Even with the moment to breathe, the rest of the court didn't stop watching the body of the wendigo. Hera could have used her [Observe] and confirmed that the monster was now a corpse, but they still had their suspicions that it could be a trick. After all, the monster had used a beak to make a trap. Maybe it was able to play dead as well. Just for good measure, Livy and Crimson cut the creature up into several pieces. Taking the body back to the Alliance Center was an optional part of their mission, but no one ever specified the condition it had to be in.
While that was going on, the Empress started to look around the area. She found a few chewed-up pieces of bone, pieces of Behemoth Bunny skin, and even shards of weapons. But what made her stop was on the corner of this cave. It was a large cocoon, very similar to what people reported to be the ones used by the wendigos when they were evolving. Could this mean that there were two of them here? But the mana coming from it was different. Too different. She used her infrared sight and was able to notice a bipedal body. One that should belong to a person. By the size, it wasn't a dwarf or a harpy. But it was possible for it to be of a beastman, an elf, or a triton. As she got closer, the Ophidianite realized one more thing about it. The mana she was sensing was somewhat familiar. It was the same type of mana she felt while carrying Silah's body after the escape. The mana that leaked out of a corpse. Clenching her fist, she reached, called Viper over, and asked him to open the cocoon carefully. When the Spymaster revealed what was inside, Hera's suspicions were confirmed. There was a body inside the cocoon. Her [Observe] confirmed that. The corpse was very well preserved, and not even a putrid smell came out of it. Still, she tried checking the pulse just in case it was some sort of weird effect of being in the cocoon, but to no avail. That person was indeed dead. The body had a wound on his stomach, and half of the right leg was missing. He was also wearing his underwear, which was a bit odd. Looking around, the Empress saw a few pieces of metal on the ground. This made her think about Merrik's story. There was a fighter in his party who gave up his life to give the rest a chance to run away. That fighter also wore heavy armor, and it seemed like the wendigo had removed that armor before shoving the body into the cocoon.
Stepping back, Hera continued to look for a way out. Things would be a bit harder now since she wanted to take the body along. Leaving it here felt wrong. His family deserved to give him a proper burial. Not to mention, they had to make an autopsy to confirm if the wendigo was just keeping him here as a food source or if it was trying to do something different. Just by thinking about the second option, the Ophidianite felt a shiver run down her spine. A few meters ahead in this smaller corner of the cave, there was another cocoon. Viper helped again, and inside, there was yet another body, but this one was very different. The man had his eyes closed in a peaceful expression. But this one, a woman, had her eyes open wide in an expression with a mix of horror and pain. Half of her neck was missing, as well as a large chunk of her torso, including her left shoulder, left breast, the heart, and most of her left lung. She was wearing more clothes made with various fabrics that were glued to her body due to the blood that covered her limbs. There were also several claw marks covering her skin. Some even seemed unnecessary. It didn't look like the type of wound something would make while trying to kill its prey, but what an orca would do with a seal. The type of twisted pleasure in seeing whatever it was hunting suffer and panic.
Hera just closed the woman's eyes and continued searching for an exit. Her entire court was doing the same, but after 5 minutes, it became clear that there was no way out. The only possible path was a tiny hole on the top of the cave from where the air was coming through, but it was so small that not even the snakes from her bracelet could pass through. Daskka tried following that along, but the path would beach out really quickly, and it didn't look like it headed to any decent-sized passages. To make matters worse, Hera realized that the amount of air that was coming through that opening wasn't enough to keep up with her own breathing. If she were to stay here for too long, she would eventually run out of oxygen.
"Dusa, or anyone for that matter. Do you guys know where we came from? Like, from which wall and direction," Hera asked her court.
"I think it was around here," Daskka pointed at a wall on the upper right side of the cave.
"OK then. I need everyone's help. Lurize, can you teach the entire court how to use the stone-shaped spell? We are digging our way out, and the more people we have working on it, the better. Also…" Hera shook her head, "Never mind. Can you do it?"
Lurize nodded, "I believe so. I've never tried it, but I watched you make enough bunkers to have an idea how that works," he then added one last phrase, but just to Hera, 'We need to learn before you can no longer move. Correct?'
Hera didn't reply out loud but nodded in confirmation, "Dusa, pass along everything you see about this spell to them as they practice. As soon as someone figures out how to use it, come help me," the Ophidianite started to use that spell to dig upwards. Making a tunnel that was large enough for her to pass through. She couldn't waste time making something bigger, and using fire to melt the rocks or having Livy break the walls could result in something worse.
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The Empress continued digging, focusing on her work and on helping her court understand the spell. Even so, it was hard not to let her mind wander. If the problem was water, she could make some. Sure, water made with magic wouldn't quench her thirst like actual water, but it would at least help her out in a pinch. Food wasn't as big of a necessity as water, and in the worst-case scenario, she could eat the wendigo. It would be only fair since that monster ate everything. Air, however, was a completely different problem. She tried looking up spells to allow for water breathing, but they were all too complicated or too costly to be useful. Maybe she should try to figure out a way to make air out of magic. Actual oxygen and not just wind.
