In the distance, they heard the roar caused by the collapse of the tunnel.

“We’ve caught some rats,” boasted the reptilian woman.

“Ha, ha. They deserve it,” the hooded woman scoffed.

The group looked back for a moment to see the cloud of dust that was rising from the place they had entered. They were sure that no one could escape alive. With an arrogant grin on their faces, they continued on.

“Goldmi…” the drelf whispered the name of her friend.

She had clearly heard the crash that indicated the tunnel collapse, and she feared the worst. With a heavy heart, Maldoa looked towards the cave, where only dust was coming from. She expected to see the figure of the elf emerge, but nothing appeared.

There were almost five meters left when the mana was completely depleted, which made her feel mentally drained, and dissipated the power of Hover. They fell to the ground. The elf was still clinging tightly to her sister when the lynx landed on all fours, like any felines.

Immediately, her hind legs bent and propelled forward with explosive power as the trap was activated. Mana and energy exploded at the same time, which collapsed the ceiling, so pushing tons of rocks to seal the passage, and whoever was in it. The impact of just one of those rocks would crush them.

Tiny splinters, which the explosions had given breakneck speeds, flew around them, and also hit, cut, and dug into them. But that didn’t stop the lynx, not even the dust that didn’t let her see or breathe.

She pushed herself against a wall to gain speed, and dodged a huge boulder more than ten feet in diameter. It had been ahead of the rest, since it had been close to one of the sources of the explosions.

A splinter pierced the elf’s leg. She squeezed on her teeth to keep from screaming or letting her sister go. Another pierced her shoulder. Another dug into her sister’s thigh, despite which she forced her muscles once more, and tore some of them. There were more than half a dozen splinters nailed in each of them, and it was a miracle they hadn’t pierced a vital organ. In fact, it would have been if it hadn’t been stopped by a rib.

The last impulse destabilized the feline, for she was badly injured. Both flied out and rolled out of the tunnel, and were barely able to move. However, the dust threatened to drown them, not let them breathe.

They had to crawl as good as they could. The elf nearly blacked out from the pain, until she regained enough mana to summon Wind Push, which gave them a break.

They coughed, so expelling dust from their lungs before they could fill them with clean air. Both sisters felt a stabbing pain as they did so. They felt each one of the small stone fragments that had pierced them, and through which they were bleeding.

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The elf had no mana to heal herself, but she, luckily, had gotten some potions some time ago. They weren’t Eldi’s, but they were all they had. She gave one to her sister, and drank another herself. She couldn’t drink a second one for a while. It took effect immediately, partially healing them, but unable to expel the stuck splinters.

“You’re worse. We’ll take out yours first,” said the lynx, without giving rise to discussion.

Goldmi had no choice but to acknowledge the obvious. The lynx was injured, but her fur and her tough skin had prevented the worst. She, on the other hand, was lucky to be alive. She didn’t even want to think what would have happened if the one that had cut her cheek had impacted an inch beyond.

“Aaaaaaagh!” the elf yelled.

“I didn’t know you were such a whiner,” the lynx scoffed, as much as her sister’s pain broke her heart. Still, there was no choice but to do it, so laughing at it was a way of trying to downplay it.

The elf only breathed to calm herself, as her pain subsided by applying Basic Healing. They had waited for her to recover some mana before beginning to extract the tiny chunks of rock embedded in her flesh. Most of them were out of her reach, in her back.

The feline was in charge of inserting her nail and removing them, one by one, which was a process not without pain. She did it not only because she could access it more easily, but because the elf wasn’t sure she could do it herself, even if they were within her reach.

“Aaaaaaagh!” she yelled again for the seventh time.

“It’s the last one,” her sister announced, relieved.

Goldmi nodded, while recovering from the last burst of pain. She breathed deeply, until she managed to calm herself, though her eyes and teeth were still clenched. She didn’t remember feeling so much pain in her entire life.

After a while, she drew the dagger apprehensively, and turned to her sister. She was lying on the ground, and have several wounds with embedded splinters. Though the lynx wasn’t bleeding, she couldn’t stand either, as one of her hind legs was practically useless.

She placed the tip of the dagger in one of them, after gaining the lynx’s consent, though she couldn’t help but doubt. Goldmi swallowed, took a deep breath, and inserted the blade. She could feel her sister’s pain through her bond, as she had felt hers. It was even more intense when she managed to expel the piece of stone, which shot out.

Right away, she applied Basic Healing, so closing the wound and relieving the pain.

“Can’t you be softer?” the lynx protested, part joking, part wishing it with all her heart.

“It seems that I’m not the only whiner,” the elf laughed, although she couldn’t hide her apprehension for having to continue causing suffering to her sister.

It took them a long time to fully recover, to be able to get up, although they were still far from having recovered all of their strength. However, they couldn’t afford to rest, so they followed the clear trail left by their enemies.

The ground was sandy, and they hadn’t bothered to hide their tracks, so even the elf was able to follow them. So, they headed in that direction.

A little further on, surrounded by a strange mist, there was a place impossible to distinguish, but one that gave both of them chills. They were grateful that they weren’t heading there. Had they known it was Cathair Taibhse, the ghost town, and known its legends, they might not even have dared to look in that direction.

It had been too long, and they hadn’t appeared, which could only mean one thing. However, Maldoa refused to believe it. It was then that she looked to her side, to the fairy’s face, who didn’t seem concerned.

Pikshbxgra looked back at her and smiled.

“Aunt Omi does very dangerous things, but she’s fine, I can feel her. I just hope that she doesn’t meet that presence,” explained the fairy.

The drelf felt tremendous relief. It was so sudden that her legs nearly gave out. Her friend was alive, though that didn’t mean she was out of danger. Besides those who had kidnapped her cousin, there was Cathair Taibhse.