Arix and the Gem

A loud roar, shaking ground and suddenly light. Arix ran for his life through a dark underground tunnel, the light from his torch pierced through the overwhelming darkness. Arix was a young man with light brown hair, blue eyes and tanned skin. He wore a tan shirt that was ripped in several places, black pants, sturdy brown boots, a pair of goggles to keep dirt and dust out of his eyes and brown work gloves. He came from a family of carpenters and masons but instead of following in his family trade he became a treasure hunter.

           

            Arix ran for his life as a creature roared after him. This monster had been guarding or at least living with a rare gem. This gem would be worth a small fortune. Which wouldn’t matter if Arix died before he could sell it. The roars grew louder as the beast gained on the unfortunate adventurer. Arix reached into his bag with his free hand and pulled out the gem to get a better look at it. It was a large red gem the size of his fist and seemed to emit its own light, not enough to light a cavern just a soft glow that soothed Arix when he looked at it. After a few seconds of admiring the gem, he realized he had almost stopped running. The gem entranced him and he almost forgot about the monster. Quickly he stuffed the gem back into his bag and continued his run. He could hear the creature’s footsteps, it was right on his tail. Arix ran through the dark tunnels, taking turns and running down various paths, hoping to find his way out. He reached back into his bag, this time to grab his weapon. He didn’t want to fight, but would if he had to. No matter how fierce the creature, he would fight. Fight to see his family, to see the light of day again and of course to be rich when he sold the gem.

            The creature approached and Arix turned to face it, the light of the torch dimly lit the surrounding area. The monster stepped into view and Arix’s blood ran cold. The creature had a large thin body held up by spider like legs. The front of the body could move upright like a humans torso. The whole body and legs were covered in short brown fur, like a dog. Attached to the top of the body was a head, no eyes, no visible ears only a mouth, large and full of razor sharp teeth. The creature had rows of teeth that could probably even bite through stone. If Arix had seen the beast before he saw the gem, he might have just left it alone and went home. Then he thought, maybe if he gave the gem back. He wanted to be rich, but not enough to risk his life fighting a monster like this. Arix reached into his bag as the tunnel monster approached. He pulled the gem from his bag and held it up, instantly the creature stopped. It moved its head and slowly reached out for the gem with its creepy clawed spider legs. The gem seemed to lull the creature into a trance, like it had done to Arix earlier.

            Arix held the gem out, but kept it out of reach as he slowly backed away. The creature slowly followed Arix, subdued and focusing on the gem. It didn’t have eyes, yet the gem’s magic still worked. Slowly Arix continued to walk through the tunnel, he was nervous and was sweating. Suddenly the tunnel started to shake, it felt like an earthquake and pieces of stone ceiling began to fall. The tremors and falling stone shook the beast and he seemed to snap out of the trance. It realized it was being led and the thief still had its gem. The creature let out another roar and Arix took off into a sprint. He put the gem away and pulled out his weapon, a modified single shot pistol. This gun could shoot bullets, but also could shoot fire. Arix had made special combustion shots that would light things on fire. As he ran he loaded his gun. Rocks continued to fall, the creature was getting struck with stones and Arix had almost been struck several times. Arix finally ran into a dead end, it was a cave in, blocking him from the outside world. He turned as the creature closed in. Arix fired a shot into the darkness, the bullet zipped through the air and it a wall causing a burst of light and a splash of fire. He missed and tried to load another shot. Then a sharp spike flew from the darkness, Arix tried to dodge it, but was struck in the leg. It was a barb and as the creature stepped into view, Arix could see that the legs of the tunnel monster were covered in sharp barbs than it would throw. The beasts front leg jerked forward and another barb shot out, flying at high speeds. Arix dropped the ground and the barb embedded itself into the stone, right where his head was moments ago.

            Arix clutched his bleeding leg. The barb was sticking right through his leg. Arix used all his strength and pulled the barb out, a flash of pain swept over his body and cried out. His wound burned and throbbed and he hoped the barbs weren’t poisonous. The beast ran up at Arix and prepared to bring his clawed leg down to crush the boy. Arix finished loading his gun and right as the monster stood over him, Arix fired. The shot hit the beast right in its torso. Flames splashed across its body and caught fire to its fur. The monster backed up and roared in pain. It scuttled back into the darkness, hitting its body against the walls to put out the remaining fire.

            Now that Arix was safe, he would be able to crawl out of the cave. He wrapped his leg in cloth from his bag, then slowly began to move rocks away. It took hours, but Arix was able to get through the cave in. He limped through the caverns until he eventually found light. Light shone into one of the tunnels, Arix followed the light and found the exit to the cave. He smiled and began to laugh to himself. He didn’t think he’d ever see daylight again. From the cave he began his journey home, stopping to rest often. Once he got home he planned to rest and let his body heal. Arix had risked his life to steal treasure from a monster, the tunnel could have been his grave and no one would have known what happened to him. A sane man would take this as a lesson and maybe settle down to become a carpenter or mason, but Arix, he just wondered where he would find his next adventure.