*Kryzen*
I wondered briefly if we should have gone back to the grove and called for backup. I quickly dismissed that thought, knowing that the people of the grove were likely just as peaceful and inexperienced as the other communities we had visited thus far. Bringing others with us would just slow us down and needlessly put the grove mbers in danger.
“Maybe we should think this through a little bit,” Roy said suddenly, his voice low and hushed. His bright blue eyes were grave in the dim lighting of the cave. “This could be a trap.”
“The thought has crossed my mind,” I assured him, though not much was reassuring as we continued deeper into the cavern. It beca darker and darker with each step. “But we have little choice. This could be our only lead.
I squeezed Briella’s hand tightly in mine, hating that she was there. I wished I could send her back up to the surface and that she would listen to .
I knew her better than that. It was why I didn’t bother fighting her on it. She was far too stubborn and self-sacrificing to even consider staying behind.
It was still worth a try if it ant keeping her safe.
“If you’re not going to listen to , if I were to ask you to head back–” I started to say. I was not surprised when she cut off imdiately.
“Which doesn’t matter since I’m not going to head back,” she snapped in a hushed voice.
I let out a breath, one corner of my mouth going up as I smirked. “Yes, I figured as much,” I drawled. “Are you going to let finish?”
“As long as you’re not going to ask to go back again,” she said firmly. “I told you that I’m coming with you. We’ve been through this over and over, but I’ll remind you again that I have just as much, if not more, advanced combat training than you. That ans I am very much capable of defending myself.”
I sent a quick prayer up to the Goddess for patience. “I am not going to ask you to go back again,” I assured her. “But I would like very much for you to promise to keep close to . We don’t know what we’re going to face down here.”
Briella looked up at , her expression unreadable before she nodded.
I dropped a kiss to the top of her head. “Thank you,” I said seriously.
We continued down the dark, damp cave. It was obvious that these tunnels had been manmade by the way the rock had been carved. I wondered if it had been done with so kind of dark magic. The tunnels seed to be endless. I wondered how long they had been in existence.
We had been walking for what felt like ages when Roy finally spoke. “We don’t know how far this goes,” he said. “Maybe we should head back and return with supplies.”
It was a sensible suggestion. I was beginning to get hungry. I couldn’t tell how much ti had passed. It felt as if we had walked for several miles.
“We can’t go back yet,” Briella suddenly said firmly in a no-nonsense tone.
Roy and I both stared at her.
“Why not, Briella?” Roy asked politely, his eyebrows furrowing in concern. “Are you alright?”
Briella had gone silent and shut her eyes, lifting a hand and warning us to wait. “We’re getting close,” she said finally, opening her eyes again.
“Close to what?” I asked.
Briella bit her lip, looking uncertain. “I don’t know,” she admitted.
Roy gazed at her in bewildernt. “How do you know we’re getting close?”
Briella shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know that either,” she said softly. “I just feel like we should keep going and we’ll find sothing soon.”
I looked to Roy to see what he thought, and he nodded firmly. I could see the trust in his eyes.
There was really no questioning Briella. We had co to learn that over the course of this journey. She hadn’t steered us wrong yet.
We just had to hope that this wouldn’t be the first ti.
I kept Briella close to my side as we continued walking. My eyes had adjusted to the darkness, but I eventually had to conjure up a small shield in the palm of my hand to light our way.
Just as I was about to again suggest we turn around and try again after we had collected so supplies, we heard a strange rumbling sound. It took a while to place it and realize it wasn’t coming from just one source.
“The animal companions,” Briella gasped. Before I could stop her, she took off running.
“Briella!” I hissed, hurrying after her with Roy on my heels.
Briella stopped so suddenly that I nearly knocked her over. I grabbed her wrist and pulled her to . “Don’t ever do that again,” I hissed at her, my heart still pounding wildly in my chest.
Briella didn’t answer. She just lifted a finger to point ahead of us.
I sucked in a breath as we slowly stepped into a huge cavern, its stone walls completely lined from floor to ceiling in large tal cages. Inside the steel traps were the animal companions, all crying out.
Roy and I pulled Briella against one of the walls, our eyes scanning for whoever was behind this.
Briella looked around in horror. “We have to rescue them,” she said in a strangled gasp. “We got to get them out of here. They’ll die.”
“Shh,” I hushed her gently, both to soothe her and keep her quiet in case the enemy was near. We couldn’t be spotted. “Let’s see what we’re working with here.”
We carefully made our way to the middle of the cavern, studying the animals. They didn’t appear to be injured. Briella slowly approached one of the cages, but I grabbed her and pulled her back.
