Here's the second part to that story. Enjoy! Â
Orlan woke in a puddle of his own cold sweat. His brow in a frustrated sequence of ridges, pushing from his neck to his forehead. A bead fell from his crown, and it dropped onto each ridge in a controlled fall. Eventually the crystallized tear of salt slipped between the ridges of his face, and fell to the ground with a final patter.
The cave had a hum of moving water, which rebounded off every single pore of the cavern. Every corner seemed to be alive with rushing activity, and it had taken Orlan hours just to get to sleep. He felt a presence, as if someone was watching. Perhaps someone was watching him; perhaps he prone to more danger than he believed, and this was their way of contacting him from beyond some plane which he could not see. Some plane of exitance could be contacting him right now, aligning the stars the moon and this very moment just to keep him free from the clutches of some evil.
No, it couldn't be. I'm just being silly, Orlan thought to himself. While at home, he often stared off into the sea, imagining the creatures which plunged it's deep murky depths. The darkness, harbored many mysteries. As none had ever pierced it's depth, who could say what existed and what didn't? Orlan's imagination could be set like a fuse when he ventured closer to the docks, and heard the tall tales of crusty old captains, and their sea-faring tales. Tales of megalithic monsters, with jaws of steel and countless limbs.
Orlan loved to think about what could be just over the horizon of knowledge. What could lurk behind every corner ready to jump out, or leer from afar. It wasn't as much paranoia, as interest in the unknown. Orlan could never remember a genuine time he was scared of what might be hidden; in fact, you could say he was drawn to it. As if his very soul yearned to seek the unsought.
"What's wrong" Bleeo sat up in his bed of straw and matted sea weed with a concerned look.
"Oh nothing, just a bad dream..."
"Are you sure? If you're too cold, I can get some more sea weed for the fire."
"I'm fine," Orlan responded, "It's just weird hearing the water all around us. It feels like someone's whispering in my ear... but from a mile away."
"What? You're not getting delirious on me, are you?" Bleeo stood up with a face that was half filled with genuine concern, and half filled with suspicion.
"No, I told you I'm fine. I don't know, I just feel weird about this place. The whole place is unsettling; I hope we find a way out after this storm passes."
Orlan stood as well, and cast his shadow on the wall of the cave. For a moment, his eyes readjusted in the darkness, and he felt as if he saw movement in his peripheral vision. No one's here, silly, Orlan thought. As he turned his head, he gasped, when movement once again danced in the darkness. No, it must be a trick of the light or something.
Water in the pool was frigid as ice. As Orlan touched the icy water with his finger, he immediately drew it back. As his finger drew back, the water lit up. The ripples on the water glowed with a luminescent tinge of green. He gasped, and stood immediately. It wasn't long before the whole pool gave off a neon green light.
"Woah."
The lights in the pool soon circled together, then as they as quickly as they had appeared, they had spread out again similar to a celestial formation. Moving in magnificent swirls, moving up and down the hues of green the lights displayed a light show worthy of the most professed magician.
Then as if summoned, they retreated to their murky depths. As Orlan sat with his knees before him, and his brow wet with nervous sweat, beading off his face onto his open lips, Bleeo appeared minutes later behind him with a look of confusion.
"Are you ok? What's wrong?"
"Y-Yo-You didn't see that?" stammered Orlan, as shook attempting to stand up.
"No... what are you talking about? What did you see?" asked Bleeo with a face of concern.
"Nothing. It must have been..." Orlan looked into the waters, where the magnificent hues had once danced like so many moons and suns, all with the murky green glow, reminiscent of that same neon matter they had picked from the walls. "Nothing. It must have been nothing. Where were you anyways?"
Bleeo responded, "Just looking for a way out. Come quickly, I found another tunnel that I think we can fit through. It'll be a tight fit, but anything will be better than being stuck here."
"How long do you think we've been here?" Orlan said, obviously longing the hours shortly before in which he had been in open and free of these cavernous confines.
"Not long, I don't think. 4 hours tops. I don't think any of this rock is giving way, so we might as well be a little adventurous and see if there's anything beyond this room."
"You're right," said Orlan "I'm sure mom and dad are worried sick about us by now."
Bleeo looked distant for a moment. His lower lip shook, and his face became strewn as if a needle had hooked him in an abrupt shock of pain. He seemed to shake it off for a moment, until he spoke with a wavering voice, "Yeah. I'm sure they're looking all over for us. Come on, let's get going."
The two moved towards the back of the cavern, where even the combined light of the algae, and their sensitive eyes couldn't penetrate the darkness. Rock around this area was extremely slick, but with a film that seemed to move unlike water. Instead, the film of this liquid seemed almost alive, or a trick of the light. It seemed to be moving down the hall, pulled by some unknown force. Drawn to it, like a river or a stream, but in a much slower speed.
Stepping with alert care, both the boys moved very slowly towards the mouth of the hole. Orlan analyzed the outside, then looked into the ebon pitch. His voice shook momentarily, then he placed one knee on the ground as he looked up to Bleeo.
"I suppose I'm going first?" Orlan asked.
