The heat seemed to be pushing the trio from the back. Taren glanced behind him. Flame was roaring down the corridor. He struggled to breathe, as the air was thick with smoke.
“Taren! This way!” Riva grabbed his wrist and pulled him around a corner. Her hand was surprisingly cool for how hot it was down there. All of a sudden, Riva skidded to a halt.
“Dead end.” Taren muttered. He kicked the wall in frustration.
“I tend to notice that you give up too easily.” Arlynn said matter of factly. Taren glared.
“Oh yeah?” He growled at her. “How do you suppose we’re going to get out?” Arlynn smiled.
“Climb!” She said. Taren glanced up. To his surprise, he realized that the rock wall in front of them led up to a small trap door in the ceiling. Arlynn grasped a rock, and started climbing. Riva glanced at Taren, then followed her. Taren sighed. He hated it when Arlynn was right.
Soon the three of them were standing on a small ledge, hundreds of feet above the ground.
“Now, how do we open this?” Riva asked, giving the door a shove.
“Here, I’ll try. Just remember, once the door is open, the fire will come towards the oxygen. We’ll have to get out fast.”
Just then came the sound of crumbling rock. Arlynn yelped. Taren looked over at her, a retort sitting on his tongue about how she was a scaredy cat. But instead, he gasped. She was hanging from the rock ledge, her fingers desperately clinging onto the edge. Her face was red with effort. He was about to reach for her, when he heard Riva scream.
He whipped around, and found her dangling from the claws of a Tartogyph. (note to readers of my blog: This is a winged creature that is mentioned earlier in the story) Taren knew that if he went for Arlynn, he might not be able to get to Riva in time. And he saved Riva, then Arlynn would most likely fall. Just then, every dream he had ever had of Riva flashed through his head at hyperspeed. He couldn’t live without her. Someone had sent him those dreams. Someone had sent him to her, and he couldn’t just give her up now. He quickly pulled out his knife, and threw it at theTartogyph. With an earsplitting shriek, the creature let go. Riva fell with a scream back onto the stone. Taren quickly pulled her away from the edge.
He glanced behind him, and saw Arlynn, her green eyes pleading, her fingers barely hanging on. Then she fell. She shrieked, but her scream was abruptly cut off. He closed his eyes, trying to push the image away. Then he pushed hard against the trap door above him. It popped open. He quickly heaved Riva through the opening, then pulled himself out as well. He yanked Riva up, and pulled her after him, far away from there. Within a matter of seconds he could see thick black smoke rising, and little fingers of flame coming through the hole. He turned away.
They ran for what seemed like hours, but was really only a few minutes. Finally Taren came to a halt, his breath ragged and uneven from the smoke, and the running. He bent over, trying to regain his breath. When he straightened back up, he realized that Riva was glaring at him, her blue eyes piercing him to the bone.
“You idiot!” She slapped him hard, right across the face. It wasn’t so much the slap that hurt, but the hate that was behind the slap. “You—you let my sister die!” She screamed at him. Then she sank to the ground, tears spilling down her cheeks.
“Riva, I could either save you or her. Would you rather I save her? I couldn’t live without you. Just like you said, I was meant to be with you! The gods planned it! I couldn’t just defy them!” Then he lowered his voice. “I love you Riva. I couldn’t live without you.’
She looked up at him. “No Taren, I said that you and the girl in the dreams were to be together. Think about it!” Taren look at her, confused.
“But, you a—“ Then he stopped. The last dream he had came back to him.
Riva twirled around, her dress spinning around. Then she stopped, and looked at him. But the eyes weren’t blue, they were green.
“Arlynn…” He whispered. “She—she was my Reverie.”
