2 - Inside the Hole

     For some reason, I was expecting the cave to have a lush environment teeming with life beyond our understanding. A hidden world waiting to be discovered. So I was understandably in for a rude awakening when there was nothing but rocks as far as the eye could see. I mean, it made sense, the cave had just opened to the world from tremors, but I was expecting something more than just an empty cavern. Life finds a way and all that malarkey. It wasn’t a total bust though. It was a bonafide cave instead of just a hole in the ground, so we made the genius decision to explore further, and neither of us wanted to be the first person to admit it would suck having to climb our ropes up the twenty feet drop we just rappelled.

     It was fair to say I felt at least somewhat confident in my ability to explore caves. I had gone on a few expeditions with Alan into caves the company had abandoned after plumbing its resources dry. I had even picked up a few tricks to apply to my earth magyk, something I always needed work on doing whenever I wasn’t with Eva.

     “I heard that caves are acoustic death traps,” I mentioned as we were taking in the rays of light shining through the hole. “They echo and travel, but it rebounds on itself so much that it just nullifies the soundwaves.”

     “Where’d you hear that?” Eva asked, pulling out some jerky to nibble on. “Alan?”

     I nodded. “Yeah, apparently he’s been in a bunch of caves since Baddo started training him to take over the business. Would have gotten lost if not for his earth magyk.”

     Eva grinned. “Good thing you got earth magyk then!”

     Yeah, good thing. I could do it, I just wasn’t good at it. My siblings often said my generous sleep schedule cuts into my magyk training. But Eva didn’t need me to tell her that. If anything, she might have already known.

     “So what are we even looking for?” I wondered aloud as we delved into the cave. “Place looks pretty barren if you ask me.”

     “Anything. Signs of life, plants or animals,” My best friend produced a ball of flame to illuminate the cavern. “Maybe this can be a new hangout if we get bored of the shack in Spotter’s Landing.”

     What surprised me was that even the most common animal, the remis, weren’t around. The little slimes were everywhere, having seemingly adapted to every biome of Axis. They came in all manner of sizes and colors, and Baddo even let me keep one for a few years when I was younger that I named Dino. Unfortunately Dino got flushed down the toilet by accident thanks to Avan and we never found him. Did slimes have gender? I’ll have to ask Ada, she’s the smart one.

     “What would we even call this place?”

     “Maybe The Nest?” Eva suggested. “What would you call it?”

     “Leave it to you to leave naming things to me,” I snorted, even as I mentally chided myself. The Nest was the first thing I thought of, but now that she suggested it, suggesting that for a name would only make me the creatively bankrupt one. “How about the Sync Hole?”

     “What kind of name is that?” Eva demanded, coming over to glare at me.

     “Sync Hole,” I enunciated. “Not ‘sink’, ‘sync’! Cause friends are usually in sync with one another.”

     Her eyes lit up as she considered it. “I knew I kept you around for something,” she exclaimed, slapping my shoulder in approval with her off hand.

     “You mean it wasn’t for my good looks?”

     Eva snickered. “Ah, come on, you know I’d never get in between you and your mattress,” She teased. “Not when you two look so cute together!”

     Oddly enough, the cave did have a tunnel, one that ran in a straight line. An unnatural straight line as if it were man made. We followed it for a while, and before we knew it, found ourselves at some kind of junction that branched off into multiple directions. Some of the paths actually looked natural, as if by the handiwork of erosion. If this cave was actually part of a mining project, then our adventure was going to be for nothing. Worse, we probably wouldn’t be allowed to make the Sync Hole happen at all!

     Both Eva and I naturally came to the same conclusion, and agreed to travel down one of the more unnatural passageways. Almost immediately, the temperature started dropping. Eva shivered, and my body shivered in shared commiseration. I definitely didn’t shiver before her. Our breath started to appear as we exhaled, and Eva upped the intensity of her flame to make up for our lack of insulation.

     “Have we descended at all,” She wondered aloud. “How did it get so cold so fast going in a straight line?”

     Ordinarily, caves were the same temperature of their environment, and Seras was generally a temperate climate, with patches of intense heat periodically around the heat with our proximity to the desert to the south of us. I pressed my fingers against the cave wall, and almost yelped as I pulled it away at the sight of frost crystals immediately forming around the connected flesh . One more unnatural phenomena.

     “How do you know all this?” Eva asked as I explained all this to her. “I thought Alan was being trained to take over MMM, not you.”

     “I’ve learned a thing or two,” I replied more brusquely than I intended. “Baddo has wanted me to work in the Mines in some capacity, so he’s had me sit in with Alan for a few lessons .”

     “Wouldn’t Avan be the next choice after Alan though? Or the twins I hardly ever see?”

