Sustainable Transmutations The Traveler Part 1

The traveler finds themself in a cave dimly lit by an open fire whose flames cast shadows on the earthen walls. Alone, cold, and scared, their internal equipoise is often disturbed as an involuntary shiver races through their body. Sitting in the semi-dark, the traveler ponders the events in their life that have brought them to this place of initiation, and their rational mind questions the sanity of it all. Yet something inside them has hungered – yearned for this moment when they will truly begin their inner trial, the ultimate quest. Still, they think, now that it's upon them.... The sounds of soft, wet footsteps in the mud and the almost inaudible sound of a bell ringing break the reverie, enticing their attention. From the belly of the cave, a form is trying to coalesce from the shadows – Is my mind playing tricks on me? Is that a nymph, a man, a centaur?