Approaching the cave I can’t help but notice a warm breeze coming from it. Pausing for a minute I notice that the heat comes in pulses.

[Weird, I wonder wh-]

A blast of heat exits the cave. Instinctively I lurch back, falling to the ground.

“What the fuck?!”

The faint stench of sulfur meets my nose. [I mean, I need shelter but that is not normal]

Uneasily getting back to my feet, I brace myself for the second wave of heat; none follows. Cautiously, I enter the cave. A red glow emanates from deeper within, the tunnel twisting at a slight angle downwards and to the right. The red glow in front of me guiding my path, I slowly climb down the rather steep bend. Turning the corner, I see a large pool of magma extending outwards into the now cavernous space. Tiny bubbles of gas break the surface occasionally with soft pops.

[Well that explains the heat.] I slowly move closer.

The closer I get to the pool the greater the heat gets. I physically feel my wet clothes drying from the intensity. At the edge of the pool a small statue stands at about half my height. It appears to be a representation of an elk’s head, but the finer details are difficult to make out at this distance.

It’s at this point I hear a small squeak coming from near the statue. A figure, roughly the size of a large cat, is rooting in a small pile of rubble on the far right side of the statue in the cavern. I freeze in place, attempting to get a better look at the thing as it moves around.

[Of course a nice warm cave wouldn’t be empty. I just hope this thing isn’t some mama bear’s cub…]

The thing stops all movement and appears to sniff the air. The lifting of its head allows me to get a better view of it with the backdrop of magma behind it. The first thing that strikes me is the fact it has two eyes on each side of its skull. Beyond that it has six legs with three on each side, and is covered in dark matted fur. A scraping noise echoes throughout the cavern as I see the creature contract the claws on its front right paw.

Something impacts my chest as I am sent tumbling to the floor. Surrounded in a strange blue light the creature is on top of me, frantically gouging its claws into my chest. I desperately try to reorient myself to face the creature, too little too late. The thing bites into my chest, I feel two sharp points dig into my already bloody torso.

My hands flail as I desperately try to beat the thing off of me. It rears its head back for a second bite. In a panic I give up on trying to punch the creature and reach my hands out, feeling for something, anything, to pummel it with. My right hand finding a fist sized rock, I bash it into the creature’s head. Blood sprays my face as my impromptu weapon finds its mark.

Whack!

The creature falls onto the ground beside me dazed. Wasting no time, I leap into action. Pounding the rock into the thing’s skull I feel its bone cave in, followed by horrible squelching sounds as I free its brain matter from its casing. With a final pathetic squeak, it finally stops moving.

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“What. the actual… FUCK… was that” my chest heaving from the exertion.

Dropping the rock, I feel the wounds on my chest. It’s not good. My shirt is completely cut to ribbons and the flesh underneath hasn’t fared much better. Warm streams of blood pour out of me in concerning amounts. The adrenaline finally begins to subside as the worst pain

I have ever felt washes over me.

Falling onto the ground, my strength quickly leaving me, tears begin to pool at the edges of my vision.

“I’m sorry!” I yell “I didn’t want this!”

“Just… just let me go back…” praying to whatever god may be watching. “Let me go…. back…”

My head falls to my side, all strength has left me. The blood begins to pool around me. It is a strange feeling; My body is cold yet the blood pooling around me has a comforting warmth. Succumbing to my injuries, I let the ecstasy of unconsciousness finally overtake me.

Something wet touches my cheek. I quickly sit up, taking in a sharp inhalation. Looking around, I find a gray fog surrounds me. Quickly reaching to my chest I still feel the deep cuts penetrating into my skin, the pain is mysteriously absent.

I shakely stand to my feet, the ground beneath me has a strange spongy quality. Looking down, I seem to be standing in a thick layer of moss and rotting plant material.

[Wasn’t I just in a cave? Did someone… or something move me here?]

Attempting to make a closer inspection of the fog around me yields nothing.

[the fog isn’t even moving… just.. gray mist... ]

Looking back down at my chest, I finally get a sense of the damage. The cuts that.... thing made have revealed several of my ribs in the process. While there is no discomfort currently, I don’t really like the idea of poking around in them just yet. That's when I noticed the small squirt of brackish blood leaking out of my chest. It is an unhealthy black color, and seems to be unnaturally thick.

[Is that my FUCKING HEART!] I scream internally.

Sure enough, the squirting becomes more rhythmic, as I watch my chest pulse with every heartbeat. Each pulse releases a small stream of blood with it.

[OK! This is bad! Very very very fucking bad!]

My heartbeat begins to speed up, the blood pulsing out more frequently. It becomes hard to breathe. I collapse onto my knees, and I feel my eyes bulge while I hyperventilate.

“Not good, not good, not good.” I say to myself as each repetition of the word becomes more and more difficult to utter.

Vision beginning to dim, I am in a full panic. When suddenly, that wet sensation meets my cheek again.

Standing in the fog next to me is a monstrously huge elk. Its eyes glow with a soft white intensity. I am frozen in place, either by fear, my injuries, or some other force; I cannot tell. The elk bends its neck so its nose can reach my chest. It places its nose on the wound directly on top of my heart. Immediately after I feel the wetness of its nose, small vines begin to spread out from my flesh. Overlapping each other until they completely cover the cuts.

It smells mildly of mint, as I marvel at the display unfolding on me. Only a little bigger than fishing line, the tiny vines dance between the openings of my flesh, acting as sutures knitting the meat back together. A warm pulse of energy emanates from the vines’ growth, causing me to realize how cold I actually was. I look back at the elk, only now realizing my mouth was slack in complete awe of what was occurring, only to realize it had vanished. In front of me stood an immaculate replica of the statue I had seen earlier in the cave. Its surface is now a polished white marble, with eyes made of gleaming sapphires.

My arms slacken, no energy left in the muscles, and I once again feel the warm embrace of restful sleep.