Chapter 15: Uneventful.
The queen goes into a rage, seeing as her prey has slipped away. There's still some distance between me and the tunnels, I'll never make it. They would tear me apart before I even got halfway.
The queen was laying it on her minions, killing them by the buckets in her rage. I search, frantically for a solution. And found a warren very close to me, if I delay another few seconds I'll miss my shot.
I immediately let go of the spear, falling hard and fast. I missed. Landing roughly on the hard packed dirt floor.
Rolling, I tuck myself into a foetal position to fit into the warren. I don't know where this underground burrow would lead me, but I had little choice but to trust in the unknown.
The fall was relatively brief, I hit the ground hard, the wind knocked out of me. I lay there, quiet-like, listening for any signs that I was not alone. A minute, then two. It felt like time was moving through thick molasses.
After long minutes of nothing but silence and the rapid beating of my heart, I conclude I was safe, for now at least. I roll into a sitting position, my back against the wall. I examine myself.
A few cuts ranging from my arms to my sternum, a bruise was already forming on my right side from the fall. I felt tired, all I want to do is curl up and sleep for a decade or two. But then, good things kill the spirit.
With a groan I heave myself up, my head and vision are clear, so I don't think i have a concussion. That's good. No broken bones. All I have to do now is find my way to Quan. Easier said than done. The subterranean tunnel is a maze.
I pick a tunnel at random and walk, keeping my gait relaxed. It would be very unlucky of me to encounter an enemy right now, as I am unarmed. My spear was still stuck in the arachnid queens underside. I'm classified as 'easy pickings'.
I walk for a long time, encountering little more than rodents scurrying about. Within the hour I begin to relax, only just a little, I'm all too familiar with how fast death can claim a person. I still think of my family, it's been months since the slaughter and I can still smell the smoke and the scent of burnt flesh.
Soon I cross the hour mark, then two. Still, I don't encounter another living entity. It was almost at the fourth hour I finally saw signs of life. Well, what was left of it.
The smell hit first. That sickly sweet smell of death and decay. The assault on my nostrils was fast and brutal, I sick up. Vomiting everything my stomach managed to keep down so far. I take a few steps back and notice my vision was blurry, tears streamed down my face.
I had been walking a straight and narrow path through the tunnel, ignoring forks in the path. Until I came to this section, it was darker, with a menacing ambiance to it.
Taking a drink of water from my flask, I wash my face and tear a strip of cloth to cover my lower face. It helps with the stench, but not by much.
A couple of paces in and I find body parts, rotten and rancid. Half eaten heads of various creatures, I see a few spider parts, jackals, I think I spot a few giant skulls in the mix, and a lot more I can't recognize. One looked like the head of a huge lizard of some kind. Their flesh ripped apart and splayed in a macabre pattern resembling a spiral within a circle.
There was so much blood and visceral it came up to my shins, I could do little but trudge on through, hoping whatever made such a gory art work doesn't come back while I was still in the vicinity.
The trek took longer than expected, but I think I did make good time. At the end of the tunnel I find an open space, much more smaller than the previous cavern I almost died in sans the glowing webs. That's a good sign. If I were a betting man --- which I'm not --- I'd wager there wasn't another spiders nest down here. Still I remain on high alert.
The affair was uneventful, tedious even. My emotions are racked up, I almost wish a spider comes around and puts me out of my misery. I knew I was lost before, but now I'm beginning to think I'll not be able to find my way out of this place.
I do hope Kassia is alright, Quan would take care of her. She's safer than I am. I wander what happened to Bhrook, the shady giant, and not for the first time I ponder what agreement he has with Quan. He's strong, I'm not at all sure if he'd be able to best Quan in a fight.
I lose myself to the task, putting one foot in front of the other. I wanted to lay down and never get up again. Left foot. Right foot.
After an indeterminable period, I come to another fork in the road. Three paths stood before me, the first one of them I immediately discarded, I could hear spiders hissing from it's bowels --- ain't no way I'm taking that route. The other two to the sides were quiet, eerily so...it left me uncomfortable, but I do have to move forward.
Like all bright minds, I let fate decide. I pick up an oddly shaped rock, it was uneven and jagged but the bottom was flat. I flip it in the air. If it lands on it's side I take the middle path, if it lands on it's flat bottom I take left most path.
The rock lands on it's side.
I continue down the middle path, the dirt was clean, and strewn with pebbles and bones. Tired of the monotone of my journey, I decide to jog. The deeper I go the more bones I see and the darker the passage becomes. In the distance an incandescent light burns.
I slow down to a crawl, not wanting to stumble upon any hostiles. I hug the shadows cast by the light from the dancing flame, I'm no where as adept as Quan at melding into shadows, but I do a decent job.
I stay still, allowing my eyes to roam about.
The passage has opened up into a room, there were no exits, nor anything tangible I can make out with my eyes...only the blaze and the figure hunched over it.
"Where I come from, it's considered rude to stare." The figure turns towards my hiding place, staring directly at me. "Come out little one, I don't bite. Much." The strangers voice was deep, resonant.
I was moving before I realize I've taken a single step. Halfway across the space between us, the spell her voice cast over me breaks and I come to a halt.
The figure doesn't move, keeping eyes on me. Slowly I close the remaining distance and come to a stop beside the fire. Finally able to see the figure clearly, my heart drops down my bowel.
My uneventful journey through the mountain was about to come to a swift and violent end. I've read about the creature before me, and it sends shivers down my spine.
She beams me a radiant smile, her fangs on full display.
Sitting before me, was a vampire.