I hit the ground with a whump, the bed of loose dirt doing almost nothing to soften my fall. Pain lanced through my side as I tried to sit up. Grunting, I craned my head to check for a wound there. My muscles tightened at the splintered root, sticking out as if it’d grown from my body. Nervously, I ran my hands over the spot, letting my head flop against the dirt when I realized it’d only pierced my dress. Plucking away the root, I poked a finger through to find the chainmail Lucian gave me was undamaged underneath.
“Where’s Waffle?” I asked, forcing myself upright.
Narrowing my eyes, I struggled to find anything in the dark, dust-choked air. I leaned in, hoping to see him waddling towards me. The fact that he hadn’t yet made me worry.
“Do you think he got buried?” I asked.
“That’d be a shame, considering how his mother went.”
“Not. Funny.” I shot back, gritting my teeth as I forced myself upright.
“Waff-le?” I choked, praying to hear his squeak.
My heart sank when the only sound that came was the patter of loose stones, still raining down from overhead.
“Relax, we were nowhere near him when we fell, this seems like a separate cavity altogether.”
“Cavity?” I asked, trying to take in my surroundings.
The chamber was shaped like a bottle on its side, bulging outward where I’d landed before tapering into darkness. Above me, light leaked in from the hole I’d fallen through, partially obscured by the roots in its path. With a groan, I pushed myself to my feet, frowning as I found darkness behind me as well. Not a chamber at all, I’d landed inside a tunnel.
“What do you think made this?” I asked, eyeing the walls.
Ridges spiraled along the surface in smooth, overlapping arcs that stretched further than I could see. I traced my fingers along the wall. Aside from the ridges, it felt smooth, almost polished, as if the dirt had been compressed rather than hewn away.
“No clue, but if it were anywhere close, it would’ve been on us by now…especially with all the noise our entrance made.”
I nodded, taking a step forward before hesitating and turning to face the other direction. Falling through the roots had turned my body several times, making it hard to tell which way I’d been facing on the surface.
“Do you know which way leads to Waffle?”
“Uh. No, sorry,” he hesitated, “thanks to your AI’s compass, I do know which direction his hole was when you fell—unfortunately, neither way points directly towards it, but it is more in the direction you’re facing.”
I frowned as an arrow appeared in my vision, pointing almost directly at the wall of dirt to my left. It edged slightly more towards one direction, but not enough to make it any less of a guess.
When I fell, I was only about fifteen feet away from where Waffle was stuck, this tunnel seemed to stretch far beyond that. I didn't have time to waste exploring; I had to get to him now, before whatever made the tunnels came back. Belial seemed to realize what I was intending, because he stopped me as I raised an arm to start digging.
“AHT. NO. This time you’re listening to me.” He insisted, literally taking control of my arm and freezing it in place.
“I don’t have time for this.” I said, rolling my eyes, “Waffle is—”
“Probably fine.” He cut in, “You need to calm down before you make the situation even worse.”
I pushed a deep breath through my nose, counting the seconds it took for my chest to deflate.
“I don't see how following the tunnel is any less reckless. What if we run into whatever made it?”
“Please. We both know if I told you Waffle was that way, you'd be sprinting down the tunnel without a second thought. The only reason you haven't yet is because for some reason, you believe digging your way through fifteen feet of earth with your hands is a better idea.” He ranted, sounding out of breath by the time he finished.
“We don't even know where it goes.” I said, waving my unfrozen arm at the stretch of darkness in either direction. “How do you know it leads to Waffle?”
He drew out a long sigh that made my eye twitch.
“I don't, but what I do know is you'll need a hole at least three and a half feet to fit through.”
“Okay.” I nodded, taking a determined step towards the wall.
“AHT. I'm not done,” he interrupted, clearly annoyed, “this cave is already 25 feet below the surface, meaning you'll have 18 and a half tons of unstable dirt above your head. Which, since I know you don't know, is more than it would take to crush you into paste.”
“Fine,” I admitted, hands falling to my sides—at least, one of them had fallen; the other still dangled awkwardly where he’d left it. I stared at it for a moment, then cleared my throat.
“Ah, sorry about that.” He said, sounding slightly embarrassed as he let go.
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
Keeping one hand on the wall, I headed in the direction the arrow favored slightly, even if only by a hair, I figured this gave me slightly better odds. The further I went, the more the walls constricted with large stones and packed dirt crowding the gap. I contorted into several awkward poses to cram myself past them. With how randomly the tunnel seemed to turn, there was no way to tell whether I was moving towards waffle, but considering I was only a dozen feet away when I fell inside, the direction felt wrong.
“Uagh!” I let out as something yanked my head back—a root, I realized, untangling my hair.
Trying to direct the gnarled twig behind me, I leapt backwards as it throbbed in my hand. Blue light rippled through the translucent wood, painting the walls with the same azure hues I remembered from my days as an ashand.
“That was—”
“Like your flowers.” Belial finished, sounding deep in thought.
“Do you think they’re connected somehow?”
“I’m not sure, but I’d say there’s a good chance. Aside from the flowers, there aren’t any known plants that exhibit bioluminescence…that’s when living things glow.” He added, at my evident confusion.
“But, what are they growing from?” I asked, wearily. The flowers only grew from corpses, human corpses, according to Lucian. I wondered if there were human remains nearby.
“Hard to say without more information. We’ll have to keep an eye out for any more of them.”
I nodded pensively, ducking below the root and pressing further into the darkness. The passage narrowed until I had no choice but to crawl. Shoulders scraping both sides; I inched forward on my stomach, spotting a faint light up ahead. The passage narrowed further, catching me around the ribs. Cursing, I pushed all the air out of my lungs, trying to flatten myself enough to wriggle through. I managed to squeeze my head through the gap, grunting as I called out for Waffle.
