12 Clift Hanger

Charlie was walking down the cavern with Hermes and Suri. After crossing the labyrinth of stalactites and stalagmites the cave opened up showing a cavern vault of about 30 feet wide and 50 feet height, in front of them the a strong waterfall was closing the entrance of the cavern. There was a small pool of water behind the waterfall and the whole space was decorated with the changing tones of soft blues coming thru the wall of water.

Suri's light continued to illuminate their way as they walked, the many shapes of the cavern walls where accentuated by the artificial light and their long shadows grew and morphed with every step they took. I was a fantastic experience. When they reached the edge of the new chamber Hermes signaled them to stop. With a hand sign he requested Suri, to turn off the light, which she immediately did. Suddenly the whole cavern was filled with darkness.

"What is it?" Charlie tried to speak but his voice was consumed by the reverberating sound of the waterfall ahead of them.

Charlie could see the shape of Hermes approaching him a signaling to be quiet. He could barely see the shape of the man illuminated by the light that made it thru the waterfall.

Hermes them proceeded to signal the border of the cavern as if he was telling him to walk thru the edge. The old man then proceeded to carefully place his back towards the wall and walked once again towards the waterfall.

Charlie decided to follow Hermes, he slowly walked trying not to stumble as they where going around the cavern wall.

"This old man is weird" thought Charlie, with a sight. The floor on this part of the cavern was very slippery which made it difficult to walk, specially with low light. As he was thinking about it his foot hit a stone on the floor.

tic tic tic plop

The stone was send stumbling down the incline on the floor and dropped inside of the pool in the middle of the chamber. As it did Hermes stood motionless where he was and reached behind him with his right hand to hold Charlie. He was looking at the dark pool of water as the ripples from the stone extended to all of its edges.

Everything was absolutely still, the sound of the waterfall continued to fill the chamber. After a few seconds passed Hermes breathed again and the looked towards Charlie.

BE CAREFUL

Hermes slowly accentuated the warning making sure that his lips could be read easily

HUNGRY

Charlie read the words on Hermes libs and a drop if cold sweat ran down on his forehead.

"Hungry? Who is hungry?" Charlie tough to himself, he then looked towards the pool of water. "Is there something hungry in the water?"

Hermes signaled to Charlie once again putting a finger over his lips and continued carefully walking. Charlie could feel Suri hugging his neck in the space the armor left uncovered. They continued walking until they reached the edge of the waterfall.

Small drops of water where splashing against Charlie's face and body making him feel drenched in an instant. Once again Hermes signaled to Charlie.

WAIT HERE

Charlie nodded, he didn't really had many options at this point. He might as well listen to the old man at least for the time being. He hoped to get more answers and that man seemed to be able to provide them. Besides, he had promised food and that was certainly something Charlie needed right now.

"If there is someone hungry here that is certainly me, what time is it anyway? I feel like I have been walking for a few days already."

"It will be fine, Hermes will get us out of here soon. He is weird but he knows what he is doing." Charlie heard Suri's voice in his head. He felt surprised but then remembered that when they originally met she had mentioned that they could communicate via something call mental channel.

"Neural interphase" Suri's voice sounded once again in Charlie's head. "We can communicate via your neural interphase."

"What is the neural in interphase anyway?" asked Charlie in his mind, it felt weird to communicate this way.

"Hmmm, the neural interphase is an extension of your mind. The Ruby chamber amplifies your mental capabilities and allows you to store and access assets and abilities. I am bound to the neural interphase."

"Who bound you to it?"

"The old master." a tone of sadness could be felt in this words.

"Hermes is NOT a master of the Ruby Chamber." Suri felt angered "He found it many years ago, and was able to access some of its knowledge. But he is not the old master."

"I see..."

A moment later Hermes showed up once again behind the corner of the waterfall holding a rope. He then proceeded to tie it around Charlies waist, it seemed like a very complex knot. He checked it and nodded.

FOLLOW ME. CAREFUL.

Charlie nodded and proceeded to follow Hermes once again. The old man signaled him to press his body on the wall as much as he could. The waterfall was roaring just a few inches from his body.

Hermes was impressively dexterous, he quickly hugged the wall a started walking, the rope did not seem to be attached to him, instead it was firmly pressed around the edge of the rocks and continued going beyond what Charlie could see.

As Charlie started to exit the cavern he looked towards the pool of water once more. What he saw paralyzed him. There was something breaking the surface of the water. Whit the low shifting light coming thru the waterfall he saw a large pair of eyes where fixed on him.

Swasssh

Charlie lost his footing and felt back. A huge force took over his whole body. His nose and mouth where immediately filled with water. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't move. The water was too much, he felt like he was about to be split in two where the rope was holding him.

On the small passage under the waterfall Hermes saw the small body of Charlie all dressed in shiny armor suddenly disappear within the waterfall, the rope that was mean to keep him safe was pinned on a rock. The current position of the rope didn't allow for Charlie to come out of the waterfall and instead it was leaving him hopelessly hanging under the immense pressure of the water.

Everything was blurry for Charlie, the water was falling on him so hard that it was as if a mountain was on top of his chest.

"I need to get out of here!"

Charlie tried to set his feet against the rocky wall but he was immediately pushed back down, as he did he felt the rope go slack. In an instant Hermes had found a window of opportunity that allowed him to release the rope from behind the rock that was currently holding it. After falling about 100 feet the rope was tense again as he was catapulted out of the waterfall by a combination of the pressure of the water and the pull of the rope. What he saw filled him with terror.

He was now hanging next to a colossal waterfall, it was beyond anything Charlie had seen before the rocky wall seemed almost perfectly flat and in front of him was a precipice several thousand feet deep. He was hanging about 300 feet from what seemed to be the top of a flat mountain top. A large full moon was looming over him.

"Is it night already?!"