29 Nature's Reclamation

After that day Caleb marched non stop, As he marched forward his days were consumed by constant movement and hunting small game,this rinse repeated into a monotonous cycle for days.

Time seemed to now flow differently to him the sun and night quickly flowed down and up as almost trance-like automation overcame him and as it did the days past .

Caleb lost track of time and losing hope but early in the next morning something caught his eye

Caleb desperate and bored stared into the distance hoping to see something, through the grey he could see something grey

"System is that stone "

[Unkown]

"Fuck it "

Caleb ran with a reckless sprint towards the opening, as he got closer the sun got brighter blinding him in his sprint and as he approached he slowed to a jog covering his eyes with one hand.

What he saw was broken, shattered , was ruins of a stone structure,which on closer inspection was reclaimed by nature.

Caleb inquisitively approached and touched the lichen which plastered the side, as he did it crumbled in his hand, looking up the structure vines continued to scale its size, disheartened by it being a lonesome structure with no sign of habitation, But it was a sign that civilisation is in this world

Caleb circled the ruinsand found a great crack sundering the building,Carefully squeezing through the gap, as he got a better glimpse inside he saw ruination, shattered tinted class was scattered on the floor like a glinting collage on the inside, burnt tabards plastered the sidesand some sort of bench-like structures shattered and only remnants remained at the sides,

As he walked deeper inside he noticed that the there was a chandelier almost absorbed by the ground floor, as he brushed off the dirt a slight glint of oh so similar metals came to mind, gold or at least gold plated.

Walking through a gap between these benches, at the end, there was there was a raised platform with some sort of structure facing the benches.

Caleb looked around from the vantage and was awed by how nature claimed the area back, cautious now he started to skulk around, the more he looked around the more it reminded him of a place of worship.

"Are there any religions in this world?"

[Religion is an important part of the growth of civilisation from early stages, i would conclude yes ]

As he continued to observe nature reclamation in the building but as he looked around he saw an unusual growth of vines which covered an area densely which divited inwards.

Caleb approached and tore them away quickly with snaps, it was a doorway which it covered.

skulking now he moved forward.

Caleb continued into this hallway peeking around and careful not to crack the roots which penetrated through the floor, he could smell something, a foul smell permeating through the corridor, the smell rotting.

Caleb repulsed by the smell still moved forward ,as he did nature more and more pervaded the area entering every nook and cranny leaving nothing unreclaimed.

Ominous premonitions tingled down Caleb's spine and his alertness raised to high surveying the area constantly.

As Caleb slowly stepped through this undergrowth he came upon a chamber with a rotten bed and a small tabard where thebottom seemed to have decayed away, He looked closer at the tabard

A motherly figure covered by nature, animals and plant life was portrayed.

Caleb felt soothed by the tabard as if it affected him, as he did tendrils of cold crept into his mind surprised by the encroaching feeling he looked down from the tabard and saw a bunch of vines with a gem sunk inside which glow with faint azure light, dropping his horn he moved forward to inspect it .

He was closing in on the glowing gem.

Suddenly an ominous cold voice shuddered out reverberating through the chamber

"LEAVEEEEEEEEEE"