Chapter 27

Keira and her group left town early the next day and started their trek up the forest-clad mountain. She glanced at Malik next to her on one side and back at Rui beside the carriage, with Aki coming up behind.

Since when does he stick to the back? Is something wrong?

"We're almost up to the cavern passage through the mountain, are you girls going to be okay?" Malik glanced at Keira, and then at the carriage, but his eyes caught Aki's. "I should correct myself: are all of you going to be okay going through here?"

Aki pulled the hood of his cloak down to cover his eyes as he stared at the dirt path.

"We've been fine so far," Aria said. "So keep your eyes forward and quit worrying."

"Hmm, I guess you're right... but caves are a bit different from anything you've gone through so far, from what I hear."

Fiona rolled down her window. "I can sense multiple demons ahead, though they all seem small."

"Noted. Thank you," Keira said, her eyes peeled.

Keira raised her hand as they entered the cavern, trying to swipe away the cobwebs before the others got to them. "Rui," Keira called out once the darkness took over. "You know what to do."

"Yes, ma'am." Rui raised his hand, and a fireball formed. It floated into the air and landed beside Keira, helping to light their path through the cavern.

The rocky path was narrow, though wide enough for the carriage with Rui beside it, and stalactites hung over them, covering the cavern ceiling.

"Thank you."

Rui created another one that stayed beside him, and one that went back with Aki.

"I never knew someone could do that." Aki reached up to it.

"Don't poke it, please. It won't burn you, but you might end up putting it out, and we kinda need the light in there."

Aki put his hand down, still staring at the light. "An interesting use of your powers."

"It does constantly drain my energy, but it's a really slow drain, so we'll be fine."

"If you ended up needing energy, you can always ask. I'm here to support everyone."

"Thanks."

I wonder what those little demons she said are. I can sense something too, but it feels like they're everywhere.

Their narrow path opened up with a cliff off the side where they could hear running water below.

"Be careful here," Keira said. "Don't go near the edge."

Rumble.

The walls shook, and a worm creature with hundreds of teeth popped out in front of them.

Keira jumped off Sora, sword drawn, and her eyes glowed as she sliced through the worm. Ice spread along both sides of the worm. She swung her sword again, shattering the worm into tiny pieces.

"Guess you didn't need us." Rui laughed.

"Not for that one, but there's more coming." Keira glanced back at Fiona, looking out the carriage window, and she nodded.

"There are more around us than I originally thought," Fiona said and looked out the other window, leading deep down to the underground lake below. "Some of them are below us!"

Multiple worm demons popped out the side and crawled up towards them.

"Maybe we should've gone around the mountain..." Rui grumbled and sent out blasts of fire, worried about falling if he used his sword.

Dammit. There are more than I thought. Even weak demons can be a problem when there are so many of them. And they're huge... guess she can only tell how strong they are. Keira summoned icicles in her hand and sent them flying at the worms, stabbing them in the side, but they kept moving.

Rui hopped off his horse and stood beside the carriage, sending off blasts of fire. "You'd think these buggers would burn up!"

I can't freeze them all like the first one; it would take too much magic.

"Aria, can you blast them all with water?" Keira asked.

"On my own? That's too many, but with what's below..." Aria growled as she raised her hands.

Water from the lake below rose up like a reverse waterfall, dousing all the worms on the cliffside.

"Ha!" Keira blasted them all with ice, freezing them. Before she could say anything more, lightning blasted through them, linking from one to the next.

"Well, that worked out nicely." Malik stood tall, rubbing his hands together. "Any more coming at us?"

"Uh..." Fiona closed her eyes. "One from above!"

It broke through the ceiling, crashing down in the middle of their group.

Aria pitched forward as her horses spooked and took off. She landed hard on her seat and struggled to sit up.

Keira, Malik, and Rui all attacked the worm as Aki chased after the carriage.

The worm exploded above them, sending blood and bits flying. As quickly as she could manage, Keira put an ice barrier over them and pushed it back over the edge.

Blood spilt over the edge, dripping onto her arm.

"Arg!" The blood ate through her sleeve and stung her arm, leaving a red mark in its place.

"Oh crap, what was that? Ah!" The ledge under Rui crumbled.

Malik rushed to grab Rui's flailing arm and got pulled forward.

Keira grabbed Malik's hand and stabbed an icicle into the ground as she held on with all her might, stopping all of them from falling into the water below. Damn, they're heavy. Her arms shook. How are we supposed to get out of this? I can't use magic like this unless I'm trying to freeze Malik.

"Arg. Sorry, guys, there's nothing to grab onto other than Malik." Rui took a deep breath and avoided looking down.

"If you weren't so heavy, I could've pulled you up on my own," Malik complained, gripping onto both of them for dear life.

"It's the armour!" Rui tried grabbing at the cliff to no avail.

"I don't think that's the only reason," Malik huffed.

"My bulging muscles, probably. We'd be better off if anybody other than me fell off. Stupid cliff."

Wait... I can try. Keira closed her eyes, focusing as her ice crawled along the ground.

"What are you..." Malik trailed off, not wanting to break her concentration. The ice stuck out, giving Malik something to step on, lessening the load a bit.

The ice crawled down the cliff beside Rui.

"Whoa! What's going on?" Rui stared at the ice. "Oh! Right there, Keira."

The ice grew out a bit, and Rui stepped on it with one foot.

