The Cave's Truth

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. The firelight caused strange shadows and light to dance along the surrounding walls of the small cabin to the beat of a soundless drum. They danced across the charted maps of caves and tunnel systems covering the walls. They flitted across the sketches of strange ruins and symbols on the table. They flowed across the framed pictures of my older brother and I and his missing expedition party, their frames delicately draped with cobwebs. And their dance even made its way over the open hatch in the floor leading to the entrance of the dark cave system below.

In the center of the room stood two men, the fire light rhythmically playing with their silhouettes against one of the cabin walls, their shadows looking bulky and jagged due to all the supplies they had on their backs. The older burly bearded man was my guide Marco, and the younger slender man standing next to him was me. I glanced around the room one last time, my gaze ending on the picture of my brother and I on the table.

Marco noticed and placed a gentle reassuring hand on my shoulder and said "We best be on our way son."

I turned to him, let out a deep breath, and said "Yeah you’re right.. We have a long day ahead of us. Lead the way." gesturing to the ladder descending into the darkness below.

We entered the open hatch and as we climbed down the ladder to the cave floor below the fire's dance above us slowly faded into blackness.

We reached the bottom of the ladder and our boots made contact with the slightly wet cave floor. We lit both of our lanterns, their light now glistening off the wet surrounding walls, and then proceeded to embark on a long downhill journey through the caves.

Near the surface the cave's chambers varied in shape and size, with round spikes of stone protruding from the ceilings and floors like jagged fangs, just waiting for the right moment to bite down and trap us in here forever. Though as we got deeper after a few hours of hiking the caves narrowed into a system of tunnels snaking into the earth with only occasional larger chambers breaking up our journey into the depths.

As we made our way through the corridors of one of these tight tunnels it opened up before us into a small chamber, the light of our lanterns quickly filling the space.

On the opposite side of the chamber was an arched entrance that continued on into the dark snaking tunnels beyond. Though unlike similar chambers we had passed through earlier, this entrance had strange jagged symbols carved into the dark stone wall around it. Before I approached it though something else caught my eye.

A few gold coins were scattered across the floor of the chamber, the light of our lanterns rippling on their surfaces.

“That’s strange.” Marco said, “I thought the guys had gathered all the gold coins scattered here before? That’s the whole reason the expedition got all the additional funding back then anyways.”

I bent down and picked up one of the warped gold coins and examined the strange symbols carved on both sides. I reached into my pocket and pulled out another coin, they were almost a perfect match.

“Yeah my brother mentioned this is where they found the gold coins last time too, and knowing his buddy Carlos, there is no way they left any behind.” I said.

“You’re right, Carlos had a one track mind when it came to money, I swear he had gold twinkling in his eyes when they returned to the surface that first day.” He said with a grin.

“Yeah that idiot kept talking about how we were all gonna be rich, you know, until the 6 of them all disappeared down here.” I said with an uneasy chuckle.

“Don’t forget about the second expedition of 6 people that came down here looking for them.”

“Yeah, they wouldn’t let me join the search back then, they kept saying I was to young no matter how much I argued.”

"Well if you were my son I wouldn’t let you go either. Now if you truly wish to travel deeper you'll have to go on without me" said my guide. "This is as far as I can take you. Everything beyond this point is unchartered and beyond my knowledge."

"Thank you Marco" I said, "You know, for getting me this far."

"I can't say that I support your fool's errand" said Marco as he handed me a refilled oil lantern. "There's no way of knowing what you will find down there."

"I know if it was up to you we'd both be turning around right now and leaving together but I can't, I have to know what happened to him."

"I wish you could just let him go, It was 5 years ago."

"I know it's hard for you to understand, but it's something I have to do. I didn't come this far just to turn around with my tail between my legs" I said.

“Well I've given up trying to talk you out of it, just promise me you'll be smart and come back in one piece" said Marco as he pulled me in for a hug.

"I will."

“I’d come with you, but I have two kids at home, you know, wouldn’t be a very good father if I just went off and disappeared in a cave chasing after gold and ghosts.”

“Ha, no, no we can’t have that. Then they’ll come here years later looking for you like yours truly.” I quipped.

“God forbid.” Marco said as he playfully punched me in the arm. “So I will meet you back at this very spot in 24 hours. If you run into any obstacles or trouble I don’t want you taking stupid risks, just come back and wait for me here. And don’t forget to mark the walls with your chalk so you can find your way back in case the path branches off.”

“Yes sir!” I declared with a salute.

We shared a moment of silence then, the only sound in the quiet chamber being our breath. Marco went to say something but then paused.

"I hope you find what you're looking for down there." He finally said as he pulled me in for one last hug.

"Me too, me too.."

