The wind howled gently as it escaped through the large cracked wall, bringing strong scents of rotten leaves and fresh earth. There were hundreds of giant and ugly worms wriggling in the distance, breaking through the impenetrable stone like a hot knife through butter. Their sharp weapons were perfectly suited for the task, and were unsurprisingly effective at tearing through Charlies scales too.

The tedious work of the worms lay behind the cracked wall, a cubed room carved out by their durable and sharp weapons.

Swathes of rubble and half-chewed stone were strewn about, littering the floor and barring the passage for most normal creatures. Though these worms seemed anything but normal. The little worms would chew through the broken down stone on the floor and replace it with fine sand, whereas the larger worms would break apart large boulders in their stead.

The dark hallway behind him felt a little bit more important than before, seeing how this must have taken months, if not years to excavate. Though maybe the importance of the place was misplaced, it could simply by the will of the worms - seeking out to fill their bellies.

Yet, it couldn't be so. There is a strange pedestal at the back of the spacious room, lit up by the dim light of the stone, yet shrouded by an unnatural darkness. It felt out of place, and almost human in creation - there was simply no possibility for the worms to have carved this out themselves.

In the short time that Charlie could observe them, they were bumbling fools, blindly wriggling about until they hit stone and only then react to the world around them. Though they seemed to always perfectly avoid each other - Charlie was right, they must have another form of sense to coexist this smoothly.

Charlies curiosity had piqued to dangerous levels again, but no matter how suicidal it was, Charlie was, in fact, not inclined to kill himself. Upon reflection, he might have been a touch suicidal in leaping down a dark, unknown hole in the ground.

If the humans were behind this in some sense, then the layout of the carved room made more sense. There were large and dark hallways that led out of the room in opposite directions, much too tall for the worms, but perfect for the humans that needed to walk upright.

If it were the humans Charlie had seen at the surface, it would make sense for them to somehow control all of these worms, they were certainly powerful enough for the job. It was likely that the mountain of worms posed no issue for them.

But why?

Even if the humans found no issue in dealing with the worms, what was their purpose? Certainly for Charlies human-turned-monster palette they were delicious, but was it the same for them? Did the pedestal have something to do with it, or was that how they controlled the worms?

Whatever the case may be, it was beyond suicidal to venture any deeper into the throes of mystery. This turn in the lightless hallway had been essentially a dead end, so Charlie turned back around and made way in search of another exit. If there was indeed an exit, Charlie might be able to return here and reap the juicy little worms.

Returning to the unnatural, or rather natural, darkness of the hallway, Charlie already started regretting his decision. The light may have been dim, and the stray few beams of light that made it through the crack in the wall even dimmer, but it was a relief.

The hours spent in the complete absence of light was almost becoming too much. Being forced to stay on high alert the entire time, careful of not only where Charlie slithered, but on the lookout for any changes in the environment, any changes that might end his life.

The welcoming embrace of shadow was missing, too. Maybe the fact that there is no light to cast the shadow in the first place, or maybe down here he was cut off from the mysterious power above - but it felt completely empty.

Slithering through the... Sand... Charlie had a lot of time to think and so he worked his brain from multiple ends. The vast majority of Charlie's mind had been dead set on tracking any and every minute detail in the darkness; the sounds, scents and textures of his environment were taken in and meticulously processed for anything suspicious. It would prove fatal to be caught unprepared, though Charlie hoped it would be him catching the worms off-guard, and not the other way around.

But, a small part of his mind was reserved to ruminating on the links and possible reasons to explain what he had stumbled upon. From the empty and lifeless darkness that swallowed the cave, to the purpose of the worms and their mysterious pedestal, Charlie's mind had a lot on its plate.

The hours spent traversing through the utter dark were boring, to say the least. Charlie's mind could only take so much stress in one go, so many breaks had to be taken to ease his building tension - hidden beneath the fine sand, Charlie could find temporary solace.

The hallucinations had become stronger. Soft echoes on the fringes of his senses, evaporating to nothingness upon focus. Light dancing in the darkness, yet failing to illuminate the barren walls. As frustrating as they were to deal with, they had grown on Charlie. There was little else to beat the boredom, and a personal light show went a long way in helping him feel still alive.

Being taken away from light, especially for such long periods, muffled ones sense of existence. It felt isolating, cold and uncomfortable. The fine sand and gravel that scraped against Charlie's scales started to fade into empty numbness. The darkness stripped Charlie of all senses - but his mind refused to succumb, creating images and sounds to keep him grounded.

The peace and quiet had been nice at the beginning, but Charlie started to miss the non-stop action of the cave after hours of grueling sensory deprivation-

A new scent had wafted through the air. Charlie shifted uncomfortably in the sand, the fine debris parted before being quickly tossed into the air as he fled.

Ugh... be careful what you wish for, I guess.

