The underground stream

"The spell should last a couple of days. Hopefully that's longer than you'll need it for." Adele said.

We'll be in a fair bit of trouble if it's not. Fred thought ruefully. With only his own meager water and food supply, they wouldn't last long down here. His squires had extra provisions with the horses, assuming they weren't buried by a rockslide. But even if they were alright, Fred had no way of knowing where they would find an exit (if they found one at all) They could emerge on the wrong side of the mountain altogether, or too far away to be seen by the squires at any rate. Then they would face the challenge of trudging out of the valley on foot.

The party spent the next several hours picking their way through the caves, looking for an exit. To Fred, it seemed they were going in the wrong direction - deeper in, rather than towards the surface. It was almost impossible to keep track in these narrow, winding passageways, but it seemed like every time they turned toward the direction that Fred thought the outside might be, they hit a dead end or were eventually turned around. Everyone was exhausted, and the girls were shivering. These caves had had a natural heat when Fred had entered. Now, it seemed to have fully dissipated.

Finally, as they came upon a larger, open chamber, they caught a break. There was an unmistakable sound of running water. Adele increased the power of her witch-light, and it floated to the center of the chamber, illuminating it much as the orb of light in Belboz's chamber had done. An underground stream! Fred and the others stumbled forward and drank their fill of the cool, refreshing water. Adele then used another useful magical skill - creating a nice, warm fire, without the need for kindling or other fuel to keep it burning. Fred shared his meager ration of hardtack and dried meat amongst them. Alone, it was supposed to have lasted him a week. Now, it was almost gone.

"We should rest for a couple of hours." Adele said. "Maybe try to get some sleep. We can resume afterwards."

"I'll keep watch." Fred said, yawning.

"No, let me do it. You're exhausted, Fred." Astra said. "Besides, I don't think I could get much sleep anyway."

"I...very well." Fred conceded, too tired to argue. He sat down by the fire, his back propped up against the rock wall, and was asleep in seconds. Princess Exotica came to sit beside him, resting her head on his shoulder and eventually wrapping her arms around his torso before falling asleep herself. On the other side of fire, Matthias and Adele were ensconced in a similar embrace.

Astra sighed, leaning against the cave wall. Exotica isn't hiding her affections for Fred very well. I suppose it's understandable, the girl has probably led a completely sheltered life and is looking to him as a savior.

It wasn't as though she was jealous, though she did feel a little left out. The truth was she wasn't really all that tired. Early on, she had gauged that she was in the best physical shape of any of them, although Fred was no slouch himself. Plus, she was still coming to grips with what had happened to her. Having to face the humiliation when they had eaten, and she had needed to be fed by hand, just drove it home further. On top of that, there was the added point that she had been in stasis 50 years and didn't know what kind of welcome to expect at home. She wasn't planning on challenging her niece for the throne, and would have been content to become a part of her royal guard. But, if this accursed spell was still in place, could she do even that?

1. The party awakens after a couple of hours. In order to continue on, they must now ford the stream. It didn't look very wide, deep, or fast, but looks can be deceiving.
2. Astra, staring out onto the undrground stream, thinks she sees something move in the water.
3. Elsewhere, having slain Minestus and taken in his dragon-flame, the now uber-powerful Elaine ponders her next move.

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