Back to the light

It took some time before I was finally able to climb my way out. Each step felt as if I were fighting up river. As the sun came into light I could see Mors standing at the top of the final incline. He held out his hand and was kind enough to help me with the final push into the light. I didn't take the time to rest as I **** myself further up onto the moss covered ground. Up and up until I was eventually a few dozen feet away from the damp entrance. All the while Mors continued to pester me with questions and concerns. In truth, it was nice to think that he was worried. In the moment, however, I was getting rather annoyed that he continued to ask away as I just tried to catch my breath. The gash on my leg was closed, and the muscles seemed to he healed. However I could now feel the pain and residual discomfort that came from the injury. Whatever Eros had done seemed to heal my wounds, but didn't take away my body's memory of them.

"Mors... Mors... please, for the love of god, give me a damn moment." I laid my head back against the tree that became my resting spot. The rough bark did little to bring me any comfort. With my outburst Morse finally gave me a moment to breath. After a few more minutes of my body continuing to ache I was able to answer his... many questions. Apparently he had seen the light from my sword, and could barely see the creatures I had been fighting.

"It was... magic, I think. Electrici... lightening, I think. I don't really know what it was, or how it worked. I've never used it, or anything like it, before. Whatever it was, it was... incredible. It gave my sword a fantastic edge and even burned the lizards it cut into. On that... they're a type of lizard. Not some kind of monster. Just a big ass lizard that's spent too long evolving. I'm not sure what else I can say right now. Just... we should leave. I only killed a few of them. That can't be the entire population. Wherever they are, I'd rather not be right now." As I pushed off of the tree I took the moment to look into my bag, making sure that everything had been safe.

"For the future, I don't want anyone coming near this hole. It's not safe for anyone, even groups. I... can explain more when we get back to your house. We'll be coming back in the morning." Thankfully Mors didn't take much more convincing. As we walked he had to help me several times. Mostly due to painful stumbles and a few times that I tripped over some tree roots. Our return took much longer than the first trip through the forest. After a what felt like a few hours we finally break through the trees to reach the village. As we do Mors' wife, Hailey, she came running towards us as she took my bag off of my shoulder. As she did she visibly slumped. Over taken by the weight until she was able to adjust for it. As she did she stared at me in confusion before taking it to the house ahead of Mors and I.

Once back inside their small house I was once again bombarded by a wave of questions. They persisted for a few moments until Mors was able to step in and cut through the chatter. He gave me a moment's peace. After a more in depth explanation I was able to give them an adequate idea of what happened. It took a moment but they seemed to understand what I told them. Though, I did notice that certain words confused them further. When I mentioned komodos, for example, it threw them off. Not too surprising. I simply waved it off by saying it's just a different name from the humans. I finished off with what I had dealt with in the small office space. Though I didn't mention the gun, nor the intervention by Eros.

"Wait, so you're saying that my boy was poisoned? That's why it affected him so badly?" Hailey asked me concerned. She grew closer to Bry with each moment. His leg was in much better shape but still couldn't bare weight. I knew he would be alright, that he was strong.

"Yes, ma'am. Though, it's more accurate to say he was injected with venom. It's nothing short of a miracle that he survived as long as he did. Even more so that he doesn't seem to have suffered from any affects." I turned to Bry as I finished. He appeared just as concerned and worried as the others at the revelation. "You're an incredible young man to have survived what you did. A lesser fighter would have fell well before I even got here. Mors, Hailey... you have an incredible boy. I can only imagine what he's going to grow into."

The concerned parents seemed to lighten up at the remark. Seemingly confirming that their son had fought tooth and nail against what should have been certain ****. Hearing that, Hailey hugged her boy tighter than ever before. I swear that I could hear the bones cracking in his small body. After a touching embrace Mors continued with the questions. Mostly about the creatures, what the area was like, and what I knew of it. I skirted around most of his more in depth inquiries. Barely managing to give him any details that would give away my strange origins. Instead I simply told them that I've spent time studying animals and had seen many in my short time. They seemed to take my word for it, which I was thankful for.

