As she walked along the passageway, Terra suddenly began to realize that she could see contrast and shadow demarcating the rocky wall faces to either side of her. It occurred to her, then, that there was a source of light ahead, which provided the shadowing that she could see. Hope dawned within her, and she increased her pace along the path through the mountain, anticipating the opening of the tunnel and the awaiting light. The echoes of her own footsteps became less tonal as the light increased in intensity until finally, Terra walked out from the cave�s opening into the light of an early evening.
She stood atop a long, wooden walkway, built several feet above the main city road. The roped handrails of the bridge swayed ever so slightly in the wind that blew across the house-tops and off into the distance, she could see the mountains rearing magnificantly into the cloudy haze above, their peaks towering out of sight.
Terra felt a sigh of relief escape her lips as she made her way slowly across the unsteady walkway. On the other side, the open entrance to one of the mineshafts led into darkness and she stopped for a moment, held fast by her uncertainty. Perhaps she should go back to the cabin where Arvis was. Surely the men who were looking for her would be gone by now, and she would be safe with him. She need not gather her courage to cross the walkway and enter the black mouth of the cave ahead. Even now, it loomed dangerously in front of her and she felt her resolve slipping away.
�Up there! Quickly! Before she gets away again!�
The shout from below almost sent her teeter-tottering over the edge of the handrails and, once she steadied herself, she looked down forlornly to see several Narshe guards pointing up at her, then scattering in every direction. They would find her soon if she didn�t run and going back to Arvis was no longer an option. She bolted the last few feet across the walkway and ran head first into the mineshaft, heart beating wildly now in terror.
Through the dark cavernous ways she ran, her footsteps echoing around her, creating the illusion of thousands of pursuers behind her. She didn�t even feel the tears streaming down her face now, the heavy sobs that broke through her fear passing unnoticed. All she focused on was getting away from those horrible echoes. She practically ran headfirst into one of the Narshe guards that suddenly emerged from a side-tunnel, screaming loudly as she ricocheted off his body. The guard was stunned for only a moment, but it was enough for Terra to take action. She turned, bolting head long into another tunnel, losing her sense of direction entirely, and unable to look back.
Her heart was now beating in time with her footfalls as she ran, and it stopped instantly as two more guards appeared in front of her, further along the passageway. She cried out again, frustration temporarily freezing all her thought processes as she turned in every direction looking for an escape. The bare, cold walls around her held no solace and she backed herself into a corner, awaiting the inevitable. The four guards who now approached her from all sides moved slowly, stalking her like prey.
�Don�t run, girl! There�s nowhere to go now, understand?�
Terra felt the cavern wall against her back now, as she tried to get away from the men, closing her eyes. It was over. And then�
The floor gave away beneath her, and she fell, tumbling head over heels down the mineshaft, and hitting her head squarely against a protruding rock, feeling the stone lacerate her scalp before mercifully losing consciousness.
Terra dreamt.
