Post by Samantha on Nov 4, 2014 3:59:09 GMT
The creature’s agonised screams filled the chamber for the first time in centuries. The guardians looked on with glassy eyes, unmoving- unable or unwilling to react to the being writhing on the floor before them. They did not, however, ignore the frightening crunch which split the air soon after. They looked up, but were unable to get clear before a large section of the roof caved inward in an explosion of ancient dust.
When the dust cleared, the earth had grown still. No more did it growl above and around, like a furious animal. Nor was the creature wailing and thrashing as it had been. Its cries had lessened to a whimper as it lay there, eyes closed, frantic energy abated. It did not seem to register the fate of its companions, trapped mere metres away beneath a mountain of rubble.
It inhaled, exhaled, groaned; and murmured something unintelligible.
Its eyes flickered open. They were dull, pained, and a little watery from the swirling clouds of dust. But they were not the eyes of an unintelligent animal. They were the eyes of an ancient and anguished being, and they had seen many things.
The creature recognised the hole in the roof, but it did nothing for several moments. It looked to the mountain of rubble, and whimpered a little, dipping its horrendous head as though in reverence. Then, sluggishly, it rose to its paws and made its way on trembling limbs to stand beneath the hole.
More darkness above, no roof in sight. Just deep dark caverns, stale with the trapped air of a hundred lifetimes. The creature tried to rise up onto its hind legs, but its body shivered and buckled and it fell to the ground; jaw clenched, breath raspy and eyes narrowed to slits.
The moment passed.
The creature rose again, more carefully this time, and placed its paws either side of the top of the hole. Muscles bunched and, with grim determination, it hauled itself from its prison of stone and into the corridor above.
At last, it had done it. It was free.
When the dust cleared, the earth had grown still. No more did it growl above and around, like a furious animal. Nor was the creature wailing and thrashing as it had been. Its cries had lessened to a whimper as it lay there, eyes closed, frantic energy abated. It did not seem to register the fate of its companions, trapped mere metres away beneath a mountain of rubble.
It inhaled, exhaled, groaned; and murmured something unintelligible.
Its eyes flickered open. They were dull, pained, and a little watery from the swirling clouds of dust. But they were not the eyes of an unintelligent animal. They were the eyes of an ancient and anguished being, and they had seen many things.
The creature recognised the hole in the roof, but it did nothing for several moments. It looked to the mountain of rubble, and whimpered a little, dipping its horrendous head as though in reverence. Then, sluggishly, it rose to its paws and made its way on trembling limbs to stand beneath the hole.
More darkness above, no roof in sight. Just deep dark caverns, stale with the trapped air of a hundred lifetimes. The creature tried to rise up onto its hind legs, but its body shivered and buckled and it fell to the ground; jaw clenched, breath raspy and eyes narrowed to slits.
The moment passed.
The creature rose again, more carefully this time, and placed its paws either side of the top of the hole. Muscles bunched and, with grim determination, it hauled itself from its prison of stone and into the corridor above.
At last, it had done it. It was free.