Friday, November 9, 2012

Caverna de las Brujas Part 5


The being in front of Henry stood around five feet tall and hairless.  The blue glow emanating from behind Henry gleamed off this thing's dark green scaly body, clad in absolutely nothing.  Henry's wide eyes could not leave the sharp black claws on the creature's hands, especially the one on where some fabric and skin seemed to cling to the edge of.

Henry forced his eyes to leave the large claws and to look up at the creature's rounded face.  Noting the lack of teeth, he let his eyes travel upwards and looked at it straight in its oval-irised eye.  It glared at him, though he may be reading into the expression.  Its face, with the rounded snout, did not have the same muscle definitions that allowed the varied human expressions so reading the thing would be extremely hard.

The creature turned and walked into the dark cave away from Henry, its long thick tail swaying.  With that Henry began to start writhing against his bonds, wriggling a knife he kept strapped to his left wrist out into his palm to cut his bonds.  A task which is made harder when you slice your palm open with said knife.

While he was cutting away at the bonds he began to feel an intense pressure in his head, as if his brain was being squeezed by a vice.  He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, focusing on the task at hand and compartmentalized the pain away.  Eventually the bonds cut away and he found himself free, his sore arms immediately dropping to his side.

He took a moment to categorize what he had.  He had the small blade in his left hand and the gun at his hips.  His bag was no where near him to be found and that was where the medical supplies were.  His lantern was not nearby as well but that matter could be taken care of by the light glowing behind him.

And so he turned to take said light and instead took a step back in shock.  It was a large gem, light-blue in colour and radiating a steady light.  Quickly gathering his composure he stepped to the light, his headache getting worse as he closed the distance to it.  And as he closed his hand around it his vision went completely blue.

Hostility. Intruder. Thoughts flowed through Henry, not his own.  The thoughts were strong as if coming from dozens of sources.  Henry felt as if their will was forcing their way into him.  Alien thoughts intruded deeper into Henry's sense of being and he began to feel faint.  As he began to drop the floor he reached down deep and with a surge of will he pushed the thoughts out of his head, his vision coming back but his head continued to throb painfully.

Holding the gem as far from him as possible he thrust it in front of him and located the paths out of the room. Choosing the option that his captor didn't he began to walk quickly, though the speed caused him to stumble occasionally on small rocky outcroppings that every cave system is littered with..

He fled through the various caverns in the cave, his gut guiding him with its unerring sense of direction. As he felt the pressure in his head intensify he transferred the gem to his bloody left hand and drew his pistol.

Climbing up onto a ledge and slipping into a fissure, the pressure in his head threatened to overwhelm him.  Turning he saw three of those reptile men just entering the cavern he was leaving.  He aimed his pistol, fired and turned away following the path to the next cavern.  He trusted that his aim was true and hoped that the sound of the gun would startle the primitive looking creatures, causing them to slow the pursuit.  The headache began to ease just slightly, enough to tell him that they were pursuing him more cautiously now.

In the next room he saw his bag lying there, apparently unopened.  Taking the time to grab the bag, but not going through it for the bandages his stomach and palm so desperately needed he continued on into the cavern, quickly emerging in the room with the giant lake.  Elation flowed through him at that moment as he realized he was close to escaping.

The downside, of course, was how careful he had to be to walk along the small-shelf like trail or else he fall into the lake.  To do so with the intense pressure he had in his head, and with the knowledge he was being pursued, made things all the more difficult.  And as he progressed slowly along the trail, he could feel the pressure in his head growing again.  The things were getting closer.

He reached the edge of the platform and threw his pack and gun up onto the next shelf in front of him.  Keeping the crystal in his hand he lifted his foot onto the rise, and at that moment felt something slam into his already-injured left hand.  His hand flexed open and the crystal fell into the lake below him.  Steadying himself up on the platform, he looked behind him, seeing only blackness behind him.  The light now swallowed by the lake he had no choice but to guess where he was going.

Grabbing with his right hand, he slung his bag over his shoulder and equipped his gun in that hand, firing off a couple of unaimed shots around the wall, hoping to hit something in the darkness. He ran the steep path up the cavern heading back into the outside world, trusting in the hope that he would remember how the path twisted around him..  But then the cave began to quake around and under him.  Between the darkness and the rumbling cave he slowed his ascent, but quickly sped up again when a stalactite crashed down just inches behind him.

After several hits against a wall or stalagmite, which did not help his stomach wound, he made it outside without any further complication and ran the little ways to where he left his aeroplane, the stars shining down from a clear night sky.  Thankful for the large bright moon at that point he threw his bag behind his seat in the cockpit and ran to the propeller, stealing a glance to the dark cavern just feet up the mountain.  He began to spin the propeller but cried out in pain when he tried to use both his hands.  Cursing in the night sky, he switched to just using his right hand.  The entire time he gazed to the cave opening and just as the engine finally turned he spotted the creatures coming out into the open land.

Hurrying back into the cockpit, he sat himself down and enclosed himself in.  At that moment there began to be sharp 'clinking' sounds, the telltale sign of small rocks hitting his plane.  He sped the plane forward on the small amount of straightaway he had to land on.  However there was not much of that straight land and he ran out of that quickly and the plane began to go down the steep slope of the mountain.  The clinking sounds stopped altogether as he taxied out of range of the cavern, and shortly after that the plane began to lift into the night sky.

Henry started to laugh while he straightened the plane out and flew it the short distance into Chile.  He may have a large cut across his stomach and his left hand might be broken, but what a story he had to tell to those in the clubhouses!

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