Arc One: Awakening

Chapter 28: Laycrawlers

Alek extended his hand a little further and continued his wary wandering, steering clear of the hidden loose stones that lay in wait under the grains. More than once, he had rolled his ankle on an unsteady pebble or caught the toe of his boot, and Rhena's keen reflexes were the only thing that prevented him from getting covered in yet more cuts and bruises.

Suspended above his palm, the sphere of light bobbed and pulsed, its silvery bloom washing over the fragmented rock and faded cave paintings. As he traced the depiction of a family and a wider community, he sensed the bristles of the brush scratching the rough edges, the worn colours telling stories of time gone by and the people within it.

They had abandoned the car nearby and made their way to the hollow on foot, staying vigilant for any potential escape routes and repeating contingency arrangements to each other. Despite his host's adventurous spirit, she left nothing to luck or spontaneity. A necessary risk she was willing to take, but not without a detailed evacuation plan ready. She was more of a soldier than she realised.

After what seemed like hours of wandering, they arrived at the Sleeping Caves, a shadowy, carved-out area buried layers beneath the surface where sunlight could only dream of reaching. Hatches and rotting barricades obstructed the path, and while they appeared as though they would surrender with no objections at the slightest shove, they took care in shifting them.

Rhena approached the place with reverence, treading gingerly, as if her footsteps carried the power to desecrate it entirely, and Alek mirrored her actions. If these underpasses held significance to the people of Eternity, he wanted to show the utmost respect, treating it as he would any revered site on Solgarde.

"What happened?" he asked, his gaze sailing over the shattered furniture and toppled baskets. He guessed they had been used for storing and preserving food, but he observed stray pieces of fabric and threadbare stuffed toys poking out from a few of them. "Did people used to live here?"

"Not as such," Rhena answered. "This place was once a refuge. These caves are quite common throughout Eternity and serve as hideouts for those seeking shelter from extreme weather. When they were first constructed, folk travelled in packs rather than venturing alone. It was safer that way, and it wasn't unusual to have to have two or three communities inside sanctuaries during a nasty storm."

Over the years, how many times had she sought solace in a sanctuary cave? How many cold, damp caverns had shielded her from electric storms and deadly gusts? Too many to count. Hundreds of thousands of souls like her took refuge in those tunnels, hushed voices filling the channels as everyone huddled together, sharing stories and painting the walls to wait out the passing storm.

In Eternity, the weather changed at moment's notice; people often emerged from the caves to find their vehicles, their walking cities, and their villages completely decimated. Obliterated from existence, and lost to the relentless forces of nature. She had been uprooted so regularly as a child that she hadn't dared call one place home. Not until she entered Azuris.

"But," she sighed, the musty scent of the caves mingling with her words, "deadly creatures also like the dark in places such as this, including laycrawlers."

"You know about them?" Alek asked, shining the glowing orb closer to her and catching the steady slump in her demeanour.

"A bit. It was said that no matter how much light was created, the laycrawlers always managed to find a means to snuff it out. Pushing at shadows, driving survivors into the corners where they couldn't... where they couldn't escape." She shut her eyes for a split second to remove the mechanical hiss of wings and the sickening mandible click from her mind.

"This isn't your first experience with them," Alek muttered as a flicker of recognition crossed her strained features. "You've seen them before."

Rhena responded with a singular nod. "Growing up, my family and I would move between drifter cities and static villages. The majority of them were annihilated by fierce storms. In the face of danger, we would all gather in caves like this, where we would remain hidden until the threat had passed."