Chapter 8 of The Other Side of the Creek (Locked In)

Because the voting poll for naming chapters is still going on, I'll just stick to my normal not naming them for now.

(Note: On April 3, 09, I decided to name the chapter)

Chapter 8

"You know," Learka said thoughtfully as he whittled. "I wonder how the ogres got in when they attacked us." He set down his knife and the stick he was carving into an arrow. "Because if however they got into here is still accessible, they could sneak right back in."

It was one or two days after Nolan had become leader. Nothing exiting had happened, just the usual training for battle. The follower army was almost ready to march underground to Mahal, but were waiting a little bit while people collected weapons. So far Yevelina had made several slings with ammunition, and Learka was carving arrows and making bows.

"That's a thought," Yev agreed as she swept the dirt floor. "I'm surprised it hasn't occurred to anyone else,"

"If there still is an opening, do you have any idea where it could be?" Ben asked. He was helping Learka by waxing bowstrings.

The older boy nodded. "The people that live below and to the left have commented on their house starting to become chilly. That would only happen if someone came up from the Helinga Passage."

"What's the Helinga Passage?" Kaela cocked an eyebrow.

"It's a passage that starts at the surface and goes down really deep underground through a natural cave. It leads up to the main route, but it got closed off some time ago due to it being dangerous. There are doors along the way that are supposed to remain closed, but if they got left open there would be a draft."

"Would we be able to use that way to get to Mahal?" Ben questioned.

Klii shook his head. "No. Mahal is farther south, the Helinga Passage comes above ground north of here. It would take us farther away." He turned to his son. "Are you thinking of exploring that?"

Learka nodded. "If we didn't, we'd be taking the risk of leaving a clear path for the ogres. I'll start out...soon. Should I tell Nolan?"

"Definitely." Klii advised. "That way he knows to be on the look-out just in case any ogres do come up."

Learka stood up. "All right. Ben and Kaela, you guys want to come?" he asked as he grabbed his sword.

"Sure." Kaela picked up her weapon and handed Ben his. "I like caves."

Ben took his sword from Kaela without saying his thoughts on caves. To tell the truth, he was scared to death of them, but he decided that if his nine year old sister could do it, he could too.

The three of them entered the main route and walked a little ways. Then Learka, who was leading the party, halted in front of another wood door to the side. He knocked, and it was opened by a woman in her early thirties. "Yes?"

"Can we speak to Nolan?" Learka asked.

The woman, who was Nolan's wife, nodded and held the door open wider. "Certainly. Come on in."

They entered the dwelling. It looked a lot like theirs, a fire-place, a stove, a table, and so on. The only difference was that four children were busy playing on the floor with some stones and sticks, and Nolan sat at one of the chairs, reading a copy of the Book of Prophesies. He looked up as Learka, Ben, and Kaela came in.

While Learka explained to Nolan what was going on, Ben watched the children. The oldest was a boy, slightly younger than Kaela, with a mop of curly auburn hair. The next oldest was another boy, this time with brown hair, a button nose, and a dimple that made him look a little mischievous. Then were two girls; they looked like twins. They weren't identical, but they looked similar, with gold curly hair and brown eyes. The game they were playing looked a little like bowling. They would set the sticks up leaning against the wall, and then they would take turns rolling stones at them to see who knocked down the most.

When the visitors had come in the children had stopped making a lot of noise, but sometimes one would say, "See, I knocked down all of them!" or, "I beat you, Cassie!" "No you didn't, you knocked down three. I knocked down two." "She actually did beat you, Jon. The point it to knock down the most."

Learka had finished explaining by now, and Nolan gave his consent. "Alright, you can go, but are you sure you don't want to take more men with you?"

"I'm sure. Helinga Passage is a little bit unstable. We'll need more lighter people to go on it."

"Okay. May Adonai be with you!"

Learka, Ben, and Kaela left Nolan's dwelling and walked down the main passage way some more until they came to a short side tunnel leading to the left. A few feet past the beginning of the side-tunnel was a solid door, that looked like it was supposed to be locked. Instead it was slightly ajar.

"Here is the entrance to the Helinga Passage." said Learka. "Ready?"

Ben gulped, but he said along with Kaela, "Ready."

Learka cautiously opened the door all the way. It let out an eerie creak that almost made Ben jump. He glanced nervously at Kaela and saw that her eyes were wide. Well, at least I'm not the only one afraid. He gripped his swordhilt harder and hoped that there wasn't anything lurking in the shadows beyond.

Learka stepped forward into the passageway and drew his sword. To Ben's surprise, it let off a glow that illuminated the tunnel before them.

