The River

Chapter 7

The next day, Laura did her job of bringing water to the village and came back home to Logan before dawn. When Logan woke up, she was by his side on the bed. After spending some time together they went and ate breakfast.

“Maybe after all,” said Laura, “It was good that you went to find the source, it caused me to tell you how I feel after you left all I could think about was how i***t I was of not telling you about my feelings, but now we can be together,” Logan looked at her with a serious face “But,” said Logan, “You know that I’m going to go again.” A deeply uncomfortable silence filled the room.

“Do you love me?” asked Laura with a low voice, “It's not about that,” answered Logan, “Just,” interrupted Laura, “Just answer me,” Logan took a deep breath, “Of course,” said Logan, “Of course I do,” “So why are you leaving?” asked Laura, “I can’t really explain how I feel, it’s like I didn't feel alive, but with this goal in mind I have just started living, I can’t just let it go, something deep inside tells me that this is my destiny, I know that it may sound dumb, but that’s how I feel, if I stay here, I will always regret what I have not done for the rest of my life. Besides, when I was on the journey I did not see any weird dreams, but from last night it’s back again, I think it’s a very obvious reason to know that my journey was on the right path, I just need to resume it.”

“I understand that,” said Laura, “At least I will try to understand that,” and then she got up and left the home without saying goodbye. Logan stood up to follow her, but then changed his mind and sat on the chair again.

Later that day, Logan went to the underground water reservoir to see the mermaid again. He entered the corridor, this time it was not as mysterious as the last time.

He reached the water after some walk and waited for a while. Surely Amphitrite was aware of his presence. Not long after that, she came out of the water looking at Logan with a smile. He did not say anything and just smiled back. Amphitrite came closer to him, “What is it this time?” asked the mermaid, “I need help,” said Loga, “With what?” asked Amphitrite with impatience, “I want to find the source of the river,” answered Logan, “Why?” asked Amphitrite, “Because,” said Logan, “I believe this is my destiny to go there, I feel a force calling me toward there,” “Oh,” interrupted Amphitrite with a loud voice, “This crap again,” Logan looked at her in surprise, “What?” asked Amphitrite, “You did not expect a magical creature to speak like this?” Logan did not say anything and only nodded his head slowly answering yes. “Look,” continued Amphitrite, “I told you before, I am not who everybody thinks I am, just because I live in the water and a little far from other creatures does not mean I am superior to you. I don’t know if you should go there or not, but if you feel that you must, I won’t stop you. My only advice to you is that never trust a mermaid if you see one in your journey, we may not be able to see someone’s destiny or be omnipotent, but we are powerful and can do things you can’t imagine,” she came closer to Logan and continued “And we are not nice creatures.” Logan wanted to say something, he wanted to ask her about the last words she said last time, Logan still was wondering if she meant for him to go on this journey by saying ‘Don’t stay’ but before he knew, Amphitrite reached him, pulled his legs, and made him fall down on the water. Then she took his head in her arms and pulled him under the water. He did not see anything after that.

Logan woke up knowing nothing of where or when he was. He was in a dark cave, no light was there, but it seemed like there was some light coming from the water in the other corner of the cave. Nothing else could be seen. He was all alone in there and there was no trace of Amphitrite. The last thing he remembered was being pulled into the water. Logan checked his clothes, they were all dry, so it must have been a while since he was here. He wanted to shout and call for help but something made him regret the idea, he didn’t know where he was and maybe it was better not to grab any attention here. It didn’t look like a place that any other friendly creature would be in it. 

He stood and walked a bit, there was no light in the opposite direction of the water and he couldn’t see how long the cave continued into the dark, so he just turned back toward the water, he leaned on the water with extra caution this time.

There was nothing in it that could be seen, it just seemed that the water shines a bit. Maybe water always shines but just can’t be seen due to other lights present. He didn’t know what to do, there was nothing to do, he had to wait there for Amphitrite or some other creature to show up and see what happens next.

