Trapped within his first nightmare, Aldric is on a journey to find clues to escape. This is one of those conversations.
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Beneath a flaming bonfire, two men sat in silence. The embers and wisps of fire filling their ears.
"They call it the age of darkness. The 'Epoch of Silence', supposedly."
A slightly high-pitched voice spoke.
The cracking embers of flame lit up his face. Short and round, his face had a primal roughness to it. His fire was small and hunched, making his small figure appear even smaller. Adorned in hides and animal skins, it only added to his unappealing appearance.
Opposite him in a dark cavern, a pale young man sat on a large stone. His gaze focused onto the flickering flames. His grey eyes contained a deep darkness ill-fitting on such a young face.
Raising his head to speak, the young man asked.
"And the gods... What happened to them?"
The voice containing hints of curiosity and other things.
Giving his companion a rather charged stare, he complied and answered with a laugh.
"What gods..."
"Some say they are dead. Others believe they are asleep"
"According to a written record, our ancestors were worshippers of the Beast God, the god of the cycle of birth and death. Ironically, they were also the God of Hunting. But truthfully, I don't really care."
He continued. The only thing accompanying his voice was the shimmering fireplace.
"They sought refuge after the echoes of a monumental war were destroying their lands. Whole tribes and villages wiped out in collateral, dooming them to wait for death. In their search for refuge, they found this cave system. Locking the door behind them and never looking back."
An expression of indifference, but if anyone looked deeper, they would see something else.
A look of hopelessness.
"The others might have forgotten this. With how happy they are playing tribesmen, they act as though they are the only humans on earth. But I believe that this shitty little hole is only holding us back."
He elaborated, pessimistically.
Interrupting the flow of conversation, the young man asked.
"How is it that you know all about this? Everyone else is just grateful to live another day, but you seem different."
A high-pitched laugh with sporadic deep tones echoed over the flickering flame.
"I know, right? In the nearly six decades that we've been underground, someone has made it their life's mission to erase knowledge and strength. Luckily, my parents saw it for what it was and left behind a journal before their deaths."
The pygmy's small beady eyes locked onto his audience.
"It spoke of life before the sanctum. Of gods, wars, suffering and destitution. Revealing everything to me. Why do you think I'm so alone in the sanctum? I can't possibly know all of this and remain the same as everybody else."
He admitted, getting to the heart of the conversation. Emotional and passionate, it was clear to see how much the isolation from the clan was affecting the pygmy. An isolation propagated by his clearly forbidden knowledge.
"Where do our prisoners go? Why can't we ever find hints of our fallen hunters corpses? Why do some people go missing in the dead of night?"
With emotion and passion, the pygmy sporadically listed all of his worries. All his thoughts and theories.
"And they don't listen! I tell them! I tell them! Idiots, the lot of them."
Bouncing his leg up and down with each complaint.
Looking back at his audience, an ugly smile formed on his face.
"But you, Silo, you're different. A true brother, hearing me out."
A sense of low esteem seemed to emanate from the man in droves. The kind that resulted in loneliness and isolation.
The young man interrupted before the pygmy went on a tangent again. The young man could tell that he was not used to people hearing him out for so long.
"Didn't Thorne say we have to meet for training soon? Let's go."
He got up, leaving the strange little man to follow behind him.
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Later on, in the comfort of his own bed. A tired Silo spent some time alone in his thoughts.
"How on earth am I meant to beat this nightmare?"
Aldric had spent so long in his first nightmare without seeing a single hint of the worm that would destroy the entire mountain plane.
Having exhausted every other person he knew for information, he spoke to the short scout of their hunting group.
And it was clearly of no use.
Learning about the history of the sanctum was alright; however, the pygmy lacked worthwhile knowledge about that.
Speaking of his intention of what he was about to do next, Aldric made up his mind.
"Tomorrow, I'll follow after the grand elder."
*****
Thanks for reading.
First chapter of the side story. It will be mostly chronological from the original story. So trust me, I have some good stories planned out.
If you guys have any requests let me know. Anything that you wanted to see or build upon.
Till the next one.