"Fuck," Nathan screamed. "Help me!"
The ravine below him was growing ever closer, and he knew he didn't have much time left.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," he cried, "this can't be happening."
Nathan was falling fast, and the rocks below him were getting bigger. He braced himself for impact, preparing for the worst.
But the impact never came.
Nathan slowly opened his eyes, only to see himself floating about 10 centimeters above the ground.
"What?" he muttered, "how is this possible?"
Then, the levitation suddenly came to an end, and he fell down to the ground with a soft thud.
"What the fuck?" He exclaimed, looking around. The ravine was quite deep, about 200 meters if he had to guess.
"How am I supposed to get out of here?" He mumbled, looking around. The ravine was pretty much empty, apart from a few rocks.
Above him, the fighting was still ongoing. Green laser beams flew in every direction, and explosions raged all around. Every now and then one of them would hit a piece of rock above him, and send debris tumbling down.
"Shit, shit, shit," He shook his head. 'I have to find some cover.'
Nathan quickly ran towards the nearest rock and crouched down. He looked around, trying to find an exit, but found nothing.
"Fuck," he groaned.
His head was spinning, and his legs were still aching.
'I must've broken something.'
He groaned while looking around him, trying to find something that could help him. A cave, a crack in the wall, anything.
"Aha," he exclaimed, finding a small opening in the rocks.
'Finally,' he sighed.
He approached the opening and slowly crawled in. It was dark and cramped, but eventually, he found himself in a small cave.
"Phew," he sighed. "Safe at last."
Nathan sat down and rested his back against the wall. His muscles were burning, and his mind was racing.
'What the fuck just happened?'
He looked down at his body.
'I was supposed to die there. Why didn't I?'
He tried to think back, but his mind was still cloudy.
"Fuck, my head hurts," he exclaimed out loud, his words echoing through the cave.
He looked around him. His eyes were slowly adjusting to the dark.
'Wait a second...'
The cave looked odd, the walls were straight and looked to be carved out of the rock, like temples of old.
'Is this an artificial structure?'
He inspected the walls closely, and sure enough, there were strange symbols carved into them. They looked like letters, but not any he had ever seen.
"What the fuck?" he muttered. "Why is this place even here?"
The carvings looked old, too old.
'Weren't humans the first living beings to set foot on Mars?'
He was certain that was the case.
'Then who made this?'
Suddenly, the symbols lit up, casting light on the room.
"What the-" Nathan exclaimed.
The light revealed the room to be some sort of hallway, leading deeper into whatever this structure was.
He decided to follow the hallway, carefully and quietly.
The walls were covered in the same strange, glowing symbols, and the more Nathan saw them, the more they unsettled him.
The hallway soon led to a larger room, a dome-shaped chamber with a high ceiling.
"Woah," he gasped.
The room was decorated like nothing he had ever seen before. On the inside of the dome were intricate carvings of beings he had never seen before. The walls were covered in the same symbols as in the hallways, and the floor was covered in some sort of stone tiles. The floor went down in steps toward the center like it was some kind of stadium.
In the middle of the room was a large crystal, about 10 meters tall. It floated above some altar, and shone the same light the symbols on the walls did.
"Holy shit," he said. "What is this place?"
The crystal gave off a strange aura, like it was calling out to him.
'I shouldn't go any further,' he thought. 'I should stay here and wait until help comes.'
But his feet didn't stop. They kept moving forward, deeper and deeper into the room.
He was approaching the crystal now, and its aura grew stronger.
'No,' he thought. 'Stay here, stay here.'
But it was too late.
His legs betrayed him, and he approached the crystal. Before he knew it, he stood within arms reach of the crystal.
The crystal was calling out to him, whispering incomprehensible words into his mind.
'This isn't good.'
His body was shaking, and he felt an irresistible urge to reach out and touch the crystal.
'I shouldn't, no!'
But it was too late.
His body stopped obeying him. He reached out his arm, touching it.
As soon as his hand made contact, his mind exploded in a sea of pain and euphoria.
"Ahh!" He screamed.
The world was spinning, and everything around him was turning white. His brain felt like it was being stabbed with thousands of white-hot needles, and a loud beep resounded in his ears.
"AAAHHHH," he screamed.
The pain was excruciating, but at the same time, it was the most incredible thing he had ever experienced.
'What the hell is happening to me?'
His mind was breaking down, his sanity fading away.
'I have to resist, I have to,' he thought.
He spent what felt like an eternity slipping in and out of consciousness. Sometimes he was screaming, sometimes he was laughing, and sometimes he was just lying on the floor, motionless.
Then, after what felt like a lifetime, the pain subsided, and he slowly regained control of his body.
"Ugh," he groaned, feeling sick.
'What was that?'
His body was aching all over, and his head felt like it was about to explode.
He tried to stand up, but his legs were still too weak.
"Urgh," he groaned. "I feel like I got run over by a train."
He lay on the floor for a while, his mind racing.
"What happened?" he asked out loud, his voice echoing through the room.
'I have to get out of here,' he thought. 'Before whatever did this comes back.'
He tried to stand up, but his body was too exhausted.
"Come on, get up," he urged himself.
His body finally complied, and he managed to stand up.
He slowly started shuffling back to the exit of the cave.
'I have to get back up there, they'll never find me here.'
His legs were aching, but he didn't care.
'I need to get out of here, I need to-'
His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden flash of light, followed by a loud noise.
He could see the ceiling collapsing, and then his vision went black.
'I guess this is it, huh?' he smiled.