CHAPTER 33: 33: THE CABIN

"Did we win?" Mike asked, looking around for the beast. He had been unconscious moments ago from being knocked into the tree by the wolf beast.

Mike’s question echoed through the night, breaking the eerie silence. The sound made the three boys freeze, looking around them for another beast. They didn’t want to attract attention. It was too dark to see anything, making it easy for the creatures in the area to target them.

Drake let his eyes glow a bright green as he looked around them, scanning every inch of their surroundings. He looked as far as he could in all directions. The area seemed to be free of creatures. The wind blew softly, causing the trees to sway gently. "It’s getting cold," Drake observed. "The wind is picking up, too. It feels like a storm is coming. We need to find a safe place for the night. I don’t want to be stuck out here in a storm, especially when it’s too dark to see our surroundings."

Chad grasped Mike’s forearm, helping him stand up. Drake was still scanning the trees using his special vision. His eyes stopped on one area. It was on the opposite side of the road from the gargoyle’s clearing.

"Follow me closely. It’s too dark, so you have to rely on my lantern. I found a clearing over there," he said, pointing through the thick foliage.

Seeing the sinister dark trees, Mike and Chad glanced at each other, unease filled their eyes before following Drake and his little lantern. The ground was uneven, making it difficult to walk on in the dark. The Clouds were floating through the darkened sky, hiding the faintly twinkling stars. The darkness grew thicker

Without the little lantern, there wouldn’t have been a way to see even their own hand in front of them.

The trees turned out to be only thirty feet deep before the clearing emerged. Behind the trio, the trees were thick, and the rapidly growing wind whistled through the branches as they swayed, threatening to break. Icy went swirled around them, turning their exposed skin numb. It was getting colder by the second.

The moisture in the air was cold, frozen mist, like fog. A fog that only Drake’s magic vision could penetrate.

They were inside the clearing, only by a few feet. "We need to get inside for the night. I’m going to set the cabin here," Drake stated, shivering in the cold night air. The temperature was dropping rapidly, making it difficult for their bodies to adjust.

Drake quickly pulled out his storage book and turned the page to where his cabin was stored. With a flourish of his hand, the cabin was in front of them. Making him smile.

Mike was the first to head to the door. Grasping the door’s handle, he pulled. It didn’t move. "It’s locked." He frowned.

Drake stepped in front of him and pulled the door open with ease. "Seems fine to me," he shrugged, before stepping inside. The others followed close behind him.

After closing the door, Drake slid the bolt and then held the lantern up to see inside. The room was cozy. A fireplace sat in the back. A rack was beside it, filled with chopped wood.

Wanting to start a fire to thaw himself out, Mike immediately went to the hearth and stacked some of the wood in the fireplace so it could be lit, then looked around for a way to light it. He didn’t see anything. "No matches," Mike stated, disappointed. He continued to search around the area of the hearth for a way to light the fire. There was nothing to be found.

Drake stepped in front of him. His palm began to shine with a soft orange glow. A flame materialized, then rested in his palm. With a quick jerk of his wrist, the flame landed on the neatly stacked wood, igniting it. Flames shot up, consuming the wood. The warmth quickly radiated from the fire, warming the room.

The fire crackled merrily, lighting the area around them. Before doing anything else, the boys warmed their frozen hands, letting the warmth of the fire thaw them. There was a small couch with two chairs on either side of it that faced the hearth. A fur rug was placed in between. The fur had red patches, going through it. It looked like it was at one time one of the wolf beasts they fought, only instead of yellow or orange patched fur, this one had red.

Mike and Chad stayed by the fire, while Drake went searching for candles or another form of lighting. He couldn’t rely on his little lantern. He worried that it would go dark without warning, needing to recharge. Since his system wouldn’t give him any information, he had to watch it, wait, and see.

There was a small shelf near a table that had four matching chairs around it. They were rustic, made from neatly cut logs. The wood was sanded and polished with oil to protect it. In the center was a Lamp, filled with oil.

Carefully pulling the glass casing from the top, he materialized a small flame at the tip of his finger before transferring it to the lamp. When he placed the glass back on, the entire room lit up.

The boys at the hearth looked around the small cabin. They could now get a fairly good look at its layout.

To one side, there was a single door. It was open, revealing three beds. They were lined against the walls. There was a trunk at the foot of each bed.

Each trunk had different runes carved into it. They could tell which trunk belonged to whom because the corresponding runes matched the runes on their armor.

There was another door inside the bedroom that revealed to be a bathroom. It had a single toilet. It was a porta-potty that could easily be emptied. It was housed inside a polished wooden frame for aesthetics. There was a small door to the side of the frame that allowed for it to be removed for cleaning. There was a mirror on the wall with a basin below it. Towels hung on a rack. Each towel was decorated with runes.

To their dismay, there was no bath. There was a large tank in the corner, with a spicket. Drake could tell that it was to hold water. It appeared to be their only water source. It needed to be filled manually. He was happy that it was already full. "We have to be careful with how much of the water we use. We don’t have a way to fill it right now, and we don’t want to run out." Drake explained as he looked around the small room for other items.

Chad just nodded, his eyes scanning the room. Mike smiled. "I never thought this cabin would have a bathroom. I imagined it to have an outhouse, or we would have to go outside and find a bush or something."

"Pleasantly surprised," Drake said, smiling, before exiting to explore the rest of the cabin.

In the main room, opposite the small table, there was a counter. A block of kitchen knives was in a corner. A small rack of spices hung on the wall. There was no icebox to store food. A single cabinet under the counter housed plates, bowls, and cutlery. Several types of cooking containers made from cast iron were placed on one of the shelves along with several cooking utensils. Hanging on the cabinet door was a rack that unfolded to place pots or pans on, in order to cook over the fire. The rack, coupled with the hearth, appeared to be their kitchen.

Drake, noticing the handles on the pots, walked over to the hearth. That’s when he saw a chain, affixed across the top, inside the hearth. There were several hooks lined up along the chain that slid along it for repositioning. The hooks would easily hold the pots. Sitting on the top of the hearth’s narrow shelf was a percolator-style coffee pot.

Chad was staring at the coffee pot like it was the best thing in the cabin so far. "Any chance there’s coffee somewhere?"

Drake shrugged, "I doubt it. You can look through the kitchen area and see if you can find something. Did Mary give us coffee when she stocked up with supplies?"

"Maybe," he grinned.

Drake looked out the windows, using his magic vision. His eyes glowed a brilliant emerald green as he searched for danger lurking. After checking each window in the cabin, he closed and locked the shutters, then hung the small bells that he found near the door to alert them if something outside the cabin tried to get in.

After they ate a quick meal from the items in Chad’s storage ring, they went to sleep for the night. Chad was forlorn, finding that there was no coffee in his stash given to them by Mary.