He Sleeps

"For fuck's sake!" He dropped the flashlight and grabbed at the quickly swelling spot on his forehead that just kissed the low hanging rock ceiling. Darkness was inpenetrible and he'd already found more of the cave's rough surfaces than his body would care to admit.

"Again?" Jill Forsyth asked from somewhere ahead in the darkness. He could feel her laughter more than hear it, as she'd managed to navigate the pitch black with nary a scratch.

"Fuck off." Tally replied. Talin McCorrin stood for a while rubbing at the welt on his head. He knew they were there for a reason, that much had been made clear when Drummond had paid him. A cool half million to retrieve what had been lost in this cave system.

Too bad they didn't tell him what it was.

"Hey Tally." She sounded much closer than before. She was doubling back to him for some reason.

"What now." Tally's mirth was wasted and he was beginning to lapse into frustration.

"Looks like a dead end." She was right next to him, and he could barely make out the shape of her face in the dim light thrown off from her flashlight. "Holy shit." She shined the light up on his face. "You need to get something on that."

He could feel the warm stream of blood coming down his face, dripping off the edge of his chin. Swearing under his breath he began fishing through his bag for something to cover it up. "I'm sure I'll be okay, it's not too bad. Just looks that way."

Finding a bandage, he pressed it's guaze to the side of his head to staunch the bleeding. "I want to keep moving, we made it this far and I'd rather not make this trek a second time.

"Fine, but can you at least be careful? I can't carry you out of here.." Her voice trailed off as she felt a cloud of warm air come rushing by. She shined her flashlight on Tally's face to see if he felt it too.

"That was weird." His eyes were locked in the direction of the source.

Jill laughed softly, more nerves than humor. "Yea, wonder what that was."

They stood in silence a moment longer before Tally broke it with a grunt "Fuck it, we need to keep moving. It was a cave fart, lets go with that." Tossing his bag up on his back he turned slowly to orient himself. "You ready?"

"Lets do it."

***

Deeper yet, in the heart of the earth, it felt the footsteps as he roused from eons long slumber. Each tiny footfall brought his teeth to bear. In its ancient mind he worked for the words to place a face to a name. The sounds they made, what was it again? He knew it was there, locked in his mind amongst a million years of memories. A cackle of flame and spit danced around sharpened teeth as the word hit him like a stone. Huumaannssssss...