Despite Arold being against it, Trixina still dragged him along as she herself got closer to the teenagers. Indeed, Ulana was crying. Had Korven made her cry? It couldn't have possibly been true since the blond young man seemed to be trying to comfort her.
"It was my fault," Ulana said, sobbing. "You just wanted to talk and I ended up knocking your camera down this hole."
Korven pinched her shoulder with the hand he had on it. "I told you," he said, hunched toward her. "The fault is all on me. I stepped into your personal boundary without permission and got what I deserved. Please don't make it worse by crying…"
Ulana looked up to meet his eyes. Korven smiled, wiping a tear underneath her eye.
"I know how expensive those cameras are, Korven," Ulana said softly. "Don't worry; I'll buy you a new one even if I have to work overtime."
Korven shook his head. "It'll never come down to that." He stepped to the side, hands on the sides of his waist as he leaned toward the hole. Then he returned to Ulana and gave her an awkward smile. "Too small for me. But don't worry. I'll buy the new one with my own money."
Ulana frowned. "I'm so sorry, Korven. I'll definitely buy you a new one."
"No need for that," Trixina said, stepping forward. "I'll get that camera for you."
Korven's brows rose. "You will? You are small enough to fit… The video and night mode is still on, so it'll save a lot of memory and battery if we could get it sooner than later. There are also some fantastic photos in its card. Most are necessary for my career."
Trixina walked closer to the hole in the ground and squatted before it. She thinned her eyes as if searching for something. "It's right there," she said, pointing down. "I can see it. The hole's not too deep."
Arold walked closer to the hole and found it was pitch black inside, the active screen of the camera glowing softly in the darkness.
Korven gulped. "No," he said, pulling both of them away from the hole. "I don't wanna put you in danger, I just realized. What if there's some poisonous bug down there? It's too risky."
Ulana pulled out a pen from her pocket and twisted its body near the end. The tip of the pen lit up, shooting out a streak of light. "He's right. What if it's deeper than it actually looks?" She searched the dark hole with her pen, torchlight piercing the blackness.
"See?" Trixina said. "It's not that deep and the camera is right there. I'll just hop in, grab the camera, and then climb out."
Korven looked thoughtful but then eventually shook his head again. "I can easily pull you out of there, but I don't think—"
Trixina jumped in the hole. "I wasn't asking."
Arold couldn't do anything but let out a tiny squeak.
Ulana quickly focused the torchlight onto the younger girl. "Are you okay?" she asked with a gasp.
Trixina showed a thumbs-up, walking closer to glow of the camera.
"Be careful," Korven said, lying flat on the ground, reaching down with a hand to her. "Just grab my hand and climb back as soon as you get my camera."
Arold watched the girl of his age with wide eyes who'd bravely jumped down into the dark hole and was walking in unknown blackness with so much confidence. 'She's…also a hunter…' he thought as Trixina reached for the camera.
Korven exhaled softly, eyes closed. "Alright," he said, shaking the hand reaching down to the little girl. "Now grab on—" His breath got caught in his throat.
Arold gasped in disbelief—
The light pointed by Ulana wavered as a nervous reaction—
Trixina reached for the camera…and the device was dragged deeper into the darkness. She didn't look even a bit shook, continuing to follow the glow of the camera.
"Get back here!" Korven commanded loudly. "There's clearly something down there."
Arold held his breath as Trixina lowered to pick the camera again. Ulana gripped the wrist of the shaking hand holding the torch, lips sealed tight.
Trixina stood straight, camera in hand. She turned to them with a smile, holding the device over her head. "Got it."
All three above her exhaled a sigh of relief.
"Now for the clouds above," Korven said loudly. "Get back here and grab on."
"Don't shout," Trixina said, walking back to them. "I can hear you clearly."
Arold finally started breathing normally, knowing that the girl was safe—
Darkness snatched Trixina away.
"No!" Korven shouted, his voice echoing around them. He pulled his hand out and turned to Ulana, gulping. "We'll have to call for Mrs. Sylren."
Ulana nodded sharply, a bead of sweat trailing down the side of her face. "I'll go get her…"
"But she also can't fit through here," Arold said quietly, still shaken up by what had just happened. "It's going to be too late before she arrives and digs this entire place up."
Korven gulped, taking the torch off Ulana's hand. He gripped Arold's hand with both of his, handing him the torch. "I know I shouldn't do this, Arold, but you're the only one here who can fit through the hole."
"Er…" Arold muttered uncomfortably, not looking into the young man's eyes. "I'm…afraid of the dark…"
Korven shook his head before Arold could even finish, releasing the grip. "What is wrong with me…?" He put a hand on his head. "I'm sorry, Arold. Let's think of some other away."
Arold looked at the torch he now held. He turned his head toward the darkness beneath and gulped. Then he directed the thin line of light shooting out of the pen into the hole, the blackness getting pierced by the arrow of light. The thought of going there was still scary. But a little less so. If he had this arrow of light, he could pierce any darkness.
As the two older kids discussed what to do, Arold stepped closer to the hole. He took a deep breath before sliding in, pen pointed straight on.
