Path of Dragons

Book 2: Chapter 4: Spelunking

Cold darkness enveloped Elijah as he passed through the jagged mouth of the cave. He could still see, if only barely, and the current threatened to throw him into the sharp rocks. He kicked forward, grabbing hold of those rocks as he pulled himself through the tunnel.

Cave diving was not for the weak of heart; nor was it fit for the easily panicked. Not only did the diver have to be cognizant of his oxygen levels, but it was incredibly easy to lose oneself in the twisting turns of a submerged tunnel. Elijah didn’t have to worry about the former, but the latter could probably get him killed. After all, though he could survive without food and water for a time, he was no immortal.

So, he kept his wits about him as he gradually pulled himself through the narrow tunnel. Soon, his Locus receded, and he had to rely on his more mundane senses. As he followed the cave’s path, he noticed a slight decline that quickly grew far steeper until he was swimming down an almost vertical shaft. With every foot, his heart beat a little faster as he imagined all the monstrous things hidden in the darkness.

Elijah thought he could survive most threats – at least long enough to run away – but he hadn’t experienced everything the world had to offer. Far from it, in fact. What if he ran into the underwater equivalent of that great raptor that had torn his plane apart so long ago? Or another creature like the panther that had once guarded his island? And that wasn’t even considering the possibility that he might encounter one of the Voxx. After all, the most powerful of the interdimensional reptiles he’d encountered had come from the sea.

Still, Elijah continued on, confident in his own abilities. He’d conquered the tower, defeating creatures much more powerful than he was. So, he reasoned that, if push came to shove, he could repeat that feat in the real world. Still, he didn’t savor the notion of being eaten by some sea creature, so he remained focused on his surroundings, concentrating as much on One with Nature as his more mundane senses. It worked, after a fashion, but it was far from ideal.

Slowly, the cave began to level out, and Elijah found himself with a pair of options. One branch of the tunnel continued down, while the other broke off to the right. He knew he was already pretty deep – maybe fifty feet below the sea floor – so he decided to check the latter branch. So, he turned to the right and continued on. However, the tunnel only continued for a few dozen more feet before it started to narrow.

Still, Elijah persisted, steadily dragging himself along until he only had a few inches of clearance. When that happened, he was suddenly overwhelmed by a sense of claustrophobia. His heart raced, and if he hadn’t been equipped with the Ring of Aquatic Travel, his breathing would have quickened into shallow and panicked pants as well.

There was just something so powerfully primal about the fear of getting trapped in a tight space, and though Elijah had been cave diving a few times in the past, he certainly wasn’t immune to his own nature. So, it took him a few moments to master his fear and slowly back away.

More than anything, Elijah wished he could just take a few deep, calming breaths. An impossibility considering his situation, but the desire was there all the same.

Inch by inch, he pushed himself backward until he could flip over and retrace his proverbial steps. When he finally reached the fork, he considered returning to the surface, but instead, chose to resume his descent. So, he continued to pull himself down into the depths. At some point, the water grew still, and the darkness became even more oppressive; it was like he’d passed some ephemeral threshold into the mythological underworld. Any heat remaining in the water slowly dissipated with every passing inch until even Elijah’s much enhanced Constitution began to falter.

Still, he went on.

In some ways, it felt almost like a dream. With no light, he couldn’t see. With the numbing cold, he couldn’t feel. Sound was muffled, and he certainly couldn’t smell or taste anything but the salty water. But he could feel his surroundings. He was incapable of distinguishing between the microscopic creatures in the water and clinging to the walls of the cave, but he could feel their collective life force.

And it was comforting, knowing that even in such an inhospitable environment, life persisted.

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It reminded Elijah of all the undiscovered creatures in the deepest parts of the ocean. They lived in a lightless world of crushing pressure, and yet, they thrived. If ever there was a testament to the enduring nature of life, then it would be found in the ocean’s depths.

Such thoughts occupied Elijah’s mind as his descent continued, and he reached something akin to a meditative state. Without much in the way of sensory input, he lost track of time. Indeed, he felt almost formless as he drifted ever downward. It was so hypnotic that he almost didn’t notice when the slope leveled out. However, he couldn’t help but see the subtle green glow hovering in the distance.

Elijah dragged himself forward, and the illumination loomed larger with every passing moment until it suffused everything. Then, he realized the source.

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Tiny crystals, no bigger than a thumbnail, lined the submerged tunnel. Elijah slowed to a stop, reached out, and ran a finger across the surface of one crystal. It felt like warm glass.

For a while, Elijah just floated there, drifting back and forth in the subtle current as he beheld the phenomena. He was well-acquainted with bioluminescence, but these crystals were unlike anything he’d ever seen. And the subtle aura of Ethera they emitted told him that they were magical in nature.

As if there was ever any doubt. One glance, and he’d known.

