LKI Sample 1 - Setting


Although the day was at its end, it was still stiflingly hot in the valley. Without a breeze, the air hung dead and heavy, like the dried out forest that sprawled leafless and lifeless across the country. Where it ended and merged into the mountains the cave ripped out of the earth like a monstrous maw.
It reached to the clouds, tall enough to swallow the mountains whole.The rocky ground at it’s mouth was surrounded by small drakes. They were warming their scales in the afternoon sun before heading out on the night's hunt. Lazy clouds of smoke drifted out of their snouts as they dozed.
The scholar picked his way through the crumbled columns, careful not to wake them. On the trek through the forest, he’d been in awe walking the footsteps of the old civilisation. But now he stood terrified, breathless and dwarfed by the cave. No light even touched it, the very entrance was a wall of darkness, with so many swirling shades of black and purple he felt dizzy peering into it. He turned and looked at the sun knowing very well, that it could be the last time he ever saw the surface. Dipping into the horizon it was huge, angrily red, and seemed close enough to touch. It was shrouded with thin pink clouds and the sky was like a painted canvas full of oranges and yellows. A beautiful sight to see at the end of the earth, he thought.

The last drops of light drained away as he entered the cave, there was a cool wind running through that tasted of iron. Each of his steps bounced from the floor and up several miles to the ceiling, shattering into hundreds of echoes. Making it seem as though he were marching with an army at his heels.
Blind, he felt small and alone but knew that was far from the truth. The first mile of the cave thrived with odd and unseen beasts. Thin hisses rushed from above him, he heard creatures slurping at the damp rocks. Fur brushed against his hand as things passed by uncaring. Soon he’d have to light his lamp, look at his map, but that prospect terrified the scholar because then, he’d see everything and have to face it.

When he could no longer walk without stumbling over, he dug out the storm lantern from his bag and lit it. The flint scratched and the air filled with the heavy smell of paraffin. A small yellow flame danced behind the glass and illuminated a small circle around him. But the cave was still unrelenting, not allowing him to peer more than a few feet. Hearing screeching he looked up to see the entire ceiling move as thousands of white bats flitted around in a frenzied panic. Unused to this invading light their red eyes scrutinised him with a legion of needle teeth being bared at him.He moved his hand down to rest on his blades hilt, and moved swiftly onwards.
Where the land-scape changed from the wilderness to the touches of ancient civilization. Monstrously tall carved figures decorated the walls. Disfigured by age most were unrecognisable lumps. But he knew the giant lords, each and every one of by heart. As he made his way past the tunnels twist and turns they ran on generation through generation. The younger ones slowly morphing into distinguishable characters. Small details appeared that made his heart race, swords, runes and locks of stone hair, with the rock mimicking flesh perfectly where it hadn’t crumbled away.
 At the university his colleague had raved about the giants, crowning them as the peak of craftsmanship, he could now see why. If only I had time to sit down and document them properly, he sighed.They’re just a just a side-attraction, soon I’ll be seeing the real prize. But that was no real comfort to him.

About a day into his walk, although it hadn’t narrowed or grown smaller the cave began to slope downwards into the earth. Bit by bit the bats tapered off into nothing and all other beasts remained far behind. Cave fell silent and the solitude made his chest tighten. Nothing was out there, which only meant that anything could be, and that was what made it worse.There were legends of deserters entering the cave and in the dark morphing into inhuman monsters, of the witches practicing sorceries in the tunnels and demons being trapped in the stone. The longer he was alone with his imagination unchained in the dark the more the  scholar could hear their screeching and see their contorted bodies just one step ahead of him.
As he moved on deeper and deeper, the cave began to show more of it’s face to him. The statues of giant lords turned into a lengthy mural documenting a war between clans, one he wasn’t familiar with and could have easily sat reading it for days. Then the mural crumbled away and there was nothing but rough stone around him.
The earth grew damper and from it sprung up long luminous mushrooms.Whose light painted him in a cold blue-green. A howling came from far in front of him and the breeze sharpened snagging at his hair and extinguishing the lantern. Drops of water fell from above him and hit the ground, like the tapping of keys on a piano.
 He jumped back as the floor turned into a stampede of rats, their legs scratching as urgently as they could. Hopping after them it's deep croaks ricocheting in echoes sloped an enormous toad. It’s loose tongue lashing out at the rodents like a grotesque purple whip. It was almost the size of the scholar and for a moment their eyes locked, intense yellow on terrified black. then both the hunter and it’s prey vanished behind him just as suddenly as they’d appeared. The scholar pressed on.

As he’d walked the water had slowly built up around him. From small puddles to floods that  forced him to wade up to his shoulders. When it began draining, he grew hopeful, but his spirit immediately vanished when the lake loomed out at the bottom of a drop.It glowed gently from the small light bulb fish swarming around the shore. The little spots of light went on for longer than he could see. The lake was a shapeless, endless obstacle thrown into his path at the last moment. He’d spent so long on the puzzle of how to navigate across that he felt his brain evaporating with effort.
The scholar tossed a pebble  breaking the purple surface into ripples.
It was so unfair! He lamented.It was taunting him with it’s peaceful ebb and flow. He could almost hear the cold laughter coming from it. He’d come so far but didn’t  even make it halfway. His mind grew clouded with fury and he laid down on the ground. He might have stayed there unmoving for a minute, an hour or a day he didn’t know but when the scholar had snapped out his trance his mind was made.He waded in and puffed up with air, and then dived down. Propelling himself through the unforgivably dark water, with one thought in his mind. Seeing the giants city...