The Hidden Mountain Pass

The moment you entered the nearly hidden passage into the side of the mountain, you knew you were someplace unlike where you had been before. There was power here, and the deeper into the darkness you went, the deeper this power felt till it was thrumming through the earth, through your body, right through the mountain stone around you. That was when you saw the first cat.

She glowed faintly blue in the darkness. Sprouting from her back and head were what looked like feathers or petals. There was a power emanating from her, it was cool but gentle and you found yourself comfortable in her presence. She seemed to consider you a moment, the got up and encouraged you to follow her.

You were glad for the blue glow about her body, for she brought you deeper into the mountain and no light from the outside filtered in this far. Because of the darkness you almost didn't see the black male. On the other hand, you didn't miss the statically charged atmosphere of this area.

You pause a moment to take a closer look at him. Taking a step closer, you feel the hairs all over your body stand up in response to the electricity in the air. As the gloom darkens, you realize that the glowing one hadn't stopped when you had, and you hurry to catch up, jumping as a bright electric charge snaps from the wall to your hand when you got too close.

You follow the cat until again you are forced to stop and marvel at the cat you encounter next. Though you expected to feel a frosty cold, the cat actually gave off no chill atmosphere. Though he was a strange as some of the others you'd come across, this one didn't seem to have the same kind of internal power.

That didn't take away from the marvel of his being. You almost wouldn't have believed he could be alive, except that an ice scuplture such as this had no more likelyhood of existing deep in the warm mountain's belly. The female cat's blue light glitter of the male's frozen form. You reach out to touch him and find that now the cold was distinct, you pull your hand back quickly before frostbite could kick in. He had a look that plainly said, "Served you right."

Once again you found it getting darker, and you rush to find the glowing female, triping over something in the dark.

The next female caught you surprised. She had holly leaves for wings...and for ear tufts...and on closer look, even the tip of her tail. In none of your wildest dreams could you have invented such a creature. Her bright red coat was the colour of a holly berry and shimmered in the blue female's light.

But the blue female was in a rush, so you were forced to leave the other cat, still pondering the strange aura you'd sensed around her.

That sense quickly faded and the eerie feeling you'd felt the moment you'd entered the crack in the mountain intensified. You followed the female because you knew you had nowhere else to go, you would never be able to find your way back. Knowing your luck you'd probably electrocute yourself tripping over the lightning bolt male.

You walked for what felt like miles, first a kind of lethargy set in, then a lightheadedness, and now it was a powerful nausea. You had to stop a moment and just sit down and place your head between your knees. You felt like you were dying, maybe the air was poisonous down here.

Your extremities started getting cold, then you couldn't even feel them anymore. You were breathing, but it was like the air was devoid of oxygen. You weren't sure if you couldn't see because the blue female had gone or if you'd lost your sight.

A creature limped by, proving you still had your sight, but you would have rather blindness had set in that to see what was before you. You could no longer recognize what it was, its body oozed from sores, it had a sickly wheeze to its lungs. It crawled by trying to escape. You wondered if you should do the same, but found you no longer had the strength to move.

Then you saw him, and knew he was the source. His body glowed a deathly green-white, his very presence seemed to suck the life right out of you.

Behind him, a female with a flaming back snarled at you. The male seemed unconcerned, just curious. She was protecting her master, and with a glance silenced her into subservience. She had a power too, but it was completely overwhelmed by the other's.

He leaned forward into your face, and you knew in the very depth of your soul, that you were looking into the eyes of Death.

And then you died.