The room is a complete disheveled mess. Every new step into the time-lost chamber disturbs the ancient residue that has lied dormant for countless ages. Yet my curiosity cannot be denied by this mild hazard. All around rest objects in serious states of decay. Metal pipes of extraordinary size appear to melt in the ground. Mounds of rust are common place, I can imagine what sort of things they once were. And the skeletons…
Time has not been kind to their remains. They lack any sort of clothing or gear, their discolored bones in full exposure to the elements. I move closer to one of the fallen humans and attempt to touch an exposed rib. In eerie silence, the bone disintegrates into nothingness. Soundlessly, the rest of the skeleton similarly turn to dust. The faintest embrace are all the fragile bones can handle before finally giving in.
Watching my ancestors crumble into nothing, their history forever lost to time, sends a discomforting shiver down my spine.
How many hundreds of years would it take for this room to deteriorate to this state. Maybe even thousands?
For now I take my attention away from the rest of the remains and set my sights upon the remainder of the room. Grimly aware of what all the residue in the room might be made of, I put my good wing over my beak to act as a basic filter. Really not keen on breathing in corpse dust.
At the edge of my light I get a glimpse of the rooms end. A gargantuan pile of rubble and earth stretches from wall-to-wall, sealing off the exit. Beneath my wing, a frown begins to form with the rising realization that this room is truly a dead end. Moving closer reveals no cracks or crevices to squeeze through, it's air tight. Truly a shame.
I suppose it shines some more light on what happened to the folk residing in this room. Looking back exposes just how marred and damaged the walls and ceiling are. All around they are pocked with countless holes, some small, others wider than my outstretched form. Considering how flush and straight the undamaged sections are eludes to some sort of forgotten story.
At this point all the disturbed residue has created a visible haze of floating refuse that reaches up to my chest. As much as I want to discover all the mysteries of this room, it will have to wait. I head back towards the entrance, now noting how thick the wall is separating this chamber and the tunnel. Perhaps the passage was sealed off long before the demise of this room, but whatever the room was for, the walls were thick. I hold out my wing to help me gauge how deep it goes, maybe 4 feet or so? Overall, they are truly excessive.
With the ancient chamber behind me, what remains is the winding corridors of this cave until I reach the lake again. Joy.
---
By time I get back to the underground lake, the daylight from the exposed ceiling is notably gone. In its place, the lake radiates a purple hue, the inky surface blanketed with a myriad of tiny lights. As if to become one with the watery canvas, dozens of fireflies hover just above the surface. Their charming glow dances with the rippling reflections below, creating a dazzling splendor of show of lights.
Beholding the beautiful display was enough to stave away thoughts of hunger and future plans for now. These matters trivial in the face of such a remarkable scene.
It is also comforting to know that despite every oddity I've encountered in these caves, fireflies remain true and simple to form in this far-flung future. It gives me hope that the world might still be recognizable when I finally escape.
As the fireflies perform their nightly-ritual, my eyes close, and I drift off into sleep.
---
Morning comes and contrasts sharply with the pleasant memories of the previous night. Gone are the fluttering insects, now beams of light shine with particles of dust floating in their place. The gargling wails of my stomach commands my attention after ignoring it the night prior. Before I stir, I make sure to carefully shift my mangled wing to avoid awakening the dormant pain that threatens to erupt with careless movement.
Then I notice them. The fungal stalkers from yesterday, once again, in a perfect circle. This time they encircle me rather than my necklace. Their mycelium roots surfaced and exposed to the air in the shape of a woven wall, forming a dim glowing barrier of sorts. Instinctively, I inspect my necklace to discover no root-like invaders tethered to it. Thankfully, it has not grown in luminosity as well, perhaps thanks to the interference of these fungi.
The display does reawaken questions that I discarded in favor of survival at the time. The fact that the stone only grows brighter in my presence. The re-occurring azure glow from the entities that sap the light from my stone. All-to-familiar when compared to the thick alien-like roots in the cavern when I first awoke. That same room filled with countless gemstones similar to this opal of mine. Then I recall them encasing the crystal shards that were at my feet. It paints a clear picture.
Whatever is going on, I'm the source. While I don't know if its some sort of radiation that could prove dangerous, it's something that I should remain aware of. Thing is I don't feel anything, but apparently it is highly-desirable considering the actions of the roots, the lizard, these fungi, and maybe even that eel. I might have had a target painted on my back this entire time without ever realizing it. Shit.
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Grrrrrrrrrwl
Alright angry stomach, I hope you like mushrooms, because I have just the breakfast in mind!
A bit of drool builds up in my mouth as I stare at the wibbly-wobbly mushrooms who lack the faintest idea of what I have in mind. Get in mah bellyyy!
One fungal slaughter later and I am feeling great. To be honest, perhaps I ate a bit much. Hard not to overindulge when your food practically offers themselves up to you! Maybe this radiation thing might be something to my advantage if I play my cards right.
For now, it's time to put my explorers cap back on, and perhaps my spare pair of proverbial brown pants. If I recall, the path on the right brought with it a draft, and on that breeze a danger that caused every instinct of mine to shift into overdrive. I don't know who or what that odor belonged to, but it was dangerous, of that I am sure. If I can get past that obstacle, I feel like freedom would be at the tips of my feathers. Gone will be the gloomy cave and instead a world full of mysteries to discover! Perhaps I will discover the key to my memories out there and everything will finally make sense.
