Incoming

It felt like I had been falling for hours but, when I started to wonder if this was a never-ending fall, the wind began to coalesce around us and slow our fall down before we landed on a hard rock floor with a loud thump. I sat up and rubbed my sore back as I produced a small flame to make sure everyone was okay.

No one was seriously hurt or unconscious, but we were in a massive tunnel that seemed to go on forever. We gathered our items that had been scattered about before choosing a random path to walk. It felt like we had walked for days before I began to get impatient. At least we were away from whatever that thing was...

A loud noise from in front of us echoed off of the cave walls, making me curse my luck. It sounded like a large creature snoring, but I wanted to take no chances as I gestured for everyone to stay silent. I made Akina and Suki stay behind as I slowly made my way forward to scout ahead, but it was like the tunnel never ended.

I finally found a large cavern that had even worse visibility than the tunnel. I hid behind a stalagmite and focused on trying to locate the source of the noise. After several minutes of complete silence, I gave up and made my way back to the tunnel. I met up with everyone and explained what I had came across.

Everyone soon agreed that it was likely a trap or a ploy made by the thing that had sent us down here, so we began to walk in the other direction, not caring if it would take forever to get there. I lit the way as best as I could with Solar energy, but the darkness would swallow the flames if they got too far away, limiting my vision to a few meters.

We stopped for a short rest and ate a little food before continuing on our journey, keeping silent unless we were forced to speak. We all felt the feeling of being watched. We eventually came across a small, round room with torches lining the walls.

The room was empty, but I could feel the presence of something lurking around. Jack activated my radar and I felt my Light getting drained from my body by the second, but I was able to locate the thing in the room. It was directly in front of my according to the radar, so I ripped Sol from its sheath and slashed out.

A loud wail echoed through the room as a large, four-legged dog-like creature with red scales and sharp teeth stumbled onto the floor with blood gushing from its neck. The beast had metal plating on the top and bottom of its head with three large cables sticking out from its neck, connecting to five large blades that fanned out across its back.

I heard Shin inhale sharply as he bent down and studied the beast before saying "Yeah, this is definitely a War Beast used by the Cabal...but what is it doing here, and why did it have a cloaking device...?" in a confused and anxious tone.

Shin used to be a Guardian, but his Ghost died when he was ambushed by a group of rogue Cabal, turning him Lightless. However, he knew a lot of things that Akina and I didn't, so it would be in our best interest to listen to his judgement since he has more knowledge and experience than us.

I sighed and said "Damnit. Looks like we'll have to be careful then. Akina, make sure you stay alert at all times, I'll turn my radar on every know and then to make sure we're not being followed. Let's get out of this place..."

Akina nodded as she moved back to the rear of the group with Suki before we began to make our way out through a large hole on the other side of the room. We entered a large ravine with trees and all kinds of flowers and vegetation growing on the walls as well as the floor. There was even a waterfall that flowed down into a large lake, as well as birds and different kinds of regular animals roaming about.

I could barely see the top of the ravine, yet there was an abundance of natural light flowing in, making the place seem even more odd. An orange tabby cat walked up to Akina and rubbed against her leg while purring, prompting her to rub its fluffy ears. I let everyone take another break as I went to find stuff to eat for the night.

We still had that boar meat, since it never spoiled if put in an inventory, so I was mainly looking for any spices or herb for flavor. I was in the middle of picking a few peppers when I heard the sound of metal scraping against bone. I sprinted back to where I had left everyone to find a group of Servants laying limp on the ground.

"The hell happened? I didn't see them on my radar when I checked..." I knelt down to examine the closest Servant, a large snake looking creature, as Suki replied "I don't know. They just appeared out of no where as soon as you left. I guess they didn't realize that you weren't the strongest on in the group..."

I nodded my head and said "Good, then my little plan is working. I placed you at the back so any enemies would think that I'm the strongest, making them go for you two at the back only to get obliterated." Suki and Akina both squinted their eyes as they said "You put us at the back so they would think that we were the weakest so you wouldn't have to deal with them..."

I waved my hand in a dismissive manner before saying "Oh well, it worked..." earning a few glares in the process. I burned the carcasses before we began to head out once again, this time with more caution. The time went by and there were no more signs of any Servants or beasts around, so we decided to make camp and have a two-man watch.

We used some of the trees to make a makeshift hut as well as use some dry-wood to make a fire to cook the boar meat. Since we technically didn't need to sleep, Akina and I were the ones who kept watch all night while the rest went to sleep soon after eating their fill. I poked at the fire with a stick and watched the embers dance in the air as Akina laid down on a log she had cut in half while lazily drawing circles in the dirt with her finger.

We were bored out of our minds.

"So, I hope you're not thinking about what my Dad said. He was just joking around...I think..." Akina said as she stared up toward the vaguely visible night sky. I chuckled and said "What, did his little joke embarrass you?" Akina nodded and replied "Of course it did. He's always trying to make me uncomfortable, I swear."

I shook my head with a smile as I said "You don't sound very embarrassed to me!" in a mocking voice. Akina sat up and looked at me with a playful glint in her eyes as she asked "Oh, you wanna play that game huh?" I put my hands up and said "What game? I don't know what you're talking about!"

I heard Jack's voice laugh in my head as he said "Uh oh, you're in trouble now!" before Akina practically leapt at me, knocking us both down to the ground. We struggled, tumbled, and laughed before Akina had finally rolled on top of me and sat on my stomach with a victorious look on her face as she crossed her arms over her chest.

I was already beyond tired from the earlier events, leaving me with little strength to push her off. I looked up at her and said "Yeah, I don't think I like this position very much." with a wry laugh. Akina cocked her brow and said "If you didn't like it, you would've pushed me off by now!" with a sly smile, much like her father's.

Before I could respond, Akina laid on my stomach, her breath tickling my neck as her racing heart beat against my own. We lay there in silence before Akina said "Hey. Promise me that you won't leave me when you become famous, okay...?" Her words caught me off guard, but I quickly responded with "Yeah, I promise. I know that you'll never leave me, so why would I betray your trust..."

---

The large, six-eyed Dragon was seated on a large swath of grass as he looked down a large crack in the earth and watched the little interaction going on between two of the runts he had sent into the Pits of the Servants. He squinted his fiery eyes in fury as he said "Those damned brats are supposed to be having a hard time surviving, not frolicking around like they're on a play date!" through clenched teeth.

The pale-skinned bipedal dragonoid appeared next to the Dragon in a kneeling position before saying "Lord Domenth, we have confirmed the position of several Guardians encroaching on your domain. Requesting permission to deal with them, sir!" The Dragon looked back and said "I thought I told you to call me Dad, Zire...oh whatever, just go and kill those Guardians, but make sure to loot them afterwards!"

Zire's body disappeared into a puff of smoke, leaving Domenth alone once more. Domenth began to think about shapeshifting into a Human form to go and mess with the runts, but he quickly decided against it since he felt his scales standing on edge from just the thought.

Domenth began to mumble something under his breath before moving toward a flat spot and stomping his foot on the ground, causing a large cave to sprout from the earth. He proceeded to walk inside of the cave and shrink his form before laying down with a tired expression. Domenth yawned loudly before feeling his eyes grow heavy as he listened to the rhythmic noises of nature.

"I wonder if that...old robot...is still...kicking..."