1 The Begining of the End

A cold breeze blew through the cavern, slow drips of water fell from the ceiling. I've long lost track of how many tunnels and hallways I've crept through. I slowed down my pace, there was an enclave I could rest in under a balcony. I put my back against the wall as I tried to control my rapid breathing, my heart felt like it was about to explode. The sharp, cold cavern air pierced my lungs with every breath. How long have I been running? One hour, two hours? I've lost all sense of time down here. I readjusted the child in my arms, and pulled back the cloth from its face. It was still asleep, it's cute face surprisingly calm. This was good, if the baby had awoken, it would have blown our cover and both of us would have been killed on the spot.

I waited for a bit of time. There was a slow and steady flow of water at my feet. It wasn't swift enough to knock me off of them, but steady enough to fill up the creek channel completely. It was also cold from the recent rains. The water had already soaked the insides of my shoes making them uncomfortable to stand in. There were sounds of the harmonious chatting through the tunnels that seemed to die and come back to life in intervals. I wonder if they know I stolen one of their summoning prizes? Have they even sent out a search party to look for both of us? I knew there were other babies that were summoned along with this one, but were any of them important to them, or were they just meaningless sacrifices? I pondered over these questions as I waited to make my next move.

Footsteps could be heard running overhead on the balcony. I froze at the sound in the place I stood. I began to try to sink into the wall as close that I could, almost trying to disappear into it. They stopped overhead and a low whisper could be heard. My breathing grew shallow. I could make out their reflections in from the creek. The dim light of the torches enabled me to see the outlines of their cloaks, but not their faces. I counted the members of the group. There was twelve of them covered in black. It took them very little time to stay put, as soon as they made it to the balcony, they began to take off again. The low light of the torches and the crevice that I hid in by the staircase must have hid me pretty well for them to not notice me.

I covered the child's face again so that the falling water wouldn't hit it and awaken it. As I looked up from the child and back to the creek there was still one member of the group standing there. Was our cover blown? I knew damn well I have been keeping my mana from leaking out. I waited, still slowly trying to sink into the wall. The figure began to walk up to the edge of the balcony. I began to break out into a nervous sweat at the thought of being caught now of all places. I a loud disgruntled sigh came from the figure and they turned around a left. What stricken my curiosity the most, was that the figure was covered in a clock of white and black, and not the full black of the other members. I pondered on that a bit trying to calm back down. After what seemed like a good ten minutes it threw over a cloak and began to move away from the staircase.

I moved slowly down the cavern so they wouldn't hear my footsteps as I moved in the water. The cloak may keep me invisible, but it doesn't mask the sound of footsteps sloshing around in the water. The smell of mold, rotting flesh, and blood slowly began to change into a more forest like scent as I reached closer to the entrance to the cave. The dim light from the sparsely spaced torches made it hard to see what was ahead. There was a void of darkness ahead and I stopped and felt the wall. My hand slipped passed a ledge, there was another cavern leading away from the main one. I slowly began to step out from it, the sound of harmonious chanting got louder. I looked down the other cavern. Figures circled around a fire as they "sung." Their black coats swaying around as if they were swimming in the air. I tried to make out their faces, but only their bodies were visible in the low lighting. A dead body was hanging above the fire. Its broken limbs stained and dangling downwards. Blood fell from it onto the fire and all around the floor. I watched as one of the cultist circled inward to the fire and looked up to the body. They paused for a moment, reached out and tore one of the limbs off. The sound of tearing flesh, muscle, and a snapping bone seemed to ring throughout the cavern. The cultist began to squat down and knawel on the arm. Blood oozed slimily out of the limb and down the others arm as they engorged themselves. I looked over from that horrid scene into one of the corners of the room. There was what seemed like fresh blood smeared onto the wall. I looked down from the wall and saw another cultist crouched by another smaller dead body. Their hips where moving in a thrusting motion into the body.

