The sound of pebbles bouncing against the walls as they were falling filled the bottomless void. The rock in front of their faces was chiselled into a crude ladder with deep grooves with flat bottoms spaced evenly between each other. None of the women had trouble with descending using the surprisingly well-maintained ladder or maybe perhaps they were so used to looking at barely standing buildings that seeing any kind of care seemed now like a rare and luxurious sight, rather the problem the women had was with the ever-fluctuating size of the shaft. It was clear to them that this wasn't made for people their size but some of the areas they passed baffled their minds. It was as if the rock around them was alive and had moved closer, occasionally tightening the passage to such an extent that they had to squeeze into a corner and put their arms above their heads, letting go of the ladder and slipping passed the blockage before quickly grabbing the ladder again.
Iris's boot hit the bottom first as she quickly turned around, seeing something else other than rock for what felt like an eternity. The cavern the goblin boss's escape hatch had led them to was something the elf didn't expect, she was standing on a ledge where she expected the pale light to illuminate an empty cavern with more bare rock walls but instead her eyes were reflecting a glitter coming from small crystals below her.
"Finally," Shiro sighed as Iris heard her boots hit the floor. "What are you-?"
"Wow!" Iris saw the young fox zoom past her as she jumped off the ledge.
The woman quickly followed the fox who was stuck between jog and run uncertain if she would disturb the peace reining over the rainbow-filled cave. The crystals were growing out of the stone in small clusters and unlike the many other gem-filled caverns Iris had seen, this didn't look to be a part of something greater, a part in a crafted story of a dungeon core. The crystals were growing erratically on top of each other and gleamed in dozens of colours with hundredth different hues. It felt like they were in the middle of ordered chaos as Iris spotted a larger crystal growing out of the wall which resembled the mana crystals she had seen in dungeons, even geometrical shapes filled with one uniform colour. A gentle whisper of water flowing nearby peaked the elf's attention causing her to turn toward the source of the sound. She spotted a small stream resembling more of a rain flowing down the side of a road than a proper stream, it carved itself a little path through the cave which seemed to be attracting the crystals as on its banks two continuous lines of blue crystals grew often disturbing the flow causing a series of small waterfalls to exist.
Suddenly the mana lights Kia had created began to flicker as they got near the crystals before seeming to stabilise after losing some of their mass. The unexpected light show reminded the women where they were but it didn't take long for the fox to have her eyes glued again to the beautifully glittering walls.
In this hall of natural beauty, one person seemed not to be relieved at the temporary respite inside such a stunning cave. The elf could feel Kia holding onto the hem of her shirt. She closed her eyes and muffled the sound of Shiro talking to the fox in the background as she focused on the link between her and her shy kitten.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
A feeling of confusion and fear lingered just below the surface of their connection, the emotion were not powerful enough to flood into across the link but not weak enough for her not to pick on them with some focus. A sudden clarity suddenly hit the elf as her mind unlocked something and she was flung deeper than ever before.
An indescribable feeling abruptly surrounded her, there was a saying that a singular painting could say more than one thousand words and that was how the elf felt currently. The strange sensation of being submerged in a liquid quickly showed the elf, leaving her with a strangely ingrained idea. The previously colourful and festive crystals now invoked a strange fear. The dim light glowing deep inside them, powerful enough to glow in the dark but not powerful enough to fill up the crystals completely caused the elf to step one step away from the wall.
"They are unfilled mana crystals." The spooked risen felt Kia hug her from behind, stopping the tall elf completely before she pressed her body against the elf's back in reassurance.
"Are you dying here? Are you sucked dry by these?" The elf rested her hands on the girl's hands, warming up her frigid fingers.
"No, they are not strong enough to do that but there is little mana around me for me to absorb. You are safe to touch them if you want." Kia's voice sounded a little bit more motherly than the elf expected.
"Do you want to touch one of these?" The elf asked.
"No," Kia raised her head toward the elf exposing her chest, through the thick metallic fabric a faint purple light shined through. "I feel like I'm forgetting something but I can't figure it out, I want to leave though."
Iris's fingers slid passed each other as she silently clicked her fingers upon seeing Kia's eyes. The necromancer's head was wobbling a little bit as the only emotion expressed on her face was exhaustion. In the corner of her mind, the elf also noticed that the surrounding crystals began to slowly turn in colour, mixing their original colour and slowly turning either blue, golden or black.
*Rumble* *Crack* *Rumble*
The earth underneath everyone's feet began to shake and pieces of the ceiling began to fall down. At the far end of the cavern, the rock began to turn into dust before disappearing completely. Iris quickly casted a spell causing her body to magically stay in place as she held onto Kia. Beside them, the pair of beast women were pinned down in a corner with Shiro appearing to have some freedom of movement and trying to push Nakatei from under a large three-meter-tall orange crystal jutting out off the wall.
Where the plum of pulverised rock rose into the air, a great hole began to grow as threw the gap Iris could see something enormous was moving upwards.
After an entire minute of complete chaos, no one dared to move as all four pairs of eyes were watching the opposite side of the cavern as a low rumble permeated through the stone. It took far longer than that for anyone to move a muscle and the first one to do it was Shiro as her pupils became smaller as light shone through the opening.
"The Great Wyrm." Her words heavily hung in the air as everyone's minds analysed what just happened. Each of the older-looking women examined first their ward then themselves and lastly the other pair and found that except for a small gash on Shiro's leg, nobody got injured during the Wyrm's arrival.
The crystal cavern around them wasn't so lucky as most of the crystals had been fractured, ripped away from their base and thrown across the cave and the only thing that seemed to be in a better state than before was the small side street stream which was now free as it found itself flowing out of the cave through the opening.
Iris saw the demi-human hesitantly kneeling down and pressing their heads to the floor, as if unsure if it was too late for showing reverence to the already distant Wyrm. Iris too chooses to show her gratitude for having survived such an encounter by making a hand sign in the vague shape of a dove, a symbol of the Elemosina Aspect of Mercy and Love.
Her footsteps made a crunchy sound as she walked through the cave and toward the hole. The elf peeked her head outside and saw a bottomless hole wider than entire villages could be shining into the void from above the Sun shone indifferently down the hole, warming up Iris's face as she looked up, feeling fresh air enter her lungs for the first time since delving into the underground.