Lin was furious.

Not at the cave, or the people holding her down, but at herself. She did this. She was responsible for the boy. Sure, Sol was more mature than most boys his age, however, bringing him to a deadly cave she knew to be extremely dangerous, was the stupidest thing she’d ever done in her life.

At the time she didn’t think much of it. Sol was at the curious age and he eventually had to learn how things worked. He had to learn, just how dangerous the world truly was. That not every time Lin or Sisna was going to be there when a random tiger bit down on his arm. Even after having his arm nearly chewed off, Sol had hardly showed any signs of fear. In fact, the boy was now eager to learn how to hunt. And worse, Den even promised him that he'd take him to hunts from next year. So, she wanted to scare him a little. Perhaps to make up the excuse to keep him to herself for a few more years.

She knew the day would eventually come. The day when Sol would grow up and leave. However, before that… she could at least….

But again, her intention was only to scare him; they entered the cave, he started shivering. And since he was scared, it was all good. She fought the serpent, secured Derek, and all was good. Mission accomplished.

Crack.

But then- everything fell apart. In one fell swoop Sol fell, and the next thing she knew, the floor closed up. No matter how much she slammed the ground, nothing happened.

This wasn’t the first time she experienced the harshness of the west cave. Back in her early teens, she’d been naïve enough to come here alone and fight off a few giant spiders; Lin was young, had no real family and wanted to prove herself to the world. Not because she wanted recognition but because she wanted to show the middle finger to everyone who thought she would die.

The spiders had her surrounded and she almost died. Or she would have, if the floor hadn’t caved in. She fell to the fourth floor where luckily, she met three brothers. Lin joined their party, and somehow made it back out alive. She’d grossly underestimated the cave, and the dangers it posed. “Teach me more about this place,” she said. Lin bent her ideals a little and put her pride down the whole time.

She became fast friends with the brothers, and they were technically her first friends. Serec, Derec, and Xerec. Lin of course still valued her independence and only relied on the brothers in case she really needed their help. In return, she helped them out when they were in need. However, together they dived into the cave again and again, hunted monsters, collected rare treasures and became somewhat famous in the village.

Lin came close to death on several accounts, so she really did know just how dangerous the cave was.

Yet-

“You know the floor would only grow back stronger,” Zena had said.

Derek was breathing quite heavily. The antidote was working but he’d lost a lot of blood and they had to get him medical attention quickly. And Zena alone couldn’t carry him back.

Yet, Lin couldn’t bring herself to move from the damn spot. Her heart raced, and squeezed in her chest. She breathed, she breathed and she breathed a ton, yet, air didn’t seem to get in there.

“It’s alright,” Derek sweated, barely conscious. “Let her be…” He passed out.

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Stomping her feet one last time, Lin grabbed one arm of Derek. “Let’s get him out. Zorin should send someone over, so stay put outside.”

“What about you?”

“I’m going in.” She was going to get Derek out, and then head straight back in. Lin knew how the cave worked, and she was confident she could find him… she had to!

Zena didn’t say a word but she knew how dangerous it was in the deeper parts of the cave. Given how long the fall was, Zena was sure the boy wouldn’t survive. But she prayed, at the very least his body didn’t show up at the entrance. She knew just how much Lin cared for the boy.

They reached the entrance and both of them heaved a sigh of relief. Sol’s dead body wasn’t here. Meaning the boy still had to be alive.

However, one thing did bother Lin. While there were multiple floors and rooms and paths in this cave. People who fell through the crack to the depths, usually didn’t show up at the entrance. So there really was a good chance Sol fell and died in the lower floors. The floors inaccessible through the typical pathways.

But-

But it still did give her hope. If he wasn’t here, he had to be alive. He just had to! “Alright- be careful-” Lin took off. Or would have, if something didn’t hold her down.

It was Derek, he’d regained consciousness and held the lady’s arm. “It’s suicide. The fourth floor is crawling with those things. Only one followed me up, but there were at half a dozen.”

“I can take them.”

“No, you cannot!” He coughed, wheezed but didn’t let go.

“Fucking let go!” Lin almost punched the man but stopped at the last second. “Please… He’s my boy.”

“I know,” he said. “Get some help, go!” He urged Zena, who for better or worse had frozen stiff.

But, with some egging on from her husband, she quickly left.

Meanwhile, he still held Lin firm. “Look, I understand you want to run in there right now. But wait till Den and the rest get here. They’re your best bet to save him.”

“Den’s not here…” Lin groaned. “He left for Aihan….” She slammed her fist on the wall.

Each passing breath only made her chest grow heavier and her eyes moister. She could break into tears any moment now. Yet, she held everything back. She had to go back.

She just…

‘Sol…’

Zena quickly brought some help. Serec and Xerec.

“I’ll take him back. You three take a look,” Serec picked up Derek. “You put on some weight man,” like a potato sack.

“Shove it,” Derek mumbled.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll get back as fast as possible!”

He left right away.

While the three ran into the cave. Running was highly dangerous since the floors could break. Yet, Lin intentionally ran. If the floor broke, great!

But they didn’t. She passed the second floor, she passed the third and on the fourth, there were six serpents. Mostly juvenile serpents. Perhaps the one on the second floor was one of their parents.

Hiss! They came in all together. Yet- Lin fired off all her arrows in a frenzy! Xerec swung his axe around with ease, as though it had no weight. While Zena covered them both.

The snakes were agile but they were merely an issue. “We need to find another path,” Xerec said.

The way ahead was filled with poisonous blood from the snakes. They couldn’t risk going into that. There was always a chance more snakes would pile up here thanks to the smell of flesh and blood. Not just snakes, possibly something even worse.

But Lin knew the other path would only lead them back to the entrance. “No, we go-”

“No, we don’t. Your kid wouldn’t want you to be dead,” Xerec grabbed her and dragged her back.

“But I brought him here! I have to save him!”

“It’s not your fault man,” Xerec was at a loss for words. He just didn’t know what to say at these moments. “He’s a smart kid, he’ll stay put!”

If only that thin moron was here- or so he thought.

Zena was thunderstruck. From the moment the boy fell, she couldn’t believe her reality. It was her- she thought. It was her fault. The floor cracked when she took a step. And if she hadn’t moved, the floor wouldn’t have cracked anymore. If she just hadn’t gotten off… No, thinking about that wasn’t going to help. It cracked, he fell, and now they had to rescue him. That was it.

Yet…

Yet, she ground her teeth in frustration.

And although they did drag Lin back out, Lin almost overpowered Xerec who was touted to be the strongest Southerner in the whole village. “LET ME GO!” And she was relentless.

“We must wait till the venom disperses,” Xerec said.

“It’s going to take hours!”

“We’ll camp here,” Zena finally said. “We’ll. We’ll all stay here and-”

Lin was furious. She wasn’t furious at the others. But she was furious at herself. However- “No, go home. You have people who need you right now.” However, she wasn’t completely overtaken with grief and rage.