Mystery of the hidden cave

The priestess's mirage had faded, leaving Henrietta and Ludwig alone in the cave with a few flickering torches. Their clothes were soaking wet and the cave was cold. They had to try to make a fire or otherwise warm themselves to avoid getting stiff limbs. Ludwig took a torch from the wall and looked for something flammable. Henrietta waited, trembling, arms folded, looking at the unknown glyphs and grooves on the walls.
When Ludwig returned after a while, he was carrying a few wooden branches in his arms. "They must have been washed in here somehow," he said, throwing the branches to the ground. He dug a hole in the sand, stepped on some of the branches to chop them up, and lit them with the torch. Then he placed the larger piece of wood on top and they both sat down in front of it. They enjoyed the cozy warmth and silence of the cave until they could feel their feet again and the shaking stopped.

"Ludwig, do you think we'll ever get out of here again?"

"If this wood got in here, then we'll get out again!"

Henrietta stood up, grabbed a torch and lit the wall. "I looked at the glyphs and couldn't match them to any ancient script I knew of." Ludwig had now also stood up and was running his fingers over the notches and grooves in the wall.

"Yes, you're right. The signs must be older. Maybe a lost civilization like Atlantis."

His tone was dispassionate. Like he was just making a statement. Henrietta looked at Ludwig with a questioning expression. After a short pause for thought, her expression gave way to a smiling face and an excited demeanor:

"Atlantis Ludwig? Are you serious? That would be an absolute sensation and we discovered it. Can you imagine that?"

Ludwig made a little fun of his wife and with: "Slow down, we don't want to get cocky!" he brought her back out of her castle in the air. "Unfortunately we don't have the time to take a closer look at everything here. We have to find an exit!".

They ran along the shore of the cave lake in the direction where Ludwig had found the wood. The water of the lake was calm and dark. Every now and then Henrietta saw something bright flashing beneath the surface, and the further they went, the shorter the distances became. The lake became clearer, but rising bubbles blocked a clear view of what was in the water. Ludwig knelt on the bank and ran his hand through the surface. "The water is warmer now than where we fell in," he noted. He sat up again and took off his clothes.

"I'll dive down. Maybe that way I can see more."

Ludwig jumped into the lake and dove down. Henrietta tried to follow her husband's shadow underwater, but after a while he disappeared beneath the bubbling surface. Ludwig swam about two meters to the end of the rising bubbles and didn't know whether what he was seeing was real or whether his senses were playing tricks on him due to the lack of oxygen. He turned around and swam back to shore. After taking a few deep breaths and recovering a bit, he excitedly recounted what he had seen:

"Henrietta would you believe me if I told you there was something like a submersible down there?
Not like a submarine - you know, those things that have been in use since the World War.
No, it's much smaller and looks very modern, like a little version of Jules Vernes' Nautilus!
And, I think I could see similar signs on it,
as we saw them on the walls of the cave."

"Ludwig, I think you're wrong! You were underwater for over two minutes.
I think your brain didn't get enough oxygen.
On the other hand, since our encounter with the spirit of the priestess and
everything seems possible when we land in this cave."

They didn't know how long they had been in the cave. But slowly their stomachs growled. They had found no sign of anything edible either in the lake or in the cave. They had to make a decision. Did you want to continue exploring the lake and the glyphs or would you rather find an exit?

"Henrietta, it's time to move on. We can't stay here.
Although we could survive for some time with the water of the lake,
but without something to eat, we will quickly run out of strength."

Both rose again and left the place of strange light with their torches. They continued along the bank until they reached a narrow tunnel that branched off after a few meters. One path seemed to go straight, the other had a slight incline. Henrietta shined into both tunnels and while nothing happened on the first path, a narrow band of glowing dots began to pulsate on the ceiling of the second.

"Ludwig, we should probably take this route!"

The climb became steeper and they had to climb at times. Again and again they came across junctions and they always looked ahead, where the strip of light led them further along the hopefully right path. When they looked back, the band of light had disappeared into the darkness. Both of them had long since lost track of time and their hunger increased when Ludwig suddenly felt a cool breeze.

"Did you feel it too? I think we're almost there!"

The further they walked, the cooler it became. But they couldn't see any light yet. In addition, a hint of salt mixed into the air. But how could that be? The priestess' grave was in the middle of the desert and the cave was directly beneath it. At least they firmly believed so. But even though it seemed strange to the two of them, they kept running. They ran until their feet felt sand beneath them and their eyes could see the night sky with all its stars above their heads and the waves of a sea in front of them.

Ancient Script by Blue Fairy 74 via Midjourney

Nautilus by Blue Fairy 74 via Midjourney

On the beach by Blue Fairy 74 via Midjourney