Chapter 8: Exit
It was naïve of me to jump into the hole by just hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. This so-called "secret passage" turned out to be a rocky and almost never ending cave-hole.
My body grazed against the sharp stony surface of the cave-hole. I couldn't see where I was going, the place was pitch black.
I should have used some kind of reinforcement magic, damn it! I might become a skinless chicken by the time I reach the end of this thing!.
After what felt like forever, I could feel that I neared the end of this 'secret passage". How did I know that? Because I was suspended mid air. It felt as if my heart left my body as I realized that I lost physical contact with the stony surface. Then I found myself diving, not knowing what I was going to land on, everything was still pitch black. It was like one of those water slides that curves upwards and throws you into the air, then straight into the swimming pool, but it looked like this 'slide' had a rough and thorny grudge against me, and it threw me into the unknown while I was blinded instead of throwing me into a swimming pool.
But the fall didn't last long. I stopped moving, however, I didn't even make contact with the ground yet, rather, I couldn't. I was hanging– upside down– by my leg, something had caught it. Suddenly, a faint light appeared. Then it glowed brighter and took the form of a simple looking symbol– the zaryûn rune of light.
"Chosen One, you don't look so good." Ghaf said. His voice came from very close by.
After the rune illuminated the place, I saw that the rock ground was so close to my face that I'd be kissing it if I was half a centimeter closer, and that Ghaf caught my leg before I landed on my nose. If it wasn't for Ghaf, I most probably wouldn't have a nose– like a certain famous dancer.
The place we were in looked like a cramped room carved out of the mountain, it had no openings. I could see the hole on the ceiling that we came from. Judging by the length of the "secret passage" we were probably deep under the mountain. I wondered how much more distance we had to travel to get out of the jungle.
Thank God! I thought, still hanging upside down. My handsome face is still intac–!
Ghaf let go of my leg suddenly. I fell on my face, and thanks to Ghaf, my nose started bleeding, it probably broke too. I stood up and dusted my clothes, preparing to lecture Ghaf with my hand trying to stop the bleeding from my nose. But just like always, he was oblivious of my concerns.
"Oh no! Chosen One, your nose is bleeding! How did it happen?"
"I wonder why?" I asked in a sarcastic rage. "Why do you think it happened?"
"Could it be a monster?" Ghaf asked, innocently.
Monster? Yeah. Correct. You are that monster. Speaking of monsters… I wonder how Ghaf dealt with that ghoul-like monster that relentlessly chased me day and night. Now is my chance to ask.
"Ghaf, when you found me, there was a disgustingly corpsy creature near me right?"
"Huh? Yeah, it was there."
"What the heck was that thing?"
"It was an Aufhocker. It's believed by many to be an evil spirit of sorts. Among us barbarians, many still argue whether it's a monster, undead or something else that originated outside the jungle. It is mostly found near cemeteries, graves of people who were wronged and in some places of the jungle which don't see the light of day."
"What do you mean by 'don't see the light of day'?"
"That's right. There are a few places in the jungle where time works differently. Now, back to the Aufhocker. That thing latches on to its victims back, there is no escape as it will come for you even if you run all the way back to the village. The only real escape is killing it. After it attaches itself to its victim, with every movement, it will get heavier. Our forefathers used to use them to train their children using these Aufhockers but after a certain point, they got exponentially stronger out of nowhere. When that happened, a lot of parents were struck by grief– a lot of kids died. That thing waits for you to die until its growing weight crushes you. All of that, only to eat its victim's corpse"
"Why is it so fixated on killing its victims in such a peculiar way?"
"None of us know why." Ghaf replied, feeling ashamed. "Humans believe it to be the work of Volarch the Lord of Evil, but we believe it to be the work of humans. That's how humans are, they lie as they breathe, creating lies on the fly to justify their greed and wrong doing. Humans are masters at crafting convenient lies. We don't believe in a lie such as the myth of Volarch."
Hah, so you're just going to generalize an entire race that you barely know anything about? It's true that most humans lie and can be greedy, what's funny is that you people are no better. How ignorant can you be to live your lives waiting for war and conquest, that too invading a country that you know nothing about. You people don't even know where it is, what it does or about what that nation looks like, yet all of you live only to see it burn by the flames of your chosen one. But to confidently say that it's the work of humans, huh? That might be a possibility. The Aufhocker spoke human tongue, which means it could be the work of a cult or some kind of an underground organization. But I don't know anything about the outside world, so all of this is only speculation.
"Ghaf, tell me more about the myth of Volarch."
"Volarch the Lord of Evil? Yes. Humans believe that all the evil, sickness and darkness originates from Volarch. What's funny is that no one knows what he looks like and they don't know where he resides, that's why he's a myth. Those foolish creatures have been believing this since ancient times."
"How do you guys know all of this? Aren't you cut off from the outside world?"
"The information has been passed down from ancient times and has also been preserved by the elders in a written form."
Tch. Since ancient times? All that crap could be outdated at the moment, it might be degraded down to a bed time story by now.
Is there anything else that you would like to know, Chosen One?"
"Nope. Just tell me how long it's going to take to leave the jungle."
"Not so long." Gaf replied bluntly.
"What do you mean 'not so long.'", aren't we right below a mount–"
Just like always, Ghaf went on to innocently do what he always does: unintentionally ignoring me. He turned towards a wall of the stone chamber and faced the thin, tall and wide rock that protruded from the wall. It stood out like a sloppy patchwork on a wall. Ghaf tore off the entire rock from the wall as if it was cardboard, revealing an exit.
Light rushed into the rock chamber, so bright that it almost fully blinded me. I covered my eyes with one arm. A mild breeze moved past me. It didn't make sense, we were supposed to be underground, so where did the wind come from? And why does it smell like the sun?. I peeked through the gaps between my fingers, and what I saw flabbergasted me.
"No way! We reached the outside!?"
It didn't make sense– it didn't have to –but the exit out of the jungle was just a few steps in front of me.