Stepping forward, ZaiWin took his time, staring at the large stone columns. The cavern was big, that much was true, but the way he remembered it had been huge, an endless, dark, cold space.
Carrying the lamp, Grisly followed him, and, without exchanging one single word, they both made their way towards what had once been the door to his prison cell. And, as to be expected, there he was.
His heart hammering against his chest, ZaiWin rushed forward and knelt next to the boy, trying to understand if he had been hurt or injured.
Lying on the cold, dark floor, his silver hair shimmered under the flickering light, Snow didn't even twitch when he carefully touched his face. Still, he looked otherwise fine, ZaiWin concluded, tension leaving his body with a sigh of relief. That fucking link was going to be the death of him.
"Hey! Brat! Wake up!" he told him but, instead of merciless shaking him awake as he'd done in the past, he gently caressed his face. His skin felt as cool as always, another sign that he should be all right. Had he simply fallen asleep?
"Hey, brat! Don't make me repeat myself. Open your eyes!" he added in a clear command, and, as to be expected, Snow's heavy eyelashes fluttered open, showing him a pair of eerie, pale eyes. And yet he still looked out of it, his gaze empty, staring unwaveringly at the darkness above them. Worry crept back into ZaiWin's chest.
"Hey, Snow, wake up!" he repeated, lightly patting his cheek, his anxiety rising. Somehow, even though he had opened his eyes, he wasn't there at all. It was as if the body in front of him had gone suddenly empty, even though he was still clearly alive. And the thought that he might just remain like that made him grab him by one arm, pulling him up to a sitting position, and give him a hard shake. "Come back!"
Eyes widening in shock, Snow finally blinked, and then blinked again, allowing ZaiWin to finally relax. Shit!, he thought, cold sweat running down his back.
"What were you doing? Why are you here?" he immediately demanded, anger quickly replacing the cold touch of fear, but Snow's eyes just skimmed aimlessly over him, as if he were trying his best to see and couldn't, his hand stretching blindly to touch him.
Grabbing it, ZaiWin pressed it firmly against his own chest, and the boy's expression immediately relaxed. Turning his hand around he instantly noticed the absence of his bracelet.
"Where's your bracelet?"
Snow opened his other hand and showed it to him. So that's why he couldn't see him. Or, better yet, why he could only see his raging, destructive, dark energy. And yet his young face didn't seem scared at all. Before there had always been a hint of fear in his wandering eyes. But now he simply looked relieved, as if he had been expecting ZaiWin to find him.
"Did it break?"
Snow shook his head.
"Did you take it off?"
This time a nod.
"Why? Here, let me put it back."
Snow immediately pulled his hand away from his reach and hid it behind his back.
What the …?
"Wait …" he simply whispered and tried to get up. ZaiWin helped him to his feet and Snow looked around, as if searching for something. "This way …"
Still holding ZaiWin's hand as if he were afraid he might lose him if he released him, Snow confidently dragged him towards the darkness.
"There's nothing out there!" Grisly declared, also following them. "This is just one huge cavern. The only other chamber here is the small one, back there."
His prison cell, he meant, ZaiWin sarcastically added in his thoughts. And then he looked at the boy walking in front of him. Had he been into that room?
After finding him lying right beside that damned door, ZaiWin couldn't push back the certainty that Snow being in that precise place could not be a mere coincidence. And how in the world had he found his way into that cavern in the first place? If he didn't know Grisly any better he would have thought that the large man was the one behind it, leaving Snow there just to torture him once he finally found him. But, although he would not put something like that past the cruel man, ZaiWin knew he would never do such a thing to a poor kid like Snow. Had he been of noble blood, however, that would have been a completely different story.
Snow stopped walking, waking him from his thoughts, and ZaiWin raised his head to look at the massive, black wall in front of them.
"I told you that there's nothing out here!" Grisly grunted but Snow ignored him, placing his hand against the hard rock.
"Here …" he whispered and turned back to face him, looking ZaiWin straight in the eye with unwavering determination.
"What 'here'? It's just another freaking stone wall!" Grisly contested, raising his lantern to take a better look at it.
Snow squeezed ZaiWin's hand, his cool touch sending a tingly sensation through ZaiWin's fingers and all the way up to his elbow.
"Get back. Unless you want to be bludgeoned to death," was the only warning he gave before he focused on the wall, slamming his foot against the hard floor. An array of dark, shimmering markings immediately appeared around his feet, making Grisly curse out loud and jump back away from its reach. But the boy standing beside him simply stood there, his silver hair blown away by the sudden burst of wind, his determined gaze fixed on the stone wall before them.
A small smile tugged at the corners of ZaiWin's lips. That damn brat was really something else! Fearlessly enduring the oppressing pressure of his energy, when even ZenTar, who had known him since forever, still cringed uncomfortably every time he found himself inside one of his arrays.
Focusing on what he was doing, ZaiWin sent the array to the wall, the markings forming a huge circle in front of them, before he activated it. And the violent wind that filled the cavern, together with a loud blast and cracking sound, sent pieces of rock flying everywhere.
"Fuck! Are you completely out of your mind??" Grisly shouted from his back, dodging a few deadly, flying stones.
