The first thing I knew was darkness. It was a weighty omnipresent blanket that wrapped me in its embrace from the moment I was born. At the beginning all I knew was darkness. At the end I knew much, but the darkness never left me.
In the omnipresent darkness time mattered not. I don't know how long I flounder there after my birth. I was alone with only the darkness and cold stone to keep me company. I would learn later that most living things had something called “parents” but as far as I knew I was an exception to this. I would also learn that most creatures could not remember everything from the moment they were born. They were sure in their belief that memories were faulty and that they would soon fade. Mine were not.
I remember the first time hunger racked my body. The sudden pain shocked me and made me grasp at my stomach. Instinct brought me to my feet and I began to walk for the first time. I stumbled only slightly as I began to make my way aimlessly into the dark. Other creatures need time after their birth to develop before they can move with the ease I displayed but I was born grown and ready for the tribulations of life. I followed my hunger and began the hunt I somehow knew deep in my bones.
…
This was my existence for some time. I would rest in the darkness and stare into its depth until hunger struck and then I would set out to find sustenance. I ate mainly mushrooms I found growing on the walls in great abundance and the occasional insect as I found them. I was content with this; however, soon something changed. It was a minute change at first. My mind was drawn toward any sound produced around me. I could hear the faint trickle of an underground stream or maybe the plip plop of water droplets falling from the ceiling. I then noticed the slight pitter patter of insects' legs on the ground. I became obsessed with these little sounds and would spend my time in the darkness focused purely on them.
One day something clicked. I was listening intently to the constant dripping of water from a Stalactite and suddenly I could tell where the walls around me were. It was not a gradual process. Where once there was only darkness suddenly there was also knowledge. I felt enlightened as I tracked the sound that originated from the stalactite to the walls of the cave. I was so enthralled by this new phenomenon that I only stopped listening intently when hunger dug its sharp claws into my stomach. I was reluctant to leave or even move, feeling like it would destroy this precious phenomenon before me. It was with a heavy heart I stood up and began to walk in the direction of a bug I could hear crawling on the wall. Despite my fear, this phenomenon continued.
After this discovery I began to use the sound of my feet slapping against the ground to envision the rooms around me. I marveled on how much easier my life had become with the ability to trace sounds in my head. Much later in life I learned an official term for this phenomenon. Echolocation they called it. I honestly was not a huge fan of the name. Still this skill changed my life not only because it gave me a way to “see” my surroundings but it ignited in me the desire to learn. If I could learn to see, what else could I learn?
…
Time still held no meaning to me but somehow I felt frustrated that so long after I had learned echolocation I learned nothing else. I wondered about the caves I called home but nothing changed. I got better at tracing the sounds around me and I learned that the more sound the clearer the image I gained. Due to this, I had taken to traversing the tunnels in a suitably loud manner. I carried a rock with me that fits well into the palm of my hand. As I walked I would slam this rock into the wall beside me to get a clear image of the road ahead. It was during one of these walks I finally discovered something new. Well… it discovered me.
My first warning was the loudest highest-pitch sound I had ever heard in my life. It was long and drawn out and it made my world light up with clarity as I gripped my head in pain. The piercing sound hurt my ears and dazed me enough I didn't have time to react as a short silhouette rammed into me from behind. As I was tacked to the ground I finally took stock of my situation to notice there were three of those silhouettes. One was the source of the piercing sound. This one had stopped wailing when I was tackled but was breathing loudly and sobbing giving me a clear image of the silhouette next to them. This creature had a hand resting on the other shoulder and spoke in soft tones I could barely pick up. The final creature was the one currently resting on my chest as they raised a sharp slab of something above me.
As I look back on this moment I realize I was very lucky. My attacker could not see as I could in the darkness and this is the only thing that saved my life. As they swung the slab down towards me they missed my chest and only managed to nail my arm a hand's length away from my shoulder. I had never felt such pain in my life and I let out a screech I didnt know myself possible of as I widely thrashed my body around. My assailant was thrown off me in the struggle and with the opportunity presented I rose from the ground and ran as fast as my feet could carry me.
I ran for as long as I could and reached a large body of water where I collapsed by its edge as I desperately gulped down all the air I could fit into my lungs. I clutched the bleeding stump where my right arm used to be and simply sat there in silence for a long time. I couldn't stop thinking about the encounter. The sudden brutality of the attack and the never before felt pain haunted my thoughts for what felt like ages. However over time I found myself thinking less and less of the attack and more of the soft tones spoken by the second silhouette.
