Chapter 3 CORPSE

The old doctor died, and her body finally blocked the last ray of light in the dark cave. Zedric was welcomed by darkness and silence. He tried to tug the rope with his tiny hands. Still, nothing happened. Zedric looked around his surroundings and started crying. He could not see anything in the darkness, and the coldness made his little body quiver.

Zedric reached out his hand to discern his surroundings. Although his weeping was loud, nothing happened to him. It seemed the little kid was all alone. Getting himself out of the basket, he continued until his hand reached and stopped on something. Zedric, with his young mind, instantly realized it was a person because of the fabric he felt in his hands that was likely to be clothing. He was puzzled for a moment; No matter how he shook or called, why wouldn't the person wake up? Zedric suddenly recalled what the old doctor had said not too long ago.

"Daddy?"

Zedric was unsure and touched the unmoving person's face until tears dropped again, sniveling as his nose moistened. He complains in a whining and tearful way. His voice became smaller until an hour passed; his voice box couldn't produce sound at this time. The child clutched the clothes of his diseased father and just hollered silently in the darkness.

A week passed, and a foul odor started to emanate from Anthony's corpse. Without any choice, his son Zedric was forced to finally let go of his father's body and find a place where Anthony's corpse could rest.

Tiny hands were bleeding while holding a piece of rock. Zedric's malnourished body tirelessly covered his father's corpse with stones to give him a burial. His small body quivered from misery, tormented by the loss of his only remaining family; the boy looked weary and anguished. Fortunately, God didn't forget about him; there was still food for him to eat in the cave. It was slithering and creeping. The young Zedric had no idea what it was, but he was grateful anyway because, despite its unpleasant flavor, it at least satisfied his hunger.

Months easily passed, and the young boy didn't realize that he had started to build immunity toward toxins. Slowly getting used to the darkness and finally gaining the ability to see through dark places like any other nocturnal animal, month after month, Zedric, the previous 10-year-old boy, completely changed.

Zedric already forgot human language, but now he's used to imitating the sound of snakes living inside the cave.

After another five years, Zedric learns how to control snakes using an unknown language. Inside the unlit cave, Zedric was sitting and seemed to wait for something. Snake hiss din shortly filled Zedric's ears, but his youthful eyes were unperturbed, and you could guess he was in control from his calmed expression.

"How's the search?"

Two snakes started to rise up to his torso until reaching his shoulders and hissed at his ear. Zedric closes his eyes; although he can command the snake, he still struggles to understand them. Impatient and without any choice, Zedric spoke.

"Lead the way."

Snakes, except the two that climbed to his shoulders, tunneled to the ground, and the snakes pointed a direction for him using their heads. Zedric started to walk nonchalantly, and after a few hours of walking, he abruptly halted in front of the end?

"Where's the entrance?"

Zedric was getting vexed, and the two clever snake's on his shoulder seemed to understand his mood and started to reproach each other. Looking at the two, he sighed and jerked his head Zedric eyed the wall of rocks that his pets guided him to, but after a while of searching did not see any opening. His young face showed a loss of patience.

"Come out, you guys."

Hissings of snake rang from his grounds, but Zedric attention was elsewhere, and he gave his order thoughtful face.

"Check outside."

The snakes give him a curious glance before burying their heads in the sand. Zedric keeps a somber eye on his pets. He knew exactly where the entrance was; confirmation wouldn't do any harm. In addition, he was still considering how to leave this place.

Zedric tried to talk to the snakes when one of them suddenly sprang out of the ground.

"Is there any passage for me?"

The snakes look at him with innocent eyes and start to hiss, but Zedric cannot understand much. Compared to his two snakes, this pack is particularly silly. Zedric had a little option; he calculated how long the snake had to leave and return and found that it would only take a few minutes.

He stretches his hand, and the two snakes on his shoulder coil out toward his arm. Zedric started communicating with his pets once again. The two snakes have different colors; one is light brown with hexagonal blotches, and the other is golden and has dark bars under its wide neck. It was a rattlesnake and a king cobra.

Zedric tried to ask the two snakes in his arms if there was a tunnel under the ground; if yes, he wanted to know how large it was. He didn't expect an elaborate answer, but Zedric hoped his question was understood. The two snakes continued to hiss at each other before looking at him for a few minutes until Zedric got his response.

The two snakes cannot give a proper answer to their master; thus, they drop down from his arm and shift their heads before burrowing them into the sand. Zedric immediately calls the pack, and the snakes start to help him show the way. It's possible that maintaining an optimistic view of life is not a smart idea, but he still needs to get out there. Zedric has been here for years and can't always rely on the snakes to give him food. Even though they were his pets and the snakes didn't seem to mind, Zedric felt bad about eating them because he thought of them as pets. This was one of the reasons he wanted to leave. Zedric thinks back to where he started and remembers that day as yesterday.

"Dad..."

Suddenly his hand hit something hard, catching his attention, and Zedric saw the snake stuck through the gap of rocks and immediately believed it was the entrance. He was thrilled and removed the stones in haste. After releasing the trapped snake and taking a deep breath, the boy lifted the enormous boulder beneath him and saw a faint light streaming through the crevice beyond.

"Haaa!"

When Zedric had enough, he hurled the big boulder away, making a loud bang within the dimly lit tunnel.

"Finally!"

Zedric quickly covered his eyes due to the unbelievably intense sunlight that met him with the sand beneath his feet and the scorching heat above. Before fleeing away, he stepped out and gave the cave one final glance. A large number of snakes trailed behind him like loyal followers.

Two snakes slither up Zedric's shoulders, and while at first glance it is obvious that they are incredibly deadly, Zedric treats them as the cutest pets. When he finally felt the heat on his toe, his pace slowed due to hunger and fatigue. This area was scorching and vast; he could not see the end of it in comparison to the cave.

He was close to passing out and was drenched in sweat. When Zedric spots silhouettes in the distance, he feels lightheaded and moves closer to them to investigate. As he gets closer, Zedric hears voices right away.