by Danny
Danny Hearn:
I softly climb out of the river and up onto the sold ground at the edge of the underground cavern. Only moments ago, I saw the team disappear off into another cavern. Not sure what's in there. Didn't get to see that one in my explorations.
I need to cross the cavern, get over there, meet up with the team. Very soon. But how the hell do I get across without alerting all the villagers scattered around?
I look up, and a solution presents itself... sort of.
"Hal, I got an idea," I say, looking at the ceiling of the cavern. It consists of hard-packed dirt arranged haphazardly in rough rock formations that protrude downward.
"Oh, you can't be serious," Hal says.
"Sure am."
"I suppose you'll be wanting some claws, then."
"Yup. And a prehensile tail."
Within seconds, I feel my new appendages growing. This is always the worst part. It bloody hurts. I look down at my new claws, then swing my hand into the rock wall next to me. The claws stick tight.
"Excellent."
I swing my other arm into the wall, slightly higher. This one sticks too. And so I go on like this, arm after arm, slowly climbing higher up the wall. I really hope those villagers don't spot me.
After a few moments, I'm hanging upside down from the roof. I'm gripping one of the rock formations with my claws, while steadying myself on another with my tail. I cross from one rock formation to the next, carefully and quietly, but still as quickly as I can manage. Sam and Pete need me to reach the rest of the team. It takes me about three minutes, three agonizingly long minutes. But by the end of it, I'm at the other end of the cavern. I hope they're still okay.
I'm still hanging from the roof, pressed right up against the back wall of the huge chamber. Directly beneath me is the cave that I saw the team disappear into moments ago. Right next to me, curiously enough, is another cave, one much smaller, barely enough to fit one person through. There must be whole networks of these things, possibly extending for miles.
Okay, just gotta climb down this wall. Suddenly, I hear a loud crack. The piece of rock my tail is gripping comes apart from the ceiling. Oh, shit.
It hits the floor with a deafening crash and breaks into a thousand pieces. It echoes around the cavern. They heard me. They must have heard me. I've got no choice. I jump into the tiny cave next to me before any of the villagers can spot me.
Oh, crap. I don't know where this tunnel goes. I could be getting lost, hopelessly lost. That was stupid of me. I was supposed to go into the big cave the other guys went into, but now I'll lose them, and Sam and Pete will be killed, and it's all my fault.
I'm sliding, sliding downward, really, really quickly. And it's really, really dark. I shut my eyes.
The end of the tunnel takes me by surprise. But here it is, anyway. I tumble out of the tunnel, sliding across the floor a few meters, then come to a halt.
My eyes are still shut. I think I'm scared to open them. I hear people around me, voices, footsteps. Shit, the villagers have me, I'm a goner. I failed Pete and Sam.
"Danny?" a familiar voice says. I open my eyes. It's Tobias.
"Wow. That kinda took me by surprise," I say. I stand up and look around. We're on the bank of a large underground lake, and there's some sort of carving in the center.
One of the villagers is standing next to Naecken, explaining something. He stops when he sees me and looks at me strangely.
"Oh, yeah. Reverse tail and claws," I say. Hal complies.
"Where have you been?" Tobias says to me.
"Some swimming. Some climbing. Anyway, more important things -- Sam and Pete are tied up in a nearby cave, and they're about to be set alight!" I yell. The team turns to me, concerned looks on their faces.
"Naecken, you seem to have some sort of authority down here. Anything you can do to help them out?" I ask.