Although the smell remained now they could breathe without covering their nose.
"Sir, we found something"
Suddenly someone called them from outside.
"What did you find soldier?" Arthur asked as he and Richard came to door.
"Sir, you have to come and see for yourself. We can't be sure what it is."
"Really! Why are you acting so mysterious like this?" Richard asked in annoyance. Arthur just patted his back and signaled him to calm down.
They followed the soldier out and came to a place behind the hut. There they saw a bizarre sight. They saw some blood trails. They followed the blood trails and came to an underground cave mouth. The soldiers surrounded the cavern and surveyed it. The cave wasn't deep but it went into the ground.
They had to go inside via vertical climb.
"Someone bring a rope, quickly!" Arthur said.
"We don't have enough rope but there is another way. We can use the vines and roots as rope. They go all the way down." Richard suggested.
"Fine, let's do that. Start climbing down." Arthur ordered. On the other hand, Richard walked towards and gave instructions to a soldier to inform the other soldiers left behind near the waterfall. Arthur didn't listen to his exact order but he could guess what it was.
At first, they decided to send two soldiers down to scout out the situation below first. Arthur wanted to be the one to go first but the soldiers insisted that they scout out the place first for information. Otherwise, if they encounter something really dangerous and life-threatening then all of them will be dead. When Arthur saw that there is some logic in their words he also agreed to their plan
"Joel and Rob, you two will report whatever you see and find out within the first ten minutes. After ten minutes of searching if you don't find anything, come back to us." Richard explained to two young confident-looking warriors.
"yes, sir" replied both of them."Then start the climb"
Joel and Rob both started climbing down a tree root one after the other. Arthur and the others were keeping an eye on them as they went deeper.
"Are you sure they are capable enough?" asked Arthur casually to start a conversation. But Richard took the question seriously. He answered the question with a serious face," Although Joel and Rob aren't the strongest or second strongest, they have their own skill and usefulness. They won't take any rash decision to endanger themselves."
"So you are saying they are the best people for this job?" Arthur tried to sum it up in a sentence.
"Yeah"
"Let's see if they can produce any result."
...
Drip-Drop
Water droplets kept dripping from the moist tree roots hanging randomly. Bugs and fleas thrived in this environment.
Splash!
Joel landed on the cave floor. Water accumulated on the cave floor and created a small puddle. The murky water inhabiting nothing but rotten leaves and woods spread a different kind of smell that Joel didn't smell above the ground. Rob also felt the same as he also landed next to Joel.
They were both taken in by their surrounding area as they registered the view.
"My god! its.. it's so wide here but not like a funnel. It's a familiar shape though." Rob fumbled to speak.
"Yeah! It is basically a leg-shaped underground cave." Joel said.
"Right! But why is fog coming out of there? We did not see any from above, right?" Rob pointed to a narrow slit in the wall. A person could barely fit his body sideways in the slit and the slit is constantly emitting dense fog.
"wait! I think I see something." Rob said again as he approached the slit. The fog wasn't poisonous at least as proven by the direct contact.
"Looks like there is a passage on the other side of the slit." Rob said after looking carefully.
"Can you see what is on the other side?" Joel asked from behind."No" came Rob's answer.
"The visibility is very low. I can't see inside clearly."
Rob started to wiggle through the narrow slit carefully. Fog covered his vision. Joel also followed him closely. But it is tight for him as he is a little buff guy.
"Damn! it is too tight. I can hardly move." Joel grunted.
"Stop complaining."
When Rob came out of the slit on the other side, he had a few scratches on his body. He saw that the fog was denser on this side. His feet were covered by it. Joel also came out at that time and he was more miserable than Rob.
Rob saw that Joel was out so he started looking around. He saw that the wall of the cave was lit with bioluminescence. Their glow provided light in this damp place and gave this place an ancient feeling.
"Wow! What is this place?" Joel wondered. As he was wondering how did this place become like this, Rob on the other hand started walking forward. When he went forward for a few steps he saw vein-like vines covering the cave everywhere and from them, they emitted the fog.
"What are these vines? I have never seen this kind of vine before." Rob said. The vines were neither small nor too big in size. They emitted fog from their skin as if water vapor were coming out of a boiling pot.
The deeper they went, the number of vines increased. They stacked on top of each other and completely covered the cave. Suddenly they saw a glowing blob-like plant with dark green leaves growing on the vine. It gave off a creepy vibe.
"Joel, look at this." Rob pointed at the glowing thing. As Rob said that he closed into it. As if the thing was warning them, it pulsated with greenish-blue light.
Rob came too close to the thing and It burst.
A green liquid splashed on him.
Tsszz
"Agghh!" Rob screams.
The liquid burned his skin slightly. It was painful and itchy but not poisonous or anything serious.