It was one thing to refuse taking a rest when nessecary when travelling. When you're close to pushing your body to the limit and beyond, sensing that your destination was just one little step away when really it has just begun. But knowing that the more you push yourself forwards, the less distance you'll have to travel later. Maybe it was stubbornness or ambition that drives you. Point is, you're willing to go the full distance, pushing yourself to the brink in order to complete a mere personal goal. People are just amazing that way.
However it was entirely another thing to know that even stopping for a second could spell disaster not only for yourself, but others.
That's my motivation. What drives me. Not stubbornness or ambition. But rather the fear of failing when I'm so close to ending what has been days, if not weeks of torment. Even now, my mind keeps playing over and over again the thought of what consequences could and would occur if I so much as rested for a second. Though I'm sure that very few people would blame me for doing so. My body ached painfully as I not only slithered for god only knows how long, but also from carrying a bag full of large metal devices that at one point felt light as a feather now weighed me down and threatened to bury me into the soft yet burning sand beneath.
However, I would be lying if I said that all my suffering had been all for nothing.
Now, here I was. Standing in front of the colossal mountain I had been tempted to reach for some time now. The sight of it just made the pain fade, even if only slightly. Its rocky formation shot straight up into the sky, reaching up to the point where I could no longer see it past the dark clouds above, making it look more like a very wide, and very big pillar that went on forever. Despite this incredible eyesore, I only really cared about one small detail.
A single cave that waited to be entered and explored sat right in the centre of the mountains foot. Well, I say cave when really it looked like an enormous crack, almost lightning shaped. Big enough for an elephant to get in. It looked very inviting. Especially when the wind picked up, bringing its icy breath and scattering grains of sand all over. Yet its because of the wind that I didn't want to enter. Every time the wind blew through the cracked entrance, it sounded like the shrieking of a girl and at the same time, an insane laughter emitted from the entrance that made me question if it had been wise to come here at all. A truly weird and horrifying phenomenon. It was one of the most bloodcurdling sounds that could be naturally formed and I was unfortunate enough to be its sole witness. A haunting reminder that that forces of earth could be as terrifying and haunting as they could be peaceful and beautiful.
Little could be done to prepare myself, mentally at least. So I might as well get it over and done with. I made my way forwards ignoring the ever-growing sound of the shrieking wind and made my way into the crack. The moment I had, the outside world had almost become deathly silent. Like I had tread upon a land so dangerous and terrifying that not even the elements would dare touch it.
Oddly enough I couldn't help but think back to all the times when I was close to beating a video game, only to go through the final and toughest obstacle in the game, usually a boss of some kind. It felt very similar to that scenario. Of course, that was years ago. But I still remember the hype of having to fight monsters capable of turning a planet into nothing but dust. Good times indeed.
Wish I felt that way now. Now, there was no excitement. Plenty of ground-breaking tension though. I didn't exactly know how things would play out once I had found what I was looking for. Would I be fine, would I die, who knows? Unlike a game, I'd only have one shot at pulling this off. No pressure there.
Now I had reached the point where there was no more wind to be heard. Instead, the sound of my own breathing accompanied me. Even the light refused to light my way. Pitch darkness, unaware of what could be in front of me. I could have easily smashed into a dead end or worse, slither right off of the edge of a cliff and fall to my death. Logic screamed at me to turn back or at least stop moving forwards. But I couldn't. I was like a moth when faced with a bright light. Almost driven to keep moving.
Minutes passed. The narrow path did not get any wider. If anything it felt like it was getting narrower. I was sure that I was going to pass straight through the mountain and come out the other side. A few times I wondered if I may have strayed down another path. It certainly seemed possible. If that was the case then I may have been getting myself more and more lost.
That dread and fear died when finally. A glimpse of light kept itself hidden around a rocky corner. There was no way I had passed all the way through already, surely!
Or course, I continued forwards, getting closer to the source of the light until I had reached the very corner and turned around. What I saw next was... damn. Well I doubt that any other mountain would be like this...
I had come across a surprisingly large cave-like area. At least twenty meters high. But there was more. The walls where unusually smooth. As though someone had used a laser to cut through the rock. Though there were still plenty of stalagmites and stalactites growing all around. The occasional drip of water could be heard coming from somewhere inside. But the most noticeable feature was the coldness. Impossible to ignore. It was like getting rubbed down with a block of ice. The stuff could easily begin to form here. Wait, hold on! As a matter of fact, ice WAS forming! If you looked close enough, certain areas were covered in thin sheets of ice that acted like a blanket, covering more than half the floor.
Pressing questions aside, I'd rather just do what I came here to do.
