After affirming my promise to Rose in her grave, I turned around and looked at the hole where the serpent disappeared. I looked at the tracker and got a sense of direction. I started climbing down the hole. I fell the first few meters down because it was steep. Then it started sloping at an angle so that I could crawl. Eventually, I could barely stand up, but I kept moving with nothing else but the beeping red dot on my navigation receiver, that continuously tracked the creature, to guide me through.


There was barely any hope left. I just kept moving forward. I had no motivation anymore, but still, I kept myself motivated by reminding me about that promise I made to Ross. The promise I made to my five-year-old self that I would beat my brother and I would gain his respect for that. Slowly, slowly, darkness and disappointment started crawling back into my mind, asking me to just give up. That's when I saw a light ahead of me at the end of the dark tunnel. I rushed fast, and at the end of the opening, I saw another world. It was dark, cold, nothing else. It didn't seem like nothing ever lived there, perfect for the creature we just fought though . Slowly descended down the murky rubble. I almost fell twice, but I held on with my bleeding fingertips. I was surprised by the level of oxygen at this level. Maybe I had no idea how many feet down I was at that point, but I could breathe very well, better than I was at the top. Somehow, the oxygen saturation was better here, under the ground. No wonder these creatures evolved so much better.

But it didn't take me long to notice the fact that I was not going to like...