It pulled me out of Cienar's arms, and started to pull me down into the darkness quickly. It was so fast that I was almost at the bottom a second after it took me. I tried to scream but it was muffled, and it was too dark to see where Cienar was. I was still going down and I couldn't see anything. Then another seaweed grabbed my other ankle, and my waist. I struggled and tried to rip the vines off of me, but as soon as I ripped one off, it would grab me again. But that was the least of my problems.
I could feel the berries wearing off. I was breathing more intensely trying to satisfy my need for air, but it wasn't helping so I exhaled and held my breath. 'Of all the times to wear off!! I should've saved some berries instead of eating them all!' The water pressure started to suffocate me and I struggled more. All I could see was black. 'I'm going to die.'
Just as I thought that, an arm wrapped around my waist and the seaweed was suddenly cut. It let go of me and Cienar swam even faster than before to the surface. We burst out of the water and I gasped. My lungs were on fire and I was coughing like crazy. Cienar swam up to the beach of the island, and layed me down on the sand so I could catch my breath. The island's beach was way better than the mainland. It was just covered with soft sand and didn't hurt at all.
I caught my breath and sat up. Cienar was back in his normal form and was sitting next to me worried. "Are you alright?" I smiled. "Of course, thanks to you. Thank you." He returned my smile and hugged me suddenly. "I'm sorry. I didn't know that something so dangerous was next to the island." I hugged him back hesitantly. "It's okay." He pulled out of my hug his face serious now. "No it's not. You could've died because of me. I was so worried about you."
He hugged me again but this time he held me closer to him, and nuzzled his face in the curve of my neck. He was so close it reminded me of when he kissed me. I pushed him off angry. "Hey! Don't act so lovey dovey! I still need to kill you for kissing me!" He looked at me surprised then remembered. "Oh right."
He then pulled himself to his feet with his staff and smirked. "I got to kiss you twice." I glared at him as I got up. "Shut up you perv! One was without my consent!!" He continued to smile. "Yeah, that doesn't matter to men." I crossed my arms and started to walk away from him.
He ran up beside me and patted my head. He was about to say something when Arine called us from up the beach. He ran to us and immediately slapped Cienar's hand off of my head. "Don't touch her! Your time is up!" Cienar glared at him and Arine turned to me. "Did he do anything to you?" I shrugged. "Depends on what you mean by 'anything'."
Then Ikko walked up from behind Arine and looked to the rainforest on the island. "Is the book of souls on this island?" Cienar shook his head. "No. It's under it." We all looked at him confused and waited for him to continue. Cienar then started to walk away towards the forest and we followed. "There is a cavern under the island, and the entrance is this way."
Arine lit up. "Great! I'm starving! What I don't get is why something like that would be under an island. That's just bad publicity." Cienar sighed. "Cavern. Not tavern, you idiot!" Arine paused. "Oh." I for one was relieved. 'I'm glad that we're finally going to get the book of souls. It feels like we've been on this journey for so long!' I thought. "I'm happy that we made it." Cienar stopped walking and turned to us. "Not so fast. We're not there yet. The cavern is like a labyrinth, and it is too easy to get lost in there. Many have gone down there, but none have ever come out." And my relief was gone as soon as it came. "Oh..."
Cienar continued to speak despite the disappointment in my voice. "I also know that something's down there. Something that protects the book, and will kill anyone who will try to take it." Arine crossed his arms. "Of course there is. Can the universe for once, let up on all the dangerous stuff?!"
Awhile after walking, we reached some ancient ruins in the center of the island. Cienar pointed to a cave with statues on either side of it and the entrance was made with mossy stones that looked really old. "There." We looked into the cave and it was pitch black at the bottom of the stairs. Ikko made some torches from some sticks and we went inside.
The cavern was dark and damp. Spiderwebs covered the ceilings and it seemed creepy and unnerving. There was a cold draft flowing through the many entryways and sent chills up my spine. Arine crossed his arms. "How do you know where we're going? Like you said, it's too easy to get lost in here." Cienar didn't look back. "I can feel the water around us and it tells me where to go." Ikko raised an eyebrow. "That's a little creepy..." Arine scoffed. "You're one to talk!"
They continued to bicker but I wasn't listening over how scary everything in this place was. Then Arine came out and said, "Hey Cienar, so, what is the book of souls?" Cienar immediately stopped, and turned quickly to him making us stumble. "You don't know?!" Arine shrugged afraid of what he would say next.
Cienar's eyes narrowed. "Are you telling me that you traveled all over the world, almost died multiple times, looking for this one book that you don't even know what it is???!!!" Arine nodded hesitantly. "Well... I have an idea of what it is... Isn't it... A spell book?" Cienar gave him a look that said, 'What, are you stupid?!' Then actually said it. "What, are you stupid?!" He sighed. "It's not only a spell book, it is the most powerful spell book known to man. It is filled with the most unimaginable spells ever to be created, and hasn't left this cave for a thousand years!"
Then suddenly, the caves echoed with a loud roar, making dust and rocks fall from the ceiling. I jumped startled. "What was that?" Cienar turned around. "The monster. We better keep moving and hope that we don't run into it." Later it felt like we've been walking for too long and my legs were on edge to collapse at any moment.
I wanted to ask how much longer but I was afraid of the answer. 'What if it's another hour or two? My legs can't take much more of this.' Then we stopped in a large chamber, and in front of us were two pathways. Both led into a huge cave and there was a draft flowing out of each one. Cienar looked at both using them and turned to the left one. "That one leads to the chamber where the book is in." Arine smiled. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" He was about to walk passed him, but Cienar blocked him with his arm. "Wait. That is where the book is, but, there is a strange presence in there."