~XIV~

Alaric began to back up towards the stalagmite with the insignia. But that wouldn't matter, wherever he went, he could only hear the sound of the creatures enclosing around him. Soon, they would over take him in mass, tearing his flesh and eating him alive.

A loud screech came that sent a shiver through Alaric's body that made him cringe. He spun, swinging his sword through the air. The blade seemed to hum as it swung, the vibrations sending a comforting buzz through his body that seemed to ease his heart. Waves of emotion rushed from him at once, flying through his arm and into the blade of his katana as it bit into the creature's head.

Alaric couldn't help but have a grin tug at the edges of his mouth as adrenaline rushed through his veins. The blade gleamed with brilliant firelight as it cut through the creature's head, the feeling of bone and flesh giving way sending a satisfying sensation through Alaric. Black blood splattered across the water as the creature fell, dead.

I'm that moment, Alaric was no longer scared. He wanted more of them to challenge him. And they did. He wanted to spill blood and cut cleanly through their flesh, all of them. He wanted all them to die by his blade.

In blazon flashes of metal and severed flesh, Alaric wove amidst the stone spires around him, slaying each creature as it came. They were not difficult to kill, they were only a threat in numbers, and even then, unless you did not see them coming they were no challenge to hold off.

The water at Alaric's feet turned black with the creatures' tar-like blood, their grotesque corpses laden across the cavern. Alaric felt himself to be in no more than a glorious dance, weaving and spinning amongst the creatures, his blade flying in brilliant glimmers of light as he cut down each mutated thing that came at him.

But his joy in combat was quickly cut short. A tremendous roar tore its way through the chasm, the sound reverberating through the stalactites and stalagmites, causing them to vibrate violently. Ripples flew across the water from the force of the roar, and Alaric could feel his sword hum.

The strange creatures all stopped charging Alaric at once, backing away as something else made its way forward.

Alaric turned his eyes to face the direction the roar had came. From within the impenetrable darkness then came a bony hand, long, pointed talons protruding from the tips of its thin fingers. And then the talons sank into the stone, sending cracks across the stalactite like spider webs. Then the thing pulled itself forward.

As it emerged from the void, Alaric came to see its features. It was extremely similar to the smaller creatures, but black spikes tore its flesh and jutted up from its body. It's mouth was much larger in proportion to its body than the smaller creatures' were. Bloody, black flesh hung loose from its grotesque, malnourished body.

The creature stood at least nine feet tall. As Alaric stared at the disgusting thing in awe, the smell of rotting flesh protruding his senses, he came to realize there was absolutely no possible way he could overcome such a beast. He had no choice but to run.

Alaric turned, facing the insignia of Sarua on the stalagmite. He frantically scanned the background for another marking. Then he heard a thunderous crash of breaking stone and a tremendous roar. The sound of violently splashing water came as the the massive monstrosity began to charge after Alaric.

There! He spotted the next insignia and bolted towards it. As he ran, he began scouring behind that one, finding the insignia after that in almost no time at all.

A hollow, violent roar came as the creature came up behind Alaric, closing the distance. He could hear as the thing's talons flung through the air, spraying water across the cavern. Alaric leapt aside behind a stalagmite, narrowly avoiding the talons as it passed by him. Alaric spun around the stone pillar behind the beast, raising his katana above his head before plunging it into the monster's back. The creature bellowed in rage, and Alaric cursed himself.

The creature's body was nothing like a normal human, Alaric cursed himself for expecting its heart to be in the same place as his own. He withdrew his sword from the monster's back, blood spilling into the water as he began to run in a wide circle around the monster, weaving between the stalactites and stalagmites, making it as difficult as possible for it to chase him. The berserk thing ran blindly, crashing into rock pillars with no concern for itself.

Alaric was still cursing his luck. He had an open shot, a free kill, but he had missed the grotesque creature's heart.

Finally, Alaric had came upon the next insignia. As he did, through the light of his lamp, he could barely make out what seemed to be an archway leading down a new path. Above it was another luminescent marking.

Alaric glanced back as the brute swung its talons for him. He swiftly leapt to the side, the swung the katana, severing three of the creature's fingers from its hand. A earsplitting screech rang out through the cavern, causing stone to break away and fall from the mouth of the cave. Alaric took this chance to bolt for the exit. One of the smaller creatures crossed his path, but he simply cut it down before rushing over it and into the archway.

As he disappeared into the tunnel, he turned to see the monster as it stopped before the entrance, glaring into it at Alaric. The thing could not fit through the archway. But.. Alaric felt he'd have to pass by it again when he had to come back.

A strange clicking, humming sound rang through the cavern then and Alaric heard the sound of scratching nails on stone all around him. Raising the lantern above his head, Alaric peered up above him, and his heart caught in his throat.

"Shit.." Alaric cursed.

The stone above him was littered with holes, the same small tunnels he'd seen before when he first entered the caves. And now he knew the things that resided in them.

He began to run, full sprint, down the cave. His feet crashed into the ground, sending jolts through his body and exhilaration exploding through his veins as as his heart thundered in his chest. Why, he could in wonder in that moment, was this sense of danger so… addicting?

He could hear the creatures as the began to rush for him from the holes. Alaric ran, going as fast as he could, propelling himself forward with each thundering step.

But, ahead of him, Alaric could see what seemed to be some kind of glow, like a light at the end of the tunnel. Alaric sprinted for it, and as he drew closer to it, he thought the sound of his own breathing and his footsteps as he ran was drowning out the sound of the things behind him. But no. They, for some reason, had stopped charging him. They simply ceased, backing away.

Standing in the brilliant light, Alaric stared back at the creatures, their eyes shimmering back at him in the darkness. His chest heaved up and down as he caught his breath. He wondered why they would no longer follow him..

But then he quickly found why. The origin of that light, the reason the creatures would not come any further… was because there, laying curled up within a wide cavern was a dragon, brilliant golden-white scales sending shimmering waves of light dancing across the stone.

Alaric stared, frozen in awe, as he looked upon the dragon. He could not believe his own eyes.. they had to be deceiving him.. right? He was seeing things.. it wasn't real.. a dragon? Really?

Was that… really possible..?

A raging storm of confused questions and disbelief crashed around inside Alaric in that moment. He couldn't, he simply could not, accept the idea that dragons existed. The things he'd seen before, sure, he could believe that, they weren't that unbelievable, just cave dwelling mutations, but a dragon? A legendary being from fairy tales?

No… Alaric could not believe it..

And then, a soft gust came as the dragon exhaled, raising its head as brilliant golden-amber eyes opened, boring directly into Alaric's soul.

It.. was real.