his shoulder. Ben stubbornly raised his head to object, but he didn’t have the strength, and it instantly flopped down onto the Falorian’s back.
“Come Ben,” said Verastus softly to him, in a voice far too low for Ben to hear in the whistling wind, “let me carry you now. I will repay my debt to you here on this mountain.”
Jake looked behind him from his position at the head of the group. He was growing increasingly concerned for the welfare of his friend and he doubled his efforts searching for some shelter from the storm.
“C-come on!” he shouted over the wind to Verastus. “Let’s f-find that c-cave!”
Just under an hour later, they found a small, man-size opening in the rockface. Verastus placed his burden down on the floor and Ben stood there shaking violently, a little unsteady on his feet, but still able to walk. Jake led him by the hand into the darkness. As soon as they stepped out of the icy wind the warmth of the cave hit them instantly, but it was pitch black and they couldn’t see a thing. Even in his weakened, almost frost-bitten state, Ben just couldn’t help himself.
“Oh g--great! Bl-bl-bloody m-marvellous, Jake ol’ son! You’ve l-led us into a hole! Ha ha... N-n-n-now what?” he asked, as he shivered uncontrollably.
“Oh s-stop your whining again, will ya? And p-pass me the box.” replied Jake, unable to see his friend and having to settle for talking to the sound of his voice in the darkness.
Ben did as he was told, fumbling for the box and feeling blindly for Jake’s outstretched hands. “Th-there, t-take them then.” he said, frustrated at shaking so badly and worried that he might drop his precious cargo.
Jake took the box and felt with his fingertips until he found the crest. He ran his right hand over the top of it and a faint ‘click’ sounded. For a split second nothing else happened. Then, the box slowly opened, humming quietly as it did. It seemed to take an age to open fully, but eventually the four corner stones lit updimly, throwing off just enough light between them to illuminate the cave. No rays of light were emitted from the stones this time, the centre stone remained totally unlit, and no bangs or earth shudders followed.
“Well, I suppose that’s it.” said Jake calmly. “We have light at least.” he continued, as he looked around the cave.
They were standing on a rock shelf, six feet wide, the end of which dropped sharply into a vast, black, bottomless chasm, which appeared to have no end. They could see neither down, nor across the gaping pit. The emptiness in front of them and below would definitely have taken their lives had they have strayed just a few steps further inside the cave! Their lucky escape did not go unnoticed.
“There is that luck again, Jake.” said Verastus. “Whatever you say about it, I am glad that I am with you!”
Jake moved the box around in front of him to show the rest of their new surroundings. To the right, at one end of the shelf they were standing on, was a wall of sheer rock with no point of exit, a dead end. Jake moved the light towards the left hand side of the shelf. At its end, around 12 feet away, was a set of winding, narrow stairs that they could see rose steadily upwards, hugging the mountainside and running all the way around the edge of the cliff, and the chasm below.
“Well, that’s simple enough I’d say?” Jake said. “Decision made I think. We’re not going back outside, so upwards it is. What do ya think?” he asked. Now that Ben was out of the cold, Jake was once again beginning to enjoy himself.
“I follow your lead, Jake.” Verastus stated, in a short and obedient reply.
They both looked across at the dithering Ben. He struggled to speak, but muttered valiantly, “D-d-d-itto m-mate.”
Jake nodded and led the way up the steps, holding the box out in front of him like a torch as they climbed. The further into the cave they walked, the warmer the air became, and Ben soon began to feel much better. He stopped shaking so badly and was relieved to find that he no longer ached so much from the bitter cold.
After a while, the stairs suddenly stopped outside another small, man-size hole which was cut into the rockface. It was the entrance to a dark, black tunnel with no visible end,