Söl walked through the now new opening that had previously been closed behind the back of a toad. He could feel his heart beating as he walked through it. It was completely dark, there were no lights like in the previous room. He had to be careful here. A wrong step could set off a trap. So he took his time in the darkness, it felt as if he had barely walked but as he looked behind him there was only darkness behind him. As if the lights had completely gone out, or as if a door had closed behind him. He wondered if the toad was back on its rock to warn the next adventurer about the dangers ahead.
The Bay dun kept moving forward. He made sure to keep the wall close to him so he didn’t accidentally turn around in the darkness.
Suddenly, as if it appeared in front of him, suddenly there were two red dots far ahead of him. He lacked any other direction so he walked towards them. As he walked up to them it seemed as if the lights turned on by themselves. He could see the red lights that had given him directions. They were placed in a couple of sorrow filled eye sockets. There was a mouth that was agape in diagnosing rage. It was wide.
Söl let his eyes adjust to the new, red light before he took a closer look. The face looked as if it was carved into the wall. Yet it seemed to be almost real. Perhaps it was how the stone gave off details in the light of the fires.
Söl looked as closely as he dared. The stone didn’t move, it was stone after all. But he was careful in case there were traps. He wanted to understand this place first. He wanted to put it in his memory. To make sure that he could get the details down later. He realised in his investigation that the mouth very clearly was a pathway and it was very clearly his only way forward. He could always try to go back into the darkness, but as he knew the doors had most likely closed behind him. The cave system was pressing him forward and he would respond by following its calling.
Remember who you are.
The toads’ voice was clear in his head. This was what he meant. This step forward was something he had heard about but never experienced himself. He was reaching a new level. He was getting ready to explore a place he had never managed to get to. Never dared to get to. This was the beginning of the next step. He carefully walked through the mouth.
He was on his way to the unexplored.