JaceVAmor
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Chapter 177: The Butterfly Cave
🕑 Added 2023-12-29 16:11:01 +0000 UTCCoop fell into the abyss. The wind rushing past his ears was the only indication that he was moving, otherwise it felt like he was simply floating in an empty void. His eyes gradually adjusted to the gloom as he squinted into the darkness. The light from the surface hardly penetrated beyond the boundary of the cave entrance, but Coop was able to make out some of the obscured features within.
The walls widened beyond the breach in the surface and revealed the full extent of the dim cavern. The interior of the cenote was covered in lush green vegetation that desperately clung to the edges of the formation. The thick layers of green went all the way to the ground and were pockmarked by bursts of color where flowers bloomed and insects congregated. Plants and vines extended their broad leaves toward the middle in stratified layers, striving to catch the limited beam of sunlight that would shoot through the gap, spotlighting sections as the days waned. Dense clusters of flourishing plants competed on narrow ledges that were scattered along the walls. The ledges could have been used to climb in and out of the cave, but Coop had taken the more expedient route by dropping straight down.
Hanging roots decorated the ceiling of the cenote, extending down into the cavern from the trees on the surface like jagged wires caked with dirt. The elongated shapes were exaggerated by the faded light painting a macabre series of shadow puppets with stretched fingers grasping at the walls. Clumps of hanging plants intertwined themselves with the roots, finding spots closest to the surface to claim the light before it scattered through the rest of the vegetation.
The air was distinctly cool compared to the surface, but if anything, it was even more humid than the rainforest above. Coop only fell for a few seconds before he twisted his body forward. Once the walls made enough space, he made sure he would land comfortably.
Just a few moments after he leapt into the abyss, the placid water at the bottom of the cenote was disturbed with a foreign object cutting through the surface. Coop’s ethereal spear embedded itself into the bottom center of the cavern with a rush of wind and a splash. The spear implanted itself like a flag, claiming the subterranean land for the Revenant. Swirls of mists gathered around the shaft of the weapon, accumulating until they engulfed the spear and Coop solidified. A short mistjump left him standing in the cold groundwater up to his knees, illuminated by a gentle haze of unnatural gray light that lingered in the air as if carried by motes of dust.
Rather than butterflies, as the name of the cave system would suggest, Coop was confronted by a dozen white moths, each leaving trails of the dusty light as they escaped his unexpected presence. They were each only the size of a quarter, but they contrasted with the dark greens and browns that decorated the rest of the cave and gave the whole place an ethereal atmosphere.
The flying insects scattered as they sought sanctuary in clumps of gray moss that encircled the pool. The bottom layer of plants decorating the dirt-coated walls provided a tent-like cover around the perimeter of the space, protecting the edges. The waves caused by Coop’s spear gently washed the hanging leaves before splashing against the rock foundation.
Coop swapped to his one-handed warhammer for the moment, flipping it twice before catching it by the handle as he considered his surroundings from his vantage in the middle of the cavern. The whole area was only about 60 feet wide, but it still felt huge due to the height. Looking up, spotting the hole in the ceiling in between the tangled hanging roots was difficult. It was camouflaged by roots and leaves around 400 feet above his head, but he didn’t want to lose track of it, as it was his main ticket back to the surface.
There were only two possible exits from the initial cavern, three if he counted the hole he had jumped through to get in. Each of the passageways that would take him further were shrouded in darkness and narrow enough to limit him to his smaller weapons if they extended any distance. He wasn’t expecting monsters, but it was always better to be prepared, so he would keep his one-handed hammer ready at the start.
Tzultacaj and Juliana had only been able to warn him about the initial challenges he would face from the environment itself. They didn’t have any advice for actually finding the specific location of the High Priest’s lair since they hadn’t had much success in navigating the caves themselves. Hundreds of similar natural pits formed from collapsed limestone bedrock with varying levels of exposed groundwater and they had only been able to explore a fraction due to the priest’s traps. The caves would be connected by dark, uninviting, and narrow passageways, and Coop would need to anticipate magic-induced confusion thanks to the priest.
Fog of War would be the key to Coop’s navigation strategy. He would cheat, relying on an invisible mist to guide him through the maze while his extreme investment into Mind would provide natural defense against enemy influence. Other than the confinement he felt from being underground, he thought the environment suited his abilities quite well.
