Today was a lucky day for a thousand-legged creature with thousands of razor-sharp teeth.
In the warm, sandy desert, he had spent days searching for something of great value. But when his search ended in failure, he gave up and set off once more for home. Yet, luckily for him, this decision proved to be of great significance.
Thanks to this decision, just before reaching home, he managed to snag another catch, which he could bring back to his fellow centipedes. Although the wandering centipede had no eyes that could see to confirm his prey, his senses nevertheless told him what he had found.
In a secluded place, deep beneath the surface, were three more centipedes, to whom he wished to present and give the marvellous treasures he had discovered on his journey.
The underground chamber was shaped like a pentagon and was overflowing with all manner of treasures. The most varied things one could imagine were scattered throughout the room. In every corner were treasure chests, statues made of various ores, furniture and much more.
A centipede's sleep was inevitably interrupted by all the noise. His friend had finally found his way back. At that very moment, he was racing at full speed through a cave. The treasures on his sticky back banged against the sandy ceiling every few seconds.
The sleepy Dreadspawn leapt out of his bed and scurried over to his two other companions, who had already gathered at the cave entrance to welcome their youngest friend. They kept the middle spot free, as it was reserved solely for the oldest centipede. All of them were overjoyed to fill their lair with new contents. The centipede, awakened from his sleep, immediately claimed his rightful place.
The traveller arrived and took his place in front of the other three. After a moment's thought, his sticky skin dissolved, causing all the treasures to fall to the floor at once. Since he had been away for so long, the curiosity of everyone gathered in that room was running high.
The eldest centipede moved first. He stretched out his four hands and snatched up four gleaming pieces of furniture in different colours. Having done so, he decided to take a few more swords. He stuck all of them to his back to make them easier to transport. He made a strange sound, intended to express his gratitude. The traveller was more than satisfied. However, the swords the eldest had chosen were all rusty, except for one.
The Dreadspawn on the left reached out with his three hands to grab some interesting stones, shards of glass and a statue made of an ore resembling dark obsidian. He then stuck these to his back as well.
The centipede on the right moved slowly towards the loot and paused briefly to consider what he should add to his collection. However, he couldn't be too stingy, as the one who had hunted down these treasures should also earn something for it, even if he was the youngest. So, in the end, he settled for just a steering wheel, a few wooden pallets and a tree trunk.
After he'd placed these treasures on his back just like the others, all three returned to their own corners. They dropped the items there and, shortly afterwards, fell into a deep sleep.
The youngest took the rest to a spare corner, where the items were to serve as mementoes for the former elder to whom that corner had belonged. But sadly, he is no longer amongst them. After taking everything there, he took only a few pieces of broken furniture and felt somewhat satisfied. What remained were a few glowing ores, the bones of slain creatures, and three statues destined to remain there for the rest of their days. Although the millipedes acted as if they were not greedy, in the end none of them took these statues, because they did not glow like the other ores and looked so fragile.
Nevertheless, the youngest left a few glowing objects there. He'd only taken the statues because he wouldn't have found anything else on his return journey anyway, and they were better than nothing.
The first of the three statues was carved from plain stone and was meant to portray a Kamyonian whose arms had been brutally severed. Two of his teeth were noticeably longer than the others, and the sight of his smiling face was unsettling in a peculiar way. His hair was long and fell down to his knees. However, the hair was carved from a stone that was significantly darker than the rest of the Kamyonian. Whether he had been a hero or an enemy in the story, no one knew.
Another statue was probably meant to depict a small penguin clutching a black walking stick with its wing. The meaning behind the statue was not too difficult to interpret. The statue represented a weak creature forced to live in constant fear. The sad thing is that more than half the population suffers the same fate.
The penguin was wearing a hat. The hat was made of leather the same colour as the walking stick, and a grey band was wrapped around it.
The last and third statue depicted a young man whose jet-black hair harmonised with his pale skin and his beautiful black eyes, which reflected a deep fear.
He wore sturdy trousers that were actually far too big for him, but were held firmly in place by a belt. Attached to this belt was also a simple leather pouch. The thin man was positioned in a strangely awkward fighting stance and held a small dagger in his right hand. One could see how hard he was trying to improve this posture. This warrior was probably a hero always ready for battle, who never shied away from anything, no matter how weak he truly was.
