Legends of the Old Gods - Chapter 1

Dark Thing 2017 - @stephanus

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Chapter 1 - The Dark Thing

This is not an easy story to tell. It is the legend of my damnation. I have not shared it with many people. And I am sure that you're going to think me insane. And who can blame you? It is an unbelievable tale. Even I sometimes find it hard to believe. But let me assure you that what I'm about to share with you, is the truth. It is not a work of fiction nor is it a boastful fantasy concocted by my delirious mind. I sometimes wish it was.

My name is Albertus de Saad. Third in my line. I live on a small farm outside of Welkom in South Africa. It is an old farm. Been in my family for generations. And with age, comes a certain charm, and a lot of personality. As a kid, I spent my time adventuring through the countless caves found in the most hidden away parts of this farm. I found many treasures, mostly ancient rocks that tell of a time before society infected man with its evil greed. When man would hunt to survive, and women, well women would raise the young, I suppose. Artifacts, that, to an ordinary man, would seem like junk. But I was no ordinary man. I was a child. A curious child who attached fantastical stories to these anachronistic pieces of the past. One such a story was of the night fairies, who would prowl along the fields at night, blessing our crops with fertility. Sometimes I would stay awake and watch the fields as they glisten with lights. Lights that reinforced my beliefs. It would be much later in life that I would realise that these lights were caused by parasitic worms that secrete luminescent slime from their bellies. But as a kid, I was filled with positivity. Positivity that would soon be completely destroyed.

I was 11 when I first came across the entrance to a new cave system. A cave system that wasn't marked on the old family maps. It was hidden behind thick brush. Invisible to any passerby. I found it by pure luck while searching for a lizard that I caught sight of in the glint of my eye. As I moved some of the growth I saw a deep crevice. I was not new to caves. They fascinated me. So I found myself clearing more and more of the debris blocking the entrance. I finally opened it up, barely large enough for me to be able to stick my head in and have a look. I could see that, if I could open it up more, I could fit inside quite comfortably. I could see that the entrance opens up to a large corridor that splits. I could only imagine what adventure would await me inside.

The following day I made sure that I was up early. I took a shovel, a flashlight, and some old flares that I have stockpiled from the previous year's Christmas celebrations. I had a mission to explore a cave, and I didn't want to fumble around it the dark. I made my way to the cave and with the shovel began to dig open the entrance. Not soon after starting, clouds began to gather in the sky. Rain was scarce in these parts. So I didn't mind it too much. It very rarely became a storm, so I continued working. As soon as the entrance was big enough for my 11 year old body to fit through, the first raindrop fell. I thought it lucky to have shelter, but I should have seen it as an omen.

I entered the cave, flashlight in hand. The walls were covered in a dark moss and I the air had a musky dust smell that reminded me that this is an ancient place. I stepped deeper into the cave and threw a flare on the ground to light my way. I could see broken remnants of cave paintings on the walls. People have been here! I studied the paintings for a bit before I decided to venture further. The paintings told a story of four hunter gatherers, hiding from something. The beast that they were hiding from wasn't very clear, as time had taken its toll on these ancient drawings. I decided to venture further into the cave and about 100 meters in I found myself in a gigantic cavern. Stalactites decorated the entire place and within the center there seemed to be some sort of altar. I made my way closer to the altar. All around it I saw animal bones. Some of them still looked fresh.

I knew they couldn't be fresh because I haven't seen any movement or other signs of life down here. I reached the altar and began to peer over it, only to find a single stone figurine staring back at me. Jackpot! I though to myself. I have never found anything like this! I quickly grabbed it and placed it in my rug sack. And began to make my way back towards the entrance. The rain was still falling when I reached light again. It wasn't a storm, but it sure was getting wet outside. I decided to hurry back to the house as fast as my legs could carry me.

Back at my house, I took the figurine out. It was about 25 cms tall, with sapphire eyes and bone teeth. It was made out of wood and stone, interwoven as if the maker had some kind of magical ability to bend these materials. I had never seen anything like this before. I took a wet cloth and started cleaning it, when my father entered the room. "What have you got there? Another one of your rocks?" He asked. I showed him the figurine and he smiled at me. "This must be from the tribe that lived in these parts before your great grandfather bought this farm. I will place it in the safe and then we can have it checked by Mr. Conradie tomorrow."

Mr. Conradie was an old man who worked in an antiques store in town. He had a bit of a hunchback and a thick moustache. He always reminded me of Mr. Watson from the Sherlock Holmes novels that my mother used to read. He arrived at my house shortly after we had breakfast. He seemed quite excited! My father opened the door and pointed him towards the living room. He then went to the safe to fetch the figurine. But promptly entered the room with a frown on his face. "I can't find it. It was right there, now it's gone!" He looked at me, but I quickly assured him that I don't know where it went. My mother didn't know either. Mr. Conradie, looking disappointed, got up and walked towards the kitchen. "If it turns up, please let me know. We've only discovered one other ancient figurine in these parts, and that one was in 20 pieces." My father apologised for wasting the man's time and led him to the door.

Nearly a week passed since finding the figurine, and strange things started happening in the house. At first, smalls things started going missing. Sugar, cutlery, my flashlight. We dismissed it all. But when my dog, Spot, was found dead outside the front door, I could no longer ignore it. I started looking for the missing things all around the house. I started in the kitchen, nothing there. Living room, nothing there. Finally I went to my room. What was that? I could see something shiny under my bed! I started crawling in after it. There is was! The broken head of the figurine I found! I looked around some more and found fragments of wood and stone strewn around, as if something had broken out of it! I ran out of my room to call my father. Only to find that he had gone to town to buy feeding stock for the farm animals. My mother wasn't there either! She had gone to a friend to play her weekly game of scrabble. I was all alone!

I went back into my room and started searching my cupboard for any sign of anything strange. I found scraps of food everywhere. Sugar, cutlery, even my flashlight was perched in a corner. I looked around some more and finally, there it was... it was about the same size as the figurine, had no eyes, its body was made out of black twigs and it was covered in strands of fabric. Probably from my shirts that went missing. It had a long beak, nearly as big as its entire body. Its head was covered in grey feathers and even though it had no eyes, I could feel it staring back at me. I tried coaching it out with a stick I had found lying around. But as soon as I poked at it, it jumped up and slashed the twig in half. I had gotten its attention and it was not impressed. It lunged towards me, faster than anything I had ever seen. I could barely react in time. I waved my arm and slammed it back into the cupboard. I sprang up and shut the door. I could hear it scurry inside.

It started banging against the wooden boards. Slightly at first but soon the entire cupboard started shaking. I tried to keep it upright, but it felt as if some beast was locked inside. It was much stronger than me! I could not keep it locked up. I decided to make a run for it. I ran outside the house and waited. Nearly ten minutes passed before I saw the front door open. It was standing there. Seemingly lifeless. I grabbed a nearby axe and swung to try and scare it. But it wasn't phased. It lunged towards me. I swung, but missed. It was on top of me. Clawing at my flesh and ripping me apart. It clawed and scratched until I was a bloody mess.

I could not move anymore. The pain was too much. But it didn't stop. It kept going and kept going. Inching itself into my flesh torn body until it was fully inside me. I could feel it move up my chest cavity and then... dead. I died that day. And now, I am stuck in this place. This torture cell created by it. Forever watching the endless abyss unfold before me. Forever damned.

Original story written by me for steemit