Chapter Nine: Amber,Water, And Fire

Amber slid to the ground breathing heavily. The ambush had been set perfectly. The enemy had known the path they were taking, known that they had a flat lander with them, and knowing this they had chosen carefully the spot to wait. Anyone from outside the mountains would require rest at this point in the trail, it was the last place that a flat lander could sleep without interruption. But how had they known, that was the question that kept coming back to her.
No one from home new where Amber was headed and none of the traders did either. There was only one possibility. Someone in their group had betrayed them.
Amber peeked out of the cave, back the way she had come but there was no one there.
She had other problems too. Even if she could figure out who had betrayed them how would she find the others.
Darrow would be easiest to find. Since she had made the bond with him she had been able to feel his distance from her. Something about that bothered her. Naturally she had a bond with her father and her mother but nether of those bonds touched the surface of the bond she had with Darrow. When she had touched his mind it had accepted her like she was a part of him that had gone on a walk and was now home. She wondered on that. When she was little had they bonded? Amber couldn't remember.
The cave was large. Amber gazed into the darkness trying to locate where it ended,or if the cave had an end a all. The mountains where pocketed with tunnels that created a maze from one end of them to the the other. Long ago the people of the mountains used these tunnels as there home, some say that there was a city in the mountains hidden from those on the surface. In more recent times the tunnels had been used to hide supply's in-case of marauders.
Amber crawled along the cave floor careful to feel in front of her before putting any weight down. Afraid to alert any pursuers of her presence she stayed silent resisting the urge to call forth the stones comforting light. Time passed slowly in the darkness, light from the caves mouth disappeared after a few turns in the tunnel. Amber stopped, leaning against the tunnels wall she closed her eyes. No change, eyes open or closed she saw nothing. Clutching the pendant that hung around her neck she sang. The elders warned children never to sing when you are inside a mountain; To many things could happen.

"I am the land that calls the sea," Amber felt the stones warmth against her skin but kept her eyes closed. "I am the distant night," warmth spread from the center of her palm up her arm. "I am the love that waits for thee, and I am not pain but fright. I lost my way and found a friend hidden among the trees, awaiting the day that I would come and save not him but me...”