Orphic Ὀρφικά

Chapter 6: Survival

You were going to kill Brunhilde if you survived this hell hole.

It's been nearly three days since you arrived in this mysterious place, while you enjoyed the nice scenery with all the different plants and colors, the monsters lurking behind trees and rocks were not so nice. The first day had gone by like a breeze on a hot summer day, it was relaxing exploring the forest and the animals within it, but the second day... was horrible.

You had encountered Myrmekes. Huge ants that had no mercy, while they chased you. At first, you thought the holes in the ground were a weird nature anomaly, but how wrong you were when two ants the size of a car walked out. Luckily they hadn't seen you, so you thought you could simply just walk by without getting noticed, right? NO.

The twitch in their antennas signaled them that there was an intruder near the nest. Their necks quickly turned to you before sprinting towards you, spitting acid as you tried to escape. Soon their friends arrived and you were running from the whole nest.

Your left leg was nearly burned from acid that landed on your pants. Luckily you had escaped when they got distracted by a golden glow in the distance.

From that day on, your guard has been up the entire time. The small dagger had come in use over the past two days since you encountered your first mythological creature. And to top all of your wonderful experiences, you had been getting more headaches as memories had come and go. You had remembered some important survival tips, such as not to eat some type of berries, how to fish with just a few ropes, and how to make rope out of veins. All of those tips had helped you in your journey.

You still didn't know when this "test" was over, or how it would end. Was there a checkpoint? Did you have to kill some complicated creature in ortohome? All of these questions could not be answered.

Currently, you were sitting in a dark cave with a small fire. It turns out you didn't need a fire, because as Brunhilde had said; "It attracts them." And by them, she meant the monsters that were attracted to light. You were quite surprised when you found a troll standing above you as you slept. It didn't hurt you or take any of your supplies but it did give frighten you didn't make any fires since that day, but tonight seemed to be cold, colder than usual, which put you on edge. You didn't know what to expect, only that a monster could be near.

You curled up near a rock, holding your knees close to your chest. Your eyes felt heavy, but you still felt that uneasiness of something watching you. The crackling of the wood didn't help with the fact that you were tired. You felt your eyes close, you shook your head, trying your best to keep your eyes open. But alas, your breathing calmed and your eyes closed. 

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You were startled awake by the sound of a loud screech. Your hands quickly moved to the small dagger in your boot, holding it in front of you as you stood up in a defensive stance. The sound of wings flapping was surrounding you, your stomach churning as you anticipated something to happen. But then, it was silence. The flapping of wings was still, the screeching stopped. Your eyes searched the cave, but the sleepiness in your eyes restricted you to see further into the darkness.

The sound of your heart beating was so loud you could hear it in your ears. The red timbers on the ground told you that the fire hadn't died too long ago. You bent your knees, searching for another piece of dried wood so you could get the fire started again. If your eyes weren't going to adjust quickly, then a fire (even if it means risking your safe space) would help greatly in this situation.

You felt hope in you as you felt the wood pile that you collected. Quickly grabbing a few pieces you placed them on the timbers, blowing gently on them to get the wood to burn. A spark could be seen before a small fire spread on the first piece of wood.