Makai sprinted.
He could hear the footfalls of the strange men only a few steps behind. The dark deer trail he led these men on forced them to run single file. Soon he would reach the Trap as his people called it. More from practiced instinct than from a calculated knowledge, he jumped. His hands reached for the swing, but they failed to find anything. Makai stopped his flight and dropped to the brown, muddy lake below the cliff.
Neither of the two chasing strangers succeeded in avoiding the trap even when they realized it existed. Both men tumbled down the rough briar covered cliff to the lake below. They made a loud racket with their splashing that echoed off the walls around the lake.
Makai ducked under the surface and pulled himself down towards the lake bottom. Seconds into the dive, his ears began to hurt with the depth. His ears popped. Then again before he reached the muddy, plant-covered bottom. Still, he continued to pull himself across the bottom, ignoring the pain. The bottom dropped away in a rocky cliff and he launched himself back up towards the surface. He erupted through the surface and quickly gulped down a huge amount of air. The sudden influx prevented the old from leaving and left him gasping.
He looked around and saw what did not appear to be a good sign. Smoke drifted up in front of the bloody sun sinking behind the rocky crag. His village rested on that mountain, so the strange men had come... and won. "You will not take me!" he yelled at the Trap. With that he slipped back into the water and drug himself downwards into the hole.
He dropped deeper than before then sought the edge of the hole. The edge lacked the plants of the higher bottom, replaced by jagged rock. His feet touched the bottom of rock and a breeze of water slipped across his legs. In less than a second his guide disappeared, but returned in more than a few moments of panic. The constant push of the stream revealed the entrance of the cave.
His destination known, Makai pulled his tired body along with the hand-holds along the wall. Arms aching, legs cramping, he found the end of the tunnel and he simply allowed himself to float. It did not take a full second for him to reach the air pocket placed here long ago. He placed only his mouth and nose into the shiny bubble and inhaled. Stale, impure air sucked into his lungs and was rejected as best as it could. Only it could not go anywhere except back out into the bubble, causing it to shimmer. Makai dropped away from the iridescent bubble, struggling to think. The lack of air hurt the process, so he reacted by instinct alone. His instincts took him to the tunnel branching from the shaft and swimming as hard as possible. It seemed to take too long in the dark tunnel.
Finally he reached the end and just let himself drift, floating upwards. Eternity's sands emptied before Makai reached the surface, disrupting the calm of the pool. Never did air taste better than it did at that moment. Unconsciously he pulled his body from the pool into the cavern, before collapsing on the floor.
Something wet touched his face.
He scrambled back away from the touch, ending up flat on his back in his haste to flee. The darkness concealed his attacker in its folds and pressed in on him with its anonymity. He began to tremble in fear of what he knew would occur next. The predator would overcome its fear and attack soon, tearing at his flesh in his throes to fight it off, slowly killing him.
Makai moved his feet beneath him to balance himself and catch the attack of the creature. He would not accept defeat so lightly, not here, not now.
The creature attacked from the side, its hot breath flowing across his cheek and into his mouth. His scream of fear got interupted by a wet lick across his face. . . it became a scream of surprise.
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