The cave of the dragon
Moriah
When I opened my eyes, I did not know where I was. Everything around me looked so different from what I saw last time. But I have to be in the underworld, in hell because everything is macabre, and the smell is unbearable. Always smelling of rotten meat or death.
My body is not well, in fact, I have not been able to move since I woke up. At first, I was in and out of reality several times. I guess my mind wanted to be alert. But the damage that my body suffered is such, that it had no other choice than to remain unconscious trying to recover.
The little that I have observed about this place is that it is a cave. I am lying in a hole in the ground, nothing new. I have been living and sleeping on the ground for a long time now. But it is always difficult to know that I have been subjected to this inhumane treatment.
Inhuman, did I say it right? Sure, because. No! They are not humans, they are demons, dark beings from evil. Death is their table, betrayal, and mistreatment is the spoon with which they eat every day. I cannot overcome this. I refuse to think that I can get through this. A lot of pain and suffering has been thrown on my shoulders. Looking at myself here on the floor, unable to move.
I don't know how I'm still breathing, I should have succumbed to death. Everything would have ended if I had only had good luck on my side. But I can't escape life's insistence that I remain alive. I want to fly away from here, from the darkness, and from the smell of death.
Just thinking consumes a lot of energy, and it is difficult for me to keep my eyes open for long. They always end up closing, and I do not know when I will open them again, just to face this reality again and again. And it is to wake up in this cave, with only my conscience alert, while my body sleeps.
∞∞∞
My body doesn't react to anything. I don't know if I will ever be able to move, or if I will ever be able to do anything. As a result of this, even crying exhausts me, the pain in my soul is so strong, and I feel completely alone. Since I've been here, I've been alone, completely alone. I sometimes wonder whether I was hallucinating when I thought a black horse was approaching me in the last few minutes of my life. If that were true, I would have seen him by now, but no, nothing has changed. The situation I find myself in is alarming. And I have no idea what to do to end it. The time continues to pass, and occasionally, I think I felt something. I would rather not get emotional, but maybe my finger moved, although I tried again, in vain. I suspect it could just be my imagination because I want to be able to walk so much. That must have been the case.
The next time I woke up, I was sunk in misery and had no idea that I was yawning, shocking myself to realize this. As soon as I confirmed this was not an illusion or my imagination. My eyes filled with tears, and I did not stop crying. For it was an immense joy knowing that I could move something. Maybe tomorrow or the next day I could move something else.
The next time I noticed a change, it was my neck. I was uncontrollable and emotional. I tried to lean my head somewhere. It took me a lot of effort, but I finally succeeded. I used this opportunity to see around me. As I lifted my head a little, I noticed that I was lying on the ground, on the floor. Furthermore, I managed to see my body, which is the least I should have done, as sadness went straight into my heart.
My body is covered in scars and marks of all sizes. My mind was forced to think back to all the torture I went through at the hands of those demons. The hateful faces, the insults, the provocation, the humiliations, it was all a lot. I needed to close my mind and not think about anything, but how do I do it if all I have is time and nothing to do? The resentment that was forming in me was sickening me. I did not want my existence to revolve around bad thoughts. But these marks, which are the witnesses and the proof of everything I suffered, are not going to let me ever forget.
The next time I opened my eyes, I noticed that I didn't sleep so much. That I didn't go from consciousness to unconsciousness so often. Furthermore, my eyes have been open longer than closed, and my hands have become more motile. I can raise one arm for a few seconds.
In the time I spent thinking about what to do, my situation was quite precarious. I had no idea where I was, and I was always worried that those monsters would return to torture me. There was no doubt in my mind that they brought me here to heal. And that they would come back one day to continue the torture.
What if they are telling the truth? That I am here for the sole purpose of getting pregnant? That is not possible, having a baby with an evil creature like them. My life won't be spent breeding disgusting creatures. I have to get out of here as soon as possible.
So, I planned. The first thing I had to do was regain mobility in my body. I began by working on my neck and my arms. I exercised the muscles to rebuild their strength. I practiced several times a day, and when I felt another part of my body responding, I did the same. The training was hard, and my legs took the longest to improve, but I was almost there.
After a few weeks, I was able to sit down, turn my head, move my neck, lift my arms, and regain strength in my legs. I was so proud of what I had done. For the first time since I opened my eyes here, I was able to stand up. My muscles protested, but I had to keep going. I practiced walking around myself in the dark. I was cautious not to trip over anything and hurt myself. In that case, I continued with my exercise.
At the time, I was already in much better shape. It required great effort to get to where I am today. But I believe that my body is strong enough to find a way out and escape this misery. The next time I awoke, I decided today was the day I would start exploring.
Although, I always wondered why I was not hungry and why I was not cold. I remember when I was with the demons, hunger caused severe stomach cramps and more. As I got up, I walked farther and further away from the hole in the ground that is my bed.
After walking a few meters, I saw a small light tinkling in the distance. My heart began to race. I had to be careful not to find anything. This place is full of evil and things that shouldn't exist.
With courage, I slowly walked to that place, my legs shaking from fear and anticipation. In all the time that I have been here, I have not seen or heard anyone. This is scary. The only things that I could find are those demons. If anyone sees me, it will be my end, of that, I am confident, but not before having fun with me as the others did.
Following the steps with greater caution, I squatted down to the ground and crawled. I hoped that this would make me less visible, so I would run less risk of being seen. While crawling through the mud, my hands sank into it, as did my knees; the soil was wet and cold, as well as covered in moss. There were also pieces of bone, and there were a lot of them. This could be the burrow of some massive animal, as the remains appear old. But the light was getting closer and closer, I turned around looking everywhere. I had to be prepared if some creature suddenly appeared.
