The Curse of Hidden Hollow

Have To Get Out

Ash snapped his eyes open. Ahtunowhiho was right, he had to stay awake. He shook his head to wake himself up, and he got to his feet, grumbling in pain the whole time. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, he was really hurting, as the beast's claws had gone deep into him. Ahtunowhiho looked on with concern. "You must make it to the surface, there, you can receive help." Ash looked at him, blood dripping down his chin. "What about the beasts in the mountain?" Ahtunowhiho gestured to the necklace. "Take it, whoever wears it will be granted the great power of the ancients." Ash nodded and walked over to the necklace. He picked it up from its resting place and put it on. He limped down the corridor, towards the beginning chamber. "How do I explain to my parents everything that's happened?" Ahtunowhiho appeared beside him. "You tell them the truth. They will believe when they see the beasts, and what must become of them." Ash nodded again and kept going. He made it to the main room and sat for a moment. It was getting harder and harder to catch his breath. He pulled his shirt up once again and looked down. He felt sick looking down. The lacerations were long, and upon closer inspection, he could see that they were about an inch deep each. Dark red blood was spilling out of each one, causing a waterfall of blood to fall down the rest of his torso onto his pants. He put his shirt back down, noticing that it too, was stained red. He gritted his teeth and pushed on. He felt himself getting weaker and weaker walking through the tunnel. He came to an old wooden panel in the wall. This panel was multiple rotting wooden planks, nailed together hastily. He pushed on it, but it didn't budge. He sighed, "Of course." He shambled his way back a little bit into the tunnel and used what little strength he had left to make an attempt to run. He charged with his shoulder directly into the wood, and it pushed halfway out of the wall. He backed up again and charged once more. He broke through the barrier, and fell to the ground, landing on his stomach, the fall causing a spurt of blood. He screamed in pain and rolled over to his side. He looked up to the ceiling, wincing at any movement. He couldn't give up now, he was so close! He looked around at his surroundings. "W-Wait a minute! I know this place!" Yes, this was the first chamber he was in, he recognized the ridge with the minecarts, the elevator with the cart at the bottom he had fallen through! That meant the exit was just up that elevator! He forced himself off the ground, grunting in pain the whole time. He slowly made his way over to the fallen elevator. He looked inside the fallen cart, and once again, still no gold. "Huh.." Ash wondered aloud. "Never really thought about it before, but what did happen to all this gold?" He speculated for a moment. As far as he knew, He was the only one down here other than Ahtunowhiho, and he would assume that the spirit would have no use for the gold. Suddenly Ash heard a voice behind him. "Maybe I could answer that one for you?"