He stood when no more fell. He had been cut on his head, shoulder and back, but suffered no major injuries.
The wind died down as rain began to fall. Jaden quickly ran to find shelter but the trees were too dangerous and the rocks offered little resistance to the storm. Where the lightning had struck he found the most suitable place. It was an opening, small but large enough for him to wedge himself into. A boulder had been locked into the ground here, but it had been smashed by the strike, leaving an indent in the wall of dirt, deep enough for Jaden to cram into.
The trees in front would block some of the rain. He would have run to find a better shelter if he had the choice but he stayed there for the remainder of the storm, watching as it crept over him and left him in darkness. His only hope was that Raquel had also found shelter and would wait until morning before she continued on her way. This would give him a chance to rest at least. He was hungry and thirsty too, but it was rest he needed now.
The rain became heavy, blanketing the land and causing mud to slide down on him and he was soon completely wet. He closed his eyes, trying to think of somewhere better, but was brought back to this cold, dark place as each cold drop met his warm skin. He opened his eyes, squinting through the muck spraying about him, trying to curl up further into the hole to conserve what little warmth he had left. It was then that he noticed it. There was a golden glow emanating from his right wrist.
He lifted it up toward his eyes. The loh-korah was glowing faintly, enough to light the dirt wall. He could see the symbols inscribed upon it, each giving its own glow. In all the years it had been in his family, he had never known it to glow as it did now. It gave only slight warmth as he held it to his chest, not enough to protect him from the cold, so he took it off his chest to view it again, the light his only source of comfort as the storm raged on.
It had been his favourite gift from his grandfather.
He curled forward at the thought, in sudden agony as he felt the claw-like grip take hold of him again from the ground. He sensed the storm once more, as if able to control it but then the ground as well. He was able to feel everything that touched the land—the creatures hiding in their burrows, the trees rooted deeply into it, and two moving things, almost humanlike, moving cautiously nearby. Their footsteps felt as if they were on his skin rather than in the distance, but they too soon disappeared, and he was released from the grip.
He fell completely forward, putting his hands above his head as he tried to hit the wall of dirt with his shoulder. But his shoulder met with nothing and he rolled into another opening. His head had hit the side that he had his feet against, but his legs had landed somewhere else. He used the glow of the loh-korah to investigate. He could see the earth that made up the lining of the hole, but nothing beyond it. There was only darkness, and a tunnel leading further into the mountain, where the glow of the loh-korah couldn’t reach.
Carefully, Jaden made his way into the small opening, crawling deeply into the tunnel before waiting for his eyes to adjust to the light. At last, he was safe from the storm outside in a dry and strangely warm place. The air had the scent of earth, but it was not musty or stale. It almost seemed fresh. He sat patiently before exploring any further. He knew the tunnel went deeper, but he could not tell how much more.
As the minutes went by, he soon gave up. His eyes would not get used to the darkness. He would make sure he was in a safe place only with the faint glow he had with him. He crawled for an hour, finding nothing of harm and no end to the tunnel. He realised then that this was no ordinary tunnel. He was soon able to stand fully upright.
The tunnel around him became visible as the loh-korah’s light strengthened and was gaining in brightness with every step he took. He then entered a passage twice his height. The loh-korah lit the rocky walls around him that became smoother as he went on. After two more minutes of walking slowly forward, he rounded a corner and was met with a wall of carved stones placed on top of one another, as if by human hands. He studied the phenomenon in as much detail as he could before the light of the loh-korah went out, and he was left in darkness once more.
He turned around, expecting something to be behind him that had caused the loh-korah to lose its glow, but there was nothing in the passage. He must have been deep into the mountain now. Even the sounds of the storm were silent from here. He turned back to the stones. Some of them had been loose. If he used enough force, he could probably push them out of place. The more he thought about it, the more he had to know what was on the other side. Where could this strange tunnel lead? Why would it end with a wall of stones?
Jaden pushed the first stone out.