Hunter stopped to look back.
“Good thing we left when we did, hey?” the lieutenant said.
“Did the whole cave collapse?” Hunter asked as he matched the lieutenant’s pace. The lieutenant pulled out a small device from his pocket and Hunter felt the familiar dance of etherium within it. It lit up their surroundings, just enough to make navigating feel less perilous.
“Don’t worry about me! I’m fine!” Jeren yelled from behind them, his voice loud enough to be heard over the stampede above them. Hunter winced. In his panic, he’d forgotten about the man.
“I’ll make it up to him,” the lieutenant said. Soon, Jeren caught up to them and slowed down so that they wouldn’t split up.
It didn’t take them long to catch up to Bella and Joe, the latter of which was leaning on Bella with an arm around her shoulder. He was keeping all of his weight off of his right leg.
“What happened?” the lieutenant said, approaching Joe and kneeling down to inspect the leg. Joe flinched at the lieutenant’s touch. Lieutenant Richard pursed his lips and his eyebrows furrowed.
“Tripped,” Joe scowled, “should have waited for you guys, but I guess I was still in scout mode.”
“Alright, Jeren, you take point,” the lieutenant said, offering his etheric flashlight. Jeren shook his head and took out his own.
“I always carry an extra. Got to be prepared on scouting ops, sir,” Jeren said, making sure not to bump into Joe or Bella as he passed them.
Their pace slowed, but Hunter felt that the part of the cave they were in was pretty stable. It descended for about a mile before it inclined. Hunter tried to keep his breathing even to stay calm.
There were spiders in the cave, and many nocturnal critters and creatures of the earth. Nothing posed an obvious threat, but who knows what venomous horrors lurked in and around the cave’s walls?
He kept his eyes peeled. The potential for danger in the cave was almost as anxiety-inducing as the danger above them.
Their climb became steep and slowed even further, as they had to help Joe a few times.
“Does anyone else hear the wave above us anymore?” Hunter asked.
“No, I think it’s missed us,” Bella said, “But many beasts will mill around where it passed. They’d be excitable and might be prone to a frenzy for a few more hours. If we find an exit, we’ll need to be careful.”
Hunter nodded. His thoughts were on the mechanism behind the beastwave. Was it environmental? Was it an exaggerated herd instinct — some sort of genetic expression which all the fauna had inherited from a common ancestor? The research team must have considered that a possibility already. He knew about attempts to map human DNA, but questioned if technology had advanced enough to map out the DNA of other species.
Their path brought them to a cavern which had a small opening at the top, allowing some natural sunlight to leak through. It was enough to see by, but combined with the fresh air, being in the cavern was like a divine tonic after the last few hours. They all took a few minutes to breathe and relax.
Hunter smelled something familiar and heard some worrying noises in the distance. He stood and walked towards the noise, trying not to make much sound. The team watched from behind, none of them moving yet. They’d all earned a slight break and were reluctant to give up the retreat they’d found.
Hunter didn’t blame them. He could barely see into the cavern. He mistakenly believed the rock walls extended to the ceiling around the entire dome-like structure. However, the cavern kept going, and he almost yelped when he stepped halfway off the edge of a drop.
The sounds echoing through the cavern had gotten clearer, and a familiar smell was pervading this area.
“Shit,” Hunter whispered. He waited for his vision to adjust, and his heart dropped into his stomach when he saw what was down there. A great pool of a very familiar gooey, gelatinous liquid. He could see dozens, maybe even hundreds, of pterophids bathing in the pool, grooming each other and swimming around in their own filth.
Surrounding the pool were many times that number.
“Guys,” Hunter spoke as low as he could, backing away from view of the pterophid colony, “we’ve got a problem.”
Jeren walked past him towards the overlook. It took some time for him to see what Hunter had seen. When he did, he cupped his mouth as wheezed the quietest, frustrated scream he’d ever heard.
“Pterophids, more than I’ve ever seen before in one place before. We need to go,” Jeren whispered to the team. Joe groaned in frustration, having just gotten comfortable after sitting down and letting the tension drain away.
“I promise you’ll get a nice warm bath when we back to base camp,” Jeren said as the team got up and readied themselves to leave.
“Won’t be the same unless your m—”
“I told you not to joke about my mother,” Jeren said, “but maybe Bella’s is—”
“Careful, Jeren. The last thing we need are two cripples to carry back,” Bella whispered.
“Understood, ma’am,” he whispered back.
They heard a growl from the cavern’s exit. Each of them froze. The lieutenant held out a hand beside him, waving backwards. They stopped and took a few steps back while he held his ground.
A wolf-like creature stalked forward, head lowered and teeth showing. It paused as it got a look at them and sniffed at the air. Its tail didn’t wag so much as it vibrated, making a clicking sound.
“Good boy,” the lieutenant said, “See? We’re not food.”
