Book 5: Chapter 24 — Arachleon Hunter (2)
Aurelia was barely winded, so Noah elected to hurry on to the next encounter and trust his mana recovery to make progress while they moved. He was almost entirely healed already, so why delay?
It was only a few minutes down the broad sloped ledge before it abruptly split into an upward stair and a narrow path that wound along the canyon wall.
“I suppose it’s that one?” Noah asked without much hope.
“It is,” Zax said. "That passage there is the entrance to the cavern system that leads deeper into the Valley."
The path was maybe three feet wide, with a sheer drop on one side that disappeared into absolute darkness. The rock looked stable enough, but in Death Valley, looks meant nothing.
"Single file," Noah suggested. "I'll stand at the front. Since I'm the one with Abyssal Awareness, if anything's waiting for us on that path, I'll sense it first. Aurelia, you've got rear guard."
Zax nodded approvingly. “We will follow behind you, then Aurelia. And do try not to fall. The creatures at the bottom of this particular drop are... unpleasant."
"More unpleasant than the arachleons?" Aurelia asked.
"The arachleons are nothing. What lives at the bottom of this chasm is unpleasant with a capital U."