“Sucks for you.” Coop muttered. Having Coop, of all people, be the one to come looking for a confrontation was about as unlucky as someone could get.
While the fog spread, developing a subconscious minimap, Coop watched fish swim in the pool. They dashed through thin layers of underwater vegetation growing from the bottom as they did their best to hide from his legs. The pool of water was crystal clear, even when barely illuminated by limited light. A small island was naturally forming where he stood, bolstered by whatever debris fell from the hole above. Whether rain, stones, sticks, or dirt fell from above, it all worked to keep a clear column that would otherwise be overcome by the plants as they fought for the sunniest position. The perimeter of the pool was deep enough that Coop would need to swim across once he decided which path to take. Lizards skittered along the walls, chasing each other into the ferns that lined the bottom edges of the stone walls, and frogs resumed their croaking from the various ledges, letting their voices ring into the cavern. The whole environment was like a giant paludarium.
Coop’s observations were interrupted by a notification popping up for seemingly no reason. When he checked it, his spirit was boosted with the confirmation that his companions were succeeding elsewhere. Ghost Reef had claimed Neptune’s Bridge as a subordinate and the bonus objective for the settlement quest had been completed. He would need to return to Ghost Reef to turn it in, since it was a Champion quest, which would obviously be delayed by his expedition, but having one more mission completed was always good news.
As he considered his itinerary, hoping to accomplish at least as much as his advisors, Presence of Mind filled his mind with a sense of the caverns. It indicated that either direction from the starting cave would reveal similar habitats as Fog of War extended throughout the system. Coop flipped his warhammer a few more times as he scouted cavern after cavern from safety. All of them seemed pristine, untouched by humans or monsters, but full of life. Few of them received any sunlight at all, with their own skylights breaching the ceiling, but there were all sorts of amphibious animals even in the nearly complete darkness. Bats, snakes, turtles, and more than enough insects made their homes in nooks and crannies of the caves. Coop had to imagine what kind of activity was taking place within the various pools of groundwater, but he was sure there would be fish and other critters living happily in the dark. Judging by the ripples on the surfaces, there was just as much life underwater as above.
The subtle gray light spread throughout every space underground. Coop bet that it was a side effect of the High Priest’s territorial claim. Basically, he assumed they had an ability that filled the areas much like how he was applying his fog. If they happened to have a combination of skills like Fog of War and Presence of Mind they would already know he was in the cave. Unlikely as it was, he thought operating with that in mind would be prescient.
“Hey.” Coop spoke, causing a gecko to bolt from where it was lounging on the side of a rock, rustling leaves as it went. He wasn’t speaking to the reptiles, but was testing to see if he could get the priest to react. “I’m willing to talk. If you’re open to it, let me know which way to go.”
Coop waited, continuing to monitor his Fog of War as it engulfed the underground system. He received no response from the High Priest. Even if they could hear him, he doubted they would be inclined to play ball. In all likelihood, they simply had no idea he was there.
“Definitely unlucky.” Coop mumbled, but he was still observing the priest’s luck rather than his own. Coop stretched his neck as he waited for his fog.
The window for the priest to offer him guidance had lapsed. Coop’s misty domain had extended as far as one of the passageways would go. At first the caverns were like a daisy chain of sinkholes of various levels of erosion. Most of them lacked an opening to the surface, instead developing as underground pools while water from the higher elevations eroded the rock beneath the forest floor. After half a dozen individual pockets of space, they opened up. The caves evolved into a narrow ravine that was completely exposed to the darkening sky. The tall stone walls were difficult to distinguish from the fledgling forest that had claimed the ravine. It was filled with towering trees with branches that brushed against the sides, filling the excavated ground with greenery. From above, the ravine would have been just another strip of vegetation in an expansive mountain forest, impossible to discern from the rest of the trees.
There were no priests on that side, so obviously Coop would go in the opposite direction. His Fog of War continued to find new caverns as it filled the passageways extending beneath the weathered Maya Mountains and he slowly swam across the cold water to follow. He would only move as fast as his fog, so he wasn’t in a rush, even if there was something of a deadline in place. Getting lost would only take more time, so he would be satisfied with leaning on his domain’s expansion.
