ABANDONED

LOST IN THE LIGHT

It was gradual but I slowly awoke to the smell of smoke and a distinct crackling sound before I realized that it was coming from above me. I looked up with tired eyes to see the charred corpse of Mr. Varian frozen in place with his arm raised in the air where the body of the Donbloji was too frozen in place and beautifully charged. Desperately I pulled myself from under the frozen charred statues of Mr. Varian and the monster because I could see pieces if not chunks of their bodies flaking and falling off. finally I freed myself from under them right as they toppled over shattering into a pile of small black pebbles, I was surprised by this and inspected it finding that they were smooth and glossy to the touch but before becoming obsessed with the strange remains of Mr. Varian and the monster I headed towards the caves exit seeing that it was still bright outside. Though as tried to leave the cave I walked face first into some sort of barrier banging on it I tried to get out but once again my magic resistance wasn't high enough so I was trapped. Seeing as I was alone I took off some of my armor to let my body breathe for a while since the armor was tight and stuffy, sitting against the wall I stared into the depths of the cavern and noticed how unassuming it was. the cave was like a well-worn shoe it seemed homey comfortable even but as I looked at the pile of dark rubble I realized how all the more frightening it made the Donbloji, it was something dangerous and seemingly new in a place that was supposed to safe and familiar.

It was strange in a way I had always been alone and now the one man who made me feel like I mattered somewhat died saving me and is now a pile of rubble. I allowed a single hot tear to roll down my face because even now when I felt at my lowest I felt like I had to hold myself together until the thought came to my mind "he wouldn't have died if it weren't for Harris" this single through flooded my mind repeating over and over again fueling a fire causing my blood to boil. in my rage I began punching the wall screaming like a maniac acting like I was beating up Harris right then and there, it was horrible I kept going until my lungs were burning and the wrappings around my hands were stained red with blood. Slumping against the wall I began heaving out gasps of air felling my neck was still sore from Harris trying to kill me so I sat and waited with nothing but myself and my thoughts, night slowly rolled around bringing with it a chilling breeze that struck me to the bone. I didn't want to put the armor on since it would make it hard to sleep so I buried myself in the pile of rubble that was once a monster and the only person who tried to save me, as I buried myself in the smooth black pile of rock all that went through my mind lulling me to sleep was the question "how will I survive".

The next day I could feel the suns blazing hot heat hit the cave and wash my body like a dry heat oven, it seemed that it was hot in the mornings due to the caves crystals reflecting the light on to the stone wall heating it up into a sort of makeshift oven which explained why there were no monsters out at the time. I could feel my body being soaked in sweat causing me to take off my shirt and boots leaving me to be bare chested and alone in the cool and relaxing shadows of the cave, I felt like a tadpole still freshly learning how to swim in a pond but only finding solace in the cool dark mud in which it used to reside. As the sun began to settle higher in the sky the cave began to cool down moderately causing a few creatures to come out from their holes and the inner lining of the caves walls. they all appeared to be hungry and found the new comer to be an exquisite delicacy, as I was slowly surrounded by creatures I moved back towards my equipment which I had piled next to the ruble in which I slept in but it appeared to have been coated in the toxic bile from a small group of Squelchers and was now in the process of melting into a pile of useless goo. truly fearing for my life I found a stalagmite that was about as skinny as a rod and broke it holding it out wards as a threatening weapon, I tried to force the creature back but they kept closing in until my back was finally against the wall and it is terrifying. the ground was covered with squelchers and Terrans that seemed to be spawning by the dozens while the Kunine swarmed the walls encroaching on my body in a desperate bid to escape I decided to leap from my small corner of land and try to run down the darker part of the cave.

When I did I landed on a squelcher squishing it body into a yellow and green stain on the ground allowing a scent of green and yellow footprints to follow me into the caves darkest depths. the dark parts of the cave were difficult to navigate I would often bump into the wall or another sharper stalagmite that would cause me to keep forging onwards, at one point I was so deep into the caves dark crevices that the caves opening seemed more like a distant star in the sky. Finally I decided to take a rest since I was getting tired and I haven't eaten anything in a day or so. As I laid there in the darkness I could hear the sound of something skittering around me lurking and only getting closer with time, at that point I was too tired to do anything so when the creature bit me I don't even try to resist. I felt whatever the creature hit me with flow through my veins, it was terribly cold feeling like my veins were being tracked by cubes of ice. in a desperate final attempt to die with dignity I tried going back towards the opening of the cave but the venom from the creature blurred my vision causing me to get dizzy and throw up stomach acid which burned the back of my throat. It felt so close yet so far away at the same time. I couldn't tell what was happening but my body was cold and it was increasingly hard to move so I collapsed laying on the smooth cave floor staring at the bright end of the cave saying "they always say there's a light at the end of the tunnel, but they never said you'd reach it" and with my final exertion of effort I flipped my body over and laid on my back allowing my now unblinking eyes to stare at the ceiling as I awaited my death.