Chapter 25 - God, Is That You

Alex coughed and crawled in the sand. His body was exhausted from the stress of the last few hours and the effort required to move against the current to the small beach landing.

While floating down the river, he had done his best to keep track of the twists and turns that the branch had taken, hoping desperately that it would rejoin the main river or perhaps even wind back to the light side of the Rift.

That’s not exactly how rivers work, though, is it? Genius.

Alex gulped for air and flopped onto his back, letting his bag fall down next to him. He closed his eyes against the sunlight. Even though it wasn’t bright and sunny like the other side of the Rift, the clouds that covered the sky were a thin blanket, doing very little to shade the rays other than add a greyish tint to his surroundings.

He flinched as a shadow crossed his vision and covered his face, realizing only a moment later that it was Val’s shadow crossing over his head. The mana wyrm cooed into his head before sitting on the backpack.

He must be tired, too. He doesn’t normally fly around for such a long time.

Sitting up, Alex did his best to assess his surroundings while catching his breath.

I’ve never been this far from the Rift exit before. I can tell the direction of the portal, but I have no idea how to get there from here.

Fuck.

Alex put his head in his hands, and part of him wanted to cry. The abnormal amount of stress and adrenaline that was dumped into his body was more than he had ever had to handle. The fight with those robed lunatics, leaping off the small cliff, treading water through the river for so long, and now being lost all threatened to overwhelm him.

What do I even do here?

Alex looked to his bag and felt a bit of comfort knowing that he had several days worth of food within and he could fill up his canteen and CamelBak while he was at the river.

Val stayed coiled on the bag but lifted his head and made a noise in Alex’s head.

Unsure of what to even say to his companion, Alex returned to observing their surroundings. They were on the side of the river bank in a small sandy space. Driftwood and dead trees surrounded them while the water rushed past. The land rose up on either side of the river, easily three times higher than the place where Alex had jumped from.

He eyed the rock faces and had no confidence in his ability to climb out.

Well, we’re not getting out that way.

He looked around at the debris that was near him and found a small clearing through the driftwood. It appeared that a small path was made to the rock face. Alex got up and checked his arms and legs. While there were no cuts or severe wounds, he knew he’d bruise badly over the next few days from where he’d crashed into other rocks during his float.

“Val, stay here, okay? If you see anything coming near you or the bag, call out to me.” Alex said.

He received a single chirp in response, surprised to see the wyrm’s head raise back up and begin to swivel back and forth.

Atta boy. Now… where’s my wand?

Panic began to take hold once more as the thought settled. His wand wasn't anywhere in sight and wasn’t in his bag.

I was holding it when I made the jump, I must have dropped it when I crashed in the water.

Fuck.

Alex paced back and forth before forcing himself to get a grip. While he was without his ranged weapon, he still had access to his skills and had fought before by empowering his body. If it was needed, he could do it again here.

Deciding that he needed to find out more about their surroundings, he walked up the sloped sand and through the wide path. It was wide enough to fit two or three people shoulder to shoulder and kept the same width the entire way up. When he reached the cliff face, Alex froze.

A large opening of a cave stood in front of him.

Shit, what lives in there?

He looked around but couldn’t see any signs of movement or life in the front of the cave. The light from outside didn’t reach far, so he could only see about ten yards into the mouth of the cave before things got too dark.

Walking back down the hill, Alex reached his bag and dug through it until he found his camping hatchet.

Haven’t needed to use you in a little while.

Next, he carefully pulled out an antique oil lamp. It had been a surprisingly hard find while making his preparations, and he hadn’t spent too much time fiddling with it beforehand.

Alex looked around the bank of the river one more time, hoping he’d notice something that he hadn’t already. There were only three options to try and get out of this deep crevasse, and he didn’t consider the first two to be realistic.

We can’t climb out and I really don’t think jumping back in the river and seeing it where it takes us is a good idea.

He scratched his head and let out a sigh.

“Into the cave we go, Val. Maybe there will be a way to climb out of this mess.”

The two made their way down into the cave. Alex was surprised to find that it was a tunnel that seemed to continue into the earth. He found it even more interesting when they’d been walking for thirty minutes, and the tunnel continued with little to no variation in direction or size.

He became more cautious, and they moved more slowly through the tunnel, wary of any noise that they heard. At first, he wondered if it was man-made and used by a group of people similar to the white and yellow-robed individuals who had tried to capture him.

After an hour, he came to an intersection where the tunnels had a slight curve. He wasn’t sure which one to take, so he decided to go in the direction that his Core was pulling toward the Rift exit. As he went to the rightmost branch, Val called out to him through their link.

Val was hovering next to the middle branch, the one that continued in the direction that they had already been walking.

“What’s over there? You’re probably just chasing more mana. Come on, we want to get out of here, not go deeper in.”

His companion responded with a deep sound that made him think that the wyrm was sad.

It was around the second hour of walking through the tunnel system that Alex had a terrifying thought.

That huge black snake. It was about the size of these tunnels… wasn’t it?

Alex gulped.

Suddenly, the tunnel walls felt like they were closing in. Alex also realized just how deep underground they likely were and that there’s as no real way to get out of this tunnel system. He was torn between wanting to proceed with even more caution, or throw it all to the wind and get through these tunnels as quickly as possible.

