The sight of the horrifying, bleeding paint replayed constantly before my eyes, his attack on Psyche unable to leave my mind even as I fled through the skies and over the expanse of the deep forest. I had failed at protecting the Lady of the Basin, allowed that... that thing to bite her and turn her into one of them. I'd been reluctant to leave the one I once thought so bitterly of, for in the brief moments we had gotten to speak, there was something undeniably different about her. But upon her turning into, well, whatever it was... I had fled like a coward, unknowing of what to do.
Tears stung at my face as I flew, the billowing wind pushing them back and down my cheeks, leaving darkened lines along the hide. As I flew, my eyes kept ever sharp for anyone else who was still out in the open and prone to attack, but I'd not been fortunate enough to find any. So I had set my course for Helovia's Heart, lacking the stragglers I promised to have bring with me, and instead returning with nothing more but a heavy heart and teary eyes. 'Stop it,' I cursed myself as I neared the cave entrance, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly.
Some little voice in the back of my mind screamed, reminding me that I was still just a boy, powerless to do anything. It told me that I was a failure, and of that I couldn't agree more, and made me ponder if anything I had ever done had ever even mattered. It dared tell me that I would forever live in the shadows, and my ears flickered back as the thought invaded my skull. Mother forgive me; I wanted to be the light in the dark, that shimmer of hope at the end of the long and hopeless tunnel we'd all been thrown into.
Slowing myself, I made a spiral pattern as I descended from the skies and to the mouth of the cave, ever careful as I maneuvered the slippery ground and keeping my wings outstretched for more balance. More or less sliding to the bottom, I looked briefly around the room with expression still downtrodden, but carried myself beyond the simplistic entry-room to the magnificent cave system we had all taken refuge in.
Just beyond the first and most visited room lie one with paintings along the wall, a light flickering from high above to illuminate them. I came to a halt before the wall of etchings, simply staring in silence as my mind pieced them together. But my head wasn't clear, and though I was truly interested to pick the story apart, I had other things to make sense of right now. With a trembling exhale, I stepped forward and craned my neck to the side, pressing my cheek against the cool and slick wall near one painting that resembled that of my Mother. "Mother," I whispered, voice nearly breaking, "Save us."
"blah blah blah."
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