CHAPTER THREE part one

It was after a long while that the body of the young man lying at the bottom of the abyss twitched. Slowly Arin regained his senses and let out a moan. Pain ravaged his head and coursed through his body.

He could feel himself lying on a stone cold floor that caused his body to become stiff and rigid. Taking a deep breath, Arin forced himself to regain control of his limbs and pick himself up. The dirt on the ground had clung on the floor had clung on to his clothes.

His body started to shiver uncontrollably as the cold temperature around him immedietly caused him to snap back to reality. Arin slowly opened his eyes to find himself in the midst of darkness.

Fear started to creep into his heart as he nervously rubbed his hands to generate some warmth. Bits and pieces started form a picture as his mind recollected what had occured. A majestic tree that stood on the horizon.....and..a peculiar fox.

Although he could still remember what happened, it still barely made any sense to him. As he pondered over it, a thought occured to him. Everything that happened before he ended up here was surreal, thus he might have mistakenly walked into the spell of the Mages that the wanderer had claimed to see.

The thought instantly calmed him down and his eyes started to view his pitch black surroundings with less fear. Instead there was a sort of expectation within them. Judging from the complete abscence of light, Arin concluded that he was deep underground.

Now that he had calmed down, the first thing that came into his mind was to look for his baggage. It contained all his belongings including his food rations. His hands slowly extended on the rough stone surfaces searching for his baggage.

Fortunately his search was not in vain as in a short while he felt the soft and distinct touch of leather. Delighted, he quickly grabbed on to it and pulled it in front of him.After unlatching it, his hands slipped into it and rummaged through his possesions. In a moments time his hands seemd to have found their target and withdrew.

His right hand held on to a piece of flint and steel while the other hand held on to a thick bundle of sticks. Most parts of the desert was barren so it was a common practice among travellers to carry bundles of dry wood to light fires.

Arin chose a few thick sticks and stacked them together. After a few tries the sparks resulting from hitting the steel on the flint succesfully lighted a flame. The small flickering flame spread on the dry wood and became a bonfire. Its light illuminated the dark sorroundings with its gentle glow , casting the shadows beyond its barries.

Arin could feel the warmth spreading from the fire as he roasted his hands and limbs to warm them up as well. The next instant a chill invaded his heart as he felt a pair of eyes watching him. He swung his head around and found a vague figure of an animal leisurely watching him. Instinctively he avoided gazing into its eyes as he recognised it. It was none other than the silver fox from before.

The fox took a few steps forward allowing the vague outline to become clearer. The light from the fire revealed its beautifull silver coat and mesmerising eyes. As the fox casually advanced, Arin retreated by few steps. There was a slight trauma from before that instilled fear in him.

Once again Arin could feel the mocking gaze of the fox making him confused. How could he feel such humane feelings from an animal.

Suprisingly the fox halted its advance towards hima nd instead started to walk past him as if it had not seen him. Arin watched its actions foolishly until it turned its head and let out a low growl.

It took Arin a few moments to realise that it wanted him to follow. Instantly a voice urged him vehemently to disobey. The fox was obviously dangerous and he would be risking his life by following it. Yet another voice advised him that this was the whole reason for setting out on a journey. He yearned for an opportunity to encounter the magical stuff from his dreams.

The voices cotinued to argue fiercely he gritted his teeth and decided to follow it. If he was supposed to die here than this was his fate and noting could change it. Quickly packing his belongings into his baggage and placing it securely on his back. He picked up the longest stick in the bonfire to serve as a torch and put out the rest. He was determined to face whatever challanges that lay ahead.