Lamia's Pet

An Irrefusable Offer

A lone traveler trekked along a wooded road in the late of night with torch in hand. The flames swirling in the wind, threatening to be extinguished in the gusts. The storm had come from nowhere, it began as nothing more than a pitter-patter, but it quickly built up into a beast of a storm. The next village was miles away, too far to continue in this weather, and his home town from whence he came was even farther away. Desperately, he searched for a shelter as he continued along the path, praying that it wouldn't be bad weather that killed him.

If he didn't find shelter, he'd die of exposure...

Pushing that thought away, he endeavored forward against the storm.

Lightning flared brightly in the dark sky, showering brilliant spears of light through the treetops. A cave entrance was briefly illuminated a ways off of the road. Seeing the opportunity put in front of him, as well as the lack of options, the traveler hurried towards the cave as a gust of wind slapped against his form. Seemingly shoving him along and urging him forward. He clutched his torch tighter and closer to his form at the threat of it blowing out.

Upon entering the cave he huffed, freezing and soaked to the bone, teeth beginning to chatter. He shook the rain off his hood and scanned the cave, raising his torch to cut through the dark. The cave widened further in, though he could not see beyond his torch's glow, so it was difficult to guess the dimensions of the cave. Wind hummed as it blew through the entrance, making a low sound that made the cave seem like it was breathing. Not wanting to be buffed by the wind again, he delved deeper inside to try and get away from the drafty entrance, thankful the cave wasn't just a nook in the rock. Further in, passageways opened up at the sides, it seemed like the beginning of a branching network of natural tunnels. None of which he'd be spelunking. His footsteps echoed off the sizable walls of the cavern, the wind outside now becoming distant as he continued on. The lack of noise was somewhat disturbing, his breathing even sounded too noisy for his liking.

He would adjust to it, he assured himself. It was only till the storm cleared up. Whenever that may be. Hopefully it was just a squall and would pass just as quickly as it started. If not, his torch would likely burnout and leave him in pitch black. Even though he'd escaped the storm, the troubles didn't end...

A crumble of rock sounded from deeper in the cavern, down one of the branching paths, he whipped around with his torch, startled. Straining to see or hear anything outside the boundary of light cast by the torch. It suddenly occurred to him that this could be the den of a bear he was trespassing in. If it was, he was already dead.

Still frozen, he eventually let go of the breath he had been holding when he heard no other noise. It was probably just a rat, or maybe the cave was unstable deeper in? If it was a predator it would have jumped out at him already. It seemed he was alone, though that thought didn't comfort him.

All alone...

Suddenly it became apparent precisely how isolated he was in this place. Here he was in a cave, all alone, with nobody around for miles. If something did happen, nobody would know where he was. In that sense, as soon as he entered this place he had vanished from the world entirely. Lighting flashed from the cave entrance, drawing his eye and once more making him jump. Reminding him of the alternative.

Rather, that there was no alternative...

"Who are you, trespasser?" A feminine voice sounded from his flank, enticing, yet tense in tone. Turning to face whoever he had insulted, he saw only darkness beyond his torch's reach. It came from the tunnel he'd originally heard the disturbance from. Straining to see once again, he wondered if he actually heard anything at all or if he was imagining things.