The prayer was on Lot's lips as she saw the sun rise on a new day. She couldn't believe it as she watched her son sleeping peacefully. In the night, there had been several points when she wondered as she was there to bury her son, who was going to bury her? She picked Komi up then and peered over the edge of the mountain as the warmth of the day started to reach her lips. Lot licked her lips as she looked at the smoking embers of the town that she used to call home.
If she went back, there was nothing and no one to remember with her.
Lot heard a rumbling sound, and she realized that the ogres were returning to the mountains after raiding the spoils of what had been her village. She couldn't believe how orderly they were, as she could see the long line of where the ogres had disturbed the forest. Lot realized then that the horde was heading for exactly where she had been sleeping.
If she had slept for an hour more, they would have found her. Worse, she probably would have been sleeping. A perfect target for ---
She shivered as she remembered her mother-in-law's words about her preference for their home life. She didn't have time, though, to care about these petty things. Komi was still with her, and that was prayer enough that she needed to keep going.
It wasn't pretty.
It wasn't perfect.
But she needed to make the most of it.
She looked up at the mountain. Lot knew only this: that on the other side of the mountain, maybe, things could be different. It wasn't a very solid plan at all, but she needed to get to the other side of the mountain and fast. She looked ahead of her into the mouth of the cave.
She got up then and started to look through the miners' equipment. She could see there were rusted pickaxes everywhere, but that wasn't what would help her to get through the mountain. She sighed as she knew time was thin. She wasn't sure what she was looking for. It didn't make sense if someone had made a map that they would keep it here with them. She also knew there was a separate cave where the merchants would use to send their wares through, but she wasn't exactly at the right cave to begin with.
It was a long shot, but she looked between her two choices and decided that she would take her chances. She lit a torch using some flint from the tinder and then stepped into the cave. There was a draft coming in, and she knew she was about to get hopelessly lost. There was a cold breeze, though, and she knew that that had to be coming from somewhere.
She started walking then.
Komi slept most of the morning; she had taken a small pack with her where she had kept some of the dried foods that she knew wouldn't spoil. He hadn't been much in a talking mood. Just seeing the gathering darkness and deciding that, as an endless night, this was something he didn't want to experience, so he was going to close his eyes.
The cave had the pockmarks of the miners, and Lot, for the most part, followed the parts that she felt were the most explored. She followed the drafts, and she felt the altitude decreasing as things got swampier and darker. There were torches, though on the sides where she knew that someone had been painfully nailed to the wall. She felt it in her bones that these were the ways that someone travelled often. She got to a place where the rock was submerged, and she looked and realized that this was the cave that the villagers had been talking about, except instead of being above it, she was actually below it.
She got on her knees and looked. She swore that underneath all that rubble, she could see the darned bit of light. Lot knew that this was the source of the draft that she had followed all this way. Behind her, the rocks started to shift, and Lot realized that she had run out of time. She blew out her torch and prayed that Komi wouldn't wake up.
She got on her hands and knees and started crawling towards the light. It called to her as she felt the space start to narrow. Komi made a strangled sound of breath, and Lot shushed him. "Mommy is almost to the light, dearest. I know it's cold and wet, but we need to get to the other side."
Komi covered his eyes with his hands, and Lot kept crawling. She could hear grunting and slobbering behind her. There was the sound of something trying to fit into the place behind her. She could imagine the ogre behind her even though she couldn't see him. Writhing and trying as they spoke in their harsh tongues that no one could understand. Their eyes were the worst part, bloodshot. She swore she felt something brush against her leg as she whimpered before finally fitting through the last part. She didn't even look at the small tunnel behind her as she ran into the streaming sun.
She ran until she got to a tree where she could find her balance. Komi looked up at her and touched her chin. She looked at his face and realized it was grazed and bloody. "Oh my, we need to make sure that you're more secure."
She looked behind her at the cave system and ahead, where she could see the large duke's castle against the black mountains in the distance. It was a comfort as she bandaged up her son and then looked at the caravan's trails, where she knew there would be help and people who would be able to help her. Komi was bandaged with whatever clean cloth was remaining, as Lot felt the excitement start to melt the tiredness away.
"Komi, we're going to have a new home soon."
"Mommy, are you serious?"
"Of course, Komi. I promise you. Things will be warm soon. I promise we'll sleep in a proper bed tonight. I know it."
Komi smiled. "I'd believe you, if I didn't have to sleep in a cave yesterday."
"Well," Lot admitted. "Maybe one more day . . ."
"You're silly."