The Light of the Cave

Prologue

The entrance to the tunnel was a patch of darkness on the rock, covered with long critters and dreadlocks of ivy. There was a ledge in front, a platform just big enough to sit on and covered with bright white rocks, I would have missed it all together were it not for those crystal like rocks.

The sweat was running of me by then, and for all my misery I was scared to death. The moon was climbing up the horizon as I went up the quarry face. It shone down like a searchlight, wandering over the landscape in search for something unknown. I sat there in the darkness, the only light for miles was the bright moon, breathing in great gasps. I couldn't go down. I couldn't go up. I didn't have enough strength for that and that would take me too long. If I went that way, I would be found.

I leaned back, expecting to find rock but the ivy parted, and there was the channel, the tunnel leading to the mine. The fall was quite small but after about an hour of running, my body was fragile so the fall had hurt quite a lot. The tunnel was part of the earlier workings in the mine but had been abandoned due to its lack of gold. It had a boom later on when somebody found something they thought was gold but upon further inspection, it was fool's gold. After that, nobody came this way anymore.

The entrance of the tunnel where I was currently standing in was a rather large but where the tunnel continued it grew a bit smaller, but large enough for me to crawl through. The continued tunnel had leaves draping over where it was beginning to dip downwards heading deeper into the cave. I ducked through the leaves and crawled in and I was awestruck and terrified at the same time.

A huge cave awaited me, it's insides shining with waters and glowing crystals. It seemed to give off an eery vibe as if it were calling out to me. I started to ponder why the miners that were here no more than 3 years ago didn't mine the crystals. They could have easily sold for a couple thousand per kilo.

As I looked up at the huge stalactites and moss above me, those rumours that I'd heard came flooding back and my neck prickled. This mine was haunted. Numerous occasions had happened when entire groups of about 10-12 of miners had gone in and never returned. There has been many stories about what lives in these caves. Wandering travellers have proclaimed that faint growling can be heard at night whereas the villagers in the nearest town, Hill Valley about 3 miles away, had said that there is no creatures in that cave.

My breathing echoed around the wall and came back to me in a thousand whispers as I kept on thinking. I evaluated my situation and the few solutions for it. Either go back to the camp or stay in this cave. Each one had its negatives but after a while of fighting with my mind, the memories at the camp came flooding back and filled me with rage. I stood rooted on the spot. The decision was made. I was going to stay here no matter what. There was no way I was going back. Never. The camp was horrible.

I started exploring the cave but after one step a small bright white crystal, almost identical to the ones on the ledge, fell right on my head. It was about the size of my palm and was surprisingly light-weighted. I decided it wouldn't be too bad if I kept this one small crystal. It was beautiful. It looked like heaven in a rock.

I went back to exploring the massive cave, the crystal a warmth in my cold and numbly sore hands. The cave mouth was a wide with a small river running down further into the cave. A faint glow could be seen where the cave drooped downwards. The light was barely visible. Near the drop there was shattered crystals covering the floor. The crystal that I found myself instinctively reaching for had warmed. The crystals on the floor did not have the vibrant glow of the others. Something was wrong.

I strode over to where the dip was and carefully lowered myself down. The small river was rushing downwards creating a calm sort of noise. My head was throbbing with all the thoughts that were racing through my head. I could hear the massive trucks from the camps pull up at the bottom of the quarry. I knew they wouldn't be able to follow me through the small tunnel with all their weapons and I could easily out run them all.

The faint glow grew more and more vibrant. There was a ledge that covered half of the tunnel. Thoughts rushed through my head. What if I was stuck there? What if the camp workers caught up to me? What would happen then? I shoved those thoughts away and started thinking of rational solutions and plans. I reached the edge and saw a small path leading downwards.

"There couldn't be much until the bottom of the cave right?" I said aloud to myself

I decided not to ponder too much. My legs throbbed but I kept pushing thinking about the possibility that the camp workers could be right on my tail. I ran towards the incline and started rushing down it. The light became as bright as the sun and as I came to the end of the path I realised that right in front of me, the water had pooled and had started glowing. The stalactites were made of the crystals identical to the one in my pocket which now shone brighter than anything I had seen in my life. It was warm that could be classified as hot to some. In the middle of the pooling, glowing water was a giant crystal double the length and width of me.

What was this place?

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Hey guys! So I'm doing a writing competition with my friend. This is where I got the inspiration to make this story.

It's one of my first stories I actually kinda like so far so uhhh yeah give me constructive criticism if you must.

Also if nobody reads this then I probably won't continue to post this on Wattpad. I'm originally writing this on a word document then transferring it into Wattpad because why not.

If you read this then please vote I really want at least a couple of people to see this :D

(btw I literally have no upload schedule so yeah I'll release the next part when I do)

THE BOOK COVER IS NOT MINE I'M JUST TOO LAZY TO MAKE ONE C:

Yours truly,

Ghost/El