Finally, Hailey turned her attention towards why my bag had been so heavy. It felt more like she was actually confused by its weight. Something I hadn't even noticed. In response I leaned over and lifted the bag back up. "I mentioned how the cave was full of crystals, yes? I decided to harvest some. Worst case, they aren't worth much. In the best case, I might not have to worry about paying rent for awhile." I pulled out on the of the many crystals that took up the space in my bag. Roughly the size of my thumb. I tossed it to Mors as I spoke.

"This..." he said after a few moments, "this is an allium..." I had heard that word? Yura had mentioned it. She said they they were in high demand for some reason. "They aren't very clear, I can't say they'd be worth a king's ransom. I'm not an appraiser, but if I had to guess you'd probably get a hundred just for this alone." In that moment I decided to keep the bulk of my find to myself. The piece that I had shown them wasn't the best shape, nor was it the best color. I did reach in and pull out a few more, roughly the same size. I walked over and handed them to the family. In total they had five finger sized crystals. If the guesses were right, easily a couple hundred coin, far more than any farmer would make in a year.

"For your family, Mors. Call it an investment. You're good people and I have no doubt you'll put it to good use." He wasn't able to respond. Not able to do anything more than simply stare at me in utter shock. I had just handed him what could easily be a decades worth of profit. "If it helps, then consider it this. Keep anyone and everyone out of that cave. Those crystals are even more reason people should stay away. If it gets out that there's a gold mine down there, people will flood the caves. It'll become a bloodbath. Not only that but you'll have waves of greedy treasure hunters coming every day. Take this as payment to keep people out. Tomorrow, you and I are going to block the holes up. I don't want anyone going inside, now or any time in the near future. It's too dangerous. Not to mention we don't know how far the caves go. People could get lost, or worse."

"I..." Mors and Hailey were both sufficiently stunned. Too broken to speak. It took awhile before they were finally able to answer my request. "We'll do our best. Spread word, try to make people understand it's too dangerous." With her agreement I returned back to my seat. Hopeful that they would keep their word.

"Tomorrow, Mors, you and I will go back to the pit. I'm going to go back in for a short while. I don't intend on delving too deep. I just want to get an idea what else might be down there. Also, I want to see if any returned. If so, how many... and how big. The main goal for tomorrow is for us to board up the holes and try to keep people out. We can pile rocks against the main entrance, and I want to at least cover the one that Bry fell through. With any luck, we won't have to worry about any curious wanderers."

"I can ask around for someone to help, I..." I raised my hand and cut him off. I felt like an asshole to do it, but I couldn't let that train of thought continue.

"No, if word gets around what's down there, it'll end badly. The less people we have knowing the truth of that place, the better. For now, let's keep it between the four of us. You hear that, Bry? This is an important secret. I'm not asking you, any of you, to lie. Merely just keep it a secret until we can do something more permanent about it. For now, let's just keep more people from being hurt or dying. There... there were too many bones down there to think about. So first concern is keeping that pile from growing."

"I see. Forgive me, sir. I didn't mean to cause alarm. I swear, this will be a family secret. We'll keep it safe from causing more harm." If not for his sincerity I wouldn't have trusted his word. With both of them giving their assurance I felt comfortable leaving it at that. With a grunt I pushed off of the chair that I had slumped into.

I reached down to collect my bag as I gave my farewell for the evening. Hailey offered to feed me first but my body still felt far too wrecked to think about eating. Instead, after giving my thanks and confirming that Mors and I would meet at the well in the morning, I made my way to Miss Loroni's hut. Thankfully she was inside knitting a coat sleeve. It wasn't complex, and the thread was obviously rustic. Something about the coat, however still felt warm. As I staggered through the door she was more concerned about my ragged look than anything. She looked me over for a long while before she seemed satisfied that I was, in fact, alive and not a walking corpse. I gave her an abridged version of the day's events and she allowed me to crash down into bed once more. She did **** me to drink two cups of surprisingly fresh water before leaving me to rest. Though, there wasn't exactly much privacy with her less than fifteen feet away the entire time. Regardless of the eyes that checked on me, I fell into a deep sleep almost immediately. Not rising until the moonlight cut through the window once more.