Finding The Soul Bridge (The Soul Fire Saga Book 1) by Zax Vagen

as they walked, humming a soft tune that resonated well in the echoing cave and feeding back in harmony. “What’s with the quiver of arrows?” asked Thist. “I’m not sure if miners need weapons, surely we should have found a pick or an axe or a shovel on that ledge?”
    “That is an intriguing question.” said Kelvin. “I would imagine that you would store only things that you needed in such a place, like torch oil. But a quiver of arrows seems out of place.”
    The boys walked on, their footsteps sounded eerie on the echoing tunnel floor. Thist kept on humming his tune. Jem and Kelvin did not mind as the sound was pleasing. While they walked through the tunnel, Kelvin would raise and lower the torch as they scanned the walls, ceilings and floor. The floor was soft and easy to walk on as a layer of dust had settled on the floor and the dampness of the cave had caused it to accrete into crumbling clumps. They passed several small shelves along the way. The boys would stop at each one and inspect the shelf for treasures and thus the trip had turned into an exciting treasure hunt. Each shelf yielded nothing save for empty jars and the occasional dry torch, a single flint which they kept and more quivers of arrows which they left.
    Thist had inspected the edges of each shelf, and found that each shelf had a numeral carved on the side of it. The boys had squinted at the strange markings that they found on the shelves but could not decipher any clear meaning or intent. After about an hour’s walk they came across a fork in the tunnel. “What now Kelvin?” asked Jem.
    “Well, I don't know. It seems that these people, whoever they were, were certainly prepared, you know, leaving torches and oil and flint all over the place. Maybe there are markings at the entrances.”
    “Don’t forget the arrows, what was with the arrows?” asked Thist, while rubbing his left temple. “Why don’t you just check the map?”
    Jem, who was scouting the threshold spun around. “What?  You know we don’t have a map.”
    “Hey!” exclaimed Thist. “I know I’ve got some issues but I have eyes. Look for yourselves.” He pointed at some glyphs on the cave wall.
    Jem and Kelvin looked to where Thist was pointing. There they saw an engraved map on the wall between the two tunnels, almost too obvious to notice. The map revealed a labyrinth, extending through the ground with multiple entrances. There were different symbols along the way, all ancient and meaningless to all who didn’t understand the obsolete text.
    “You know it’s interesting?” said Kelvin. “Thist seems to notice things in the dark very well and Jem seems to notice things better in the day light, I thought Jem would notice this kind of thing first.”
    The three studied the engravings for a long time before Kelvin suggested that the symbol that was never repeated indicated their current position. “If we're here and we want to end up in Fineburg, then we must follow this route. We exit here and if this drawing has a correct scale then we could cover a large bit of ground using the tunnels, supplies permitting.”
    “How much is ‘a large bit.’?” enquired Jem.
    “Well the next leg on the journey was to take a mountain pass that we had just started on when the rain forced us into the cave. The mountain pass is a long journey through steep and wending paths. It would have taken at least four days on foot. We would not have covered much straight distance but we would cross the mountains. This tunnel system seems to go under that.”
    “Speaking of supplies… ” said Jem, “...our water situation is looking poor.”
    “Look!” said Thist holding one finger pressed to his right temple. “These symbols all mean something. This one is fire, that’s where we picked up the flint. This one I’m sure means water and there are a few still on the way, these are entrances and these other seven, I don't know.”
    The symbols that Thist had pointed to were next