     I shrugged. “Avan is too much of a troublemaker. We’re all worried he’ll find a way to blow it up if he ever gets that kind of responsibility. And you already answered why Armani and Avena aren’t getting the company.”

     “Huh, and where do they go again?”

     Another shrug. “Traveling? The moment they were old enough they skipped out,” I said with genuine confusion. “They always come back, but never stay. And they’re always private about what they do for a living anyways.”

     “Think they’re karcking each other?”

     Eva’s suggestion threw me for a loop. “You think my twin siblings are intimate with each other?” I repeated back slowly.

     “Yeah, don’t you?”

     “They’re my brother and sister, of course I don’t think that!”

     “Huh, must be an only child thing,” she waved it away, and we continued in silence.

     We continued on in silence. I tried not to think about what she said and how weird it was. Sure there were nobles that still kept things in the family, but the practice was largely done away with by nearly all the kingdoms. Last I heard, the Scotts of the Apa Kingdom were the last ones who actually participated in such acts, and they haven’t been heard from ever since the war started.

     Despite Eva’s flame, the darkness continued to increase. Without realizing it, she and I had inched closer together against the enveloping miasma.

     “Is… is it getting harder to breathe,” Eva asked me. “Or am I going crazy?”

     I had to agree. As far as I was aware, we hadn’t even descended. The odds of this being an offshoot of one of my Baddo’s mines seemed to decrease as our anxiety increased. Somewhere along the way, the terrain shifted from unnatural construction to peculiar biology. Mold and other growths started to appear, at first in patches, until it began to dominate our surroundings. And still the tunnel continued in its artificial direction. Despite the vegetation, there was a distinct lack of animals or insects, even as the air continued to grow thick with darkness and particles.

     After what felt like hours traveling in one direction, the tunnel finally opened into a large chamber. The room looked like it was sick, like it was where a plague had been born, died, and mutated into something even worse. A feeling of dread began to weigh me down, and a voice in the back of my head was telling me we needed to run.

     “Adan, are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Eva asked, pointing.

     I look over in the direction she’s pointing towards and I finally see it. A pulsating log of growth standing diagonally against the wall that barely stood out from its organic and slimy surroundings. It almost looked like a living pod of growth and mold. The sight of it reminded me why I preferred living a cushy life as opposed to a life of discovery. The person who made the discovery, there was plenty of risk it would lead to their own demise.

     “Is… is that thing alive?” I found myself stepping forward, compelled to touch it. I know better now, but back then, I couldn't help myself; I was being pulled towards it, and I didn't want to pull away. It felt like I needed to touch it, to learn more about it.

     Eva pulled on my arm, halting my advance. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t turn to face her. It felt like a bad idea to turn my back on the pod. “Maybe we should put a pin in this adventure.” She suggested, and I could distinctly hear an ounce of panic in her voice. “Come back later with something better than just magyk.”

     As she spoke, the organism shifted, as if in response to her words. A light began to emanate from the pod, highlighting something within that was strangely human-like. The air got colder, and the darkness got thicker. Despite her flame being large enough and bright enough to completely illuminate the room, it felt like something was actively devouring the light she was producing.

     Fear found itself and finally reigned in my curiosity. I stepped back towards Eva, and we grabbed each other’s hands, as if the act was the only way to keep track of each other in the face of this oppressive darkness.

     Without a word, we turned back and ran back the way we came.

     Neither of us could find the time to speak as we fled the chamber. All that was left was a primal urge to escape the room. I felt Eva fall behind me, but I refused to let go of her hand. Exhaustion could wait if survival was on the line. A small part of me objected to fleeing, the rational part that was inherently curious about the world, but I paid it no mind.

     Even as we left, I could feel an irrational build up of fear within me, reminding me of every event in my life that had put my life in danger. Discovering my affinity for earth magyk, joining Avan on a prank against Silas Stone, the town bully, even stumbling into a greater dragonfly nest. All those moments paled in comparison to what I was feeling now. Dimly, I wondered if this was some kind of magyk at play, messing with our minds and amplifying our fear and sense of self preservation.

     And yet, whatever was in the pod, it emitted a kind of wrongness, like it didn’t belong in this world and was angry at the fact.

     “Adan, stop!” Eva exclaimed.

     I felt her pull against me, forcing me to slow down. Glancing over, I saw she was perspiring intensely, her sweat freezing against her skin. Organic particles that were created by the organic hallway clung to her, making her in sore need of a bath. I probably needed one too. As the both of us caught our breath, she pointed ahead with a shaky finger, her tan skin blanching in fear. “That’s… not possible,” I heard her stammer as I turned to look where she was gesturing to.

     We had somehow ran back into the chamber with the organic pod.

     And it was squirming like it was getting ready to hatch.