Outside the cave, the bird watches by tilting its head at the entrance that had just collapsed and then takes flight as if nothing had happened.

It was a dark and inhospitable place, only the footsteps along with the breathing of Ezer and Lyaria could be heard in that tunnel lit only by the torch they carried. The cold was still present but this time it was not so harsh since there was no wind and their coats did their job perfectly.

"How much do you think it will extend?" The cave extended far into the mountain judging by the distance they covered despite going slowly.

“I'm not sure, there should be a bifurcation somewhere or worse, a dead end. Whatever it is, we just have to move on.” Ezer tightens his grip on the torch and continues.

Time passes, as well as the distance in which both enter the heart of the titanic mountain. At some point, the security they felt turns into uncertainty, believing they feel the weight of the rocks as a consequence. The almost uninterrupted monotony along the way makes them unconsciously forget the precaution in their steps, wishing to find a way out.

It was at this point, after an hour or maybe more, that the floor suddenly changed, becoming more even, as did the walls and ceiling of the cave.

“This is not natural, I have never seen this result without work.” Lyaria caresses the surface of the rock being surprised.

"Yes, but there are no tool marks or blemishes either, the rock is... perfectly smooth." Even the smoothness of the walls gave a strange satisfaction to the touch.

“Now we have one more reason to see what lies at the end of this place.”

They advance through the tunnel, which continued to expand without changes, until they were forced to stop by a hole in the ground and a wall of rocks that covered the passage, probably due to a landslide.

"Can you see anything?"

"Nothing, I don't want to drop the torch and lose it." Ezer leans out of the hole, laying his body on the ground, unable to see anything but darkness.

“We can only go down with a rope, we can tie it to one of those rocks.” Lyaria wastes no time and immediately gets to work tying the rope to one of the large rocks blocking the path.

The descent was dangerous, they did not know if the rope would cover the entire distance to the ground and it seemed that they were in a huge cave. Therefore, Ezer offers to go first this time.

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The muscles in Ezer's arms and legs began to burn as he lowered himself without any foothold like a wall. Holding the torch in one hand was proving to be difficult and dangerous at the same time, he had to make sure to keep the flames away from the rope that held him.

“Can you see anything now!?” Lyaria's scream is heard above him.

“I can’t! I don't have much rope left either!” In any case, Ezer continues descending willing to use every last centimeter of rope. It was at that moment that thinks he can make out the bottom thanks to the reflection of the flames from the torch on the wet rocks.

"I see the ground!" But the rope ends just before I get there! They must not be more than three meters!”

“Okay! I'll start going down!”

The distance wasn't much, but since they didn't have any point of support from which to propel themselves, they had no choice but to drop vertically and cushion their weight only with their legs since they couldn't roll.

"It's a pity we can't take the rope with us."

"I tied a knot so we can retrieve it. Anyway, it's better to leave it as it is in case we don't find a way out.” They both take a few minutes to rest after the effort.

"The entrance was sealed, but we may be able to clear it if we don't find another way."

“Let's hurry, we don't have unlimited torches.” The one they used at the time was the second one while the first had been extinct for a long time, that was what forced them to hurry.

The floor of the great cave was mostly smooth, though occasionally huge boulders blocked the way. Both advance without a clear sense of direction in a place devoid of guides to do so, depending only on the marks they made so as not to go in circles.

"Can you hear that?" Lyaria stops and tries to locate the source of the sound that was elusive because of all the walls and rocks that deflected it.

"No, I realized long ago that you have better hearing than I do. Either in human or wolf form.” Ezer smiles a little enviously at her abilities.

“Hey? Really? I never noticed it.”

“That's because I'm the first human you know closely.”

“True” Lyaria answers without much concentration since she was focused on discovering where the noise came from.

“It's water, there's definitely a large flow moving at high speed up ahead.”

“An exit?”

“Perhaps.” Although they both knew that using the river would not be a good option. Perhaps at some point the cavern, due to the flow of the river, will become a deadly tunnel for anyone. Even if it wasn't, the rapids coupled with zero visibility would discourage anyone from choosing that idea.

"How big is this cave? It even goes on after the river.” Ezer decided to sacrifice one of his torches by throwing it over the river to get information.

“There is no light, in such a dark place even a small beam would be evident. I don't think there is a way out the other side.” Lyaria begins to doubt the possibilities of finding another way out, thinking more and more about retracing her steps and clearing the entrance.

“A little more, if we don't find a safe place to cross, we go back.” Ezer's interior refused to back down, without realizing it, he had acquired a taste for exploring the unknown after crossing the mountains for the first time and accompanying Lyaria in the search for the flower only served to reinforce this. However, he also feels that this place hides more than it shows.

"There is a bridge in this place!"

“Or the closest thing to a bridge...” Ezer approaches and observes how an elongated rock seems to have fallen from the ceiling and formed a kind of natural bridge to cross.