William and Sebastian walked with Olivia while Nicolas rode the carriage behind them. Surprisingly, the tunnel was big enough for the carriage to fit in.
"Master, how much further do you think this goes?"
"It goes very far, I'm sure."
Just as before, when the woman set her foot inside the tunnel, a torch inside lit up. Each time they passed by one, it would go off behind them and another one would light up further ahead of the path.
"Hey, Olivia. Do you by any chance have knowledge about beasts that can multiply?"
"I've never seen such a thing. I don't tend to let the beasts live for that long to know what they're capable of."
"Woah, are you that brutal with every beast?"
"Outside the tribe there is no mercy. Inside we sometimes have activities that include common beasts."
Sebastian chimed in on the conversation, "Where I come from, we have many beasts of different shapes and sizes, like the Lost forest. We even wrestle them sometimes. I was once the champion in the wrestling contest each year."
"We do the same in my tribe."
"You guys wrestle those things?!"
Olivia nodded, "It is good to know how to deal with the common beasts so we do not waste time on the field."
The butler shrugged his shoulders, "We just do it for fun."
"Your hometown is full of weirdos, mister butler."
"Keep your voices down. The loud chattering echoes through the whole tunnel. If the enemy didn't know we were here, they sure do now."
"My apologies." The blacksmith said, slightly bowing.
The butler raised an eyebrow and whispered, "Sir William, are you some sort of masochist?"
The man whispered back, "Why the hell do you suppose that exactly?"
"You seem to let yourself get belittled by Miss Olivia. You must be submissive or a masochist... I can't tell, honestly. Either way, it grosses me out."
"How about both?" the young man said as he chuckled.
"You're not helping, kid… Listen, I'll ask you the same question. Have you dealt with a beast that can multiply?"
The butler tilted his head a little in thought, "Hm... Not really, but the beasts are creations made by the witch. They tend to be unpredictable at times. I wouldn't be surprised if one could do such a thing. Do you know anything else about them?"
"When you kill them, their bodies disappear in thin air. They also produce poisonous drool."
"Hmm… I've never seen a creature like that."
"—I have."
Olivia stopped her tracks and looked straight at William, "What you're facing is none other than a Jawer."
"A Jawer?"
"I didn't recognize the characteristic you were mentioning to me, but if it's their poisonous drool, then it most certainly is them. To think they can also multiply… could that be the reason for my people's disappearance?"
"What do you know about them?"
"They tend to roam alone, they mostly live in swamp areas of the forest and their target could be anything as long as they can eat it."
"How do you get rid of them?!"
"As of this moment, I don't have that information. They recently surfaced around the forest. The tribe was investigating them when this tunnel showed up on our radar. We've halted everything since."
William grabbed Olivia's arm, "There's got to be something, anything!"
She immediately brushed him off, "Calm down intruder. You're making a ruckus."
When he realized what he had done, he took a step back, "I'm sorry."
The information he received wasn't enough to calm his uncertainty. His time was limited, and it was making him desperate. He knew that by the end of the day, the Jawer would show up and attack. He didn't want to experience the same fate twice.
"Sir William, you've been acting very strange. Is it perhaps because of what you told me?"
"I—"
"—Something's approaching."
William's eyes widened, "It can't be. Is it them? It's too early! Wait, what are you doing?"
The butler unsheathed his katana, "I'm sorry for my sarcasm, but isn't it obvious? I'm going to fight with Miss Olivia."
"Sebastian, it is within my best interest that none of you fight."
The butler shook his head, "That cannot be, for it is part of our contract, is it not?"
The man felt his cheeks get red from anger, "It doesn't mean you have to jump at the first danger that awaits you!"
"I have to. For it is my duty to accomplish my mission. Even if my life is at stake."
William recalled the butler jumped to fight the Jawer all by himself. He felt guilty about it. He wasn't going to leave him behind again even if he asked. He needed to convince him to retreat with him and think of a plan to deal with them afterward.
"Don't you get it!? If we stay, we're going to die—!"
"—You had best be prepared. It's here!" Olivia announced.
The three on the ground faced opposite of each other. Nicolas gripped tightly the lizard rope and slowly unsheathed the dagger strapped to his leg.
All four of them stood in silence. They couldn't see anything around the dim tunnel. Between the cold sweat, heavy breaths and gritted teeth, the tension was high. Every second felt like an eternity.