You know, the fact that I was a human has been bothering me less and less. Perhaps because it is forever out of reach, or maybe it's the fact that this new form I'm in isn't so bad?
Then a stray thought speaks softly in the hushed auditorium of my mind. What if I let my memories rest in peace? Should I really chase after them? Sure they are a part of me, but so are the new memories I have in this cave. Certainly the impression of a certain eyeball obsessed scoundrel takes up a lot of free real estate, but they're mine. Not those of some clouded stranger whom I don't even recognize. While the contents of the dream I had the other night escape me, I recall feeling scared. Terrified even. Whatever happened to me it wasn't good, of that I can surmise. So you know what? Screw my old life, this is me! In the now!
In my head I imagine a treasure chest full of nigh-irresistible temptations and kick it off a cliff with my powerful scaled legs. Downwards into an unfathomable void it cascades until it is gone from sight.
I suppose that brings me to another matter. If I'm throwing away these shackles of my old life, I should adopt what's is vacant. Chief among them a name.
Hmmm….
I juggle around a couple names such as Tristan, Owen, Alfie, and 50 others that don't quite fit right. Until the name Alistair comes around. I chant it a couple of times internally, testing it out in a broad spectrum of situations. Yeah, I can get attached to a name like that.
Right as I was about to get going, a severe headache conjures itself out of thin air. From all sides it feels as if red-hot nails are being hammered into my head. Maybe I'm hallucinating it, but I get the sense that a presence drapes over me like a heavy blanket. Its phantasmal grip squeezes harder on my skull the longer I resist. God damn this hurts so bad! Make it stop!
After a few minutes of intense agony, the mental nails slowly retract as the assault comes to its conclusion. Fresh warm blood pools at my nostrils and below my eyes, in haunting similarity to the previous days. Bits of the red fluid find its way inside my mouth, each drop acrid and tasting sharply of iron.
Ignoring the blood for now, I desperately swivel around searching for something, someone. That specter felt far too real to ignore, the maroon streams staining my face clear proof of its existence. My search reveals nobody else in this cavern, certainly no malevolent phantom I expected to find.
At this point the pain has completely subsided, now I'm in the same state I was just minutes prior. Just when I was starting to build some confidence, shit like this happens.
I make my way towards the lake to wash off the blood before it cakes to the feathers on my face. As I wash my face I stare back at my reflection, half-expecting to see someone just over my shoulder. Alas, only stones show in the mirrored background.
What was I even doing before all this again?
Oh, right. figuring how to survive a dangerous encounter with destiny. Now with an added bonus of unpredictable attacks on the very core of my being. For the latter, the attack happened right after I sorted out some thoughts about my past. So just don't think about any of that nonsense for the next day or two, go it. Of course I could just be making false assumptions about the situation, but it's the best course of action that makes sense in my head so it needs to work. That is one matter resolved for the time being, now for the former.
Before I start making elaborate plans, it might do some good to do some scouting first. Get an idea of what I'm dealing with. There could even be the slim chance that I'm blowing the danger factor way out of proportion
As I scale the top of the slope where the passage is, I get another whiff of that earthen rancor smell. With no say in the matter, my feathers all stand on end in weary anticipation. If the situation wasn't so unsettling, I might have found my new puffed appearance laughable. There will be a time and a place for that later. For now I begin my descent down into the foreboding passage.
I stick close to the left wall, taking great effort in controlling my talons to prevent their audible clicks against the hard stone. When I reach the lowest bend in the tunnel, it curves up once more, this time opening up to a grand chamber. The lakeside caverns I spent the last few days in can hardly compare to the sheer size of this new space, easily doubling their size. Large stalagmites and stalactites decorate the floors and ceiling, giving the room the visage of a great toothy beast. Beyond all the spear-like formations, on the far end of the cavern, the stone gives way to form an earthen portal. Just beyond, the light of day shines brilliantly, a herald to the world beyond.
Yet every domain has its guardian, these winding caverns no different. For in the middle of that grandiose cavern rested a beast of massive, nigh-impossible proportions. Its pelt was ashen with stripes of black running down the length of its spine. Following its form reveals three pairs of trunk like legs, each ending in scoop-like claws, and all of them as long as my own body. The broad, short snouted head was resting on its front paws, but my attention remained focus on its jaws. Reinforcing the lower jaw was a mass of bulky, earthen scales that gives the creature a wicked, draconian underbite.
While I stare at this gargantuan creature in feared awe, it continues to slumber in its stone palace. The cave resonate with every deep breathe the beast takes, granting them far more menace than they already had. But then it stops and my heart freezes solid. It raises its head slightly, and the cave magnifies the audible sniffing it has begun.
Feeling that my life was in great danger, I take slow steps backwards. Little by little the beast's massive form disappears from view. Just as I reach the nadir of the bend, the monster's form shifts until one colossal red pupil stares straight down the pathway, right in my direction.
ROOOOOOAAAAAAR!!!!!!!!