Half an hour ago, right after the explosion that was heard across the mountain many parties were spooked.
Bijan, Jake and Julia seemed more unaffected as they only felt a slight tremer. Julia and Jake didn't know if it was a warning sign for the thing to collapse as they had been tampering by opening up doors and exploring the main ruin city.
" There is no need for you guys to be scared. I have went into many caves and had scanneded the composition of the work and I can confidently say that this cave would not falter even if someone like me attack it with full force."
" One had to know the weakness of the design which I could do but small tremers wouldn't be enough to bring down this place." Bijan was confident.
He had been using his elemental powers and touching the interesting section only to be amazed by the people who made such a thing.
His master was a great sorcerer and had a lot of thing to teach him but sometimes he wished that his abilities were more inclined towards fire so thathe could properly inherit his masters techniques. If these people were alive, Bijan would hope to stay and learn their craft knowing it would propel her ability to new level!
" Still, we should contact Cody and ask of something is wrong." Julia suggested. Bijan nodded letting her do it.
Jake who was listening from the side took out his radio and started fiddled with it but only static came out.
He tried few more times but it was unsuccessful. Julia who was watching chimes in again," Maybe it's the cave. We were getting the signal at the entrance. Mr Noah did say sometimes due to unfavorable environment, the radio would not receive any signal or maybe your piece is damaged."
Bijan let them do their own things as he was putting up the campsite for the night. Maybe it was right for them to inform the base that they would be spending the night here.
As expected, Julia took fifteen minutes walk and the radio started buzzing again. She contacted Cody again and after few second she received some news after the pleasantries.
" Is everything alright? We felt the cave move and were wondering-"
" No everything is fine. There is no need for you to worry. The camp is silent, maybe it was some rocks, you know how cave could mislead you with noises." Cody cut her off and spoke hurriedly which was odd.
" Is that so? What about the leader?"
" Mr Noah, He is still sleeping. I am taking care of him..." He went on and ramble like he was nervous. Julia knew the tell-tell sign of Cody in distress.
She followed up telling him that they would be sending the night in the cave before she cutt ofd the radio.
Jake who was the lookout saw Julia's serious expression and asked her what was wrong.
" I think there is os something going on in the camp. We should hurry up and go back!" She started running back to try to convince Bijan as he was the leader of this mission.
" No, maybe you are overthinking it. You have seen our camp, it would be impossible for anyone to find it. Beside they would take the narrow valley to traverse, Cody is smart enough to hide himself. Out main priority is to make this cave a effective base before my sister returns from her mission." Bijan was firmly against the idea.
Not only would he have to inspect each apot on the floor but also use his powers to erect livable spaces which was especially hard considering he would be messing up ancient structures that could give them some clues of the past.
He needed to find effective soil that could be stacked so that he wouldn't consume all his magic power with just one construction!
" If you think so, let us go back there alone. We can go there and confirm if everything is alright and it's just my imagination." Julia wasn't going to budge. Her womanly instict was screaming at her to run back to the camp, the only reason why she was here because she respected the code!
" That's not a bad idea, I can protect her-"
" No, I don't want you guys to be fighting alone. It's turning darkand these type of forests are most dangerous because largest predators are nocturnals." Bijan also stood his ground.
He knew most people think that Cody is a weakest member and his only worth was as a lookout but Bijan could see a fire in his eyes, a fury to prove himself to others and to him that he was worth something.
Even under duress, Bijan was sure he would at least say something to warn others. If the enemy had reached their base, Noah would already be dead.
He was someone who must be high up on their list after that battle on the village wall. Cody might be bait but he would gladly sacrifice himself if it meant he could save his friends.
This was a huge reason why he didn't want to turn back. They were also on a time crunch, with two to three days timeline and him being the only worker, he knew how tiring the task would be.
Since Bijan never explained, Julia was furious. She was squeezing her hands into a pair of fist but soon calmed down.
" I will allow you to take a peek tomorrow morning when there are least roaming mosnters." He said softly after turning away.
He might be tough on them but he knew they were just kids running on emotions and a tendency to think they were always right. That's the sole reason why he was the leader and not one of them.
Jake breathed a sigh of relief while Julia could only pout facing away from Bijan. She still had that feeling but there is nothing she could do about it right now.
Maybe Bijan was right, it was too dangerous and they could check it out tommorow just to satiated her intuition.
Unbeknownst to them, Cody was under duress but even they wouldn't be able to guess who he was so afraid of that he thought about betraying his friends rather than warn them about the incoming tragedy!