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They were the most beautiful sounds I had ever heard. More than that though there was a clear intent behind those beautiful sounds. Somehow I knew those sounds had meaning and I desperately needed to understand it. I felt an obsession worm its way into my brain and stubbornly remain there. Soon I had banished thoughts of my ruined arm from my mind as I replayed those sounds in my head over and over again. I wanted to hear more. I had to hear more.
…
This brought a great change to my life. I still wandered the infinitely stretching labyrinth of caves I had been born into but now I did so quietly as I hunted for the beings who had attacked me. I sought them not to confront them and anytime I was lucky enough to encounter a band of silhouettes I would follow them from a distance listening for more of the beautiful sounds they created. At this point I was vaguely aware of the concept of time and I realized that I spent a great deal of it stalking these groups.
After what must have been many years I came to understand more of these creatures. The first big discovery was the paths they would commonly travel. Over the years I began to map the twisting caves I lived in and discovered that the groups would commonly follow the same paths. I would follow them throughout their journey and they all began and ended in the same place. A massive stone door that would slowly slide open with an eerie silence. For some strange reason as far as I knew beyond the door was only an exact same copy of the first door. All there was between them was a small hallway. The parties would enter the first door and it would close behind them slowly blocking them from my view and leaving me unable to follow.
I would rest around the door waiting for it to open and then I would follow whatever group came out. The door never alerted me to the presence of a group as it produced no sound but I could hear the stomping of the group as they set out. I would follow them and study any of the sounds they produced to try and understand the elusive meaning behind them. I would never get too close for fear of what the swords they carried, what I had previously thought of as a simple slab of doom, could do to my flesh.
If I needed more reason to be cautious of these creatures than my second big discovery was just that. It started when one particularly loud group of five creatures exited the stone door. They were not loud because of the words they would speak but because of the constant shifting of metal as they walked and the deep thuds as their feet slammed into the ground. They spoke little to each other as they marched on with clear direction already. They made their way into one of the largest caverns I had mapped out in the twisting caverns and when they reached the center of the room they stopped. They stood there huddled in a circle for a while as they shared beautiful words with each other. After seemingly coming to a consensus four of the creatures surrounded their final member with their backs facing each other. The four drew their swords and got into a stance as the final member raised their hands in their air holding an object I couldn't make out.
“Lihto” I heard the creature in the center yell as they violently twisted the object in their hands.
Suddenly my world exploded as something I had never experienced overwhelmed me. It was a violently bright light that made my eye burn and filled me with an emotion I had never felt before. When I lost my arm I learned the emotion of fear as well as desperation and even excitement, but I never knew of anger. When I felt the light was over me I learned of rage as something deep within me erupted with a desire to kill. I found myself hunched over as I gripped the ground with all three of my remaining limbs and threw myself at the groups of creatures as fast as I could. My missing limb slowed me down but I didn't let it deter me.
At least until I noticed the other creatures charging the group in the center. I was not the only one who reacted to the light and as hundreds of feet slammed into the ground a great cacophony of noise lit up my world in shocking clarity. What I had thought to be extensions of the wall or stalactite hanging from the ceiling suddenly came alive and began to run at the group in the exact same manner I had. They were much faster than me with all of their limbs intact and they reached the group long before I got the chance.
They were slaughtered.
As they reached the waiting swords of the four creatures surrounding the fifth, quick precise swings had their heads rolling off their bodys’. Even though a hundred of these new creatures poured in like waves the swords continued to swing with practiced ease. When the bodies began to accumulate like a wall surrounding the group the creature in the center spoke again.
“Grulo '' he declared and the ground around the group rose up, taking the wall of bodies with it and disrupting the few creatures yet to reach the group, buying the swordsmen a moment to breathe, even if they didn't seem to need it.
The sight of such power stopped me dead in my tracks and had me questioning why I ever began to charge in the first place. The rage I felt still persisted but it was miniscule in the face of the fear that began to take hold; however, that was not what stopped me. It was the beautiful words the fifth creature spoke with power to change the world around him that stopped me. I felt the obsession burrowed deep into my mind erupt with passion. I knew now why I lived, my purpose in life. I must know these words. I will have that power. I must.
Hello! this is my first novel on royal road so I'm still figuring this out. (like author notes. I couldn't figure out how to do one so this is in a spoiler. YAY!) If anyone sees any mistakes or grammatical issues please point them out. other than that I want to hear peoples opinions about my story whether they are good or bad. If you're waiting for another chapter I’m currently going to upload once a week until I create a bigger backlog before going to twice a week. Although If my story begins to do really well… I mean I have to capitalize on the momentum right?