I looked around the dark space and found that an area ahead had a bit of orange-tinted light and like a bespelled moth I walked towards it. The wind howled high above my head as if the sky was crying out in pain and I knew there was no way I could make it back up that slope.
Soon I got to the source of the light. There was a crevice in a rock face and through it I could see a burning town. Most of those I could see had already burned out to leave only glowing timber and rocks. The town seemed to be built in a large underground cavern. The ceiling is high and now covered with soot and smoke.
The opening before me was quite narrow at about twelve inches at its widest. It would be a tight squeeze.
I took my knapsack off and unclipped the extra bundle before turning sideways with the bags in each hand as I shimmied and wiggled my way into the cavern. The crevice, only two meters long ended after a few scratches and elbow bumps.
I heaved a sigh when I came out of the clustered space only now realizing that I may be slightly claustrophobic, my head was throbbing and sweat ran down my back in rivulets, not from the heat but cold clammy sweat.
Moving forward and scanning through the town, I could only find flaming or smoldering corpses crouching or sprawled randomly on the streets and alleyways.
"Hello! Is there anyone here?" My voice was muffled by the strip of clothing over my mouth but it still echoed in the streets after my call.
"Anyone!"
I continued calling out for a few minutes as I walked from one end of the small cavern town to the other, but no one answered back, this place felt like a furnace for the dead.
I found what seemed to be a well and sat with my back resting against the rim. My bags are on either side of me.
I looked out over the town and wondered what could have caused so much devastation to this hidden settlement. My mind went back to the flaming hyena and I made the connection. What if like those lizards that came out of the cracked ground before in my city, other creatures descended on humans unaware and unprepared? In this case a pack of flaming hyenas? It would be pandemonium, it would be chaos, just like it was about to be for me before the pillar of light swallowed me up.
What was that pillar of light anyway? Where am I now?
I shook my head, there was no point ruminating over questions that I had no way of answering. It's not like there was some magical database that I could plug my questions into. These things could only be solved with one thing. Time. Time was the only solution.
"Hick, sniffle…hick"
I heard a small sound behind my back and spun around to look. My hands were on the ground as I stayed low on one knee. I looked over the lip of the well and around behind it but couldn't see anything from my position.
I knew I heard something though, it was quite clear.
"Sniffle, hick…hick"
My eyes snapped to the mouth of the well when the sound came up from there and I got up and strained my eyes into the darkness. A twitching huddle was in one corner of the dry well and I got closer to the edge so I could see it.