Into The Fire 1

Chapter 1

" 'Into the fire!!' Ha, thats what the voices told us. How could we have been so naive? 'Into the fire!!' They commanded, and we listened foolishly. I saw visions of the future so vile, so unspeakably evil that I cannot begin to describe them. I truely hope that they were only false dreams...."

-Ahrlund Fhrett: Scripts from the Time Before

         Corin awoke to the delicious smells of mother cooking breakfast. His mouth began to water before he had even opened his eyes. Mother always made a wonderful breakfast on his birthday. She always said it was her favorite day. The celebration of the best day of her life. Father had left before Corin had been born. Better off, he thought. Everyone always talked about how mad he was anyway. They joked at Corin that he had gotten the crazy genes from his father. Blah, he pushed the thought away and rolled out of bed. The cold stone floor sent a tingle up his spine helping to wake him much quicker than he had wanted. He stretched and let out a monstrous yawn before gathering his days clothing from a wooden chest along the wall of his room. He slowly made his way to the washroom, still battling the grogginess that urged him to go back to sleep.



         Inside the washroom a sense of calm overtook him. The sound of falling water put him at ease as it echoed off the smooth stone walls. In one corner the stone was carved out to form a square space that could reasonably fit two people. On one wall, up near the ceiling, water cascaded out of a small rectangular hole. The steam filled the washroom with an ever present fog. Corin spent a lot of time in there just thinking. It was very relaxing after all. He stripped of his clothes and stepped into the square wash-space and let the warm water flow over his face and head. He cupped his hands and let the water pool there before splashing it in his face.



         After a few minutes of quiet relaxation in the water Corin dried himself off with a large cotton cloth, put his clothing on, and headed out to the kitchen to greet his mother. she was near the stove as she usually was in the morning, cooking eggs and potatoes and no doubt bacon. The room smelled wonderful and Corin could not wait to stuff his mouth with delicious foods. He could smell pastries baking in the oven, releasing wonderful cinnamon and vanilla scents into the room. Mother turned around with a smile on her face. " Good morning Corin. Happy birthday son." Corin smiled and walked over to give his mother a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Breakfast smells wonderful, Mother." He said as he turned to go sit at the table. He looked over at the empty seat across from mother's and wondered if that's where his father sat. He wondered if his parents had shared any meals at this table at all. If they had ever wanted to be an actual family. It was odd that these thoughts were weighing heavy on his mind. He shrugged them off as mother finally delivered the meal to the table and sat down.



         The meal was wonderful and as Corin finished he gathered dishes and plates to clean them but mother stopped him. "I'll take care of this honey. Why don't you go out and enjoy yourself? " She smiled as she tried to assure him that she would be fine without him. She knew he worried when she was home alone. There were a lot of reports recently about break ins and just yesterday a nearby living cave collapsed, crushing the family inside. That had never happened before and it scared Corin, she knew it scared him. It scared her too but she didn't let him see it. She couldn't. " I left some money on the stand by the door. Perhaps you could go to the market and buy something for yourself. And, if you wouldn't mind, we could use some bread too. But we need good bread so you should get it at Noellie's Boellies. She makes the most wonderful bread."



         Corin smiled and hugged mother again before saying "I love you mother. Thank you for the amazing breakfast. I'll see you soon." He gave her a kiss on the cheek before turning to leave. On the stand by the door, just as mother had promised, there was a small pouch filled with coins. He snatched it up and walked outside closing the door lightly behind him and taking special care not to slam it. The sounds in the cavern would echo like crazy and no doubt awaken the neighbors. He went right toward the market square.



         The tunnels were carved smooth and with enough space to accomodate a reasonable amount of foot traffic. The top was high enough so that Corin could just barely reach it with his fingertips if he stood on the tips of his toes and stretched his arms out. It was oddly empty today. Any other day would have seen the tunnels busy with people hurrying about their days. Sounds of whispers and yells of joy or frustration would echo off of the walls blending together into a jumbled mess of sound. Corin had grown used to it but today the silence left a strange feeling in his chest. As he neared the market area where the tunnels opened up into a large cavern that housed the merchant areas and other important buildings he could hear the sounds of people talking over one another, a lot of people. H rounded the corner to see what appeared to be the entire population of the cave gathered around the council building. The council building was the largest by far and it sat in the middle of the cavern sticking up well above any of the other buildings. The council members would meet there daily to discuss things like how much food there was and repairs that needed made. They decided everything. "I wonder what has everyone in such a fuss," he thought. And then he saw it. Gigantic pieces of rock had fallen from the ceiling of the cave crushing a few buildings and no doubt causing serious damage to numerous other buildings. Corin stood there astonished. How? He thought. The teachers had told him that the magic used to create the caves also held them together and maintained them indefinitely. This would be impossible. An itch tickled at him somewhere in the back of his brain. He had to know what this was about.



          As he began walking toward all the commotion a voice called out from a building just a little way down the street. It was Noella. He could see her leaning out of her door motioning to for him to come over to her. Her fiery red hair hung in a braid over her shoulder. She was dressed in a light blue dress with her usual white apron. She looked young, though she had been around as long as Corin could remember, as long as anyone could remember. It was odd how he nor mother, nor anyone for that matter, could remember when the had met the mysterious woman. Even stranger was that nobody ever asked questions. She was very beautiful and on most days wore the most wonderful smile. Today, however, a look of worried covered her face. He quickly walked over to her looking at the sign above the door that read "Noellie's Boellies." "Perhaps I won't be bringing any bread home today," he thought to himself as he entered behind her. The smells of fresh baked breads and cakes clung to the air inside the bakery. It was delightful and he would definitely have to grab one of Noellie's famous scones before he left. She motioned for him to follow her into the backroom where they could sit in private. As she sat down behind the wooden desk at the far end of the room Corin guessed he was meant to sit down as well. But he rather felt like standing. "What is going on?" He asked bluntly. Today was his birthday and did not want to waste it sitting in a bake shop. "The caves are collapsing Corin. Just like your father said they would."



         Corin stood there in bewilderment. The caves are collapsing? How? His mind began to loop endlessly in a horrible nightmare of being crushed as the entire caves crumbled down upon him. "H-how?" the question slipped from his lips with a quiver of fear.

Don't worry about how. Worry about what we are going to do about it!" She yelled at him as if she was extremely frustrated. They sat there in silence for a moment before Noellie spoke up again. "Corin, I need you to take me to your mother. I seem to have forgotten where you live."