You think you know darkness? That feeling you get when all of your worst fears are confirmed? That terrible idea that you can never see what's happening, and that you're being kept in the dark?
No. No. You don't know darkness.
When we walked into the cave, the moment we stepped in, we were plunged into a state of blindness. Our eye's didn't function well, we couldn't find any light, and we did not know anything about the inside of the cave.
It took us a while to find our way back out of the entrance. By then , we were winded, angry, and had several bruises from falling over a ton. "We need a new plan. Do you have a light?"
"No," he said, "I do not. I did not think we would need one."
I sighed. "How are we going to see, then?"
He shrugged. "Let's go buy one then."
We headed to a town and bought two lantern, four flashlights, some matches, a lighter, and some glow sticks for good measure. We went back into the cave much better equipped.
It was still incredibly dim, even with the added lighting. We only saw a few feet in front of us. Water dripped all around us. It was very distracting, and also left a foreboding sense. Many times we heard movement, but mostly it was just reptiles.
It is one of the most terrible feelings, losing one of your senses. You feel vulnerable and weak. You don't understand what's going on with one part of you, and you're afraid of what is going to happen next. Your other senses may be amplified, but your primary sense, the one you need the most at the moment, the one you're losing, is gone, and it feels torturous, to not be able to feel that again.
As we continued to go down the path and deeper and deeper into the cave, there were stranger and stranger sights. We shut off our lanterns and flashlights after the room became increasingly brightened by the jewels encrusted on the walls. Emeralds, diamonds, quartz, and all different types of gems covered the walls, creating a giant wall of color that made me see in rainbows. However, we had to keep moving from the riches and gems of the cave.
As we got further, we saw that these were not ordinary jewels. After we had walked longer and longer, we started to get less variation in color. Soon, there was a dominant color on the walls. Finally, all we could see were bloodred rubies attached to the wall that had consumed those who could not keep in their greed.
As we rounded a bend and passed the final bits of blood jewel, we came across a table. At the table lay a skeleton slack in a chair with its mouth open. Its head was tilted back, and the inside of the body was red, all red. I looked at it carefully. It was barely two months old. He had survived until the end. But, this is where he had died. In his hands were two bottles. Both were corked. On the table, carved out, there was a thin line of writing scratched out.
The choice is yours. Choose carefully, traveler. This is your last chance to leave. Gorgon's blood is not to be played with.
I stared at the vials. "Gorgon's blood, then?"
He nodded. I had never seen such fear in his eyes before. He didn't know what the future was going to be for this quest, nor did he know this could be the end of the line.
"What do we do? Do we just blindly choose?"
I slowly reached forward and took the vials from the skeleton. He sprang up and drew a sword. "You have thirty seconds to choose."
He stood still, hollow eyes staring into us. I looked at the vials. They were absolutely indistinguishable. They were the same height, same weight, same consistency. There was absolutely no way that I could find a logical answer.
"Ten seconds."
I started to see things I hadn't seen before. I saw the skulls hidden behind the jewels, the skeletons embedded into the dirt, and the way their eyes followed my every movement.
There's no logical way of doing it, I thought. So, I uncorked a bottle and drank from it. I fell to the floor gasping. My vision blurred and my senses betrayed me. I could feel my body entering lockdown. I gasped for breath as I heard Logic yelling at Emotion for being daft and not taking the time. I choked and thought of how I had failed the quest.
And then I opened my eyes.
I gasped, sat up, and thrust the vial into S's hands. "Drink.'
He didn't need a second word. He quickly swigged the drink and choked just as I had. He clawed at his throat and yelled in pain. I watched him writhe and, when he finally stood up, he was shaking all over. I nodded to him. The skeleton took the vials from us and sat back down. Behind him, the wall creaked and slowly opened. Within, I could hear the hisses and sounds that I had not looked forward to hearing.
"It is time, Brandon. I hope you are ready."
I nodded. All according to plan.
