As John began to gather more and more information about these soul fragments, the more questions he was left with. The sage has been dust in the wind, the soul fragment he has could only retain so much information. Not ready to give up his search but knowing that others were looking too, he decided to venture further into isolated terrains. Making camps at night and training his body to keep his skills honed. Losing track of how long he's been wandering through, Doren and Ampol have been syncing to John's soul. Keeping the souls in a continuous cycle. The souls bonding even stronger, almost perfectly harmonious. John was beyond lost, no guidance and with terrains changing, he couldn't even be sure which direction he came from. Forests, plains, mountains, meadows, and deserts behind him, he found himself climbing to the top of a mountain range.
Expecting to get to the top and get a lay of the land, he wasn't expecting what he saw. Instead on the air thinning and the temperature dropping, the air quality remained the same, and the temperature rose. In front of him was a lake with water slowly trickling over the opposite side of the peak. "I thought we have seen everything, but this is pure bliss." John stated. Ampol and Doren agreed that this place was beyond comprehension. They all agreed to rest here and enjoy the phenomenon that nature gave them. Resting, meditation, swimming and training, John felt something was missing. "Not that I don't appreciate your company, but this place is something worth sharing." John teased. Before any response could given, there was a beam of holy light in the distance that caught John's eye. "I'm not seeing things right?" John questioned. "If you are, then so are we." Ampol responded. John darted down the mountain side, curious about what angelic being he would run into. Too eager to get to the light, John overlooked a hole in the mountain side. As his foot was headed for the hole, with his reflexes, he managed to catch the edge of the hole but not enough to keep his balance. He felt his body falling forward, he extended his arms to catch himself. As his hands hit the ground, he could feel the ground just break away at his fingertips. Unable to see how far this fall was, he braced himself for impact. "Ampol, begin healing." John screamed. Thud. John hit the floor of this hole. Knocked unconscious, he laid there for what felt like days. "JOHN!" Doren and Ampol screamed as John began to come to. He shot his eyes open, nothing but a faint light overhead where he fell in. Pitch black darkness surrounding him. That's when the pain of his injuries hit him. He felt his ribs cracked, his leg broke and dried blood on the back of his head. "We thought you'd never wake."Ampol stated worryingly. "I've healed you're head, you need to put your leg back together before I can heal it." Ampol quickly stated. Without hesitation, with a loud snapping sound and pain that followed, John snapped his leg into position. He could feel the pure holy light flood through his body to his leg. "It's not completely healed, the rest has to be done naturally while I....." Ampol started. "We aren't alone down here." Doren interrupted. Doren's words snapped John back to reality. "I feel the gazes too." John replied. Unable to walk fully let alone run, John crawled his way into the darkness looking for a wall to press his back against. Every nerve on edge making minutes feel like hours, John crawled. Finally finding a wall, he put his back against it. "Ampol, can we get some light? " John questioned. "My power is low from the healing but I can muster one burst so look quick and memorize what's around us." Ampol stated. "I'm ready." John confidently claimed. Out of the palm of his hand, shined Ampol's holy light, as the light extended across the floor, John could see the rocky terrain. As the light extended further, that's when they saw them. What look like a sea of worms, but not worms. Thick black scales decorated every inch of them, glistening in the light. Eyes stared back through the light. Terror struck John, "We must get out of here!" Doren yelled. "I can barely walk, let alone escape. Even so, there's no guarantee that they'd let us go without a fight and even if I was 100%, I don't think I could get out." John responded panicked.
"Why didn't they kill me while I was unconscious?" John questioned. The question just added more questions. With an internal debate going on, the light has gone out. In pure darkness, questions going unanswered and stuck in a cave of deadly beasts. It was clear to John that this cave would become his resting place. Sitting as still as possible, keeping his breathing under control, he could hear them. Their scales sliding across the rocks, trying to gauge direction, distance or even the size of the beast was difficult. There were simply too many to keep track of. The tension going through John's body constantly as he felt their gazes. After what felt like an eternity of being on edge, John's body was past exhaustion. He fell into a deep slumber.