“Don’t,” I warned her. “We could set off so kind of alarm or sothing. We shouldn’t touch anything until we can ensure that it’s safe.”
“Kryzen, look,” Roy said in a low voice.
I looked up at the cage Roy was indicating to see a large furry creature. It looked horrifying with its fur matted and standing on end, its big snout filled with sharp teeth. I could tell that Roy was referring to the creature’s eyes, which were bright red.
I squeezed Briella’s hand, tugging her back the way we ca. “The companions are too far gone, Briella,” I said in a low voice. “We need to get out of here and regroup. Now.”
Briella shook her head hard, her wavy dark hair flying about as she did so. “We can’t leave them,” she said in a broken voice. “We said that we would find them.”
“And we did,” I said patiently. “And maybe can still save them, but we have to give ourselves that chance by making sure we get out of here safely.”
Briella gritted her teeth together. Her eyes beca stubborn, and her jaw was clenched tightly. I could tell that she knew I was right. We had no way of saving these animals. Even if we did, they would likely just turn on us and attack.
“Kryzen, there’s another tunnel,” Roy said, pointing across the cavern.
I looked up and saw that he was right. There was another opening, leading deeper into this underground labyrinth.
Briella gave a look, wordlessly urging to continue on. I ground my teeth together, conflicted. We needed to get out, but if there was more we weren’t seeing, the next ti we ca, we could still be going in blind.
I let out a resigned breath. “Keep close to ,” I ordered both of them. I sent Briella a stern look. “I’m leading, and you had better not run off like you did earlier. If you do, we are turning right back around and going back.”
Briella rolled her eyes and smirked at . “Yes, Dad.”
I scoffed under my breath before striding over to the other opening, keeping a wary eye on all the possessed animal companions as we passed. A few of them snapped their teeth at us as we passed.
This ti, we didn’t have to travel very far before we heard more sounds, much more familiar than the last. These were cries that I knew still haunted Briella’s dreams and threatened to do so to mine as well.
I could tell Briella recognized the demonic screeches by the way her eyes widened. She shuddered against . “No,” she murmured.
“Shh,” I soothed, crouching low and pressing myself against the wall of the tunnel as we continued forward toward a bright purple light at the end of the dim passage.
None of us were prepared for what waited for us at the end of the tunnel.
Before us stood an abandoned city with tall bleak buildings the color of the darkest skies. A strange purple light illuminated the entire underground town. It was as if the community was forever encased in nightti.
What had pulling Briella tightly against my chest and yanking us back into the safety of the tunnel was the fact that the city was void of people, but it was far from empty.
Demon shadows flew above us, milling about not unlike the way citizens of a city might. They even seed to be communicating with one another, screeching as they passed each other on the dark streets.
The vast majority of the shadow creatures were swirling above the city, seeming to just be enjoying the utter chaos of their existence. They were creating an awful cacophony with their terrifying shrieks and cries.
There had to be hundreds of the dark monsters, just flying around freely in their city of night.
Roy grabbed my shoulder, his fingers digging in painfully. His voice was hard. “We need to leave. Now.”
Briella didn’t argue this ti. We both pulled her back through the tunnel, practically stumbling in our haste to get out. Without a word, we turned and sprinted the way we had co, not even pausing when we passed through the cavern where the animal companions were being held. I did catch Briella glancing around quickly at them with wide, horrified eyes as if the gravity of all we had seen was crashing into her.
It took us far too long to make it back to the surface. It felt as if there wasn’t enough air in the entire realm as I filled my lungs back with fresh air. Roy wasn’t much better off, panting as he leaned up against a nearby tree.
Briella was the worst off, her breaths coming out in harsh pants. I was growing concerned as she lowered herself to her knees and continued to breathe unevenly.
It took another long mont to realize that she was in shock.
“Hey,” I murmured, crouching in front of her and putting my hands on her shoulders. “We made it, Briella. We’re safe. You’re safe.”
Her teeth were chattering, but she raised her head and looked at , her wide green eyes glassy and far away.
I gave her a little shake. “Hey, breathe with ,” I ordered, taking in a slow deep breath. It took her a mont to obey and mimic my much slower breaths. “That’s it. Nice and slow. In... Out... That’s it. Keep going.”
I smoothed her hair as she slowly cald down, her breathing evening out.
Roy crouched down beside . “You’re alright, Briella,” he said soothingly. He rubbed her back in slow, circular motions.
That seed to help. Briella was finally calm enough to look up at us. When she did so, her eyes were filled with horror. “We found it,” she said through unmoving lips, “the land shrouded in shadows.”
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