Cavernous Eyes: A Dark Fantasy Story
In a cave, a young man finds himself trapped by other worldy creatures with luminous eyes. Accused of a theft he swears he did not commit, he must escape from the monsters.
This fantasy story is part of a monthly series of my previously published stories. This one was first published by In Parentheses Magazine.
With its unsettling atmosphere and dark fantasy elements, this story reflects Lemurian teachings about fear, inner sight, and the challenge of facing what waits in the dark, both around us and within us.
Cavernous Eyes
by Merdhin Wylde
It was not desperation as much as it was a competitive drive that guided my actions. I may not win every time, but I sure as hell am not a loser. No matter the cost, no matter the sacrifice, I never give in. So, it is no wonder my actions and their consequences were destined to a logical, albeit less than noble, resolution, especially considering the dire circumstances of being held captive against my will.
I found myself staring down three pairs of green eyes hovering like fireflies in a darkened void blocking the only path to my exit. My options: escape and live another day, or die a failure. A torch burned close enough to my cheek to feel its warmth, but far enough not to get burned. Measured drippings from stalactites reverberated off the cave walls splashing into a pool behind me setting the cadence for the objective at hand.
My jaw tightened and I spoke through clenched teeth. “I told you, I don’t have it.” The open palm of my free hand rotated back and forth showing my captors the obvious conclusion. I was not a threat. All I wanted to do was leave peaceably and be on my way.
I wondered what brought me to this hellhole. Was it my upbringing? A strict, distant father? Oh, to be able to see his face after escaping this! Maybe, for once, that dispassionate expression would lighten up and he would give me the credit, the respect, due to me from years of sacrifice in his service.
“You give gold.” An eight-foot silhouette stepped forward. The torchlight revealed a wrinkled face with an elongated nose and tiny pointy ears protruding from a bald head. It hoisted a cudgel that was as thick as its thighs yet paled in comparison to its sagging belly. One shorter creature materialized behind the first projecting fiery jade daggers, clearly expressing its animosity toward me. Another, slightly taller than a child, clung to its protector’s thigh. Its pupils flashed like a lighthouse lamp as it slowly, yet rhythmically, blinked.
I thrust the torch forward. “You better check yourselves before someone gets hurt.” Shadows danced on the walls taunting me like childhood bullies. They will not distract me from what must be done. I held my ground, one foot planted ahead of the other. They provoked me, causing my neck hairs to bristle, but I refused to let them damper my resolve. I am not easily intimidated.
The giant shaded its eyes with the cudgel and shielded the other two behind it with its free arm. With a sleight of hand, I pulled a hunting knife from the side pocket of my backpack cupping it with my palm. “Listen, I’m sorry I stumbled into your lair. Purely an accident.” I took a measured step, careful not to make any threatening gestures. “I mean, you could’ve at least posted a warning sign at the entrance. No?” I shrugged my shoulders. My smirk was met with a stone that grazed my left ear and cheek. The smallest monster peered around the muscular leg of its protector and snarled with another rock at the ready.
I clicked my tongue and slowly shook my head in disapproval. “Now, you’re just asking for trouble.” I lunged jabbing the blade at an upward angle making my intentions obvious enough as not to confuse even the most dim-witted of minds.
The little one cowered with a whine. I glanced at it with a compassionate smile communicating my desire to resolve this standoff rather than resort to unnecessary violence. Unfortunately, this empathetic gesture was not well received.
Out of nowhere, the behemoth’s battering ram of a fist connected with my chest, throwing me butt first to the ground. The clang of the knife striking the floor echoed through the cavern. The creatures clapped and shrieked with feral howls adding to the cacophony of the agitated state of affairs.
I willed myself up, maintaining eye contact while keeping the torch off the ground more as a defensive weapon than as a light source. I cleared my throat and brushed off my pants with my free hand. “My fault. I shouldn’t have come at you like that.” I slightly lowered my head in respect hoping for cooler heads to prevail. “We’ll just chalk it up to a momentary lapse in communication.”
My bruised tailbone resisted the effort to sit on a boulder next to the pool. I swallowed gulps of air to bring my heartbeat under control, at least to the point of syncing with the plinking metronome of the stalactites. This respite allowed for a fleeting moment of reflection.
I was better than this; my dad would not be impressed. Always to be addressed as dad, never father. He had no clue how often I have been knocked down, always to rise and face my adversaries head on, no matter the repercussions.
An inarticulate grunt from the agitated triad opened the valve of adrenaline coursing through my shivering body. I thrust the torch without leaving my seat. The large patriarch wrapped his arms around the two smaller beasts. Their phosphorescent glares bore through me like lava through rock. “Give back gold.” The voice was more pronounced this time, slow and direct. “Give back gold.”
I sucked in a deep labored breath. Inhaling the fetid air was like breathing through a damp cloth. What were they trying to accomplish? What was their end game? No matter, I was destined to be victorious. I took in another gulp and released it with a protracted sigh. I stared into the torch allowing the flames to transport me to another time.
I was twelve the last time my dad put his arm around me. After a day of hunting, I approached the cabin. Dad stepped out on the porch puffing on his pipe, tracking smoke rings as they dissipated into the burnt orange of the setting sun. He swaggered down the steps with a limp he earned in a brawl with our neighbors in a dispute over property lines. He placed his arm around me so that my shoulder fit like a puzzle piece under his armpit. “How many rabbits did you bag?”
I held up a burlap gunny sack showing off my trophies. “Six, sir.” I looked up at his face and smirked. “I would have gotten more if it wasn’t for my idiot friends making so much noise and getting in the way.”