Olivia crouched and touched the floor. She sent vibrations to see what she would get back. The response was overwhelming.
"Get down!"
A giant serpent had come out from the ceiling.
The butler was awed by the giant crawling beast, "To think we have an actual serpent in our presence."
"Let's not stand here, attack!"
The woman's black strands of hair turned completely white. She ran directly to her target. The serpent hissed as she raised her fists. It dug out its tail to stop her in her tracks, but she was quicker.
The tattoos on her fists glowed brighter than the dim lights of the tunnel. They landed directly at the creature's face, showing its sharp fangs as it was sent back by the blow. It crawled itself straight to the ground, digging its way out to flee.
The three men were left speechless after witnessing the woman's impeccable strength.
"Are you all spineless? Why didn't any of you do anything?!"
William scratched his head, "Well, it didn't look like you needed any of our help."
"Excuse us, miss Olivia. We'll do better next time."
Olivia took a deep breath. She knew better than to start an argument in the middle of a critical time. She let it pass just this once, "Very well."
Nicolas tapped the blacksmith's shoulder, "Hey, master. What are we going to do about the carriage?" he pointed out.
All heads turned to look at the carriage or what was left of it. The upper part had been destroyed by the serpent and the lizards were nowhere to be seen. They ran off the moment they were unleashed.
William got a sense of déjà vu.
"It got destroyed again... Was it even a good idea to get a carriage in the first place?"
"I don't know what you mean by "again", but I would be displeased if you tossed aside the great trouble I had to go through to get that carriage."
"Right, I apologize."
Something told William, no matter what they planned, the carriage wouldn't make it unscathed.
"Master, does this mean we have to walk across?"
Olivia shook her head, "No, we must retreat."
"Excuse me, miss Olivia, but you can't honestly be serious. We've come this far in the tunnel. We can't just turn back."
"As a matter of fact, I am. Most beasts would've turned to shreds with a single blow of my fist, but this was different. Not only did it hold off against my attack, it barely made a scratch."
Olivia had fought many strong beasts and managed to come out of it victorious. This time it was different. This was the first beast to take a hit from her fists and lived to tell it.
She gripped her hands, "That serpent was strong. Even with my power, I highly doubt I could defeat one."
"Even so, you managed to make the serpent retreat."
She shook her head, "It doesn't mean that it won't come back."
"I may not look like it, but I'm very capable in combat. You won't be alone in the battle again."
"I don't doubt your abilities in battle. What I'm saying is that we don't know much about it. Right now, what we have is two fighters, a halfwit and a kid."
"—I beg your pardon, but I'm of drinking age!"
"—Who is this 'halfwit' you speak of?"
The butler gritted his teeth. He wanted desperately to keep going, but he knew better. His stubbornness wasn't going to be the cause of their demise.
"You understand now that our only option is to retreat, right?"
The butler clicked his tongue, "I suppose that's the way it is..."
William clapped his hands together, "Alright then, let's—!?"
He heard the movement of a pebble. It was enough to make him stop and observe. Before he knew it, the ground trembled, causing him to fall on his back.
"No…"
The serpent made its second appearance, ready for his vengeance.
"—Our bickering took too long. The decision has been made for us."
The butler unsheathed his katana and mumbled under his breath, "This is perfect, that means we won't have to pull back."
The serpent focused on the butler as he raced towards it with his katana. The blade glowed bright, sparks of electricity ran across the blade. With a battle cry, he slashed his weapon against the serpent, cutting through the hard skin.
"Well, I'll be damned. The contractor managed to cut through."
"Master, that was the blade you made for him. Your work is amazing!"
"Stop it boy, you're making me blush."
Sebastian's skills were nothing to laugh at. He had full control of his breathing, his slashes were quick, precise and consistent. It was difficult to keep track of him at that speed. He pushed back the serpent with ease.
"This is no time to stare in awe, run!"
"Wait Olivia, I don't want to leave you guys behind."
"Intruder, you would be a burden if you stayed. You need to leave."
William knew that, and yet he couldn't leave him or her behind. He couldn't bare the thought of what could happen to them if he wasn't with them.
"Master?"
William was not alone in this situation. He needed to protect the young man as well. Looking at it from an outside perspective, it was convenient for everyone if he ran to safety with Nicolas.
