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Xena drew some weird scribbles on a chalkboard and since I already knew the Southern tongue, she helped me get a feel for which character sounded similar to the other.
The languages were quite different, yet the writing style was somehow similar. Kind of like Chinese and Japanese.
“Keep on practicing and you should be fine,” Xena said. “Why bother learning this though? Are you planning on running away?” She spoke, quite suggestive.
I get that she was joking but maybe it wasn’t the best joke because Mom’s stare turned to a glare. Which made Xena shut up but yeah... why was I learning Western Tongue? To read books or to become independent in case...
KNOCK! KNOCK!!!
Someone rammed on the front door.
“What the-” Xena mumbled, slowly reaching for the door. “Who?”
“MOM!” She opened it and a teenager rushed in; panting, wheezing, hair all disheveled. “It’s Dad. He’s-” She was freaking out.
Mom grabbed me firm and with me in toe, she quickly made it past the duo. “Where?”
“West Cave,” Tears welling, she was trying desperately to not break down. “Wild fang.”
“Stay here,” Xena said, grabbing her quiver and bow. “I’ll see.”
The girl sniffled but-
“You stay-” Mom said, giving me a glance.
“I wanna go,” I said.
She rolled her eyes and contemplated reality for a good three seconds before agreeing. That was weird. I thought she’d just leave me here and run off on her own.
Yet, Mom just picked me and ran behind Xena.
We ran back into the mountain and since this part wasn’t covered in foliage, we didn’t have to climb the trees. Apparently, most Southerners were faster on the trees. And although Mom was fast on the tree too, she had to carry me, which was why she often chose to run instead. After seeing Den struggle with just carrying me around, I could understand why. But then again, Den was just weak when it came to anything physical.
“What happened?” I mumbled.
“Probably serpents...” Mom murmured. “You have antidotes just in case, right!?” She yelled.
“Yeah!” Xena was already behind us.
We almost stumbled into trees on several occasions, but never quite. Mom was an excellent runner and she ran fast, probably faster than all runners back on earth. Sometimes I wish, I had that kind of stamina and speed. But maybe one day.
The foliage changed. Trees got denser, and there was an odd smell. Not the usual foresty smell but rather... a bit of rot. A bit of dread. I instinctively covered my face but the others didn’t seem to be bothered by it. I suppose they’d seen this coming.
“It’s really dangerous inside, so you better stay with me,” Mom said. “The terrain often changes, so be careful to not get lost either.”
It changes?
“Right-” Before I could finish, she stopped and we were in front of a cave.
Small opening, barely enough to fit two people. And that was all, there was nothing behind it. The cave was underground. Didn’t look the least threatening. However, there was something chilly about the thing. Something... really creepy.
No birds, no animals. Just brown trees and a weird smell. And maybe some distant howling. I didn’t like this place.
Yet, Mom and Xena lit some pyres and we went in. Xena led with a short sword in hand, while Mom followed her, her knife out. It was happening so fast that I couldn’t keep track of things.
The girl hadn’t said much, yet, these two pretty much understood what happened. So maybe this was typical and happened a lot? And yet... something of course didn’t feel right. Probably because I wasn’t used to this or perhaps because I’d watched too many shows where things just went south in caves like these.
The climb down was gradual and there were steps carved into the earth. The hole stretched more and more. So far, nothing inside, but the sound dampened, and the smell only got stronger.
No monsters, no animals. Just some spiders and centipedes crawling around. With the occasional rat squeaking.
It didn’t take long. It didn’t take long for me to find the source of the smell. Flesh. Dead flesh. People. Bodies. Skeletons. And bugs crawling in those filthy rags....
Death.
My arms shook, as I clutched onto Mom’s leg even tighter, breath spiraling out of control.
“It’s alright,” Mom said. “I’m here...” she ruffled my hair once.
“Not here yet; he’s alive,” Xena said.
The steps went down and down, and the bodies just kept on piling up behind next to the steps. More and more.
Hundreds of skeletons. Some still had rotting flesh with occasional maggot crawling about. Many bones had turned to dust....
“Huh?” I mumbled.
“The dead gather here....” Mom said.
Wait, so the bodies get mysteriously carried here? That sort of explained the excess skeletons.... Magical cave huh?
I kept my eyes closed for the vast majority of the walk, only focusing on Mom’s warmth. I was never good with cramped places and rotten smell. People died here.
Just the thought alone was starting to make me sick. Death was inevitable. Everyone died. Even your loved ones. Yet, you always stay in the illusion that they won’t die, they won’t one day leave you behind. And when they die, your illusion breaks, and... “Cough!” I almost threw up...
Mom patted on my back.
“Maybe you shouldn’t have brought him here,” Xena said, but she was cautious and the two moved really slowly.
“He has to learn...” Mom didn’t clarify and just trailed Behind Xena. “Find anything yet?”
“Just steps.”
We came to a fork. One path led deep into the cave, while the other, straight down. The paths were very similar and almost the same size in terms of space.
How freaking deep is this thing?
Mom examined the floor for a couple of seconds. “Right.”
So, we went deeper into the cave. And in about a minute or two, the cramped walls widened and we were in a room of sorts. Given the space... Feels like a boss room... The ceiling was lifted, there were three paths on the exact other side and a man in the middle. The resemblance to a boss room was too uncanny. And what was worse... the boss wasn’t here.
“Derek!” Xena rushed to him, checking his body for signs of wounds. Mom meanwhile stayed calm and observed the room for fiends.
Buff dude, not as buff as typical bodybuilders but the guy was packing some serious stuff. He was passed out on the floor, and out cold no less. A bit of red near the edge of his pants; rather large holes for a typical snake? Xena examined the wound, gulped down some antidote, or at least I thought she did but instead, she lifted up the cold body, broke one of his fingers with a snap so he screamed in literal pain and then she kissed and fed the antidote directly to the man.
