A thought weakly fluttered past his exhausted mind and passed without a trace. Another thought of a bright light passed before his eyes and through his closed eyelids he could dimly see the outline of something moving in the light. He involuntarily shuddered weakly and collapsed back in a faint.


    When he woke again, he hardly felt alive, but forced his eyes to open. His head ached and his whole body throbbed, but he could tell he remained in the underground space where Semias and Helkin left him.


    Alive! The thought came on him like a rush. He tried to deny it and fall back into oblivion, but the pain increased and soon he became aware of the moon above shining through the accidental opening.


    Luke heard a click from close by and his thoughts froze. The sound lingered and he lay there in dreadful expectation. He heard it again. Then a third time. With infinite effort he tilted his head forward and looked. One the stones in front of him stood the deer; still with a missing antler.


    Luke laughed in a weak exhale but that sent new pain shooting through his abdomen so he smiled instead. The sound startled the deer and it looked up from examining the pile of sod that fell through the roof. Luke noticed it cropped all the sod clean to the roots and he dimly wondered how long he lay unconscious. His throat ached with thirst and he saw stars from the opening; at least one day, maybe two.


    Inch by inch, resting and sometimes fainting after each effort, Luke slowly dragged himself a few meters to the trickle of water in the middle of the floor. When he reached it he stared for a long time, his head resting on the stones beside it, not wanting to faint and drown in the inch-deep stream.


    Finally he chanced it and tilted his head down into the channel. The life-giving coolness refreshed him immensely and he slurped greedily. Several times he pulled his head away and breathed in greatful gasps, ignoring the pain it caused.


    When his stomach could hold no more he looked around from his prone position on the floor. The moon moved on to shine on a different place on the floor and he saw the deer curled up on the fallen soil watching him intently. He thought it strange seeing a stag so close and with a missing horn. Feeling overcome by exhaustion, he let his cheek fall to the ground and slept.


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    Darkness still filled the room when Luke awoke- at least for the most part. Again, as with his previous awakening, he thought he could see light, but this light shone brilliant. It shone without wavering and far surpassed the sun in intensity.


    His limbs felt like lead and it took all his strength to roll to his side and open his eyes. Expecting to see a bright light from the hole in the ceiling, Luke turned his gaze upward, but the light remained behind him. He also felt a wet nudge on the back of his neck. Too overwhelmed to think anything of it, he turned farther and lay on his back to see more of the room. He looked away once and blinked hard several times as his eyes adjusted to the intensity of the light, but when he could look he saw the deer standing calmly beside him with both antlers in perfect condition. Between the great spread of horns floated a radiant circle.


    This sight shocked Luke’s brain to jolt him back a space. He breathed in sharply and ignored the pain his movements caused. He looked steadily at the circle and then down at the deer. Looking back up at the glowing circle, he heard the words ‘you are wanted’. They seemed to come from everywhere and reverberated through the stone room in quiet grandeur.


    Deeply affected by all he survived, he lay on the floor in silence and simply stared. A few more moments and the vision faded, but the deer remained. It walked around Luke and snorted as if to encourage him. He moved his aching legs into a better position and remembered his ankle. He rolled over and raised himself to hands and knees. The pain in his ankle flared intensely, but abated with time and mellowed into a dull throb throughout his whole body.


    He lifted one hand forward and then a knee. He did the same with the other and nearly fell. He repeated the same motions a few more times and fell into a rhythm. Lift-pull, lift-drag. Lift-pull, lift-drag. Missing a beat and swaying, Luke reached out in a futile attempt to steady his crawl. He toppled over and lay limp.


    He collapsed and lay still from pure exhaustion and not a lack of will. Somehow sensing this, the deer came and presented its antler to Luke’s outstretched hand. Finger by finger he gripped the hard bone and felt the strong neck holding the head perfectly still. His time had not yet come; there was much for him yet to do. He supplied a willing spirit, and the gods took care of the rest.


    The deer braced itself and slowly pulled until they both began moving. Luke had been crawling to the upward-sloping path, but the deer dragged him in a wide arc and steadily made its way to the other passage. Seeing this, and also from exhaustion, Luke released his grasp and lay still for a while, but when the deer stood again and presented the miraculously-mended antler he grabbed it and allowed the animal to drag him towards the lower tunnel.