Staring up at the ceiling, he continued to lie in the water, feeling it try to caress him back into the arms of the river once more, travelling himself down its currents onto his next journey of awe and wonder. He placed his heel into the sand, stopping his movement as he scanned the ceiling, not seeing anything there that would ascertain itself to the hole he had just dropped through.
Going to where the waterfall was blocking the vision of the ceiling, the waterfall moved for just a moment before it stopped. Norbert stared at it as he wished for something to happen. Changing his vision to magic as he continued staring at the spot, a single rune lit up, brown in colour, the glowing runes in shapes that Norbert had never studied previously.
He shook his head in frustration as he changed his vision to night again, allowing himself to see in the underground river he was besides. He lay still as he felt a wind blow over his face, feeling the hairs start to stick on end from the cooling wind.
Relaxing, he closed his eyes and let it blow over him. He wondered what it would be like to follow this. He went back over to him, landing on the mountainside, following down the path, and finally, into the trap, which resulted in him landing in the river above him.
As the wind blew on his face again, he felt the heat radiate down to the tips of his soaked toes. With his eyes still closed, he felt a presence burrow its gaze at him. Staring at him, it almost dared him to move as he waited for it to move so an action could finally be taken.
Fluttering his eyes open, face contorting into a grimace as he hoped the feeling he was currently having was for naught. Seeing a single eye looking back at him, the reflection of the river that was still trying to pull him in as he finally released him.
Pushing across, Norbert moved his hand to the other side, flipping his body around and jumping into the river, water splashing all around him as he made the distance between himself and whatever creature had snuck up on him.
There, Norbert saw grey carapace armour forming with the stone he was currently inside. Staring at it, he saw veins of colour spike through it, a dark blue. The armour ended in spikes, the dark blue veins lighter than at its base, as he watched it ripple and dance before his eyes.
Changing his vision to magic, fingers danced around the daggers as the creature came to full colour before him. The grey of the world of looking in night vision finally pushed backwards as he looked at the brown blob of hard shapes and angles before him, each point of its carapace looking like it wanted to eat his jaw.
The creature's eyes are black pits of darkness in the world of magic, and the shell is constantly moving with brown ebbing and flowing through the armour. The blue was coming off it, and Norbert saw veins of it connect down, and into the ground, as it reached out, tickling the river he was currently standing in. The river was a blue cacophony of colour as he stared down into it, distracting him from the creature before him. He followed it up the waterfall, not knowing how he missed the amount of magic flowing between his legs.
PLOP PLOP PLOP PLOP PLOP
The sound took Norbert back to the scene in front of him. He finally stopped looking at the tree and gazed at the forest as his eyes panned behind the creature that had previously stood over him.
A wash of brown and blue colours came up from behind as he stared at them. The previously empty cave was now teaming with the swash of colours. Watching as they rippled before hearing the PLOP continue, hundreds of them now sound out in front of him.
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Changing his vision to night, he viewed the creatures coming out of the wall, cracks and fissures where they previously resided, and they are now open to view. Standing completely still, Norbert just swallowed, his fingers no longer dancing across his daggers as he stood, knowing he wouldn’t have enough daggers to deal with the horde of creatures before him.
Sending the energy speeding around his body as he breathed deeply in, a puff of air spiralling out, the mist it made coiling around until finally dissipating. Sucking the now much cooler air between his teeth, hearing it whistle with the speed before blowing it out of his nose.
Looking to the right, keeping the beetle-like creatures in his peripheral view, the waterfall still raging along on the left, he takes a quick peek, seeing nothing up there. The path still does not look preferable, and an inkling in the back of his mind tells him not to go there.
Shuffling a foot to the left, he only found himself going to the right, further along the river's path. Sighing in frustration with whatever he possessed, his body remained. Knowing he would need to find someone to properly investigate and examine him on what had happened to his body.
With the movement of his footstep, whatever had stilled the creatures in front of him had finally stopped the plopping sounds they were making ceased with their newfound movement. As Norbert stood there, staring, wondering what their next move would be, they finally started to move, the water gyrating underneath him.
Turning to the right, the energy within him was ready at his beck and call as he leapt into the air, flying through the cavern. The sound of water was rushing behind him, and he twisted his head around to look behind him. A fist thrust itself out of the water, eyes open in surprise, having not expected an entire fist to be following after him.
Still feeling himself go higher, the fist reached out, its fingers just missing him as it fell back into the river it was made from. Relief went out of his breath as he smashed into a stalactite, his face slick with water from the impact. He heard it crack against his skull and torso, only slowing him down slightly and causing him to drop out of the sky.
Hearing the first splash of water, the piece of rock falling, Norbert was unable to keep track of where the rock fell. He had more pressing concerns as the water bubbled underneath him. Impacting with it, he felt it open up around him, letting him be taken in softly.
Sucking in a breath of air, Norbert’s mind played back to the moment in the arena when he was faced with a similar predicament. As the water rushed in, looking around to see if any of the creatures were around in the water with him. Only the inky blackness of the water looked back at him.
Feeling himself tugged backwards, although the water flowed one way, it still didn’t matter as he went the opposite way, back the way he had come. Not wanting to get any closer to those brutal, shelled creatures that burst through the wall, Norbert started to swim downwards.
His hand smashed into the river bank, flipping himself around as he jumped into the air, aiming to the other side of the river bank, trying to get as far away from the creatures if he came outwards, hoping their range would be even less there.
His arms were outstretched in front of him, and his fingertip just breached the water, feeling it go out of his way. Falling again, Norbert’s fingers slid against the bank on the other side. Clawing into it, Norbert pulls himself out of the water, having to pump energy all around his body. Finally, he feels it start to speed up again after its constant usage, the water pulling him in, not wanting him to escape its clutches.
Clawing with the next hand, he kicked at the water, the liquid releasing him as he flew, flipping in the air as he fell to the ground. Impacting it with his back, feeling the water off his clothes start to drain away from the lake. Getting to his feet, he looked around, seeing that on the other side of the river, he was right next to the waterfall again.
Standing on the other side of the river, the same chitinous creatures stared back at him as they continued their song once more. He saw more pockmarks on that side of the river. Looking back on the glen that he was on, he saw the same holes in the wall. Swallowing it as he looked down, right in front of him was a line of them.
The energy was still bubbling within him, and he wanted to release it as he sped off, not wanting to see what would happen to him if he stayed. The water was boiling over, and Norbert heard it subsided him as he ran on the land. The space for the bank was getting smaller as it started to hug the river again.
Leaping onto the wall on either side, clutching onto the rock with his hands and feet, he carefully climbed upwards and away from the water, getting as high as possible to the stalactites above.