THE CAVE OF BLACK BREATH
1185 Words
Chapter 37
The northern jungle was silent.
Not the peaceful silence of dawn within the Gorilla or Panther territories, where birds greeted the morning and insects filled the air with life.
This silence felt different.
Older.
Watching.
A thick gray fog drifted between the towering trees, wrapping around enormous roots and fallen logs like living spirits. Dew clung to every leaf, and the stream beside the camp moved quietly over smooth stones.
For the first time in many days…
No one had spoken.
Only the gentle crackling of the dying campfire remained.
⸻
Kaela’s golden-green eyes slowly opened.
She had always awakened before everyone else.
Years of living upon the cliffs had trained her body to rise with the first hint of daylight.
She quietly stood, stretching sore muscles from the previous day’s battle.
Her newly crafted armor, reinforced with plates cut from the saber-toothed beast’s hide, rested beside her.
She ran her fingers across it.
“Not bad,” she whispered.
Nearby rested her curved blade.
Its edge had been polished before sunrise.
Beside it lay a new dagger whose handle had been carved from one of the beast’s massive fangs.
She fastened her armor piece by piece before stepping away from the camp.
The morning air was cold.
Mist rolled across the ground.
She listened.
Nothing.
No growls.
No movement.
Only the sound of flowing water.
Satisfied, she returned.
⸻
Rather than shouting…
Kaela woke everyone one at a time.
She gently nudged Sena’s shoulder.
“We’re moving soon.”
Sena opened one eye before silently disappearing into the fog to begin her morning reconnaissance.
Kaela smiled.
“Already working.”
She moved to Tarlok next.
The Gorilla warrior blinked several times.
“Morning already?”
“You snore louder than thunder.”
“I do not.”
“You frightened a bird off its branch.”
The others quietly laughed as Tarlok grumbled to himself.
One by one…
The camp slowly came alive.
⸻
Gorak was the last to wake.
He sat upright immediately, instinctively reaching toward where his left arm once had been before stopping himself.
For a brief moment…
Old memories returned.
Then he exhaled.
“Still getting used to that,” he muttered.
Kaela handed him a waterskin.
“You reached less this time.”
Gorak accepted it.
“I’ll take that as progress.”
“You should.”
He smiled faintly.
⸻
Not far away…
Zahren had already unrolled the ancient text upon a flat stone.
Its weathered surface caught the dim morning light filtering through the fog.
Gorak joined him.
“So…”
He knelt beside the former Snake King.
“Which direction?”
Kaela crouched beside them.
“The jungle looks the same in every direction.”
Gorak studied the muddy ground surrounding the stream.
“It isn’t.”
The others looked down.
Gorak pointed toward several sets of tracks.
“These belong to the giant cat we killed.”
He pointed farther away.
“Those are hoofprints.”
Another.
“Smaller reptiles.”
Then several narrow tracks disappearing through the brush.
“And these…”
He studied them carefully.
“Whatever made these isn’t very large.”
Kaela looked impressed.
“You can tell all of that?”
Gorak nodded.
“My father taught me before I could lift a hammer.”
Zahren leaned closer.
“What do you suggest?”
Gorak pointed toward the smaller tracks.
“Small animals need water often.”
He traced their direction.
“If we follow them…”
“…they may lead us to a larger water source.”
Kaela finished his sentence.
“A river.”
“Or lake.”
Zahren nodded thoughtfully.
“And where there’s water…”
“There is life,” Gorak replied.
“And clues.”
Kaela stood.
“Then we follow them.”
No one argued.
⸻
As the group prepared to leave…
Zahren paused.
His eyes narrowed.
“What is that?”
Everyone looked toward him.
He pointed beyond the trees.
Far in the distance…
Barely visible through the morning fog…
A strange symbol had been carved into a massive slab of dark stone protruding from the earth.
It was worn with age.
Covered in moss.
Half hidden by hanging vines.
The symbol resembled a swirling spiral…
Almost identical to one of the markings surrounding the Tide Stone in the ancient text.
Zahren slowly approached it.
His breathing became shallow.
“It cannot be…”
Kaela stood beside him.
“You recognize it?”
“I’ve seen something like this.”
He gently brushed moss away.
“The outer ring…”
He touched another carving.
“And this line…”
He looked back at the ancient scroll.
“They’re almost identical.”
Gorak frowned.
“So someone came here before us.”
“Long before us.”
Zahren whispered.
⸻
Before anyone could investigate further…
Tarlok called from ahead.
“Over here!”
The group hurried toward him.
Beyond several enormous trees…
The jungle suddenly opened.
Before them stood a massive cave entrance.
Nearly seventy feet tall.
Its opening disappeared into complete darkness.
Yet something about it was wrong.
Black smoke drifted lazily across the cave floor.
Not rising.
Not spreading upward.
Instead…
It crawled along the ground like flowing water.
Kaela immediately rested her hand on her sword.
“I don’t like this.”
Neither did Gorak.
“There isn’t any fire.”
“So where is the smoke coming from?”
No one answered.
Zahren slowly stared into the darkness.
“The text…”
“What about it?”
“It mentioned ancient places beneath the northern jungle.”
Kaela looked at him.
“Do you think this is one of them?”
“I don’t know.”
Gorak folded his remaining arm.
“If it is…”
“…we walk into it carefully.”
Kaela nodded.
“There could be predators.”
“Or worse.”
Zahren quietly added,
“There could be answers.”
The three leaders stood silently before the enormous cave.
Each imagining something different hidden within.
⸻
Meanwhile…
The rest of the expedition had gathered around the camp one final time.
The previous day’s victory over the enormous saber-toothed beast had transformed their equipment.
Tarlok proudly rested his new shoulder guard against his chest.
The thick hide fit perfectly.
“Look at this!”
He struck it with his fist.
THUD.
“Solid.”
Rhea examined the beast-fang spear she had carved.
“The balance is much better.”
Korin flexed his claw gauntlets.
“I almost feel sorry for whatever attacks us next.”
Laughter spread through the group.
Sena quietly inspected the edge of her new dagger.
“It won’t feel sorry for us.”
Everyone nodded.
Even Tarlok.
⸻
A short distance away…
Two warriors stood watch.
Sena had chosen them before leaving camp.
One Gorilla.
One Panther.
They watched opposite directions from elevated positions among the trees.
Neither spoke.
Their only task…
Make sure nothing reached the expedition unnoticed.
The jungle remained wrapped in fog.
Silent.
Patient.
Waiting.
And beyond the curtain of black smoke…
Something deep within the cave stirred.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD