There was an eerie green glow within the cave itself, and it reflected off pools of water with made dripping sounds as water fell from the stalactites above. With each step further into the cave, Mallyra grew a bit more wary. Pippin however, took the exploring in his stride as he ducked under, and leaped over, large rocks lined with old skeletons. He'd almost completely forgotten that he was holding Mallyra's hand, until she pulled him to a halt.
"what was that for?" he asked, sounding nervous, but slightly annoyed at the same time. Mallyra frowned at him, and then pointed into the darkness, not saying a word. Her heart felt like it was going to burst from her chest, and she felt a little dizzy. In front of them, was a large cavern, filled with the worst kind of darkness. Shadows. Mallyra swallowed hard, when she managed to make out what the looming shapes on the floor actually were.
Many large animal carcases were decomposing all over the cave floor, some quite fresh. The smell was almost unbearable, along with the sight. Pippin bent down an picked up a skull, or at least it looked like one.
"What do you think did this then?" he asked, chucking it back onto the ground. Mallyra shrugged a little, before taking a cautious step forward. Pippin frowned at her, shaking his head slightly.
"What's wrong with you? You haven't said a word since we got out that tunnel," he sighed, walking up next to her. Mallyra shrugged again, looking down at the floor, and taking the torch in her hand.
"Nothing, I-I'm fine," She lied, before beginning to explore, her head swimming. Every shadow, every movement, made her feel like running and hiding in the corner. The dark just wasn't something she could deal with. It made her feel alone, like a small child tucked under the bed covers, hiding from the monsters under the bed. But her fears began to subside, when she noticed a small pool, hidden in an indent on the cave floor.
She peered at it curiously, before kneeling down next to it. It didn't look so deep, and it shone, like the puddles in the tunnel. Mallyra reached out her hand, and went to touch the bottom, it could only be wrist deep at most. However, it was much deeper than that. What looked like the bottom of the pool, was actually a reflection off the ceiling.
Mallyra pulled back in shock at first, before she took a sharp breath and reached back in. She was almost up to her elbows, when she felt rock against her finger tips. The rock was cold, almost like the snow which lay on the tops of the misty mountains. She continued to run her fingers against the rock, until something hit against her hands. It rolled around slightly, and definitely didn't feel like a rock.
Mallyra closed her fist around it, and slowly pulled her hand from the pool. She unwrapped her fingers, and almost fell back in shock. In the palm of her hand lay a small diamond in the shape of a tear, that was strung from a thin silver chain. Mallyra watched as she held the chain between her thumb and forefinger and let the diamond spin around, causing multi-coloured shards of light to leave its surface. Mallyra looked around, before carefully placing the diamond into her pocket.
She stood up again, and swung her head round. Pippin, was no where to be seen. Mallyra felt her knees go a little weak, at the thought of being alone in the dark.
"P-Pippin.." She stuttered, looking around anxiously. She took a sharp breath when she heard a shuffling noise behind her. Slowly, Mallyra turned. She was met by a large skull of a warg, and a loud noise.
"RAAAAAAAAAWRRR!" Pippin shouted, jumping down in front of her. Mallyra shrieked, and fell back onto the floor, holding her arm in front of her eyes to cover the tears that were welling in them. She looked up after a few seconds, as she heard Pippin's recognisable laugh. He was in hysterics on the floor, rolling around as he laughed. Mallyra stared in amazement at first, and then snarled loudly, making Pippin sit up.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU PEREGRIN TOOK!" She yelled, jumping onto him and tickling him fiercely. Pippin began to laugh wildly, and a smile found it way onto Mallyra's lips, as Pippin cried out and attempted to get her off him.
"No! ahhh! Ple-Please stop! I'm ticklish!" He stammered, between each laugh. Mallyra had a devilish look on her face, but slowly, she sat up and let him catch his breath.
"That'll teach you not to go sneaking up on me.. especially in places like this." she added, hitting him in the arm. Pippin looked up her, a confused look on his face.
"Places like what?" he asked, standing up and brushing the dirt from his back. Mallyra cast her glance back down at the floor again, blushing a little.
"Dark..places.." she said slowly, gazing back into Pippins eyes. She watched as he shook his head in dis belief, and the chuckled lightly.
"please don't tell me you're scared of the dark.." he laughed, making Mallyra feel even worse about herself. Shrugging again, she went to argue her side. But her words were interrupted by a loud rumbling noise, which echoed round the cavern. Mallyra grabbed Pippin's arm, and hid behind him slightly, peering over his shoulder.
"W-what was that?" she stuttered, looking anxiously up at him. Pippin took a nervous step backwards, and looked around in all directions. Without warning, Mallyra grabbed Pippin by the shoulders and pulled him down behind a rock.
