thread: Exalmex
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  #132  
09-23-2005, 10:01 PM
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Seargentbig
Sleg
 
: Apr 2003
: Australia
: 683
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Man, this is like a bad habit I can't give up. Sorry to keep forcing this down your throats, but I can't give this thing up. I'll try to write another chapter every week or so, with or without comments, but don't count on it. Here is the next chapter.

When I woke up, it was dark. I wasn’t surprised. The chicks seemed to have fallen asleep, too. I got to my toes, and surveyed the damage.
I was not feeling good. I was not looking good, either. The scrab had a tendency to heal quickly, but not this many wounds. The smaller ones were healed, but I still had lots of cuts, grazes and bruises. But it was nothing that wouldn’t heal. Except for that bullet wound. It was deep, bloody and it had a weird look to it, as though it was becoming infected. But I was lucky it hadn’t penetrated any organs.
I listened for the sound of boombats in the caves outside. Nothing. So I tore up the web separating the crevice I was in to the tunnels, and climbed out. There was still nothing.
I wondered how I would find a way out of the maze. It came from my sense of smell. The air was fresher in one direction, so I decided to go there.
It was a long walk, but uneventful. It left me to my own thoughts, though. I thought about the paramite that had lost its life. Then about the scrab that had done the same. Because it would have. It was taken away from its pack, or not if it was alone. But it was probably put into a cage, tortured by the care given to it by the Magog Cartel. Then, Mayllar probably bought it. And then it was killed in a painful manner.
The memories… I thought about them some more. There was no possible way that I could be remembering them. But I was. A mystery and not one I expected to solve. It was probably a quirk of the process that had made me. But it bugged me to no end.
The labyrinth was chilled as I walked through it. I was anything but comfortable in it. My inner paramite was unsettled, the rainforest they live in is not known to be so cold. The recessive scrab presence offered no help, having been shut down by the claustrophobia. I could survive it, but by no means did I like it. I wondered why it was so cold, when I heard them again.
The approaching boombats were behind me again. I started to pick up the pace, but I didn’t run because of my wounds. Then the panic began. What if I was killed? I would be smeared all over the wall! Then I started running.
I still didn’t run as fast as last time, but the searing began again. What if I collapsed from exhaustion again? What if I died from it? What if that thing was infected?
The ‘bats were closing, and I could not think of a way to keep ahead. I was going to die in a cave, in the pitch black, with-
No… not pitch black. An impression that I had been having for a while now finally dropped into place as Sight, and I realised there was light ahead. Light at the end of the tunnel!
With the inspiration it gave, I ran as fast as I could, with the ‘bats behind me. I could practically feel them now. I got to the source, and realised the light was in shafts, no wider than my toes. I beat on the barrier, but it did not give. I turned around to face the bats, but saw a small green orb in one of the shafts to my left. I stared at it, then reached to pick it up by my mouth. When I tried to retrieve it, I met resistance, and it curved in an arc.
The passage was flooded with light, and I could see that impending doom was a few metres away. I just stood there, shaking, while the boombats approached and then flew right past me.
There were a few dozen, but when they all passed I turned around to see a beautiful silvery landscape, shown up by some of the huge moons orbiting oddworld. The one right in front of me, with a mudokons paw on the front, was shining down onto the side of he temple, through the hall I had just gone through. Oh, odd, it was the best sight I had ever seen, because it meant I was alive! I had survived the awful place I had been in.
The sight was enough to make me just stand there for a few minutes, just admiring it. I noticed a flock of boombats outlined against the moon. Turning around, I made my way back through to the hub.
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