[You discover a new gemstone.]

No matter how much I loved my job, I couldn't stop the grimace at the thought of descending down into the unknown, especially one veiled in darkness.

It was already day 3 since we first discovered this hidden place deep in the forest at the edge of Tibet. Signs of undiscovered civilisation right in front of a looming cave was enough to stir the organisation into a frenzy of seal, thus the reason I ended up here, aimlessly digging away at the corner of the cave.

In the depths of the unexplored cave, we had unearthed (frankly, like any other ancient sites) a large cavern that stretched at least 50 metres in length and 5 metres in height. The GeoSeeker had went crazy just as we scanned this very corner, and after a series of discussion, it was decided we would carry out manual digging cautiously in hopes to unravel the mystery of the cave.

At this time, most of the team had already chosen to retire for the day, but Maurice and I persisted. However, it was not too long before Maurice dropped his tools and got to his feet to stretch.

"Ugh, this is killing my back," he whined and took off his glasses to wipe the sweat, smearing dirt onto his freckled cheeks. I shrug as I threw a chunk of dirt behind me. "Go clean up; you stink."

Despite my insult, Maurice merely chuckled and heeded my advice. Before he scaled the steps back to fresh air, all he said was: "I'll be back soon," and he disappeared, leaving me all alone with only the white glow of my headlamps.

Minutes passed. I scraped away at the dirt, feeling myself slowly succumbing to the weariness that weighed my bones, gradually turning my movements sluggish. I was about to drop my spade when it hit something hard.

Immediately, I snapped alert, and began clearing the dirt to reveal a strange gem the size of my hand. It was nothing like I had ever seen before.

The solitaire stone was a rich kaleidoscope of ruby, sapphire, golden brown with a mix of jade and pale pink. The crystallite surface was embellished with vein-like purple streaks in an erratic pattern as it emanated a faint ethereally glow that seemed to draw me in the longer I stared at it.

With my gloved hands, I gingerly cupped the strange gemstone.

Everything happened in a split second. My world exploded into millions of colours, a cacophony of disjointed noises ringing in my ears and feint images flashing all around me: a night sky with three moons illuminating onto a foreign land; a blood red sky; bizarre creatures emerged from the barren grounds; civilisation's evolvement; blurred faces with mouths frozen into a scream; silhouettes gathered into a ring over a glowing orb; spider-web like fissures stretching across the lands; an explosion.

The last thing I heard was an odious cry, before everything warped and I crashed onto the ground.

With a gasp, I shot upwards and clamped a hand over my mouth. I gulped back the bile bubbling at the back of my throat, and I stayed paralysed in that position. My senses still felt groggy, as if only half of me was in this world. Cold sweat beaded my forehead; my body shaking. My brain was still failed to comprehend the meaning of those visions.

After what felt like an hour, I finally staggered to my feet. I scanned my surroundings to find the gemstone innocently back in it's hole, but this time, there was a faint but sure pulsating light.

"Hey, Sam? The site's closing in an hour, you might want to pack up-JESUS!"

I wheeled around and gripped Maurice by the shoulders. I was pretty sure I looked like a lunatic, but at this point, I couldn't care less. I gave the bespectacled man the most wide-eye stare I had done in my life. The colour that slowly drained from his face affirmed my hypothesis.

"Get Skylar and his team in here right now. Tell them to bring all their equipment- hell, ask them to set a base here, and no one other than the team are allowed to enter this area." My lips moved so fast, I wasn't even sure Maurice understood my rapid stream of commands. When I released him, he stood frozen in place, large eyes unblinking, as if his mind lagged to process what I said.

"NOW! GO!"

With a manly yelp, he jumped to his senses as sprinted out of the tunnel. As soon as he was out, I grabbed the GeoSeeker and swept it across the cave. The beep was indeed the loudest when I pointed it directly at the egg-like gem, but as I dragged it across the floor, the alarm never stopped it's shrill cries.

With a sudden chill seeping into my bones, I realised that below the cave was a nest of the otherworldly gemstone.

♤[9/5/2020]♤

Just another prompt where i throw down random ideas and have no idea what i'm writing half the time.

Well i guess i had a gist of what i wanted the gemstone to be but deadline sucks huh.

As always, i welcome feedbacks and criticisms.

:)