I got to a rock and I hid behind it, very cautiously. I poked my head to see what was ahead. My body froze to see what was in front of me. I tried to control my breathing since it was out of control. My eyes started to fill with tears.
How can this be? It is my end, I will not be able to escape from this, a dragon, and it is huge! What I saw shining were his eyes. My hands were shaking, and my brain was unable to react. My consciousness returned after being petrified in the same place for a few seconds. And I was finally able to move. I slowly crouched down, not wanting to attract his attention.
I managed to completely hide behind the rock and leaned my back on it. Not only that, but I could not keep my breathing steady, my heart was filled with hopelessness.
All I suffered and this would be my end, I would end up being eaten by that! Every time I closed my eyes, I saw him in my mind. He was a giant creature. His eyes shone like diamonds, and his body seemed to have impenetrable armour. I could see his giant fangs coming out of his mouth. The lethal spikes poking out of his spine caused my brain to back out. It was something terrifying, and the remains that I saw on the floor were surely his preys.
But nothing hit me as hard as what I heard next, “Ah, I see that you are much better, human. It took you time to recover, those demons hurt you awfully this time.”
My face was completely paralyzed, I could not even move my eyes. My pulse was about to explode from the amount of blood flooding my ears. My presence was known to that terrible beast.
But the dragon spoke again, cutting off my thoughts, “Oh! I understand you are very, but afraid of me. At the moment, you do not have to worry. I will not crush you with my feet or hit you with my tail until I pulverize your body. Or chew your soft body to swallow you whole. No, none of that. You can come out now.”
What did he say? I can't even generate a word. Is he threatening me, or is he playing with his food before eating it? I only know one thing, since I woke up in hell. I have only suffered at the hands of these creatures. And this dragon will not be the exception, but I cannot stay here, he already saw me, I have to take a risk.
So, slowly I poked my head over the stone, the beast was in the same place, he hadn't moved. I got up with great fear and uncertainty, but I had to do it, there was no point in continuing hiding. I stayed behind the stone to protect myself anyway. I knew that if this animal wanted to hurt me, nothing would stand in his way.
As I waited for him to say something, honestly, I could not say a thing. Fortunately, this dragon had a lot to share with me, “How do you feel, human? When they brought you here, you were almost dead. Your body had suffered very heavy injuries, old ones, and new ones. It is incredible how that stupid king of the underworld allowed something like this to happen.”
He waited for me to say something, but when he saw I was not going to open my mouth, he sighed and continued speaking.
“I don't understand why I'm helping him, it appears that he is not as bright as I expected, but anyway, let's move on to other topics.” I stayed in the same place, just listening. Even though he told me that I had nothing to worry about. His mere presence and figure were enough for my brain to be very cautious.
“The king's Agalariept brought you here. I already told you that you came half-dead. I don't understand why he thought of bringing you to me. But the horse was quite convincing, I can tell you that.”
I saw the dragon get lost in his thoughts as if he were living that moment again. He shook his head and got back to reality. “As I was saying, he brought you here and forced me to keep you safe. Even from the king himself, that's why I insist that you should relax around me. If something happened to you, that would give me a lot of trouble with that demonic horse.” He nodded his head and started walking towards me.
As I saw his immenseness closer and closer, the colour disappeared from my face. I remained in the same place without moving or making a sound. He was frightening from afar, and even closer. I closed my eyes, as I found it hard to watch him approach. Please don't hurt me, please, please, I thought to myself over and over.
Even with my eyes closed, and motionless, the fear was eating me alive. I felt his breath hit my face. It was putrid and hot, it could kill me just by blowing on my face. When I managed to open them, the dragon was still in front of me. He made a small puff of smoke and said, “Wow! Humans, always so afraid, I'll let you walk through my cave. There's no way you can get out, in case you're thinking of finding an exit. And I'll tell you something too, in case you've wondered. My land has magical properties. This is what has helped you heal and has maintained your body without the need for food.”
He shook his head up and down, “I was just saying.”
And with that done, he turned around and was lost in the dark. “Oh!” I couldn't believe it, I survived the encounter with a dragon. But now what do I do? He said there was no way out, so how can I leave before those demons come back for me? The only thing I can think of is to talk to him and try to convince him to let me go. Where? Although I'm not certain, it's better than waiting for them to decide my fate.
And the most important thing is to avoid being used as a human incubator at all costs. I can't even imagine how such a thing could happen—children are meant to be loved and to live as a family. Not to serve as weapons—and neither will I.
I decided not to waste any more time and explore the cave, as the dragon called it. I needed to check for myself that there were no exits. Furthermore, I will also use the opportunity to exercise my body. As I need to be ready in case any chance to escape presents itself.
As I walked through the cave, I checked each nook and cranny. But I have yet to find anything. Sadly, it seems the dragon told the truth, there is no way out of here. The only other option I have is to talk to this creature.
There must be something I can do to convince him to help me escape. So, I plucked up my courage and went to the place where I first saw him. I was standing in front of the gigantic mouth of an entrance. The air that came from it was terrifying, it gave me goosebumps.
My stomach was in knots, and my anxiety was very high. I couldn't help but shake in fear, so I took a deep breath and exhaled. The fear did not go away, but it gave me pause to take the next step. After filling my lungs with air. I shouted with all my might, “DRAGON,” But nothing.
I waited a little longer before calling him again, “DRAGON” This time, I didn't have to wait, as before. Because the dragon poked its head out, its snout was only inches from me.
