I landed hard in water,slipped, and in falling, forced myself to roll to my left away from the waterfall. My pack kept me from rolling completely over, but I managed to scramble on all fours farther into the cave. The floor rose slightly and I reached relatively dry footing and stood up and looked about. There was enough light comeing through the opening in spite of the curtain of water to see clearly and the cave seemed to be fairly deep. The back was all in darkness,and I wondered how far it went.

A noise at the entrance alerted me and I called out to Jeff that I had got in safely. I didn't know if he would get in or not and wasn't about to stretch out a hand to help in the event that he couldn't manage alone. The footing was very insecure and I wasn't going to fall over the edge if I could help it. A moment later he came through and landed as I had, rolling toward the back of the cave. He scrambled to better footing as I had and standing up, looked about.

"So, where's that treasure?" he asked

"I have no idea. All I heard was that it was hidden behind a waterfall, and this is the only one I've found so far that you could get behind."

"Well let's get a move on then." He said. "I don't want to have to spend a night in this place. How deep do you think this cave goes?"

"Your guess is as good as mine at this point. It's not like I've been here before, you know." I answered. I was getting very annoyed at him. I hoped he would go off on his own and leave me to explore by myself, but no such luck.

I picked up a small rock that was lying nearby and threw it towards the back of the cave. We heard it land a little distance away and roll farther yet, so the cave did go farther than we could see in the dim light. There was all kinds of stuff littering the floor, that had been caught in the waterfall and had somehow been thrown in on its way by or had snagged on the lip of the cave. As our eyes grew accustomed to the light, I could see that the floor levelled off and was even a little sandy. I dumped my pack down, and sat on it to take stock of what to do next. I wasn't about to go off into the darkness without some kind of light and I hesitated to use up the batteries on my flashlight if I didn't have to. There were sticks and pieces of drift wood of varying sizes and I started to collect some and put them in a pile.

"What's that for?" Jeff demanded. "It looks like you're planning to stay here or something!"

Well, it's not a bad idea you know. It's dry and we can light a fire and I thought we'd use some of these sticks for flares."

"I've got a flashlight." he said. "I'll take one of them for protection, though."

I wondered what he thought he was going to protect himself from. I didn't suppose there were any animals in here, unless there was a way in from the mountain, and if the place was protected by magic, a stick wasn't going to do much good. You never knew though, and I chose a stout one for myself. There were some smaller ones that would make good torches and I set those aside as well. I laid out a fire pit using stones that had fallen from the wall. Before I went anywhere, I wanted a cup of tea and a rest. Now that I was here, the urgency seemed to have abated. I wondered if that was part of the warding, but after the climb and the jump into the unknown, I really did need to rest.

The tea tasted lovely and refreshing, and I couldn't help notice that though Jeff was in an awful hurry to find whatever it was he thought I was going for, he didn't mind joining me for a cup. I washed out the mugs, and turned to find him swishing about with the stick. Dodging here and there just out of range was Miraldis in dragonfly form, and I let out a yell.

"What are you doing, Jeff? Let the thing alone! It isn't harming anything and probably lives in here."

"It was buzzing around my head." he answered. "It was like it was trying to scare me or something!"

"What... a dragonfly?? They don't even bite! Why not save it for something bigger than an insect!"

He shot me a look that could have killed, and I gave him one right back. I really did want to talk to Miraldis. Since Jeff had joined us, we had had no time for any sort of discussion other than a hurried whisper whenever I went to wash dishes or relieve myself. I needed to know if he knew anything about what to expect in this cave, or if he might even know where the eggs were now that we were here. I needed to know if he had any kind of plan for retreiving the eggs if we did find them, and if he had any idea what might be guarding them. With Jeff sticking so close I couldn't even have a whisper of conversation.

"Why don't you take a torch and look about some while I tidy up here." I suggested. "At least see if there is more than one way in or other rooms."

"No way I'm leaving you here alone. The way I figure it is you know where you're going and you just want me out of the way while you collect the treasure and get out without me." he laughed. "Don't think you'll get rid of me that easily. I don't plan to let you out of sight."

