Rush - A Short Stop

Mikhail glanced around at his surroundings. The dense forest was a huge contrast to the empty cavern filled with stalactites and stalagmites.

The residual heat from the cavern of lava had long dissipated only to be replaced by the humid weather in the forest after the heavy thunderstorms. Even that seemed like a distant dream as the dark skies clad with lightning and thunder was now replaced by a cloudless sky where the sun shone with great brilliance, peeking through the dense foliage.

Mikhail kept to himself as he pondered about how they were to meet up with Susie and what kind of transport they would use to head back to town. The horse he had rode on during their trip to this location had been disconcerted by the thunder and had ran off, leaving Mikhail to fend for himself.

As he followed blindly after the guide, with the sound of branches crunching beneath their soles being his lead, he snapped back to attention when the guide stopped dead in their tracks. A