Sterling Forge's Arc

Chapter 19 of 31

The tunnel sloped down until it opened into a room that was not a room. Sterling stopped at the edge. The floor ahead broke into three passages, each cut smooth into the rock, each lit by the same sourceless glow. No mark showed above any of them. He watched the air in front of each opening for a draft. All three breathed warm. "Which one," he said. Linny stood beside him. Her chipmunk sat still on her shoulder, ears folded flat. She did not answer. She stared at the middle passage, then the left, then the right. Her hand went to her temple. "The girl showed me the door," she said. "She didn't show me this." Sterling knelt and looked at the floor. Old dust, undisturbed. No prints. He drew his knife and scratched a small mark on the wall by the entrance so they could find their way back. If back was still a place. "Pick," he said. "You've been right every time." "I haven't been right. I've been guessing between visions." "Then guess." She closed her eyes. He waited. He counted his own breath to keep from pushing her. The chipmunk lifted its nose and turned toward the right passage, then the left, then sat down again. No help there. Linny opened her eyes. "I can't see it. She's not showing me." Sterling looked at the three mouths of stone. Wrong choice, and they walked deeper into something they could not walk out of. He thought of the ash jar, empty in her pocket. He thought of the door that had sealed behind them. He put his hand on her shoulder. "What did she show you last? Before the door." "Light," Linny said. "Streams of it. Going up out of a tree. Colors I don't have names for." "Up." "Up." He looked at the three passages again. The left one sloped down. The middle one ran flat. The right one climbed, a shallow rise cut into the rock. "Right," he said. She looked at him. "You're sure." "No. But she showed you up. That one goes up." Linny nodded once. She took his hand. They walked into the right passage. It climbed for a long time. The glow thickened. The air grew softer, then sweet, the way a spring wind smells after a long winter. The chipmunk stood up on her shoulder and chirped, the first sound it had made in a day. The passage opened. Sterling stopped in the doorway. A cavern spread out before them, wide as a village square, ceiling lost in light. In the center stood a tree. Streams of color ran up its branches and poured into the air above it, pink and blue and gold, moving like water flowing the wrong way. At its roots grew grass so fine and green it looked painted. Linny let go of his hand and walked into the light.