The blacksmith took a deep breath, "Can I trust you with him?"
Olivia nodded, "Yes."
He observed Sebastian's fight with guilt. There he was again about to leave his companions to save himself, even after he promised himself he wouldn't. He felt like a hipocrite.
"—By the will of the dragon, we will meet again… It's a send-off to everyone that steps outside the tribe."
William was taken back. She gave a prayer at a time like that to ease his mind. He felt grateful to her. "Very well. May we meet again." William grabbed the young man's hand as they both ran back to reach the tunnel's entrance.
***
The torches didn't light up on the way back. The light remained with the butler and the woman as they fought back the serpent. The fact that William wasn't able to see the hand he was holding made him unease.
"Shit! Why can't we see the entrance yet?"
"Master, can we slow down? This isn't getting us anywhere."
"This isn't the time for breaks. We're in the middle of life and death!"
"Master..."
William had seen how bad the outcome was going to be. He gritted his teeth at the possibilities that could result with this change of succession. Would the outcome be the same or worse?
Nicolas abruptly shook off the blacksmith's hand.
"Nicolas?! We don't have time. Quit fooling around!"
He tried to look at his apprentice, but they were unable to see each other in the darkness.
Nicolas took a deep breath, "Master, since this morning, all I've been hearing is alive this and death that. You've been mumbling weird things about the tunnel as well."
"Nicolas, please. Now is not the time.—"
"—I know something is bothering you, but you tend to keep it to yourself. Even back at the house, you ran off somewhere without me."
"This isn't what you think it is. We need to get moving!"
"All I could do was keep doing what I was told, so I wouldn't become a burden. I forged weapons, polished them with the knowledge you gave me, but even so, I felt like it wasn't enough."
"Nicolas, I just need to get you outside. I need to keep you alive!"
"—Just like that, you're ignoring everything that I'm saying. Still spouting nonsense along with it! I know I'm just your apprentice, but…—" He gritted his teeth, "—you can count on me too!"
"Nicolas… I didn't know you were feeling this way."
Trust. The butler, the apprentice and even Olivia, in her own way, had asked the same thing from him. Although he had agreed, had he really trusted them or was he saying it to please them? He'd watched them all work hard to get themselves through the tunnel and had seen the outcome of everything that was going to happen in the serpent's path. William needed to find a way to help his friends rather than letting them handle it on their own. He thought only he could help everyone get through it safe and sound.
"I—" the blacksmith tried to speak, but he didn't know the words he could use to express to the young man what he was feeling. Should he really rely on his companions more?
"Nicolas, I need—!"
"—Master, get down!"
The apprentice pushed his master away from the collapsing ceiling. They ended up separated by the fallen rocks.
"Master!" Nicolas yelled from the other side.
"I'm here. Hold on!" The blacksmith tried to dig his way through to Nicolas, but it was useless. There were too many stones blocking his path.
"Master, you need to get out! I'm fast... I'll try going the other way."
"But you'll run into Olivia and Sebastian fighting that beast. You might get hurt. Just stay put while I dig a path."
"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Like I said, I'm fast. You know this... trust me. I'll see you soon!"
"No, Nicolas, wait—Dammit!" He kicked the blockage in anger, cutting loose a rock that fell on the blacksmith's head. The rock knocked him on the ground unconscious, "Why is everyone getting out of my grasp?"
***
William could hear voices.
"Hey, come over here!"
"What? Is he waking up?"
The voices didn't sound familiar to him.
"I think so.."
"Eh? He still looks dead to me. We should've left him where we found him."
"You can't be serious? Sure, he looked very sketchy lying on the floor in the middle of the road, but we couldn't just leave him."
The only thing he could identify was that the voices were of two men. He slowly opened his eyes and saw the silhouette of two figures with him.
"Hm, that's true. Even if he looked like nothing but a sorry corpse, he's somewhat alive, I guess."
"—Alright, would you two shut the hell up?!"
The man quickly sat up. He scanned the room, confused about his surroundings. He appeared to be inside a tent.
One of the two men was treating William's wounds, and the other was observing behind him.
"Oh! So, he's finally awake." The red-eyed man observing said.
The white-haired man treating the wounds nodded, "Good observation," he sarcastically said. "Hello, my name is Shiro and the man behind me is my pal Ron."
"Good evening, William Jaeger."