I shrugged. What could I do but go ahead as though that was always the plan. I suspected that Miraldis could make himself known if he had anything important to say. He had spoken through my mind when we were training so long ago back home and several times since when there were too many people about to change to dragon form. I put on my pack, and stuck one of the sticks I'd chosen for torches into the fire, and waited until it was flaming nicely. Without a look at Jeff, I set off carefully towards the back of the cave. I wasn't afraid exactly, but I wasn't that anxious to set out into the dark. I didn't plan to go too far at first, just get a feel for what might lie ahead, and then come back to the entrance or near it for the night. It was already into the afternoon and while darkness outside wasn't going to matter much inside, I would feel a lot better doing this during the day.

The walls of the cave were damp and had mossy bits hanging down. As I went farther from the light, the moss got less and less and then not at all. I heard a little noise above the snapping of the torch and holding the light up saw tiny red pin-points of light winking in the darkness. There was a rustling and a flurry of wings and I ducked with a little scream. Bats!!!! I hadn't thought of them. I wasn't afraid of them singly, but there were hundreds of them here and they were letting go and flying about. I heard Jeff yell behind me and heard him slashing about with his torch, and felt sorry for any of the bats that got in the way of the flames. After all, they were the ones being invaded and hadn't asked for us to disturb them. I lay down on the ground,which was a little crunchy and smelly with their castings, and let them fly over me on their way towards the entrance. I supposed that it wouldn't hurt them to go out a bit earlier than usual and it would leave the cave empty for us. The stream of bats finally let up and I climbed to my feet. Jeff came towards me and I noticed a few scrapes and cuts on his face and arms. He must have run into the walls trying to get away from the bats. Too bad for him .... I couldn't feel sorry for him even a little bit.

We went on and came to a place where the cave seemed to separate into two paths. After a bit of discussion we decided that Jeff would stay at the divide and I would go a short way down the right-hand path and see what lay ahead. I would count fifty paces and then return and do the same in the other direction. I thought he was too eager to have me go ahead, but didn't bother to say anything. Fifty paces later and nothing to see but more darkness, I turned to go back and was surprised and a little shaken not to be able to see Jeff's torch. I called out and got an answer and a moment later came round a bit of corner to the divide again. I hadn't realized that the passage had a turn in it and thought of how easy it would be to get properly lost. I was glad that I had decided to just go a short distance today, and resolved to bring a lot more torches with me the next day. The flash light would be for emergencies only.

The other passage seemed to slope slightly as I went down it, and in a couple of places I found myself holding onto the walls to keep from slipping. The footing was dry, but pebbles and small stones from the walls and ceilings rolled underfoot. It was harder going than the other passage and I had made up my mind to go the other way in the morning, when I felt a tiny flutter by my face, and Miraldis' tiny voice in my ear.

"Thiss Iss Definitely The Way! Dosst Thou Feel The Wardss? They Are Mosst Sstrong In Thiss Passsage. The Other Passsage Had Very Little Warding."

I realized that he was entirely right and stopped. This might be the only chance to chat and I couldn't pass it up. I sorely missed his company, and it was lovely to be able to talk to him again, even if only for a few minutes. I shook my head trying to stop the buzzing in my ears. I had noticed it earlier,when we first got into the cave, but hadn't thought too much about it since. Perhaps it was because the buzzing had been quite faint for so long ...... even before I had come to the waterfall, and I had become accustommed to it. Now, however, it was getting fairly loud and irritating, and while it didn't cause any pain, there was a threshold there that wasn't far off.

"I don't want to go on farther tonight, Miraldis. I thought we might spend the night back at the mouth of the cave and try in the morning after a good sleep."

"That Iss A Good Plan. I Do Not At All Like Thiss Man Who Hass Come With You. He Iss Not A Good Companion. He Iss Not Reliable. I Do Not Think He Will Be Welcome Where We Sshall Be Going."