I turned away quickly trying to stifle a gag. These nasty bastards deserve nothing but Hell and Yahweh's full wrath for what they are doing. I clenched my fists and tried to control my anger. I didn't need my emotions getting the better of me and my mana leaking out. They would surely discover me. Laughter suddenly broke out and then died as quickly as it came. I looked back at the group. Their chanting picked up again as they continued moving in a circle. I shook off the image and slowly passed the scene.

After traveling the cavern a bit, I tripped onto a higher ledge. I clutched onto the child in the sudden stumble and rebalanced myself on the higher ledge. I froze in place and waited. The child didn't stir and there was nothing but the sound of sloshing water behind me. I began my trek on the solid ground. This was a good sign for us, running should be easier and quieter now that I am out of the water. The entrance to the cave was just a little bit closer. I followed the dry path up. The constant sound of rushing water masked my footsteps. The lighting changed from the sparsely lit torches to a natural light of the two moons. They were full which was both a blessing and a curse. It will be easy to see with the great amount of moonlight, but we could also run the risk of being spotted as well.

By Yahweh's speed, we made it out without being caught. I took the chance to take a small breather. It felt as if my stamina was starting to run low. I leaned against the face of a boulder to hide myself from the entrance of the cave. Stamina: 79/100. I breathed a sigh of relief. I looked up, there was no clouds in the sky, the stars were on full display, and there was a slight chill in the air. It was a little past midnight by the position of the largest moon. I quickly left the entrance of the cavern behind me and walked down the creek bed. The forest made it darker, the full summer canopy blocked out any moonlight that made its way through it. Although, every now and then the moonlight snuck down through the breaks in the crowns onto the forest floor. This gave the forest an eerie look to it. I looked over my shoulder not trying to stop now. It seemed like no one was following me, although, I didn't want to stop now and find out if they really were or not.

I made my way down the stream and then turned up from the creek bed. Its rocky embankment of jagged boulders made it difficult to get back up into the forest. There was a tree that looked extremely familiar. I rushed behind it trying to put something in between us and the creek. Placing the child down beside me, I pulled the cloth back from its face. The child was still sleeping. My attention snapped as I finally remembered what was near this tree and why it was so familiar. Moving a few boulders aside, a sigh of relief escaped me as the carrying basket and my staff was still there. I threw off the cloak and putting it beside the child, took the basket and fastened it on underneath my breast. The child was a perfect fit for the container, as I placed it inside. Its head rested on my left breast, a small twitch came from its hands.

"Just a bit more little one. We are almost out of here." I whispered to the child. I picked up the cloak again, and turned around a picked up my staff.

A sudden breeze blew through the forest from off the ridge side. It was slightly colder and had a small bite to it. Goosebumps began to climb down my arms. I slowly made my way down from the embankment back to the rocky creek bed. My attention averted back up to the entrance, a dim light from the torches made its way down into the valley. I turned and got small distance from where I last was before shouting came from the cave entrance.

I instinctively held onto the child tightly, my blood raced as I clinched my staff at the thought of being caught making it this far. I slowed down to not trip and turned my head enough to catch a glimpse of the commotion. A group of individuals had formed at the edge of the small drop leading down the ravine. A shout from one of the group members seemed to have commanded the rest. In the split second after that one individual spoke, fire erupted down towards the creek from the group. In protest, lighting shot back at them causing a few of them to scramble. A blinding light erupted from the creek and all fell silent again. I stopped. I turned completely around to see what was going on now, but all seemed to have ended. The group had vanished. I gripped my staff and readjusted the baby and began to move down the bank again.

How long has it been since I came out of that cavern? I feel like I have been running for hours. I looked up, the larger moon had only moved a bit. It's only been an hour since I left the cave and it has seemed like I have been running for centuries. The cave was already a good distance back, and the forest surrounded the creek on both sides. The bank of the creek was a little less rocky now and made it easier to run. The water was somewhat low in the creek. Even though it had rained recently, the water level had started to show signs of retreat. The current volume of the stream was still enough to have the sound of a trickle, there was a constant flow and the water wasn't forming in sparsely spaced out pools. The light from the moons reflected of the clear waters. It had almost a mystic trance to it.