The One – #11: Dragons True – Segment 8

Originally published August 2, 2020...

And another cliff hanger! We left the three characters – the One, Argose, and a species, yet-to-be-determined at the mouth of the cave that the magical being calls her home. She appears almost fully human, but something in addition lives in the center of her being. Will her secrets be revealed? A few more clues arise in this segment, but not enough for a positive identification. Keep your mind open and ready for magic. Reason and rationality don’t always carry the day.

 

. . . She proceeds regal in stark elegance

Argose whimpers and retreats from darker

territory where his wisdom fails him

I console him, pat his chest, stroke his back

With hesitation, decides to follow

Full of curiosity, we enter

with our guide to hell or to paradise

Makes no matter – I must this mystery know

Soon enough, my hand on her shoulder rests

Five times better in the dark Argose sees

and pads behind us close whimpering distress

As we enter darkness deeper

a flicker pulsing and now torches ten

and grunting abrupt – heavier steps and groans

 

“Floods this cave and caverns the river does

from time to time, but the places farther

rise above the cresting’s highest”

“Why tell me this when so far in we’ve come?”

“‘Tis the season of river-rising hymns”

With that said, toward the sounds she keeps walking

her ears hearing what I cannot perceive

For sloshing of the river I’m alert

Argose drags his nails, scraping floor of rock

“In this rock house, traveling farther are we?”

“As far as needs be – not always near he is”

“Of this ‘he’ you speak, who nearby may be?”

“He’ll to us show himself – wise is this ‘he’

Fear not, good traveler. Worse than him you’ve seen

on adventures ridden long o’er time

the long course to be here have you wandered

Now, from above, filtering light streams

Soon the source unhidden – openings in rock

some barely holes – others man-wide chasms

beneath the hollows, clear rainwater pools 

On my knees, I drink sweet yet metallic

Bellows now whatever breathes just beyond

but softly breathed, a question hesitant

Comes to me asudden – I know not why I walk here

except my own blind curiosity

Argose warned me with his hesitation

his nose sensations sharp where I’ve no scent

Where I walk will reveal what I see 

Where I finally end up is where I’ll be

The girl of no name asks nothing of me

whether come vanquished or with victory 

Farther into cavern she keeps trudging

as if this is some kind of vile duty

Once more, asudden, it occurs to me

that what lives here is not all mystery

It is heavy, large, if not gigantic

Why not another Dragon in his lair?

or a mother snake of hungry offspring

No, we would have heard the young ones wailing

A male then, with an appetite for meat

Now the deception is coming clear

Providing dinner is why we’ve been brought here!

We are a meal for a lizard’s belly!

Our guide stops short as if perceiving me

With palm raised and forward she signals stop

“Again, allow that I should enter first

then waves me follow as she dips to dark

My alarmed thoughts shift now to turn and vanish

There’s no escape now because it’s famished

While I’m fretting, she’s gone ‘round a corner

Trembling Argose nose-bumps my hand and whines

another clue that this must be unwise

I hear the girl murmuring to something

The reply is a base-throated purring

a predator cat –  a lion, cougar

“Prithee, come to us now – feel our welcome.”

Do I sense sinister intention here?

Curiosity and place leave no choice

I round the corner. Argose stays behind . . .

Background:

Perhaps few other experiences top the following for sheer anxiety and even terror: you enter a very dark tunnel (cave) while hearing groans and cries, heavy footsteps, and a sense of something exceptionally large and foreign. Knowing something or someone is actually there in the dark, raises the hackles on the back of the neck. Of such elements are horror movies made; but this story is no horror movie. It is the journey of The One (or to the one, or both). An element of magic and ancient entities permeates the atmosphere; however, the main character remains with both feet on the side of reason despite the out of the ordinary experiences on this journey.

Okay. Yes, as a child, I liked to watch horror movies, and play games with friends like “haunted house” where in the dark, peeled grapes served as eyeballs, and cold spaghetti felt like shredded intestines. Yes, I liked to scare myself, and was on the lookout for places, crooks, and crannies dark enough for my imaginary exploits.

Exploration 1: What additional clues are given above for the girl’s identity? Have you figured out who or what she is? Hint: She only appears human. Go ahead; venture a speculation and post it. There is an answer.

Exploration 2: Would you follow the female “guide” into the cave? Why or why not? What is the risk/reward ratio operative here?

Exploration 3: This segment introduces yet another character that we haven’t yet met; however, we’ve heard enough sounds to know that we face potential danger – perhaps even death – around any corner. How would you reconcile fear and curiosity, terror with a need to know?