Chapter 9: The cave of drawings

Darkness was his first companion, the oldest and most trusted. When he was born, he abandoned the lightlessness of his mother's body only to find it even darker. There is no way to light the goblins' caves, no stones that glow, no red flowers that burn, no big sun. Darkness brought security, 'he' always believed that.

He crawled welcomed by her, when at the risk of his life he noticed that at a certain point the wall that supported the cave above had cracked, opening that tunnel in which he was now. The tightness of the tunnel made him move with his limbs joined together, as if he were one of those little armless animals that live inside the earth and mud.

Where the path would end was unknown, the monster just proceeded lower and lower, going deeper as it went. Breathing was a difficult task for those who weren't used to it, however, the goblins always preferred the little underground air over the winds present above it.

The descent was stopped when his head collided with something hard. There the tunnel ended, the path led nowhere. An obstacle that presented no difficulty at all for one of his kind. The monster moved its arms, rubbing them against the hard stone, trying to get its hands up to where its head was. There was no room for movement and yet he kept trying, rubbing his skin against the hard rock to force his way through so that even his naturally tough hide was gaining small wounds.

His attempts paid off when he managed to touch the smooth rock in his path with his bare palms. His fingers were held against the stone and he began his digging.

This unfortunate creature's race was born with few characteristics that made them special, however something that made them unique in that forest were their claws. His fingers didn't cut, didn't tear, unable to split flesh or pierce through tough skin. However, they dug through the earth in a way that no monster "he" had ever seen could.

Each claw was long and curved, with hard points that scraped the surface of the stone until it pierced and a body that hurled pebbles backwards. Crossing the obstacle, his pointed ears heard a sound crossing the rock, it reminded him of running water, causing his problems, but the noise made him calmer.

The sound grew louder as it descended and reached its apex (a word 'he' didn't know, but knew how to explain) when the goblin plummeted. His body dropped for what anyone with the ability to count would have said was thirty seconds. The pain was less than he expected when he realized what was happening, he was protected by the water. Liquid that spread all over this new place he was in.

The home of the branch-walkers, as already said, was in the monster's view a heap of caves on top of larger ones. He was in one more now, a very pretty one, one that made him feel safe.

The whole floor was covered with water, 'he' couldn't say where it came from, maybe it was coming from the earth that he felt with his feet or coming from a hole in some corner of the walls. The liquid was up to his waist, which thankfully wasn't going to test his abilities to move underwater. Skill that running water proved not to exist.

In some spots, the floor was higher and it was towards one of them that he walked. When he reached one of these uncovered regions, he used what little strength his tired arms had to climb up into the dry area. Sitting up, he sighed tiredly, finally free of any immediate danger to his life, allowing himself to survey his surroundings with calm and keen interest.

The cavern was wide and wide and could fit many of his people there, a few dozen in the eyes of a being with the ability to count. At specific points, proportionately apart from each other, were those large boulders like logs that held up what must have been the upper cave.

As far as he could see, there were three large tunnel entrances, most of which were clogged. The ceiling had collapsed into two of these tunnels, one to the south of the room and one to the west. Only the one to the east seemed to lead somewhere, which the goblin didn't care about at the moment.

His attention was all on the ceiling, as he had never seen one like it. Drawings were present in all its extension, figures that could not be made by any monster. Goblins had a habit of drawing on the walls, simple and poorly done images, nothing like what 'he' saw now.

Humans were on the stone, wearing fake leather skins, covered in feathers of different colors at specific points on their bodies. They carried weapons, some the monster had seen and some not. The scene was one of fighting, all against all with red blood tracing lines across the ceiling and down the walls.

Most important was the huge animal, so large that it filled the entire center of the figure and touched the walls. It looked like the vine that says 'sssss', however it was covered with feathers and had wings.

On the creature's body, dark symbols were present. Together they seemed to form something he didn't understand.

¹Q U E A T Z A C O A L T

Whatever those symbols meant, it didn't matter to him now and no matter how beautiful the images were, he must go on his way and find a way out.

The goblin returned to the water and walked through it towards the only entrance through which it was possible to pass. He would think for a long time to come about what he saw, whether it was the big feathered vine or the humans killing each other.

Did that animal live in the forest? Or lived? Who made those drawings? Were they the same ones who built the caves on top of caves? And did humans ever live in that forest?

If they once inhabited that land, did they leave something behind?

Something dangerous?