"What are we-", he started, but Mallyra shushed him, before pointing at a shadow that had cast itself up the wall of the cave. Then, out of a gaping hole to the right of the cave, a stone was kicked out of the shadows and rolled along the floor. Mallyra held her breath, and watched as it stopped just in front of where she and Pippin were hiding.
There was another loud growling noise, that seemed to shake the walls of the cavern, as a huge paw thudded the floor, then another. Mallyra’s eyes widened as the shadowy beast came into view.
It was mainly a green in colour, its fur the colour of an old rotting oak tree that had seen better days. It had the face of a cat or lion, but where its eyes would be, there were empty sockets. Nothingness seemed to burned in the darkness of them. It’s body was the size of a horses, but its stubby, well built, legs made it shorter. The fur on its body seemed to have formed into scale like mattered lumps, and it had a line of long black hair running from its neck to the end of its spindly tail.
The creature lifted its head up in the air, and took in a deep breath. It seemed to scan its empty gaze across the walls, and rock of the cavern. It finally stopped looking, as it's stare fixed upon their torch, the light just beginning to die. It stood over the small flame, and sniffed at it. Burning it's nose, the beast pulled back in fear, before pawing at the torch and knocking it across the cavern.
"I hope it doesn’t smell us," Pippin gulped as he lent on the rock. The rock began to move forward slowly, but Pippin didn’t notice. The creature’s ear twitched, its empty eyes fixed upon the rock. It paced towards them, cautiously at first, its head tilted to the side. Mallyra placed her hand oh her forehead and sighed.
"Well done Pippin," she said sarcastically, staring hard at him. He scoffed at her slightly, frowning hard back at her.
"what?! It wasn’t my fault!" he protested, not realising how loud he was being. Mallyra hastily put her hand over his mouth, and scowled across at him,
"Shush you silly bugger, it’s already heading this-"she whispered, but stopped when she realised they were no longer alone.
The creature was stood with its front paws on the rock peering over at them, it's breath was warm, and foul smelling. It opened its gaping mouth, to reveal two rows of razor sharp teeth dripping with saliva. The odd bone could be seen, wedged in between two teeth.
"Hi there, I’m Pippin" He joked, but his eye’s writhed unmistakable look of fear. He began to crawl backwards along the floor away from it, slipping as he did so.
"nice...thing. good boy, girl, whatever you are," he attempted to smile as the creature leaped down from the rock and slowly padded towards him, mouth still open wide. It was only a few inches away from Pippins face, when he heard Mallyra shout to him. She had slipped away, unnoticed my the creature, and was hid in the shadows.
"Pippin, get ready to run!" he heard her cry. Pippin looked up to where she was, but couldn't quite figure out what she was doing. He didn't really have time to ask, so just prepared himself as she'd instructed. Mallyra jumped down from where she was hidden, and then threw an old bone at the creatures head. In shock, it turned and snarled at her, before it began to run towards her. Mallyra took a deep breath, turned, and ran in the opposite direction. Pippin watched in amazement, before clambering to his feet. He took one last glance over his shoulder, before sprinting as fast as he could, back towards the tunnel.
He ran until he couldn’t breathe, making sure to not stop and glance back. When he reached the ladder, he stopped.
"Should I wait for her? Is she okay? I should go back shouldn't I?" He asked himself, pacing around slightly. He took one more look down the tunnel, before he started to climb as fast as he could, back up the ladder.
At this point, Mallyra was hid behind an old stone carving, as far away from the creature as she could be. She held her breath, trying to think of something to do.
"what can I do? Oh god, I'm going to die.." she sighed to herself. Then, out o the corner of her eye, Mallyra spotted their torch. It was just glowing, its flames almost out. She cast a weary glance at the creature, which was exploring a distant corner of the cave. Seeing this as her chance, Mallyra leaped out into the dark, and grabbed the handle of the torch. As quickly as she could, Mallyra dove back behind the carving she'd been hidden behind, and began to nurture the flame.
"Come on... come on!" she exclaimed, blowing gently onto it. Within a few moments, the flame was alive. Smiling to herself, Mallyra peered around the cave once more. The beast had seen the glow of the torch, and was now padding cautiously towards her. Mallyra waited for the right moment, before stepping out of her hiding spot.
"Don't play with fire, it burns." she chuckled to herself, before throwing the burning torch onto the ground. Although the ground was slightly damp, a few sparks blazed, rising in front of the beast. It roared in terror, and pain, as the flames grew higher. It recoiled, screwing up its face and baring its teeth, before running back into the hole from where it came.
But whilst it had been fighting against the fire, Mallyra had taken her chance. Seeing it turn away, she held her breath, and ran towards the tunnel again. Se went quietly, unnoticed. Casting one last glance at the creature, Mallyra felt a little sorry for it, as it coiled away in pain. She sighed again, and as quickly as she'd come, Mallyra disappeared into the darkness.