for the night and stable space for two creets,” Ridge said.
The woman behind the desk nodded briskly. “We can accommodate you.” She glanced suspiciously at Kalena, who sighed and causally loosened the opening of her traveling cloak so that the innkeeper’s wife could see the lock and key around her throat. They proved her respectability.
“Very good,” the woman said, handing Ridge a key. “Perhaps your wife would like to sample the waters? There is a section of pools set aside for women. The villagers use them frequently in the evenings.” She glanced at Kalena. “It’s all quite respectable,” she assured her. “Many Healers have sent people here, and occasionally even a High Healer will come out of the mountains to take the waters.”
“I would love to try the waters,” Kalena said before Ridge could think of a reason to forbid it. “Where do I go to find them?”
“The women’s pools are located in the southern caverns, just north of the inn. It’s only a short walk. There will be others there this evening and the route is well lighted.”
“Thank you,” Kalena said before turning to smile challengingly at Ridge. “I shall go after the evening meal, while you’re in the tavern.”
Ridge arched one brow. “You will?”
“Yes,” Kalena declared, starting past him to fetch her bag. “I will.” Sometimes, she was discovering, you had to be quite firm with a husband.
Two hours later, Kalena was submerged to her neck in a rocky pool of deliciously hot water, lazily contemplating the various and assorted techniques required for managing males.
The room in which she was relaxing was a huge cavern lit by numerous firegel lamps. The cavern arched high over the many hot pools, its ceiling studded with oddly shaped mineral formations that threw strange shadows. Several uninviting dark tunnels opened up on the main pool room, but only one of these was lit.
That was the tunnel that led back to the hillside entrance of the extensive cave system.
The setting would have been unnervingly eerie if the cavern hadn’t been so populated with local women who were obviously enjoying their evening relaxation. The bubbling pools were clearly an entrenched female social institution in the community.
Three other women were sharing Kalena’s hot spring. They lounged naked on the natural seats formed by the craggy interior of the pool, eyeing Kalena with shy curiosity. Elsewhere in the huge cave other pools contained similar little groups. The women had been polite to Kalena, but only as they relaxed around her did they grow increasingly chatty.
“My name is Tana. I’ve heard you and your husband are on your way into the mountains,” the woman across from Kalena said politely. She was a plump blonde about Kalena’s age. Like all the other women in the cavern, she wore a lock and key around her throat. It was all any of them wore as they sat nude in the bubbling water.
Kalena nodded pleasantly, glad of the opportunity to socialize again with her own sex. “My husband wishes to trade with the High Healers.”
The blonde tilted her head. “But you’re not with a trading caravan.”
“No.”
“Lately, all of the caravans have been turned back by the veil of white mists,” a second woman volunteered. “No one has gotten through the pass.”
Kalena shrugged. “My husband is a very stubborn man. It will take a great deal to turn him back.”
The other women nodded their understanding of stubborn males. “Perhaps the two of you will be able to get through. Who knows? The High Healers can be very unpredictable,” said one.
“Have there been times in the past when so many trading caravans have been turned back?” Kalena asked.
“Not in the years I have lived in Hot And Cold,” Tana said thoughtfully. “My husband says something is very wrong up in the mountains. The Healers have been unpredictable and have occasionally done strange things in the past, but they have never cut off all communication for such a long period of time. Everyone knows the mountains have always been a little strange. It makes sense that the people who live in them are rather odd, also.”
“I’ve heard the waters in these pools come from the heart of the Heights,” Kalena ventured. She glanced down into the depths of the pool in which she was sitting. The water was so clear that she could see to the bottom of the hot pool, which was a little deeper than she was tall.
“So it’s said,” Tana agreed. “There’s no doubt that people find the waters refreshing. Some claim they have certain healing properties.”
Another woman said knowingly, “It’s because of the Light Key. My grandmother once told me it’s buried somewhere in the mountains.”
“Do you really believe that?” Kalena asked.
“Who knows? Anything is possible,” the woman said. “My grandmother had a touch of the healing Talent, although it wasn’t enough to enable her to take the training. She was usually right about such matters.”
Tana grinned. “Your grandmother should have been a story spinner. Her true talent was in the telling of tales.” She turned to Kalena. “I saw the tunic you wore here tonight. Is that the style they’re wearing in Crosspurposes?”
Kalena nodded. “The shorter length is very comfortable.”
Tana sighed. “My husband would probably throw me out of the house if I shortened my tunics.”
The other women laughed and turned to Kalena with more questions about the latest styles in Crosspurposes. The conversation became increasingly animated for a time. The hot pools were filled with women exchanging gossip, recipes and advice. Gradually, however, the noise level in the huge cave began to diminish as one by one the bathers dressed and made their way home for the night.
Kalena closed her eyes for a while, luxuriating in the wonderful water as she listened to the voices of her companions gradually fade into the distance. She knew the bathers were leaving the waters, knew they were toweling dry, dressing and disappearing down the lit tunnel that led outside. But somehow it seemed too much of an effort to open her eyes and climb out of the water herself.
