POLISHED DRAFT
Finished: 2020-06-29
Chapter Fifteen: He Awakens
Rekka stumbled through the darkness of a complex cave system, a small red-orange flame flickering weakly in her hand. Several days had passed since she last encountered Mirth and finally departed from the massive fissure created by the Shift. Without finding a way across the ravine where she had last seen her family, she had decided to journey onwards. Now, she was traversing a dark cavern in search of a safe, cool place from the mid-day heat.
"Stupid Rahib," the Fire Elemental muttered under her breath, glaring into the darkness. Rekka had reluctantly followed Mirth's path westward when she hadn't found anything in the ravine. If she had any hope of surviving in the Wastes, it was best if she followed his directions to the false paradise he had spoken of. It was better than walking in circles.
"I hope my family's alright…" She paused, sweeping the firelight across the cavern where large flat stones lay collapsed on top of one another. A giant, long-legged cockroach scuttled across the wall, long antennae waving as it searched for food. At a snap of her fingers, Rekka set it on fire, pale ashy eyes narrowed as she watched it burn. "I hate bugs."
The young woman pushed forward, a memory surfacing of her family's faces staring down at her from the newly formed cliffside during the ending moments of the Shift. The land had split before she could reach them and then risen some hundreds of feet into the air. Her mother and father had stared down at her, along with her second sister, Bhuva. Her other sisters, Enya and Udia, had been nowhere to be seen. All she could hope for was that everyone was okay and that she would see them soon.
Rekka slipped past slick rocks, almost stopped by the temptation to lick the condensation from the damp stone. The water in her canteen had gone dry a day and a half ago, and the headache above her right eye foretold dehydration. Tongue thick and sticking to the roof of her mouth, she still couldn't bring herself to lean closer to the rocks, knowing the same type of insect as the cockroach she had burned moments ago walked on those stones.
Sliding through the narrow passageway, Rekka soon found herself in a widen chamber, her heart dropping with relief. She could hear the sound of running water. The young woman pushed her way through another passageway, this one narrower than the first, sides squeezing in on her and scraping her tanned skin. She tried to keep her breathing even, though her racing heart betrayed her anxiety.
And then the passageway opened up once more, water reflecting her red-orange flame. Rekka dropped to her knees, her fire wrapping up her arm as she dunked her hands into the water. The liquid boiled, steam filling the cave. She so desperately wanted to guzzle the cold water, but her father had always taught her to boil any water she found. She had also learned from watching her two middle sisters, Bhuva and Enya, whom one time had a bout of loose stool and vomiting when they did not boil the water they had found by themselves.
Barely waiting for the water to cool off, Rekka gulped down the near-boiling water, hardly noticing the heat running down her throat and pooling in her stomach. As she was slurping down the hot water, the reflection of her fire's light caught her attention. On the edge of the stream, too far from her, a soft glow reflected in the water. It wasn't her fire.
Water dripping from her chin, Rekka dragged her gaze upwards to the source of the light. A soft orange glow emanated from a small gap between sleek, dark stone. Wiping away the last of the water, Rekka rose to her feet, approaching the fiery glow. Her own fire cast light on smooth, black stone. It was unlike the rock around it, and only a large piece of it, larger than her, lay in the back of the cavern. Rekka took another step closer.
The stone was moving.
No. It was breathing.
Rekka traced the outline of a humanoid shape, heart racing. She stumbled backward, tripping over her feet and falling into the water. Her fire extinguished when her shoulder splashed into the water. Rekka lay perfectly still, barely daring to breathe and cursing her panting for being too loud. She waited some seconds in a long silence, watching for any movement in the slumbering monster.
He did not move.
Slowly, Rekka climbed to her feet, the smallest of red flames blooming in the palm of her hand. She kept it close to herself and approached Odysseus's unconscious form. In a stupidly risky decision, she kicked a small stone into his sleek obsidian-like flesh. It bounced off the tar colored skin, the Terror of the Wastes not waking.
"Immortals can live through almost everything." Rekka reminded herself, barely able to comprehend that the man had fallen into a newly opened ravine, survived, and was now slumbering in front of her. All in only a few days. Wounds no longer marred his body, the gaping hole in his eye socket gone, and the blood-gushing wounds in his torso healed over, leaving smooth obsidian-like skin.
She should have run rather than stand and stare down the unconscious beast, but she couldn't believe she was in his presence once more and didn't need to run for her life. The Fire Elemental had survived him once already, which was a feat in and of itself. Seeing him for a second time was even greater. Through her quivering fear, Rekka heard her father's voice in the back of her mind. Fear was a weakness, and she should not show it. She was powerful, she should not run. Odysseus was unconscious, he could do no harm.
Rekka's eyes trailed upwards to the large stone teeth hanging from the roof of the cavern. One just so happened to hang directly over Odysseus's sleeping form. Impaling the Terror of the Wastes would get her name spoken in legends, even if she was the only one that spoke of them. Yes, it would make her father proud, and she would be known throughout the land as one of few who battled with Odysseus and lived to tell the tale.
Rekka only had one shot to loosen the stone tooth. Releasing a long, slow, steady breath, she stepped back, hands cupped over one another and pressed close to her stomach. A dark red flame formed in the center of her palm, lapping at her fingers as it grew a deep, richer red, streaked with brilliant orange. Biting back a caterwaul, Rekka wound back her arm and launched a solidified fireball at the base of the stone tooth.
Swearing under her breath, she stumbled back to the passageway she had slipped through, barely able to see the dark red flames curling around the base of the stone. Small cracks had spiderwebbed across the surface, but there was no telling how durable the stone was. She hoped it was fragile like some of the rocks around it.
Then, the stone tooth fell.
Rekka had to cover her ears when Odysseus roared. Immediately, he wrenched the stone from his chest, pits of fire that were his eyes glancing up at the stone ceiling before his gaze snapped to Rekka. She hadn't thought about the consequences, had she? Heart pounding in her ears, she could only stare, rooted to the cave floor.
Dark blood gushing from the gaping wound in his chest, Odysseus slowly climbed to his feet. His demonic-volcanic appearance melted away into something less monstrous. His skin still held the same tarry-black color, and two sets of horns adorned the back of his skull while a set of spines jutted from his elbows. He ran a tongue across his dried lips, revealing serrated teeth. Claws dragged across the cavern wall until he stopped in front of the quivering Rekka.
"You were the girl with the Rahib boy." Embers of orange and yellow danced in his irises, the glow reflecting off his still inhuman skin. He pressed a large, clawed hand to his bleeding wound, a smile growing on his dark lips. "Tell him that I'm waiting."
He shoved Rekka into the passageway she had been cowering in, his dark chuckle echoing within the chamber. "Find him, little Fire Elemental. Find him for me so I can rip out his heart with my bare hands."
I had to play with the timeline a little bit since days had passed, and Rekka would have left the ravine within a day or so rather than stay there. That's why Odysseus wasn't found in the original ravine. Some of the timeline and places are a little disjointed, but I have to follow the plot so…