Soon they walked into an open cavern that had a small creek running from one end to the other. They sat together and had a small snack while Alex did his best not to think of all the ways that this could go horribly wrong. The lantern light caused their shadows to flicker along the rocky walls.

It wasn’t long before they were back in the winding tunnels, doing their best to head in the general direction of the Rift exit. Sometimes, there wasn’t a tunnel heading in that direction, so Alex did his best to pick the next best option. At most intersections, Val continued to make his pick of direction known to Alex.

They passed several underground creeks, one cavern almost as big as a baseball stadium and one that opened into a chasm. It was particularly awe-inspiring to Alex that as the tunnel opened up, it turned into a trail following along the side of one of the cliff faces. When he looked over the edge, it continued down even further than the light of his lamp could reach.

While taking a break, Alex began to wonder what time it was outside of the Rift and how high of a Rarity it was. He was beginning to feel tired, so he was assuming that at least five hours had passed. Alex had been pushing through so far, hoping that they’d be able to emerge from the tunnels. It felt like he’d been awake for close to twenty hours. He’d woken up early to meet the others at the Voss Estate, and he found the Rift he’d already been quite tired.

So much for just poking my head inside to get more information.

He sighed and realized they may need to set up a small camp in one of these caverns. The thought sent shivers down his spine, and he was unsure of what animals or bugs could be in this sort of place.

The small cavern that they were in had one entrance, and on the opposite side, there were two exits. A right and left path. Once they’d packed up, Alex walked toward the right path, feeling that the Rift was closer in that direction. Val went to the left path and called out.

Alex shook his head and took two steps down his rightmost path before freezing. He held his lamp out down the tunnel again, but there was nothing there.

That was a red eye, right? I’m not seeing things? Nope, I’m going with my gut. Nooo way.

Alex turned around and entered the left path instead. Val chirped in his head, seemingly unaware of Alex’s panic and mistaking his quickened pace for excitement. Alex continued to look over his shoulder and held the swinging lantern up behind them as they moved.

It wasn’t long before he caught a glimpse of passing black scales.

Fuck. It’s really down here.

Alex started running. He knew Val would have no problems keeping up with his pace, but he was worried about keeping an eye on where they were running and the large monster behind them.

Val. Of course!

“Val, I need you to fly ahead of us. Pick whichever tunnel you think is best, we just need to go fast.” He called.

Val seemed to pick up on his urgency this time and sped away in front of Alex. This made it much easier for Alex to tell where he was going without necessarily needing the light to be pointed in that direction. He could keep the light facing behind them to monitor the snake while using his bond with Val to tell where he should be jogging.

His muscles burned, and his sides began to cramp, but Alex dared not stop. The occasional glimpses of scales or a ruby-red eye were enough to keep his blood pumping and his heart racing.

Just as he thought, his legs might give out, and he’d need to make a stand with his hatchet. The decision was taken from him. The floor beneath his feet vanished, and he began to fall. At first, there was nothing beneath him, and then he was skidding, sliding, and rolling through a steep downward tunnel.

Alex did his best to tuck his head and pull his arms in, but the fall was a tumbling mess. His bag jutted into his back, causing him to bounce or shift every few rolls. At some point, he lost consciousness and woke in the prone position on a cold stone floor. The lamp flickered beside him; part of its glass shattered across the ground.

Alex groaned and blinked his eyes several times, trying to figure out where he was or what had happened. He noted that the lamp wasn’t necessary to see in this cave.

There was another light source somewhere, creating a gentle golden glow through the large cavern. This was one of the bigger ones that they’d been in. He scanned his surroundings before finding the source of the light and holding his breath.

What in the world is that?

“You’re awake, little human?” A deep voice said.

Alex cleared his throat and swallowed several times before finding his voice. “I- uhm, yes.” It took some more time for Alex to wrap his brain around what he was looking at.

There, in a very tight crouch, was an extremely large being. If the ceiling was around 50 meters, this creature took up more than half of that height while forced into a crouch. His generally humanoid figure was in a kneeling position, with one foot planted on the ground and his rear so low that it touched his other leg’s ankle. His chest was then held against his knee. He was held down into that tight pose by innumerable black ropes or chains.

As Alex took in the figure's position, he located its head and was startled to see its many eyes staring back at him. Reassessing its humanoid shape, he noted that while it had two legs, it had six arms that were individually bound to either its side or the ground.

“It’s been some time since I’ve had a visitor.” The rumbling voice came once again.

Alex was struck with awe, not just because of the being's size or powerful-looking muscles. Not even its glow and otherworldly colors shocked him as much as the sheer presence of the being.

“A-Are you a god?” Alex asked, but he found it difficult to form his words. There was a sort of pressure weighing down on his consciousness, threatening to make him black out once again.

There was a slight moment of panic as Alex thought the cave was crumbling, but after a few moments, he realized that the sound of grinding boulders and rumbling was laughing. He clutched his head and winced.

“It’s so loud. Can you be a little quieter? I think you’re going to make me pass out again.” Alex was surprised at his audacity. This being was clearly on another plane of existence from him or anything he’d seen in his life.

The laughing slowly stopped, and the next time he spoke, the figure's voice was much more gentle, and the pressure on Alex began to subside.

“Just from your first few sentences, I can tell you’re not of this world, little human. No, I am no god, though the people of this world once considered me to be something close.”

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Congratulations Awakened. You have found a Hidden Quest! 

Continue this path to gain more information and an Accept/Deny prompt.

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