Chapter 20: "A Deep,Dark End of the Pool"
Alex sighs softly,as the caves that she travelled through were almost stripped clean of their materials. The ground beneath her perilously balanced on thin,unstable stone. Torches lined the walls and floors,casting their firey orange glow out into the dark.
A stony rumble emits....
Suddenly the ground beneath Alex gave in,dropping her quite a distance.
She manages to land on her feet,but not without the tender crunch of her ankles almost breaking at the force of the landing. Alex collapses to her knees with a gentle,pained groan,almost sickened at the intense feeling that now racked her body.
She looks around,to find herself in an inky blackness unlike any other,and above the distant square of light being her only faint illumination.
Alex pulls out the diamond tipped stick she had made,removing the diamond from the tip and tearing a strip of cloth off of her uniform. 'Now all I need is something able to emit a flame..' She thought,looking around.
The gentle glow of lava could be seen,though it appeared to be around a distant corner...
Alex felt her way around the seemingly vast cave,until a pool of lava thankfully came into view. She held the cloth wrapped end of the stick over the pool,and an ember lept fourth,hitting the cloth and lighting the torch.
Now able to see,Alex explored the path she came from. A tall fortress came into view,made of Deepstone,though damaged,it's structure was sound enough to explore..
Warily Alex opens the door to an unnatural darkness,one that her torch could barely penetrate. As she waded into the darkness,the winding halls and stairs seemed to drone on forever,until she found herself in a courtyard infested with glowing blue plants...
At first it was quiet,until she passed one of the plants closely,making it chatter loudly,it's echo roaring out into the cave...
Alex quickly evacuated,while she had the chance. A Creature wades up from solid material as if they were a ghost. They possessed no eyes,long hair with ornate deer antlers and a shapely female form overtaken by deep blue moss and nature,though in her exposed ribcage,thousands of souls twisted and writhed in agony.
"...Intruder..." She gently growls as she sinks back into the stone...
Alex's return to those dark,winding halls was a touch of a relief,though unknown to the Miner she was being tailed by the creature she had disturbed.
Alex ran into what looked like the Fortress' brig. Many of it's cells long since opened,except for one in the corner. Alex began investigating the cell,to find it inhabited by a severely emaciated male. The male approached the bars,desperately signing that Alex needed to leave,though due to the darkness,his sign language had twisted into an unknown,jumbled mess...
The only word that could be made out was "Warden".
Just as it had been signed,the warden quietly emerges behind the stranger. Alex stumbled backwards as the creature picked the male up by his temples,a blue glow emitting from his eyes and mouth.
Before the rest of the process could be witnessed,Alex fled as quickly as she could--
Before too long the creature began thundering after Alex,cutting corners by ramming through them and scattering debris as the chase went on,growling,even calling out to the Miner. Alex managed to break from her pursuing enemy,sliding around a corner and slipping into total darkness and silence,even stamping out the torch,cloaking her even more.
The creatures footsteps got closer,and it's glow was strong enough to be seen,until finally it could be seen up close and personal....
"...Intruder...Where are you..?" It questions. It's voice a clustered mixture of male and female voices speaking in absolute agony.
"I can hear your breath. Your heartbeat..." It continued,as Alex snuck around behind it.
"Come to me,sweet soul. Join my collection. You will be ever happy here in the dark..."
'Not if my life depended on it.' Alex thought as she turns a corner in the opposite direction,only for the Warden to loosely tail her. She exits to another garden of the Chattering plants she had encountered earlier...
Quietly Alex tip-toed along,being careful to not disturb the plants quiet rest...
"INTRUDER!!" The Warden booms as she enters the room,starting to walk toward Alex with lethal intent-
There was no other way out...
She looked at every nick and cranny of the room. Right above the lumbering woman was a shred of daylight!
Alex ran at the Warden,sliding under her swooping grasp and climbing up the creature's back to leap for the hole-
Alex was grabbed by the Warden,slammed down hard enough to crack the ground. She gasped for air,attempting to roll clear of the Warden's falling fists.
Narrowly Alex managed to escape,and found the opening to climb the walls and monkeybar to the hole. She climbs through,as warm sunlight shone down from the top of a cavern to welcome the freshly escaped prisoner.
INTRUDEEERR!!" The beast roars angrily. She couldnt follow the adventurer,given the daylight shedding down overhead.
Alex looks up,ignoring the creature's beckoning calls....
It would thankfully be a brief,uneventful climb to the top. As alex finally surfaces,she falls to her back on the grass,panting gently. 'Never doing THAT again...-' Alex thought as she allowed herself to catch her breath.
Off in the distance the statue of Gladya could be seen,an eyesore that bore an oddly welcome feeling,since it already felt like forever since she had been down there.
Though before long the sour feelings returned,which spurred Alex to her feet,to start heading home. She wasted no time,sprinting for miles at a time with little rest to be spared.
As she enters her ransacked home,she sighs gently,starting to go through what all had been left behind. All she found was a magic map that revealed her ally's location,thankfully undamaged after all of these years of storage.
She opens the map,and it displays the region. Just beyond the boarders were Kupa,indicated with a creeper face,and Grayson indicated with a golden sword. 'Good to know they covered ground quickly. Time to do the same.'
A gentle creak emits,making Alex swivel on her heel to find a Villager shakily waving a sword at her. "W-who..?" She began.
'Im nobody important. Keep the house.' Alex signs as she walks out.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone