The sound of claws relentlessly scraping against stone reverberated through the cold, damp cave.
If Harris listened closely, he could also hear soft whimpers eerily similar to those of a human.
How unsettling, he thought.
His footsteps were quiet, and his breathing steady.
He had to tread carefully—otherwise…
He held onto the wall, careful not to slip on the wet ground, and turned at a sharp corner.
drip, drip
The whimpering grew closer. So close he could hear the sound of tears striking against the ground like water droplets.
Harris slowly raised his gaze to see a weeping face carved from gray mud hanging in the darkness, staring at him.
Tears poured endlessly from its hollow eyes. Then, quickly, it retreated back into the darkness.
Its wailing grew stronger, becoming a deafening roar.
But Harris remained calm.
He lit the lantern in his left hand. Light quickly bloomed, chasing away the dark and revealing the creature.
It had a worm-like body with a face carved from mud. Its eyes were hollow, and its mouth was curled into a frown.
The creature quickly squirmed into the corner, shivering.
Seeing this, Harris stretched out his hand and spoke in a voice devoid of emotion.
"It's okay… I'm not going to hurt you. Just give me the key."
The creature refused to come closer; in fact, it seemed to grow more wary of him.
But then he remembered what Jack had said.
The creature has a grotesque body and usually mimics a weeping sound to keep others away.
It hates being seen, so it hides in the darkness.
Squirmish and easily frightened, it is most definitely a remnant of severe anxiety.
Just be warm, and it will open up to you.
Do not kill it or threaten it, no matter what.
Harris sighed and put out the flame in the lantern. He dropped the dagger in his right hand onto the floor.
His lips curled upward into a warm smile. He spoke again, this time in a voice that was kind and gentle.
"I won't hurt you… I promise."
The creature seemed to relax. It stretched its face toward Harris, and it unraveled like the petals of a flower, revealing a glowing blue stone.
Harris calmly took it and said,
"I can only imagine how painful it is to be so scared."
"Thank you… and I'm sorry for frightening you."
Saying that, Harris turned around and left.
The creature quietly slid back into the darkness, and…
Softer cries echoed through the cave.
....
The way back was quite tedious. The path was very narrow making hard for Harris to walk upright.
So he had crawl most of the way. Not to mention the floor was jagged and also wet.
By the time he arrived at the entrance his hands and knees were all bloody.
Harris finally crawled out of the narrow cave completely covered in dirt.
For a moment the luminescent light scattered across the sides of the carvern chamber hurt his eyes.
Once his sight adjusted, his cold gaze immediately turned to Jack who was standing at the side with a shaky smile.
"So.....did you succeed"
Harris breathed slowly and simply nodded.
Jack eyes widened.
"See, I knew you could do it, it usually took me.....hmm.....let see, an average of three days but you did it in five hours"
Harris sighed and tossed the stone to jack.
"I thought we were going to the last settlement, why did do a detour"
"I told you. I am a member of the adventurers guild and I have certain responsibilities I need to fulfill"
Harris frowned.
"And how many of those 'responsibilities' are left"
"This is the last one. I just need to check on something"
Jack swiftly made his way to the large stone door in the distance and pressed the rock against its surface.
'Now we wait'
"Jack the remnant down there, why don't you just kill it?"
Jack turned to Harris surprised.
"Though it's been around for a long time now remnants like that usually vanish on their own"
"Still why?"
"Okay but why do you want to know?" Jack asked curious.
"...."
Harris remained characteristically silent.
Jack sighed.
"We at the adventurers guild don't just kill remnants, we only terminate the aggressive ones"
"And that one isn't aggressive.... it only reacts when it's attacked or threatened"
Jack turned towards the stone door, excited and smiling.
He hurriedly grabbed the blue rock and tossed it onto the ground then signaled with his fingers for Harris to hide.
Harris walked over to a huge boulder at corner of the chamber just beside the entrance to the cave and hid behind it.
And soon Jack sneaking joined him.
Harris glared at him a bit baffled "what are you doing"
Jack quickly covered his ears with his palms and said.
"Here comes the second reason"
Harris stared at him for a few seconds then also covered his ears.
After a few seconds....
The sound of stone grinding against stone erupted in the air as the doors parted.
A violent gust exploded from within, followed by a deafening roar.
The cavern trembled.
And the monster was released.
The floor quaked from each step it took almost as if it was about to collapse.
Harris glanced at Jack's knowing smile and thought to himself.
What is he trying to do.
And soon he heard it.
Soft whimpers, similar to that of a human's crys.
Harris eyes widened.
'The worm'
The beast roared once again again frightening the poor creature.
It's soft cries grew louder and louder becoming a piercing scream.
stumble,stumble
The beast clumsily fell back then raised it's hand into the air threatening to smash the annoying creature in a fit of rage.
What followed next wasn't a thundering burst or the sound of smashing stone but complete and utter silence.
Then suddenly the silence was upset by soft whimpers
Jack and Harris remained still and quiet until the cries ceased
Then Jack said.
"It's over now"
They both emerged from behind the boulder.
Harris eye's narrowed while jack let out a weak chuckle his smile faltering.
The chamber grew darker as if it was stripped of light and....
At the centre of the cavern was an enormous skull of a wolf, stained with black blood.
An eerie feeling hang in the air sending a shiver down Jack spine.
'Damn, I can never get used to this'
He turned to harris
"You see.....we can't kill something we don't understand"
Harris nodded.
"I see"