Dizziness…
Dizziness was the first sensation that assaulted her senses. Nothing else but sheer darkness and dizziness. Her body felt as if it was stripped from any sensation, like a powerful anesthesia.
Some moments later, her back started waking up.
It started slim, similar to a tingling sensation. Similar to the caress a mother would give you. Similar to the pats of a proud father. But it escalated.
'Where…?'
The caressing turned uncomfortable. It turned hot. Then turned into piercing pain. And the pain turned into awareness, making Aurea snap open her eyes to find herself inside the river.
As if an electric shock traveled through her body, Aurea grasped Zenon's body as hard as she could and began swimming upwards. Luckily, the current opposed no resistance.
Arriving at the surface, Aurea opened her mouth and took the biggest breath she could take. Filling her lungs with that sweet oxygen, the dizziness disappeared and her rationality came back…
Along with the high temperature of the river.
"Agh!"
Now she realized how hot the water was. It was bordering the boiling temperature, enough to make her skin beg for mercy. Phoenix quickly appeared next to her, giving a loud "Eeeee!".
"I'm thinking! Find somewhere where I can hold on!"
Moving with the current, Aurea had to maneuver to avoid the pointy rocks that appeared from the ground and the sides. It would've been an easy task if it wasn't for the weight she was carrying.
Moving left and right, Aurea avoided the rocks while trying to hold onto anything that would save her from the violent current of the river. Sadly, every time she tried her fingers would get cut.
Phoenix was moving as fast as his wings let him, but there wasn't a single place where Aurea could climb to safety. Instead, there were more rocks.
"Fuck, fuck!"
Gritting her teeth, Aurea moved right, trying to avoid yet another rock.
Just as she did, however, she saw how the water was accumulating due to some falling rocks blocking the path.
Widening her eyes, Aurea spun and hugged Zenon's body close to hers. And then…
*Crack!*
She felt as if her back was completely broken.
Crashing onto the rocks, Aurea found herself again in midst of all that dizziness but refusing to let go of the boy's body. Not only that, but the water slowly became more violent, sending her deeper and deeper inside the river.
And suddenly, she was sucked inside the walls.
'-?!'
Moving what seemed to be inside a dark tunnel, Aurea held her breath while sealing Zenon's mouth and nose with her hands.
It was in complete darkness, she couldn't see anything. The only thing she could feel was her body bouncing against the walls. In one of those bounces, Aurea subconsciously opened her mouth, letting the hot water invade her.
She took a breath out of instinct, filling her lungs with boiling water. Her mind started to feel cloudy as she lost the sensation of her body.
Then, a dim pinkish light filled the water making Aurea's eyes widen slightly. The next second, she was out of the tunnel and no longer surrounded by water. Instead, she was floating on a strangely cold river.
Not like she cared.
Aurea began coughing all the water that filled her lungs, along with some puke. This continued for some seconds before she was able to breathe with ease.
Subconsciously letting her body relax on the cold water, she looked to the side, where Zenon peacefully lied down with his eyes still closed and some water coming from his mouth.
Taking a deep breath, Aurea grabbed his body and moved toward the edge of the river. Using all of her strength, Aurea pushed his body to the ground. Then, she climbed from the river as well.
A sense of weakness and pain traveled through her body, making her lie down on the ground while gritting her teeth. She was feeling too weak to even think about what happened.
Suddenly, Phoenix appeared beside her. Not wasting a second, he began healing all of her broken bones, cuts, bruises, burns, everything.
When Aurea felt healed enough, she muttered,
"Focus on him… I'm alright now."
Phoenix nodded before moving towards Zenon, then began healing him as well.
His ribs were completely broken along with some organs and the surprising part was that he was still breathing. Such wounds would leave anyone nearing death.
After catching a breath, Aurea got up and analyzed just where in hell they were.
First of all, it was a very spacious area. It was filled with roots and vines, meaning that this place was already inside that tree's section. Not only that, the strangest part was the glowing pink mushrooms that grew from the river.
They were the only form of light coming because there was no path toward the surface this time. They were extremely big as well, even surpassing her height by twofold.
There were also other types of mushrooms but nothing else. Just the usual cold ground they were accustomed to.
"We need to hide somewhere… I don't want to find a Layer Beast right now." Aurea mumbled.
Walking toward Zenon, she began thinking about what the hell this place was doing inside the canyon. How could this place survive the Shifting? The fact that it hasn't come down was a miracle.
'So many questions…'
Summoning her notebook, she began writing about everything that happened since they encountered the Third-Rank. In less than two minutes she was done and stored the notebook back inside.
Phoenix was also done treating Zenon, and Aurea wasted no time putting his arm around his shoulder and lifting him up. Even though her legs were on the verge of giving up, she had to find a safe place.
"Scout around, try to find a place hidden enough for us."
Nodding, Phoenix flopped his wings and began searching around. Since the only possible way was forward, Aurea began walking.
—
After moving forward for around fifteen minutes, Aurea was closing on the spot that Phoenix found. It was a little bit small but enough to hide them both.
There was a problem however, the spot was a bit too high. Meaning that Aurea had to push Zenon inside and then climb. Luckily the boy didn't weigh that much, so it was fairly easy.
Already having pushed Zenon inside, Aurea jumped to get inside the little cave inside the wall. Just as she grabbed onto the edge and was ready to climb…
*Step, step.*
Feeling a chill running down her spine, Aurea climbed as fast as she could and pushed Zenon deeper into the cave and then lied down on the ground.
Looking where she heard the steps, Aurea's eyes widened when she saw an orange mushroom walking… literally.
It wasn't big, probably around two meters. It had two really thin arms and legs, but its head was immense. It could serve as an umbrella for five people at least.
Looking a bit more closely, Aurea couldn't see where its eyes were located. She analyzed every single spore the mushroom had, but there wasn't a single clue about where its eyes were.
The mushroom, unbeknownst to the girl spying on him, continued moving forward, eventually disappearing from her sight.
'What the hell… was that.'
This situation helped Aurea as well as brought some of that commonly found dread into her heart. She knew what the Layer Beasts inside this place looked like now, but she had no idea which Rank they were.
Second-Rank? Perhaps a fearsome Third-Rank?
A deadly Fourth-Rank?!
Sighing, Aurea turned around and saw Zenon still sleeping. It was normal, such a powerful blow probably gave him a concussion or something worse, so he'll probably wake up in a few hours.
Aurea looked at him for a while before drowsiness took the best of her. The amount of wounds, burns, and the stress of the situation left her dead tired. As long as their bodies weren't visible, they'd be safe.
Just for precaution, she commanded Phoenix to guard the cave and wake her up in case the Layer Beast came again. Lying completely on the ground, Aurea's eyes began closing, eventually sending her to sleep.