Seeking Strength part 4

Into the cave

 

 

Instantly I was immersed in a pool of icy darkness, robbed of my sight, and even my hearing. This would indeed prove to be a challenge. Silence’s gentle voice spoke into my ear, arousing nervousness. It was so pitch black that I could not even see my own two feet walk across the dirt floor...actually I couldn’t even see the floor. My feet scraped across the floor, but even their noises became lost in the enigma that is darkness.

            I felt my heart leap into my throat, making it near impossible for me to breathe. I took several deep breaths to calm myself; my heart sank back to its designated area. In situations such as this I’d always thought it useful to whistle a familiar tune but that was no use. I then resolved to think positive thoughts; yet again to my dismay I was unable to hear my own thoughts. I literally felt my sanity drift away from me like an airborne flower petal, that was until I smacked myself hard in my face. The unsavory zing of pain still existed, it seemed as though this was my only traveling companion.

A place where humanly senses failed, where ordinary logic and reason were trivial notions, this was the Cave of Alignment.  Suddenly it felt as if warm, delicate guiding hands infiltrated some portion of my entity. It felt like a parent’s presence, safe, powerful, loving, ultimately guiding. At that moment my feet began to pull me as if they had their own path marked out.

Through the blinding darkness I stepped incautiously. It did not matter that I could not see, that I could not hear, because despite those limitations I stepped with absolute precision. This is what it meant to run purely on primitive instinct; to toss away the cluttering thoughts, the fears, and nervousness, to simply be. I maneuvered around areas in which I thought there were low hanging stalactites, occasionally bumping into a few. It was odd to feel reassured by the presence of pain, but nevertheless I was. Every step I took, every turn, and every zig-zaggy movement, I felt there was purpose behind it, these movements of mine were not mere guesses as to where the exit was, no far from it. I had a deep rooted feeling that I actually knew where it was.

Before long a gentle breeze wandered in from the north of my location. I did not enter into a full on sprint to where one would assume the exit was, if I’d learned anything at all it was that this cave was not straightforward. I continued to rely on my instincts, and it just so happened that they had led me to the outside world.  “Yes! I’m finally out of that hell!” I shouted, also alarmed at the loudness of my voice.

The sun was still perched high above the world, glaring down upon the humans from his throne. I immediately had to shield my eyes from the light. I hadn’t realized it but I’d become accustomed to the shadows. I inhaled deeply, filling my lungs to the brim. A nearly indescribable aroma caught my attention. It was an aroma that was a summation of the wild, resembling wild flowers, maple trees, and fresh rain.

            Assuming my eyes had readjusted to the visibility, I examined my surroundings to figure out what that heavenly scent was that I’d caught a whiff of. Before me were dozens of tall oak trees, all with rich, lush green leaves and thick dirt-brown trunks. But what demanded my attention was neither the abnormally large boulders to my left and right, nor the scores of badgers, rabbits, and other wild life teeming about the area, no it was a tree that stood a good twenty paces away from me. It stood so mightily that even giants would have had to crane their necks to see how high this behemoth went on for. The base of the tree had to be at least a hundred feet in each direction. But even more peculiar than its size were the colors on the tree, a deep sunset orange hue decorated the massive trunk and a fierce fuchsia thrived on the leaves. “Wow, I’ve never seen anything like this,” I commented to myself as I closed in on the tree.

 

 

 

 

Thank you for reading and be sure to leave a constructive review!

Author's Note

Just about anything, been out of the rhythm lately so any advice will help.

Reviews

[Mioki]

I did like this chapter very much. The description of the Cave of Alignment was breathtaking. You captured the reader into the depths of the cave, making them feel as if they themselves were lost in its darkness.

Some suggestions I do have, would be to maybe prolong the description (it seemed a tad bit rushed) and mix Gale's feelings into there a bit more.

Besides that, I thought this chapter was superb. The way you describe things and create ideas into the readers head is masterfully. I'm glad I have finally gotten to read this chapter; you and I really need to make a 'post a chapter a week' pact or something.

[Sseoni]

Yet again, another wonderful chapter! It was greatly detailed, descriptive, and the imagery was absolutely amazing! I really liked it! :D