Ariel’s and Sarah’s slide down the slope through the darkness took only a couple seconds, until they could finally see some light. Unfortunately just as they left the tunnel, they realized that they are now falling downwards from several metes height.
There was no time to use magic, so they landed on to the ground with a heavy thud. ”Aaa! Ugh!” Sarah thankfully didn’t feel much of the impact due to Ariel, who was breaking her fall underneath her, but the man in question felt indescribable pain running down his back after the landing.
To let Ariel get up Sarah immediately stood up and helped him stand while speaking to him. “Maybe you should sit down instead and check if everything is alright. You might have broken a bone from that impact.” However Ariel wasn’t quite pleased with the situation both of them are in, and although Sarah suggested him to rest a bit, he first quickly looked around them to find some cover.
Luckily there were quite a lot of large rocks scattered around in this place, wherever this may be. After deciding on a place slightly far from their location Ariel quietly whispered to Sarah, bringing his mouth close enough to her to make her turn red from embarrassment. “Please help me and go over there. I feel like finding cover is of most importance right now in case we are not alone here.”
Sarah could only helplessly do as Ariel asked while still feeling a bit embarrassed from the close proximity. “Okay.” Like this, they began heading towards the rock which was near one of this room’s walls. It didn’t take a lot of time for them to reach the destination and when they finally did, Ariel immediately slumped to the ground.
Out of sight he felt a lot more relaxed and could finally pay some attention to his injury. Sarah, seeing Ariel relax at last, spoke. “Let me check out your back to see the situation.” Since Ariel previously acted a bit rude with her, letting her check out his injury was the least he could do, so he complied.
When Sarah got a look, she noticed that Ariel’s entire back was red and a bit swollen. Thankfully there were no open wounds that she could see. Still, she wasn’t knowledgeable in medicine and couldn’t deduce if any bones were broken due the fall.
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What is even more regrettable is that none of the two could use any healing magic to heal his back just in case. Noticing this worried look on Sarah’s face Ariel quickly took out a red healing potion, that he recently knowledgeable, out of his storage ring and immediately downed it.
This action made Sarah a bit surprised, but soon a smile appeared on her face, as she saw the red on Ariel’s back slowly disappearing. When it was completely gone, she turned to Ariel’s face and spoke with a pout. “You should have used it immediately from the start.”
Ariel avoided her gaze and replied. “There was not time, also these are quite expensive and I do not have many of them.” At his careless words Sarah narrowed her brows and scolded. “Your health is still more important, so you shouldn’t withhold on such incidents.”
At her words Ariel obediently nodded, understanding that he wouldn’t win if he dragged on this topic any longer. To break the awkwardness Ariel began paying more attention to the surroundings. Now that he gave it a better look, he noticed that they were sitting in a large, seemingly natural, cavern.
Stalactites were hanging all over their heads and the opening in the ceiling which they had fallen down from could still be seen. Unfortunately as they were sliding down they saw the entrance they fell through close, so trying to get back up the same way is most likely impossible.
After seeing that they can’t do anything but move forward Ariel directed his gaze towards the inner part of the cavern behind the rocks. There he saw an underground pool of water which took up almost half of the cavern. Around which were all kinds of rocks, one of which they used for cover, however he didn’t detect any life around them, only due to his eye was he able to recognize that they were still in the dungeon.
The only possible exit Ariel saw was a tunnel at the far right of the cavern. However it is questionable if it is truly an exit, since if this is a trap then it is unlikely that the dungeon would make a way out for the intruders. Ariel understood this and immediately turned to look at Sarah.
“I think for now you should stay here while I go to check out that passageway.” Hearing Ariel’s words Sarah quickly protested. “Going there might be dangerous, we don not know what is inside there.” After letting out a long sigh Ariel responded. “It is true that there might be danger, but I at least have some defensive spells that can buy be some time to escape, while your magic only does damage and doesn’t have much other utility.”
Sarah wanted to refute, but Ariel’s resolute gaze shut her up and with a weak nod she agreed. Ariel’s face then relaxed a bit and he spoke a bit softer. “While I am gone stay behind this rock and be careful, that lake seems a bit suspicious to me.” Once again Sarah nodded, and after checking that everything was comfortable for her, Ariel started sneaking towards the tunnel.
He circled the lake that had a unique feeling about, and after reaching the opening, entered it in hopes of finding a way out of this damned place.