Chapter Eleven: Labyrinth Part Two

Walking into the entrance of the cave I can feel an immediate temperature drop, it’s very noticeable but it’s not that bad and I go further into the cave pulling the cart. I don’t see Rashid in the near pitch black of the cave, so I wait a second till my eyes adjust, then I spot Rashid waiting for me further down and he motions for me hurry up as he turns around walks further down.

It doesn’t take me long at all to catch up to the old man, which isn’t that hard since he’s ya know an old man, and I settle into a pace behind him. He doesn’t say anything as I catch up to him, but I notice that he tenses up a little at my presence behind him, and I feel a slight grin appear.

Rashid is dead silent as we walk swiftly along inside the cave with nothing filling it but the cold air and silence. The silence is pretty unnatural though, since Rashid and I don’t really make a lot of noise when we move I’d thought could hear everything down here uninterrupted but there’s nothing to hear, no breathing of small animals, the sound of water, or anything really. It pretty freaking creepy, I don’t think that I ever been somewhere so quiet.

I mumble under my breath, just to give this place some life “What’s with this place?”

Rashid stops and mumbles for a second before asking in a strained tone “Would you like to hear a story boy?” I scrunch my face up in confusion and ask bored “Why the hell would I want to hear a story?” I hear Rashid sigh and say slowly and annoyed “Well, maybe because I don’t think that you’ll pay attention if I give a lecture about something that happened at least a several thousands years and about all the theories that support it and why it relates to this labyrinth. And you’re the kind of stupid that needs someone to tell you a story.” Well he does have a point, but I could pay attention if I wanted to... but would I really? I mean I just want to know why it’s so quiet down here.

I say to him with a smirk, and ready to hear him ramble on, “Alright, old man tell me this legend.”

Rashid hums thoughtfully and says energetically “Well it’s not actually a legend, it’s actually as close to the truth as we have gotten to understanding about this culture, and the most popular theory, but anyway I’m getting sidetracked.”

He clears his throat and then says in a deep voice “Imagine a long time ago, man had just discovered fire and barely out of their caves, this was the time where the Fae ruled over the world and fearsome beast stalked our ancestors-” I interrupt him and say snidely “They still do though, millions of people still die to monster every year.” A chain hits me and Rashid growls “Shut up!... Now where was I.. Oh yeah.” He clears his throat again and continues “Fearsome beast stalked our ancestors and killed them mercilessly. They had yet to learn the powers of aura or magic, and they were only a step above helpless. They could only barely survive and probably would have died out. But then something arrived, no one really know what it was, maybe a god, or a demon, or something else entirely. All we know about it though is it was called by them “The Immortal” and that he taught our ancestors how to survive and gave some of them his blood before leaving.

After learning from “The Immortal” our ancestors began to thrive growing in power as and, but those that took part of the blood of the immortal died in droves till some and those that survived became horribly and hid from the world's prying eyes taking the blood with them. But with our ancestors with their new found power they became peers with the Fae and the other dominant races. And for a time there was peace.

But alas nothing lasts forever as a war engulfed the world, it’s unknown who started the conflict but eventually the whole world was plunged into a war over night. In this war continents shifted, country's disappeared overnight, and entire species went extinct, in this war there was no friends or allies only the living and the dead, and the only one to truly win and emerged as the victor was not the Fae, the Humans, or Dragons, no it was those who took part in the blood and hid, they had learned of the bloods gifts and used it to win the war and conquered the world and took a new name the Blooded.

The others fled in the power of the Blooded, and they gave chase and those caught were put to horrible experiments, and made to partake in the blood if they were found worthy. Eventually the Blooded’s enemies were no more, either hidden or dead, and nothing left to stop them.”

This is a lot of information to take in, but still what does this have to do with the silence? Also, is any of this true? My curiosity aroused I ask “So what happened to them?”

Rashid annoyed says “I was getting to it, so shut up! Now that they conquered the world, they set their sight higher, we don’t know what their goal was but never achieved it and they eventually the Blooded divided into factions and warred with each other. Now We don’t know very much about why they warred or how many factions there were, but it did give those left the were hidden a chance to defeat the Blooded, and another long war happen and ended when the Blooded were defeated and their cities destroyed. And all the other races went on to war with each other like they have been doing till recently.

So what do you think?”

I go into thought for a second, before saying “I’ve heard better.” I hear a woosh, and I barely manage to react and catch the chain and it hits my hands with a heavy blow numbing it. Struggling to keep it from crushing my bones, I look to Rashid who’s glaring at me with a chain in hand and say “So what does that have to do with why it’s so quiet down here?” He sighs and the chain disappears, and says despondently “I’ll just show you when we get to our destination.”