Right there, in the very middle of the room itself, lay two boxes. The only thing that stood out to me. Clearly I was not the first to visit this bizarre place. The many many skeletons surrounding them helped confirm this. All of them different species. Sheep, pigs, crocodiles, even a snake or two. Why and how there were so many of them... it sent a pit of ice into my stomach. As strange as it was, I had a job to do. A pile of aging bones wasn't going to stop me.
I was able to slither over easily enough. The ice did little to slow me down. It took a moment for me to realise but these boxes, well, turns out that they were actually coffins. And in the centre of each one, there was a gem. One red and one green.
Huh... Just like Viper said back at Jinzhou. Though what the significance of them were I did not know or care. Did it even matter now?
The bag slid off of my back and I opened it up to reveal my insurance.
Dynamite.
A little extreme? Maybe. But as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures.
Twelve sticks worth of explosive power. Modified with a sandpaper tip. After reading up on this, it turns out that this thing is rather similar to a grenade. Rip the tip off and it will ignite the gunpowder on the edge of the fuse setting it off. Now placed these around the mountain. The moment I light one, the whole damn place will crumble down into dust. Heh. Guess that makes me very desperate eh? Well guess what? I no longer care. All I want is to put this nightmare behind me once and for all.
All I have to do now is pull the sandpaper tip off, which will automatically light the fuse. I'll have only a short amount of time to escape before this place collapses in on itself.
Let's get this over with.
My tail firmly grasped the tip of the fuse, ready to pull and ignite it.
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...
Okay... Here we go...
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...
Any moment now...
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...
Huh...
...
...
...
That's... this is... odd, isn't it?
...
...
...
I don't seem to want to...
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...
Why not? This is- It's the moment I've spent the last several days trying so hard to achieve! Why am I hesitating now? After everything I've done too!
Stealing from a dangerous militia.
Avenging those who died at the Jade Palace.
Betraying the trust of my fellow comrades.
About to destroy a whole mountain.
All to kill a deranged demon.
That... that makes me the good guy. Right?
...
...
...
Right?
So why do I feel like the bad guy...?
"Because your lack of patience has prevented you from piecing together the vital clues that would Allow restraint on such rash judgement"...
Damn. I really should have expected this. I am in her home after all.
I didn't even need to look around. She was already right there. Just standing there on the opposite side of the coffin. The Mèngyǎn. Despite the anger and hatred that I harboured for this thing, I was not blind. Something was... different about her this time.
Whenever we would come face to face like this as we had done in the past many times, her voice would often be confident. Mocking. Even angry. This time however it was strangely... I guess deflated would be the most accurate word. Sorrowful.
"You".
"You would so willingly despise my guidance but would rather take it upon yourself to become a puppet to another... Is that not right oh sister of mine"...?
Wait. Sister?!
Before I could question, I found my mouth suddenly moving on it's own. Answering with words that were not my own. A voice loud and powerful, and more importantly, one that housed years upon years of fury.
"You would dare accuse me of my own sins when your own are far greater"? It boomed with such volume. "We merely seek retribution for your VERY questionable actions! And we shall finally have it after waiting for so long"!
"So... you admit that it all comes down to petty vengeance... Predictable... And you would even choose to mimic my tactics of using this very same mortal to accomplish your own goals... How very ironic"...
"Unlike you, we house the same desire! To see your end by our hands"!
"And how many more will it take before you finally understand sister..."?
Many more...?
"It may disappoint you to learn this python, but you were not the first to be so easily manipulated by the two of us... Nor are you the hundredth... And you will most certainly not be the last... Even with your unique take on life... All this time you have been nothing more than a pawn to both of us... The last moments of your life spent as a blind slave..."
Wait. If I'm not the first to do this, then... Oh my god... The bones surrounding the coffins! They came here for the exact reason that I did!
"Just another would be hero after all... You wish to understand what you have been seeking to destroy this entire time... Then I shall show you..."
A swipe of her hand, the lid of the red gem coffin shuddered before lifting itself off, allowing the contents of whatever lurked inside to be revealed.
Was I the first to see this? Had all these other poor souls had this chance to see inside? A final reminder of what they had been fighting for before being killed off by these monsters. A shot at closure?
I did the only thing that I could have done. I looked inside the coffin.
And just like that. Everything that I thought I had known about the Mèngyǎn came crashing down.
...
Hey guys, here's the next chapter of the story. So long story short, I'm no longer going into the navy (yay :D) since I have finally found a job doing what I've wanted to do for the last several months since graduating. Animation :D So that's a big positive note for me, and as I said I will definitely be finishing off this story so don't worry about the long delays. Work has to come first. At least now I won't be spending hours on end searching for one any more. So until next time, Cheerio!