Although all these statues told a unique story, they had been left in a corner because no one appreciated their true value. This corner held far more valuable treasures than the Dreadspawn in their own corner. They clearly have no real sense of taste. Putting something aside because it doesn't shine, yet then choosing broken furniture and rusty swords. They judge value differently.
But they probably didn't care about value. They have enough valuable items and will still have enough in the future. Now that the youngest millipede had returned from his long journey, he could finally find the time again to make himself comfortable in his sleeping quarters.
It was strange how they could tolerate that smell. The whole hideout could kill someone just from the stench alone. The walls were covered in dirt, and beneath this dirt were various drawings.
On the wall where the entrance to the endless cave was, you could hardly make out the drawing because of the entrance itself and the cracks that spread through the walls from it.
What could be made out, however, were the outlines of three similar-looking thousand-legged creatures standing in front of a wall, waiting for someone. But what was in the centre of that wall could not be determined because of the hole in it. The middle thousand-legged creature could not be seen very clearly either, apart from the outline of its body and its multiple arms. It had the most arms of them all.
The wall to the right of it featured a slightly different drawing. Two different creatures stood with their backs to the image, in a corner between two walls. They were in a room with four other corners. From these corners, several eyes were fixed on the two creatures. The eyes belonged to no bodies and stared lifelessly in the same direction.
The next wall showed what appeared to be the same figures as in the previous painting, each holding the same floating crystal with one hand. This crystal was the only part of the wall that had been painted with blue ink instead of black. The crystal consisted of several elongated points. There were exactly six of these points, five pointed in different directions, whilst the central one was directed upwards.
The drawings behind the statues and the next painting were both covered with plants that obscured the entire walls and the dirt clinging to them as well. As a result, it was impossible to make out the last two cave paintings.
The real source of the stench, however, did not come from the walls or the corners, but from the floor itself. It was covered in rotten food remains and gnawed bones from various creatures.
But one thing at the centre of this floor – and thus at the centre of the entire underground chamber – was different. There lay a blue crystal, the points of which pointed towards the centre of each wall, whilst the central and largest point was directed towards the centre of the roof. Beneath this floating, gleaming object, which moved up and down slightly from time to time, as if it were breathing like a living creature, a strange pattern was etched onto the floor. This pattern was a mysterious clock. Unlike a normal clock, which has clock hands, this one did not. The only thing inside the clock was the very same crystal that hung directly above it. The crystal was not only the heart of the clock, but also the heart of the entire chamber.
The shortest point of the crystal pointed towards the wall where the cave entrance leading to the tunnels was located. These tunnels stretched across the entire desert like a labyrinth.
These catacombs are usually used by the youngest thousand-legged creatures to help them travel from one place to the next as quickly as possible. Although the Dreadspawn are not related, they have gradually grown into a proper family. From the moment the last Elder found this sanctuary and more and more of them joined, right up to the present day, this friendship has continued to grow.
Although they all had different numbers of eyes, they had all been blind since birth. As they grow older, more and more eyes appear on their heads.
Two of the three statues remained motionless, gazing into the distance. Their eyes moved slowly as they observed the situation closely. The centipedes were completely unaware of this, however.
The penguin turned his eyes to the left without moving. He hesitated and asked:
"How are we going to get out of here alive?"
Saeyo, too, moved only his eyes, turning them towards Bob, who seemed frozen in place. Still, it was unclear why the creatures had mistaken the two of them for statues. At least, that was Saeyo's assumption.
But they were lucky in one way. And that was that they'd ended up in an empty corner.
He also suspected that the centipedes couldn't tell living people apart from other objects as long as they didn't move. Either that was the case, or they simply didn't care and only took whatever they found interesting.
However, that didn't change the fact that they were both now trapped and would have to somehow figure out how to get out of this place without starving to death.
Saeyo exhaled quietly and focused on what was likely the strongest enemy. The only Dreadspawn with four arms and twelve eyes. The creature in the corner, to the right of Saeyo and Bob, slept like a statue. It possessed the most treasures and had lived longer than its fellow inhabitants. They didn't know all that, of course. But one thing was perfectly obvious. This monster was probably the greatest danger to the two of them.
He lowered his dagger and whispered:
"If we want to escape, the only way is through the same place we came in."