After 20 minutes, Hera was starting to breathe heavily due to all the effort, and she was around two and a half meters deep into the tunnel. Her biggest problem was the density of the stones around her. Using the spell on soft ground was easier, as there was less resistance from the rocks. Compressing the minerals was easier the less packed in the area was. Here, she was facing the direct opposite situation. Everything was too dense, and pushing it away was a struggle. She did try pulling the stones out to the cave and then moving forward, but that was even slower. Finally, Viper stepped in to help, and he was quickly joined by Nimbus. Both already able to use the stone shape spell. This allowed Hera to take a break to steady her breathing. If she overexerted herself, the air would run out even faster. Her court wouldn't have to worry about it since they didn't need to breathe to survive.
Crimson joined the rotation while the Empress was still resting, and Lurize let Livy work on the spell by herself to help as well. The titled blades could even use stone shape while in their weapon form, making the size of the tunnel a nonissue. As long as Hera could pass through herself, they would be fine. After almost an hour of digging, with the Empress starting to feel delirious due to the lack of oxygen, they heard noises coming from above. The sound of digging and of earth being pushed out, and voices. They were still too far away for them to understand what they were saying, but they didn't care. Nimbus started pounding on the wall to attract their attention as the rest continued pushing through. Hera tried to help, but she was feeling too weak. Livy tried to slam against the ceiling of the tunnel, but she didn't have enough space for a proper swing.
Suddenly, a crack appeared above them, and the rocks started to fall. The Sentinel moved quickly to place a barrier around the Empress and protect her from the debris. From the hole, two familiar faces appeared. Flint and Skyler. Both were covered in dirt and soot, like two people who worked in the mines for days on end.
"We found her!" Flint looked back and yelled as the elf reached out to help Hera climb up.
"Are you OK?! What happened? What about the wendigo?" Skyler asked.
"Dead. Wendigo. Air. Me," Hera couldn't speak properly. She was having trouble staying awake.
"The wendigo is dead. We killed it, But the cave didn't have enough oxygen for Hera, and now she's like this. She needs some air!" Viper explained quickly as the rest of the court climbed out after the Empress.
"There are some cocoons with the bodies of the people who died down there. And the wendigo, too," Crimson was helping carry Hera towards Neria, who was already rushing down the tunnel.
"Is it safe down there?" Flint asked.
"Yeah. The wendigo is dead. The air is the problem," Nimbus took his bipedal form and rushed along to Hera.
"I'll check it quickly. I'm used to this kind of thing," Flint jumped into Hera's tunnel as the Ophidianite was tended by the triton.
Neria didn't take long to understand what was happening. But instead of bringing the Empress outside, she simply cast a spell that instantly made her feel better.
"Oh… wow, what … what did you do?" Hera frowned, trying to get her bearings.
"You were poisoned. I used a cleansing spell."
"Poisoned? How? I'm an Ophidianite. I should be resistant to most poisons," Hera blinked and tried to stand up, but she almost fell backward.
"Take it easy. I just removed the poison, but you still need a bit of time to recover. And it's not the type of poison you were thinking. My skill told me you had carbon dioxide poisoning."
"Carbon dioxide?" Hera asked her mind still a bit jumbled up.
"Co²?" Viper asked, "Isn't that the air people breathe when they exhale?"
"It is," Neria nodded.
"Oh… so maybe you still had oxygen down there, but there was no way for the carbon dioxide to escape, so it all was just there," Nimbus suggested.
"Could be. But on a different topic. Where is Vash? And Roan?" Lurize looked around, not seeing the two.
"Vash and Skyler were using their songs to locate where Hera was. In the middle of that, Vash noticed something weird. He thinks that's where the survivor is, so afterward, we were more or less sure of Hera's location. Vash couldn't help that much with digging, and Roan said the same thing.
"That's good. I hope they find them," Hera rubbed her eyes, "Man, this feels worse than fighting the wendigo."
"Is it dead?" Neria asked.
"Yeah, and the bodies of the other two party members are down there too. They were in cocoons. I think it was just a way to store and preserve the food, but we should ask for a proper autopsy just in case," Hera explained.
"We will take care of that. For now, stay seated and rest. And get ready," Neria smiled.
"Ready for what?"
"Well… Apparently. Roan was very excited about fighting a wendigo. I'm sure he will be a bit salty when he learns you stole his prey."
Hera chuckled, "To be fair. I had no choice in the matter."
"I don't think he cares," Neria smiled back at the Empress, her blue eyes shining like the morning sky due to the light spell around them.
"I'll try to apologize. And next time a wendigo tries to split one of us from the rest, he can be the one falling for its trap," Hera leaned back to take a break and properly catch her breath.