Wolfheart

~Nemesis~ (8)

I stared unblinkingly down into the inky blackness below my hands, afraid that if I so much as batted an eyelash, I would miss something dangerous.

Though I was powerless to move out of purely fear in itself, I attempted to calm my mind and evaluate my situation. My assumption was that this terror that was making my very limbs shake, was nothing more than a spell. A charm cast to ward off any who may become curious. Hence the reason there were no other animals to be found, not on the Earth or up in the branches of the Elder Evermore.

Unsure as I was about my presumption, I used it as my driving force. Unsteadily, I began to crawl downwards into the caves. The advancing was slow, it was as if I were trying to push through a thick, invisible barrier that pulled hard at my skin, trying to drag me back up to the surface.

I collapsed more than once, breathing heavy. The fabricated dread was making my inner predator writhe, I wanted to turn around and run away, far away. Yet every time I fell heavily to the floor of the cave, I could hear the clatter of Lanakila's sheathed blade as it followed me, still firmly secured at my waist. And each time I heard the metal sliding across the stone like an iron snake, it was recalled to my mind the reason I fought.

Heaving my body to my feet once more, I continued to press onward. One stride, two strides... and in the light of my movement, there was a sudden relief. It was as though someone had removed all weight from my person, so much that I almost felt as though I could fly up off the stones at my bare feet. The spell must have a limit to the distance it clasped control over.

I laughed, a relieved, slightly anxious laugh that rang out across the rocks all around me. The sound bounced off the walls and flew about the cave, striking my ears as they returned. I could not see but a mere step in front of me, thus I held my arms up in ahead of me, and used the echoes of my laughter to judge the distance between myself and the enclosing earthly walls. "There..." I murmured somewhat triumphantly.

Light had poured out of the fissures in the stone, crept out and greeted my grateful eyes, filling the surroundings with luminescence enough to allow my person to slip down into the mighty opening awaiting me. I clambered down stones, hands grasping ledges here and there to assist my descent into the underground chamber. Dropping soundlessly to the rocks beneath my feet, I hastily observed my surroundings. The cavern was massive, roots poked and curled in and out of the earthen walls, preventing collapse. The light I had seen was green, a dim, sickly green. Yet it provided enough radiance to adequately reveal the insides of the chamber.

There was no fear now, in fact, the entire cave appeared quite peaceful. I rested my right palm upon the gold-enlaced hilt of Lanakila's blade as I stepped boldly into the open of the cavern, turning my head left, then right. Deep imprints of some great creature's feet were left into the very stone themselves, knowing that in itself made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. Just how mighty was my new enemy?

A sudden guttural, powerful, terrifying rumble shook the very walls of the chamber. Handfuls of dust and small rocks descended from their resting places, and I spread my feet to shoulders width to prevent myself from falling. I looked around wildly, "where are you?" I demanded, clenching my fist so tightly around the sword hilt that the knuckles of my hand began to whiten.

"Tyryn," the same voice from not hours before purred in my head, it sounded pleased.
"Show yourself!" I shouted, doing all within my power to keep from turning tail and racing away.

The rumble sounded again, and I surmised it was a growl. There was sudden movement behind me, and I spun abruptly to face the danger. The creature that held itself unwaveringly before me was monstrous, it was long and snake-like, when it moved it rattled and clicked, as there was no skin at all to cover the beast's form. It was made up entirely of bone, and the eye-sockets on its horrific face glowed the same sickening green that alit the caves. I staggered backwards as the creature's mouth dangled open, allowing a dreadful chuckle to escape its ugly maw. Stretching out the extra limbs that I took to be wings, it flapped them mightily before lowering its spike-adorned head to my level. "I once was a dragon," it informed me, as though I had really wanted to know. "Do not underestimate me, Tyryn." The very sight of the creature filled me with trepidation, I could not get far enough from it as I sprinted to the opposite end of the cavern, sword now in hand.

It swiped at me once with its viciously taloned forepaw, I knew it missed purposefully. "You came here with intentions of harm, did you not?"

Back pressed tight against one of the roots of the Elder Evermore tree, I held the blade out before my person as I had seen Lanakila do. "Do not underestimate me, either." I exclaimed boldly.

The undead dragon merely laughed.