The wolf-thing resumed its slow, forward movement. The closer it got, the more Hunter realized it was less like a wolf, and more like a lithe, over-sized cricket. It didn’t have any wings, but it looked like it could speed up faster than they could react.
And there was fur along its chitinous body. Its head was rather wolf-like. A long snout, two forward-facing eyes, fangs bared at the uncertain variable that the team must present to it — predator, or prey?
“Please tell me that these things don’t reproduce like insects do,” Bella whispered.
“Positive thoughts, please,” Jeren said.
The lieutenant reached into his pocket and pulled out a food ration. It looked like a protein bar.
The beast let out a loud warning growl, and it echoed through the cavern. Hunter glanced toward the massive shit-pool, hoping that the pterophids hadn’t heard that.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Another beast emerged from the darkness behind it, eyeing the team as it approached the lieutenant’s offering. Sniffing at the bar, it opened its mouth and a thin tongue lashed out to grab it. Its displeasure caused it to warble and spit, prompting a louder growl from its companion. It wasn’t viewing the team with uncertainty anymore; it seemed to have made a choice. Its partner let out a roar, and he could hear similar roars echo from behind them.
The sound was analogous to a howl.. Once more, the similarities between Skyhold and Sanctuary surprised Hunter.
The echoing roars continued, and Hunter’s his skin went cold.
“I think we can confirm your hypothesis,” Hunter whispered to Bella, but before she could answer, a loud chorus of squawks and flapping wings answered the beasts challenged. Apparently, the wolf-cricket didn’t expect that. Its gaze and the gaze of its companion shot towards the sound of pterophids. They backed away from the team, towards where the creatures first entered from, but they stopped as more of their comrades appeared to join them.
Then the pterophids appeared, and the pack of wolf-things — more appearing by the second — rushed to meet the new threat.
Hunter’s heartbeat sped up as he tried to find any opening in the cavern’s walls, somewhere for the team to hide. Stray pterophids flew into them as two gangs began their assault. They covered their eyes, and Hunter hoped a stray beat of a pterophid’s wing wouldn’t hit him in the mouth.
“We can use this!” the lieutenant yelled, pulling them toward the cavern wall. “Jeren, Hunter, did you see another cave extension near the pterophid’s area?”
Hunter squinted his eyes as he tried to remember.
“I think I saw something like that right at the opposite end from the overlook,” Jeren said.
The lieutenant looked at Hunter.
“What do you think?” he asked.
“Your call, but I think it’s our only shot,” Hunter said. This was not the situation where he wanted any authority. But there wasn’t much to think about. Their choice was to either stick around and get torn apart, or take a risk.
More wolves and pterophids appeared each moment, and the conflict between the two warring factions continued to escalate.
Neither side paid much attention to the humans, they weren’t the most pressing threat.
“That makes our choice a lot easier. Hunter, can you support Joe’s weight right now? Think piggyback instead of crutch.”
“Yeah,” Hunter said. But he grit his teeth. It was going to be painful. He felt a constant grinding sensation in his ribcage when he walked, and this wouldn’t make it any less unpleasant. He kneeled down in front of Joe so that the man could wrap his arms around Hunter’s upper chest from behind.
“Let’s go, big guy.”
“I resent that,” Joe said. Hunter might have heard Jeren snicker a bit, but he couldn’t tell over the sounds of battle.
“Let’s move,” the lieutenant said, exploring the edge cave wall until they passed their original entrance and made it to the edge of the overlook. He pointed towards a less-steep decline they could use to get down. All but a few of the pterophids had moved to answer the wolf hybrids challenge. The stragglers either missed the call two arms or were already heading to join their comrades.
The exit was right ahead of them. Hunter picked up his pace to match the others, as they all seemed to feel the same anxiety pushing them out of the pterophid’s territory. Just when he thought they’d be able to make it out without being noticed, they heard angry shrieking to their left; the remaining pterophids protesting the invasion of their territory.
Jeren cursed, and the lieutenant pushed them forward. Bella was the first one through the exit, followed by Jeren. The lieutenant stayed behind Hunter and Joe, and often yelled for them to move faster. Hunter could hear chirping and squawking as the pterophids scraped and clawed their way towards the exhausted team.
Hunter wondered if living on Skyhold would be worth it. Maybe they should have stayed back home, subjecting themselves to the mercy of the Council and the Chans.
It couldn’t have been any worse than this was.
The pterophids arrived quickly, but only a small group caught up. While easily dispatched, the thought of hundreds was terrifying.
“That’s the only way forward!” Bella yelled from ahead. Hunter turned a corner and spied the small opening that she was pointing to. It should be just wide enough for them to squeeze through, one by one. But he wasn’t sure if Joe could make it without help.
