Plummeting into the water, Norbert quickly swam to the surface, holding his backpack as high in the air as possible. Breaching the surface water splashing all around him, Norbert held his bag above his head, feeling the water wash off as he hoped it didn't get too wet when submerged. Unable to look, Norbert swam forward, going underneath the mountain.
Always able to see the dam's side, Norbert continued forward, swimming steadily through the water, focusing more on staying quiet than speed, not knowing when the bats could return and pluck him out, carrying him off to whoever has the rest of his party.
Silently paddling, Norbert made his way underneath; when passing under the mountain, Norbert saw the cave above him open up, losing track of the ceiling, just becoming a dark mass high above him.
Continuing forward, Norbert swam, gazing around and trying to find something, anything to position himself with, find a way inside this place; sadly, it was just the same, no light sources within. He wished at this point that he had some night visibility or just someway to see in the dark. Silently he threw a temper, stopping when he felt himself start to sink.
Norbert finally felt his feet hit solid rock. Standing up and still bobbing so used to being in the water, Norbert slowly waded forward, trying not to move the water too loudly around his feet. Hearing the water drip down his body Norbert sat by the water's edge, looking out over the great body of water to the outside with the dam wall and the moonlight reflecting on the water.
Shivering, Norbert opened his bag, seeing it slightly wet inside but not too bad. Quickly getting changed, Norbert put on his dry clothes, placing the wet ones in a ball in his bag, wrapping his jacket around the bestiary, still looking and confirming the bags of food were still intact.
Staring down at the mask, Norbert thought about putting it on, giving it some light that might allow him to see. Looking around, Norbert smashed his palm against his forehead in annoyance, forgetting nothing from his school studies and how night vision worked.
Staring out at the dam outside, Norbert focused on his eyes, pushing the energy into them. Thinking of his eyes as the rods and cones that made up the eyes, a flashback to his science class and the diagrams of the eye. Imagining his eyes as the diagram depicted and focusing on the rods they formed and pushing them to be greater, traps more light inside them and allows him to see greater at night.
As he did this, the world dropped in colour, a land of greys replacing it, but details now popped out of the once dark at him within the land of greys. Norbert could now see around the cave he found himself in. Turning around, Norbert saw a path on the side of the wall, going up from the water's edge he was and slowly wound its way around the edge of the cavern. Finally, ending high up in the air where an entrance was found; from his angle, looking gigantic compared to the stairs.
Not wanting to get caught in here when the bats returned, Norbert wound up the stairs, taking one at a time carefully. Chanting the mantra “Slow is steady and steady is fast so slow is fast”. Hoping that nobody was around, Norbert placed the mask on his face, wanting to see how much light it produced in case he needed it. With it on the steps came clarity; everything was bathed in a red hue.
Shaking his head, Norbert placed it back in the bag, knowing that if he kept it on, he would stand out like a sore thumb. Carefully but quickly, Norbert walked around the cavern, climbing the steps one at a time, focusing on his energy and pushing it into his eyes, not wanting to stumble and fall into the water below.
Finally, at the top, Norbert looked at the entrance to the mountain. Taking out his compass Norbert had a look, taking his pendant out to shine some light on the device.
Turning around, Norbert positioned it, pointing somewhere to the left of the entrance; knowing his rough general direction, Norbert made his way forward, placing the pendant back under his shirt. Walking through the entryway, Norbert looked around, confirming no traps or anything could be found.
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Walking down the hallway cut into the mountain, Norbert saw the decorations engraved into the wall, seeing beasts kill each other and humanoid creatures, watching as one was blessed from the heavens and sat above the rest.
Others were also blessed, forming a circle of those above, each with a distinctive shape as its head. Triangle, circle, square, pentagon, the more Norbert looked, the more he could pick up in the background, a countless amount. All are sitting together in balance.
The next panel showed them divided, facing each other with weapons in hand. Bellow them; armies fought one another with their respective shaped heads. Norbert, not understanding how the sides fought against each other, continued watching until only one remained, the one with the circular head.
Watching Norbert felt its stare pierce Norbert like it was trying to show him something. Norbert not understanding as the circle just stared, a pile in the background looking as high as a mountain. The next panel shows the figure standing alone, sitting on the throne, looking at the mess of bodies.
Walking more quickly, desperate to discover what happened next, Norbert saw an empty seat, a mix of shapes on the ground behind the throne, and the circular figure walking off. Off to the side, it was standing in the next panel, able to recognise the faint streaks around it.
The rest of the panel shows them working together until one comes and sits on the throne. Walking forward, Norbert saw the ring again, the shapes all together, though unlike in the first set off to the side, somehow knowing he was the original circle, sat alone.
The same war fought out once more, now only a triangle faced one standing alone, sitting on its throne it also left, only to be greeted by the circle, the two looking at each other before also sitting on the side, watching it repeat.
Norbert now started jogging, wanting to see where it led. Repeating repeatedly, Norbert saw how more and more came; what once was by themselves slowly joined in until these second groups of shapes split off into their respective shapes. The circles are forming together, the triangles etc.
Norbert watched as these sometimes also drew weapons, their numbers changing ever so slightly, until once more there was a big group again, all weapons drawn on each other until only one remained. A square this time; however, unlike the others, this one fell to the ground, not forming a group.
Continuing, Norbert saw the pattern form repeatedly, sometimes reaching five generations, others only one. The longest Norbert saw twenty generations before that to fall. He was now running; Norbert rubbed his hand on, trying to piece together what it meant but unable to.
Suddenly the mural ended, and as he continued forward, only a blank wall was before him. Stopping, Norbert huffed, so lost in it that he forgot where he was, all sense of stealth momentarily flung out the window. Standing, Norbert looked back, unable to see where he had come from. Wondering how far in the mountain he would have travelled. Taking out his compass, the first two positions hadn't moved from before, still pointing at the same angle roughly to the left.
Swallowing, Norbert worried, the amount of distance it should have been right on his left by now, or even slightly back compared to where it was when he was on top of the mountain. However, it didn't seem to move. The only two explanations in his head were that the device was broken somehow, and the other was that the rest of his party had moved forward roughly the same angle that he was travelling on.
Worried, Norbert placed back, continuing to follow the tunnel, now jogging as he securely held his backpack, stopping it from ruffling against him. As he continued forward, Norbert saw a light drop ahead of him.
Here the sides of the walls were roughly cut, looking more like a natural cave than cut by man. Walking carefully, Norbert made his way forward, now able to see the source of light was a torch, surprised to see its flame flickering and moving.
Now the tunnel changed; Norbert could see rows of torches on either side, Norbert shivering at what it could mean. As he continued walking forward, Norbert left the energy to dissipate from his eyes. The grey world is now being filled with colour once again.
Continuing to creep forward, Norbert stood under the first torch and could see forward, able to count another three more sets of torches in front of him; between each set of torches, a side passage was cut into the rock.
Norbert strained his ears, hoping to hear anything; craning his neck around, Norbert could hear something, though not from in front or on the side but from behind.
Spinning his head around, Norbert heard wings flapping, bouncing off the tunnel. Panicking, Norbert rushed forward, going down the side passage. Waiting tensely, Norbert saw the Giant Bats fly past in single file, one after the other, whipping in front of the entrance.
Calming his breath, Norbert waited for them all to pass, knowing the night would be ending soon, the day would be coming, and whatever else would inhabit this cave system, or it would also be moving around. Donning his mask, wanting to hide his identity more than subtly with all the light around, Norbert looked around the hallway he found himself in.