The Ageless One: Beginnings

The Ageless One: His Destiny

Doelan had never felt so miserable in his life, stuck in that dark, cold cave.  Liri was gone.  He hadn’t really been with him in the real world.  Doelan’s eyes had pierced the illusion, only to find that Liri wasn’t there.  He was alone, running as fast as he could.  When he had the strength that is.

There were other things that got to him.  The animal skins he was wearing didn’t fit properly, and irritated his skin.  His stomach was grumbling, and he couldn’t remember the last time he had eaten.  Of course he realized that anything he remembered eating was probably part of the illusion.  He shuddered to think of what the goblins really fed him.  His feet were the coldest part of him, touching the stone floor.  Even with no light source he could somehow still see, but all he saw was more cave, and nothing else.

He hadn’t seen any goblins since he first broke through the illusion.  He had lost them, but a lack of goblins probably just meant that these caves were really big. 

He might never get out.

Eventually he lost the strength to run.  With no goblins around he just walked through the cave, randomly picking directions when there was a fork in the tunnel.  He didn’t know where he was going, all he knew is that he wanted to get out of the cave.

He didn’t know how long he had been down there.  Days?  Weeks?  Months?  No, it couldn’t be that long.  He had no food and no water, and he knew it was true with his rumbling stomach and parched throat.  He would never have of lasted that long anyway.

It still felt like forever.

His feet seemed heavier with each step, and he was losing hope.  He felt like curling up and dying right then and there.  What could he do?  Except, he heard sloshing.  He ran ahead, turned a corner and…he froze…his heart pounding…there were goblins!

They hadn’t seen him.  They were drinking from some sort of subterranean lake in a wide cavern.  Doelan had to force himself to move.  These were no illusions.  They were real.

He backed away around the corner and hid against the wall.  He realized he had been holding his breath, and his heart was beating so fast he felt he might faint.  He breathed as quietly as he could.  He would have run, but with water so near…He was so thirsty.

Then he heard buzzing.  Loud, terrifying buzzing…that slowly got quieter…and then disappeared.  Doelan stayed still for a few moments, and then inched forward.  He peered into the cavern.  There were no goblins, just water.

He slowly crawled forward towards the water.  Then he stopped by the edge and cupped his hands, taking a drink.  It tasted horrible, but it was water.  He drank, then rested. 

 He thought.  Liri was gone.  His people were gone.  No…that was wrong.  He was the one that was gone.   His people were still where they were, in the illusion.  He might never see Liri again.  But no.  He had found water.  It wasn’t much, and he was still afraid, but it was something.  He drank as much as he could bear, but since he couldn’t carry any with him he went on.

He walked through more tunnels, and more still.  He started getting thirsty again, but he had more time…though how much time he couldn’t tell.  He kept going and going, and saw nothing but bare rock, but he kept hope that he would find something, anything.

Later, as he walked through the cave, looking at the earth around him, he wondered if Liri was still in the illusion, or if he was doing the same thing, wandering about these caves with little hope.  He stopped, and almost cried right then and there, but no…he couldn’t break down now.  He shook himself and kept going.  He had to get out.  He had to…he…