ZaiWin slammed his foot against the ground again, forming another similar array, before he sent it to the wall as well.
"Stop this fucking madness right now! You're going to bring the entire mountain down on us!"
Peering at the boy standing by his side just to make sure, ZaiWin found him still staring intently at the wall, a glint of eagerness swimming in his pale eyes. There was something behind that wall, ZaiWin knew just from looking at him. Something Snow wanted really bad. And, apparently, that was all he needed to know, he realized before he activated his array again, having to temporally raise a shield of darkness in front of them to keep them safe from the barrage of rocks flying their way.
It took him four arrays to finally make a significant dent on the wall. Another ten or so to actually dig all the way to the other side. By the time he finally accomplished that, ZaiWin was as spent and tired as he'd been when he'd made that impossible jump all the way to that icy cavern.
Feeling dizzy, he almost fell forward. But then two arms were around him, trying to steady him. And when he looked down at Snow he found him smiling up at him. And then it suddenly reached him, the sound of falling water … of a lot of falling water!
Immediately straightening his back, ZaiWin squinted, trying to see what was beyond that huge hole.
"Hey! Grisly! Hurry up and bring that shitty lantern of yours!" he shouted and tried to make his way to the tunnel he'd dug, Snow carefully accompanying his unsteady steps.
ZaiWin knew for sure before he could even see it. The air coming from the darkness in front of him smelled of freshwater and … wet dirt, like after a rainy day.
"You fucking lunatic! Have you killed yourself yet? Using those fucking markings like that? Your damned dog would have your hide for it, if he were here!" Grisly was complaining while he crossed the cavern from the place where he'd taken refuge behind a wide pillar. And then he too stopped, gapping at the wide hole, the sound of water filling his ears.
"What the …" he muttered and then he was running, roughly pushing ZaiWin out of his way, forcing him to lean against the wall so he wouldn't fall.
Snow glared at him angrily and almost froze his feet to the ground again! But then ZaiWin's warm hand was on his head, those blue eyes staring at him, looking somewhat softer. Was he actually smiling?, Snow wondered. If he was, it just wasn't fair! He had never seen him really smile! All he got were those grimaces and cold sneers.
"Fucking mother of all!!" they heard Grisly shout and slowly went back to try and follow him through the deep tunnel, ZaiWin leaning heavily against the wall, Snow trying to ease some of his weight from his trembling legs.
Once they finally reached the other side they couldn't help gape in disbelief. Well, Snow had more or less known what he would find. But hearing about it and actually seeing it were two entirely different things.
The cavern in front of them was extremely high, a large opening at the top allowing daylight to pour in. That and a heavy column of water, that cascaded all the way from up there to a large depression on the ground, forming a huge lake. And, as if that wasn't enough, around the lake and all the way to where they now stood, several platforms were covered in fresh, green grass. There were even a few flowers, here and there. All in all, the place was just beautiful, Snow thought with an amazed smile on his lips. The air was fresh, and clean, making him want to take a deep breath and fill his chest with it. And the song of the waterfall filled the entire space with a peaceful, relaxing vibration.
"Holy shit!!" Grisly was still shouting, clearly having a hard time believing his own eyes, and then he turned to the both of them, lantern held high above his head.
"How did you know this place even existed?" he asked, a bit too eagerly, his dark eyes glowing greedily, and Snow immediately took one step back, his entire stance changing. He had seen that exact look too many times, in the faces of the people that had tasted his blood and had discovered what it could do. And after what he had seen in that smaller chamber, he not only did not trust the man, he openly disliked him. He had been the one who'd stabbed that small child, leaving him in that dark place to fend for himself. If the idea of seeing him dead didn't disgust him so much, he might even consider riding the world of such a foul man.
ZaiWin's arm around his shoulders squeezed him gently, shattering his bleak thoughts, but when he looked up at him those bright blue eyes were looking somewhere else.
"Cut the crap and first help me out of this wretched place. I need to rest," he simply declared and the larger man made his way back to them, his dark eyes still unpleasantly turning to Snow from time to time.
"You're a fucking asshole! But this time, at least, you actually managed to do something useful!" Grisly declared, even though a huge smile tore his face from ear to ear, and he easily grabbed ZaiWin's arm, lifting it from Snow's shoulders and pulling it over his own. A large hand wrapped around his waist, and the large man practically lifted him off the ground, even though he was at least a head shorter than ZaiWin.
Snow frowned, unhappy about a lot of things. Mainly at how he had been so easily discarded, and about how that horrible man actually dared touch him after all he'd done to him. But he also knew that what ZaiWin had said was true. He needed to rest. And the brutish man could help him much better and faster than he could. For a moment he had considered activating one of his golden arrays, hoping to help ZaiWin replenish his strength. But then had thought it better and had given up on the whole idea. As far as he knew, only Celestials were able to cast such arrays, and he didn't want to risk the older man learning about what he was. The fact that he walked around the village with his head uncovered was about the only risk he was willing to take regarding his own identity.
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See? And that's why Tien'Elhar are a good thing and why Provinces are considered blessed when they have a Tien'Elhar who can understand the land 😁😁😁 Also, did you notice how eager ZaiWin was to do Snow's bidding? Eheheheeh (bad, bad author!!) 😈