Jona stared at Kahil and saw the bravery in his eyes, as well as Six's and Itsuki's, but she couldn't read the facial expressions of the others.
"I think I know the set of people going for it," she said.
"Can I come?" Marie said.
"And me," Trevor said.
"I don't have a restriction on whom has to go along. Just be safe out there," Jona said.
"Don't know how well they can control my wolf though," Launa said.
"You're not coming?" Trevor asked.
"I'm allergic to damp enclosures," she said.
"Wow, never heard of such allergy, but it's alright," Trevor said.
"Now I'd have to get you guys splinter masks," Jona said and got up.
She came back a minute later with a net containing some masks that looked like Rugby helmets, except for a filter net sealing the nose area.
"You'd go with these and you'd have no problem with the smell in there," she said.
They all took it out of the net one by one, looking at it and trying it on.
"But the net doesn't guarantee you a safe respiration. You've got to do a fast business in there and get out," Jona said.
"That's okay, we got it all under control," Kahil said.
"Now let's go," Six said.
Launa followed them with her wolf, and behind the house, looking down at the grassy slope of the hill, she told them a few things about Glowie -- what to say in other to calm her, agitate her, or call her from wherever she is.
She entrusted Glowie to Trevor because Glowie seemed to like him. Trevor rubbed her fur and smiled.
"She's safe with me," Trevor said.
"I know that," Launa said.
"Now we go," Kahil gestured and began to march down.
On the move were Kahil, Six, Itsuki, Trevor, and Maria, all in their splinter masks, with Glowie walking in front of them all. They walked along the stony hill that was full of grasses and strange flowers, seeing butterflies and fireflies hover about.
They walked to a point where they could see a rocky body from which water gushed.
"I think we're almost there," Itsuki pointed.
Marie looked down and wondered what it would smell like in there, she also wondered if it was a marshy land, but she kept going still.
They finally got to the foot of the hill, and now they were face to face with the cave. The sounds of dirty water running out of the cave opening nauseated Itsuki.
"I can only wonder what it looks like in there," Marie said.
"We've got to check though, not just wonder," Kahil held his gun tight and walked towards the entrance, wary of the thin line of water running out of it. He looked around, left to right, and all he saw were just wet walls, and above were strange-looking spiders dropping from a thin line of web.
"I think it's all good in here, to an extent," Kahil said.
They all followed and got into the cave. Through their masks they could perceive a faint unpleasant smell. The walked into the dark cave that was illuminated by thin openings above, looking around for the said splinter worms.
"So where are the worms?" Itsuki said.
"The cave doesn't end here you know," Trevor said. "Let's keep going."
They got to a point in the cave that branched into two areas, and it made them oblivious of where to follow.
"Lady Jona gave us limited information about this place," Trevor said.
"Had it been the dwarves we'd not be having this problem," Itsuki said.
"So I guess we just have to choose which way to go," Marie said.
Glowie began to sniff, then she sneezed.
Marie placed her palm on the wolf and bent her head a bit. "Glowie, you've got something to show us?"
Glowie turned left and began to walk towards there.
"We should follow the her," Trevor said.
The new area of the cave they found themselves looked different from the previous place. This particular place had green glints stuffed into the rocky walls, and the smell was different as well.
As they walked with their heads held up, Marie hit a stone and fell to the damp floor with a yelp. Immediately they heard some rattle sounds within and everywhere was filled with green fumes.
"They're here," Kahil said.
"Are you okay?" Trevor said, holding her up. She beat the wet dirt off her trousers and stood up.
"This must be the fume Jona was talking of," Six said.
"We are with our masks now so there's nothing to fear," Itsuki said.
"We should also be fast with what we came for so we don't pass out in these masks," Six said.
"So we proceed, follow Glowie," Kahil gestured to the direction Glowie was going.
They kept hearing the rattle sounds while they walked but they couldn't decipher where it was coming from, neither could they figure out where the worms were hiding.
Glowie came to a halt at a point and began to walk around in circles with her face held up. They couldn't tell why she was doing that or what she wanted to show them.
Trevor looked up and saw the multitudes of worms there, their slimy, green bodies wobbling while they moved. It was a very nauseating sight.
Everyone had their jaws hanging while they looked up.
"How do we get them down from there?" Trevor said.
"I think we shoot them down," Kahil said.
"That's not a good idea. These are radiation guns and the x-rays could render the substance we need sterile," Six said.
"So how do we do it?"
Trevor rubbed his jaw for some time, then he looked up and saw a hole up the the worms were moving into.
"I think there's another place in the cave where we could reach them easily," Trevor said. "Follow their movements."
They all looked towards the hole and traced it down to another area somewhere behind one of the walls. But there was no other exit around, everywhere was just rocky, and they were left wondering if there was a brittle wall to crack to get there.