As he made his final strides towards the cave he heard a loud boom. He had grown familiar with the sound in such a short time.
It was the war machine stomping on something or someone; he repeated the stomp three more times, and in everyone, bitter tears rolled out Dorian's eyes.
He wiped them off; he didn't have time for that; he had her wish to fulfill. He limped towards the cave, as he was too exhausted and injured to run.
He made it to the entrance, he paused there to take a look around, as the place felt ominous.
It looked like a round blackness amidst a shell of brown rocks. He couldn't tell what lay beyond the darkness, nor could he see beyond two feet.
It was like the sunlight barely touched it, and the darkness ruled there; even on the edges of the entrance, the sun was exiled.
He felt a bit reluctant to go in, but then he heard more stomping and knew the war machine was on the move again.
He quickly limped into the cave; the blackness engulfed him, and he continued walking into it. He had no way of knowing where he was going or how deep the cave went, but with his hand, he could feel the walls.
It made no difference whether his eyes were open or shut; he couldn't see a thing either way, but he could smell, and the whole place smelt of dust, giving it an old, antic odor.
He felt symbols on the walls and he realized this place had a lot of intentionality to it.
Why send me here? He wondered, I'm supposed to get from here to Doom City. How is that even possible? If it were true, then everyone would be doing it, or am I missing something here?
It took a little while but it hit him like a ton of bricks. Yes! The coin! That must be it. He pulled it out of his pocket.
He clasped it between his fingers, and in a flash, what seemed like a golden thread shot it and into the darkness. He was a little startled by this, but it was all he could see in the darkness, and so it was all he could follow.
In a winding cave such as this, it would be impossible to find the water Styx, you'll be easily led astray by the many paths in the tunnels, and without knowing you could find yourself walking in circles for days without end, it'd be impossible to find your way out and you'd be trapped, stranded till your body ran out and you died.
He followed the golden strands as they led him through twisting corners and nooks he couldn't even tell from feeling were there.
He kicked something, scattering it around the place. They sounded like hollow bones, and in his mind, the terror of the darkness shot up tenfold.
People could die here, he thought. Is there something in the dark? For a brief moment, he had felt he was being watched.
Coupled with the waft of a foul stench that seemed a bit familiar, he couldn't quite trace it in his mind, but oddly enough, when he took notice of it, it died away, and so did the feelings he was being watched.
He could see the golden strands turning towards the left and he knew another turn was imminent. He could not see any light coming from there, so he knew his journey wasn't ending yet.
When he took the turn, he felt a tingling sensation at the back of his ear; that feeling had returned but now multiplied to a greater number, like he was being watched by a crowd. He turned back but only saw darkness and seeing darkness was not seeing at all.
He felt the foul stench rising into his nose. What is this? Where do I remember this from, he thought. I was in the dead forest, when did I ?"
A hand clasped his mouth shut; instantly, he threw a blow at whoever it was. He landed a right hook at the side of their head with the coin nestled in his hand. Their skin felt hard and rough, in a way so inhuman. In reaction to his hit, he heard a disgruntled "oink"
It all came together, the familiar smell, the sense of being watched, the "oink". It was the pigman, Belarus.
He remembered her veil, he seemed, and how Hellena had treated him with grave scorn and he wanted no part of him, so he kicked him between his legs, forcing him to release his grip.
He took off running, but not until the pigman swung his hooved fingers at him; he tried to grab him, but his fingers ended up grazing him and left a bleeding wound on him.
Dorian ran as fast as he could. He put out the coin and was happy when the golden strand came out and showed he was still headed the right way.
He feared he had taken a wrong turn when he escaped Belarus, which reconciling it would only take him back to Belarus.
He managed to keep a steady pace, running down the strand as fast as he could; his senses wouldn't let up, and he felt like the pigman was hot on his hills.
The heavy dust particles in the air had previously covered Dorian's scent, making it difficult for Belarus to follow.
He felt a sharp pain in his silver tusk when he lost a scent he desired so much to follow but there was no pain this time.
The fresh blood spilling out of the wound he gave Dorian gave a fresh scent, and it was always renewed when more spilled out. His tusks delighted in this and he took chase.
Dorian took a turn, and into the black,, he could see the golden strand ending.
What!? He wondered. But there was nothing there, he kept running towards it, he couldn't afford to stop, not now, his senses wouldn't let him and soon he was at the end of it.
The golden strand retracted back into the coin and the coin lit up. Fires burst from both sides, lighting up the place and soon he could see.
They were torches lit with blue flames and they ignited one after the other, down into a horizon.
He looked down and saw that he was standing on the bank of murky black water, the water stretching as far as the eyes could see, it was like a long hallway filled with water or a river enclosed with walls on both sides.
He still felt his senses on edge. He remembered Hellena's words
"Throw it in the water"
He did as she wished and in that moment he wondered what had happened to her, would she meet me at the other side? What did she want with me anyway? And why don't I feel safe without her?