The scent had been faint, but having detected nothing else for hours, it felt powerful. Salty, warm and bitter - maybe it was sweat?

Almost everything Charlie had come across so far had a sweaty scent, all but the mushroom cove, yet theirs were musky and stank of wet fur. This scent, on the other hand, was different.

It smelled human.

Just why would a human be down here?

Though Charlie asked himself, his answer had quickly come. In the distance Charlie could see a flicker of light and shadow dancing on the figure of two human silhouettes. The faint echoes of their conversation bouncing off of the walls and filling the hall with eased mirth.

It was strange how a simple sound like that could make the hallway feel so much lighter, or maybe it was Charlie craving some semblance of human interaction. Though, in his current form, Charlie doubted there would be much chance to converse - if it were hiseven possible to understand each other in the first place.

Charlie didn't get far in his attempt to flee, having stopped only a short distance away. Even if he were to return all the way to the crack in the wall, the den of worms were no less problematic than the approaching people.

Out of options, the only thing Charlie could do was hope that the humans didn't possess any unnatural means in sensing his presence - and dove into the sand to hide. The fine particulate didn't break through the thin membrane on his eyes, but it sure as hell didn't feel pleasant anyway.

Wriggling deep into the cover of the sand, Charlie made sure he was completely covered. In the monotone environment, the slightest change such as his scale glinting off of the light would cause problems.

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Digging so deeply, while safer, made it difficult to hear what the two were saying, their conversation too muffled by the surrounding sand.

Their boots landed softly onto the fine ground, the sand shifted to the side under their weight. They were close now, but Charlie couldn't understand a word the two spoke - their words were clear but of a foreign origin.

Fuck.

It was never going to be this easy, as even in his original world, Charlie had come across many different languages. The chances of people speaking English on an alien world such as this, were beyond impossible - but it could be learned.

Charlie listened to the two people speak, a man and a woman were deep in conversation and continued to walk at an unhurried pace. Neither of the duo had stopped when they passed by Charlie, who was still hidden beneath the sand attempting to keep himself as unnoticeable as possible. Thankfully, whatever method the worms employed to sense Charlie, were not the same as the humans.

Their conversation, whatever it was about, seemed to be placid, neither party raising their voice nor speaking in a hurried manner.

Charlie was able to glean a bit of information from their sudden appearance - there was an exit somewhere close-by. The exit might lead into a more populated space, but Charlie still had to try and find a way our. He didn't want to be stuck down here in the dark hallways for any longer than necessary.

If there were more people and they found Charlie, he would be forced to flee and search for his original entry. The walls of the dark hallway were nearly identical, so being forced to find the metaphorical needle in a haystack was not ideal. There were miles of walls to explore, and not a single ounce of light to help.

The two humans had missed his presence this time around, never expecting to find a serpent hidden in the sand, but it was no guarantee that next time would be the same. So, Charlie continued to stay hidden beneath the sand until even their echoes dissolved into nothing.

Eventually, Charlie deemed that enough time had passed and slowly peaked his head out from the fine debris, and checked for any signs of life. In finding nothing, Charlie uncovered himself and continued down the dark path, keeping a keen ear out for any sudden changes. The break in silence had been a welcome change, if not mildly stressful.

Charlie had slithered forward with great care for another hour before there were any notable changes. This time, there was a light at the end of the tunnel, and after making certain it wasn't his mind playing tricks again, sought out its curious source.

The breeze had picked up the further Charlie travelled, the gentle howl of the wind could be heard every now and again. The exit must have been close now, but the light was still not bright or clear enough to see where it ended. There was a light scent of the same sweaty flavour, but it was not as strong as the two people that had walked by earlier.

If Charlie was lucky, it was just the residual smells of the people lingering in the air, otherwise there might be an unknown number of people he'd need to be weary of.

An opulent door stood before Charlie, lined with intricate images of worms writhing on the darkened floor, while a human with their arms spread high and wide stood before a beautiful pedestal. The image radiated mystique and was woefully missing colour - yet the radiance of the image could not be ignored. The opulent door stood half opened and contained a brightly lit room by the lit sconces on the brick walls.

Even though Charlie had never come across a carving of this detail, it was clear that the worms held some sort of significance to the humans. Perhaps they were more than a simple source off food, but what their use could be, was hard to infer.

After approaching closer but not quite venturing within, Charlie had gotten a better view of the lit room; wooden tables and chairs tucked away into the brightly lit corner, a wooden chest with dark metal linings sat by it's base. Papers with wording too distant to make out, strewn across the tabletop, and a strange pen dipped into a black glass container.

There had also been a door a few meters away and the sweaty scent had permeated from within. Charlie knew he had to somehow make it to the other side, and thankfully, he was alone. The two humans were still a distance away, giving Charlie time to explore and find the way out.

