Fina’s Cavern

August 12, 17XX -

Today I have experienced, what I consider, to be the greatest loss in my life - My first and only love, Fina. I have never been much of a writer, but due to advice I have received from the priests, I believe it is in my best interest to distract myself. I feel the need to chronicle the events leading to her death, as my mind seems to have started to escape me in my grief.

My name is Kalli, of the Island of Alexandria, a warrior-based matriarchy, two hundred and forty kilometers off the coast of the emerald capital, Genosha. I am twenty six years of age, and a former member of Alexandria’s court guard.

Our people are known for our rather large stature, at least relative to the men of the mainland. But even among the towering presence of my sisters, my size was considered a bit unnatural. By the time I reached my fourteenth year, I could touch the tops of the Judas trees that grew in the courtyard.

Fina, on the other hand, was the smallest woman I had ever known. She stood barely above my waist, with short dark hair the color of almond, and freckled cheeks like sun spotted constellations. A tiny thing. However, she never seemed intimidated by my size. And in her presence I somehow felt smaller than a spider. We had met when her boat had washed upon our shores years ago, in the aftermath of a great storm. I had never seen someone so beautiful.

She acted as a medic for her group, a small trio of mercenaries - or “adventurers,” as i would later be told - who took bounties and other “covert” requests from the city’s Capital from time to time, in exchange for monetary compensation. Her compatriots, who I would later come to know as Dust the Mad, and Venn the Windbearer, were somewhat capable in their abilities, but it was Fina who held any and all of my attention. She was the reason that when their sails left the coasts of our island, I did as well.

Our last mission took us to a small town, just outside the slums of Genosha where several kidnappings had been reported. While at first it was believed to be the work of pirates- foreigners hoping to make a quick ransom off of unsuspecting citizens- the rate of disappearances rose increasingly over the coming months. No declarations, no ransom.

This gave rise to a sort of local myth in the small settlement: A spirit that collected the souls of men who wandered near the mountain at night. There were multiple odd and somewhat contradicting accounts. Some said that he was a heavy set man, who lumbered through the woods with a sinister grin. Others stated they saw people dragged away by a giant serpent, each side lined with the legs of a hundred spiders.

We were hired to locate the person behind the disappearances, and to bring them before the capital for trial. If they resisted, we were allowed to deal with them as deemed necessary. It was a death sentence either way.

The salt mines themselves, we found, were only the entrance to what appeared to be a network of gigantic tunnels, many of which we had been told did not previously exist prior to the disappearances. We assumed the assailant took refuge in them, due to the salt mines being reportedly abandoned years prior.

The first thing I noticed was the smell. It was suffocating, like rotting meat had been festering in a locked room for years and the door had suddenly been opened. The darkness only made it worse. Despite the moon’s brilliant shine, not a single ray of light penetrated the opening of the cave.

Our lone source of light were the luminous jasper slugs that were native to the forest surrounding the mountain. According to Dust, thousands had found their way in after the collector’s excavation disturbed their natural habitats.

After some time Venn, acting as the leader of our small band, unsurprisingly began whining like a child. He groaned endlessly about being forced to walk such uncomfortable lengths, saying he should be compensated extra for not being fully informed. While personally, I wanted to throttle him, Fina took the more gentle approach. She assured him that our target was only human, meaning they could only dig so far in such a short time. He didn’t deserve her kindness. But Venn had a point. We had traveled for miles down the underground web, but had seemed no closer to the end than when we started.

The next passage of time went by rather strangely. I imagine we could not have been inside more than a few hours, but it felt like days. Time seemed to lose its meaning. Hues of brown and red across rocky walls blended together in a dull blur. However, even in that endless stretch, I never tired. We walked mindlessly in that darkness, none of us knowing quite what our destination was, but yet instinctively walking in unison through the winding corridors. Not a word was spoken.

Eventually, we came across a large chamber. The space itself was empty, except for what appeared to be a large tree bearing pears from a sky of low hanging branches. At first, the tree and its fruit seemed rather ordinary, although perhaps oddly placed. However upon closer inspection, something was clearly very wrong.

Although there was light in the room, none reflected onto the tree's surface. Smooth black wood permeated the room like a void in space. Its bark was thick and rubbery, with a slight warmth to the touch. The pears were even more off. Bruised, discolored ridges that stained its pale skin like scars. It was quite disturbing and...unnatural. I stared at one, studying its flesh-like exterior. I heard a scream.

