As I began to get nervous, I spotted some air bubbles' and sighed with relief at the appearance of life. There, from the depths' of the water, came the fast rising figure of Corcoran. As he surfaced, he looked at me, with trembling lips, moving next to the water's ledge. " I found the inner dimensions of the city ". He said, breathless, as his eyes' wondered back and forth, in a slight daze. " I think the oxygen must have gone to your head ". I said to him, as I helped him out of the water. I pulled him right back onto the sand and covered him with it, to dry him off.

Fledgling came over and helped pull Corcoran's, weak heavy body, into a seated position. " Tell me what you saw ?." He said, crouching down, looking straight into Corcoran's face.

" I saw the heart of the city, a maze of buildings', interloping into one another, thorny rose bushes', trees' of all shapes' and sizes'. I saw animals' of strange appearances' and flying glows' of light, they must have been fairlits'. I have heard of them before from the people of Abdon. They live in small holes' in the walls' of caves' and build their homes' inside them. The fairlits' are kind and helpful, as the legend has it, but if anyone angers' them, they want think twice of tying you up and torturing you with their pin swords'. I haven't seem them before this day and always' doubted their existence. The maze of buildings' will be hard to get through, the structure is complicated and we might get lost or even discovered, so we will have to be careful. I have heard that the people of ' Ryon ' are ferocious. You might be able to tell us more about them, what do you say, Fledgling ?."

52.

As he pulled himself up, out of the water, sliding onto the hard surface of land, he was faced with the most mesmerising, magnificent city that he had ever seen. More astonishing than the city of Abdon, gigantic in size, he layed there for a few seconds', before he slid himself over to the nearest wall . He studied his new environment, looking for his next move into the city.

After studying the city for a few minutes', he decided it was time to go back for the others'. He slid himself back into the cold water and took two deep gasps' of air, before diving gently into the
the semi darkness of the illusive water.

" Where is he, I hope he's OK ". I said to Fledgling, who appeared to be unconcerned at the prospects' of Corcoran's return. " He's been gone too long, I don't like it ". I said, as I stood over the waters' edge, looking into the shadowy, rippling depths' of transparency. " Maybe one of us should go to look for him, he could be stuck down there, somewhere ". I said, looking across to Fledgling, he looked back at me and just shrugged his shoulders', mouth turning downwards'. I started to get the distinct feeling that Fledgling wasn't too interested in mine or Corcoran's fate. " Umm " . I said, underneath my breath. Questioning his reasons' for joining us......

51.

Corcoran was swimming fast against the current of the water, falling from above, the force of the swirling water was hard for him to push against and he struggled to get into the tunnel.

As he swam deeper into the rocky cave, the light faded fast from in front of him, until he was swimming in complete darkness. Feeling scared and unable to breathe, he quickened his pace, he couldn't go back now, it was too far for him to make it. He would surly die before reaching the others'.

He swam around a curve and saw in front of him a small flicker of light, shinning through the cave's passage. Swimming faster and with more haste, he reached the opening of the next water chamber and headed straight for the top, releasing the last bits of air from his lungs' as he reached the surface. Face first out of the water, mouth wide open, he inhaled as hard as he could, to get as much air into his body. Breathing hard, he moved to the closest edge of the wall. The edge was higher than the last chamber, he just about managed to reach his fingers' into some small holes' that lined the walls' edge. Corcoran could hear the bustle of life as he could hear people talking faintly.

Corcoran wasn't sure what to do next, he pulled himself up against the wall and strained himself to see over the ledge.

50.

Corcoran, stamped out the fire, collected the cooking pieces' and put them in his sack. He walked over to the water pool , knelt down and touched it with his hands, rubbing the cold water over his body to get used the feel of the cold next to his skin. " Its' time to move ". He said, as he turned his head towards me. " I will dive down to see if there is a way out, like you said, there must be an entrance down there somewhere ". Then with that, he stood at the edge of the water and lowered himself into it, easily. He rested on the side for a while before he edged himself down into the clear blue of the pool. I saw his legs', his toes' and then he was gone.

Corcoran swam down into the depths of the water, hunting for a way out . The water was misty and very cold, he felt himself panic and had to resurface. He swam over to the ledge and leaned against it. " I cant see much, its very deep and might take a while to find ". He turned away again and was gone. Again, he swam down, further this time than before, staying close to the wall, he came to a rocky cave entrance, the bubbles of air filtering from his lips' he couldn't venture into it without resurfacing. Coming up fast against the edge of the rocky pool, he resurfaced with exhaustion and gasping for air. Leaning against the edge, with his head down, breathing hard, he looked at me, still panting, he tried to speak. " I found it, its' straight below me, I will try my hardest to get as far as I can, this time ".

