Chapter 18: Chapter 18: The Cavern of Nostrom

Vix awoke with a snort. Her head swam and the inside of her mouth tasted like sand. It felt like she had barely slept fifteen minutes. For all she knew, she may have; the darkness clinging to the passageway looked exactly as it had when she had drifted off.

She had no idea what time it was, or even whether it was tomorrow or still today. The unchanging limbo of the underground remained, just as it was when she had fallen asleep.

Vix shuddered, hating the cavernous passage even more. It had been no more than a day since she had entered it, but she found herself craving the outside world, the fresh air and sunshine, like a woman dying of thirst.

Caine and Mirra came slowly awake as well. After exchanging quick good mornings, then went about clearing up their cluttered, makeshift camp. Though they said little to one another, Vix could feel their own uneasiness, poorly disguised in the tightness of their shoulders and the haste in which they gathered up their things.