Logan looked around a little bit more carefully, he was under a natural dome inside a dark cave. On one side there was a small pool with bright water in it. The walls of the cave were all around the pool. On the other side, the cave was connected to a big corridor, though it was dark enough that nothing could be seen beyond that point. Maybe the other side was also a dead-end and the only way out was through the water.

There was no opening in the cave and no living creature could be seen. It was both comforting and frightening.

He remembered Amphitrite was talking about her kind and how he should not trust them and then she pulled him into the water. Why did she do that? If she wanted to kill him he would be dead by now. He had no idea what was going on.

He heard the loud sound of his stomach in the silence of the cave. It scared him for a moment, but then he started laughing quietly by his reaction. He was so scared that his stomach could frighten him. Of course, he started to feel hungry and there was nothing to eat, this made him scared again. Would he die of starvation?

After hours of sitting and waiting Logan could not stand being still anymore. The complete silence and the dim light that wouldn't let him see anything but some parts of the cave around the pool was making him crazy. He felt that this is a cave for oblivion. He would lose his mind and forget everything if he stayed there longer.

Logan thought there might be two ways out of here. One was from the water and another through the complete darkness. He went to the water and leaned over it. No movements could be seen. Water had a dim dark blue color, he put his head in the water, but nothing changed, there was nothing there to see but the color of the water. He didn’t know how deep the water was. If he jumped to it, he could have drowned. So there was no other choice but the dark corridor.

Logan stood in front of the corridor for a while and wished there was a way out at the end of this darkness. He started walking toward the complete darkness of the cave. After some minutes of walking, he turned back and could not see anything behind, there was no trace of the light of the water anymore. He was in complete darkness now and he really didn’t know if he was walking the right way out or not.

He closed and opened his eyes several times and there was no difference. It was just total darkness. It was a weird feeling, the one he had never experienced before. He felt blinded. There was no sound in the cave, and he preferred not to make any sound himself, except for the quiet sound produced by his feet touching the ground, no other sound could be heard.

The floor of the cave was not that rugged, so he just walked by the side of the cave touching the wall by his right hand and walking slowly toward the direction that he had no idea about. As time passed by he could see some white shapes trembling in front of his eyes. At first, they seemed like rays of light showing the way out, it made Logan so happy. But then he realized that wherever he looked they were there. Even when he would close his eyes, those white shapes were in front of his eyes trembling.

He figured these shapes might be just from his own mind or eyes. Of course, it was a new and abstract concept that the mind of Logan could not bear. But at least he understood that it was not real and tried not to care about it.

As he continued walking slowly and carefully, he heard a noise. It was coming from the direction in front of him. He stood there for a moment, there was complete silence for a while, he thought maybe he just heard an unreal sound just like the unreal white shapes that he is seeing. 

There it was again, he heard the sound for the second time, and this time it was louder. It seemed like footsteps. Someone or something was coming toward him. His heart started pounding. He had no idea what to do. There was nothing he could see. He could not hide, he could not run, maybe the best thing to do was to stand still.

The footsteps were getting closer. He tried not to breathe and become invisible. Maybe the creature approaching could not see in the dark too. By the sound of its footsteps, Logan could feel that whatever it was, it knew exactly where to put its foot. Its steps had no hesitation in them. So probably it could see in this darkness.

As the footsteps got closer Logan could realize that it is not a two feet creature like himself or a goblin. It had four legs. Maybe it was a wolf or a lion. Of course, lions have not been seen in a long time, but even a wolf is enough to kill the defenseless Logan in a matter of seconds.

He could feel that the creature reached him, it stopped near him, he could hear its breath. There was a very quiet and slow roar in its sound and it didn’t seem friendly at all. The roar didn’t sound like a wolf or a lion’s roar. It was something that Logan had never seen or heard of.

Logan was getting ready to be attacked. He could not even see his own hand, so if the creature was standing right beside him, he could not tell. He heard the breath of the creature getting closer, after a moment Logan could feel the warmth of its breath on his left hand. He did not have a dagger or a knife with him, but what would be the point, one way or another, he was armless in this situation.