We shared one last glance before Marco turned around and walked away. I watched the light of his lantern slowly fade away as it was swallowed by blackness as he began the long uphill journey through the tunnels back to the surface. The sound of his footsteps and breathing faded and disappeared leaving a terribly lonely silence in their place.

With my own lantern in hand I turned around and continued to walk deeper into the cave, pausing only for a moment before the strange symbols carved around the next tunnel’s entry.

The warm light from the lantern's flame lit my way through the seemingly endless tunnels. I walked downhill through the narrow path ways for what seemed like hours, only stopping every so often to get food and water from my bag and to rest. After a few more hours my legs were tired and my eyelids were heavy so I decided to role out my sleeping bag and call it a day. As soon as I put out my lantern’s flame the darkness, silence, and exhaustion quickly lulled me into a deep sleep.

I awoke later to complete darkness the likes of which I have never experienced before. My mind became disoriented not knowing whether my eyes were even opened or closed, no escape from the dark void.

I sat up suddenly when I heard the sound of a coin drop and was met by a pair of deep red burning eyes with faint trails of smoke emitting from them mere feet from my face floating in the dark void.

I quickly scrambled back and fumbled around in the dark until my hands found my lantern quickly lighting it to escape the darkness and illuminate my visitor. Though when the light spread forth before me there was nothing to be found except a single warped gold coin lying on the ground.

With my heart racing I went to pick up the coin but it was hot to the touch. With a small yelp I ended up flinging it down the corridor into the shadows beyond the reach of my lantern.

“What the hell?” I muttered to myself.

“I must still be half asleep and seeing things.” I thought to myself. “Nothing to worry about.”

I then packed up my bag, rubbed the sleep from my eyes, and let out a deep sigh as I began walking down the tunnel again, no coin to be seen.

Hours passed by as I continued traveling deeper and deeper towards an unknown destination. The only sounds to keep me company were the sound of my footsteps, my breath, the scraping of my chalk along the wall, and the occasionally sounds of the contents shifting in my backpack. The repetitive paths and tight corridors began to get to me. With nothing but darkness in front and behind me.

I began to grow anxious as I continued walking, claustrophobia induced by the small spaces and limited light began to kick in. It didn’t help that I couldn’t shake the image of those burning red eyes from my mind either, though I kept telling myself I had just dreamt it.

A slight panic began to build up inside my chest, bubbling up to the surface. I realized that I could only travel so far before having to turn around. I only had so much supplies and oil for my lantern and I did not want to get caught down here without a light.

Hopefully I would reach my destination soon, whatever it was. The only thing keeping me going was the discovering what had happened to my brother. I didn’t care about the gold. I just needed some small detail of what had happened to him. I wanted something to bring back to the surface.

Why I couldn’t just let him go I don’t know. He was my older brother and my best friend and for some strange reason I felt like I owed him this after all he had done for me.

My spirit had sunk significantly since I started this journey. The seemingly endless tunnels were starting to get to me. I was beginning to think I should just turn around when I felt a subtle familiar sensation against my skin. It was a warm breeze! I never thought that something so simple could cause my heart to race in such a manner. The sensation prickled all over my skin giving me goose bumps. A breeze meant that there was an exit nearby. So I quickly gathered myself and out of excitement I started to run down the path anxious to get out of the tunnels.

I came around a corner nearly slipping and dropping my lantern in the process and that's when I found it...

The tunnels opened up into a gigantic cavern. Only a small portion was lit up by my lantern so there was no way of knowing how truly enormous it really was. What came as a real surprise to me was a set of stairs carved out of the side of the wall leading down to the faintly glistening cavern floor 100 feet below. I began my descent down the stairs, careful to watch my step. How these stairs came to be I had no idea. Up until now I assumed that the cave's depths remained mostly untouched and unexplored by mankind beyond whoever hid their treasure here, but now I didn't know what to believe.

As I drew closer to the base of the stairs I realized why the floor was glistening. It was because there was no floor in sight but instead piles and piles of gold coins and jewels, as far as my lantern cast it's light, covering the entirety of the cavern's floor. I was astonished as a big grin stretched across my face.

I thought there would be treasure buried somewhere deep, but this level of riches was insane. It made no sense. My mind was running a thousand miles per hour. So many questions and so little answers.

"Well, standing here gawking isn't going to get me anywhere." I thought to myself, so I decided to continue moving on into the cavern. My feet reached the floor's bounty and with each step brought the sounds of shifting precious metals and stones beneath me. It was a surprisingly pleasant change from the sound of my boots against rock that I had become accustomed to.

My mind was so busy taking in the scene unfolding before me that I didn't notice the scent of sulfur drifting through the air until I was about a hundred yards into the void.

