Crackle, crash, then a splash.
It all happened so quickly, he just felt the cold embrace of the water as he dropped inside. His heart raced as he splashed around, trying to grab onto something, anything, and winced as he tried to move. He could hear the rocks splashing around him, even with the water rushing past him.
He thought about not panicking, but the threat of drowning in this rushing water made him panic even more. He flailed his arms and managed to grab onto a smoothed rock, it was another battle to figure out what to do after that grip slipped.
The water carried him on, then spat him out to catch his breath, and it was not a relief. The water rushed out into the air, then began to fall, and him with it. He smacked the surface with another splash that seared his side.
The water was more gentle in its movement, after that, and he finally managed to push himself to something that was similar to a shore.
It started with a single cough, then a flurry, as the water found its way to his nose, mouth, and lungs. Theos felt his side breaking with each one, and the pain made the coughing worse.
He could not see anything, just the feeling of the uneven rocks underneath his hands, and the hope that he was in a dry place. He rolled on his back and continued to cough weakly. He realized he was still holding the dagger tightly.
“Moswen?” he called out with a choked voice. He couldn’t even see the light from where he dropped. Just the sound of the rushing waters falling nearby that drowned his voice.
At least he didn’t get crushed under the rocks.
“Moswen?” he tried again, to the same success. He could hear his voice repeating somewhere behind him, though. Somewhere away from the water.
Sitting here and waiting for rescue sounded like a really nice thing, especially as he felt the damage to his body, now that he sat down. There is fresh water here, so he wouldn’t go thirsty, at least.
He realized he had never heard the miners, or the soldiers, speak of an underground river. The water well was there, though, so having some underground water made sense, now that he thought about it.
The place was extremely cold, frigid with him being this wet and not moving.
He crawled away from the water, touching his way carefully until his hands found a rock wall he could use to walk upright. “Hello,” he said, following the echo away from the water. He had his dagger for self defense, however meager it was.
His teeth clattered as he moved, following the wall and stepping carefully on the uneven ground. “Amu curses these mines,” he grumbled. “This entire outpost, actually. Go and guard the walls against the undead, go and clear the outpost from all the ghouls, go and find a shiny fucking rock.
He changed his voice to mock that of the overseer. “If you use one arrow more than you need, you will pay for it. If you break a stone inside the outpost, you will pay for it. Oh no, you have done well and have nothing to pay for, pay for being too perfect.
“Amu curses them all,” he had a small coughing fit.
Calling Amu’s name made him feel a surprising sense of comfort in the darkness, however, like he had someone by his side. So his tongue moved to silent prayers, asking for protection.
Perhaps some light, too.
Couldn’t hurt to ask, he smiled.
He should ask for warmth while he’s at it, too. The friggin breeze made him-
Breeze?
Theos held his hand out and felt for it, and surely, it was there. Somewhere by his side. He stumbled and nearly tripped to his face, but he managed to find his way towards the direction of the flow.
“I swear if something just jumps and kills me,” he grumbled, “I’ll haunt this outpost for the rest of my undeath, then haunt their spirits.”
His hand slid off the wall and on his side as the hints of light began to seep into his vision. It felt weird, to see the light after being in the darkness for so long. He could’ve sworn it looked much like a shard’s light.
That pale azure light that got stronger as he approached.
He arrived at a large clearing – an extremely well-lit one. The light was almost blinding after that darkness. Theos had to cover his eyes for a while until they could adjust to the harsh – bordering on eye scorching – change in light.
Filled with shards- no, this was a huge crystal, he can’t call them shards. Yes, a singular huge crystal spike, as large as he was, dangling from the top of the clearing, and pointing down right to the center. Droplets of water gathered on the edge of the crystal before falling.
There, in the center, was a large white stone with a tiny bead on it. A bead as black as the cave he came from was dark. Small and glossy.
The entire thing was surrounded by a small pool of water, gathering from all the droplets that came off the crystal.
His mouth was opened wide, Theos found as he approached the pool.
“How much money is this?” he blinked at the shard above him, a piece that filled his palm – unlike the tiny ones you could hold with two fingers in the outpost – would fitch at least a pouch of silver? thirty coins? fifty?
A hundred lashes with the spiked whip is what it is worth if he got found smuggling one of them out, his lips thinned as he remembered the last person to be lashed. It wasn’t worth it, he decided.
That black bead, however…
The water was warm as he stepped into it, warmer than he was at least. He did have to be careful as he nearly slipped on the smooth ground.
He picked up the bead and raised it to the air, reflecting the light inside the gemstone. “Now this… this got to be worth something.”
A banishment to the Black Dunes, in addition to the whipping. A death sentence as gruesome as one could get out here.
Theos was starting to feel a headache, though. He was cold and tired, and a nap felt like he owned the world right now.
The cavern felt warm enough, and with no other entrances than the one he came from, he decided to find a corner to doze off in.
He removed some of his clothes, sat down, and looked at the black gem. “Where should I hide you?”