"Yeah. I won't kick you this time, I promise." Bleeo stammered, trailing with a nervous laugh, ending the insincere joke with an abrupt gulp for air.
"Alright, just be sure to follow me closely. Watch out for the top, I think there may be some stalactites up towards the ceiling."
And with that, Orlan laid his other knee onto the slick rock, then sat his palms flat onto the stone before him, and shuffled back and forth towards the cave. As he moved, he occasionally slipped off of his knees, but then caught him self suddenly from completely flailing onto the slick granite.
As they moved through the pass, their heads occasionally met the tips of stalactites which hung overhead. Although they were both of several feet in stature, even their small frames met some difficulty working through the tiny cavern. Had they been less than a foot taller, both of them would have had trouble just making it past the mouth of the cave.
Claustrophobia began to set into Orlan, and soon his feet scurried fast and faster with reckless abandon, with a single mind set of escaping the confines of the slick cavern. Determination pushed him faster and faster, but soon his forehead his the hind end of a stalactite, with a force that almost brought him to the ground cold.
He yipped a,"Dammit! Ow!!" before his brother finally responded.
"Are you alright, kid? Go slower. We'll make it, don't worry about it. There's gotta be and end to this."
Orlan pushed himself up, then raised a hand from the ground and wiped his forehead. They moved on slowly, but steadily. Before long they saw a small glow from the end of the cave. Once more moving quickly, they both shuffled furiously to final pass. As they both stood, their ankles clattered together from the aching job their knees had just formerly been put to.
As soon as they could stand, Orlan noticed a humming in his ears. It reminded him of the rushing water which had wakened him before, but this time it seemed more powerful than before. Being in the small cavern had seemed to mute the sound a bit, but as he stood he could now notice it's prominence in this area of the cave. He felt as if he was underwater, and the hum of the water soon overwhelmed him, and his eyes glazed over staring off into nothingness.
"Can you hear that," Orlan whispered. "We're closer to the water."
"Yeah, I guess we are. If there's water around, we must be near the ocean. If that's true, there might just be an exit nearby. You know, like one of those pools near the bay."
"It could be," Orlan said to Bleeo "Or it could mean we're very far away from a dry entrance. I'd rather starve before drowning."
"True. But at least it's progress. This place is starting to drive me nuts, I just want to get out of here. C'mon, let's pick up the pace." Bleeo quipped.
They walked for what seemed like hours. Each cavern the same as the former, and only the sound of water as their guide. They moved closer and closer, amongst the mysterious and unrecognizable face of the wall. The whole time, it felt to Orlan that they were being watched by something. Beckoned almost, such as the mysterious substance they had found at the entrance of the small passageway. Something was drawing them, and Orlan didn't like the feeling. But as Bleeo had so eloquently explained, the maddening feeling of claustrophobia and restlessness was enough to persuade his disillusioned mind to push on through the darkness.
Green algae hung on the walls more thickly in some places of the walls, and one point there seemed to be a neon waterfall of the gooey basis. Being sure not to touch the mysterious substance any more than necessary, the boys stepped concernedly around the puddle which sat before the walls of auroral emerald solution.
Walls of beryl soon opened up to a room, much larger than any they had previously walked in. The humming was almost maddening, and a raucous note beat their ears like the quick tempo of traditional drumming. The constantly bludgeoning was almost enough to drive anyone insane. They pushed on, and soon the note of continual despondency caused them to hold their hands up with futility to their heads in a lame attempt to end the pandemonium.
Kept up with the maddening note of the crashing hum, the boys were oblivious to their surroundings. Blinded they met a river which cut the room in half, but curiously enough they could notice it was only an inch in depth. Quite shallow, this could not possibly be the source of the noise. They looked up, and before them lie a horrid sight.
Neon danced up from the ground. Such as a symphony of sage green, and luscious hues of beryl they had seen on the walls crashed up towards the ceiling of the cavern which towered above 30 feet. The whole nimble procession was almost frightening in it's intensity, and among the whole crashing dance of insanity, there fit a single silhouette who was gracing the stone floor with swaying choreography. She was large, but her feet met just as quickly as the substance leaped into the heights of the room.
Orlan saw a large staircase of marble which led up to the performance. The figure who was dancing with increasing intensity seemed oblivious of their presence, and soon began to ramble on with a rhyme which was so loud it reigned over the surrounding curtain of noise.
Laanx's fire, cauldrons pyre, feel the madness reaching higher!
Crumbling smiting, icy writing, graves as deep gobble's biting!
Caverns deeply, crying, creeping, tears as clear as dryad weeping!
Feel the power, feel the tower, of Laanxian hands beating louder! And with that the woman ended her cruel chant with a high pitched cackle which rung and echoed of the walls, in complete disobedience to the power of the massive humming.
The two boys looked at each other with eyes wide, full of fear and a sense of consternation. They stepped back before a large rock, and sat down onto the granite. The neon seemed to fall down again, and soon the room grew dim, with the beating sound dulling to a light hum as it had before. Bleeo and Orlan breathed in heavily, deeply letting out breath as quickly as it had came in.
They could hear footsteps, and they were coming closer.