Part of me wanted to experience a kiss like that but part of just straight up- ‘no thank you’.
Eyes wide, he panted, coughing a few times. “One hell of a wake to up,” he chuckled.
Now that’s a strong dude!
But as his laughter echoed. Another sound followed.
Slithers!
Here we go!
A slithering sound echoed throughout the cave. The rats and mice squeaked like they were dying and ran out frantically.
Yeah, something was coming. Something big.
Something really big.
Mom dragged me closer to her, while she kept a firm grasp on her bow. The thing was coming from one of the dark entrances on the other side but I couldn’t be sure which one. But mom pointed at one particular one, drew the string and... crack! Shot.
The arrow blitzed through the air, jolting into the eye sockets of a snake as it crawled out of the darkness. A snake thicker than my head, and taller than Mom, while two thirds of its body was still on the ground. Basically, it was three Moms tall! Yeah, probably not a great comparison but that thing was way over 7 meters in length and it was hissing like crazy.
Mom had only shot one eye, and though she tried to shoot again, the thing just swayed like crazy, dodging the arrows. It was intelligent and very agile. Constantly flicking its tongue out, the damn thing knew where we were at all times.
Given the size, I assumed it was an anaconda or something like that. But no... it was a viper. It didn’t have an extra head but it did have massive fangs. And they were sticking out!
I suppose it used the guy here as a trap to lure us in? So, damn intelligent too.
“Careful,” Derek warned. “Get too close and it’ll paralyze you with its breath,” he coughed.
“Where’s that idiot when you need him,” Mom sighed. “Don’t worry, I know how to handle these things,” she again drew her bow. But instead of one arrow, there were four. Four!
Whip! Her arrows danced with the wind. The snake swayed on one side trying to dodge but the arrows curved midair, crashing into one another, forcing the last one’s trajectory far right... where it met the snake’s other eye.
Can arrows even do that? Mom was kind of... amazing.
The snake continuously wiggled, struggled and slithered. Perhaps it hurt that much? I once got some paprika in my eyes. Burned like hell. And this snake didn’t have eyes anymore. I could only wonder what the hell it was going through. However, we still couldn’t nonchalantly move closer to the thing. Particularly because snakes could sense heat with their tongues, and Mom knew that. Probably experience.
She drew more arrows and aimed at the nose holes. Meanwhile, I’d lost track of Xena. She hadn’t attacked the snake and I didn’t see her anywhere either. What the hell was going on?
Swish! Mom fired her arrows and again midway the last one changed its trajectory and hit the snake right between the eyes. It hissed and swayed its head around like a maniac- but just then... something dropped from the ceiling. A bat, a rat? No, it was a Xena!
Hah, jokes aside, Xena quickly sliced off the snake’s head and jumped away. The snake contorted into a coil while the severed head bit into itself like it was still alive. We maintained our distance. Apparently even the blood was paralytic.
Mom and Xena helped Derek back on his feet and together we slowly backtracked. “How come it didn’t eat him?” I said.
Mom gave me a rather weird look. As though this wasn’t the time to be asking that. “They prefer when you die and turn a little smelly...”
So, it wasn’t a trap?
It made me cringe up and fall behind a few steps.
There was a problem though. The exit wasn’t wide enough to fit three people side by side, so we had to compromise. Given how massive Derek was, the only logical choice was for Mom to carry him... and she did. Xena helped, and I was just behind them.
There wasn’t much in here other than just the bugs and with the snake now dead, we were more or less out of danger... crack... at least I thought we were. The ground beneath me cracked before my eyes. Mom and Derek had already made it past the crack. While Xena stood on the verge alongside me.
“Don’t move,” Mom said calmly. “This happens from time to time, don’t move and it’ll be fine.” She was trying to get closer. “It’ll repair itself,” she said. Yet her voice shook. For the first time ever, Mom’s voice shook and she was sweating buckets. She didn’t sweat even moments ago when facing a snake...
No bad idea. At this rate she was going to just make the floor crack even more and take us all down.
I tried to move closer to her instead, slowly, slowly- crack! One foot went inside the damn earth, but only till my knee. There was earth beneath the crack. A sigh of relief escaped. They all basically relaxed....
Xena slowly moved aside while I took a second step.
CRACK!
And then... I fell.
I was wrong. There wasn’t earth there. Just some dirt that I’d mistaken as earth. And it fell along with me. Yeah, I should have stayed put like she’d said. Sigh....
“SOL!” Mom basically dived in, only to be pulled away by both Xena and Derek.
Her screams reverberated as the world turned darker and darker. I was falling, in slow motion, falling on my back, just like that time I got murdered.
And again, I was powerless.
My face twisted into a smile... and I didn’t even know why.
One second, two second, ten seconds... I kept on falling and falling without meeting the ground. At this rate... I was going to die. Surely, I was going to break something and-
Splash!
Cold. Cold water or something like water caked my body; my neck hurt- probably broke it. Yet the cold dissipated the pain. The water was light, awfully light and I went in, and in and I could breathe? The light of the ceiling, disappeared, along with Mom’s voice. Yet it was so bright around me.
I kept falling through the unknown light medium; drowning deeper. I couldn’t see but it felt like heavily aerated water!
Splash! I heard another splash- did Mom come after me? No, it wasn’t from up, but rather down?
Argh- I fell on the ground with a thud... my head hurt. But not as much as I thought it would. I messaged my head and stared around. Too dark to see.... But the darkness cleared up little by little. The first thing I noticed, was the water above my head. Or rather, the water like substance. It was floating? And glowing no less.
And the next thing... another hole in the wall... another entrance.
Well, this can’t be good.
