YUUKI - To Move Forward: Prelude 1

Log #470: Biology

Less than twelve hours after we left Ismira, our Party was ambushed by a new species of Shade: a scorpion-like monster with three stingers, each connected by a separate tail. It has been officially classified as a Core Stalker, as well as the forty-eighth species of Shade to be discovered. Approximately the size of a one-story house, they are the first creatures that display intelligence beyond mere reflex. This conclusion has been deducted from their tendency to ambush Squadrons and cut them off from the rest of the Scouting Party, as well as their amazing ability to adapt to our PLDs as a battle progresses. The massive Core Stalkers are truly powerful, quite possibly the deadliest of all known Shade. We still have yet to capture one, let alone discover a weakness.

-General Shura Averin

0290 BPE

I looked down, heart pounding, at the massive serpentine head on the floor of the chamber next to the marble stairway. I had flown down Heim’s Pit and ventured into the cave as before, but this time I was prepared for the serpent. Without wasting a second, I had heaved the glittering purple gem at the guardian, where it slammed into the snake’s head and landed right back in my hands. It was like the gem had been magnetized to my hands. The effect on the serpent was instantaneous; the moment the gem made contact, its eyes shut, and it hissed angrily, rearing up before collapsing deafeningly on the stone floor.

Instead of returning home with the gem, my curiosity pushed me onward, and I searched for the rest of the serpent’s body. Strangely enough, the neck stretched into a hole in the ceiling that was barely the width of the snake itself, so there was no way to figure out what the rest of it looked like, or what else may have been in that ceiling hole. Slightly disappointed, I turned around and prepared to head back, when a cluster of blackness caught my eye.

I scanned the side of the chamber opposite to the entrance, where another mysterious hole had opened up, beckoning me onward. I walked over to the opening and peered inside. Unlike the first hallway, this new path was pitch black, like a void. The strangest part of the new passage, however, was the sound echoing from it. An eerie moaning of some sort could barely be made out, but it was there, no doubt about it. I had already braved the first challenge of the hurricane and given the second challenge a brain tumor, but I was still nervous of how many “challenges” Heim’s Pit would bring upon me, or if they would get increasingly worse as I went deeper. It was almost as if it the cave were a living entity, daring me to go as far as I could.

I slapped myself twice with both hands, and shook myself to ease the jitters that had begun to surface. Ignoring the moaning from both the cave and my gut, I headed deeper in to explore even more of the ever-expanding cave. Aside from the unnerving sounds, the only other sense that reacted within this cave was the cool, moist touch of the damp rocks under my light moccasins. The quiet moaning grew steadily louder, until it transformed into more of soft wailing. This cave truly was a test of courage, but I wasn’t about to give up, not when I had made it so far. I steeled my nerves, and pressed onward until my eyes began to notice something on the wall.

Small, white spots.

They were dull but luminescent, and every step closer increased the detail of the objects, as if I were turning up the resolution on a camera. Before long, they no longer appeared as objects, but instead images.

A multitude of cave drawings were arranged on both sides of the hallway. I counted five, each portraying a different human. I slowed to a stop in front of the nearest one, and decided to inspect the image out of curiosity. When I was directly in front of it, every fuzzy detail sharpened, showing me a loose drawing of a human girl, assumingly a grade-schooler from the size of her body. On her waist, a gaping hole was etched into the wall.

My ears twitched anxiously.

Her flesh color was ghastly white, with little detail on her chest, arms, or legs. Her face wore a terrified expression, with features that could only be described as twisted. Her head was oval-shaped, tilted sharply to my right. Her mouth covered the bottom half of her face, open far wider than any living human or elf. She had no tongue or teeth, but her nose, of all things, was drawn with terrific accuracy. Her eyes were also detailed beyond belief: they had a pleading look in them. Her hair was drawn long and flowing, extending for about three meters behind her. Her body was smaller than mine, and clearly less attractive, being a human and all, but it too was pure white. Despite her body having virtually no detail, its dimensions were so accurate, it appeared almost as if a human girl had been transformed into paper and then attached to the wall.

