XIII

Although exertion and a nasty edge of fear made Tsvetka's face burn with heat, the floor of the tunnel remained curiously cool, and ever so slightly damp. Every now and again she felt something soft and suspiciously moss-like beneath the toes of her bare foot.

Samson wasn't far ahead of her. His tail flicked once in a while in the gentlest reminder of his frustration at her slow pace, but otherwise he didn't seem terribly distressed. Once in a while he paused to allowed her to catch up with him, and passed the time by studying the dark shapes which scurried past them in a steady stream with mild curiosity.

On one such occasion, blinded by sweat and soot, Tsvetka tripped and almost fell headlong over her waiting companion. Samson chirped a warning, and she threw out her mobile arm to steady herself against the nearest wall. She found that it was warm, but not burning hot. The surface was smooth, and carved into strange contours reminiscent of nothing more than the patterns left by waves on an undisturbed beach. 

It seemed to Tsvetka that the tunnel would have no end. Through the blur of her exhaustion, she seemed to notice a slight downhill gradient to their path, but could not find the energy to speculate about their eventual destination, if such a destination existed.

XII

'Samson!' she screamed. The little feline had been trotting along one second, and had vanished. His face with its tear-streaks appeared again, his fangs slightly bared to hurry her footsteps. He had found a tunnel, its opening well wide enough to admit at least two six-foot men. This was what he'd been leading her to?

But she followed him as he scampered into the darkness. A glance behind her filled her terrified vision with the fiery glow of the volcano's peak. Anything was better than waiting for that. The tunnel was straight, the walls slimy when she touched them. She became aware of the pattering of of hundreds of little feet, and she shrieked as something scampered over her bare foot. A rat. A rat?

Then the earth shifted violently. She fell heavily on her good arm and felt the skin scrape off her knuckles. The noise she'd been dreading propelled her to her feet, and into a faster run, and she heard the other animals pick up their pace too. The volcano had released its pent up anger. She couldn't outrun lava. The mountain exploded again, muffled through the metres of stone above her.

XI

The low, orange sun was on Tsvetka's right hand side as she stumbled along in Samson's wake. By its light she could now see that they were headed across a wide volcanic plane, following a curious path which held no logic to her dull human instinct. Behind them, the crumbling cliff face down which she now supposed herself to have fallen, was falling under the cloud's shadow. Tsvetka shivered.

Samson was less susceptible to horrors, and thus more focused on their prospects in the immediate future. He jogged ahead at a steady pace, snuffling after some elusive goal that remained entirely mysterious to Tsvetka.

X

The cliff which had crumbled under Tsvetka's feet looked set to send down another avalanche; seedlings sprouted at precipitate angles, their roots white and torn - almost as though they were warning her of her near future.

Near being the operative word. Each lightning glance over her shoulder saw the... the cloud gaining on her. There was no way she could outrun it; she gave up looking behind, and tried to find something to help her, to hide her, to... Samson veered into her path, and away at right angles to the way they had been headed. Unquestioning, Tsvetka followed him. He could outrun them, when the time came. She would make sure he did. For now she followed his zig-zagging lead.

IX

Then, by silent mutual agreement, they started running. Samson wasn't really running of course, but even so he easily loped ahead of Tsvetka's laboured progress. Once in a while he'd return to nudge the back of her shins with an wet, worried nose.

This is no time to dawdle, he seemed to be saying. He'd dropped the mangled bird corpse some time ago, but that didn't stop him from sending reproachful and deeply significant glances back at the distant malevolent cloud. They're getting closer.

"I'm doing my best," Tsvetka panted. She paused for a precious moment, gasping for a breath of the air which was rapidly filling with soot. The cheetah gave her sweaty face a forgiving lick, leaving a white trail on the grimy skin.