My mind urges me to get up. Every fibre in my being is screaming at me to open my eyes and begin moving, but I can't. All of my senses are shot. Only my thoughts are with me. What do I do? I don't even know what's going on! What was my grandpa talking about?
I tried moving my body, and it still didn't work. By now, I must have been like this for an hour. A lot could happen in that time. My only hopes were that everyone was safe and that I would get an explanation from my grandpa. Not just some riddles that I don't understand, but an actual explanation.
Finally, what felt like an eternity, yet was not long, the feeling in my fingers returned, then my hands and toes, and gradually I could see again, and my senses returned. I could barely move, yet I forced myself to. I stumbled towards the way out of my room, but stumbled; my legs were still injured on top of my recent paralysis. My body slammed against the wall. I was lucky I could barely feel my limbs; otherwise, I would have screamed in agony. I struggled to my feet, bracing against the wall to pull myself up. I turned my body to look through the hole that I drilled, and my body filled with horror.
I went to scream, but nothing was coming out except a guttural rasping that could barely be heard by me, let alone anyone else. I could see 3 shadow-like people standing over the thing that was bringing me such horror. It was my grandpa lying on the floor beneath them. He was dying. I couldn't move my legs. I was stuck watching in horror as he continued to bleed.
"We've killed 5 less than we were supposed to be here, should we keep looking around or…"
"No, of course not, it's a waste of time, all the ones we haven't found are probably dead, the people down here don't exactly live long."
"I still swear I heard something weird deep in one of those pits"
"It was probably one of those creatures that you lured out."
"Either way, let's just leave. This place looks shitter than Pompeii after Vesuvius."
They began to walk away, then stepped into a deep shadow, and disappeared, almost as if they were never here in the first place, but they were.
"Grandpa!" I rasped as I stumbled out the door with my Talons Edge. I was stumbling towards him, anger and fear welling inside me. After what felt like an eternity, I fell next to my grandpa. It was bad. Worse than I could ever imagine. He was bleeding from half a dozen holes, lying in a pool of his own. My rage boiled inside of me. I'll kill them for what they did! I turned towards the shadow to face the threats, even if they weren't there anymore, maybe I could follow them, and then butcher them. Maybe then they'll regret attacking my family.
However, as I stood up, I felt my grandpa grab my leg.
"Don't… my boy… don't go," he barely managed to say.
I turn back to him and realise that my fury had overtaken me; I should have stayed to help him. I move to try to stop the blood from leaking out of his body. He yet again sways my hand.
"Don't Achiel… It's fine. Listen to me… I'm sorry that this had to happen… but I couldn't let you die… You are everything… not just to me but to them. Take my book, it is everything I could think of to help guide you… to the path."
I listened as tears relentlessly fell down my face. His eyes were on me before, but now they look past me. He's dying, and I can't stop it.
"Even when you leave… hear the chorus of the caves, my son… learn the path… even in death I will love you with all my heart… Achiel,"
My grandpa died.
"No, no, no, no!" I grab his head and cradle it in my arms, wishing he were still with me, almost as if it'll bring him back to me somehow. I'm covered in his blood, and tears flow unbridled.
"Noooo!" I continue to scream. I don't know what to do. I sit there just holding my grandpa, the only family I have left. He meant the world to me. Why did he stop me? I could have helped! Then I think, maybe I was just too weak. The realisation breaks me. The wrath returns as I get up to leave my grandpa and to tell everyone what I'd seen.
That's when I see the rest of the horror. Another one is dead just 15 feet away from me.
"No, it can't be," I get up and try to find anyone alive.
"Cora! Rufus! Where are you guys!" I yell madly as I make my way to their home. I opened the door, hoping, praying to the gods that I never believed in that they are alive. No gods answer my prayers. As soon as I open the door, I see Rufus dead, lying over his dead wife, Priscilla, protectively. In the next room over, their elder daughters lie dead with petrified faces.
"Cora! Where are you!?" I'm desperate in my pleas. I go into the next room and once again drop to my knees. René lay dead in the centre of the room. The blood was already drained from her tiny body. How could they do this! She was just a baby! And they butchered her like an animal. I sobbed uncontrollably.
I searched the caves for survivors but found none; all of my people were dead. I did not find Cora, though. She may still be alive somewhere, but I could not find her. Two days have passed, and I have spent 12 hours down each of the Four Corners in search of Cora. The creatures have all retreated deeper into the caves, so it lets me travel down more quickly than usual. However, it also means that each opening has more creatures than usual. Each time I fight my way into a chamber, I get more injured, and each time I've had to turn back, although I make more progress each time. I still didn't understand how those three people made their way into our caves. Were they from the deep? If I kept pushing, I might find them. I will make them regret what they did to my people.
Today was the first day I had left the Four Corners and the deep caves since entering them two days ago. The heat emanating was unbearable, and yet I continued to go deeper, even if there was only a 1% chance of her survival, it was worth it. Cora was strong and smart; she knew how to survive better than anyone. I had to bet on it. I would investigate how they got down here, collect more supplies and then dive again. Time was my enemy; it could mean the difference between her living and her… I couldn't even bear to think of it.
I continued to look around. I had not really explored how the 3 shadows got in thoroughly. I was in shock when I was last here, and there were still some bodies littering the floor. The stink was becoming unbearable. I searched for any way of entry and did not find any.
Boulders covered the ground; I assumed they were the remnants of my grandpa's battle with them. I visited our home for the first time since I was afraid to visit here, knowing I had failed my grandpa, my people and Cora. I walked over to the book he had made. Packing it in my bag in preparation for going back to the Four Corners.
Then I left my home again, not wanting to stay longer than I had to. It hurt just to stay in there, and it reflected my own failure. For all I know, I am the last of my people. Why was I the last? I did not deserve it.
As I continued to walk, I noticed something I hadn't before: the boulders here were larger than they should be. It confused me; I knew rocks like the back of my hand. These should not have been possible. I looked around, initially not seeing any signs at all, until I looked up and saw a tiny twinkle, like that of a rich mineral. My eyes focused on it; maybe something was up there. The rockfall must have revealed it. I decided to climb up. It took a long time, and as the minutes passed, the light grew bigger and brighter, as if it was coming to meet me. Eventually, though, I made my way to the source and climbed up.
The near-vertical tunnel opened into a massive room, almost like an engineered chamber. What the hell was this? Was this where our Andemium went to? I was confused and began to explore the area, which was open and had little inside, so I decided to walk towards what seemed like a door that opened automatically at my approach. The light from outside was blinding, and I shielded my eyes as they adjusted and squinted, trying to limit the light entering the room. After a few minutes of simply adapting to the light, I decided to exit.
That was the moment I found out that my world was a lie.