CHAPTER 1 - A Prayer for The Dead
The surroundings were covered in darkness, the air cold and damp. The sound of water falling onto the ground came at constant intervals.
In that darkness, the breathing of a few individuals could be heard.
"How long has it been since we got here?" The voice belonged to a young man, almost a whisper.
Shhh.
A sound even quieter than his own whisper came as a response. "Don't say anything. That demon will hear us." A raspy female voice, barely audible.
The young man dragged himself toward the sound of dripping water. The ground was rocky, and he tried his best to keep the action as quiet as possible. With each second he dragged closer, his breath became more and more ragged.
Soon he found himself closing in on the source of the water. But as he did, a smell of iron invaded his nostrils. He paused and moved his hand, which submerged into the puddle to the level of his forearm.
To his shock, the water felt somewhat thick and warm. It had a sharp metallic stench. Sweat trickled down his forehead and he found himself paralyzed.
His ragged breathing only intensified.
AHHHHH!!!
His deafening scream resounded through the dark cave. The sound echoed three times, making everyone present panic in the aftermath.
Many tried to run away, screaming as their voices became muffled by each passing second. But the young man remained frozen near the puddle of blood.
After a few minutes, when nothing happened, his mind became clearer. He pulled out his phone from his pocket and turned on the flashlight.
HA!
What he saw made his heart skip a beat. Dangling on the ribs of a creature's skeleton was the mutilated corpse of a human. It was half-digested, its intestines hung low toward the puddle of its own blood.
A repulsive feeling rose in his stomach. He found himself vomiting, his knees giving way beneath hum.
Turning away from the corpse, he found himself left alone. Abandoned by his peers in this eerie cave. Without any second thought, he walked toward the direction where they had left.
Despite the flashlight being on, the darkness of the cave didn't allow him to see more than five steps ahead.
Thump.
He took a few steps back with a stiff posture as his foot struck something. Looking down, he saw a girl in a school uniform curled tightly, her eyes shut and both palms holding her mouth.
He looked at her for a few moments and said nothing. Then the girl opened her eyes, only to be blinded by the flash.
Realizing the situation, the young man sat down and put the flashlight down, making his facial features clearer.
He seemed to be in his late teens, with brow-length dark hair and light brown eyes. His face was pale, his teeth chattering, his shoulders shaking.
The girl seemed perhaps in her mid-teens, with shoulder-length hair and a chubby, doll-like face. She looked like a rabbit.
"H-Hey? What happened?" she said, still shaking.
Biting his lips until they bled, the young man answered, "The demon somehow died." His voice sounded almost apathetic.
The girl looked at his expression and found something amiss. "What about him?"
"...He's dead." With dead eyes looking directly into hers, the young man spoke.
The girl froze at his words. She didn't speak. She just looked at him with a blank expression, tears gathering in her eyes.
The young man extended a hand to support her and found her struggling.
"...My ankle twisted. I stumbled on a rock," she said after recollecting some clarity.
The young man gasped for a moment, then after some thought, said, "Get on my back."
The girl hesitated but gradually followed suit.
They walked for around half an hour. The more they walked, the more the air seemed thick and damp. Seeing some flashlights in his view, he took a sigh of relief.
"Th-Thanks, big brother," the girl mumbled softly as the young man placed her on a rock.
Looking at the other people who couldn't meet his eyes, he took a seat near the rock where the girl in the school uniform was sitting.
"The demon is dead. And so is he," he said in a low voice. He described what he had seen, his voice constantly breaking.
Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he looked at a man in an army uniform. Tall and broad, appearing to be in his mid-thirties.
The other two remaining individuals were a girl closer to his own age and a boy who wore a similar uniform as the girl he had helped.
"I'm aware of what you might think, but I don't hold any resentment toward you."
Silence hung in the air. No one answered, just listening to his words. The flashlight could only show their solemn expressions.
"I don't even know the name of that boy who sacrificed himself for us strangers."
He held his palms together, closed his eyes, and knelt down in a praying position on the cold, rocky floor.
"I pray..." His voice cracked, a lone tear cutting through the grime on his pale cheek. "Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti..."
He took a ragged breath, the metallic stench of the cave still burning his throat.
"Lead us from the unreal to the real. Lead us from darkness to light. Lead us from death to immortality."
He opened his eyes slightly, staring into the oppressive darkness. "I don't know who you were," he whispered, his shoulders shaking. "But you led us out of the dark. I pray that your soul finds the highest light. May you find the peace you earned. I offer my gratitude for the lives you preserved."