"I didn't know the swords could do that," Kaela commented, saying what was on Ben's mind.

"Well, they can." Learka said as they walked. "There are more things about the swords that you'll discover in time. There are many things about them that have not been discovered yet."

Ben looked around as they walked. Spider webs hung from the walls and cielings. Thankfully, there were no visible spiders, because if there were, Ben knew that Kaela would be really scared. Spiders and bats were Kaela's main fears. It was wasps and caves that Ben didn't like.

As they got further down, it got colder, and Ben noticed that there were no tree roots. Also the walls were less dirt and more rock. Then they came to another door, also left open. Learka was starting to look grim. "They definately came this way," he said firmly. "The last people down here almost ten years ago was me, my father, and Yev. I was around Kaela's age, and Yev was a year younger. Father locked the doors and rechecked them almost twice. No way they could have opened on their own."

Ben was starting to get the creeps, especially when Learka added, "You two best draw your swords."

They did so, and Ben discovered that both of their's glowed with an inner light. Oh, wait a minute! I have seen glowing swords before! he reminded himself. The time of the ogre attack, the leader then had a glowing sword! It wasn't a brilliant uncovering, but Ben was happy that he had at least put the two together.

Learka stepped through the doorway, his sword extended. Ben and Kaela followed, and then gasped. They stood in a huge room, bigger than Great Oak Hollow even. Stalactites dangled from the cieling, and there were stalagmites all around on the floor. The whole cave was made out of stunning rock formations; some looked like frozen waterfalls, and some like chandaliers. It reminded Ben of some cavern his family had toured a little while ago, Luray Cavern, he thought it was called.

Then their attention was drawn to a shadow moving behind a group of stalagmites a distance away. It paused behind one of the formations, and then slipped on to the next.

Learka's sword flared brighter, revealing the strange creature. It was an ogre, from the splayed feet to the hunched back and the un-intellegent looking head. It let out a low roar from inside it's throat and drew a pike out from behind another stalagmite.

Ben's, Learka's and Kaela's swords all suddenly shot out a strong beam of light. It stuck the ogre directly in the chest, and it roared and fell down dead.

The three cautiously approached, swords at the ready for any more ogres. They didn't come within a foot of the ogre they had just killed, not for any particular reason. Black blood was slowly forming a puddle on the stone floor.

Finally, Learka stirred and said, "We'd better look around and see if there are any more ogres." He promptly turned and started inspecting the stalagmites.

Ben and Kaela teamed up, neither really wanting to be groping around in the semi-darkness alone after what had happened. No one found anything, so they moved on. They began traveling on a path leading out of the cavern (Learka called it Helinga Cavern) and slanting upward. As they continued, the ground leveled off, but the actual pathway kept on going, like a ramp.

Ben began to notice that the path was shaking a little bit. Learka must have noticed too, because he stopped. "It's not safe to go any further." he cautioned. "There's another door ahead--I can barely see it from here--but it looks closed and locked. Do any of you have good eyesight?"

"I sort of do." Kaela said. She squinted forward. "Yeah, it's locked."

"Good." The party turned around. Ben, who had been at the end of the line originally, was now the leader, since the ramp was too narrow for Learka to get ahead. He held out his sword, which was still providing illumination, and started walking down.

Everything went well for a few minutes, until suddenly Ben stepped on a seemingly harmless part of the ramp. It collapsed under him, as well as some more parts of the ramp. Learka and Kaela were too far behind to fall, but Ben, unfortunetely, wasn't quick enough to jump away.

Ben got the feeling that he had left his insides back on the ramp as he fell. He got one glimpse of the stone ground rushing up to meet him, and then yelled right before he hit it.

He wouldn't have been surprised in the least if he had been knocked unconcious, but all that happened was that he saw stars as he slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position.

"Ben! Are you okay?" Kaela called down from up above, sounding concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He looked up at the sides of the ramp. There was no way he'd be able to climb back up to Kaela and Learka. "I'm just going to continue on this level until the ramp is even with the ground!" He called back up.

Learka nodded. "Good idea. Meet you there!" Ben saw him and Kaela cautiously leap over the unstable place in the ramp and continue down. Then he climbed to his feet and walked to meet them.

A little while after that they all met at where the ramp touched the ground, and then they kept going through Helinga Cavern and on up through the tunnel. When they came back through the doors Learka firmly shut and locked them.

They reached the door leading out to the main route, but then Learka stopped. Ben looked around the older boy to see what the matter was. The door had already been shut!

Learka tested the door gently at first, but then more urgently. He turned around to face Kaela and Ben. "It's locked."
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I had no idea where that would go when I began typing this chapter.

Izori