Dad pried loose the knot with his gnarled, yet vice grip fingers and peered into the bag. “I count five. Only five. Don’t blame others for your shortcomings. Don’t whine and complain because you failed to be more aggressive.” He maneuvered his pipe to one corner of his mouth and mumbled out the other. “You probably stole them, anyway.” He ambled back to the porch and sat in his rocking chair before withdrawing into his early evening ritual.
“Okay, dad.” I turned away. I supplied more than enough for dinner, but no use bringing that up, the conversation was over. Besides, what’s it matter how I came by these? I left with a mission and returned with the spoils, for my family, I might add. There was no pleasing the man.
With a jarring thud, a rock landed inches from my feet. “Give back gold. No more time.” The imp’s grating voice set my nerves on edge. Its once blinking eyes burned with a hatred born out of an adolescent desire to protect and please his pack.
“Okay.” I stood up, planted my feet shoulder width apart, and brandished the torch. “This is what we will do. I will leave that knife here for you. In return, you let me walk out of here. What do you say, do we have a deal?” It was my intention to barter a copacetic arrangement to diffuse the volatile situation.
“No deal. Gold now.” The massive hulk slammed the cudgel on the cave’s floor. I wrapped my arms over my head and knelt in a fetal position while the earsplitting resonance wracked my bones. I was on my knees, not cowering, but out of an abundance of caution to maintain a semblance of order.
As the ringing subsided, I presented my empty palm as a gesture of peace. The small one made a salient point earlier. There was no more time. It was either make a move now or surrender in shame.
“Let me rephrase. Unless you want the fiery wrath of this torch unleased on your household, you will let me out now.” I waved the flame, painting blurred yellow-orange streaks on the black canvas before me. I widened my eyes and jutted out my chin.
The three shuffled closer with raspy grunts. Puffs of fine limestone swirled like fog consuming the horizon. “Give now.” Their eyes narrowed evoking a claustrophobic darkness that compressed the already thick air.
I stepped back into the pool. My pants clung to my calves as they soaked up cold mineral infused liquid. I gazed down, mesmerized by ripples expanding outward in never-ending concentric circles. A reflection stared back at me mocking my predicament. Each time it blinked, pangs of judgment pierced my forehead and shot down my spine.
Reality shook me awake when chalky stones with sharp edges pelted my face and scratched the corner of my eye. “Hey!” My voice cracked, more than likely due to my dry throat. I jerked into position, ready to attack. My sight trained on a sliver of light cutting across the entry wall inspiring an idea. I picked up one of the rocks and chucked it, clobbering the shortest fiend on the nose. An audible crack traveled through the cave but not loud enough to echo.
It drew back with a wince and bounced from foot to foot grabbing its nostrils. Dark green globules oozed through stubby fingers. Its intolerable high-pitched yelp contracted the muscles of my cheeks and shoulders.
“You hurt him.” The middle one growled as it embraced the bawling beast against its breast.
The giant one bared rusted teeth with the ferocity of an angry bull about to charge. It raised its cudgel above its head and let out a roar, shaking the cave to its core. With the precision of a warrior in the heat of battle, I launched my torch like a spear. The adversaries shrieked while covering their eyes and retreating to the moss-covered wall near the mouth of the cave. I lurched forward, stumbling under the weight of my backpack.
At the entrance, I scrambled up the slope. Freedom was within reach but not realized when a claw ensnared my leg. My chin connected with the ground. The taste of copper coated my throat as my teeth clamped down on my tongue. Wails and screeches amplified in the background.
My fingers clung to a branch of a bush obscuring the exit. I kicked; the monster pulled. My hand slipped, stripping the moist bark off the branch, akin to husking corn. My other hand gripped the shredded limb while my free foot planted itself on the side wall for leverage.
“You die!” Sharp nails ripped through my trousers. A burning wet sensation trickled down my leg. There was no way I was going to concede defeat when I was so close. No excuses. No mercy.
With gritted teeth, I yanked the shrub, fixated on cracks forming in the soil like lightning. Roots rose with clumps of dirt, freeing the bush from its tether. We slid down the slope, swallowed again by the mountain. I unclasped the bush and spit a mud clod from my mouth. A river of rocks followed leaving a wider cave opening in its wake. The sun’s rays poured in, lighting up the entire cavern.
I rolled over kicking my tormentor to make sure he never grabs me again. Shock waves rattled through my shin and knee as my boot connected with the gray stony face of a fallen father. Behind him in the blazing sunlight stood a mother, clinging to her son, both with dull cavernous eyes frozen in stone. A tear dangled from the tip of a stalactite, detached, and splashed into the pool.
I crawled out grimacing from the inflamed rawness burning my leg. I removed my backpack and shaded my eyes looking across the valley. A system of dirt roads meandered through ravines like a spider’s web. Hills covered with thickets of brush rolled in all directions. A herd of deer embarked on their early evening journey to their watering pond about half of a mile away.
I unfastened a crescent-shaped leather bota from my backpack. “Here’s to a job well done.” I tipped it, allowing the liquid to streak down my face washing away the struggle and pain of this venture. I pulled a smaller burlap bag out of the pack and pried loose the knot with my seasoned fingers. Inside, flecks of gold ore sparkled like fireflies on a warm summer evening. A snicker burgeoned into a laugh and erupted as I thought of my father lying six feet under, arms across his chest, impervious to the end.
You can read more of my stories and true accounts on the Abundance Living Resource page.
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