As accurately as she could manage, she made protrusions for Rui to climb, allowing them to both reach the ground safely.

"Ha..." Keira took a deep breath, leaning on her hands for only a moment before hopping onto Sora to chase after the others.

"Wait, Keira!" Rui called out to her.

"She's after the others," Malik said, hopping back onto his horse.

"I know, but I swear her hair was changing colour..."

---

Aki chased after the spooked horses pulling Aria's carriage.

Aria struggled to sit up, being jostled around, and tried to grab the reins. "You better not go off the side," she said, reaching out again.

Green fire burned along the side, stretching well past them.

"Aria, Fiona!" Aki called out to them, catching up. Once he was beside them, he held his hand up with green fire and blew it across to the horses. "Please work."

"What are you doing?!" Fiona clung to the side of the carriage as she watched. "Come over and grab the reins or something!"

The horses neighed, shaking their heads and slowed down enough for Aria to sit up and take control back.

"What did you do?" Aria asked. "They weren't poisoned or injured."

"I used magic to calm their fear. I wasn't sure it would work, though."

"And the fire on the edge? What was that for?" Fiona asked.

"I was hoping it would keep the horses away from the ledge. It won't hurt them, but visually, they won't want to touch it."

"Oh, I guess that was a good idea. They stayed on the path."

"I can't believe they got spooked like that," Aria grumbled.

"Can't blame them; those worms were terrifying." Fiona shuddered, hugging herself.

"And there were so many of them. Ugh."

They heard galloping and turned to see Keira catching up to them.

Sora came to a halt. "Are you guys okay?" Keira looked at each of them, looking for injuries.

"We're okay," Aki said. "A bit rattled at most... But you don't seem okay." Aki moved in between the carriage and Keira, blocking their view as he reached out. "Your hair," he whispered, and she took his hand.

I didn't even notice. "Thank you." It didn't take much for her hair to return to normal.

Aki frowned, holding back his complaint, but his eyes widened when he noticed her arm. "You were so worried about us, but it appears you're injured." He held his hand over the red mark on her arm from the worm, and his warm, green fire surrounded it.

"My wound was minor, but who knows what could've happened to you guys." Especially since Rui and Malik were with me.

"We can handle ourselves." Aria rolled her eyes.

"Is that so?" From what I could see as I was coming up, it's likely Aki saved them.

"Well, together, sure... but I would've been doomed on my own," Fiona said, stretching her neck as she tried to look around Aki at Keira.

Malik and Rui caught up with them. "Everyone okay?" Rui asked.

"Yes!" Fiona answered. "And from what I can tell, the other demons in the area scurried away after those worms were taken care of. It should be smooth sailing from here... I hope."

I hope so too.

Rui eyed Keira, lingering on her hair for a moment. "Guess I was seeing things," he mumbled to himself.

"What is it?" Malik asked, checking on Keira himself. "You seemed quite spooked earlier."

"It's nothing." Rui shook his head. "Must've been a trick on the eye or something."

"Check on your horses, check on the carriage, and let's get going before we're stuck sleeping in this cave," Keira said, petting Sora's mane. "You did great, girl," she whispered.

"Carriage seems okay from the inside." Fiona inspected for cracks. "Wait, did you say sleep in here? I thought through the mountain was the shortcut?!"

"It is."

---

After a short break to rest, eat, and recover, Keira and the others continued through the mountain cavern with Rui's orbs lighting the way for several hours. Aside from a few bats swooping down and one stalactite falling too close for comfort, it was smooth sailing through the rest of the damp, dark pathway.

Keira kept her eyes peeled as much as she could, listening to the horses' clops and water dripping somewhere in the distance. I can feel something else here, but Fiona hasn't sensed anything. What is it? Maybe I shouldn't worry as long as it stays away... But I can't help but think it's watching us.

"Something wrong?" Malik asked. "The furrow between your brows is quite worrying."

"I'm not sure. It feels like something is watching us, but if a demon was nearby, Fiona should've sensed it. I hope I'm just being paranoid."

"Unless it's a demon that can mask its presence."

"Have you come across any like that?"

"Yes, though my ability for it fails in comparison to you two, so maybe I just couldn't sense them."

I suppose anyone with strong magic might be able to sense demons to some extent. "I'm just glad we're almost out of here."

"Dislike caves?"

"It's too eerie, and I keep expecting something to jump out at us."

"Isn't it the same in the forest?"

"Not quite. It's easier to move in the forest than in a cavern with dangerous ledges you can fall off. Figured you'd know that one."

Malik chuckled. "That was Rui's fault, but you have a point. By the way, thank you for the save; I'm sure Rui would've pulled me down into the water with him if not for you."

"Thank you for grabbing him; I was too far to do it."

"He would do the same for me, I'm sure."

"Hey, look!" Fiona yelled. "I can see the light of the outside world! We don't have to sleep in a cave." Fiona sighed, melting back in her seat.

Considering she always stays in there, I'm not sure what the big difference is for her.

They emerged from the mountain cavern. In the distance, they could see a large kingdom surrounded by water, with only a bridge connecting it to land.

"It's like it's on an island or something," Fiona commented. "Think they'll let us in? Oh gosh, what if they turn us away?"

"They'll let us in," Keira assured her. As soon as they see it's me.

"Don't worry, Fi; we've got this." Rui winked at her.

"Let's hope their seals are intact," Aki mumbled, wondering if Matsu was the last hold-out.