Coop shook off the cold water before he swept the broad arrowhead-shaped leaves away from the chosen passage and stepped forward, leaving the first cavern behind. Calling the gaps in between the caves passageways was a bit of an exaggeration. They were nothing more than large rifts in the rock walls, connecting the neighboring sinkholes. Some of the caverns had already been combined many years before as the walls were eroded away, and it wouldn’t be surprising to knock a hole in one of the walls and expose a previously unconnected cave.
The second cavern was like the first, though it lacked a hole in the ceiling and there was no small island forming in the center of the pool of groundwater. The vegetation was equally absent, though the moss hadn’t completely abandoned the idea of claiming new real estate. Coop gazed over at one side, where a narrow ledge remained dry above the water. He raised his eyebrows until Felix revealed himself, becoming a shadowy outline before solidifying into a mass of dark fur after letting his camouflage drop. The large cat was laying along the full length of the dry ledge, leaving one paw hanging in the water. Tiny fish darted away, sending ripples in the otherwise calm water as an enormous claw seemed to manifest near them.
Coop raised an eyebrow at the cat and in response, the black jaguar glided into the water and swiftly paddled over to Coop.
“Keeping an eye on me?” Coop wondered, scratching Felix’s wet cheek after the cat shook. “I guess you can let them know I didn’t fall to my death.” He pointed across the cavern. “I’m heading that way.”
Felix followed Coop’s finger with his head and sat down. Coop flung his warhammer across the water-filled cavern, letting it flip end over end before he mistjumped to the other side. Coop caught the hammer and turned back to the entrance.
“Catch you later.” He said, waving at Felix before he proceeded deeper into the cave system. He got the impression that the cat would have been willing to accompany him, but he couldn’t go any further from Juliana.
Coop felt reassured that he would have some reinforcements if he really ended up needing them. They hadn’t discouraged him from going ahead on his own, not because they recognized his strength, though that might have played a small part in their calculations. They were always feeling a sense of urgency to save people that had been kidnapped by the Cult of Chakyum. Priests were constantly empowering themselves after kidnapping new victims, and most of the remaining people who opposed the Cult weren’t low-leveled people. The longer they took to take down the priest, the more difficult it would become, and the more lives that would be potentially lost. They were placing hope in Coop, but they were also bolstered by his confidence to succeed in an otherwise difficult mission themselves.
As Coop moved into the third cavern he was presented with a crossroads of sorts. There were three options, but he didn’t hesitate in choosing the rightmost passage. Fog of War had already filled the other two selections and found them terminating in dead ends. Both of the final chambers were full of small, gently glowing, green mushrooms that were like small alien fingers covering all the surfaces of otherwise dark caves. The bioluminescent fungi only appeared in the final two caverns, making it easy for Coop to keep track of the ends.
Moths fluttered around in every cave that Coop explored, disturbed by his presence. Before he arrived, they were inactive, hiding among whatever limited vegetation existed in the otherwise dark chambers. The dim gray light penetrated the entire system, emitted by tiny specks of dust that drifted onto the surfaces of the caves and was flung into the air whenever the moths flapped their wings.
His quiet exploration was finally disturbed in the chamber after the crossroads. “...Go back…” Coop heard the first whisper in the fourth cavern. It was frustratingly demanding that he return to the crossroads. The voice sounded like a young girl’s, exhausted, and filled with tired desperation.
Tzultacaj and Juliana had warned him about the deceptiveness of the priest who appeared to have abilities that induced hallucinations, though they experienced them right away upon entering the cave system. The hallucinations deterred them in their own expeditions. They were tricked, confused, and eventually poisoned. Anyone with weaker constitutions would have been defeated, but Felix was strong enough to resist and forcefully guide the humans back to safety. It was the virtue of the stats provided by his extra levels.
If Coop hadn’t been warned, he didn’t think he would have obeyed the whispers anyway. The priest made a mistake making the voice sound like someone that required aid, regardless of the content of their message. Coop didn’t have the self-preservation trait that would have him abandon someone that seemed like they needed help like that.