When I turned my head, I saw Dust, Fina and Venn stumbling into the abyss as the very floor began collapsing beneath us. As the rock beneath my feet crumbled from under me, I took a fleeting glance at the cursed fruit that resembled my heart. And I saw it beat.

I awoke in darkness. My head was fuzzy, and there was a burning ringing in my ears. Somehow I had been separated from the others, or so I thought. Upon gathering myself, I found that Venn had fallen into the same section of the tunnels as I had. He theorized that there must have been multiple tunnels running underneath the previous room, ruining the structural integrity which separated us in the fall.

We decided the next best move was to look for the others before continuing our search for the victims. There was only one visible path ahead of us, so little argument could be made. It was quiet at first. Although at this point we had been working together for some years, we rarely spoke to each other. Not that I cared. I loathed his company.

Only I saw his ego: a superficial facade to hide his inexperience, every word out of his mouth sounding like an entitled plea for attention. Conversely, he could not stand my pride. Alexandria’s shores had taught me not to follow the words of those lesser than myself, and Venn didn’t come close. Due to my size, it enraged him further knowing he could not overcome me with physical force, considering a battle of wits was not an option. He had no way to control me, and it frightened him.

Unsurprisingly, Venn was the one to break the silence. He asked what I would do with my portion of the reward after we found the villagers and escaped. I didn’t think much about it, responding vaguely of updating my armory, or perhaps seeds for the garden I had started growing in my free time.

He responded that Fina’s favorite flower was the Necrossima, a large flower with white, layered petals that grew native to Genosha’s inner woodlands. They were known for their alluring scent, similar to vanilla, that fooled unsuspecting victims into eating its poisonous leaves. I already knew this, of course, however his knowledge surprised me. I had suspected they had spent time together, although I assumed it was under a more professional framework. This was different.

I inquired if he spent much time with Fina outside of hunting bounties, keeping careful not to seem too interested. At first he hesitated, and couldn’t answer. He then began recounting several stories involving her, such as times they had listened to the local musicians, or attended stage plays together in secret. He stuttered constantly as he did so, and it became increasingly obvious he was avoiding looking at me directly. I was shocked. My expression changed little as he continued speaking, but my eyes were now firmly glued to him.

I knew what I wanted to ask, but I couldn’t force the words out. I could hear in his voice that he was waiting for me to interject. Finally,I swallowed my feelings, and asked if the two were...romantically involved. I could feel the air suck out of the room. We walked a bit, only to the sound of our heartbeats. After several moments in silent torture, he admitted that he had been courting Fina for the past year. He had tried to keep their secret, and planned to propose to her in the fall. My heart slowed in my chest.. His mouth continued moving, but I heard little he actually said. His words ceased to have meaning.

At that moment, my vision went to black. All I remember is the feeling. Rage. Shame. And more rage. I don’t know how much time passed between the time he spoke and when I came to. My knuckles were broken and wet, and Venn laid there in much the same fashion, gasping for air through punctured lungs. At first, I sat there straddled over him, staring blankly and frozen in shock over what I had done. But as cruel as it sounds, for a brief second I felt elated. It was what he deserved, after all. He only took Fina from me so that I couldn’t have her.

I had little time to reflect on my atrocities, my daze interrupted by the sound of a woman’s scream. Fina. My body moved before my mind had time to hesitate. I entered another chamber ahead, sprinting from where I had left Venn’s body. I froze. At the other end of the tunnel hall, Dust’s mutilated corpse lay dead as humanoid… things picked at his intestines with ravenous excitement. My blood turned cold.

Even thinking of them now makes my legs grow numb. They were the wet dream of a mad man, surgical abominations with scarred and stitched flesh. Bloodied and dusted clothes hung off their bodies in pieces. And their smiles. The monster had removed the lips from their faces, baring their teeth in forced grins. Hot tears streamed down and mixed with blood as the bastard homunculi continued to consume my associate.

He drew my attention almost before the beasts had. At first I assumed he was another one of them, crawling to feast for scraps off the fresh carcass. But he was much bigger; heavy set, and while he had no stitches, the folds of his nape were covered in boils and warts. Unlike the others, he wore a black overcoat that draped over him. And in his right hand, gripping her by the back of her neck, was Fina. Her body was completely limp, and her voice silent. I tried to force myself to move, to fight, to do anything. He smirked at me one final time before turning around and crawling away, taking Fina with him. The last thing I saw was earth shake as titanic centipede legs carried them into the tunnel's darkness. And I sit here alone, in my nothingness, cursing the fact he didn’t bother to kill me, too.