Picture above is a visual aid for Artemis

Latibule
(n.) a hiding place; a place of safety or comfort

My home was a cave I had discovered when I was five. Back then it had been cold and empty, almost frightening; the initial darkness scared me. But it was the only shelter I could find so I stepped into the mouth of the cave tentatively, hoping whatever that was inside wasn't as scary as the monsters I was running from.

However, I was surprised.

I was expecting cold, uneven rocks and bugs and creatures crawling all over the place. There wasn't any of that. The floor was relatively smooth and as I stepped further into the cave, the air around me became warmer, nothing like the frigid temperature of the winter winds outside.

The cave wasn't as small as I thought either. After mustering up the courage to venture further into the darkness, I was mesmerised by its beauty. The cave seemed to go on for miles and I discovered it tunnelled under the mountains and led to untouched forestry hidden behind the rocky summits.
The forest was full of trees and plantations of all kinds, all varying in shades of greens and browns. The dense foliage was habitat to numerous species and fruits and berries of all sorts grew.

That wasn't all.

There were more caves branching off of the larger one I occupied. I discovered a large hot spring in one, where the water was always a perfectly bearable temperature. As if that wasn't amazing enough, I discovered several small crystal caves too.

One was an amethyst cave, covered in the dark rock, some splitting open to reveal the purple crystals within.

The others however had bright blue pools of water with clear crystals gleaming and glinting from above. The crystals reflected the sunlight that peeked through gaps in the rocky wall, as well as the blue water, creating a mystical blue glow on the whole cave.

Honestly, it still amazes me how I had gotten so lucky.

After spending my first few years running and afraid, jumping from my own shadow, I had stumbled into this paradise. Mother Nature gave me a home, a place to call my own.

I was content.

Well, at least for a while I was.

A.N.
Hello, I've started uploading all the sites chapters of my story. While there is no major plot changes, there are substantial differences than Tommy first draft. Let me know what you think of them
I won't bother mentioning this in each chapter but this is just a reminder that my story does contain sexual scenes and violence. It's intended for audiences above 18. There will be sensitive issues mentioned so again be warned.