far he had gotten when suddenly his hand felt the top. Pulling himself up Mitch took a nervous glance around. He was greeted by a breeze of wind which he let ruffle his hair and relieve his burning skin. At the top Mitch was out of breath again; as he noticed the wolf, waiting paitently near the other end of the cliff top. Mitch approached the wolf steadily, and peered down the side of the cliff. There was a long drop; several metres below there was a string of river. Mitch stepped back, he had broken into a sweat. He turned to see the wolf padding slowly out of sight. Mitch followed it, "Wait!" He had lost track for a moment for spotted a thick grey tail slide behind a rock. The rock was to one side of the cliff top, where there was a wall of them pointing to the sky. Mitch went straight around the corner after the wolf, where there were two continuous walls of rock. He could not see the wolf, but followed the path. Mitch noticed the shadows of the walls, filling the entire ravine with their darkness. He took deep breaths as he walked, his paces slowed in the fear. As he continued, the walls merged together at the top to form an arch. The arch continued to form a dark cieling above Mitch's head, and he could feel the darkness growing around him. Mitch shivered as he noticed several hundred stalegtites waiting to sieze him in the dark. The silence in the cavern was broken every few seconds by deep, echoing drops which seemed to be falling out of nowhere. Mitch thought his own footsteps caused the drops, as he heard them boom through the silent atmosphere. He wanted to leave; to simply turn and run, heading straight back to safety, but another part of him was edging him on, telling him that there will be light on the other end of the tunnel. A call from the distance ahead reached Mitch and repeated itself across the many chambers in the cavern, "Mitch!" It was accompanied by an ear-piercing scream. Encouraged by Cascy's voice, Mitch wanted to go faster still, he was relieved to hear that his friend was still alive. Mitch tried not to imagine what was happening to him, causing him to scream. He wondered if the wolf was involved, or if he really was there to help him. Maybe both. Though he had no current aim other than to reach Cascy. The end of the tunnel was approaching as Mitch ran the last mile. He got to a large opening at the heart of the cave, with a few flimsy beams of light reaching to the ground. There were many more tunnels around the circular opening, Mitch was beginning to feel lost, and very alone. Then one of the rays of light gave a feint flicker. Mitch looked to see that the wolf was standing beneath it, eyeing him precautiously. "This way." It signaled with it's head as it began to walk. The wolf directed Mitch into the tunnel on the far left. He entered after the wolf, as it slid into the darkness, then disappeared. Mitch kept walking, his heart racing. He noticed that this was a much shorter tunnel than before, as he could already see some more light shining through from above. He entered the new secluded space, where a much bigger ray of light was showing up a thick cloud of dust spiraling toward the ground. Mitch looked around, he heard another shout, much louder this time. Mitch could feel the presence of Cascy near him, but couldn't make out anything other than the slight variations in tone, of the dark, engulfing walls. He decided to call, "Cascy...?" He alomst jumped at his own voice, which still boomed angrily back at him. Then there was a reply, "Mitch... is that you...?" Cascy sounded very lifeless. Mitch ran to the corner of the cave, his feet stumbling over rocks in the dark. He followed the sound, wide-eyed and impatient. "I'm coming, Cascy." Mitch reassured his friend, though he had no idea where he was. He then looked imediately startled, as he saw up high in the meagre light, the wolf. The wolf was sitting this time on a rock, looking down at Mitch like a king upon his throne. Mitch became impatient, "Where is Cascy?" His anger builing. The wolf remained silent, and stood up. It looked even more powerful. Then it lifted a sturdy paw, and hooked it's claws into the cieling, causing the roof to spit small rocks. the rocks crackled on the ground, and they were accompanied by several larger rocks, when finally a huge cluster of rocks cascaded from above. A large beem of light now entered the cave, joining the other beam and reinforcing it. The wolf put down its mighty paw, and continued to focus its burning amber eyes on Mitch. Mitch, not understanding, looked quickly to the gigantic light source; it had revealed something to him which he could not see before.

