Jereziah tried to move his limbs, but they felt so heavy. The Silencer was saying something, but the sound traveled slowly through his ears. He tried to make a motion, anything, to alert them about his condition.
“…coming…trapped…tired…”
That he was…tired?
He tried to think, but nothing surfaced in his mind. And as his knees buckled underneath him, they turned to look at him. Already, their faces were too muddled for him to make sense of what was happening.
“…wrong…know…well?”
He collapsed sideways, as darkness crept up into his vision. Vaguely, he heard the clang as his helmet fell from his head. Next to him, someone else also collapsed. That green garb…it must have been Lizarb. Something fell between them, obscuring his vision.
And as the darkness claimed him, he thought no more.
***************
“What’s coming?” she asked Pebbles, “I don’t think we can fight another enemy; we’re trapped underground and everyone is tired.”
“Lavacore,” the Earth Elemental repeated.
“What exactly is that?” asked the Silencer.
But Jereziah suddenly collapsed to his knees. Lina looked at him worriedly as the Scout next to him kneeled down to check the leader’s vitals.
“What’s wrong?,” she asked worriedly.
“I don’t know,” the response from Lizarb was slurred, “But I don’t feel that well either…”
Jereziah slid to the side, and the Silencer stepped forwards to try and catch him, but he missed. A clanging sound was heard as the helmet slid off.
“Something is wrong with us,” the Legionnaire observed calmly, “I am feeling the effects of it as well. Is it poison?”
“I…think I know…” the Scout seemed drugged now in his speech, and he reached into his pouches, pulling something out. He struggled to bring it up to his head, but then Lina watched in shock as he also fell.
“It’s not…. poison!” coughed the Silencer, “Pyromancer…your spell…Scout’s tool…” but he too, fell.
But she did not understand. She was not feeling anything wrong. What was wrong with them?
The Legionnaire sat down, heaving. She glided over, worried that he, too, was going to fall.
He raised a hand at her, but that gesture seemed to take a huge toll on him. He gasped for breath.
“I am…still conscious.”
Pebbles came over, overlooking them all. If its features were anything to indicate, it was anxious.
“We must go.”
She gestured at the collapsed Jereziah, Silencer, and Scout, and then pointed at the Legionnaire. Her meaning was clear.
In response, the Earth Elemental pointed at the rock face that was their dead end. It was glowing a bright cherry red now. And for the first time in her life, she felt a tad bit too much heat.
“We stay, enemy come.” And Pebbles picked up Jereziah and the Silencer, slinging them over itself. It then motioned to her at the Scout’s prone body, then began moving back down the tunnel.
She stared back. There was no way she could carry the Scout.
The Legionnaire slowly stood up, bent down, and placed on Jereziah’s helmet, as he cradled the Scout up in his arms, holding onto his axe.
“I’ll take care of…my brother,” he told her. And then he followed Pebbles back down the tunnel, stumbling in his movements.
She was mildly surprised at the revelation. But she nodded back, and reached down to pick up the piece of cloth that the Scout had dropped.
She inspected it. It was a mask. What had the Scout and the Silencer had tried to tell them? What was she missing?
#####################
How long had they been underground now? Hours? Days? In the darkness, there was nothing that gave away the time they spent underground. But she was tired. She had stayed alert for a long time.
They moved in silence, Lina trying her best to illuminate the tunnel for them. They were searching for an alternative path. The insects from earlier and Tremble were not around to be seen, but she tried her best to be on guard.
It was annoying. Something was not right. The flame she summoned sputtered and fought to live; she was feeding more and more mana to it. What was happening?
Ahead of her, the Legionnaire lead, still carrying the Scout in his arms, his slower pace setting their overall pace. They were not going to leave him behind, where they might move too fast for him.
She still wondered at the recent revelation about the relationship between the Legionnaire and the Scout. They had always seemed somewhat irked about each other’s presence, but now it made sense. But they were so unlike. What was their past? What was their history?
Behind her, Pebbles moved solidly, not missing a beat, despite carrying a fully armored Jereziah and the Silencer.
“Quick,” it said to her, seeing her turn around to look at it, “Trembling in the earth. Something coming.”
Of course, she could not feel it, levitating. But she felt it as the dirt and gravel fell from the ceiling of the tunnel, and knew all was not well.
And as she rushed forwards to tell the Legionnaire to pick up his pace, the ground erupted in front of them. The Legionnaire was thrown backwards, as the ground beneath his feet became unstable, the Scout flying out of his arms unconsciously and landing on the ground.
With a shriek, the daemon crawled out of the hole it had dug. Its long sectioned body glowed dimly in the tunnel as it surveyed their horrified faces.
The Legionnaire struggled to heft his axe, but it was obvious that it took all he could to stand.
This was the worst possible scenario. They were trapped underground, with no way to go. Their leader, Jereziah was unconscious for unknown reasons, as were the Scout and the Silencer. The…gigantic centipede was looking at them as food. And the Legionnaire seemed out of it.
She sighed. Men. So undependable.
Pebbles came up next to her, still carrying the Silencer and Jereziah. It made a move to put them down, but she motioned for it to stop.
“Don’t bother,” she said, as she rolled up her sleeves, eyeing the daemon in front of them, “This won’t be a problem.”
And she summoned up her most gigantic onslaught of fire and flame, only to have it fizzle on her as soon as she had cast it.
She was shocked, trying to summon another fireball, but as soon as the sparks appeared, they died. What was happening?
“Problem now?” came the voice of the Earth Elemental from the darkness, somewhere from her left.
She would have called it a rock head, but felt that may have seemed like a compliment.
And so instead, she responded with, “What do you think?”