The light of my lantern was only so strong. As I walked further into the cave I lost sight of all the surrounding walls thus tossing me into a sea of gold with no end in sight. Every now and then I would lose my footing from the treasure shifting beneath my feet. The metallic noises echoed ominously through the cave.

My excitement began to dwindle though as I traveled further into this hauntingly beautiful golden sea. I found myself missing the tight spaces of the endless tunnels snaking through the earth. At least there I knew my surroundings. Here my light only reached out so far into the blackness and beyond that was a mystery.

I began to come across bigger and bigger piles of glistening gold that I had to navigate over and around. It was as if a storm was approaching and the golden sea was becoming choppy and bigger and bigger waves were forming, waiting for the right moment to capsize me and drown me in the dark.

I began climbing the biggest pile I had come across yet when all of the sudden I lost my footing about half way up as the treasures and coins gave way beneath me. My lantern escaped my grasp and tumbled down the pile along with me causing it's flame to be extinguished. This all caused a small avalanche that dragged me back to the bottom with it.

I tumbled down the pile in pure darkness completely confusing my sense of direction. The coins poured over top of me stabbing my skin and scraping up any exposed flesh. I could hear the monstrous echo it caused ringing through the whole cavern. After the last of the gold pieces came to rest the echoes slowly faded and were replaced by complete silence. The only sounds were the thoughts in my head panicking and assessing my body for injuries as I lay there in the pitch black covered in treasure.

After a few moments of uneasy silence I heard a very low guttural groan emit and echo from deep in the cavern. It’s sound sent cold shivers through my entire body numbing the pain I felt from the fall.

Another deep monstrous groan echoed from the depths, but this time it was followed by a string of unknown words spoken in some deep ancient tongue that I had never heard before.

My mind instantly went blank and my body froze with fear as another new set of sounds reached my ears while the words emanated from the dark. The sounds of precious metals rustling and shifting around swirled and echoed forebodingly from all around me. The sound gradually swelled as the the cavern filled with the faint uneasy chorus of shifting treasures.

I brought myself back to my feet and that's when I saw them.

At least a dozen pairs of distant burning red eyes floated in different parts of the void surrounding me, each of them emanating trails of smoke as they swayed back and forth rhythmically. All of their eyes were locked directly on me, even though I couldn't even see my own hand right in front of me.

And then the words ceased and a huge roar erupted from the deep followed by a giant pillar of flame. The giant stream of fire came hurdling through the air above illuminating the entire giant cavern with it's passing before crashing into the cave wall far behind me. The heat from it created a burning wind that blew past me, the air becoming hot in my lungs. The entire sea of gold shimmered as if set ablaze and that's when I saw the figures surrounding me for the first time.

They were all hunched over and humanoid in shape, though their sinewy arms were elongated to the point that their long fingered hands dragged through the treasure as they swayed. Their skin was the color of charcoal and was set with deep wrinkles with a faint red glow emitting from the grooves in their flesh. Their eyes appeared to be made of condensed flames spouting out smoke, and they had large crooked smiles. Their cheeks were filled with uneven holes and tears that more smoke flowed out from. And although they were all skinny to the point where you could see the shape of their skeletons, they had tightly wound dense looking muscles wrapped around their frames.

And just as quickly as the giant pillar of flame came it went, returning the surrounding cavern to the shadows. The last thing I saw before the flash of light faded was the jaws of these creatures unhinging like snakes, smoke billowing forth from their throats, their eyes aflame.

Shrieks burst forth from all directions of the void, a thousand nails scratching on chalkboards. That's when I started running, my instincts kicking in and forcing my body forward, adrenaline pumping through my veins.

For a brief moment I had glimpsed the staircase about 200 yards to my right, so I charged in that direction stumbling over hills of treasure as I ran, trying my best to keep my footing in the dark.

I heard them all around me, screaming and sprinting towards me. Their eyes darting through the void, their bodies becoming faintly visible as the red glow emanating from the grooves in their flesh brightened.

One of them came screaming up beside me and it tackled me to the golden ground, it's long fingers wrapping around my right leg in the dark. I screamed in pain. It's hands were burning hot and they seared through my pants down to my skin. I kicked and kicked until I managed to break free quickly making my way to my feet and sprinting as fast as I could, hoping to god I was running in the right direction, my right leg burning in pain where it grabbed me.

Another came crashing down on all fours several feet in front of me from the void above, its chest glowing brightly, a light shining from the back of it's gaping throat. It's burning eyes locked onto me, its chest puffed up, and then it belched and a great ball of fire erupted from it's throat.

I dove out of the way as the surrounding area exploded with light, the gold melting and warping where the fire struck. I felt the heat on my back and saw the glistening hills around me for a brief moment before the light faded once again.

