[skillya_glowi]

Chapter Seven

Sami whimpered and leaned closer to the rocky floor. He could hear footsteps approaching. As well as that, a peculiar high-pitched hissing sound was being emitted by the stranger. Sami held his breath, but the creature wasn’t attacking. Still, he wasn’t taking any chances.
With horror, Sami felt a sticky paw on his side. I’m done for, he thought. He felt himself being turned over, and, for some strange reason, stared at, but not harmed. He felt himself being picked up. Ready to feel inch-long teeth sink into his flesh, he sighed and hung out his tongue.
Time was suspended. Sami’s joints were frozen with terror. Once the beast had given Sami a thorough inspection, however, it dropped him. As the rocks struck his wounds, Sami yelled with pain and bounced up without thinking.
Looking around him, he made sure he was completely alone. He steadied his breath and got up. Sami noticed M-shaped footprints in the fine gravel, much like his own. Wet footprints.
Not letting the close encounter stall him, he started moving forward.
Sami hopped up to the cave. Going around it indeed seemed a better choice than going into it. Inside it seemed dark and unpredictable. Carefully he made his way around it and kept walking.
The sky now had run over with clouds, making his surroundings seem more drab than ever before. Sami felt lonelier than ever. He walked slower and slower, until he stopped completely.
Sami sneezed. He had the strangest sensation of being watched. Suddenly, the same familiar hissing noise reached his ears. Instinctively he fell over and hung out his tongue.

Sami opened one eye. The coast was clear. He opened his second eye and sighed with relief. The elusive beast, it seemed, had disappeared again.
Sami got to his feet. His anxiety to see what lies ahead, unfortunately, was met with sour disappointment. He found himself facing a 100-foot-high stretch of smooth stone.
What was he going to do now? He was sure that he didn’t pass the Raisin’s Cave, and so he wouldn’t want to turn back, and it wasn’t possible to go forward…It seemed like the only choice was to go into the cave. Perhaps it led to another underground pool, and he would travel faster…or it could contain unfathomable dangers, in which case he wouldn’t travel at all.
Remembering his last underwater journey, he decided to go in. What was the difference? But he would have to start a fire to go in, since it was simply too dangerous to enter it without light.
Repeating the procedure he started a while ago, after approximately quarter of an hour he managed to light some dry leaves. Nostalgia bore down upon him, making him remember his fireplace at home. Sami fell into memories…
He only came to when he realized that his makeshift bonfire was starting to fizzle out. Not wanting to spend another half-hour lighting his twigs, he lit one of the branches. Squeezing his two other ones in between his half-arm and his side, he hopped up to the cave.
With his torch he felt much more comfortable. It was fairly efficient in fulfilling its purpose, and Sami confidently hopped forward.
So far, the tunnel was only hard, cold stone. There was even no sign of bioluminescence. It was completely dry and completely silent.
Sami was traveling for more than an hour(stopping periodically to rest) and the tunnel still kept on going. He had already used up two of his three torches. If he ran out and he was still in the tunnel, Sami knew he was doomed.
Suddenly, he heard footsteps. Or something close to footsteps. It sounded like something jumping. Something relatively small.
Still, Sami stopped and held his breath. He heard it coming closer…

Without warning, two bright green glowing spots appeared. They grew brighter and brighter, and every few seconds or so, they blinked.
At last, Sami realized what it was. He sighed with relief and hopped forward a few steps. The Raisin’s cave was near. He need not worry anymore. Soon he would be home, basking in the warmth of his hearth. Soon he could forget this ever happened.
The rat turned and started jumping away. Sami followed it. If everything was all right and this rat was not lost, he would be at the Raisin’s lair in a few hours.
In about five minutes, his last torch fizzled out. Now, however, he was not so afraid, since the rat’s eyes lighted the way for him.
The tunnel was still frustratingly monotonous. It even kept the same height all the way through. The rat’s eyes, however bright they may be, were no match for the torch, and Sami kept nervously looking over his shoulder.
Suddenly the tunnel made a sharp turn, and once Sami had cleared it, he found that the tunnel ended. He was in a giant cave. There were glowing patches of green on the walls, and the cave possessed a purplish highlight. Ratz were swarming at Sami’s feet, and in the distance, he spotted two tall pillars.
Such was the Raisin’s cave.