The miniature glowing spirit nestled itself next to Coals knee, shedding a candle like glow upon the manuscript. Coal located the the page he left off at, and continued to read.
'The search was long, for though not respected by his peers or the opposite sex, Chasqui still had duties to perform for the Sapa. Many warriors from his village went to search for his body, but it could not be found. Needless to say, they put little effort into it. As far as the villagers were concerned, the cliffs had claimed him. A brief ceremony was given by a relative in his name, but no one came, the name of Chasqui echoed one last time upon the wind.
'Deep inside the ravine, his body lay, tattered and broken. If not for the lush undergrowth Chasqui surely would have crushed his skull during the fall. As it was he had broken his arm, and become disoriented from hitting his head against the rough stone of the cliffside. He lay there for hours staring at the hazy clouds above. It had stopped raining. But was it even the same day? It was hard for him to tell. Eventually he pulled himself up on a vine and began to wander aimlessly to the south, perhaps in hopes to find an exit. The day went by, and the rain came pounding down again. Though he could find no way out of the wide ravine, he did spot a small cave opening behind some overgrown ferns and vines. Hobbling into it he sat down against the wall just as another bolt of lightning peeled across the blackened sky.'
*KA-KRAK...BOOOOM* Coal was startled again by another flash of light, and he swung around to spy a set of windows high above. Though small, they were just big enough to let the storm outside fill the vast cellar. The light spirit lept under Coals blanket, shivering and clutching at its seams. With a dimmed light source, and the occasional flash of lightning from outside, Coal continued to read.
'"I see...oh great Inti...you would not even have me die proper, but suffer for my curses..." Chasqui began to mumble. "It...is as it should be then...I will never know though...what it is like to be...be..." His voice began to slip away. "...to be...po...pow..." "POWERFUL"Chasqui's sullen eyes flashed open at the strange voice that seemed to follow with the wind. Frozen in fear he waited...listening. "You want POWER...." Chasqui fell crawling twords the cave opening in terror, the voice was comming from INSIDE the cave and seemed colder than the tempest outside. "Chasquiiii....." The terrified man clawed and pushed his way to the rainy cave entrance in desperation. "I can give you...power...." His face pelted by rain, Chaqui suddenly stopped, as if in a trance. His mind dwelling on the mysterious voice's words. Power. Power...Chasqui turned to look down the long cave dark length of the cave and saw the red glowing eyes of..."
CRASH! A set of precariously balanced crates tummbled to the concrete and smashed open, the feline perpetrator springing from the scene of the crime and bounding up the stairs to the cellar exit. Coal stood there ridged, not even breathing, his heart beating hard enough to hear. Maybe this wasn't such a hot idea after all he thought.