29 Exploration

Harry approaches the ruined campsite as quietly as he can, he'd cast a couple spells to prevent them noticing him, but he wasn't entirely sure they'd actually work. For one, the animals had obviously been magically influenced. Which may or may not make them immune to most spells affecting the presence of a magic user.

Plus, he wasn't sure if they'd be able to smell him. He didn't know any spells that could block his scent yet, which would be quite easy for a random animal to detect. Kali had flown off and was keeping an eye from the sky, not that she'd be of any help, but Harry supposed it was some kind of 'emotional support'...

He was making good progress when his spells suddenly started encountering interference... Out of nowhere his 'ignore' spell suddenly sputtered out, revealing his body to all the nearby animals. Immediately as they notice him they give out a screech and start charging at his position.

Harry leaps from his crouched position and flicks his hand at a nearby tent, the pegs tearing themselves out of the ground as the tarp flies at a couple of gazels who were hoping to impale him on their horns.

Their horns pierce the sheet but it quickly wraps around them, stopping them in their tracks as they squirm around trying, and failing, to escape from its grasp.

The next to attack is a large buffalo that furiously charges at him, Harry runs towards the cave as it chases him, but just as it's about to connect he raises the earth beneath him, allowing the beast to crash headfirst into the stone pillar.

The pillar actually shakes slightly at the force of it, but the buffalo slumps to the floor unconscious. No matter how hard your skull, running headfirst into a stone wall at thirty miles an hour will surely put you out of commission.

The next threat comes from the sky, a huge cloud of what could only be starlings descend towards Harry. He pales slightly at the sight, as well as the thought of them devouring his body, but he quickly composes himself and conjures a whip made of flames.

He begins swinging, twirling it above his head until it reaches a suitable velocity, afterwards it swing it towards the cloud, the whip seemingly extending without end as it sweeps through the cloud.

It doesn't do any meaningful damage to their numbers as a whole, but a few are struck and their corpses are sent sprawling to the ground in a smoking pile. His goal wasn't to destroy the group however, he only needed to cause chaos amongst them to give him some breathing room.

Harry had almost reached the cave, so he only needed a little more time... The only obstacle between him and the cave left was a small group of boars that were set up at the entrance.

They begin to approach, but Harry simply swings his hand up, causing a thin slab of earth to extend from the ground, afterwards Harry jumps at it feet first, using his magic to assist him in knocking it over. The slab falls straight down on the boars, crushing them all to death and allowing him to continue running from the huge flock of birds.

They were still on his tail and Harry swore he could feel them nipping on his heels. Soon enough, he throws himself into the cave while looking behind him, spotting the flock of Sterlings attempting to charge him even after he'd entered what he thought was a sanctuary.

He was surprised that before they could enter an invisible wall of sorts had been erected over the entrance of the cave, creating an impenetrable shield against the birds. The few that were going too fast to change their trajectory smash into the shield at incredibly high velocity, exploding against it and covering the entrance of the cave in their innards.

Harry sucks in some breaths as he watches with rapt attention as all of this occurs. After the scent of blood is thick in the air, the Sterlings disperse, he stands and looks outside the entrance for his companion, eventually noticing Kali's bat form slowly flying towards the cave...

Obviously, she was smart enough to avoid disintegrating against the wall, but that doesn't mean she wasn't willing to try and accompany him further... Fortunately, the magical barrier only seemed to block the beasts it was manipulating, easily allowing Kali inside.

Harry holds out his arm and allows Kali to land on it, the bat shaking its wings before folding them against itself, "See? Not too difficult." he says before helping Kali hop to his shoulder.

"Say that as we try to leave, Master... You better hope we find a way to stop the magical phenomenon happening outside, or I might be forced to help you escape here." she cautions him.

Harry smiles, "You make it all sound so menacing, but think about this... Treasure!"

The bat shakes its head in exasperation, "Your childishness will be the end of us, Master." she mutters as they begin walking deeper into the cave.

Harry illuminated it all with a small flame atop his palm, revealing the many murals, decorations, and carvings. Some of them even twinged with the scent of magic, but it wasn't enough to be anything by remnants. Hopefully, they'd find something more promising further inside.

As Harry was thinking this, they notice a shape slumped against the wall, and upon approaching it Harry realises that it belongs to a person. Judging by their archaeologist getup, it was one of the people who'd set up camp outside.

Their face looks gaunt and grey, blood slowly dripping from around their wide-open, blank eyes. In the man's hand, Harry finds a malfunctioning torch, most likely broken due to the ambient magic contained within the cave.

"Strange, I've only seen a few people die like this..." Kali mutters to herself, but Harry easily picks it up in the relatively silent cave.

"What was the cause?" he asks.

Kali shrugs her bat wings, "Some fool tried to peer into the abyss but didn't think to prepare against the abyss peering back at you. I think he caught a glimpse of one of the more unpleasant Demon Gods, resulting in a similar state as the man you see before you." she explains.