“...Come to me…” A different womanly voice continued seductively and Coop blew air out of his nose in surprise at the sudden change in strategy. Coop wondered if it was actively adjusting to Coop’s behavior, but whatever illusion it was weaving fell apart with the peculiar contradiction right off the bat.
Coop kept moving, following the fog through caverns, skipping swims where he could simply flip his warhammer across, and receiving all sorts of demented messages.
“...You are not alone…” An elderly woman’s voice observed, and Coop chuckled. He was Haunted by countless spirits, sometimes he wished they would converse, but the whispered experience was diminishing his enthusiasm for such a prospect.
“True.” He admitted it, letting his quiet voice echo in the empty cave. He wasn’t ever alone, at least not in spirit. The voices were definitely in his head, lacking the natural resonance that would occur if they were real, like his own spoken word.
“...You can’t escape…” A man’s voice continued, this time trying to intimidate him, though Coop just chuckled some more.
“...Join me…” The alluring woman’s voice returned.
“Hmm…” Coop wondered about the effectiveness of this distraction. Maybe he was resisting the actual impact thanks to his investment in Mind, because it just wasn’t very persuasive.
“...The end is here…” An elderly man’s voice observed sadly.
“...Watch your back…” The man’s voice repeated.
“...Help me…” The girl cried.
“Okay.” Coop agreed.
The voices continued escalating until they were overlapping, sounding like a crowd of people pressing in on him from every direction, though he was only surrounded by darkness and moths. It was like he couldn’t even hear his own thoughts over the cacophony. More than twenty caves in and even he felt like he was distracted by the crowd of desperate pleas, ominous warnings, threats, and various levels of despair.
The large cavern that he had entered was mostly dry. Rather than having a wide pool of crystal clear water, there were only a handful of puddles. There were two problems. The first was that he had ended up in a dead end despite utilizing Fog of War to scout his path. The second was that there were millions of the tiny green mushrooms coating the walls, like an alien carpet and they were creeping him out even more than the whispers.
For a moment Coop was confused with himself. “Just two problems?” He wondered out loud. He was pretty sure there were more than that.
The green mushrooms pulsed and some enlarged themselves, reaching out at him with grayish spores streaming from beneath their caps. Coop didn’t retreat, even though that was what the crowd of voices demanded. Instead, he whipped his warhammer through the air, slamming it down on the cap of the first enormous mushroom that jumped at him, matching its charge with a heavy downward blow. The head of his weapon passed straight through the attacking mushroom, smashing into the stone ground instead, sending pebbles flying in all directions. The mushroom vanished. It just poofed out of existence, leaving nothing but an equivalently-sized cloud of the gray motes of dust and a dozen moths scattering away.
Coop squinted in the inconsistent light, realizing that the mushrooms hadn’t been moving at all. The almost radioactive seeming green mushrooms remained on the walls, stationary, and tiny. The attack wasn’t real.
He looked closer around the cavern, noting the deep pools of water at the edges, the shallow puddles he had walked through, and the thousands upon thousands of moths flying with erratic movements. His eyes wandered up into the wide open space in the rocky cathedral of mushrooms and moths. The moths were flying in a pattern, following him. They bunched together unnaturally while Coop watched. Then, when they were at their densest, something blasted through them.
Coop summoned his shield and held it protectively, not completely trusting his senses, and not totally relying on Presence of Mind, but also not willing to ignore what seemed like danger. He might end up fighting ghosts for real, but even if he was fighting his imagination, he intended to win anyway.
A smooth lance shot forward, exiting the swarm of moths without a sound, knocking some of them out of the air and impaling more than one on its tip. The needle-like edge shimmered in the erratic illumination and struck Coop’s ethereal shield, sending a plume of ghostly mana to mix with the gray dust.
Coop lost his footing, rolling backwards from the blow, but there was no follow-up. The massive lance had disappeared into the sea of moths and there was nothing that was obviously wielding the weapon.
Coop spun around, seeking his opponent, but he found none. The audience of mushrooms silently judged him and the eclipse of moths continued to swarm around the open chamber.
“Hey…” Coop spoke to the cave. “Come back.”
Comments
Amadhe
They really are. I could see the cave clearly in my mind’s eye as Coop explored.
Nyroe
Jace, your powers of description are wonderful. I love the descriptive tour you take us on whenever Coop goes through places.