" Are you sure you want to go , you don't want one of us to go instead ". I said, as I looked at his shivering body. He nodded his head to say no, he brushed his hair back away from his face and with that he was gone again.

" You should have gone, why didn't you volunteer ?. " I gave Fledgling a funny look as he glared at me, across the semi circle, of sandy floor. "

49.

As I woke, I found Fledgling standing over me with his eyes' popping out, glaring down at me. I couldn't see him so well, I had to rub my eyes', to clear the haze. I looked up at him from where I was laying down, I could hear Corcoran snoozing as I continued to sit up. I don't think I slept that long, the fire was still smouldering in the corner. I spoke first, bring myself out of the uncomfortable situation I found myself in. " Have you slept yet ". I asked him, as he continued to stand over me. I backed away a little, shuffling more towards Corcoran but not so much as for Fledgling to notice. He nodded his head in a sidewards motion as to say no. " So what have you done then ". I asked him, as he stood glaring towards me.

Fledgling's head fell slowly to his chest, as he turned away from me. " What is it that you wish to know ". He said, his voice became harsh in response. Again, I decided it was best to ignore him and leave the questioning until later. I stood up and walked over to where Corcoran had fallen asleep. I reached down gently to tap him on his shoulder, he came around to my gentle touch. I didn't say anything to him as he opened his eyes', in full view of me. I looked at him and bent down further so that he could see my eyes', I gave him a signal, so that he knew something wasn't right with Fledgling.

Corcoran sat up and yawned, as he brushed the smokey air away from his face, coughing a little from the dust that was rising from the fire. He put his hand up towards his mouth as his coughing continued. " Are you feeling OK ". I asked him, as his arms were pushing away more of the smouldering fire. " I'm fine, its just the ash, it gets to my chest sometimes' ". He said, as he stood up.

48.

As I sat there, smelling the roasting rat, I heard the rumbles' from my tummy. The hunger pains' got the better of me. I was the weaker of my two companions'. " Eat first ." Corcoran said, as he handed the wooden stake to me, of what appeared to be more bone than meat. I took it with slight hesitation, I had to shut my eyes' as I crunched into it, the best I could. I slowly opened my eyes to find Corcoran and Fledgling staring at me with their mouths' wide open , waiting for me to pass over the freshly cooked food.

I took three small bites', but the taste was too intense for me to handle, so I passed it over to Fledgling. Fledgling grabbed it with haste and shuffled backwards to the edge of one of the protruding boulders'. He looked at Corcoran, as he gulped down the bits' of remaining meat.

" Pass it on, don't eat all of it, Corcoran needs to eat as well ". I said, as he continued to eat, paying no attention to my instructions'. " Please Fledgling, hand over the food ". I said, but he just continued to eat, staring at me in a mad kind of way. I thought it best just to ignore him and I proceeded to lay down on my side ready to sleep again.

The fire was still burning and I could see Corcoran setting down the net for the next meal, if that's what you would call it. I gathered my arms up towards my chest and squeezed as hard as I could to keep myself warm and I remember just drifting into a not so comfortable sleep.

47.

The rat was middle in size and wriggling frantic, from inside the small net, dangling from Corcoran's hand. " I will catch another before the night is out. " He said. Placing the net down onto the sand. The rat was bouncing around all over the place, panic stricken in his own fate.

Corcoran reached into his sack and pulled out a small cooking set, contrived of a small wooden stake and a two piece wooden tripod stand. He set it up, firmly in the ground. He took the netted rat and broke its neck with a clean break. Crunch, and crack, I cringed in disgust, mouth facing downwardly, he didn't expect me to eat such a thing, I remembered thinking to myself, as he continued to open the net, pulling the rat out by the tail.


He walked over to the water pool, with his back facing towards me, I couldn't see what he was doing, but when he returned, he returned with a nicely presented piece of meat, ready for the stake. He took hold of the pointed sick and pierced it from the top, placing it down onto the tripod stand, he began to cook. The smell was enough to make me sick, after not eating a good cooked meal in a while, I felt faint. Fledgeling said, " It smells great, cant wait to eat it. " A shudder ran down my body. " Awe, I don't know if I can eat that, it doesn't look so great. " In a not so, impressed voice.

46.