The Cave – Part Sixteen

To quickly recap: Friends Eve and Sara were rock climbing and stumbled across a large cave with primitive drawings on its walls. A rock slide traps them inside. Having little choice, they go deeper into the cave, hoping to find another exit. The cave system seems to be a mixture of natural and man-made and the further into it they go, the stranger Eve starts acting. Just as Sara thinks they’re getting close to a way out, Eve shoves her off of a ledge into a chasm. Now they must each find their way. But there's something else going on as well . . .

Now Sara knew for certain she was dreaming. The woman had long dark hair, and a coppery glow to her skin that suggested aboriginal origins, despite the fact she was dressed in white.

“There’s always been rumors of spirits in these hills, that’s what gave this area its name,” she said. “But I’ve never heard them referred to as guardian spirits.”

“Nonetheless—” the woman began.

“So how did you end up here, and what exactly are you guarding against?”

“Long ago there was great evil in this land—”

“What kind of great evil?” Sara interrupted.

“It has no name. A great battle was fought and we were able to weaken it enough that we were able to trap it in this cavern.”

“You trapped it in here,” Sara said repeated. “But you became trapped as well.”

“Even so,” the woman nodded.

“So you died getting rid of this great evil, and now you haunt the hills?”

“Not exactly, no.”

There was a shimmer in the air beside her as a man took corporeal form. He, too, was of aboriginal descent, and his white clothing appeared to be buckskin.

“For five hundred years we kept the evil contained,” he said, continuing the narrative. “But then the earth moved and a crack appeared.”

“The crack Eve and I came through?”

“Yes.”

“Another battle was fought,” the woman continued. “Many lives were lost.”

“Wait,” Sara interrupted again. “You said lives were lost. You mean after five hundred years you were still alive?”

“After a fashion,” the man said. “Maali, our leader, created a great seal so the evil could not pass to the outside.”

“The mosaic,” Sara guessed. “The normal one, not the abstract.”

“You’re very perceptive,” the woman told her. “It took all of her power, all of her essence to complete it.”

“Not complete,” the man corrected. “But complete enough to trap the evil within.”

Sara thought this over for a moment. “And the other one, the other mosaic? Where did it come from?”

“I think you know,” the man said quietly.

“The evil one you spoke of,” Sara said. It made a weird kind of sense. That was probably why she got such a bad feeling any time she was near the abstract.

“Yes,” the woman said. “The great evil also put much of itself and its energy into the malignant mural. It’s meant to break the seal.”

“But it was unable to complete it,” the man added.

“Okay, so that means the evil is still trapped, right?”

“For now. But it has gained the ability to draw in servants from the outside to continue working in its stead. Should it be completed, the evil will gain the power it needs to break the great seal and once more be loose in the world outside.”

“Servants, you say. From the outside? You mean like Eve and I. We were drawn here by this evil?”

The two spirits looked at each other.

“Not exactly,” the woman said. “Your companion was drawn by the evil; you were drawn by us.”

“Why?” Sara asked bluntly.

“Just as evil has its champion, so too must good.”

“That’s just plain nuts,” Sara said. “You expect me to believe that Eve and I are champions for good and evil? This is the stupidest dream I’ve every had. You guys do what you like. I’m going to lay back down here and then I’m going to wake up.”

The voices of the spirits continued, but Sara did her best to ignore them.

“Perhaps we were wrong in the choosing,” the woman said.

“No, she is the champion. She made all the right choices, passed all the tests.”

“How can we expect her to complete the seal when even we do not know how this is to be done?”

“We must have faith, sister. She will find the way, and complete the seal before her companion completes the means to break it.”

Sara struggled awake. To her great surprise, she found herself out of the water and in a cave very similar to the one she dreamed of. Her light, no longer tied to her, sat on the sand, glowing softly. She levered herself upwards and only then noticed the wooden plate filled with bread, cheese, and fruit beside her, as well as a stoppered bottle. Her leg, that she had visions of losing once she made it back to civilization, had a cloth bandage covering it, and the swelling was gone.

“This isn’t possible,” she said aloud. “It was just a dream.”

Sitting cross-legged on the thin pallet, she nibbled on a piece of the bread while she thought it through. A battle between good and evil, with her and Eve as champions. It seemed utterly ridiculous, and yet . . . here she was.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Missed an installment? Catch up here: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Part Eight,  Part Nine, Part Ten, Part Eleven, Part Twelve, Part Thirteen, Part Fourteen, Part Fifteen