“Find me a new torch with a heavier head,” Fordo said, still holding Carth back. Everyone but Fordo stood back as Kira pulled a fresh torch from his pack and handed it to him. Fordo traded his for the heavy and set it alight with a sizzling crack. Taking a deep breath, he wound up as far back as he could and launched the torch whirling end over end into the darkness.
Their eyes all widened at how far it flew, and how far it fell. Its brief trail of light revealed a vast open cavern littered with stalactites tall and thick as trees. Slime shimmered on everything touched by torchlight. There was no sign of a ceiling. The flame finally landed, so far that they couldn’t hear the collision.
“That’s gotta be a sixty yard throw,” Jacks said to himself. Fordo blinked the fear from his eyes before turning back to his friends. He reached his hand out to Kira, who returned his original torch. Fordo traced the edge of the drop with the light and tossed it over the edge, revealing not the sheer jagged cliff he imagined, but a smooth steep bank. The torch rolled to a stop at the bottom, it couldn’t be more than a thirty foot slope. No one spoke, maybe hoping if they don’t acknowledge that they have to go down there, then maybe they won’t.
Fordo cleared his throat and gripped the head of his hammer to keep his hands from shaking. “How many more torches do we have?” He asked, his friends quickly rifling through their bags and counting.
“Fifteen, altogether,” Jacks replied. Not enough.
Fordo took another deep breath. “That’s plenty,” He said, tapping his hammer, “Kira, light two and secure them on either side of this opening. I wanna be able to see the way home at all times. Jacks, Benji, hammer some stakes back from the ledge a bit to get a rope secure. Carth, get some knots in the rope, give us some grip in this goo, and check every inch of it, make sure it’s not gonna break on us when we need it. We’re gonna go down there, we’re gonna find this girl, and we’re never going into another fucking cave ever again. Prime?”
“Prime…”
———————————————————————————————————————————————————-
A Fine Art Giclee Print on Hahnemühle Photorag paper
Dimensions: Sized to fit within a 13in X 19in frame
W - 17.9 in
H - 13 in
———————————————————————————————————————————————————-
Digitally Painted by Nolan Lu
“Find me a new torch with a heavier head,” Fordo said, still holding Carth back. Everyone but Fordo stood back as Kira pulled a fresh torch from his pack and handed it to him. Fordo traded his for the heavy and set it alight with a sizzling crack. Taking a deep breath, he wound up as far back as he could and launched the torch whirling end over end into the darkness.
Their eyes all widened at how far it flew, and how far it fell. Its brief trail of light revealed a vast open cavern littered with stalactites tall and thick as trees. Slime shimmered on everything touched by torchlight. There was no sign of a ceiling. The flame finally landed, so far that they couldn’t hear the collision.
“That’s gotta be a sixty yard throw,” Jacks said to himself. Fordo blinked the fear from his eyes before turning back to his friends. He reached his hand out to Kira, who returned his original torch. Fordo traced the edge of the drop with the light and tossed it over the edge, revealing not the sheer jagged cliff he imagined, but a smooth steep bank. The torch rolled to a stop at the bottom, it couldn’t be more than a thirty foot slope. No one spoke, maybe hoping if they don’t acknowledge that they have to go down there, then maybe they won’t.
Fordo cleared his throat and gripped the head of his hammer to keep his hands from shaking. “How many more torches do we have?” He asked, his friends quickly rifling through their bags and counting.
“Fifteen, altogether,” Jacks replied. Not enough.
Fordo took another deep breath. “That’s plenty,” He said, tapping his hammer, “Kira, light two and secure them on either side of this opening. I wanna be able to see the way home at all times. Jacks, Benji, hammer some stakes back from the ledge a bit to get a rope secure. Carth, get some knots in the rope, give us some grip in this goo, and check every inch of it, make sure it’s not gonna break on us when we need it. We’re gonna go down there, we’re gonna find this girl, and we’re never going into another fucking cave ever again. Prime?”
“Prime…”
———————————————————————————————————————————————————-
A Fine Art Giclee Print on Hahnemühle Photorag paper
Dimensions: Sized to fit within a 13in X 19in frame
W - 17.9 in
H - 13 in
———————————————————————————————————————————————————-
Digitally Painted by Nolan Lu
