Temple Underneath

Big Fishes' Carnival at The Lake - Temple Underneath

The word 'damp' couldn't even describe the place in which I found myself starving in. While I expected the whole corridor of moss to be completely pitch-black, it was instead illuminated by a dim blueish green light with some shade of purple, which was even more eerie than necessary, for the light seemed to came from nowhere. In such a vile space, I slowly wandered around, prepared with live ammunition I wish I could eat instead.


The air - uh, the air - was truly a poison to behold. The rotten part of it, contributed by the countless of dead rats and bats lying around having no better place to pass away in, was already bad enough that it could compete with Jessica's bad breath (I wish she was with me, though - she brought all the food). If you couldn't stand the stench of decomposing bodies, fret not, for it was the least disturbing part of the atmosphere down there. The air was mostly sweet, and by sweet I mean that if you take a deep breath (which I honestly wouldn't recommend - heed my words for it saves your body and soul) you felt like you're drowning in a sea of molten, liquid candy that chokes you with its thickness, viscosity and sweetness.  My fingers wasn't even enough t count how many times I was about to vomit, and at one point both me and my intestines stopped caring about it. That plus the chilling effect - I'm sure all of you understand how cold could complete a perfect package of terrifying experience.

Sounds echoes there, and I didn't even need to test it by myself (and please don't ask me to; I would do anything just not to open my mouth in such circumstances). Each of my steps could be heard in higher amplification, and by step I didn't mean the sound of your soles tapping on ceramic floor like most of us would imagine, but rather, it was the sound of me stepping on wet mosses which emitted squashing sound as it ejected its green, slimy fluid to my worn shoe. Sounds of dripping 'water' could be heard from miles away, and as if the world was a hope-breaking machine, the dripping sound became thicker and more rounded as I went nearer and nearer, revealing itself as a gross, almost dried-up fountain of brown and purple mud that smelled of methane and death. So much for having some water to drink.

And no, mother nature's constructor wasn't kind enough to give a person such as me a straight, flat and comfortably tolerable path to take; it was barely climbable walls and mercilessly wide rift with its edge showing the signs of falling down. As if showing its level intelligence to visitors, this amazingly tough dungeon comes with a labyrinth that twisted your mind similar to it twisting its own steep slopes and slippery stones, some under the shadow of others and hence concealed from the already limited sight of my tired self. Many times I had almost lost grip to sense of gravity, and that felt like an astronaut (according to Jessica). It was really a suitable analogy, though; this tunnel might as well be a habitat for aliens from outer space. Oh, had I mentioned about natural traps: pit holes, man-eating colossal plants, and ready-to-fall-down-on-someone's-head ceiling? I guess I didn't need to.

Yet however damp or eerie or vile or disgusting that place was, there was an elusive aura telling people that the place was once a sacred area for many.  It contained some of the prehistoric remains of once a great, yet invisible to many, civilization of mankind, that we only understood recently that we're best without. It was precious to us, that I cannot deny, but these civilizations was unknown to most for a reason, and a good one at that. Thus, upon seeing the truth of this unnamed temple, Jessica and I had a lightning quick, mutual agreement to hurry back to the surface (and we got separated along the way). There was no need for anyone to actually know what's deep beneath - the caged creature referred to as the Earthbound Immortal.


The Earthbound Immortal was doomed to be immortal - and earthbound.