Chapter 6:

Elora Falls

NINO

Cael struggled to catch his breath.

"My name is Cael. I'm from Arvendel, the northernmost village before the Solvar Pass."

Nino frowned slightly. He recognized the name.

Arvendel was the last settlement before the roads climbed toward the Ancient Mountain. Small, but often used by hunters, merchants, and travelers waiting for permission to enter Solvar.

"That's a long way from home," Nino said. "Where's your brother?"

"I know." Cael looked back the way he had come. Fear returned to his face. "He's still there."

Alicia stood perfectly still.

"Your brother?"

Cael nodded.

"Him... and two of our friends."

Nino studied the boy's injuries once more.

"What happened?"

Cael opened his mouth, but his breathing gave out. His hands began to shake.

"Slow down," Nino said. "Take a breath, then tell me."

The boy closed his eyes for a few seconds. When he opened them again, he stared into the trees.

"We came to the waterfall yesterday morning."

"Which waterfall?"

"Elora Falls. It's farther downstream." He wiped the dirt from his face. "My brother, Darien, said we should go through it."

"Go through a waterfall?" Alicia asked.

"There's a gap behind the water. An opening in the rock. Some hunters say it's just a small cave. Others say it runs straight through the mountain." Cael lowered his head.

Nino glanced around as he sensed a strange Pulse nearby, but let the boy continue.

"We didn't know what was true." His voice trembled. "So we made it a challenge. Whoever had the courage would go in first."

"And you didn't," Nino finished.

Cael clenched his fists.

"No." Shame weighed heavily on that single word. "Darien laughed at me. Said I always ran away from everything. They went through the waterfall... but I stayed outside."

Alicia stepped a little closer.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of."

Cael let out a hollow laugh.

"I waited." He stared at his own hands. "At first, I thought they were trying to scare me. That they'd jump out any second and laugh at me." His voice faltered again. "But time kept passing."

The forest grew even quieter around them.

"I called for them. No one answered. I waited a little longer... then finally worked up the courage to go through." He raised his eyes to Nino. "There's a massive cavern on the other side."

"How massive?" Nino asked.

"Big enough to swallow a castle." Cael struggled to find the words. "And... that's when I saw it."

"It?" Alicia whispered.

"The tunnel sloped deep into the mountain. There were marks across the ground... like something enormous had been dragging itself through there every single day." He covered his mouth as the memory resurfaced. "And the smell..." He swallowed. "It reeked of rotting flesh. Before I realized it... I'd walked straight into its nest."

Alicia instinctively gripped the side of Nino's coat. Cael had gone pale. Nino remained silent, listening, though part of his attention stayed fixed on the strange Pulse he continued to feel nearby.

"It was far too big to be any animal. Its back almost touched the ceiling. Black scales covered its entire body... thick as shields." His chest rose and fell rapidly.

"Did it have wings?"

"I... think so."

"You think?"

"They were folded." Cael swallowed hard. "Wrapped around its body. But they were enormous. The tips were buried in the ground like spears."

Alicia tightened her grip on Nino's coat. From the description alone, Nino already knew what the boy had encountered.

"A Vulkar." His voice was calm. "They build their nests near Noctrium mines." He looked at Cael. "I'm sorry... but your brother and his friends are most likely already dead."

Desperation overtook the boy.

"Please... it hasn't even been a full day. Maybe they managed to hide."

Alicia turned toward Nino.

"We have to help him."

Nino met her gaze. There was no time to waste if they wanted to reach Solvar.

Every hour they lost meant the convoy would move farther ahead. Once it crossed into the Nation of Borutha, getting inside without a royal decree would be impossible. Every detour brought them one step closer to losing Alicia's mother and brother forever.

The logical choice was to keep moving. The former Zero wouldn't have hesitated. Three strangers trapped inside a cave had nothing to do with his mission.

Nino looked at Cael once more. The boy could barely stay on his feet. Fear, exhaustion, and his wounds had pushed him to his limit. Yet he had crossed a forest crawling with venomous creatures.

Not for a kingdom or because someone had ordered him to, but for his brother.

"How far is the waterfall?" Nino asked.

Cael blinked.

"What?" Understanding finally dawned on him. "Less than an hour. Maybe even less if we hurry."

Nino crouched in front of him.

"Get on."

"I can walk."

"Not fast enough."

Cael hesitated before climbing onto his back. Nino lifted him effortlessly. Alicia stepped back.

"I'll walk too."

Nino simply looked at her. She planted her hands on her hips.

"I'm an adventurer."

She took two steps and immediately tripped over a root. Nino caught the back of her coat before she hit the ground, leaving her dangling for a moment.

"The ground attacked me."

He gently set her back on her feet.

"Of course it did." He shifted Cael onto one shoulder before lifting Alicia with his free arm. "Hold on."

"You're carrying both of us?" Cael asked.

"Yes."

Nino bent his knees. Just as he was about to leap—

A roar split the forest apart. The thunder of beating wings twisted the treetops overhead. Two burning eyes glared down at them. Its jaws slowly opened. Molten magma dripped between rows of jagged fangs.

Cael's face turned deathly pale.

"A... Vulkar..."

The creature dove. Branches shattered before its body even reached them. Black scales reflected the faint light filtering through the canopy. Between them, an orange glow pulsed like molten rock beneath cracked stone.

Nino immediately set Alicia and Cael down.

"Behind that tree."

The Vulkar slammed into the ground. The earth shook violently beneath their feet. Its claws carved deep trenches through the forest floor as its massive body skidded to a halt.

Trees groaned and the air itself grew hotter. The Vulkar lunged. The impact obliterated the spot where Nino had been standing only a heartbeat earlier. Stone and dirt exploded in every direction.

Nino appeared beside its neck. His sword fell.

CLANG!

The metallic impact echoed through the forest.

Not even the Noctrium blade could fully pierce those scales.

"So they're as tough as I thought."

The Vulkar spun violently. Its tail smashed into an ancient tree. The trunk exploded into splinters.

Nino leaped over the strike. His feet landed on the creature's tail. He sprinted across the black scales as though running atop a living fortress.

The Vulkar threw back its head and spewed a torrent of molten magma. Nino vanished before it could engulf him. The searing blast splashed across the forest, reducing dozens of trees to blazing pillars in an instant.

Cael threw his arms over his head.

"He... he's dead..."

The words never finished. A shadow fell over the Vulkar.

Nino.

His sword slipped into the narrow gap between two scales at the base of its neck. The beast roared. Molten blood burst from the wound. Golden droplets struck the forest floor, setting leaves ablaze.

The Vulkar spread its wings, trying to take flight. Nino seized one of its horns. Using the creature's own momentum against it, he wrenched its massive body aside. With a deafening crash, it slammed into a towering rock wall.

The cliff shuddered. Before the beast could recover—

Nino was already standing before it.

One swing. The blade pierced its left eye. The enormous body went still and the fiery glow beneath its scales slowly faded, like dying embers.

Cael stared in disbelief.

"He... won..."

Alicia finally let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

Nino never took his eyes off the corpse. He walked toward its head and knelt beside it. Ran a hand across one of its scales. Cael smiled.

"Then my brother... he still—"

"No."

The smile vanished from the boy's face. Nino kept examining the scales.

"Look at their size."

Cael frowned.