I was exploring caves with a group of friends in the forests of the cascade mountains, and all was going well at first, but then as we began to descend deeper the caves began to fill with a sort of strange fog. It came upon us quickly, the mist swirled wildly and was thick enough that it was hard to see more than a few feet in front of me, and it wasn't long until I found myself separated from the group. I stumbled blindly through the cave, my pace quickening and heart pounding as I tried to find my way back. I was lost for hours but I kept pushing forward and eventually I realized I had left the cave.

When I got out of the area of the fog I found myself back in the forest, I didn't recognize where exactly I was and I could only assume it was the other side of the mountains. My cellphone refused to turn on so I had no other choice but to try and find someone who could help me. After a short walk through the woods I found a dirt road; being the first sign of civilization I had come across so far I figured my best course of action was to follow it. The road appeared somewhat well trodden so someone must be using it, meaning it must lead somewhere, and if I get to the end and don't find anything for some reason I could always turn around and go the other way.

I walked down the road for a while not seeing much of interest until I came to a fork in the road. I stopped to weigh my options, one side seemed to head down and the other seemed to head up. The higher path probably headed back up towards the mountains and the higher elevation might help me find my bearings, whereas the lower path seemed more likely to lead to civilization though there was no telling. As I stood in the middle of the fork trying to decide I heard something coming towards me from around a corner just down the higher path. Something about the sounds made me uneasy in a way I couldn't rationalize, so I hid behind a bush on the side of the path to see what it was coming my way. I heard the sound of loud footsteps as well as some talking before I got a chance to see who it was, and as I strained to listen I heard two low gruff voices.

"It lucky they find pretty girl," the first one said only somewhat intelligibly, "she make good sacrifice."

The second let out an affirmative grunt, "Great magician gets good sacrifice, and good show for us."

"Good show for us!" The first one sort of cheered back, and they laughed as they continued to walk closer.

These must have been some sort of simple folks who lived in the forest and didn't interact with others much, for their grasp of language left much to be desired. It was quite concerning they talked about having some sort of woman captive they intended to sacrifice somehow, what if it was one of my friends? What if it was her girlfriend? Regardless I should try and help them if I could. I slowly peeked through the bush to try and glimpse these men but was not prepared for the fright I would behold. These horrible things were nearly 8 feet tall, they had a burly muscular build with grey leathery skin. They were hairy like a caveman and wore some sort of primitive cloth coverings, and on their pudgy bald head was a large singular eye above their gruesome mouths.

I grasped my hands over my mouth in a frenzied attempt to stifle a scream building deep in my chest. My mouth covered, I turned and ran straight into the forest to escape those terrifying creatures. Blinded by the fear of what I was fleeing I failed to see a drop off on the forest floor and I tumbled down into a ravine and blacked out. When I awoke I heard commotion and crept over to a ledge nearby. As I peeked over the ledge I saw about 20 feet down was a clearing with a large gathering of those hideous cyclopean monsters, all chattering and cheering and raising an awful din. In the center of the gathering was a large stone pyramid resembling those of Aztec origin, and at the the top of the pyramid was a stone altar with a naked masked woman bound on top; she seemed strangely familiar to me but she didn't seem to be one of the friends I was with so I couldn't place why. I furtively watched as a lanky figure emerged from the other side of the pyramid and walked up to the girl, he appeared mostly human from what I could see, tall by human standards and with features sort of resembling that of an Egyptian pharaoh. He was garbed in a slender robe that seemed to sizzle and pop with electricity, and he exuded a powerful aura of menace. He walked towards the stone altar as the chained woman tried in vain to escape her bindings. As he raised his hands towards the crowd he looked out at them, and then for a second, I swear he looked straight up at me. The crowd began chanting his name.

"Nyarlathotep!"

"Nyarlathotep!"

"Nyarlathotep!"

As the horrible beings chanted this strange man began to change. He slowly began to grow in size and as he did his appearance started drastically shifting; his human form became twisted and grotesque, his limbs became a series of writhing amorphous tentacles with countless more sprouted from his bloating form, and in the center of it all his face contorted into one large orifice of a mouth with rows upon rows of long dripping fangs. In one unsettlingly fluid movement the creature consumed the now screaming woman and as the spectators cheered I could only scream in terror.

Despite the already cacophonous din my cry was heard by the cyclopean beings, and they began to turn and point and clamor toward me. It became easily apparent they intended to capture me so I turned and ran into the forest, quickly hearing heavy footsteps following me. I was in pure shock at the scene I had just witnessed and as I ran for my life I was easily tripped up by the roots of the surrounding trees and fell to the ground. As I looked up at the gruesome figures surrounding me my body simply gave up and I passed out.

I awoke with a fright to find myself stripped of all my clothes and bound to the altar atop the stone pyramid - the crowd cheering in the background. I struggled in vain to escape as the tall lanky man crept up the side of the pyramid, and then over to me. Knowing what came next and not wanting to see that abomination again, I instead turned my head and looked out towards the audience. It was then I began screaming, as I looked out the mask they had placed on me and saw what was unmistakably myself watching in terror from the cliff above the crowd.