Joel quickly came to Rob's side and performed basic first aid.
"We should go back now and inform them about this strange plant and this environment" Joel said worriedly.
"What are you saying? we can still explore more. Don't tell me you are afraid?" Rob tried to sound brave. But he was also telling the truth because he wasn't much injured. It just caused some burn and itchiness which can be solved easily with the help of a healer.
"ok, but be alert from now on."
"I was alert always but who knew this place is so weird." Rob replied to Joel.
Uuuaaagh!!
Suddenly they heard the roar of something.
"A beast!?" both of them looked at each other.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom! Boom!
Boom! Boom!
They felt something coming towards them and its footsteps sounded like thunder.
"RUN!"
They both started running back to the hole. But before they could reach it, a vine suddenly coiled around Joel's leg. Joel tripped and fell on his face. The vine kept tightening its grip around his leg. Joel cried out loud in pain. Then Rob came and chopped off the vine in two pieces and freed Joel.
But the damage is already done. The vine crushed his leg so now he cannot walk properly.
"Fuck! it hurts so much." Joel screams.
"Stop whining, we have to escape quickly. Come, lean on me." Rob said as he pulled up Joel.
Rob started to run again but Joel was slowing him down. So Rob began roughly dragging him.
"Hey man, I am not well. My leg's broken. Can't you be more careful?" Joel asked in pain.
"Really! Can't you see a beast is on our ass? We can die anytime and you are thinking about this bit of pain." Rob grumbled angrily. He didn't care how much pain Joel was in, he only wanted both of them to survive by any means possible. So he ran for life.
The good thing is that the beast seems to be moving slowly. They haven't seen its face but from the sound, it seems fairly big. Then they reached the crevice that connects to the other side from where they came from. The beast is nearing also.
"Quickly Joel you go first." Rob hurriedly spoke.
"But my leg's broken. I cannot pass through easily and we don't have time. You go first." Joel said. His heart was heavy and his face slowly became sad.
"Do not make that face in front of me. I told you to go. You go. Whatever happens, will happen. But we have to at least act and we have to act fast. So stop whining and grit your teeth. I know it's gonna be painful but endure." saying that Rob began to push Joel through the slit.
Joel felt the pain in his leg increase. But he also decided to not complain. He couldn't see clearly with fog covering his eyes.
"This damn fog! Arrgh!" Joel screamed in pain with each step. Each time he advanced, he felt tremendous pain.
BOOM!
Rob could hear the noise coming closer. The beast is close. Rob also decided to enter the crevice. As he was entering the slit, he saw the monster's silhouette appearing from the distant fog.
He saw large shadow that looked like a tree but wasn't completely tree because its top part of body seems to be slithering like a snake. It emitted a blackish red glow from its body all over.
When Rob fully entered the crevice, he finally caught a last glimpse of the monster.
An abomination!
That is the first thought that came to his mind.
"Let's go! quick!" Rob hurried Joel without any care for his wound.
Rrraagh!
The monster roared and struck the ground. It was angry.
Rob and Joel could hear the sound even after they crossed half of the crevice.
"Sigh! Looks like we are out of danger. Let's inform everyone as soon as possible." Rob said as he could hear the monster kicking up a fuss on the other side.
After a painful crawling out of the crevice, Joel slowly came right beneath where they landed, and Rob is also beside him helping him stand and walk.
...
Arthur and his group waited for Joel and Rob to return with news.
"Really! What am I doing here? this is nothing but a waste of time. I should just continue my journey. At least, we would have reached the next town before tomorrow." Arthur began to rant by himself.
"Well sir, you wanted to rest and we found something interesting here. It won't be good to leave now without investigating." Richard replied.
"Ah! I am so stupid. Now I am late. This has nothing to do with me. I hope we find nothing serious and can move on quickly. I am so bored now." Arthur complained.
"Sir, everyone, We are back. Please come down. Joel is injured." came an echoing sound from the depth of the cave. It is Rob who is shouting with all his strength.
Arthur and everyone who heard them came to the edge of the cave mouth. Arthur screamingly asks them What happened to them there. After a round of screaming back and forth, They finally knew everything Rob and Joel experienced.
"This is troublesome" Richard said.
"Send someone to heal Joel first." Arthur reminded.
"Yes"
Arthur began to run his brain and calculate the pros and cons of this situation. If he entered the cave with his follower to subjugate the monster, some of them might die. But if he doesn't, there might be other problems in the future.
"Hey Richard"
"Yes, sir"
"What do you think we should do?" Arthur wanted to know Richard's opinion.
"Sir, I think it will be a hard battle. I can defeat it but I don't know if I will come out without any injury. We might lose soldiers. If that happens, we cannot complete our original mission." Richard told his thoughts genuinely.
"So we can not win without casualty." Arthur fell into deep thoughts.
"Ok, I have decided. We will leave now. After we finish our mission, we will subjugate it on our way back." Arthur decided not to take risks.
"Ok sir, I will inform everyone."
"I hope our mission does not turn into a dangerous one."