Lauren--Part Forty-Five

Splog # 159

Forty-Five

   Lauren stepped through the door onto the ring outside and found the wind cold on her bare arms and legs. She looked to her right at the distant mountains, where the red glow now stood out more clearly in the darkness. There also lit up, at her feet, one of the glowing rings that had brought her to the tower. She wondered why it hadn't appeared before. She shivered a little and wasn't sure if she should finish the trip across the plain now, when it seemed there was a storm coming on. But if she didn't go now, and waited until the weather cleared, maybe the ring wouldn't light up again. She was getting colder and colder, the wind whipping at her as she tried to make up her mind. She moved back into the tower for a momentary shelter. "If I go as quickly as I can, it shouldn't take too long to cross the rest of the way, and there may be shelter near the wall. And once I start moving, that should help me to keep warm." Having pretty much made her decision, she turned back to the doorway, rubbing her arms to prepare herself for the cold wind. In the dim light, she caught sight of something hanging on the wall just to the right of the doorway, moving slightly in the stray gusts that managed to find their way inside. She crossed to it and reached for it with both hands, hoping it was something she could wrap around her. To her delight, she found that that was its purpose. It was a warm gray cloak with a hood and, enclosing herself inside of it, she found it to be a perfect fit, falling nearly to her ankles but not encumbering her feet. She went out the door without hesitation and, just as she was about to step onto the new ring of light, a sound touched her ear faintly. It seemed to be riding on the wind from a great distance. She looked behind her torn by conflicting emotions. She had to go toward the mountains but she thought for a moment that she'd heard the sound of barking coming from the opposite direction. She held her breath and listened with all her might. But there was no further sound. She looked down and the ring to her right flickered ever so slightly. There was no ring to her left so she didn't dare go back that way. If Austin was back there, she reasoned to herself, he'd quickly catch up to her. Of course he would! He knew this place so much better than she did. She stepped onto the glowing ring and for a brief instant her heart sank when another didn't appear at once. But it was only a momentary pause and then the next one lit up. She moved to it and found that it wasn't going to be as smooth a walk as when she'd crossed to the tower. The rings didn't appear as quickly as they had during her previous journey on them. When she stepped on one, there was usually a pause of about a second before the next one came alight. In the gusty wind, she found that she had to take care or she might lose her balance standing on only one foot. She wrapped the cloak tightly about her and moved jerkily along, taking a step and then, in the brief pause, almost willing the next ring to light up. She found these rings growing fainter as she moved along and wondered if it was because it was so dark now. The rings would occasionally flicker slightly and she hoped they never went out when someone was stepping on them. She looked up from time to time and saw that the distance she had to travel was slowly diminishing, though in the windy darkness it wasn't very easy to make out anything. This was true when she glanced back to the stone tower, also. It appeared as a dark smudge against the gray clouds. The rings were getting more and more faint and flickering steadily when, finally, she reached a point where the next ring didn't appear at all. She stood on one foot, waiting, while the wind whipped around her. After about ten seconds, a ring slowly came to life two steps ahead and she stretched her leg over the empty space and slowly continued on. Two more times this repeated, and it became a source of uneasiness as Lauren wondered how she'd manage if two or even three rings in a row failed to light.