Azad awoke to a faint, cold splash on his face. Blinking groggily, he took in the strange scene around him, disoriented and aching. He was lying beside an underground pool, its water shimmering faintly under an ethereal blue-green glow that seemed to pulse and fade like a heartbeat.
"Where… where am I?" he muttered, slowly sitting up, his head pounding and vision blurred. He rubbed his eyes and took a shaky breath. He looked up at the high ceiling of the cavern, barely visible through the darkness above. "Lucky to be alive," he whispered to himself, a slight smile tugging at his lips. "If I hadn't landed in that water…"
He tried to stand, but dizziness washed over him. He wobbled on his feet, gripping the rough stone wall to keep from falling. "Okay, okay… steady now," he mumbled, clutching his aching side. "I've got to get out of here."
His eyes flickered to a dim glow just ahead, where a strange, almost rhythmic light flickered in the darkness. It was faint but distinct, pulling him forward. "Well," he sighed, shaking his head, "better than sitting here waiting for some creature to finish me off."
Slowly, Azad staggered toward the light. With each step, the pulsing glow grew a bit brighter, casting long, shifting shadows along the rugged cavern walls. "Could be something dangerous," he muttered, but the strange allure of the light pushed him onward. He stumbled once or twice, nearly falling over loose stones. "Great, Azad. First, you fall down a hole, now you're tripping over rocks like an idiot."
As his vision cleared, Azad dug through his pack and struck a spark, lighting a few torches he'd hastily put together. The warm, orange light from the torches gave him a small comfort, chasing away some of the darkness as he walked forward. "Alright… now let's see where you've ended up this time."
After some time, he rounded a bend, and his breath caught in his throat.
Before him stretched a massive chamber cloaked in an ominous darkness, far heavier than any night he'd ever seen above ground. Thick, jagged stone walls rose around him, their rugged surfaces fractured and worn as though they'd held secrets for centuries. The only light came from eerie patches of bioluminescent fungi, crawling along the walls and floor like pulsing, glowing veins. They flickered in and out, casting an unnatural glow that beat like a heartbeat.
"What in the …" Azad murmured, unable to look away. "This… place feels like it's alive."
He stepped closer to one of the walls, holding his torch up to examine it. Shadows flickered and danced around him, their shapes twisting and bending in unsettling ways. The fungus seemed to pulse slightly under the torchlight, receding momentarily as if avoiding the warmth.
"What kind of place is this?" he muttered, his voice almost a whisper, as though speaking too loudly might awaken something lurking in the darkness.
The floor of the cavern was uneven and jagged, with large stones jutting out at odd angles. And everywhere he looked, he saw strange, dark patches that spread across the walls like creeping shadows, absorbing any light that touched them. They looked almost like veins, coursing with something unseen, and they were unlike anything Azad had ever encountered. "This isn't natural," he said to himself, swallowing hard. "It's like something's tainted this place."
He took a hesitant step forward, the silence around him almost deafening. Only the occasional drip of water or the faint sound of shifting stone disturbed the eerie quiet. "I should turn back…" he muttered, but his feet moved forward as though compelled by an unseen force. "I don't even know what's down here. It could be anything."
A shiver ran through him as he took in the vast, shadowed expanse of the cavern. Every flicker of light seemed to create another shadow, another thing lurking in the dark. He was beginning to wonder if he was entirely alone here.
"Keep it together, Azad," he told himself, forcing a steadying breath. "You've faced worse, right?"
But the truth was, he wasn't so sure.
He tightened his grip on his torch, listening to his own footsteps echo as he moved cautiously forward. He couldn't help but notice how even his torchlight seemed weaker here, as though the darkness was swallowing it up, draining it of its warmth. "This place… it's like it's feeding off the light," he murmured, an uneasy feeling gnawing at his gut. "It feels… cursed."
Glancing around, he let out a dry laugh, trying to shake off the fear gnawing at him. "Ellie'd probably laugh at me right now," he said to himself. "'Azad, scared of a little dark? Don't be such a baby.'" He shook his head, trying to picture her smirk. "Well, if she were here, I'd give her something to be scared about… if I wasn't too busy screaming."
He took a few more cautious steps, trying to focus on the path ahead, his eyes darting to every shadow that seemed to move just beyond the torchlight. "It's just a cave," he muttered to himself, though his voice wavered. "Nothing to be afraid of… right?"
But even as he said it, he knew it was a lie. There was something here, something ancient and waiting, lurking in the dark folds of the cave.