"I couldn't agree more." I said. "However, I am stuck with him. I'll do the best I can to head him off and,if I can, will not allow him to get to the eggs. If you can fly a little ahead, and keep me advised on what is there, perhaps I can keep him from finding them when we are closer. I don't know what else to do for now. He's determined that I have a plan and won't easily be distracted from following. I think the best thing is to go on and take the first oppotunity to leave him behind."

Jeff yelled behind me just then, and with a few final words to Miraldis, I turned to go back. It was hard going and for a bit I wondered if I would get back. Again, I was surprised by the distance I had come. Jeff was mad when I rejoined him and accused me of trying to get the treasure without him. I thought that if he was that worried he would have come after me, but didn't say anything. He didn't like the idea of going back to the entrance for the night, but I was adamant and told him that anyway, we would need a whole lot more torches than we had today and that I was too tired to do any more this day. I didn't tell him anything about the passage and that it would be a bit of a climb down. Let him find out in the morning and make his own way. Maybe he would find it too hard and give up. Fat chance!! On the way back to the entrance, I tried to persuade him to go one way in the morning while I went the other, but he would have none of it. Whatever way I went, he was going too. One of the things I did notice was that he kept shaking his head much as I had done, and when I asked him about it he just grunted rudely and told me to mind my own business.

We made a camp, and I was glad that I had thought to bring most of my gear with me. Jeff spent the rest of the day restlessly pacing and I tried to keep busy with my sketches. I gathered a bundle of sticks for torches and saw that he was doing the same. At least he wasn't totally useless. We spent a couple of hours by the fire in small talk after the last of the day light went. I wasn't particularly interested in what he had to say, and he was mostly interested in talking about treasure. I made up a few things about what I thought the treasure might be. I'd read of gold and things being hidden in the mountains and thought that they might just as well have been hidden here as anywhere. He must have read the same stories, since he didn't seem to think what I was saying was too far fetched. Some time later, I turned in, leaving him sitting by the fire with his coffee mug. The last thing I thought of was to wonder if the bats would make much noise when they came back from their night's hunting.

I woke at first light to the sound of wings flapping above me and watched in awe as waves of bats returned to their day perches farther back in the caves. I wondered if these were the hordes that the riddle had warned of. The bats didn't seem to be in any way "ravening" though. They were just going about their daily business as far as I could see. I glanced over to where Jeff was sleeping and saw that he was cowering under his blankets, eyes wide and staring up at the waves of bats.

"They won't hurt you, you know." I had no idea why I was trying to be reassuring. Maybe I was afraid that he would try to kill them or something. He was obviously terrified of them. Well, most people are I guess. I had had a pet one a few years back when someone had damaged the poor thing's wing and it couldn't fly. I named him Arthur and fed him hamburger. He also liked peanut butter from a baby spoon and got quite tame enough to sit in my hand while he ate. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to get away, and was eventually eaten by a cat or racoon. At any rate...... the stream of bats finally stopped as they found their resting places and we got up and ate and readied for the day's trek into the mountain.

Jeff was in a foul mood and it took all my will power not to snarl back at him. We started out and when we got back to the divide and I chose the left passage he objected violently. He wanted to go the other way, and I told him to go ahead. I hoped that he would, but he didn't and having to follow me made him even more bad tempered. I suspected that the wards were working on him in much the same way they were on me. The advantage I had, was that I had been prepared for them and I had gotten used to the buzzing in my head. I wondered if he heard the same things, but when I asked him about it, he just snarled that he had a headache and to leave him alone. That was just fine with me, but I was interested in the head ache. I felt no pain..... rather it was a feeling of pressure that promised pain.....and the farther we went down the passage, the shriller the buzzing noise seemed. I was very glad that we had packed more torches. It was so dark and quite frightening to be going towards something that neither of us knew anything about.

