Sand & Stone

Chapter 11: Monsters

"They let what loose?"

-Last words of General Thorm during the third Great Jungle conquest

It was difficult at first traversing through the dark side of the canyon. Too many times I had bumped into a rock or tripped only to hear the snickering of a Queen from behind me. Damn cripple.

It beat being stuck under a rock at least. I rolled my shoulder feeling it out, it was sore but I had pushed it back into place shortly after getting free. After crushing the first couple the Sand Walkers began to keep their distance, the small ones at least.

"Perhaps they've mistaken your armor as a shell and think you're one of them, a big one." Azeal said from behind me, I couldn't see her face but I suspect she was smirking.

"Probably just avoiding you. You smell like rotten guts." I replied.

There was a pause and a sniff. "They probably love rotten guts," she said and I smiled. I still remembered the feeling of despair I had gotten when I felt her slip from my grasp falling down the Canyon and the feeling of relief seeing her hobble up to me. Now I just had to get her out of this place and soon. It had been a couple days but already I could feel Brute's Brew beginning to wear off just a bit. A little weaker, the squirming things inside me a little more painful and the hunger a little harder to ignore.

I shook my head, ignoring the feeling. I knew what I was getting into when I chose to help. That's the price of making your own choice.

We made our way following the sound of the stream flowing downward, a source of direction and sustenance. I could sense the creatures that lurked in the shadows, their eyes watching us with an ominous hunger. I walked slowly, allowing Azeal to stick close to me. We walked for hours and as we went further and further along, walls began closing in turning into more of a large tunnel. It became darker and darker, and soon I could hardly see my hand if I held it out. I was just about to say we should go back when a light caught my eye.

A faint turquoise light, pulsing ever so slightly. We pressed on, following the small light that had appeared. As we got close the glow became stronger and stronger, eventually it was akin to the level of a small candle. Azeal stopped beside me observing the scene before her.

It was a tunnel covered in... fungus? Turquoise patches of bulbous fungus grew everyone along the walls and tunnel roof, all pulsing slowly letting off a light. The tunnel was large, damp and humid, it reminded me of a more temperate and wet mine tunnel.

The pulsing light gave the otherwise dull and dank environment a mysterious and alluring luminescence. The fungi had grown in thick and lush clusters, dotting the walls and ceiling in an eerily beautiful pattern. The air was tinged with a faint smell of musk. Sporadic streams of water trickled down the walls, creating a calming ambience that seemed to invite exploration. Throughout the tunnel there were even smaller crabs reaching out with tiny claws munching on the fungus. Luckily these were not much bigger than my hand. The tunnel was large, about twice as big as the large sand walker we had seen before.

"Guess we found what they eat." I said.

Azeal nodded, quiet. I noticed that her face had beads of sweat and her brows were frowning, she gripped her crustacean staff tightly. I looked down at her crippled leg which seemed to spasm lightly.

"Let's take a break." I continued walking up and grabbing a few crabs too slow to get away slamming them against a sharp rock, ceasing their struggles. I cracked one open and handed it to Azeal who had sat down. I took off my own helmet and began eating my own, careful to control the flare up of hunger within.