In a little while, Kalena thought. She’d go back to the inn shortly. There was no rush. After all, Ridge would still be in the tavern, hoisting his tankard along with the rest of the local males. And never had bathing felt so good. All the aches and pains of the past eight days of riding were soaking away, leaving behind a lovely, languid, totally relaxed sensation.
It was a long time later before Kalena realized just how silent the cave had become. With an effort she finally opened her eyes and discovered she was the last bather. All the other women had left. Kalena sat up abruptly in the water, glancing around with a new sense of uncertainty. Sharing the lit caverns with a group of cheerful, friendly women was one thing; finding herself alone in the underground cavern was another matter entirely. The water seemed much less inviting now.
Kalena’s sense of relaxation evaporated. She turned to climb out of the pool, reaching for the huge towel she had brought with her from the inn. Her clothes were folded on a bench near the edge of the pool and she slipped into them quickly after she had dried herself. A sense of urgency was beginning to awaken in her.
When she had entered the huge cavern earlier, Kalena had found the array of bubbling pools an interesting natural phenomenon. Now, shrouded in silence and lamplight, the pools seemed strange and vaguely alien, the creations of a story spinner. The stream that rose from the surface of the hottest of the springs seemed to have thickened, clouding the air. The steam also seemed to be causing the firegel lamps to look dimmer, Kalena thought as she hurriedly slipped into her soft boots.
Her imagination was getting the best of her, Kalena decided irritably. Still, as soon as s
he was dressed, she scooped up her towel and started toward the passage that led out of the cavern. En route she passed two other darkened tunnels and discovered that they seemed more sinister than they had earlier. She stayed well clear of the shadowed entrances of the unused tunnels and moved swiftly toward the main one. She wished she had left when the other women had gone back to their homes.
The lamplight definitely seemed to have faded, especially the light in the main passageway. Kalena paused at the entrance and gazed warily down the wide, curving tunnel that had seemed so brightly lit when she had used it to enter the cavern. The lamps farthest away from her were almost completely dark. Kalena shivered involuntarily and thought about what it would be like to get halfway into the tunnel and find herself in total darkness. Smaller passages led off the large one, and if she couldn’t see she might accidentally turn into one of them. If she did that she would be in great danger of getting lost in the endless corridors that branched off of the main cave.
Kalena took a deep breath and started determinedly into the tunnel. But she had taken no more than a few steps when another distant row of lamps flickered and died. Instinctively, Kalena stopped. The darkness that filled the far end of the tunnel seemed unnaturally thick.
She had to go forward, Kalena told herself. She had no choice. It was obvious, however, that she would have to provide her own light. She backed out of the tunnel and went over to one of the firegel lamps that circled the inside of the pool room. Lifting it down from its hook, she held it out and started once more down the main passageway. Very few of the lamps strung along the tunnel were still alight.
Kalena was several feet into the tunnel when the lamp she was carrying began to falter. At first she thought she had only imagined the gradual dimming of the glowing firegel, but three or four steps later she knew for certain she was going to lose her light. The tunnel ahead lay in utter blackness now. There was no way she could take the risk of continuing without a lamp. Even as that thought crossed her mind, Kalena’s firegel lamp faded and winked out. The thick darkness reached out to engulf her.
Fear swept through her. She dropped the lamp, whirled, and ran back toward the lights of the pool room. But the tunnel darkness seemed to be pursuing her. The last of the lamps that had lit the exit tunnel died just as she reached the pool room.
Kalena swung around, one hand raised instinctively as if she could ward off the blackness that roiled in the tunnel. She stared in horror at the ominous darkness that was encroaching into the pool cavern. All the passageways were filled with thick shadows. It was as if a black mist was making its way through all the corridors, seeking to fill the main chamber. A lamp or two on the cavern wall faded. The shadows crept farther into the room.
Kalena grabbed another lamp off the stony wall and forced herself to start toward the tunnel. She must not become disoriented and forget which tunnel was the exit. She thought she might be able to use the lamps along the walls of the tunnel to guide herself out, even though they were now dark. Only the exit tunnel had been strung with lamps, and the lampholders had been hung at about shoulder height. If she crept through the darkness finding one lamp after another by touch, she should be reasonably protected from taking a wrong turn somewhere in the tunnel.
She would not take more than three paces unless her groping fingers could find the reassuring presence of a firegel holder, Kalena decided as she advanced once again toward the tunnel opening.
It took a tremendous amount of willpower to walk forward into the thick darkness. Already the lamp she held was fading. It wouldn’t last more than another few steps. Only the knowledge that she couldn’t stay behind to be trapped in the pool cavern as all light gradually faded kept Kalena going. Her lamp grew dimmer as she edged toward the tunnel wall and put her hand on the first of the darkened lamps. Her fingers had barely touched the metal holder when the lamp she was holding in front of her glowed briefly and died. Darkness flowed over her.
