The cave’s depths were more terrifying than you could have imagined, a suffocating darkness that swallowed you whole save for the faint light trickling in from the entrance. Your dog was huddled close to your side, the only real comfort you had. You buried your trembling fingers into their fur, hoping the sensation would calm your nerves.

Time blurred in the cave, and with each passing hour, the uncertainty gnawed at you. The cold seeping into your bones was nothing compared to the growing confusion and fear in your chest. How long had you been trapped here? Amate, the creature responsible for your captivity, seemed blissfully unaware of your distress. His long, scraggly limbs stretched unnaturally, bones creaking as he moved around the cavern with ease. Soft clicks and rumbles emanated from his throat, his hollow, dark eye sockets never leaving you. When his gaze found you, his body would twitch and convulse, a strange squeaking sound escaping him as he shuffled closer, inching toward you like a child uncertain of how to approach.

Your heart raced each time, instinct screaming at you to flee, but there was nowhere to go. When Amate succeeded in getting close enough, he’d lower his grotesque head, offering the twisted, gnarled horns on his skull for your trembling fingers to touch. You obliged, more out of fear than curiosity, your hands barely grazing the rough surface before he'd attempt to lick you with a long, slimy tongue that sent waves of disgust through your body. Each time, you shrieked, pulling away, and the creature would retreat with a low, disappointed rumble, his eerie form sulking back into the shadows.

One day, however, Amate did something unexpected. As his limbs extended toward you, sharp fingers curling around the sleeve of your clothing, he croaked out a broken, gravelly sound. “H-Hu...m-mah-hn...” The voice was distorted, and unnatural, but it was clear he was trying to speak. “Ah... T-Ten... Tenti...ion…”