Eric got busy again resealing Kaehl’s wounds. “Ask what happened to him.” he beckoned Kevin.

  Kevin did as requested and asked Kaehl the question, his ability to communicate to any creature was really impressive. The creature answered to which Kevin reiterated for Eric to understand.

  “I’m an adventurer from the city, we were exploring the underground city ruins when we encountered them.” Kaehl paused to take a breath. “I am the only one who made it out.”

  ‘Underground city.’ Eric thoughts flashed to what the researchers were talking about, the hills were made of excavated dirt. ‘Could this be related to this underground city?’

  Turning to look at Kevin, he spoke, “Let’s take him to the camp first.”

  Kevin nodded, “We are going to take you to our group.” Kevin explained to Kaehl, “There you’ll get properly treatment and food.”

  Eric touched the rock Kaehl lay on morphing it to form a stretcher like shape with handles on both ends for them to grasp.

  Suddenly Kaehl made a strange noise pointing to a hole that had been revealed by moving the rock from the center of the crater. ‘The ruins are indeed below us.’ Eric thought. He sort of understood what Kaehl meant without Kevin translating it. Breaking off a piece of rock, he enlarged it and blocked the passage to the underground city.

  Clutching the stone stretcher, the two warriors made their way back to the convoy.

  ...

  A few minutes later as they arrived at the camp, a clamor erupted throughout the group. The researchers surrounded Kaehl observing him like a rare art on display which honestly wasn’t far off. Several pictures were taken with some even making sounds trying to attract Kaehl's attention. However all the attention made Kaehl just uncomfortable, he was even pondering if he could escape. His eyes shifted trying to locate Eric or Kevin, panic slowly setting in when he failed to see them.

  "A primeval person!" one of them gasped, pushing forward. "This is incredible! Until now the existence of an intelligent civilization in the primeval world has just been ridiculous conspiracy theories, but now this… this is undeniable proof!"

  "Look at his features! The six limbs is consistent with the anatomy of most beast in this planet, however they utilize the extra pair as arms, fascinating!"

  Shabari, the team’s journalist, nearly tripped over himself in his rush to take pictures, he still had to compete with the crowding researchers. "History in the making," he murmured, awestruck. "Physical evidence of primeval people!"

  “That’s enough!” Matelda ordered stomping on the ground and creating cracks that spread radially around her. “Please disperse, you are scaring our guest, we only need a medic to stay behind.”

  The crowd grudgingly moved back, seeing how the ground shattered beneath her feet, they wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of that.

  A guy with a monocle stepped forward, he was a biologist and had experimented in xenocells of these primeval beings. He knew pretty much about their biology and was confident in treating this injured person.

  Kaehl looked at the strange man walking closer to him and his panic seemed to increase even more.

  “It’s alright he is going to treat your injuries.” A voice resounded beside him.

  Kaehl looked over to see Kevin who had come by his side at some point, he didn’t know why but somehow Kevin’s presence made him feel safer.

  The crowd was slightly surprised to see Kaehl able to understand Kevin.

  ‘Could our languages be similar or, does it have something to do with this warrior.’ The doctor thought.

  The doctor reached the person and introduced himself, “I am Doctor Green, if you allow me I can treat you and you’ll be back to new again.”

  Kevin reiterated what Dr. Green had said for Kaehl.

  ‘Sure enough,’ the doctor thought, ‘it has to do with this kid’s ability, interesting.’

  “Ok.” Kaehl agreed to Dr. Green’s request.

  “Move him to that tent over there.” Dr. Green instructed Kevin as he pointed to his tent, “I have the necessary equipment perform the treatment there.”

  …

  After a few hours Kaehl’s condition visibly improved. Though still weak, he could already move and the exhaustion he had, had faded away from his body. To Kaehl the treatment of these two armed beings was simply miraculous, with them if you get injured they sort of lock you in a room till as you fall asleep. When you wake up the wound will have healed but you would have already wasted so much time.

  Seated near the warmth of a portable heater, Kaehl busily munched on some meat he had been given. His body badly needed nutrients after Dr. Green’s treatment method. The warriors had provided a couple of game not sure if there was any particular he couldn’t eat.

  Eric and Kevin were seated beside him and Matelda was seated opposite him.

  “Hope you find our services to your liking.” Matelda spoke, with Kevin acting as a medium allowing their communication to be smooth.

  “Yes, madam, thank you for the care you’ve given me.” Kaehl responded.

  “So tell me about yourself, how did you get here?”

