I headed uphill on my way to find the rift. As the taxi would have most certainly traveled downslope, it was the most logical direction for me to go.

…

"Hah… Hah…"

I cupped one hand over my mouth as I breathed into it. It was cold here, far colder than the temperate nights of Singapore. And being so lightly dressed the way I was, I paid the price for it too. Though I had not been out of the taxi for long, it was already beginning to take a toll on my extremities, numbing it to a point where I could barely feel a touch.

For as much as I wanted to simply keep my hands tucked deep within my pockets, I could not, for I had to keep my phone out. The powerful LED flashlight on the back of it remained the single thing that continued to guide my way. Without it, I would have, with no amount of uncertainty, died a lonesome death lost down here.

It went without saying then, that I strived for every tip and trick in the book to extend the battery life on my phone for as long as possible: putting it on airplane mode, closing every single app, background usage, and whatnot. Each single percentage point left on the battery counted, and I would waste absolutely none of it.

Then, with a wet and slippery sound from the bottom of my shoes, I encountered a sight that all but reaffirmed my original deductions.

"Is this… blood?"

Though I had initially thought I had stepped onto water from an underground source, when I shined my light onto it, I knew that it was most certainly not. Though it was not vibrant in color, I felt it was probably reasonable to assume it was blood. And just a little bit farther up from where I was, I found the source.

"This must be what the taxi hit."

I discovered a mangled and twisted carcass limp against the ground with its guts having exploded out in the most disgusting of ways. I winced my nose distastefully. The creature was long and flat, with its limbs being even more exaggerated in length. It was quite sizable, longer than I was tall, and dark scales covered every bit of its body. It gave off the impression of a snake with limbs, though its face was elongated and narrowed out to a point much like an anteater.

The smell was not the most pleasant, and it became worse the closer I stepped, but I had to take a better look. It was my guild training resurfacing here, as studying the local fauna was one of the main objectives when Scouting, and there was no better opportunity than this for me to study what threats may be lurking out there for me.

I knelt down next to its head and touched its scales. They were quite hard and gave off the same impression as a slate of stone as I tapped it with my fingers. The scales were rounded and dulled, but I noticed how it was able to scratch up the rocks that laid beneath it anyway.

I looked at its eyes next, of which there were two and were side-facing. In addition, they were small, beady, and black— not exactly the kind of eyes one might expect from a deep cavernous creature. But how useful would eyes really be down here anyway? I looked for its mouth next. It was miniscule, occupying only just a few centimeters at the very tip of its face, and it really played with the anteater comparison well. I even found there to be no teeth present in its mouth when I pried it open with my one unoccupied hand. The inside of its mouth was still vaguely lukewarm and plenty moist when I touched my fingers to it. Eugh.

Wiping my hand, I made the conclusion that it was not a predator.

"But if it's not a predator, then what use are those claws for?"

I studied its claws. They were all massive, with each about the length of my entire forearm. Furthermore, they were hard just like its scales and plenty worn to indicate a constant and heavy use.

"Could it be that they excavated this entire cavernous system?"

I glanced around. If they had, then they put in a hell of a lot of work. It was no wonder how this one was able to tear into the metal chassis of the taxi. Then I stood back up, ready to take my leave. As I did though, I took one last look at it and noticed that one of the claws had been cracked around the midpoint.

"I might be able to break it off."

I went for it.

Holding the tip carefully, I stomped on the fracture line until I heard an audible split. With this, I managed to break off the knife sized chunk of claw and pocketed it. It fit right in my grasp the way a plastic water bottle did and it would be greatly helpful to use in defending myself should the need ever arise.

…

Clack clack… clack clack…

"Shit!" I cursed silently.

As I was finally ready to make my leave, a foreign sound immediately put me on high alert, but I kept myself calm. Though faint, it was easily audible with it being the only sound near. It was skittering, rhythmic, and vaguely resembled the sound of a dog's nail clacking across a hard surface. I could not tell how many there were, but there could not be more than two.

Clack clack…

I backed away from the carcass. The stench must have attracted scavengers and I wanted to be nowhere nearby when they arrived.

Clack clack… clack clack…

The sound was approaching fast.

Could I run? No, that was not a good idea in the dark like this. A place to hide would be better.

My head turned hurriedly as I looked for such a place. Shining my light everywhere, I found a tall vertical cliff face not far from where I was. I did not need to think for a second longer before I turned off my light and quickly made myself scant towards it. This would be the best that I could do. Even if I could not find a place to hide behind, I could still use the wall to break up my form.

Clack clack clack…

As I pressed myself on the cold and dusty rocks, I saw it. Like a lantern in the darkness, its form was revealed to me clearly. It appeared prowling with its entire body emanating with a soft and violet light that made its dark scale seem luxurious through a glossy sheen. It was of the exact same species to the carcass I had inspected but it was even larger by comparison.

Now that I took a second look, the dead one also glowed with the same light, though it was much fainter. I must have been unable to notice it with the light of my phone shining over it.

