A group of rocks fell into the corner on their way. Nile is barely hanging, and Marie is almost tired. They're still running away from the Drake.
"God that monster is so persistent!" Nile complained.
"Big brother, I'm scared..." Marie said while panting really hard.
"Don't worry! Big brother will get us out of here..." Nile exhaustedly said. They took the right path to avoid the debris falling. The sound of the Drake can be still heard but they don't see it anymore.
"Good, we've lost the monster... Let's see here..." They halted for a while to check their surroundings. Both Nile and Marie were panting excessively, it's a long run but they managed to avoid it at some point.
"Big brother, can't you do something with your elemental magic?" Marie asked Nile but he suddenly got scared because of it.
"Oh! Um... Uh... W-Well, I'm out of Mana right now because I used it earlier before I found you. It might take a while for me to use my powers because it's hard to regenerate energy here." Nile said while scratching his hair.
"Hah..." Marie was clueless. She doesn't know what Nile said so she just pretended to hear it.
"Anyway, we need to get out of here, we're going to take another route so we can rest for a bit. I'm sure that the monster earlier won't be able to find us–" The ceiling was destroyed as the Drake landed on their room.
"You gotta be kidding me right now! Marie, Run!" The Drake gave a loud roar yet again but this time, it looks like it's charging something from its mouth. While running, Nile took a peak on his back to see what the monster is doing.
"That flare... Could it be? Damn it!" He clicked his tongue.
"Big brother, what is it?" Marie asked, she look so tired and it is only a matter of time before she run out of energy.
"Nothing. Listen, Marie. We're going to jump right from here until we reach that area over there." Nile quickly grabbed Marie on her back and legs to carry her.
"What? What are you doing?" Marie were curious and scared at the same time.
"Don't worry, just hang on tight!" Nile kept on running, he can feel that the Drake was about to shoot its flame.
'Judging from the distant of that flat area, it would be impossible for us to jump without any kind of support. Should I try to bait that thing to shoot that wall so we can cross and jump? Or should we take the next route? No no no, that route is too narrow, we'll get tired if we take that. If that's the case then we have no choice then.' Nile have thought of some kind of a strategy to escape the Drake while crossing the other side of the cave.
"Alright Marie here we go!" Nile exclaimed, Marie gripped his shirt tightly enough to hang on.
After a few seconds, the Drake finally shoot its flame rushing towards Nile. He leaped through the left side for the Drake to follow his path, but it is part of his plan.
"Yes! He took it!" Nile then began to crouched to avoid the beam and it managed to hit the corner near the wall that caused the rocks to form a structure of a bridge.
"That's our chance! Let's go!" He shifted his running path from left to right and jumped right through the falling debris to trap the Drake. He then began to climb the staircase like rock to cross the other side.
"We did it!" He exclaimed. As soon as they reached the other side, Nile placed down Marie safely on the ground while he suddenly fell off because of his fatigue.
"Big brother! Are you okay?" Marie instantly blurted out and approached Nile.
"I'm okay, haha, we managed to escape from him somehow." He slowly rose up while dragging himself using his arms. His body is too heavy to even stand up.
"Let's take a rest here, I'm sure that Uncle Martin will find us eventually and your Papa." He said.
"Okay!" Marie responded as she nod. The tremble of the cave dissipated and the loud roars disappeared as well. It looks like Nile's plan of trapping the monster worked perfectly. The area of the cave they're currently in is different from the first area where they came from. There's a lot of white colored rocks in the ground and even the wall is white as well.
A complete different look, it almost looks like it is a hidden room or perhaps an unexplored area of the cave.
Nile grabbed something from his bag, it is a bottle of water. He removed the cork and began drinking it. After that, he gave it Marie.
"Here you go..." Nile said while wearing a smile.
"Um... What is that?" She asked.
"It's a fresh water, it has some kind of a special spell that regains energy, drink it and it will replenish your stamina." He answered. Marie took the bottle and she chugged it down until it is empty. By the looks of it, it seems like she is very weary.