Mitch gasped and raised his voice in shock, "Cascy!" He yelled in fear. Cascy was lying on a flat rock surafce, his arms were stretched out and his hands met behind his head where they were tied. Mitch saw that Cascy was in a worse state than before, his shirt and jeans were completely torn to shreds, and he was bleeding freshly from his forehead and side. He was soaked in his own blood on one side, and onto his legs. His eyes were dreary but desperate, "Mitch..." he could hardly speak anymore. Mitch sat next to him, his hands were shaking and he grabbed Mitch's shirt to still them. "Why are his hands tied up...?" He yelled at the wolf, still looking down at the ground. The wolf blinked a few times to seem as if it was impressed, "Well you see, Mitch..." The wolf looked down its nose as it spoke, "I still have to show you the other part of the deal." Then, before Mitch had time to think, the wolf leaped onto the ground before him, and stood near the end of Cascy's feet, where he let out a long and powerful howl. The howl bellowed through the tunnel chambers and into Mitch's ears like a very expressive migraine. Mitch had to clasp his ears for a moment with his hands. In a split second alomost, the ground fell open like a giant trapdoor, exposing a dark and horrifying emptiness below. Mitch managed to leap out of the way of the destruction, leaving Cascy to fall into the depts of the underworld. His hands were tied still and his fists were caught tightly by the straining rope. Mitch stood at the foot of what seemed like an endless death pit, staring at Cascy, hanging from the rope, still extended to the other side. He did not know what was keeping it from hurling off the edge. Cascy looked quickly down, and then closed in eyes in terror. His face was nestled stiffly into his right shoulder as he dared not look atall. His legs were waving apart from eachother to the certain death scene. He looked suddenly to Mitch, to realise he was still crouching by the edge. Mitch stretched out a shivering arm, "Hang on Casc. I almost gotcha. Do not look down!" Mitch forced himself not to give in to his emotions, he looked around for a secure foothold so he could get to Cascy. Cascy felt he was unable to move, or cooperate in helping his friend. He was wimpering pathetically into his shirt now, "Mitch, go quick! This is a trap, get outta here!" Mitch shook his head, "No, I will not leave you now...do not do this to me." He began to wimper a little under his breath. Then the wolf appeared out of the shadows, "Need any help?" It said, in apathy of seeing the two friends become bate for his trap. Mitch tightened up, "You! What the hell do you want from us?" He could feel his throat begin to burn. The wolf remained calm, "I want for you to contribute..." As it said so, it motioned for Mitch to look at the rope. The cliff edge was cutting into the rope, causing it slowly to fray. Mitch watched in horror from the oposite ledge. The wolf was still as unconcerned as before, "You will find for me, the stone." It sniffed the air with its eyes on Mitch, waiting from a reply. "Stone? I'll get a stone, any stone...Just stop this!" Mitch yelled in confusion. The rope continued fray until one section of it was freed, and the rope dropped a centimetre. Cascy yelled, his abused heart was racing. Mitch tried quickly to reason with the wolf, "It's a deal, help him!" The wolf did not move, "Well what are you doing?, pull him out!" Mitch urged. Then the rope but through, completely. Cascy felt the gravity cling to stomach, and his hands, still tied dropped after him. Mitch immediately lunged at the rope, and managed to grip it with both hands, his body thrown to the ground. He struggled to keep hold of the rope but could feel the weight of Cascy pulling him down into the darkness below. Cascy was stunned to notice he had been caught from falling any farther, he wimpered under his breath, "Mitch, let go...I'm gonna pull you down with me." He grimmaced as his mind tortured him to speak these words. Mitch pulled as hard as he could, it was obvioous in his mind, that if Cascy were to go down, he would go with him. "No! I've gotcha." He forced his legs back up and fixed his feet firmly on the ground. He took one mighty heave at the rope. Cascy felt the strain on his arms as they were being levered up, and the rope digging tightly into his wrists. He tried with will power as hard as he could to get back onto the ground. He dug with his feet onto the wall behind him, to lessen the strain of the rope and to get himself out of there quicker. Cascy was pulled far enough out that his legs were still hanging over the edge. Mitch then pulled his legs up manually, he leant forward to regain his breath for a moment, while he untied Cascy's wrists. The cave seemed unsettlingly quiet, as the wolf watched in apathy at the two. It then perked it's ears unearthingly and sniffed the air. Mitch saw its odd behavior, "What's up with you?" He was still angry at the creature. The wolf did not answer but began to move away, glancing in their direction nervously. Mitch, who thought the wolf was a wacko anyway, thought there was nothing happening for a moment, until he too began to feel a strange sentaion in the ground. He was suddenly reminded of the appartment, and the way it shook before the