The way forward is, ironically, not. It leads us in tight twisting bends, taking us first one direction, then another, at times growing so narrow that we scrape our backs and bellies against the stone as we squeeze through. Our situation feels hopeless to me; I can’t imagine how we’ll ever get out of the cave, but Delkash continues silent. Witnessing. Whatever that means.

The passage widens significantly at one point, revealing another black chasm some fifteen feet across. Another natural bridge spans it, but this bridge looks significantly worse for wear than the other. Great chunks have fallen from the bottom of it, leaving narrow spans no thicker than my forearm, and the surface of the bridge looks broken and gravelly.

The decrepit appearance of the bridge brings to mind the look of the pillars and arch that recently collapsed on us, and I don’t trust it at all. But fifteen feet is too far for me to jump, and I can’t see anything on the far side for a rope to attach to. There are some boulders, though. Maybe if I tie the rope to my staff and toss it over, I can anchor the staff between a couple of them?

I hand the torch to Delkash, set my pack down and pull the rope from it. It’s plenty long—nearly fifty feet—and easily supple enough to tie into a knot around the middle of my staff. I tie the other end of the rope around my waist, to ensure the entire thing won’t fall into the abyss if I miss, and then I heft the staff, measuring. There are two small boulders on the other side that seem like they might be close enough together to hold my staff between them.

With a grunt, I heave the staff—and rope—across the chasm, where it lands with a mighty clatter. I missed the rocks, though, so I pull the staff back with the rope and try it again. And again. And again. On the fourth try I manage to land the staff between the rocks, exactly as I had hoped, and Rigi gives a little hoot of pleasure, mimicking my frame of mind.

I pull gently on the rope, anchoring the staff, and then pull harder. It seems secure enough… I pull harder, then lean back and put all of my weight on it.

For one glorious moment it seems like it will hold…and then the smaller of the two boulders rocks, tips, and rolls forward into the chasm. It falls without so much as a whisper, and it is many long seconds before we hear a muted splash far, far below.

Without the second rock to anchor the staff, my plan is impossible. Disheartened, I pull the staff back across, untie the rope, and stow it in my pack. I look up at Delkash.

“I think we’ll have to try the bridge after all,” I say. “Maybe if we sprint across it? If we keep ourselves light on our feet, and move quickly, perhaps it’ll hold.”

Delkash nods. “Sounds reasonable.”

I pull my pack back onto my shoulder, retrieve my torch from Delkash, and take a deep breath. “Here goes.”

I back up as far as I can to give myself a running start, and then sprint toward the bridge. Rigi leaps from my shoulder with an angry hoot and flies alongside me. I’m running on the balls of my feet, trying to cushion each step with my knees, making as little impact on the ground as I can. I’m at my maximum speed by the time I reach the bridge, and in seconds I’m on the other side. Looking back, I can see bits of rock and dust falling from the bridge into the darkness below. Rigi resumes his perch on my shoulder.

Panting, I look to Delkash. “Your turn,” I say.

He nods and follows my lead, backing up before sprinting. I can see immediately that he’s not as light on his feet as I am, perhaps not as used to running as me. Still, he’s running at a good clip when he reaches the bridge and starts across it.

He’s halfway across and I’m starting to feel like I was worried about nothing, when there is an echoing pop and crack. I see a great portion of the bridge start to fall from the bottom of it, followed by more and more. Delkash continues his sprint, reaching the other side before my mind can do more than register the bridge’s collapse.

He turns to look, panting, and we both stare as the bridge breaks apart completely and plummets into the chasm. There is silence for several seconds before we hear the splashes from far below.

I take a deep breath, taking stock of our situation. “We couldn’t really have gone back that way, anyway,” I say. “At least we both made it across.”

Delkash nods silently.

I adjust my pack on my shoulder and turn to face the darkness of the passage as it continues into the rock. “Let’s go.”

I step into the tunnel and immediately feel a section of stone beneath my feet depress slightly, and hear a loud click that echoes in the tunnel. Bewildered, I pause for a moment before hearing the groan of tons of rock above me.

“Pressure plate,” says Delkash behind me. “Run!”

I run.

It’s the cave-in all over again, the crashing, tumbling chaos behind us and the billowing dust and grit surrounding us. I’m running, bumping into the walls as they turn and twist, scrabbling over boulders. I hear a crack like the earth splitting in half and feel something enormous strike my left arm. I cry out in pain, but continue running.

Finally, an eternity later, the rumbling subsides and I emerge from the dust cloud choking, coughing, and barely holding on to the torch. I still have my pack, and Rigi somehow managed to hold onto my shoulder, but my left arm feels like it is on fire. I look down at it and see the leather sleeve of my tunic scraped away, my blood flowing freely down my arm and dripping off my fingers to the dusty floor.

I hear footsteps behind me, and look up to see Delkash emerge from the dust as well. I can’t imagine how he survived that, but he’s there.

He sees my bleeding arm. “Is it bad?” he asks.

I clench the fingers of my left hand into a fist and wince. I force myself to wiggle them. “I think it looks worse than it is,” I say. I set my pack down and pull out a the linen I used to cover my mouth in the mushroom cavern, what seems like forever ago. I fold it over a few times and then wrap it over the scrape in my arm, wincing at the pressure. Delkash comes and helps tie the makeshift bandage in place.

“I’ll be okay,” I say, climbing to my feet. “Assuming we’re able to get out of this place eventually. Shall we—”

My mouth drops open as my Sight reveals our surroundings.