John sat quietly on Black Dust's broad back as they traveled through a dark, winding tunnel.
To light their way, a couple of red fireballs floated gently around them, casting a soft, flickering glow on the rocky walls.
The tunnel was wide enough for Black Dust to move easily, but it still felt tight and heavy compared to the open Martian surface.
The air was dry and filled with the faint scent of dust and stone.
John could hear the soft thud of Black Dust's heavy paws against the ground, and the quiet humming of the fireballs as they floated beside him.
It had been over an hour since they started moving, but John still hadn't seen any other creatures.
No crystals either — at least, none like the ones he had seen earlier through Black Dust's shared memories.
Just endless rock and the winding, lonely tunnel.
John leaned forward slightly, resting his hands against Black Dust's rough skin.
A small frown formed on his face.
He realized something important — the meeting between him and Black Dust was pure chance.
If he hadn't been in the right place at the right time... he might have never met one of these creatures at all.
Along the journey, John kept asking questions through their mind link.
He was curious — about everything.
But most of the time, the answers didn't come.
Black Dust didn't know how to explain many things.
Sometimes he didn't understand the questions.
Sometimes the memories were too blurry.
Still, John managed to learn a few things.
He found out that Black Dust's kind were actually very peaceful.
They didn't fight among themselves.
No wars, no battles, not even small arguments.
Their lives were quiet, built around gathering crystals and living in the deep underground.
But there was one strange thing.
When they saw anything unfamiliar — something that wasn't one of their own — they would go berserk.
Not out of hatred.
Not even out of hunger.
It was something deeper, something instinctive.
They simply couldn't tolerate anything strange in their world.
Curious, John had asked why Black Dust attacked him earlier when they first met.
The answer he got was simple and almost funny.
"You looked strange," Black Dust had sent through their link.
"And you made a weird sound."
John almost laughed when he heard that.
Apparently, the sound created by speaking — something completely normal to a human — had sounded like a threat to these creatures.
Even Black Dust didn't fully understand why the sound bothered them so much.
It was just something that made them aggressive without thinking.
And there was a warning too.
Black Dust told him very seriously: "Don't make strange sounds in front of my tribe."
John promised he wouldn't.
He didn't want to accidentally start a stampede in the middle of their home.
Another hour passed, the tunnel twisting and turning through the deep earth.
Finally, the path widened, and John felt a cool breeze against his face.
Ahead of them, the tunnel opened into a massive underground cave.
John's mouth fell open slightly as he looked around.
The ceiling of the cave was covered in crystals — just like the ones he had seen in Black Dust's memories.
They glittered softly, reflecting the red light of the fireballs and creating a strange, otherworldly glow across the cavern.
The crystals were far, far above — too high for any creature to reach easily.
John realized that the creatures didn't harvest these crystals from the ceiling.
Instead, they waited for crystals to fall naturally to the ground over time.
Those fallen crystals became their food, their strength.
As they moved deeper into the cavern, John finally spotted another creature.
It was smaller than Black Dust, with only two tails behind it.
Its body shimmered with a pale grey color instead of pure black.
The creature noticed them but didn't attack or even seem alarmed.
It watched quietly from a distance, blinking its large, glowing eyes.
John figured that was because he was riding Black Dust.
Without this bond, he would probably have been attacked already.
The further they walked, the more creatures John saw.
They wandered the cavern in small groups or alone, moving slowly and peacefully.
Some were very small, with just a single tail.
Others were almost the same size as Black Dust, carrying three long tails behind them.
But there was one thing John couldn't ignore — their colors.
Not all of them were black like Black Dust.
Some were grey, some off-white, and a few even had deep black-red skin that looked like burning coal under their surface.
It made the cavern look like a living painting, filled with quiet, colorful giants.
After about ten more minutes of walking, Black Dust slowed down.
John looked ahead — and felt his heart skip a beat.
In the center of the cavern, sitting calmly on a raised stone platform, was a colossal creature.
It was easily 20 meters tall, towering over the others like a mountain.
Five massive tails lay curled behind it, each one as thick as a tree trunk.
Its body was dark grey with streaks of crimson running along its sides, like rivers of lava frozen in place. With a giant horn on top of it's head.
The creature was sitting peacefully, its eyes half closed, as if meditating.
But the moment it saw Black Dust approaching — and saw John sitting on his back — it stirred.
A deep rumble shook the ground as the creature rose to its full, terrifying height.
Its five tails lifted slightly, spreading behind it like a fan.
Its glowing eyes fixed sharply on them, filled with confusion, tension... and warning.
John tensed, feeling Black Dust shift slightly under him.
The peaceful journey was over.
Something big was about to happen.