Chapter 41: The Secret of the Abyss
The abyss stretched before them like a gigantic, toothless maw, swallowing any light that dared to approach. The flare in Kaelen's hand trembled, casting dancing shadows on their pale faces. The sound of flowing water from below was louder now, echoing in the darkness, suggesting a river or waterfall in the depths.
"We can't jump," Emily said, her voice trembling. "It's too deep."
"And we can't go back," Caleb added, his hand on the hilt of his sword, even though he knew it was useless here.
Ethan and Laila stood behind them, shivering from the cold and fear. Their eyes were fixed on the black void, as if it would pull them into its depths.
"There must be something," Kaelen repeated, his eyes scanning the walls surrounding the abyss. He was looking for any protrusion, any ledge, anything they could use.
He raised the flare higher, trying to penetrate the darkness. The faint light barely reached the bottom, but it did reveal something strange. On the far side of the abyss, in the distant space, there was a faint shimmer. It was very small, barely visible, but it was there.
"Look!" Kaelen said, pointing with the flare. "There's another light on the other side!"
Everyone looked in the direction he pointed, squinting their eyes in the darkness. "Is that... an exit?" Laila asked, a glimmer of hope appearing in her voice.
"Maybe," Kaelen said. "But how do we get to it?"
They began searching along the edge of the abyss. The walls were mostly smooth, but after a few meters, Caleb discovered something.
"Here!" he yelled. "There's a ledge! You can barely see it!"
They all bent down, pointing the flare towards the spot Caleb had indicated. There was indeed an extremely narrow rock protrusion, barely enough to place one foot on. It ran along the edge of the abyss and seemed to wrap around it.
"We can try to get across this way," Kaelen said, but his voice was hesitant. The task was incredibly dangerous. Any mistake, any slip, would mean falling into the chasm.
"But it's too narrow," Emily said. "And it could be slippery."
"We have no other choice," Kaelen said, having made up his mind. "We'll go one at a time. I'll go first. Keep your distance, and don't look down."
The first step was the hardest. Kaelen carefully placed his foot on the rock protrusion, feeling the cold and dampness. He held onto the wall with his other hand and began to move slowly, step by step, in the darkness, towards the faint shimmer on the other side.
Every sound in the cave was amplified: the sound of the flowing water from below, and the sound of their tense breaths. The abyss whispered promises of death, but Kaelen focused only on the next step, and the faint glimmer that was their only hope.
Suddenly, while Kaelen was almost halfway across, a strange sound rose from the depths of the abyss. It wasn't the sound of water; it was a deep whisper, as if it were the echo of something massive moving in the darkness below. Kaelen stopped, his body rigid.
They were not alone in this place.