  Kaehl exhaled slowly before speaking. “We are the Ingans and we have lived in a single city, Muelug City, for thousands of generations. However our home city is facing a crisis and the protection that has sheltered us is weakening. So the king sent various exploration teams to search for a safe place for our people to move to.”

  Kaehl continued, “I was with the team that was to explore the underground city, it is said that our ancestors built and lived in the underground city. Our hope was to find it still usable and safe.” Their home, Muelug kindom, is facing a problem and they are sending people out to search for new safe places for the city to migrate to.

  *****

  Outside of a grand twenty meter green gate stood a team of twenty four armed bipedal people. They wore exquisite dark metallic armor covering mostly their upper bodies, only the leader, who stood at the front was fully armored from head to toe. With a firm gesture the leader ordered the team to line in rows.

  At his command, the warriors pushed the massive copper gates. The gates creaked and groaned as they struggled to swing open, dust and bits of dirt falling down from them. Inch by inch, they forced the doors open until a gap wide enough for two people emerged. The leader raised a hand, halting their efforts.

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  Stepping though the gate, they entered the dark tunnel. Their eyes took some time to adjust to the darkness, although their night vision hard waned over generations, it was still enough to pierce through the darkness. The tunnel had smooth walls cemented with a technique that had already been lost to time. At regular intervals were empty grooves that used to house glowing crystals. Scattered across the floor lay shattered weapons and armor fragments covered in dust and cobwebs.

  The leader took a deep breath and led the way into the darkness. Their boots crunched against the dust-laden ground as they ventured further. The walls were lined with painting, their surfaces cracked and chipped and their color faded. One depicted a king his four arms raised high mirroring the reverent crowd beneath him. Above them loomed a shadowy figure, the face obscured except for glowing eyes and dazzling pupils. Just staring at the being made them feel as if it were staring back. Other murals showed various scenes of life and activities that might have taken place in the city. Warriors hunting various creatures, a grand celebration and many other activities.

  The murals painted a vivid image in the Ingans minds, they could almost hear the distant chants of their ancestors as they worshiped, the warmth of the flickering fire, the triumphant cheers after a successful hunting trip. Their hearts were already filled with hope, hope for the underground city might still offer them shelter.

  Coming out of the tunnel they entered a huge cavern, where colossal rock pillars jutting from the ground to the ceiling supporting the underground structure. Several dome-shaped stone buildings populated the cavern, their once-thriving interiors now shrouded in dust and silence. At a glance one could see even more scattered weapons, armor and bones. This used to be a guard outpost, the first line of defense for the zones beyond.

  The leader gave the order splitting the team into pairs to search through the outpost. Kaehl was teamed with a rather short warrior. They moved through the streets sometimes opening the houses to look inside. Most homes had long since succumbed to time, wooden furniture reduced to dust and faded tapestries fall apart upon touch. What remained were corroded metalware, broken pottery pieces, and the occasional skeleton. Thick cobwebs clung to the streets like ghostly veils, and some of the dirt structures had broken and collapsed.

  The story of the great migration is told in a fairy like tone. The people were oppressed and the prince found a magical enchanted land. He then rallied the people and together they left the underground city which fell from its own greed.

  The story of the Great Migration is often told like a fairy tale. It speaks of a people once oppressed and a prince who discovered an enchanted land. With newfound hope, he rallied his people, leading them away from their underground city, which ultimately crumbled due its evil nature.

  However, the ruins told a different story, faded blue blood splatters on the walls, damaged armors and brittle bones whispered of a much violent tale. The migration must have brought bloodshed to the kingdom, something that had been washed away by time but still left traces.

  Finished with the exploration of the outpost, the team gathered at the center and reported their findings to the leader. The leader listened to each report occasionally nodding. Choosing a tunnel, they ventured deeper, only to return shortly after, as a collapsed section blocked their path. This wasn’t good news, the Ingan had lost the knowledge to make reinforce the tunnels like their ancestors. If the underground city was deteriorating, it might not be viable for their people after all.

  Moving forward, they chose another tunnel and entered it, lucky for them this one hadn’t collapsed. And they seemed to be even lucky as the tunnel lead directly to the heart of the city, central zone. This was where a majority of the residential houses and shops were, it also had the king’s castle right at the center.

  This zone was an even greater cavern, stretching so high and wide that the farthest walls and ceiling faded into darkness. At its center, a massive pillar of stone rose toward the unseen ceiling, a fortress, the king’s castle, carved right into it.

  On the street, stalls made of stone stood abandoned, their contents long decayed to dust. Velvet-like silk draped across the streets in eerie patterns. A few gold coins, marked with the sigils of the old kingdom, were scattered on the ground, evidence of a bustling economy that had once flourished here.

