I leaned against a boulder outside of the cave, crossing my ankles and basking in the bright glow of the daytime as they tried to figure out how to get out of the cave.
“I mean, you guys could always just meet me back at the stairs, and take the normal way out.”
I heard a hearty laugh. “Nope, this is fine Siya. Stand back so you don’t get hurt.”
I felt my body start to tense, quickly listening. I could have sworn I heard my father's voice, but he wasn’t the type to give warnings like that, so I immediately made even more distance between myself and the entrance.
With a loud crash and a thundering rumble the rock wall exploded out from the side of the hill, and Keigan came bursting out with it.
‘Of course, he would do something like that…’
He turned back to my brother. “That’s how you take care of a locked door!” He cheered, being in a good mood for the first time in… Well, years from my perspective.”
He walked past me, lifting a hand to rub my head as he took the lead. I wasn’t about to let him touch me again though… Never again… I pulled away, causing him to grimace, almost with anger, but I only backed away more, and he continued on.
‘Sometimes it feels like there’s three of him… All fighting for control of the same body… Even if cleansing his soul somehow made him a better person, it didn’t take away the bad part of him, just suppressed it…’
I let out a sigh, trying to just forget about it as we moved on. Of course, we left the packs behind when we jumped down the hole, so we had to awkwardly loop back around anyway to get them, making me question why we even bothered using a different exit.
It felt like we were walking in circles, but eventually, we did manage to get back to the staircase that led up to the 34th floor. Staring at it’s dark hallway gave me chills, remembering what lurked beyond in the dark.
Keigan set down his pack. “we should wait a while longer. Over the course of the night, it's likely that many new monsters will have wondered over where the ones we slew were. Corpse adders probably ate the zombies and grew pretty large. On top of that, the effect from the night doesn't wear off immediately. That's why most dungeon crawlers sleep in so late. It’s fine entering because it takes time to get to the lower floors anyway, but leaving is a different story.”
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It almost seemed like he couldn’t stop talking, as if all the explanations he was holding back from me were spilling out all at once.
‘So more waiting… I’m only 15, but I think my heart might give out before I turn 20.’
He started checking his bag, and pointed at Airsidh to do the same, calling over Zu and walking him through each step.
“The monsters got into them, it’s only natural though, nothing can be done about it.”
I glared at him silently… He was almost too happy… No… He was too happy.
‘The man I knew would have groaned and growled, letting out puffs of air as he made it clear to everyone how angry he was that the bags were messed with, then he found an excuse to blame me… Well, maybe not… But still…’
He looked up at me, narrowing his eyes. “Come over here. This will be a good review for you as well.”
They pulled everything out of the two sacks and lined them up. “foods are all gone. Many of the vials are shattered. We have our torches still, they are relatively undamaged. And then all of the loot from the creatures as well… I guess there's just more room for loot when we ascend then.”
“Packs laden with loot are often low on supplies,” I mumbled, trying to lighten my own mood. By referencing an old game I played once.
“What?”
“Nothing, don’t worry about it…”
We rummaged through the packs stitched up a few minor holes, and double-checked all of our gear. ‘There’s nothing else we can do to prepare… If anything were actually hurting ourselves at this point. Lack of food isn’t a good thing, not after the light meals we ate the past two days.
“We need to get going soon, or hunger will slow us down. I understand waiting, and I guess you have a lot more experience, but if we hold back too long then it will turn nightfall again before we even get out.”
Keigan grabbed my shoulder as I walked towards the staircase. “Hold on a moment.”
My whole arm tensed as I flinched away. “Don't!” I took a deep breath, calming down. “Don’t touch me… I’m not stupid enough to take the point even though I’m the liability…
Finally, I saw them… His eyes were dark with anger and cold as stone. The eyes I was used to. “It's still too early. We need to wait at least an hour more. Better safe than sorry. We finally got you back, Siya. I'd hate to have something happen to you now. We’re so close.”
“Just save it… You already left me behind once down here…”
His eyes narrowed even more. ‘What are you going to do, hit me again. I’d like to see you try, I could probably win if I fight dirty.’
He let out a sigh, his eyes relaxing as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Just a bit longer. We can rest here for a while more.”
“But… why?” I looked back at the staircase. “I mean what about—”
“Siya, you were the one that said I had more experience right? So just trust me on this one.”
“Ok but—”
He growled. “Siya…”
I shut my mouth, feeling like a coward. I was willing to fight just a moment ago… But all it took was him saying my name the wrong way and I backed down. “I wasn’t doubting you… I just… Right, sorry. So we’ll wait here then…”