As it turned out, the matter of the the sudden disappearance of the cat wasn’t exactly the kind of extravagantly mysterious and exciting affair that most would have expected it to be. The reason the cat had vanished in such an unexpected fashion after leaping into the torrent of water was because right behind that curtain of water that was the waterfall, there was a narrow entrance to what looked like a cave.
Having had to put up with the heavy battering of the water for who knows how many years, the entrance of the cave was smooth, wet and slippery. But even though the floor was slithery, the cat landed effortlessly on its legs without losing its balance for a moment, shook the water off its coat, trying to get some heat back into the body and took some time to examine its surroundings. The angle at which the mouth of the cave was set in the side of the cliff behind the waterfall made it difficult for the light to get inside. And adding that to the fact that the sun had almost set, meant that there was absolute darkness inside the cave. But this didn’t affect the eyesight of the cat in the least. The surroundings were damp and the moisture lay heavy in the air. The waterfall was only part of the reason for this, there were also many holes and cavities on the porous rocky surface of the walls out of which water trickled out in small amounts, making small streams of water. The floor of the cave wasn’t leveled out but sloped gently downwards, because of which the water in streams ran deeper into the depths instead of flowing out of the cave.
As one might expect from such a place, except for the constant soft pitter-patter of water drops and the occasional squeaks and fluttering of the bats hanging from the ceiling, there was total silence inside the cave, almost hinting at the possibility of something ominous hiding within the cave. It was the kind of silence that would make you subconsciously lower the sound of your breathing from fear of disturbing something.
Maybe those were the kind of things going around in the head of the cat, because by the time that it finished its initial inspection of the cave, its hair were standing on ends and while holding up a defensive stance, a low growl escaped its mouth. It stood like that for some time and only after making sure that nothing was going to pounce from the shadows, it relaxed somewhat and started walking deeper into the cave while still keeping an eye on its surroundings.
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Even after walking for two hours, the cat had yet to reach its destination. The cave continued its descent in an almost straight line deeper into the mountain.But it was not impatient, It continued to walk at a measured pace without any signs of fatigue. And even though it looked like that the cat could have gone a lot faster if it wanted, it chose not to do so. The cat had traveled a long distance to get there after completing a mission which had taken an even longer amount of time and now that it was the last peg of the journey, it wanted some time to think about the extraordinary events that will be set in motion because of that simple trip.Those were not the only things going around in its head because despite the slow pace, it had not let its guard down for a moment and had clearly recognized the subtle changes in the surroundings after walking for so long.
The cave was becoming bigger and the echoes from the smallest of sounds sounded as menacing as funeral bells. The quiet was disheartening and could get on the nerves of the bravest of adventurers. But it was hardly a problem for the cat. Its vigilance came from a tremendous amount of experience and not from the fear of death which was the last thing it was worried about.The water in the small streams from the entrance of the cave had grown up to the point that the entire cave floor was submerged up to the ankles of the cat. But the ice cold water was refreshing and pleasant to the touch and so it didn’t mind.
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Only after going on for about another one hour or so did it see the end of the tunnel. The exit didn’t stand out from the rest but the cat knew it was it. The exit was in form of a rough arch which in contrast to everything else until then, looked man made. Mysterious glyphs and symbols marked the sides and top of the arch. The cat eyed those symbols with distaste and moved on.
The cat found itself in a huge cavern as soon as it walked out of the cave. Huge stalactites were hanging from the high ceiling but there weren’t as many stalagmites because the entire left and majority of the right side of the underground chamber was submerged creating an average-sized pond. All the water flowing out of the cave had collected over the years to form that lake.The cavern wasn’t dark. But because of strange glowing rocks embedded in the walls at regular distances, the light was just enough for even a human to see who were generally recognized as the race with the worst eyesight. The glowing rocks were the most concentrated at a point on the far right and that was the only spot which stood out from any other.
The extraordinary thing about the spot was that there was a wooden shack. The shack wasn’t too shabby and could have done a lot worse as far as wooden shacks go. There was a small garden with healthy green plants and a short hedge all around it. Statues of gnomes and fairies were littered everywhere.The presence of the beautiful garden in addition to being bathed in the light from those strange rocks made the shack look as if it didn’t belong in a place as desolate and gloomy as that. As if someone had teleported it straight out of a picture book.
After heaving a small sigh, the cat started walking toward the hut. It noticed some additional things too. The cavern wasn’t devoid of life. There were all kinds of fungi growing everywhere. Especially a variety of mushrooms. Hinting at the fact that there were sufficient nutrients in the gravelly soil and the water to sustain life. And as such there must have been fishes in the lake too.
The cat reached the boundary of the house and without minding it, jumped over the picket fence. All of a sudden its keen senses were assaulted from all sides and it couldn't help but get disoriented from the sudden transformation. The plot of land had not only looked out of place, but the atmosphere itself gave the feeling that it was spring. As if the place was locked away in a dimension of its own.
The cat started walking again. Not stopping to look at the flower beds and other plants, it stopped in front of the rickety worn-out door. The door was ajar. It used its left paw to push it open and strolled inside as if it was the most natural thing in the world. The inside, in direct contrast to the well maintained garden out front looked very old and neglected. Rotten floorboards, peeling paint and the inch thick dust on everything were just few of the reasons for that.
The room that it had entered was the bedroom or at least the closest thing to it. The bed was a poor old thing that was at the end of its life. There were almost no decorations. But the few odd things that were lying around had strange but powerful auras around them. Not many people could have guessed at their value as most looked normal but the cat knew, each of these objects had enough power to send the outside world in uproar.
It proceeded to the study room after finding the bedroom empty. And it was finally behind the large desk beside the tainted and cracked window that the cat find what it had been looking for all along.
In a chair that had been greatly worn out from rough usage, a man was sitting with a pipe in one hand and a book in the other.
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