Inside the murky tunnel, Alexia ignited a flicker of fire. She shivered, as the gloomy chill brushed against her. Her blazing golden eyes shone in the darkness. " This wouldn't do." The fire in her palms, grew, keeping the swirling fog at bay.
Alexia breathed out a sigh of relief. It was an odd uncomfortable experience being literally caressed by darkness. The fog around her seemed alive but not hostile...yet.
Gazing about curiously, Alexia wasn't certain if she was making the right decision or if this thing even led anywhere. It was a decision made on impulse after all.
" I mean...why would the gods build anything here in a warzone? And even if they did, what's the chance that it's still standing after all these years?"
Alexia whispered softly to herself, tilting her head as she pondered this question though her feet were still moving deeper into the lightless cave. The fog parted when confronted with her flame. Only the sound of dull footsteps could be heard.
Running her free hand on the wall of the cave, Alexia scrutinized the ancient walls. No ruins? She tapped the walls softly as she walked. No levers? She stomped on the ground but the floor was surprisingly super steady. ' Where's a trap door when you need one?' Alexia's caution and excitement had long died down.
To her left, darkness. To her right, darkness. Up and down? You guessed right, darkness. ' What have I put myself into this time?' This situation was awfully unnerving. It felt as if the darkness was the only thing aside from her that existed.
Where were the promised monsters? The major mysteries and discoveries? The flying arrows, trapped doors, the ancient catastrophe. This was not an adventure, this was a scram. It seemed Lugus and that demon god found it amusing to play with the hearts of mortals. She scoffed at them in her heart, it's not like they could hear her because she believed, the gods were dead.
Already tired, she stopped walking. With her hand above eyes, she peered forward hoping to see something, anything at all at this point. But all she saw was darkness and a cruel trick. Vehemently shaking her head, she decisively turned back. Anticlimactic adventure with zero stakes and discoveries? Nope.
But when she looked behind her, all she saw was swirling inky fog that seemed to be laughing at her naivety. She groaned, fighting the urge to begin a fight.
" I'm now assured that this is a scam."
Gritting her teeth while matching forward valiantly, she looked like an honourable soldier matching to her death. It was just that there was nothing honourable about this figure instead, she was so daring to curse the gods profusely in her mind.
Alexia exhaled. Getting angry wouldn't solve anything. At least there was now a high chance that something of value was actually in here. If not, why go through all that trouble to trap her here? Her eyes gleamed before dimming again.
Or maybe this was all done unintentionally, someone as small as her could never really fathom the will of the gods. And yet her life was being affected. What a typical thing for powerful people to do, interfering with the lives of lesser people just because they could.
Remembering something, her fists clenched almost extinguishing the light in her palms. The darkness moved, ready to pounce on her like a starved tiger seeing fresh prey. Noticing this, she calmed down at the last minute. Closing her eyes, she softly exhaled again.
When she opened them, she perceived the change in her surroundings. The fog was weaker, almost subdued. The cause of all this, a little ball of fire in front of her. Unlike the one in her palms, this one had a presense that made the fog give way indefinitely. She stared at it intrigued, creeping closer to study it properly.
Sensing her attempt to come close to it, it gestured for her to follow. Wriggling it's bottom, it flew forward lighting up the path in front of her.
Without much thought, her body moved on its own, chasing after the mysterious ball of fire. The sentiment flame looked as if it was having fun with her. If it had a mouth she assumed that it would be playfully giggling. The thought brought a smile to her lips while chasing after the lively flame.
As they moved deeper, they took so many twists and turns that made her dizzy. ' I'll lose my sense of direction at this rate.' Steadying her head, she panted. Looking at the cute energetic flame ahead of her, new energy came upon her. Grabbing the edge of a wall, she propelled herself forward.
'When had a little fire hurt anybody?' she questioned with a smile.
Just as she put her foot down, the flame plunged down and she soon followed.
" Spoke to soon. Damn it! Ahh!"
Shutting her eyes tightly, she felt her body plummeting down. She vented her frustrations silently and physically.
" And if I ever see that..." Halting mid sentence, she opened her eyes when her face heated up. Beside her the flame was leisurely holding a book made of fire.
Even though it tried to hide behind the covers of the book, she could make out trembling shoulders. Well that was if it had shoulders.
Furious, she reached out a hand to grab at it. The book disappeared, turning into billowing smoke that shrouded the figure of the flame.
Coughing, she tried again. The flame simply shifted exactly out of her reach. Wiggling, it dared her to catch it. Her eyes narrowed as she intensified her attempts, with every dodge, she could feel it's disdain grow more vivid.
Before she could complain about it's behavior, it jumped twice gesturing for her to look down. In a daze, she obeyed, only to realize that she was just a few meters from breaking every bone in her body.
She closed her eyes bracing herself for the rough landing. She waited a bit. But instead of the sound of cracking bones and snapping tendons, she felt hot.
Slowly opening her eyes, she cautiously looked down only to notice that she was sitting atop a cloud of warm flames. Staring at the the little ball of fire, she teased it with a grin.
" Little flame, can't bear to see me injured right?"
It rolled its eyes at her before abruptly causing the cloud to vanish letting her fall to the ground with a soft thud.
" Ouch."
Exclaiming painfully, she glared at the naughty flame, which answered her with a glare of it's own before it continued forward, leaving her there. She inhaled deeply before getting up.
" What era are we now. Even elements have learnt how to throw tantrums."
Mumbling to herself, with a pout, she reluctantly followed after the flames. It had slowed down considerably no longer rushing like it was in a hurry to incarnate.
' Could it even do that?'
Shaking her head free of those useless thoughts, she walked behind it until they reached a towering onyx door. She was unaware of what it was made of or what was on the other side but she was sure of two things.
One, was that the door was ancient and imposing so opening it was definitely not going to be as simple as picking a lock or saying a magic word.
She rolled her eyes at her thoughts and continued with her evaluation.
Second, such a door was bound to hold secrets. Her eyes lit up at the thought but how was she going to get through it.
While contemplating, her sight unintentionally drifted to the little ball of fire beside her. It had led her here so now what?
As if it had heard her question, the flame moved towards the door and easily slipped right through it. She wasn't sure what went on in her mind but few minutes after that, her body moved to mimic it earning her a bump on the head.
" Ouch."
While still rubbing her sore forehead, the flame came back watching her with a gaze of pity and disdain. This time she just silently accepted it because even she herself was confused by her actions.
Looking up at the door, she placed her hands on it, closing her eyes to feel it. Maybe there was a latch or something, thinking that she continued until she felt a stir in her soul.
It felt like something inside her was properly awakening but at the same time, the mysterious door was rapidly absorbing some of her essence. Feeding on the energy being emitted by the thing in her soul.