Forest. Trees. Branches. Twigs. Just like on that day quite a few years ago. She didn’t want to remember, not that she could avoid it even if she tried. “Come on, Lithia, concentrate..” she said to herself half-aloud, slightly slapping her own cheeks with both hands – not slowing down in her rush through the twilight woods for even a moment while doing so. It was just a stupid habit she has fallen into, she knew all too well a firm command would have sufficed in the cases of this sort.
As she dashed on with relentless endurance the type of terrain changed a bit into an uphill stretch of grove with markedly less trees and a wee bit more rocks. After a good while the slope became rather steep and it didn’t take too long for her to reach the entrance of a cave – at long last something that fitted the bill for a shelter. She could hear something that made her cheer up a little. “Dripstone.. A dripstone cavern!” she rejoiced. She couldn’t help behaving a bit like a little lass when it came to stalactites and stalagmites and the occassional dripping sound and the smell of fresh damp air led to the conclusion that she might have discovered a place where she could find plenty of both. “Resting at a place like this would be..” she started the thought. However, a sudden burst of sensual warnings voiced only one short-term recommendation that flipped her onto the ground of reality again: PARRY!
“Bears? And two of them? They dislike places like this..” her rapid thoughts went on as she looked down on the gory mess – this time it was only the full white moon that helped with shedding a weak light on the scene. It happened all too sudden, just a flash of two fine weapons getting into movement by her experienced hands, three heartbeats then the ceremonial reinsertion of the blades into their sheathes. She reached into her backpack and lit a torch, out of mere habit. She hated killing animals but these ones didn’t leave any choice, as if.. “No, that’s nonsense, what would..” she put the thought aside and decided to concentrate on scouting again. After her mood having been ruined this nasty way she needed something to build her spirits anew. So she moved deeper into the cave.
It was a magnificent place and she indulged in the joys of exploring it. She knew it was important to keep the torch well away from the dripstones and she also avoided touching them in order to refrain from being the one who had stopped them growing. It takes quite a long time for these wonders of nature to develop and it’s so easy to annihilate them either unwillingly or deliberately – something humans are so good at.
The cavern had a nice lake too and the main chamber was cozy and seemed quite secure: the only entrance was the one she came in through, obviously the other stretches of the system were reachable via some underwater “paths”. “Very well, time to head back. He will be more than happy to hear the good news.” she thought and the bear incident was now only a minor nuisance in her summary for the day. In such high spirit her thoughts stuck in a rut again and started their dwell on him as she inched her way outwards slowed in the hypnotic attraction of her newfound piece of heaven on earth. She was treading and spinning just like a little child who wouldn’t really like to leave the candy shop and leave for home but knows she would be scolded unless she did so. “He would understand this little delay when he sees this.” she smiled. She pulled back the hood of her cloak which she had previously put on for protection against the cold and the drips – she didn’t mind either of them any more. She collected her long hair from the recesses of her upper clothing and let it flow on both sides, a more appropriate setting for her dazed waltz out.
The following moment she suddenly collapsed on the somewhat slippery floor landing on her knees. Her heart being in complete and utter despair and pain, she put down both her shaking arms to support her shocked body. She had never felt anything like this.. well, not since that fateful day, that is. “What is happening to me? Something is very wrong here!” she shouted in agony, her shriek casting rather frightening echoes. In a way it was quite funny for her to observe herself as if she had seen a stranger. At the same time she was most surprised as well as concerned about it as she had never lost her self control. At least not so much.
Her eyes popped out amidst of her sea of pain. “What’s this??” now it was her observant self’s turn to panic. None of her awareness levels were safe any more and she felt like falling off an edge into a black nothingness. “Zeth!” was her last thought before everything went blank.
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