It was already the fifth day of the test and the second day since Ling and Maga went missing. Or fell down the gorge as what was assumed by Rin and the others.
They still did not send a signal to the village about the incident. According to Rin, there was nobody in the village who could help look for the two anyway with how deep the hole was and how the lava would be a hindrance. Nobody could also fly them back up after finding them. It was better to wait for Maga to fly out itself together with Ling.
However, two days of waiting for good news was terrible for the four children. Still, they decided to stay in the cave to wait for their friends, not losing any hope. At least until the next day since they would have to start their trip back to the village for the test's end. It would take almost a day to travel back, especially while carrying their game.
"I'll stay until they came back."
Yabang just got back from hunting with Lino and Tang'ga. As usual, the two were slow since they were arguing again so Yabang reached the cave first. He knew Rin was inside since the other actually hadn't left to wait for his two friends.
Before Yabang could say anything, Rin spoke again while staring at Yabang's eyes, "You guys should go back to explain what happened. Aunt Mahina and Uncle Bobo would be worried if Ling didn't return without any explanation from us."
Rin's eyes was unclouded with any other feeling except for determination. It looked like Yabang would not be able to change his mind.
"I understand. Are you sure you'll be okay alone? At least I could have Lino or even me accompany you. We don't need the three of us to explain the situation back to the people in the village."
Rin was already shaking his head before Yabang finished speaking. "I can take care of myself."
"Okay." After hearing his desired answer, Rin started to prepare their lunch.
Seeing that the other child was now done speaking to him, Yabang voiced his current thoughts, "You do know that he won't let you accompany him once Maga was exiled from the village, right?"
Rin turned to Yabang when he heard the question. He smiled but it could be seen in his beautiful face that it was not of happiness. "Of course. It's why I spend my time with them now." What wasn't said was how long he had left with the two especially with them missing now.
"Should we join them?" The question was not answered since the two heard voices arguing from the entrance of the cave.
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Going back to two days ago when Ling and Maga fell because of the earthquake. The wind was rushing in Ling's ears. He didn't know if the screaming he was hearing was from him or the whistling wind as they fell.
Same as the others, Ling and Maga were slightly surprised by the earthquake. They knew that the rock slab they were standing at was not on stable ground so they remained unmoving to not add any more shock on the rock.
Unfortunately, the earthquake was strong enough without their help to break the rock. Before they could get to a safer foothold, the rock already fell together with them.
What was worse was that a rock that broke of from the bigger one managed to hit a part of Maga's wing, making it unable to fly out after the shock. Ling was worried about his friend but he could not ask it with how they were still falling and the dark hole was making him unable to check his friend's status with his eyes.
Fortunately, he could sense the dragon's mist. It seemed like it was still hurting from the hit but the dragon was still conscious.
Ling didn't know how long it took for them to reach the bottom. He noticed there was light coming from below his feet, then there was a spash when they fell on a lava pool.
The first thing Ling did after he swam up for air was to look for Maga. He heaved a sigh of relief when he caught its eyes, looking for him too.
"How was your wound, Maga?" It tried to spread its left with for Ling to see but it winced from the pain. Despite Maga's healing abilities, the wound was still not completely healed because a bone was broken with the rock's hit.
Ling looked above them to check if he could see where they fell from though he knew he would only see darkness with how long they were falling. "Let's not have you fly for now. Our fall was too high for you to be able to fly both of us up anyway." He looked back down to ask his friend for another solution to their predicament, "Do you know of another way we can get out of here?"
Maga was licking its wound when it heard Ling's question. It raised its head to sense the flow of the 'mist' around them. When it noticed that the 'mist' from above was flowing to a hole in the wall a little higher than Ling, Maga pointed at the place with its nose.
"...But I have to step on a foothold to get there." Ling hesitated when he saw how high it was. However, the only other way for them was to follow the flow of the lava going slowly down a slope from where they were standing at.
Ling averted his gaze at the slope when he felt the liquid move near him. He then saw Maga swimming then walking to the place below the hole. It turned its head to Ling and the look it gave was telling Ling to climb on its back to go up.
Still hesitant, Ling swam forward to his friend. He knew it was the only way they could see to find an exit. Fortunately, the hole was big enough even for the dragon. Once they safely entered the hole, they walked along the pathway while following the 'mist'
Ling was glad that the area has light. The sparkle from the green life 'mist' and orange from the lava were illuminating their way. It was not very bright but still enough for them to see the way.
Despite that, Ling still stuck close to the dragon. Not that he was scared, he assured himself, but he was more comfortable if he was touching another warm body in this cave.
The path was long with lots of curves. There were also other entry ways however, they were dark with no 'mist' flowing towards it so they never checked these paths. It was also a note that there were no other creatures that they encountered on the way unlike the two's first excursion.
Sometimes, the two had to sit down and rest or sleep so they could keep going after they woke up. With this, they were not aware how much time passed.
Fortunately, they did not starve despite being too long without food since the 'mist' was enough to restore their vitality. However, Ling was still feeling hungry and missing to eat some meat.
'When we get out from here, I'm going to stuff myself,' he thought to encourage himself.
After a long time of walking, Ling saw a much brighter light at the end of the pathway. As he quickened his pace, he suddenly had a deja vu of the same situation. He smiled at Maga then they ran forward until they reached the end of the pathway.
Ling's eyes sparkled with what was in front of him. What was reflected in his eyes was a room with the walls and ground full of dazzling gems.