'I won't run anymore…' he told himself, sweat forming on his forehead as he pointed the torchlight to the direction Trixina was pulled toward. 'Not from this…'
"Oh…no," Ulana said, eyes fattening.
"What?" Korven said, confused. He turned. "No! Come back here!" he commanded just as he found Arold already down in the hole. "We'll think of a better plan. Take my hand and climb back."
"I'm…" Arold said, not looking back, "going to find her… You call my mom…"
Korven remained silent, his face paling. He finally tucked his chin. "What have I done…?" He clenched his fist, taking back the hand in the hole. "This is all my fault…"
Arold kept moving forward, the torchlight guiding him deeper into a tunnel in which even he had to hunch down. The ground on which he landed wasn't too deep, but this tunnel was now taking him there—into the unknown void. A foot in front of the other, he stepped carefully, cautiously, breaths heavy.
'I'm a hunter…' he told himself. 'I'm also a hunte—'
He was so scared of the blackness in front of him, that he never cleared the darkness on which he was stepping on. As a result, he fell down a narrow hole, the back of his shirt dragging against the ground of the downward slope he just slid into.
Arold rolled to a stop after a short while, body lying flat. He scrambled to regain balance, finding himself in a small low-ceiling dome filled to the brim with darkness and quietness. The torch wasn't broken, fortunately, and impressing his own self in doing it, Arold hadn't lost the grip he had on the light-giving pen.
He pointed it to the front and his eyes widened in shock, feet growing cold. The hair on the back of his neck spiked up as the numbness jolting through his body pushed him backward. He found his heartbeat racing at this sight.
At the sight of being surrounded by a hundred monsters with bloodshot eyes, each staring into his soul. His body screamed at him, telling him to run, but his mind told him to not move a muscle, for doing so could lead him down a path full of misery.
The nightmarish creatures with four ears remained standing for a long moment, but then finally relaxed, going about their own routine, filling the cave with noises, ignoring Arold. Were they simply pretending that they couldn't see him? Because he knew from his mother, creatures of caves had excellent senses.
Suppressing the loudness of his exhales, Arold gathered spirit to climb back onto his feet, eyes on the relaxed monsters. 'This is…' He found an orb of green light glowing inside his chest. 'It's the same as back then.' The lakesnake had also ignored him once this glowing marble appeared inside his body. He hadn't told anyone about it, thinking it had been just his imagination. But now it was happening again: glowing orb making Etherbeasts ignore him—
Arold swallowed, breath held as a group of five of these maroon-skinned creatures approached him casually. Had he speculated wrong? Did the glowing orb have some other function? Was the glowing orb even real?
Each creature handed him a lump of bugs and then sat around him, enjoying their own half. Bugs squishing and crunching inside their mouths, Arold cringed at the eating noises near him, his left eye twitching.
"Arold?" a voice called for him from ahead.
He quickly searched for the familiar voice, pointing the streak of light to the direction it came from. The light reflected a few too many sets of bloodshot eyes, each clearing out the way. Arold gulped and took a single step forward, eyes on the feasting creatures around him.
The creatures met his, but their hands reached for the lump of bugs they'd offered him.
Arold nodded…thinking it was the best thing to do. 'Just ignore me…'
The creatures shared the bugs between themselves, removing their murderous gaze from him. He took it as a sign of understanding, stepping slowly toward the voice.
It called again. "Arold?"
"Trixina…" Arold replied this time, voice wavering. "I'm right here… Where are you…?"
A figure stepped toward him from his right, shooing away the creatures in her way, a ball of blue light fixed inside her chest. It was her, the blue-haired girl he'd come down to rescue.
"Trixina," Arold whispered with a relieved expression. "You're fine…"
"Of course I am," she replied, voice the same as on the surface. Her mere presence made Arold even more secure standing in the middle of a horde of strange beasts. "And look." She brought her hands to the front, holding Korven's camera. "It's also fine."
"That's really good," Arold said quietly. "We should get going, then…"
Trixina shook her head. "Not before capturing some footage of these animals. Your mom did tell me to say hi to the monsters living in the caves. I want to show her the monsters I greeted."
Arold grimaced at the thought of staying here for longer, brows furrowed. "Is that why you didn't just climb back up?" he asked, but remembered something. "But wait… Korven said the camera had night mode and it was already taking video. It must've already captured these animals."
"I want to do it in color," Trixina said with a smile. "That's why I waited for some light. Now point the torch at them and I'll make a regular video of these creatures."
Arold followed hesitantly, just wanting to leave this place. The creatures didn't seem even a tiny bit hostile, but their strangeness still discomforted Arold.
"A little to the left," Trixina said, eyes on the camera screen, pointing the lens very close to one of these 3-foot tall beasts. Arold did as ordered and soon she was satisfied.
"Now we can go, fine?" Arold asked softly. "Let's leave…"
Trixina nodded with a smile and they both turned to the tunnel they slid down here from. "Hey! You have it too!"
Arold gave her a look of confusion, the penlight pointed ahead, this time to the ground.
Trixina poked him in the chest. "That ball of light. But yours is green. What's up with that?"
Arold gestured at her to go up the tunnel first. "Let's talk in a place safer than this…" She complied. He climbed after her, both crawling up the tunnel dug by the maroon beasts.