It was incredible to Mesec just how empty the caves usually were. Had Helovians got their fill of these spaces during the time they had been forced down here? Since his stay had been shortened, they held no such repulsion for him. He felt drawn to them every now and then even, this sanctuary that had saved the lives of everyone he knew. How lucky, how convenient, that they caves had been discovered just before the outbreak - though he was sure that they had been here for much longer than that.

Returning to the wall with the paintings, depictions of times past in the history of Helovia, he thought of Maren and how he had shown her this little piece of history as they explored the caves together. She had been so entranced! With his roots so firmly tied into Helovia, it had taken the excitement of a newcomer to reawaken the interest in Mesec to learn about whatever history he could. He had found himself with more questions, questions he wasn’t sure how to find the answers to and once he had one they seemed to snowball and form others. Silver eyes were bright but idle as they took in the wall today, retracing the lines and curves etched within the stone.

“Rhellaya!”

His head jerked back when a scream interrupted the near-silence of the caves. Instantly on alert - Mesec tried to figure out where it had been coming from. Deeper into the caves, certainly. The scream - was it a name? Or a word in a language he did not recognize? Either way, the note of distress in the syllables certainly warranted some investigation. The way the scream had echoed throughout the caves unnerved him and he worried about what he might find when he found the source. He found his imagination running a bit wild as he worried about some remnant of the sickness long-gone.

If he found the source. Following the source of an echo was not the easiest thing to do.

Moving out of the room with the paintings as fast as he dared in the near-darkness of some of the caverns, Mesec travelled deeper into the caves. He paused momentarily outside of the glowing room with the strange moss and plants. “Hello?” He called out experimentally, down the cavernous hallways that led to the last of the rooms he knew about - the brilliant crystal maze. Mesec tried to keep his breathing down so it wouldn’t distract him from listening as carefully as he could for any response. Perhaps down here he would have better luck at figuring out which direction the call had come from, if they could only communicate. “Hello? Is someone down here?” He hoped that he had not traded vultures for something more sinister.

I’m trying to find my direction home, ______________
A question of space, a matter of time, _______
I follow the stars until the first light.