He had been circling through the over-growth for about an hour. He trudged along steadily but miserably. He felt miserable both from a weakness in his bones from having been out here for a long time and from his lack of direction. He had checked the carvings carefully, had learnt them and had mastered them. Now it seemed all his months of careful study were not careful at all. How else could he explain his inability to find the path and his inability to find what the carvings spoke about so importantly? He dudged a branch jutting out in the way and flashed his torch in the direction. Leaves were crackling underneath his feet as he went and light from the torch seemed like nothing in the darkness of the night. It was past bedtime now and the only company he had out here in the forest were insects screeching out of habit and nocturnal birds searching for food. ‘Why had he even bothered coming here?’ He thought. ‘Certainly, this was a hopeless mission.’
He heard the sound of water splashing nearby. He was close to a water source. Perhaps what he sought was in the direction of the water. Or perhaps it did not exist at all. He thought for a moment about going back and then he told himself that he could not have spent so many months drunken in careful study only to come out here and waste it. No. He must try a little longer. He might just be within reach of what he sought.
He trudged up further into the entangling woods with an increasingly slowing pace and a resentful look. He pushed leaves out of his way and trampled upon others until he was lost in the woods.
Human hands were inscribed on the walls. He had stepped into a cave. He looked around him in anticipation and in trepidation. There was nothing within these walls to suggest that he had found his destination. Just patterns on the wall. The hands. They were all pointed towards the same side of the cave. He followed them. It seemed that they were directing him. Perhaps, they had always expected him. Perhaps, they knew he would be here someday. Or maybe, they only just led to somewhere out there. Somewhere that he must find. Maybe they were not meant for him at all. He followed them nonetheless.
Soon he was out in the open but it felt like another part of the forest. It felt like the cave was only a passageway to this side. He felt his heartbeat increase in pace and for the second time he thought about going back. His feet moved forward of their own accord in the immediate direction they could find. He flashed his torch left and right even turned backwards once. The night was getting dark and the insects were screeching louder. He increased his pace. He was getting scared. Then something stopped him in his tracks. He noticed the hands again, inscribed there on each tree trunk. Still pointing. He followed.
He swung around when he heard the loud roar but there was nothing there. He noticed something hard on his feet and he shone his light towards it. He had never considered that it would be so fearful out here in the woods alone. His light found it and so did his eyes.
It was the stone. It was lying there innocently and it shone slightly in the darkness. He picked it up and felt elated.
“So it is true!” He screamed and almost lost the stone again into the ageless forest ground.
But then he didn’t and he felt grateful for that. He held on to it tightly and traced its edgy texture. It seemed like something that was from another place. Something not of this world. It was translucent and beautiful. He devoured its beauty for a moment and then a thought crossed his mind. His fears had now disappeared and he felt a sudden presence in the forest like someone was there with him. He held the torch with his mouth and began looking for the scribbled notes. The one with the diagrams and the signals. He brought it out hurriedly; stone held tightly in one palm. Before he had enough time to look through it though; something happened.
A night hawk was flying over the area and was not the least bit worried about the man. But he was lying there. Unconscious. He had fallen underneath the ground on which he had been standing and now it was obvious that the soil up there was nothing but a ceiling for this place. He was in an underground room. But he could not see that now. He was unaware of his surroundings. Even as a pack of wolves circled around him excited that they might be within reach of their next meal.
