The Books of Blutora

20 : The First Arid King - II/II

The following morning, the group is awoken by an extremely strong storm. Thunder louder than anything they've ever heard echoes throughout the sky. Sand is being carried through the air at high speeds and density. Despite the storm, the temperature has skyrocketed to extremely uncomfortable heights. None of the travelers were ready for such an occurrence and quickly find their campsite in shambles. Thinking quickly, Jules directs the group to a nearby cave he had scouted out the night before, and by the time the group makes it into the cave and out of the wicked storm, they find themselves short a handful of people.

Four, to be exact. Ten others remain still at the aid of Jules and his mission to reach the heart of the Withering Sea. The eleven survivors, including Jules, begin to sit within the entryway of the cave in hopes of waiting out the storm. Minutes pass, and then hours, and by the time the day begins coming to a close and the storm is still as strong as ever, hope seems very distant.

Refusing to give up, Jules decides to investigate further into the cave that shelters the group. Using what little they had on them, including the shirt off of Jules' back, the leader is able to light a makeshift torch and offers the group the chance to join him in going deeper. Not a single individual among the laborers takes up the offer, as the idea of delving into a cave isn't appealing whatsoever. Unfazed by the group's decision, Jules shrugs it off and begins deeper into the cave and away from the sounds of kicked up sand and howling wind.

The first minutes of exploring the cave prove to be uneventful. A couple rats scurry across the floor as the explorer passes by, a couple spiders crawl into the shadows when the torch light illuminates the walls. It isn't until Jules eventually approaches an intersection in the cave that things start to get unsettling. Ahead of the young scholar are two branches of the cave, one going left and the other right. With the mindset of hugging one side so as to not get lost, he takes the right path, always keeping the walls to his right in sight. As he carries on further and further into the cave he reaches another intersection, this time there's three options, as just as before he takes the rightmost branch. A couple more minutes of walking and he reaches another intersection, or so he thinks. As his torch illuminates the conjunction within the depths, he realizes he is looking at the very first intersection he had come across not ten minutes prior. Two paths, one to the left and one to the right. 

Figuring he is just imagining things, he continues down the right pathway, consistent with his strategy to avoid getting lost. More rats... more spiders... a couple scorpions even, but nothing worth writing home about so far. At least until he comes across an intersection with three branches, just as he had before... and this time he's convinced he has been in the very spot previously. What gives it away to the astute young scholar is that the groups of rats and spiders are in identical locations as the last time he had been in this spot. It all hits him at once, he isn't in any ordinary cave, something very strange is happening, causing him to travel in an infinite loop within the depths. Knowing his original plan isn't going to work anymore, he decides to travel the left of the three branches in front of him.

A couple more minutes of walking pass, and he approaches the first cross section again. Taken aback once more, he shrugs it off and takes the left path rather than the right. Just as before, he finds his way to the opening with three branches. Beginning to panic slightly, he takes the middle road, and finds the first intersection at the end of the tunnel. Having exhausted every option, the fear begins to set in, and the idea of dying within the depths of this repeating cave begins to creep into his thoughts. Hopeless, he keeps travelling down random choices among the two different intersections over and over, for hours. 

Finally, after countless attempts at using each of the five total pathways, the tunnel changes. This time instead of another intersection, Jules approaches a sudden and steep drop. Using the makeshift torch, he attempts to see the bottom of the drop to no avail. The realization occurs to him however that the torch should've burnt out a while ago now, adding to the nonsensical events taking place within these depths. Rather than rushing to a decision, the scholar sits down for a moment and considers his options. Heading back seems to be hopeless, the last thing he wants to see is more repeating tunnels, and there's no telling how far the drop ahead of him is, or what's at the bottom. The thought of landing in a pit of rats and spiders crosses his mind but he shakes it off quickly. That might be the worst case scenario, but the most likely outcome would be a drop too far to survive, which at this point was no longer the worst outcome in his mind. Add in the oddities of this cave he finds himself in, and he decides to commit to the drop ahead of him.