Then my eyes drifted down to the hole in her waist.

It appeared as if the paper girl had a large bite out of her left side, as big as a third of her torso, and was bent away from the hole, leaving her waist at an odd angle with her chest. Her legs were close together and almost fully extended. Her arms were hanging behind her, tangled in the knots of her hair. Despite her peculiar stance, she seemed to be sitting down, five feet in the air. But that image was nothing compared to what came out of the hole in her side.

A shiver forced its way down my spine.

It resembled something like a ghost: a faded, lifelike image of its owner, with contorted expressions and distorted features. The apparition had its arms out wide, as if warning intruders not to get too close, and its legs fused into a stream of white that fled into the hole carved out of the girl’s stomach.

Snapping myself out of my curious trance, I stepped back, and inspected each of the other four engravings.

All human, all grade-schoolers, all pleading.

By the last inspection, a dread had seeped into my heart, and I began to shiver uncontrollably. I slowly backed up, moving towards the entrance where I had come from. As if noticing my terror, the apparitions on the wall began to distort.

They began to move.

Slowly, the images of the ghosts began to shudder and phase out of the walls like actual phantoms. As each grotesque figure reappeared into the hallway, their two-dimensional images disappeared. Each looked exactly like a decomposed version of their drawing, except that they were horrifically, terribly detailed.

Two of them had major burns on their bodies.

One of them had a noose around his neck, the rope trailing on the floor behind him.

One of the their heads was caved in, its chest crushed inwards.

All of them looked like they had been buried for six years, yet none of their limbs were missing. They still appeared more human than elf, and I started to wonder if this cave was human-made, like some sort of human graveyard. They cracked their necks, hunched their backs, and simultaneously snapped their gazes in the same direction.

Directly at me.

They shuffled towards me hesitantly, moaning like restless spirits. I tried to run, but my muscles refused to respond. Chains of fear were trapping me on the spot. Despite that, my body was backing away slowly towards the serpent’s chamber. I was so distant from reality, I didn’t even think to check behind me.

Until I bumped into something soft.

I jerked back, and stared directly at the first apparition, the little girl.

But she looked nothing like the others. For one, she looked much older than the others, only two years or so younger than me. Also, she looked perfectly healthy, unlike the other undead creatures.

It was her innocent, pure gaze that broke me.

All I could manage was to turn back around and watch the corpses surround me. To my surprise and horror, each zombie suddenly became alert, forming a crude circle around me. All five stopped moaning, and sneered at me instead. Looking at each of their faces, now less decomposed and fully formed, I finally recognized them. That familiarity led to my final shred of sanity being torn away. I ducked my head, as they pelted me with torments and accusations.

“Look at what you’ve done!”

“You killed us in cold blood!”

“Do you see the consequences of your actions?”

“We trusted you!”

“How do you sleep at night?”

“I will make you pay!”

“Murderer!”

“Face up to what you’ve done!”

“There is no escape!”

“We had your back, and you betrayed us!”

I couldn’t handle any more, so I curled up into a ball, resting on my soles while covering my head from their verbal slashes. I begged them, begged them to stop, to quiet down, or even to finish me already, I couldn’t take it anymore! But they ignored me, cries of betrayal and vengeance drowning out my petty pleas. My brain was in a frenzy, no coherent thought escaping the maelstrom that was my worst nightmare coming true. I was alone, hated and mocked for my cowardice and failure.

Something... just broke.

I stood up, and walked towards the far end of the hallway. The beings didn’t stop their pelting, but still moved aside to let me pass. I was deaf and dizzy; I didn’t care. The only thought that my mind could produce was a desire to exit this damned hallway and leave this world of nightmares behind.

Body nearly frozen and wings folded stiff, I continued my lifeless stride further into the cave, as distance finally overcame their chanting. Not too far away, a bright light appeared, signifying the entrance to another chamber. Slowly reviving my spirit with each step, I could once again feel the cool, moist touch of the damp rocks under my light moccasins. Squinting, I stepped into the brilliant light, yellow and white energy engulfing the darkness that had seemed like my eternity, and entered the next chamber.