Chapter 6: The Wailing Caverns
The land began to change. The dry, golden plains of the Barrens yielded to a strange, sickly-green marsh. The air grew thick and humid, heavy with the scent of decaying vegetation and stagnant water. Strange, phosphorescent fungi glowed from the bases of twisted trees. The cheerful chirping of desert crickets was replaced by a low, constant droning of insects and a distant, echoing drip… drip… drip of water.Kaelen picked his way carefully, his hooves sinking into the soft, sucking mud. Thirst was no longer a problem; water was everywhere, but it was dark and uninviting. This place felt wrong. It felt… sick.Ahead, the mouth of a vast cave yawned open, shrouded in mist. A low sound seemed to emanate from within, not a loud wail, but a constant, mournful sigh, as if the very earth was in pain. This was the source of the dampness, the source of the wrongness.He moved closer, drawn by a morbid curiosity. The mist felt cold on his hide. Peering inside, he could see a stunning, terrible beauty. The cavern was immense, filled with towering, glistening stalactites and stalagmites. A shallow, turquoise-hued river flowed through it. But the vibrant color seemed unnatural, and the plants that grew along the banks were twisted and pulsing with a faint, internal light.He saw movement. A sleek, black-furred panther with glowing green eyes slunk through the shadows. It moved with a jerky, unnatural grace. Its head twitched, and it let out a gurgling hiss, baring fangs that dripped with a viscous green fluid. This was no normal beast.Suddenly, a sharp voice echoed from further down the cavern entrance. "By the Light, look at the size of it! The corruption here is deep."Kaelen shrank back against the cavern wall, pressing himself into a crevice.A party of adventurers moved into view. A human in gleaming plate armor, a dwarf with a massive rifle, and a figure draped in robes who seemed to shimmer with arcane energy. They were focused on the corrupted panther."The reports were accurate, Brann," the robed one said, her voice crisp. "This entire ecosystem is poisoned."The dwarf spat. "Aye. Nothin' a bit of dwarven steel and fire can't fix." He raised his rifle.The crackof the shot echoed violently in the confined space. The panther screeched and collapsed.But the sound did not fade. It multiplied. From deeper within the cavern, answering screeches and hisses arose. The adventurers tensed, readying their weapons for the onslaught they had provoked.But the commotion had stirred other things. From the ceiling of the cavern entrance, just above where Kaelen hid, several large, bat-like creatures detached themselves. Their wings were leathery, their eyes a solid, furious red. They swarmed, not towards the adventurers, but towards the movement and warmth they sensed huddled below—towards Kaelen.They descended upon him, claws scraping against his hide, their high-pitched shrieks piercing his ears. It was not a coordinated attack, but a frenzied, blind assault.Kaelen cried out, a wordless sound of panic, and burst from his hiding place. He thrashed wildly, his large body shaking off the creatures. He stumbled out of the cave mouth, back into the oppressive humidity of the marsh, the enraged bats still clinging and biting.He ran, not caring about the direction, only wanting to escape the wailing cave, the battling adventurers, and the clinging, scratching things. He plunged into a murky, waist-deep pool, the shock of the cool water finally causing the bats to release their grip and flutter away.He stood there, chest heaving, in the stagnant water. He had sought shelter and found only a different kind of nightmare. This world, he was beginning to understand, was wounded. And its wounds were dangerous.