The Crossroads

6 | A Secret, Or Two

WC: 2870 (may be off a bit because of the Galactic later on)

Warnings: Slightly descriptive violence (describing the wither effect), brief mentions of sharp objects (thorns)

Etho explores more of the Labyrinth's cavern and manages to stumble--quite literally--into a secret and a new ally.

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As he explored more and more of the cavern, Etho discovered more and more odd things about this place.

The appearance was one thing--trekking the surface was difficult, since the brown sand he was walking over kept making his boots sink in slightly. He had to tug them out with every step. The ground was also uneven and bumpy, so he stumbled multiple times while exploring.

Whenever he fell into the sand, he felt...something. He couldn't explain it properly, but it felt like the swirling sand was trying to suck him in even more now that it was more than his boots stuck. Like whatever was making it shift was saying, "Come join us".

He hauled himself out of the sand as fast as possible after each fall. At least when he was walking, the tugging, uneasy feeling was slightly easier to ignore.

Luckily, there were signs of an old Blackstone path that was hidden under the sand. Etho got onto the solid surface as much as he could, but the sand was definitely more common around here.

Maybe the sand had slowly overtaken this part of the Labyrinth over time. It bore an uncanny resemblance to the Forest, which Etho didn't like at all.

The cavern formed one big loop. All of the halls that branched out led to a dead end quickly. At the end of each one, though, was an occasional Blackstone pedestal with a soul flame flickering on top.

Etho blew out each one.

Other than that, there wasn't really anything of interest, save for faint writing scattered on the Blackstone path in a language that Etho couldn't read. They looked like they had been carved on the path before the sand had come in:

∴ᔑℸ ̣ ᓵ⍑ 𝙹⚍ℸ ̣ ⎓𝙹∷ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ∷𝙹ᓭᒷᓭ

ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ᓭ𝙹⚍ꖎᓭ ᔑ∷ᒷ ℸ ̣ ∷ᔑ!¡!¡ᒷ↸ ╎リ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ᓭᔑリ↸

╎ℸ ̣ 'ᓭ ᔑꖎ╎⍊ᒷ
╎ℸ ̣ 'ᓭ ⊣∷𝙹∴╎リ⊣

After making a few loops of the main part of the cavern to make sure he hadn't missed anything, Etho found himself at the gaping entrance of the only place that was still unexplored, which was a passageway leading down.

Careful not to trip on the uneven surface again, Etho carefully made his way down.

At first glance, the area didn't look like much. Just another dead-end hallway with a soul flame to blow out. Etho was about to leave when he noticed an odd indentation in the wall--a part that seemed to be sunken in a bit more than the rest.

Once he looked at it closer, he realized that this part of the wall was actually hiding an alcove behind it. A small crimson red door was at the entrance. When Etho opened it, he saw a pitch black, narrow hallway, which was a stark contrast to the room cavern behind him.

This looked like it led somewhere, rather than a dead end. Etho set down his lantern on the ground before going in.

The sand here seemed...deeper. Etho's boots were sinking in more, almost up to his ankles now. The sand seemed to shift around more than it used to, like it wasn't packed as tightly as it was supposed to.

Honestly, the only thing he could compare this to was potting soil--deeper, not as packed, with fine grains of sand rather than big chunks of it. Like something was growing here...