The Egress Unveiled - Intro

The Egress Unveiled
Intro

“Uh… hello?”

   Meline’s unsure voice echoed in the damp dark empty tunnel. There were two more Reoseans with her - another fluffy Tyrian named Eshin, who constantly seemed to be away in another world of his, and a massive Puller who had previously introduced herself as Aethone. 

—

   It was thanks to Aethone why they now were down here, or, well, it was mostly the burning curiosity of Meline and the bravery of Aethone that prompted them to enter the passage that opened up in the middle of nowhere in a forest of Vitalus. Eshin decided to join them just because he happened to be in the right place at the right time. Namely, the Reoseans met at the entrance as all of them had heard the rumble and felt the ground shaking, so naturally they had to check it out. Having discussed it in length and speculated various possibilities, it was Aethone who had enough of Meline’s indecisiveness and climbed down into the opening, sending more rocks and rubble rolling as she descended. Meline tried to call her back, but the Puller decided to just ignore her as she reached the solid cave ground and sniffed the air. It was… different from various other caves she’d been in. A lot different. There was a sense of mystery and hidden secrets to it, as this was the best her mind was capable of describing in the first go. Softly cursing the situation, Meline also descended, followed by Eshin. Only Meline felt slightly anxious of the unknown, while Eshin looked curiously around as his eyes adjusted to the dim surroundings and Aethone tried to figure out the unique scent of this place. All three of them stood still while the last of the rocks rolled to their new resting spots, each sending out an echo of their journey into the yawning tunnel before them. It felt endless, this inviting path to a new adventure. It was so quiet that they could hear each other’s and their own quiet breathing and maybe even differently-paced heart beats. However, the silence didn’t last for long as something, or someone, suddenly scuttered away. This made all three stand in alert, eyes nailed to the direction they heard it coming. Meline and Eshin even held their breaths while Aethone squinted her eyes even more in hopes to see slightly better. It was Meline who swallowed nervously and spoke up first.

—

   There was no response to Meline’s polite greeting. Having waited for a few moments, Aethone started confidently heading further into the tunnel, her paw pads softly rustling on the rocky texture but thanks to her size, Meline could swear she felt Aethone’s steps making the ground slightly shake.

“Wait, where are you going? We don’t know what’s in here.”

   Meline made one more attempt to hold Aethone back with a hushed voice, while Eshin simply hummed, perhaps even a bit excitedly, and with perked ears started to follow the Puller.

“That’s why we’re going in to see and find out.”

   Aethone replied nonchalantly with her low, yet feminine voice without looking back. This made Meline release an uncertain whimper, before she decided to follow along instead of going back outside alone. Maybe those two will need her help after all.

   The tunnel grew wider and the extremely sparse glowing crystals, as the only light source in this otherwise pitch black darkness, started to appear a little more often, painting the details around them in greenish hues. They occasionally stopped only to listen for more signs of life, otherwise they moved deeper and deeper at a careful pace. There were times all of them could swear they heard the similar soft rustling as before, but this could’ve very easily been an echo from their own footsteps. Fortunately, the crystals now started to appear in clusters, casting more light into the shadows before them. So far, things were looking okay, until a surprised squeak from Eshin made the ladies jump and brought everyone to an instant halt. It was then Aethone and Meline also noticed what startled the quiet companion.

   There was a pair of eyes glistening in the tunnel ahead. They were still, about the same height as Meline’s, simply observing the newcomers, as if figuring out how to react to them. The Reoseans stood completely still - Aethone in the very front and the Tyrians right behind her, all holding their breath as their pulse started to rise from the adrenaline rush they got from the surprise. The eyes stared at them for a little while, until they started to move, and now they also heard the familiar soft rustling following it.

“Strangers? From the upside? Why, hello there. Can you understand me?”

   The figure spoke up in the language of Vayrons and Tyrians, even though some of the words sounded archaic, probably a dialect none of them recognized. In a way, it was slightly difficult to understand the stranger in the dark but all of them understood the simple words and the general concept. But given his soft voice, he didn’t seem to pose any imminent threat or perhaps was hiding very well the discomfort the intruders had caused.

“Yes, we… understand you, and speak in a similar way. Hello, I’m… Meline, who are you?”

   The mysterious creature stepped into the tender light cast by a glassy cluster nearby, and now all three Reoseans could see the being talking to them.

   He had a familiar face. As in, he definitely looked like a Vayron or a Tyrian, but that’s where the familiarity ended. The head was attached to a very long slender neck, which ended atop of a large chest. He walked on all fours, but the paws with creepily long toes and sharp claws were something neither Meline, Aethone nor Eshin had seen before. They also had never seen wings like that before - they were nice wide fans, but didn’t seem to have the muscular structure of supporting flight. To their slight relief, at least the tail looked the same as Meline’s and not some deadly murder weapon, and it was also the snakey critter’s curious stance that helped them all ease the tension in their bodies. He tilted his head slightly to the side and lowered it while coming closer, to also have a better look at the trio before him.

“I am called Cailu, my kind is called the Haedians. And this is our home.”

   The freshly introduced Cailu moved with ridiculous elegance and fluidity as he made a quick circle around them, quickly examining the Vayron and two Tyrians from different angles before he slipped back to his spot in front of them, all while the three did their best to track his movements with their eyes.

“Ah, She said this day would come. Top-siders, finding us again… Come, follow me, there’s a lot to do and to discuss.”

   With a blink of an eye, Cailu folded his wings on his back, making him seem so much smaller. He swiftly turned around and headed on into the tunnel, expecting the others to follow him. Having exchanged a few confused gazes, the party unanimously went after him, Eshin hypnotized by Cailu’s curly tail and feet swishing as he pranced before them. Aethone thought it best to stay alert of potential ambush or other dangers, but seeing how she was still so much bigger than Cailu she felt confident. As they headed deeper into the unknown, Meline couldn’t quite decide whether this was a good idea to climb down the rabbit hole in the first place or not.

   Cailu was definitely friendly, but still wary of the company following him. He was constantly inquiring about the life outside these caves and excitedly nodding or softly gasping as mostly Meline described everything the best she could. Occasionally Aethone would help with as little words as possible if Meline got stuck with explaining something. The most challenging was to explain how the sky isn’t just a ceiling of a humongous cave, why there’s a burning ball of light crossing it every day and where does it even come from. What made it even more tricky was Cailu’s archaic dialect, so both sides had slight trouble fully understanding each other on the first try. When Meline or Aethone attempted to ask something, they had to hit the timing precisely as Cailu in his sincere excitement didn’t leave much chance for the others to seek answers of their own. Eshin listened to everything quietly, occasionally peeking in other tunnels connected to the one they were in, stopping for a moment to poke at the luminous crystal clusters along their path or just humming as if participating in the conversation just like that.

   What the top-siders eventually managed to gather from Cailu was a robust overview of the hierarchy down here - Haedians living in separate clans, yet all under the rule of a figure Cailu called The Matriarch. He also vaguely mentioned something about internal conflicts, and how the newcomers had to prove themselves to each clan before they might have a shot at getting to know more about the mysterious ruler of this realm. This made Meline slightly worry, as she didn’t feel like being able to form successful diplomatic relationships in the situation that could very well be the biggest discovery after the Empyrians reappeared among Vayrons. She also wondered how the Haedians are going to accept the oddball that Eshin was and will they recede back into safety of the deep caves when they see Aethone with her usual unfriendly face and in her full massiveness approaching them?

“Oh, here we are!”