  They made their way to the towns square, where a large fountain stood at its center, below it was a pool from an underground reservoir. One of the warriors scooped the water and after sniffing cautiously took a sip. His eyes lit up as the water was drinkable, this was a good sign. Like before the leader split them into pairs, each pair assigned to roughly explore a specific region in this zone. However as the people were busy moving below, high in the ceiling four beady eyes locked onto them.

  Since this zone was larger than the outpost it took a significantly greater time to navigate and explore. When the team finally regrouped, they had a lot more to report to the leader. However it didn’t take long for them to notice two people hadn’t returned back.

  They quickly set towards the direction the two were to explore. They kept calling the names of the missing comrades, their voices reverberating ominously through the cave. Splitting up right now may have been a faster way to find the missing people, but the leader couldn’t take that risk with a possible unknown enemy in the dark. So the team moved together through the streets combing through the houses while shouting the names. Then, in a shadowed alley, Kaehl caught a flicker of movement. He squinted into the darkness, trying to make out what lurked within.

  Moving to the alley entrance, he saw it. Blue blood splattered across the alley walls and floor and the teammates who were missing had their body parts strewn all over the floor, with some stuck to the wall by sticky webs. A half a meter big, nine-limbed insectoid was grasping the upper half of one of the people, munching on the open intestines. Its dark carapace blended well with the darkness and its sharp bladed legs easily sliced flesh and bone into bits.

  “Aah!” a scream escaped from Kaehl's mouth before he even realized it. The spider creature with supersonic speed dashed towards him, its legs slashing towards his torso and throat. Kaehl had readied himself, he tried to jump backwards while holding his blade in front of him to parry the attack.

  Boom! Kaehl was slammed to the wall opposite the street, there was a gash in his stomach and his sword had been cut into two. The leader had reacted quickly after they got alerted, he jumped onto the spider’s, thrusting his sword into the creatures head before it could react.

  Most of the team were still shook and in disbelief over the flashes of events that had taken place. But before they could do anything else, a soft clattering noise filled the entire cavern. The warriors could instantly feel death run his cold fingers on their spine.

  The noise was coming from the dark cave ceiling. The leader took out a glowing yellow crystal from his bag and through up. As the crystal reached the close to the ceiling, its illumination spread allowing them to see a tens of the same spider insectoids hanging on the ceiling. And this was only from the tiny portion that was being illuminated.

  “RUN!!!” The leader shouted as he led the team to run towards the entrance tunnel. Thud, a spider dropped right in front of them, then like the symphony of doom, it started raining big spiders. The walls had already been surging with a swarm of the spiders.

  Sticky silky threads shot out of the spiders ensnaring the warriors who reacted a bit too slow. The team engaged trying to clear a way through the swarm. Boom, suddenly a vast pressure descended upon them, a ten meter tall spider stood before them, its aura fully unleashed. The team couldn’t face that monster, their morale dropped and within seconds half of the team had fallen.

  “Aaah!” The leader let out a war cry that woke the remaining warriors, he then brandished his blade trying to create a path to the other side. The central zone was connected to numerous tunnels, if they found another one that led outside they may be able to survive.

  They sprinted, weaving through the houses and streets as the spiders poured in from all sides. Weapons clashed against chitinous legs, but the outcome were blades chipping and shattering. And still, they kept coming.

  “There, Tunnel.” The group saw a tunnel on the right and immediately ran towards it. As they made their way into the tunnel the spiders chasing them reduced however, their hearts became heavier. Indeed the worst came to be, the tunnel was a dead end.

  The clatter of spider footsteps became louder and louder as the spiders came closer. Were they truly doomed? At this time the leader noticed a small shaft at the side of the tunnel. It was probably used for ventilation, looking at the men around him he finally settled on Kaehl. He was the thinnest among them and probably the one who could get out through the shaft.

  Walking to him he explained his purpose and gave Kaehl his bracelet to bring back to his family. Kaehl hesitated only for a moment before unstrapping his gear and removing the armor he had. The spiders had already reached the team. He climbed into the shaft slowly crawling up, the walls grinding his wounds. Behind him the agonizing shouts and screams of his comrades echoed through the shaft. They felt like arrows piercing his heart every time they rang. After what seemed like ages he managed to reach the surface. He immediately took a rock and blocked the shaft, fearing the spiders may crawl out.

  His body was suddenly hit by a wave of drowsiness and he had to struggle to keep awake. Shortly after, in his blurred vision, he saw a strange two armed person.