Clack.

I swallowed in anticipation as the creature stopped over the carcass of its kin. With its head pointed low, it nodded its elongated face over the body repeatedly. Perhaps it was a form of grieving? Though not common, mourning had been observed in nature. But then its snout stopped, hovering over the exploded stomach area, and it lifted up its claws to dig around the pile of guts.

"What the…? Cannibalism? But how is it going to eat with a mouth like that?"

I swallowed my astonishment and watched in suspense. After what felt like an excessive amount of time digging, it finally stopped. Its tongue reached out next, extending and extending, until it plunged deep into the messy slop of intestines and pulled out a softly glowing violet crystal of the same shade as its own.

"How remarkable… Does it eat the crystals to achieve that glow, or is it the other way around and the crystals are a production of its body?"

I muttered to myself. What the creature did next was to set the crystal down before striking at it repeatedly. Crack! Its powerful claws easily shattered the crystal into many smaller fragments, each just the right size to be picked up and pulled through its mouth by its long tongue to be swallowed.

After it finished eating, it raised its head as though sniffing the air. It waved around slowly, though wildly, until it leaned particularly towards my direction. My body tensed up the instant I realized what was going to happen next.

Clack clack clack…

It started moving towards me.

"This is bad."

I swore quietly. The creature meandered without urgency as it kept its head up and continued to sniff the air. However, I was starting to feel cold sweat building on my back. There was no telling what an unknown species like this would do. I held my breath and slowly backed up along the cliff face.

Clack clack…

It could definitely tell I was there because, even as I continued to back farther away, it wandered even closer. It did not stop to second guess itself.

Clack clack clack…

Though it moved slowly, it still came faster than I could back away. At this rate, it would catch up to me within a few moments, yet it still showed no signs of turning around. I swallowed hard and inched my finger towards the broken claw in my pocket.

Clack clack…

It was almost close enough for it to lash out at me— but also close enough for me to lunge out at it before it could get the chance. I had the advantage in the dark. It would never see it coming. With the broken claw, if I hit it hard enough at its vitals, I could quite possibly land a fatal blow in one hit. A slash across its throat would be the move. But even then, a kill would neither be instantaneous nor guaranteed. In its enraged throes, it could easily swing its claws and shred my body apart like paper mache. Just a single hit, and it would be over for me.

The risks were too high, I assessed, but I was running out of time. I could feel all the sweat gathering profusely on my palms and it made gripping onto the broken claw much more difficult. I had to make my move then.

Before it could get too close to me— before it could get that opportunity to get at me first, I took out my phone and turned the flashlight on at maximum brightness, straight into the fucking thing's eyes.

"Squeak!"

The creature made a surprised sound before freezing up like a deer in front of headlights. Then, acting out in a panic, it bounced back and scurried away hastily. As it turned, its claws dug into the ground and walls and left gouges over a centimeter deep in the rocks.

"Phew…"

I breathed out a sigh of relief as I watched its glowing figure quickly leave and then disappear behind the twists and turns of the caverns.

That had been far too close for comfort.

…

After coming to terms with what I had just encountered, I raised my head up towards the cliff face. This was what stood at the end of my investigation up the slope and I believed that the rift was somewhere over it.

However, even as I shined my light to it, I could only just barely make out the top. If I had to guess, the ledge was probably at about a height of fifteen meters or more. I would have to climb it with my bare hands.

"Can I even climb this? Rather, it's a miracle I came out unscathed falling from there."

If I fell from half way up, I would likely break my legs. And if I fell from close to the top, death would be a coin flip. My odds of scaling it properly boiled down to how confident of a climber I was.

I was not very confident at all.

The cliff face was somewhat smooth and dusty, making it more difficult to get a strong grip over. But, there were a reasonable amount of outcroppings for me to grab and put my weight on. The two things more or less canceled each other out. With some luck, it should be relatively easy.

"Hm…"

However, I forgot just one thing. Even before taking all that into consideration, I realized that none of that would matter if I could not see where I was going. After all, if I used both hands to climb, how would I hold my light?

"Well, there's no harm in testing it out."

I decided I would do just that. In the dark, I placed my hands onto the cliff and felt around until I could find a rock I could hold onto. I made one step up after feeling around with my foot. That was where I stopped.

"Yeah, no. This isn't going to work."

Being unable to see anything, I was relegated to the most dangerous guessing game I had played in recent history. There was a good chance that, even if I were to be able to make it up a good distance, I would be unable to come back down if I reached a dead end without a further path up.

I hopped down and patted my hands clean of grime.

Perhaps I could walk around more first and try to find a place where the ledge was lower down. It seemed like a good idea. It would be even better if I was able to find a spot low enough for me to simply walk up.

"Let's do that."

I decided to try again only after exhausting my other options first, though that may come sooner than expected. With more of those creatures likely to be prowling about, I did not want to wander too far and risk catching its attention again.

Things were likely going to only become more difficult for me from here on out, so at the very least I would try to take the path of least resistance.

…

…