Bella and Jeren went through first, not bothering to wait for them to catch up. Hunter could push joe’s good leg from behind, while Bella and Jeren helped pull him through the rest of the way. The lieutenant told Hunter to go through next, and he was about to protest, but he cut Hunter off. This wasn’t like the cave-in — squeezing through this small opening would take time. And the bulk of the small swarm was almost caught up to them. Every single one of pterophids who appeared in the meantime would slow them down even more.
Hunter squeezed through the small crack, and for once, he cursed his new bulk, as it made it a lot harder to shimmy through. Joe and Bella grabbed him by the arms and heaved, his jacket catching and tearing on the edge of a small rock. It was hardly worth wearing at this point.
Hunter could hear the swarm through the hole, and the lieutenant yelling in defiance. Waiting, he held his breath. Squealing and screeching sounded from the other side, and he took a risk to peak through the opening. He dodged to the side to avoid the lieutenants’ bloody, torn-up hand shoot through the opening.
“Help!” the lieutenant cried. Hunter grabbed the man’s hand and pulled with all of his might. Jeren and Bella were beside him, pulling as well.
“‘Fuckers have got a grip on my leg!” Lieutenant Pellar said. The man screamed, and as soon as he was through, the team kicked and stomped at the pterophids which poured him after him. Jeren kicked the corpses back through the opening, blocking the reptiles. The pile of flesh and bone effectively sealed the hole.
For a short time, they could breathe easily, finding solace in their temporary sanctuary.
The lieutenant could walk, but he was losing a lot of blood. Jeren took off his own pants, tearing them up using the cuts and tears they’d accumulated, create temporary tourniquets to keep a steady pressure on the lieutenants’ wounds. Hunter hadn’t gotten a good look at them, but what he saw was quite gruesome. He could only hope the pterophids that bit and clawed the lieutenants’ legs hadn’t infested the wounds with their feces.
Positive thoughts.
The lieutenant would be fine, he thought. They would all be survive and find help.
There was some good news. A good deal of sunlight was reaching them from around the bend in the cave. Hunter resumed his role as Joe’s surrogate legs, while Bella and Jeren supported lieutenant Pellar’s weight. The sounds of the pterophids crescendo’d for a second, and the team looked back.
Each of them was feeling similar to the rest. Dirt, sweat, and mystery substances covered them, substances Hunter didn’t want to contemplate. Their remaining clothing was ripped and torn. They could not move at their desired pace and they barely had the energy to do so anyway. But eventually, the noise which might have spelled the end of their harrowing journey died down.
The blockade of pterophid corpses, Hunter assumed, would convince the rest to rejoin the fight against the wolf-things. Hunter hoped he’d never have to see those things again, not without an entire platoon of heavily armed Guards.
He and Joe led the way around the cave bend. For a second, Hunter had to cover his eyes; the cave opening felt like staring straight into the sun. Blinking while his eyes adjusted, he let himself bask in the warmth. He hadn’t realized how cold the cave had been — even back in the open-skied cavern, the opening to the surface was pretty small, and the there was barely enough light to see by.
“Is this heaven? Am I dead?” Joe asked. The rest of the team hadn’t come around the bend yet, so he could only assume that Joe was asking him. Even after everything they’d been through, they still saw him as Trey Oberon’s heir.
Some distant part of his mind noted that. How deep did the loyalty of the Oberon Guard — and even the rest of the main body of Oberon Enterprises — run? What did his authority really mean?
“No,” Hunter said, breathing in the fresh air and feeling sweet relief as the warmth of the sun melted away his stress. “It’s real.”
The cave’s exit rose high above the vast lake and surrounding forest. Mountains framed the sun, setting beyond the valley between them. An orange sky illuminated the small waves and ripples across the lake.
Bella gasped as they rounded the bend.
Hunter looked back at them; the sudden brightness transfixed them as their vision adjusted.
“Can we just stay here forever?” Bella asked.
“No,” the lieutenant laughed, “but I think we can rest for a while. How does that drop look? Does anyone see a safe way down?”
Hunter kneeled and let Joe lean against a wall. He stood and got as close to the exit as he dared.
“It looks pretty steep to me. The cliff drops right into the lake,” Hunter said, picking up a small rock near him and tossing it.
It took a while before he saw a small splash.
“Yeah, that’s a long fall,” Hunter sighed.
“Then we have some big decisions to make,” the lieutenant said. The team all looked at him before he continued, “Jeren, Bella, Hunter, you might need to leave me and Joe behind.”
The team ignored him, and Hunter couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped his throat.
“I’m serious, it’s too dangerous,”
“Did you hear something?” Bella asked Jeren. Jeren rose his eyebrows and shook his head, as if he hadn’t a clue what she might be referring to.
“I guess that answers that,” Hunter said. “I hereby declare that we are bringing Lieutenant Pellar along with us.”
“Damn right, sir.” Jeren said. Bella gave an approving nod.
The lieutenant seemed to resent Hunter’s sudden change in disposition towards his station, but Hunter didn’t mind. Maybe he could grow used to this authority business.