Kalena screamed. She knew now that her imagination had not been playing tricks on her. This was no natural darkness. It was a tangible thing that writhed around her, seeking to trap her in its coils. She could not go any farther into the tunnel. She was not facing mere shadow but a total absence of light. Kalena knew beyond any doubt that this was a sample of the darkness that filled the void at the farthest, darkest end of the Spectrum. There was no promise of dawn beyond these palpable depths. If she stepped into them she would be swallowed up forever.
Tendrils of the thick darkness coiled around her. She could feel an absolute cold touching her arm and she jerked back in an attempt to avoid it. The darkened lamp she had been holding fell to the rocky floor, the clanging sound jarring her senses.
The pools! She had to get back to the pools. The bubbling waters in the main cave were said to be under the influence of the Light Key. They were her only hope against this darkness.
Whirling, Kalena stumbled back toward the pool cavern. She could barely make out the light that still ringed the bubbling waters, but any light, no matter how dim, was a fierce beacon compared to the endless, swirling blackness that threatened her in the tunnel. Quickly, she groped her way toward the faint glow.
Kalena felt another tendril of fathomless cold touching her leg just as she reached the main cavern. It pulled at her as if it would stop her from reaching the relative safety of the pools. She tripped and sprawled painfully on the hard stone floor of the main cave. Terrified of being yanked back into the darkness by the writhing tendril, she rolled frantically onto her stomach, lurched to her feet and reached the edge of the nearest pool. When she looked back, she saw no sign of any curling tendril of chilled darkness, but the shadows seemed to have crept farther into the main room. Two more lamps along the walls went out.
Kalena edged closer to the water in the pool behind her. Shaking, she knelt and dipped her hand into the hot liquid. As soon as her fingers touched the water she knew she was right. These pools were her only protection from the cold darkness that was radiating toward her down the tunnels. She didn’t understand how she could be so certain, but she wasn’t about to ask questions.
She got to her feet, took yet another lamp from the wall, and threaded her way between the assortment of small and large pools until she was at the central and largest of the springs. She could only hope that the smaller pools circling it would act as a barrier against the darkness that approached. Her last resort would be to get into the deepest pool and immerse herself in the protection of the water. She didn’t want to think about what she would do if even that failed, but a part of her knew she would choose to drown in this clean, warm water before she would surrender to the cold blackness.
Kalena crouched beside her chosen pool, her hand on the lamp, and battled the fear that threatened to swamp her. One by one, the remaining firegel lamps flickered and died. Within moments she could see no farther than the short distance illuminated by the lamp she held. Absolute silence filled the cavern along with the absolute darkness. Only the tiny ring of light around Kalena remained. She waited.
She had no idea how long the wait lasted. Time ceased to have any meaning within the circle of the black mists. But during the endless wait, the impact of fear began to fade. Perhaps maintaining a constant state of anxiety for a long period of time was physically impossible, Kalena decided wretchedly. She only knew that anger and another emotion were driving out the burst of terror that had threatened to overtake her consciousness. She couldn’t name the second emotion, but it was a strengthening feeling. Kalena clung to it.
Half expecting the lamp under her hand to die as had all the others, Kalena was mildly astonished that it continued to burn steadily in the face of the overwhelming darkness. The large pool bubbled strongly behind her as Kalena crouched with her back to it. She didn’t understand what was happening, but she knew she had been right to seek the shelter of the central spring.
More time passed and Kalena waited. Crouching beside the lamp, she huddled in on herself and endured.
&nb
sp; Eons seemed to have passed when she first became aware of a faint lightening in the oppressive darkness surrounding her. At first Kalena refused to believe anything had changed. She would not allow hope to spin false fantasies in her numbed mind. And then she saw the faint flare of light in the depths of the enveloping darkness. Slowly, she got to her feet, holding tightly to the lamp.
“Kalena!”
Ridge’s voice, distant but urgent, sounded from the depths of the exit tunnel. Kalena was so stricken with relief that he called out twice more before she was able to respond.
“Ridge, I’m here in the main room! Be careful, the place is filled with pools.”
In another few moments, he emerged from the tunnel. “In the names of the Stones, woman, what have you been doing in here?” The firegel lamp he carried glowed at full power, just as though the darkness through which he had come was a perfectly normal sort of darkness. The lamplight illuminated his features in a golden glare that seemed to emphasize all the harsh planes and angles of his face.
The truth was that even as he emerged from the darkness, Ridge appeared to be at home in it. He carried the lamp casually, as if he had no fear of it going out. Walking out of the tunnel, he spotted Kalena standing beside her pool, the lamp burning at her feet. He came to a halt.
Kalena stared at him for a moment. He appeared fierce and grim and dangerous. To her desperate gaze, he also looked absolutely wonderful. She ran toward him, skirting the frothing pools, aware that the darkness no longer seemed so thick or fearsome.
“Ridge,” she breathed as she threw herself into his arms, “I knew you would come for me. I knew it.”
Now she realized it had been Ridge she had waited for in the endless darkness. Without even forming the thought consciously, she had known he would save her from the endless night.
Ten
Ridge had suffered a gamut of emotions in the short time since he had discovered Kalena had not returned from the underground spa. A few of them, the ones that bordered on panic, were completely new to him.