<strong>"Uh... no. I think it's empty."</strong><br/><br/>A tiny feeling of relief trickled through her when he said that, and the feeling gave her a boost of strength. She pressed forward toward the crevice, her heart pounding. With a quick look behind her she slipped into the hole in the rock, sliding in sideways through the narrow opening. The gap seemed to open up to about arm width apart just inside the slit, and seemed to extend back just a little further than her own height lying down. She turned to face the opening, racking her brain to think of how to block it up and keep whatever seemed to be chasing her from getting in. She didn't want to find out what they wanted.<br/><br/>"Calden, d...do you think I could...s...summon a fire...?" She had never been able to properly summon a lasting flame before, but she had also never wanted or needed to so desperately. Without waiting for his response she left her blue ball of light to hover beside her and held her hands out in front of her. Trying to clear her mind of the fear that was threatening to crush her, she concentrated all her power and energy into one small point right in the doorway, trying to extend out through her hands to that point. She felt her arms and hands grow warm and strengthened her pressure toward the tiny point. A moment later she screamed as one of the creatures poked it's evil looking head through the crevice and her flame spell suddenly took hold, flashing into a small fire before her. The creature shrieked in pain and pulled it's head out of the small space, and she heard it yelping as it ran away from the heat and light of her spell. It wasn't a large fire, but it's light reflected off the specks in the stone around her, making it look larger than it was, and the gap in the stone was so small it filled the space almost completely.<br/><br/>Tears of relief flooded out of Astrid's eyes and she sank to her knees, shaking in fear and weakness. She had been pushing through the forest and swamps all day, and had really been struggling even before it grew dark and the creatures began to chase her. The bottom of her dress was soaked through, and her legs and feet were almost numb from cold. She knelt on the dirt floor, leaning forward and sobbing into her hands uncontrollably. Her whole body shook as the tension and pain of the day escaped in a painful rush.<br/><br/>Once her tears were spent, Astrid curled into a little ball on her left side, remembering even in her terror and exhaustion that Calden was on her right. Almost instantly she was asleep, huddled with her arms wrapped around her knees, trying to keep warm. The fire continued to give off it's magic light and warmth in the entrance, and her little blue light ball hovered where she had left it. Outside, the growls and snarls of the creatures were evidence that her fire was working, as they angrily paced back and forth a good way away from the entrance, staying away from her flames. She slept fitfully that night, shivering and waking with a start several times from either nightmares or from particularly loud or angry calls from creatures outside.