Charlie, curious as he was suicidal, decided a quick look wouldn't hurt and crossed the imaginary boundary between the dark hallway and the brightly lit brick room. It felt strange to be standing atop something human again, having spent so long in the unforgiving wilderness and then confined within the unnatural cave, Charlie had almost forgotten the comfort such simple pleasures brought.

Charlie first approached the table and raised his head to get a better look at the papers. The System had already proved to Charlie that he could read words never seen before, yet it failed him here.

The room, outside of the few amenities, had been entirely bare. The only place left to explore was what lay behind the wooden door, and Charlies curiosity burned as his imagination went wild with possibilities. He had come this far, and there was no chance he would turn around, especially now that he was so close to escaping.

Charlie slithered up to the door and attempted to open the doorknob with his mouth. It was locked.

Unsatiafied, Charlie peeked through the keyhole and could make out a brightly lit path with something flickering in the distance - Charlie's vision was too poor to make out what the shifting shadows had been.

Without anything else to go off of, Charlie came back down to the floor and weighed his options.

The door is locked, the way back leads to the worms, and the humans patrol the dark hallway. There was also that one worm that I killed...

Charlie thought back to the worm and wondered if killing it resulted in the two humans searching where it had went, or if the two events were unrelated. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of worms in that den, a single missing worm was bound to be overlooked.

Whatever the case may be, Charlie still had to come to a decision about what to do. He could lay in wait somewhere outside the door and hope to take a look outside, or he could try to return back up to the cave and spend hours in search of the exit. Without an ability to see in the dark, it might prove to be simpler to personally deal with either the humans or the worms.

Charlie left the room and returned to the sandy floor of the dark hallway, the fine debris was soft and comforting. The rough stone brick floor had been nice to look at, but it was not made for a soft underbelly.

After another while weighing his options, Charlie decided to stick nearby and wait for the humans to return, there still might be a chance he could sneak a glance as to what lay on the other side of the door. It might even give him the chance to learn more about the people that lived here.

The only humans Charlie had seen up until this point had been powerful warriors, and of course they would be, their home had been within a cave filled to the brim with powerful and wild creatures. It might prove useful to know a bit more, or at least that's what Charlie told himself.

In reality, his curiosity burned with such intensity that all other options had long been thrown to the wayside.

Charlie made sure to retreat just far away enough from the door that the ambient light didn't hit his body, but staying close enough that he might be able to peer behind the mysterious door. After covering himself in the fine sand, Charlie made sure to leave a little gap for one of his eyes to still peek through and to allow himself some sight.

Two hours after hunkering down, Charlie could hear a male voice echoing throughout the dark hallway. Charlie didn't dig as deep this time so the sand blocked less of the sound - so Charlie was able to pick up on some of the subtler differences.

The males voice was not very deep, but had an air of masculinity to it, whilst the woman's voice had been raspy, but still pleasant to the ear. As the two people eventually came up to Charlie and passed by his concealed body, he was at least able to get a good look at their outfits.

Unlike the armoured warriors Charlie had seen slaughtering the creatures on the surface, these two were wearing light garment that covered them from head to toe. They both worse purple robes with evenly spaced and light grey horizontal stripes ascending from their feet to their shoulders. The male wore a long and pointed hood that reached the base of his back, while the woman wore a grey mask over her face, and her long brown hair had been tied up around the nape of her neck.

Though Charlie had never seen clothing like this before, he could guess that this wasn't normal attire for most people. Even if the significance was lost on him, he was certain these two were no normal citizens.

The man had sat down on the chair while the woman stood by the door and leaned against the wall, never breaking their conversation. Even though he couldn't understand a word, Charlie continued to listen and hoped to familiarise himself with the language - at least it didn't sound too complex.

The woman eventually broke off from the conversation and waved her goodbye to the man, exiting through the wooden door. It had been brief, but Charlie got a decent look what lay behind.

They were in some sort of underground building, and in the split second the door had been open, Charlie spotted many people wearing the same type of clothing walking in the distance.

Is it a uniform?

It was hard to tell what the purpose of the clothing was, but if they all worked here, then it might make sense. Though it still felt a little too grand for Charlie, if they all worked with the worms in some strange way, there was no reason to dress up so fancy.

The remaining man sighed as he watched the woman leave through the door, before eventually kicking up his feet on the table and grabbing a nearby stack of papers.

A few minutes passed before the man sighed again and sat back up, setting the papers back down and crossing his arms.

Charlie was about to turn away and return to the dark hallway, finally having his curiosity satisfied, but what the man had done next shocked Charlie to his core.

The mans arms had been crossed the entire time, but there was a pen... floating... in front of him. It moved from page to the ink container, and then it would write at a high speed, only stopping when the man would bring his fist to his chin and think. The scribbling of the pen could be faintly heard, but to Charlie, each stroke felt like thunder through his spine.

What... what is this?