We scrambled along for what seemed like hours but was probably not more than one at the most. The footing was bad and a few times I had slipped and grazed my knuckles on the rocks. Jeff complained continuously and I finally stopped and told him that if he didn't shut up he could go back. I'd had enough. It was scary enough for me as well, and I didn't need him moaning behind me. When we came to a slight widening of the passage, we stopped and rested. We stuck the torches in cracks in the rock and fished about in the packs for food and drink. He wanted to know how much farther we had to go and I said that if we didn't find anything in the next hour we would go back and try the other passage. I had to admit that I was starting to wonder if Miraldis had been right after all. When we set out after breakfast, I had seen him flash down the passage and knew that he was somewhere ahead of us. Since he hadn't some back, I had to assume that there was nothing dangerous and that we were still on the right track.

We finished the meal, and after repacking, started on again. As we went, I found that I was beginning to actually listen to the buzzing noises. Rather than the background noise that they had been, they were beginning to sound more high pitched. Almost like voices screaming, though there were no actual words. I asked Jeff if he could hear anything, and he snarled at me to stop trying to scare him and to get on with it. He wanted to know how far we had to go and I told him that if we didn't come upon anything pretty soon we would turn back and try the other passage instead. The passage seemed wider here and we were able to walk side by side. This was good in one way because we were able to get more light head of us with both torches together, and there was less chance of tripping over the rocks strewn on the floor of the passage.

There seemed to be a slight turn in the passage ahead and as we came around the bend, I could feel a breeze on my face. I wondered if there was an opening to the outside close by and was just about to mention that possibility to Jeff when he gave a sort of cry and dropping to his knees clapped both hands to his head. I made a grab for the torch he had dropped and instead of catching it knocked it farther away, where it fell and as it rolled,the flame went out. The wind was picking up and making the flames from my torch send shadows all down the walls of rock and in a moment my torch was also out leaving us in total blackness. I reached out for Jeff's arm but he screamed for me to let go, and I could hear him scrambling away from me. For the first time I was truly frightened and was fumbling about in my pack for the falshlight, when I heard a voice in my ear telling me to stay still.

I didn't recognize it as Miraldis voice in my fear, but did stop what I was doing and crouched down. Again the voice and to my relief, it was ,in fact, Miraldis. Tears of relief came to my eyes and I brushed them away and listened as hard as I could. I could feel his little dragonfly claws clinging to my hair near my ear and the feeling was so familiar and safe that I could have cried. The noise in my head was terrible and again I wondered if this was the "ravening hordes". There was no pain as Jeff was obviously feeling, but the pressure was great and the noise seemed to be getting shriller and louder.

"Ahead There Iss Light And The Cave For Which We Have Been Ssearching." said Miraldis in my ear. "There Iss Great Danger And The Man Cannot Be Allowed To Ssee The Eggss."

"Well, we can't leave him here, Miraldis. We'll have to take him with us and hope it will be alright." I had to assume that the wards would keep the eggs safe awhile longer, but if they kept them safe from Jeff then they must also keep them safe from me. Perhaps Miraldis would be the only one able to touch them since he was a magical creature himself.

I reached out and grabbed Jeff's arm again and he screamed and scrabbled away from me. I managed to hang on and screamed at him that there was a cave and light ahead and that we must go there. He did finally get to his feet, though still holding his head and in obvious pain. I wondered why I felt only the pressure and not the actual pain and was glad for small mercies. I had to guide him along since he was almost incoherent with fright and pain, and we made for the dim light ahead. If anything, the wind was stronger yet and we had to lean into it. Even still, we were blown back almost a step for every two we took and it seemed to take forever to go a few paces. I dug the torch stick in to give me something to brace against and finally the light ahead seemed to get stronger and closer.

The greenish glow seemed to pulse with each step and I realized that it was also pulsing to the sounds in my head. I pushed on and suddenly we were there at the mouth of the cave. Pin points of light flashed all about in a whirl making me dizzy and with a terrible screech they coalesced into a stream of green fire that came directly toward me. I let go of Jeff and he fell to the ground. I closed my eyes and stood there waiting for the fire to burn me up. My last thought was that finally I knew what was meant by "ravening hordes" and that there was no possible escape.