"By the way Big Brother, Can I ask for your name?" Marie suddenly blurted out.
"My name is Nile, I live just near this cave." He answered.
"What is that ring on your left finger?" Marie noticed something shining on Nile's ring. It emits a small blue colored luminosity that glows really well.
"Oh uh... I'm not sure, but Uncle Martin said, this ring was owned by my mother. She gave it to me when I was still a baby, though, I haven't seen her yet." Nile explained.
"Really? Then we are the same, brother Nile!" Marie's expression suggested that she found someone who's the same as her.
"What do you mean?" Nile asked contentedly.
"Well, Um... I haven't seen my mother as well. My Papa always say she's travelling outside the capital and she's busy with work. My dream is I want to meet her as well and then finally, my Papa will become happy again and we're going to be complete!" She excitedly told Nile what makes her similar to him.
"Wow! That's really great but at the same time, we feel like something's off, right?" Nile's expression began to drift apart from happiness. It almost looks like he's about to tear up.
"Yeah... I feel that everyday... I want to meet my Mom as soon as possible. I want to live with her, I'm always asking my Papa when will she come home but he never answers me straightly to the point. It almost feels like he is lying to me every time I ask about her." She said in a soft tone voice.
"How about you, Brother Nile?" She asked Nile.
"Well um... my Uncle doesn't really talk about her much so I'm not sure what to say. But he said something about my mother being one of the most strongest magician in the world. She was nicknamed as Queen of something, I don't really remember. But yeah, I'm feeling so lost as well knowing that I want to meet my parents but I can't because of something. I wanna know who they are..." He stated as he gazed down.
"Well, someday though, I'm sure we'll meet our mother soon. So don't lose hope!" Nile tried to cheer up the mood.
It's been an hour and a half since they were trapped inside the cave. There are no sign of Monsters, trembles, and loud roar which calmed them down knowing that they are not in trouble.
Meanwhile, on the 4th level of the cave, Uncle Martin and Arthur were still venturing the area.
"Any sign of them?"
"Nope..." A mixed up emotion.
"Martin, should we split up and find them on both sides? There's a lot of entrances here and exits, It would waste time if we're going on path only." Arthur suggested.
"You're right. Alright, let's split up, I'll take half of the men and you go take the other side with the other half. Just use your magic communication spell if you found them." Uncle Martin agreed on Arthur's decision.
"Okay, got it. Let's go!"
"Yes sir!" Arthur and the other half took the right path to venture the next area.
"Well, we're going to the left side. Listen here, I want all of you to stay alert and activate a lot of magical barrier. This is just a caution, but I have bad feeling about something. So stick together." Uncle Martin ordered the other half.
"Yes sir!" The soldiers began casting some magic barrier spells around them as Martin told them. Soon after that, they began entering the left side of the cavern. There are no sign of loud roars and tremble, but they can feel that something is wrong within the radius.
"Do you feel that?" Martin asked one of the guards.
"Yeah, it looks like someone is coming here..."
"Shh!" Martin halted their movement.
A footsteps can be heard from a distant. Uncle Martin shifted his gaze on where the sound was and began casting a spell.
"Water Skill Magic: Aqua's light!" A magic light appeared in his hand and he threw it on the path to guide them.
The footsteps were becoming louder as they continue to walk. It turns out, that someone was really here inside the cave as well.
"I was wondering what the hell is happening with this cave, I was expecting something large but it looks like it's just a bunch of rats exploring." A deep monotone voice surprised them. They saw shirtless man with a lot of tattoos on his body. His hair were dyed in an unsaturated color of yellow, he wears a dark pants and he seems to be not wearing any shoes.
As soon as he saw Martin and the other soldier he smirked...
"You... You're... Kahlil!" Martin exclaimed.
"Yo..." Kahlil glared at them with a devilish smile.