Empowered awakening

Powerfully scared

Chapter 5

I've made my decision to set this cave up as my home base but I really need to have a drink and maybe find some food before I can concentrate on exploring, gathering supplies or making it more comfortable so i start walking down the side of the mountain headed back towards the river. The storm appears to have been quite severe as there trees here and there that have fallen and even signs of a minor mud slide in one area I pass. However one advantage is that the run off from the storm has created a number of small streams running down to the river. 

I find one gully that appears to have been calved into the mountain side from numerous previous storms where I am able to find one steam in particular that is running clean and pure so i am able to slake my thirst before having to head too far away but finding food is turning out to be an entirely different issue. though there are clumps of vegetation here and there they are sparse and are all of the same variety of tree as the copse of trees outside my cave. 

"This would be so much easier if there were some animals around." I lament to myself with a sigh. "At least if there were animals around I would be able to catch a fish or maybe find some eggs. Not a pleasant thought but even bugs or grubs would be better than nothing." 

I'm so busy talking to myself and thinking about my empty belly that I'm not paying attention to my surrounding. I'm so deep in thought I don't notice the small creek that i was walking near has widened with the addition of more run off streams and together they, over many years, have dug their way considerably deeper into the mountain rock, the once low banks are now sheer cliffs forming a gorge. I notice none of this until I step on a rock that skids out from under my foot due to the still wet ground causing me to lose my balance which snaps me back to my current reality. 

I grab a tree blanch near me as I start to slip and look around noticing for the first time how far i have traveled away from my original course and and i watch as the rock i slipped on falls down over the cliff followed by a shower of stones and dirt. "Phew, falling down there would hurt and I don't think i want to test my healing to that degree any time soon!" I say as I rub a hand down my face in relief. I turn to walk away from the edge when the ground where I am standing lets out a deep groan and I feel a rumbling vibration traveling all the way up my legs. I look up the slope ahead of me and watch in horror as a flood of mud, stone, branches and even a tree or two comes rushing towards me.

Time once again seems to slow down as I desperately to try and clime the tree to avoid getting swept over the edge by the mud slide barreling down on me but the branches aren't strong enough to hold all of my weight causing them to snap and dump me back on the the ground. I land on my hands and knees and as i push myslef back up onto my knees I immediately realize I'm out of time as I look up and see the avalanche of soil no more than a 2 meters away from my face causing my gaze to lock on it in fear. I can feel the adrenaline already flooding through my system but suddenly I feel my entire body start to hum with energy, my skin feels tight and hot and even my hair and nails start to tingle. 

The mud slide reaches me in seconds so I look down and throw my hand out in front of my face in a reflexive attempt to stop it from hitting me in the eyes. As I'm looking down attention is grabbed by the sight of my dice is glowing and hovering while spinning wildly in it's gilded silver cage and the moment my hand is thrust up in front of me the dice pulses while I feel the energy that has been coursing through me explode out in a wave focused from the palm of my hand. My eyes snap up to see that the moving wall of mud directly in front of me has frozen in place, the mud slide on either side of me continues to flow past and over the sides of the gorge but the area directly in front of me has stopped in it's tracks.

"What the......? Did...... did i just? How?" I find myself stammering. I fall back from me knees in shock but as I sit sit down I feel a stabbing pain dig into my lower back making me draw in a sharp breath. I reach around and draw the crystal I found earlier out of my pocket. It too is now pulsing with an inner light and while i hold it in my hand the pulses start to resonate with the hum of the energy still coursing through me. I look down at my dice and can see it is still glowing and spinning but the spinning has started to slow enough that I can now notice that it is the numbers themselves that are producing the light rather than the dice. 

The mud slide has now finished passing by one both side of me for the most part to I quickly scramble back to my feet and try to dash out of the but my body feels weird like it belongs to someone else. I stumble from the base of my tree along the edge of the cliff to another one near by that managed to survive the earthen wave. As soon as I am safely out of the way of the frozen section I hear the sound of a tree snapping causing me to turn around to see the tree I tried to climb get swept over the edge as the mud slide continues it's progress as though nothing had ever happened. As I watch the waterfall of earth and trees cascade over that deadly drop I can't help but wonder if even with my new found healing speed I could have survived a fall from that height and then being buried under tons of mud. I'm truly grateful I don't need to find out.

The dice stops spinning, settling back to rest in it's cage and the glow from both it and the crystal in my hand dies away slowly. The mysterious energy that has been flooding through my body dissipates and my legs give out from under me as I crumple to the ground in a heap. Sobs of relief and remembered terror rack my body as I dig the fingers of my free hand into the mess of mud left behind by the natural disaster that has carved a path of destruction down the mountains side.  

After a long while my sobs grow less intense and I am able to gather my wits about me. I drag myself back to my feet and use the hem of my shirt to wipe the tears from my face. I put my crystal back into my pocket after putting a new seed on the tip and then brush my hands off on my pants while gazing over the edge. The mud slide appears to have also triggered a huge rock slide while falling so that now there is a massive pile of stone and wood held together with tons of mud that has created a pretty solid damn that entirely spans the stream that used to flow unimpeded through the gorge below. Even from here I can see how the upper part of the stream is rising steadily and I realize I am possibly witnessing the birth of a new waterfall.

"Nature really is incredible isn't it? How something as temporary as a storm can cause such a permanent change in the landscape." A voice states calmly behind me.