The Prophecy of Water | ✔️ 🎖 [2018 Wattys Shortlister]

CHAPTER 48-The Cave Of Echoes

She was The Light that guided me through The Dark. The torch of illumination that shone upon my path, leading me to my pinnacle. 

I never noticed when she became cold as ice. When she extinguished my creative flame. 

When she started plotting against me.

LoG, 499

"How did he know where to press? Wow! Your bird is really incredibly smart!" Nia seemed thrilled by Malik's freshly performed trick.

"You will have some explaining to do." Drian leaned towards Malik and whispered so Nia couldn't hear him. "There is no way you have accidentally guessed that."

"Shall we?" Nia asked him, looking back at the two of them expectantly, seeing they had fallen behind. "Oh, I wish this horde of butterflies would ... Oh ... Wow! What is she doing?" she exclaimed, pointing towards the antelope.

Damona was now hunting butterflies in flight, devouring one after another, picking them away. Soon enough, not a single butterfly was left. The antelope burped contentedly after having finished her meal.

"She is a carnivorous herbivore!" Nia was amazed. "But I suppose she did me a favour so I will not complain."

Suddenly, Damona started elevating slowly in the air, hovering inches above the ground. It took both of their strengths combined to hold all four of her legs and stop her from floating away too far. Eventually, the antelope came down to the ground again.

"I know what happened!" Nia said. "It was the butterflies that did it. They floated in her belly for a while and then they settled when she digested them! It's a good thing we were here to hold her or she would have fallen back to the ground from much bigger height."

"Cats always land on their feet," Damona remarked, speaking for the first time. She whooshed past the astonished Nia and was the first one to squeeze between the calcite columns and step into the cave.

Drian, Nia and Malik followed, as the boulder closed behind them. They all jumped a little bit, startled at the noise. Drian wondered how they were going to get out of there.

A rough corridor sloped up, twisting and turning and at some portions of the path.

The Dark that waited for them on the inside was even denser than the one on the outside. Due to this fact, the duo had to move forward by following the damp wall of the cave with their hands. Drian pretended to be doing the same as Nia, not wanting to reveal his Dark Vision to her just yet.

Underfoot, the loose stones shifted, and the noise of those disturbed rocks echoed eerily off the thick stone walls. After a good measure of roaming along the tunnel, the group stumbled on a wide opening that led into a vaulted cavern. An artificial light pierced the far reaches of the cave, illuminating a picturesque spring of gurgling water, and a small lake. 

Drian heard the rushing waters of an underground waterfall. His doubts were confirmed when he raised his eyes and saw the stream of droplets fall from the ceiling. "Well, looks like your people were right. There actually is a hidden water source in this cave." He noticed Nia was as confused as he was, as if she hadn't expected her claim to be true.

"I hope you will also find what you seek." She looked at him with a hint of mournfulness.

The other corners of the cave were not as well-lit as that one since a veil of darkness cloaked their natural beauty.

Drian thought he even saw some undefined critters scurry over the cold floor in a smelly jumble of fur, teeth and claws. Other than that, this hidden grotto seemed completely uninhabited. That was why his astonishment couldn't be greater when a snakelike shape emerged from the underground chamber lake. It was the size of a small-scale horse, and it looked completely translucent.