Though brief, the light let me see my path forward, and with zero hesitation I bolted forward. There was no time for thinking, these creatures were clearly trying to kill me.

A pair of the creatures came shrieking in from my left, their screams piercing my ears, the air hot and heavy as I ran not daring to look behind me to see those fiery eyes baring down upon me.

A light then exploded from behind me casting my shadow against the ground before me, my feet sinking into the gold slightly with every step, the world around me shimmering. A mound of gold to the right of me then burst apart, hot golden shrapnel raining down upon me as a ran.

For a brief moment I saw the cavern wall ahead and the stairs leading back to the tunnels. The darkness consumed the world once again, and moments later I ran right into the wall. I saw stars for a moment and felt a warm liquid trickle down my face, but there was no time to hesitate.

"Come on! COME ON!" I shouted as I felt along the wall in the dark feeling for the stairs, the screams from behind me quickly closing in. That's when I felt the first step and a brief wave of relief washed over me as I started scrambling up the stairs hugging the wall as I did so, glad to finally have solid footing.

I turned back for a moment and saw multiple faintly burning figures slamming into the wall at the base of the stairs. They all bunched up at the bottom, scrambling over each other like wild beasts, trying to be the first to reach me and sink their teeth into me. One began glowing brightly as it went to spit a fireball at me, but another slammed into it causing it's flame to shoot out over the golden sea, illuminating it one last time before I reached the top of the stairs and entered into the tunnels once again.

This time I had no light to guide my way though and was forced to run with one hand on dragging along the walls and one hand reaching out into the open air. I ran and ran occasionally running into walls as I raced around bends in the tunnels.

I could here the creatures screams and footsteps echoing from behind me as they pursued me.

Suddenly I was slammed into the wall, heat searing into my chest. I turned to see two fierce red eyes peering down upon me, it's mouth open wide as it shrieked, it's hot breath singeing my face.

I tried to shove it away but my hands burned and recoiled from touching its hot rough skin. It loomed over top of me, it's jaw unhinged, a light building in the back of it's throat, one burning hand pinning me to the wall.

I lifted my arms in front of my face and closed my eyes preparing for the end, but nothing came. I opened my eyes and saw the creature staring at my forearm, it's eyes reduced to faint embers, the light in the back of its throat fading away.

It seemed to be transfixed on the tattoo of two flying arrows on my wrist. It slowly removed its hand from burning into my chest and held it up for a moment. Though it was stretched out and faded, in the dark I could faintly make out two flying arrows tattooed on its decrepit wrist as well.

"Ian?" I choked out as tears began building in my eyes. "Ian is that you?!"

"Ian, it's me your brother, what happened to you? Is that really you?! IAN?!"

The rest of the creatures barreled around the corner in that moment, screaming as they locked their eyes onto me. The creature standing before me turned to the charging monstrosities and let out piercing scream. It's body erupted with light as red fire pored from all the cracks in its body and it's eyes burst into flames once again. It turned and glanced at me one more time before turning and charging towards the group of creatures, a large fireball flashing into the tunnel before him obscuring the charging demons and casting him in a fiery silhouette.

I swear for an instant during that flash of light I didn't see the shape of the creature, but instead the broad outline of my older brother, his arms outstretched, his stance firm, ready to hold back the charging creatures screaming through the flames.

I turned and ran once more, the red glow and screams fading behind me, hot tears trickling down my cheeks, my forehead sticky with blood.

I ran and ran and ran, my adrenaline keeping me from collapsing in exhaustion. I could still see the red eyes burned into my retinas every time I blinked as I felt my way through the dark passage ways.

After a time the screams in the distance faded leaving me alone with the sounds of my footsteps and my panting breath as I trudged along. But then I heard something else ahead of me, the sound of humming floating through the stale air, as sweet as honey. As I rounded another corner I saw a golden light faintly burning in the distance. I ran towards it as my legs began to feel like lead, my adrenaline fading, and the sensations of the burns across my body began pulsating.

I burst into the small chamber and immediately collapsed on to the floor. Marco quickly ran to my side, his melody ceased as he kneeled down next to me. His eyes were wide and his lips moved, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. My ears were still ringing and my vision began to fade, dragging me back into the dark void.

I awoke a week later in a hospital bed. The lights above me blindingly bright. Marco was still by my side, god bless him. Apparently he had carried me out of the caves himself.

We later went back and properly boarded up the entry to the caverns beneath the cabin. I told him about what I found down there, and surprisingly enough he believed every word based on the state he found me in.

I went on to have a family of my own, named my eldest son Ian after my brother, and would always tell him stories about how brave and strong and kind he was. I told him all the stories except one.

Even all these years later, I can still see those burning red eyes staring back at me every time I close my eyes.