It was small enough to be placed within his clothes, but he would worry about it falling out, or being found if the overseer decided to give him a thorough investigation after spending all this time in the mine.
He thought of many places. A wound wrapped with a piece of his clothes as a bandage. In his shoes. He even entertained the idea of using certain body orifices but convinced himself it was foolish and somewhat scary.
His dagger, however, was the idea that made him stop and consider it.
It had an ivory hilt – his was from a creature that lived in the Greenbelt, according to the person who gave him the weapon – was made out of two symmetrical parts, joined together with wooden rivets that became part of the hilt as the glue on top dried and the horn aged.
It also had a tiny pocket inside, he thought as he worked to remove the broken blade out of the hilt, a pocket that was large enough to keep the black gemstone inside. Small enough and not suspicious enough that no one would think about checking it, he smiled as he pushed the blade back inside carefully.
With that done, he leaned back on the uncomfortable rocks and put the weapon by his side.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Theos checked himself for bleeding wounds, he would have to take care of those lest they get infected. He found none, but he found enough bruises that his brown skin was replaced with blue, he suspected a lot of them happened when he was under the water.
There wasn’t much he could do to those, but at least there were no wounds requiring his immediate attention.
His tongue began moving again, in silent prayers and thanks to Amu, the god of his tribe, as he provided him with the light, warmth, and protection, so far.
His vision began to blur and was soon drifting to sleep.
-
Theos jerked awake, the movement causing him to flinch in pain as the bruises all over his body felt larger than they were before he slept. Even the places that did not even bother him before were acting out.
He looked around and took a while to remember where he was, still inside the crystal cavern. He leaned back on the wall and breathed slower. Theos wondered if the food in his pouch was still fine after all he went through, and tried to check it out only to find the pouch wasn’t even there.
“At least I have water,” he grumbled as he forced himself to get up and walk to the pool. It looked crystal clear and had no odor. He could probably…
“You shouldn’t drink that,” a musiclike voice said, whistle-like and airy.
“Who’s there?” Theos jumped up, pulling his dagger. The cavern was empty, as empty as it was before.
“That’s not water,” the voice continued, echoing, “it is what your kind calls a poison.”
Theos turned around, moving back to the corner he fell asleep in, trying to keep most of the place in his eyesight, but mostly checking the path he used to enter. “Show yourself!” he demanded.
Nothing did, even after he stood there for a while.
“Does asking that usually work well for your kind?” the whistling music voice asked, conveying a surprising amount of amusement for just a voice. “What if the person you asked refused to comply?”
Theos frowned, still scanning the area.
“Not going to answer, we see,” the voice chimed, still amused. “Perhaps it is the survival instincts of an injured, cornered creature?”
“Creature?” Theos blinked, the voice told him something about ‘his people’ earlier, as well.
“Indeed,” the voice added with a whishing annoyance. “If we remember correctly, your kind prefer to be called son of man, do you not?”
“You aren’t human?” Theos replied with a nervous laugh, “what? Are you an imp or something?”
The voice did not reply with words, but with more of that whooshing, like the wind striking the cliffs of shinar. “We have never been insulted in such a mismanner,” it finally said in the same tone.
“Show yourself,” Theos grumbled, “we can work to remedy that… mismanner.”
“We suppose that is how the lesser ones learn,” the voice flowing. “We must lower ourselves to your realm, a most unpleasing prospect.”
Theos did not understand any of that, but he decided to remain on guard. Nothing changed, after a while.
“Hello?” he frowned. “Are you there?”
“Patience,” the voice spoke, like the morning winds through the valley of cacti. “It all shall be revealed,” it added.
And so it was revealed.
A human shape appeared, in the silhouette of a man, sitting on the rock in the middle of the pool. It was naked, at first, then black dust began to swirl around it, forming into long flowing robes made out of mummy wraps, they covered the entire silhouette, leaving nothing but its hands and face.
The black dust – no, sands, Theos realized – swirled and made a large straw hat, not made of straw.
A slab of stone was placed on its face, a crude mask with no features, just a smoothed face.
The entire thing was colored in black, as dark as the sands that swirled around it.
Theos had to rub his eyes a few times to check if he was hallucinating. Perhaps he was still asleep?
“Does this make you see us, son of man?” the dark man said, the swirling of the sands joining its words. It stepped forward and the sand made a pathway for it to walk on. A walking cane with a rounded lump that fit into its black, sandy hands extended to the path. It walked straight, not needing that walking stick at all as it approached him.
“Stay back,” He pointed the dagger at the- the what.
“We are what lived here before your kind began to walk,” the creature answered, “before the bindings, before the duties,” it continued to march into Theos and stopped a few feet shy. “You think we fear this… this shattered thing, this… what is this?” it lunged with its hand and grabbed the dagger as Theos decided to stab the creature.
The creature’s hands felt like him burying his arms into the soft sands of the desert, granular and scratching. The creature watched the dagger, annoyance conveyed in posture. Theos watched and realized the creature was waiting for his answer.
“This is my dagger,” he replied with a shudder.
“A dagger? This thing?” the thing scoffed and the sand came out of its mask like a cloud. It eventually let go.
“What are you?” he said, frowning.
The creature turned, its movements were extreme, like someone was trying to mimic the way a person acted. “Ah, finally,” it said, pleased, “we are the Akh-Ba,” words ringing with a truth that radiated conclusion to Theos, pride radiating out of every syllable.
“What, what, and what?” Theos blinked.
The creature waved the not-questions away and turned back, moving towards the rock, holding the black gemstone in its fingers. Theos looked down at the dagger, realizing how smoothed out the ivory hilt had become in the process of the creature pulling out the stone.
It placed the black gemstone back on the center of the rock and watched Theos, or so he interpreted what the featureless face was doing. Guess he wouldn’t be sneaking that gemstone out after all.
“Is that your name?” Theos watched the creature sit lazily on the rock, its posture like that of a napping old man. “Akhba?”
“Akh-ba,” the creature hissed like a savage sandstorm. “Speak it precisely or mention it not. It is what we are,” it banged on the ground with its staff and it banged loudly in the cavern.
“Alright, so that is what your kind is called,” Theos huffed out.
The creature raised its featureless face to… stare?
“You are a temperamental one, aren’t you?” Theos sat down as well, as the creature clearly meant him no harm. “What should I call you, then?”
“We are in no need for a name.”
“Fine,” Theos winced as he rested his arm on his knee. “Do you know how I can leave this place, then?”
“You wish to return to the surface?” the creature watched him, head tilting slightly.
“If possible, yes,” he replied. “Extra appreciation if the path has no shades or batmen or ghouls or… basically anything that will try to kill me on sight.”
“There exists a path,” the creature’s head snapped and faced backward, it made Theos jump in his spot. “Where the water flows, and the umbra dwells.”
Hair stood on Theos’ neck and arms. Umbra was the ancient name for the darkness. “Shades?” he asked the creature.
“They vaguely resemble a shade,” the black man nodded, “Sha, Shuo, many names across the ages.”
It even spoke like an old man, Theos thought.
“So the shades live near the waterfall,” Theos slumped. At least he was lucky enough that he wasn’t attacked by them. “Guess there is no way out of here with the shades around.”
The old man-shaped thing tilted its head again, making sand fall out of his black straw hat. “That would be an issue to you?”
“Seeing that they would murder me horribly as soon as I step next to them?” Theos laughed. Yeah, he wouldn’t have anything left of him if there was more than one.
“Offer us,” Akh-ba said, with its hand extending towards him.
“Sorry, dark, dusty buddy,” Theos shrugged, “I have nothing on me other than what you see.”
“Insult after insult,” It snarled. “We care not for these baubles and trinkets of the lessers! Offer us sustenance, and we shall be Ka.”
More words he did not recognize, Theos sighed.
He ignored the creature and moved to wear his drying clothes, still moist, but not drowning in water.
“You refuse?” Akh-ba asked in surprise.
“I have no idea what you want,” Theos said simply, wrapping his cloak around his shoulders and tying it around his shoulders. “And this sphinx quiz speech is something I was warned about,” by stories, mostly, but they were still a warning.
How many stories had he heard that had the same thing in them? The djinn that promised the wishes, only for the wishes to backfire. The four fish that gave the man the chance at beautiful women, only for the man to keep wishing for a better one and a better one, dying without actually living.
“Yeah,” he huffed, “there would be none of that confusing offer stuff with me.”
The creature watched, eerily still, aside from the writhing sands. It made his skin crawl. He took the long way around the room, heading towards the exit.
“I would appreciate it if you could tell me how to reach the surface safely,” Theos stood by the entrance, his heartbeats rising as he watched the dark tunnel ahead.
The creature remained quiet, so Theos turned to look at it.
It was standing on the rock, and reaching with its cane to the crystal at the top. It pulled away a few tiny shards that fell into orbit around the top of the cane, before floating his way.
He watched the shards, carried by the black powdery sands until they suspended in the air in front of him.
“Use these,” It said. “Toss them into the water as the Umbra, the Shuo, the Sha stir to your presence. Act wisely, and you shall have enough left for your sight.”
Theos grabbed the shards, one by one – they were as small as the ones they had in the lanterns – and carefully put them in his palm. “Thanks, Akh-Ba,” he looked at the creature, “I am truly grateful.”
“We are a kind Ka,” it said, waving him away, “wish you meet us again, offer us sustenance of Xam, repay our kindness.”
“I have no idea what a Xam is,” Theo huffed out at the new word. “But I will try to get you something for helping me-” he stopped.
It felt like a bad idea to make a promise he couldn’t keep up with an entity he knew nothing about. But the creature did help him… “As long as I don’t have to travel back here, that is.”
“Make the offering of Xam on the full moon, where the altar of death lies, atop the surface mountain,” Akh-ba said, voice melancholic and distant before it turned into a swirl of sand that vanished into the beady gemstone.
“Thank you,” Theos found himself meaning the words, as he carefully closed his fingers on the shards and moved back to the waterfall.