The Caverns Of Ronik
A short fable by Nick Ramsey
(C) 2015
A thousand of the brightest stars in the universe could not light these caverns Edhil thought as he tried desperately to see by the light of his torch. He'd been lost in the maze of tunnels for a fortnight and his supplies were running low. Why did I come down here? He asked himself, wishing for the first time ever that he'd been a blacksmith like his brother Akryn. Akryn, who was a selfish man and mocked his expeditions. Edhil had heard tales that the lost scribed tablets of The No'ens were hidden in these caverns; gossip really. Handed from one generation to the next but no one had ever braved the caverns under the great city of Ronik to seek them out. Most people felt that if the No'ens wanted them found they would not have hidden them and others didn't want to go messing around with ancient religious artifacts. Edhil decided it was time to change that. He would make a name for himself as the explorer who found the scribes and, in turn, become rich and famous throughout Mantos.
His last torch began to flicker and his throat began to swell as he reached what seemed like another dead end. I'm done for. I'll never find my way out of here in the dark. He worried as the blud bats began to screech in the distance. His only weapon was a broken sword that his brother had thrown at him before the journey but what good would that do in the darkness?
He came to an opening in the caverns very different than all the rest and an area shielded by a large boulder. He gently sat the torch down where it continued to flicker across the walls of the cave. He pushed the boulder with all of his might yet only an inch of it moved; enough to pile a century of dust on his head and in his eyes. He sneezed and coughed uncontrollably and in an act of pure happenstance sneezed his flame out.
The darkness surrounded him and his heart began to beat faster and pound harder against his chest. Sweat dripped in his eyes clearing the dust particles but he could see no better. Finally, he fell to the ground in front of the boulder. His knees bled from the fall as his head met his arms in a depressing state.
Then the boulder began to move right in front of him. At first he thought that the caverns were collapsing but then he realized a simple truth of course, this is no boulder this is an alter and when I fell to my knees I activated the hidden door. Light shined through from the sun above, somehow tunneled in a spectacular way centuries ago, and when his eyes adjusted there in a slab of rock, a hundred candles, and cobwebs lay the No'en Scribed Tablets; they could be nothing else.
Edhil wanted so badly to sit and read and decipher them. The thirst for knowledge was in his blood but he was very hungry and tired. And the blud bats were getting closer. He lit a candle, stuffed several more candles in his pocket, and packed the scribes in his satchel. He turned quickly and tried to find his way out of the caverns.
The tablets were heavier than he had anticipated and they slowed him down a great bit. He did not have a map and inside the cavern everything looked the same. He passed the same stream twice and eventually the screeching was closing in behind him. He fanned his candle but the blud bats did not care and they swooped towards him. He took his sword out of its sheath and swung it aimlessly with one hand as he tried to keep the candle lit with the other hand but the confusion of the moment was worse for him than the terror of the blud bats. Soon there were six bats and they found their mark. One struck Edhil's throat and drew blood as two more clawed at his face. This is it, he thought, I've found my treasure and now I'll never escape with my life. He swung the sword again and cut down a blud bat and then another before he fell to the ground crushing a few of the tablets in the process. The sound of the stone breaking into pieces nearly broke his heart and he soon passed out from the blood loss and pain of his injuries.
By the time Edhil came to the blud bats had left him to rot and he was facing darkness again with only the sounds of the stream he had passed twice in the foreground. He ripped his shirt and tied it around his neck to contain the bleeding and continued to walk the caverns.
Five days passed and his brother Akryn the blacksmith went looking for him. It was not that Akryn cared that much but he did not want to hear about it from his mother. He went to the opening of the cave where only he knew of Edhil's intent of exploration. When Akryn arrived he saw a body at the mouth of the cave slumped over a satchel and the broken sword that Akryn had thrown away. When he turned the body over it was Edhil, though barely recognizable after running out of food, getting lost in the caverns, and battling the blud bats. Akryn noticed the heavy satchel and shoved Edhil's body to the side. He reached inside and pulled out the tablets. Sheer joy filled his face as he looked over each piece and then to Edhil's lifeless body. A blacksmith no more he smiled.
Soon The No'en Tablets were studied, taught, and displayed in the Crown of Deros, Ronik's center of wealth and commerce. Akryn was known as the greatest explorer Mantos had ever known and became rich beyond his wildest dreams and Edhil...
No one knows what happened to Edhil.