Eventually, he resumed his path and continued through the tunnel. The crystals slowly grew larger until they were at least the size of his fist, and the illumination they cast followed suit, increasing in intensity until Elijah felt almost as if he was beneath the light of a green sun. Still, he kept going until, at last, he reached the end of the tunnel.

It didn’t terminate in a dead end as he’d expected. Instead, it opened into a massive chamber, at least a hundred yards wide and only half-filled with water. He swam to the surface, and when he broke through, he couldn’t stop himself from taking a deep lungful of air. A mistake in normal times – who knew what gasses might’ve been trapped in such an air pocket – but the danger proved unrealized, because it was no different from the atmosphere of his island. Sure, it was a little stale, but that wasn’t going to kill him.

In any case, Elijah was far more focused on his surroundings. The cave was roughly spherical, and the dome-shaped ceiling, which was about thirty or forty feet above him, was absolutely covered in more of the glowing green crystals. Verdant light danced across the surface of the water. To call it beautiful would have been completely underselling the awe in Elijah’s heart.

He lay back, letting himself float on the surface as he stared up at the ceiling. The water was still cold enough to be uncomfortable, but he barely felt it. Instead, he was far too focused on the fact that he was looking at something he could confidently say that nobody had ever seen before.

And in that moment, Elijah was content.

Not just happy, because that was fleeting. Contentment was something else altogether, and though it didn’t carry with it the intensity of most other emotions, it ran far deeper. Stress he didn’t know he’d been carrying since his adventures within the tower melted away, and thus unburdened, he could truly appreciate the ethereal beauty before him.

More, he could see the wonderous nature of his new life for what it was.

Sure, he’d been forced to kill, and not just a little. But as he’d felt since the very beginning, that was just part of the circle of life. It felt a bit cliché to think of it in such terms, but there was a reason for the ubiquity of such sentiment. Some things had to die so others could live.

It had been true before the world’s transformation, and it had become even more so afterwards.

The funny thing was that he didn’t really feel the weight of his actions – not in any way that was going to affect him. Only a week or so before, he’d killed almost fifty people. By all rights, it had been a massacre. And yet, he didn’t feel the least bit guilty for it.

Elijah wasn’t so naïve as to believe that they’d all been terrible people, either. Most had probably just been following orders when they’d landed on the island. That didn’t matter, though. They’d thrown their lot in with the sort of people who would kidnap and try to kill a sapient being, and for no other reason than to drain her power. That painted them all with the same brush, so when they’d come ashore intending to do the same to his Grove, he felt justified in his actions.

In fact, he was content in the knowledge that, given the same situation, he would make all the same choices. Admitting that he didn’t really mind the killing – so long as he felt it was warranted – felt good, like he didn’t have to lie to himself.

He also came to realize something he’d been dancing around for quite some time. When he’d first washed ashore, Elijah had been given a second chance at life. And throughout his time on the island, he’d used that opportunity to steadily claw his way forward. He had survived, and, to his own surprise, he’d actually enjoyed most of it. Not the pain. Obviously. But the triumph. The discovery. The magic. The connection to nature he’d gained with his archetype. They all coalesced into one inescapable truth: he liked his new life.

And more than anything else, he wanted more.

He needed to experience new adventures. He craved that moment of triumph he’d felt after accomplishing what felt like the impossible. After overcoming long odds and defeating fearsome monsters. He wanted to gain more levels, to acquire new abilities. He wanted to see what the higher levels of cultivation had to offer. And more than anything, he wanted to see more incredible things.

Elijah knew that path wasn’t going to be a comfortable one, and he would probably experience plenty of pain along the way. But so long as he survived, he could take it.

“It’ll be worth it,” he said to himself, the sound carrying through the cave. The sound bounced off of the crystals, sending green power arcing from one to the other in a wave. It looked fearsome, but Elijah could feel that it wasn’t dangerous. So, he couldn’t help but grin at the sight.

And at his personal revelation. Or rather, an admission.

For a long time, Elijah simply floated there, a contented smile playing across his face as he beheld the crystal cavern. Every now and then, he’d let out a subdued shout before he watched the green lightning dance across the ceiling.

But then, he felt something he’d been dreading since he’d let the little goblin mage leave his island alive. Someone had encroached upon his domain.

Sighing, Elijah righted himself, then cast the teleport function of Ancestral Circle. A moment later, he appeared – still soaking wet – in the middle of his Grove. The invaders still hadn’t moved from shore. Elijah could feel both of them standing beside their rowboat. Then, one of them planted something in the ground.

It took Elijah a moment to recognize the white flag. Did that mean the same thing for them as it did on Earth? Or was it something else? Elijah chose to believe the former, but prepared for the later.

In any case, he had no intention of meeting – or fighting – them in his homemade shorts. Instead, he’d sewn a garment for just such an occasion. It resembled a toga, but it represented the best of Elijah’s tailoring capabilities. So, wanting to make a reasonably good impression, he retrieved the garment from his treehouse, donned it, and then set off across the island, staff in hand.

Hopefully, it would turn out better than last time.