Several days passed smoothly until the morning of the seventh day. In all the time, the group continued to move through the intricate tunnels of the cave, fleeing from the horrible monster.
Almost periodically, the monster would let out a grotesque scream of pain that alerted them, but also helped them locate its position.
As nomads, the group settled into different caves over the days, where, like the Piranha Pit Cavern, there were also sources of water and food.
Thinking about it, they were lucky with the food on the first day, where they could at least eat some fish, but in the following caverns they had to feed themselves with disgusting worms that roamed the walls, and in another cavern with algae that grew in the water.
But at least they were fed and had enough energy to keep going.
Kalen didn't want to deny it either, it was all too boring, walking aimlessly, just running away was not something he liked. He still had to find Rodhlann Danneir, but thanks to Elisabeth he had already managed to find the evidence and the names of some of the young women in the group.
Their tests were irrelevant to Kalen, it had no bearing on him, so he didn't bother to get involved with them.
By now he had completely ruled out the young women whose information Elisabeth had given him, Elisabeth herself, Zayne, and Talika.
As for the other groups, they had not seen anyone since the second day when they had been separated from the brother-sister pair.
The group was also divided into two parts. The first group consisted of Elisabeth and the other girls, while the second group consisted of Kalen, Oliver, Donovan, and Talika, who followed Kalen like a duckling.
Somehow, Kalen felt uncomfortable with Talika following him everywhere, but on the other hand it was better that she was close to him to protect him in case something happened.
Kalen got to know Oliver and Donovan better, even though neither of them had known each other before, they somehow managed to form a friendship in a short time.
They talked as they walked to burn time, and yet Kalen never stopped protecting Talika and Elisabeth.
Their deal was still in place, and so far, everything was going well on both sides.
Elisabeth's second test might have been more complicated, but somehow the young woman seemed to have recovered in the last few days, becoming more energetic, just like when they first arrived at the firefly cave.
Eventually, as they walked, the group came to an intersection.
"Which way shall we go?" asked one of the young women.
Elisabeth paused for a few seconds and turned to the group.
"I think we should turn left"
No one objected, it wasn't the first time they'd come to an intersection, and they'd never been bad at following Elisabeth, so they started walking again.
Nothing changed for a few minutes, and it wasn't until Kalen noticed something that he stopped alerting the others around him.
The first to turn and look at him was Oliver.
"What's wrong?"
Kalen frowned and looked around.
"Don't you all feel anything? …Like wind?"
Everyone was silent, trying to feel something, until one of the young women nodded vigorously.
"It's true, I feel a rush of air!"
In a cave, if there was fresh air, it usually meant there was an exit nearby.
The group became excited and picked up their pace, but Kalen did not share their excitement.
"What's the matter?" asked Donovan when he saw that Kalen was too quiet.
"Isn't it strange, it's been over four hours since we heard any screams"
Realizing that the screams were periodic, Kalen concentrated on counting the time between them, only to realize that there was about four hours between each one.
They had been walking for almost six hours and hadn't heard a scream in all that time.
"…Now that you mention it"
Kalen and Donovan were only whispering, so only Oliver and Talika could hear them.
Anyway, they kept walking, getting closer to the source of the gust of wind that was getting stronger and stronger.
Eventually, one of the girls narrowed her eyes and looked into the distance.
"I think I see something"
They all looked ahead, focusing on the end of the tunnel where they began to see something.
'...Light'
What they saw was light at the end of the tunnel...literally.
Not the light provided by the crystals, which had recently increased in number, but all-natural light.
The excitement in each of them grew exponentially as they saw light for the first time in a week, and they picked up speed.
Each time the light became more intense, everyone walked faster and faster, to the point where some began to run toward the light.
Kalen did not increase his speed as he was lost in thought.
'Something is wrong'
Call it intuition or a gut feeling, but something strange was going on and Kalen was sure of it.
Next to him, Talika watched him discreetly as they walked behind Oliver and Donovan.
A young girl was the first to reach the source of light, and since Kalen was still behind, he couldn't see what they had seen enough to stop abruptly.
But when Kalen reached where everyone was, he shared his feelings for the first time that day.
'Holy shit'
Stunned, that was the emotion that was born in everyone's heart.
In front of them, a huge hole stretched hundreds of meters down and up, where the clear blue sky could be seen above them.
A way out, there was a way out of the cave... only it was hundreds of meters above them.
The hope they all had of finding a way out vanished even faster than it had appeared.
Even though they hadn't completed their trials, they all longed for a way out.
As everyone continued to stare at the sky for the first time in a week, Kalen looked around.
'This is no normal tunnel network'
On all sides of the hole were hundreds if not thousands of holes leading to other tunnels.
'…It is like a giant anthill'
Kalen remembered seeing a replica of an anthill inside, full of tunnels and larger rooms. But the firefly cavern wasn't exactly an anthill, yet Kalen began to doubt whether the tunnels were natural... or artificial.
If they were not natural, but artificial, then who had created them?
As if to answer his question, a loud scream echoed from behind him.
"Shit!"
Kalen couldn't help but scream the moment he remembered that he wasn't alone in the tunnels.
So far, they had never encountered a tunnel without an exit, but now... it was different.
The closest tunnel to them was at a distance of almost a hundred meters of void.
"That damn thing ambushed us!"
From the first time they encountered this monster, Kalen didn't know if the strange creature was intelligent, but now he realized that it was.
And it was a mistake to realize it so late... a grave mistake.
Not only had the monster chased them for days, wearing them down mentally, but it had led them through the tunnels to this spot, where it was the perfect place for an ambush.
"What are we going to do?" yelled Donovan.
Kalen looked around and saw that everyone was looking at each other in fear.
Talika, Elisabeth, and Oliver looked at Kalen as if they expected him to do something.
'¡¿Can't they think for themselves?!' Kalen shouted inwardly before looking back down the tunnel.
His mind began to work on a plan to escape, but all his ideas were quickly dismissed by himself.
It took them about ten minutes from the time they took the crossroads to the point where they were now. