This choice: A ten foot tall, glowing blue crystal. • Go Back... Peter fell backwards a bit in shock when he saw the large, blue crystal at the center of the cavern. It seemed to be fixed in the middle of a rock formation, and had to be nearly ten feet from top to bottom, tapering to a point at both ends. There was an almost unearthly glow to it, and it pulsated at an irregular rhythm, as if trying to slowly signal something.
"What--what the hell is that?" Peter shouted, turning his head up to Nikhil, who was stoned-faced.
"I don't know exactly what it is or where it came from." The large Indian boy sat down next to Peter, his eyes fixed on the crystal. "I just know it's what has caused everything within twenty or thirty miles of here to become overgrown. It's what made me the way I am."
Peter couldn't believe his ears. "But how-- how could it do that?"
"I'm no expert," Nikhil leaned back, "but I'm guessing that there's something in that crystal that changes the cellular structure of organic life. I mean, it affects every kind of creature living around here: me and my friends, Kalima, the plants and trees..."
"Did you all touch it or something?"
Nikhil shook his head. "Touching it doesn't do anything unusual. But if you go straight up through the rock formation," he drew a line with his finger from the top of the crystal up through the entire stalactite above it, "you'll end up at the bottom of a large lake, the main source of water for this area of the jungle."
Peter nodded a little, beginning to comprehend, and ran his fingers through his hair. "I guess that would explain why everything grew, even things that had never been down here to the caves. But wait!" His nose scrunched up as Nikhil looked down at him. "If the water has the properties to make you grow, why doesn't Demidov just drink from the lake, and have all his men drink too?"
Nikhil stood up again, starting to pace around the cavern. "He tried that. But apparently, when dissolved in water, the crystal's powers only work on creatures that are still growing, basically children, teens, cubs, saplings -- that kinda thing. And though it caused us to grow huge and muscular, it stopped our development in other ways -- slowing down our aging process, or at least the appearance of it."
"Ah," Peter realized something, "so that's how you could've come here fifteen years ago and still look like a young teenager. So how old would that make you then?"
Nikhil thought for a second. "I stopped keeping track of that long ago when it looked like it would no longer matter, but I guess I'd be about twenty-eight. I still look and feel like a thirteen-year old though. You know, except for these." He smiled and gave a little flex of the arms, his thick biceps bulging out and his chest muscles swelling slightly.
"Tch," Peter said, smiling at the impressive display of boy in front of him. "Well at least you're modest about it." He winked at Nikhil, who chuckled and blushed slightly, then turned his attention back to the matter at hand. "So what does Demidov want with the crystal then, if it doesn't make him grow when he touches it or when he drinks from its water?"
Nikhil shrugged. "I don't know. He must have found some other way to tap into its power, maybe even some way that'd be even more effective, possibly turning him into a god. But I do know this: he's an evil man, he wants it, and he'll kill for it. That combination is never good."
Nodding in agreement, Peter started to look around the cavern, able to just barely make out something on the opposite wall that looked intriguing. Curious, he made his way over to that side, examining the wall closely. It appeared to be markings of some kind, apparently burned onto the wall in an unusual pattern.
"What are these marks?" he called out to Nikhil, who made his way over to look as well. "Did you and your friends make these?"
"No," Nikhil said, shaking his head, "they were he long before we arrived. By the looks of them, I'd say they're ancient, maybe thousands or millions of years old."
"Huh," Peter studied them closer. There were two basic sections to the markings. The first was a large outline of an unusual, almost amorphous shape, longer than it was wide, with six large burn spots inside the lines. The second was a pattern of eight mostly concentric circles surrounding a small dot in the middle. There were two large burn spots on the lines of the third and fifth circles.
"Do you know what they mean?" Peter asked the larger boy, who had bent over to look at them closer. "Maybe they tell us something about the crystal, or how to defend it."
Nikhil rubbed his chin as he stared at the markings for a bit longer, finally giving up. "No, I don't think they mean anything. Probably just a caveman playing with a burning stick."
"Maybe," Peter mused. Both patterns looked familiar, as if he'd seen them before, but he couldn't quite place what they were.
Before he could think about it any more, a loud blast sounded behind them. Both boys whirled around, shocked to see the crystal pulsating wildly, blinking off and on rapidly, getting brighter and brighter. After ten or fifteen seconds, the cavern was filled with another loud blasting sound, and a circle of light and wind spread out from the crystal. The wave swept through the cavern, sending Peter flying against the wall when it hit him and even knocking the formidable Nikhil on his butt.
As both boys recovered and resumed staring in wonder at the crystal, they could make out the silhouette of a figure emerging from the other side of the its glow. Peter brought his hand up to cover his eyes and tried to make out who - or what it was. He was shocked to see --   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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