Relief came in the form of an anxious huff, followed by an excited wombat, waddling into view. He barreled towards me, snuffing excitedly as he nudged his face into mine, his fuzz stealing some of my tears.
“I found you,” I managed, trying to keep my voice from cracking into a sob.
He seemed to realize I was stuck, his tentacles tickling my chin as he tucked himself underneath. A second later I felt him digging along the side of my ribs, his burrowing inciting a breathless giggle from me as I worked myself free.
I crawled on my arms a few more feet before rolling onto my back. The instant I did, Waffle raced around my head, squeaking and puffing warm breaths directly into my ear.
“Don’t do that again,” I scolded, wiping my eyes.
I pushed myself upright and went to lift him, a knot forming over my eyes when it took both hands to scoop him up. A few hours ago, he fit neatly inside my palm.
“How’d you grow so fast?” I asked, holding him beneath his armpits and turning his body back and forth.
“It might have something to do with the half-eaten root over there,” Belial answered for him, causing me to look around.
I found the maimed root along the wall. It’d had been eaten in half; blue liquid pooling beneath the two jagged ends poking from the ground.
“Is that—”
“The same as in the tunnel, yes. I think we just discovered how all the animals are getting larger.”
“You think they’re all eating the roots?”
“Not all of them, I’m having a hard time imagining those spiders grazing peacefully on anything that isn’t flesh. My guess is they’re eating the animals that do. Sort of like a quaint little eco-system.”
“Do you think it’s safe for Waffle?” I asked as Waffle rasped a complaint, reminding me I was still holding him.
I relaxed my hands slightly, hoping I hadn’t upset him as I plopped him in my lap. The last thing I needed was him running away again. He curled into a ball there, making me feel better when he didn’t immediately run off. Instead, he settled in, rubbing his head against my thigh.
“See if you can get me a sample of that liquid,” Belial requested, making me cock my head.
“How?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at the strange puddle.
More liquid had pooled there, creating a trail along the ground that ended just a few feet away.
“Just dab some on your finger and put it in your mouth,” he answered, causing me to twist my face in disgust. “Relax, I’m going to metabolize it in your mouth before it ever touches your blood.”
Before I could ask what that meant, I felt a ripple along the surface of my tongue.
“What did you just do to my mouth?” I demanded, feeling it go completely numb.
“Nothing much,” he said, casually, “just collapsed all the capillaries, including the ones in your tongue and throat. Oh, and I repurposed one of your glands to create a novel carrier fluid. It’s like a fully accredited lab in there.”
“YU DITHNT THFINK TO ASTHK FIRTH,” I shouted, eyes bulging as I realized I could hardly speak.
“Calm down, I’ll undo it once I analyze the sample. You’re the one who wanted to make sure Waffle would be okay, remember?”
Shaking my head, I leaned my upper body toward the puddle, careful not to disturb Waffle, who was snoring peacefully in my lap. The sap clung to my finger, smelling faintly sweet. I expected it might taste like tree sap as I dabbed it against my tongue. Instead, I tasted nothing. Belial must’ve switched that sense off somehow.
“Okay, got it,” he said, cheerfully. “Now give me a second to break it down.”
Break it—down? I made a puzzled face, which quickly morphed into a grimace as my mouth began to tingle.
“Ohh. Hmm…well that’s not good.” He said, sounding concerned.
“What’s not good?” I asked, straightening my spine.
He ignored the question, mumbling something about…cats?
“Strange…it shouldn’t be…oh that’s even worse.”
“What’s even worse?” I demanded, gnawing my lip as I rocked back and forth. “Is the sap dangerous or not?”
Before he could answer Waffle shuddered violently, each spasm followed by a panicked, squeaky gasp.
“No…” I breathed, swallowing hard as I took him in my hands, cradling him against my chest. “What’s wrong with him?”
“Huh? I don’t—” He started, sounding confused.
His little paws clung desperately to my collar as his chest heaved frantically, rasping in quick, uneven sips of air.
“It’s okay...you’re okay.” I choked, folding my chin into my neck to bring my face closer to him. “I’m right here.”
“It’s okay,” Belial said, trying to calm me. “It’s just an a—”
“I swear to gods, if you say he’s just an animal I will snap my own neck,” I yelled, tears cutting lines down my face.
“Whoa. I think you’re being a little dramati—”
“HELP ME,” I screamed as Waffle’s head jerked back.
His mouth locked open, little eyes bulging in shock as he stiffened in my hands. I held my breath, heart pounding as I strained, praying to hear his rasp. My mother’s image flooded my mind, her face pale and frozen, the way she was before she turned. A dull ache radiated from my chest as I imagined the same monster stealing his body—forcing him to hurt me.
“He’s not dy-ing.” Belial huffed, sounding impatient. “Or turning feral. It’s just an asthma attack!”
“Wha—”
A shaky breath poured from my lungs as I noticed Waffle’s chest swelling up with air. He was breathing.
“He’s having an asthma attack. It’s probably all the dust in the air!”
“The dust?” I asked, knitting my brow as I examined Waffle closer.
He wrinkled his nose, shoulders pulling tight as he tilted his head toward the ceiling. My eyes drifted upwards, trying to find what he was looking at.
“You might want to put him down,” Belial warned—right before Waffle sneezed, showering my face with a blanket of bright purple snot.
See? Waffle's fine. I don't know why you guys think I'm some kind of monster.
Also, let me know if you have any theories on what made the tunnels. (I'm totally quizzing you guys, and not trying to get you to come up with something for me.)
What color should Waffle's snot be next time?
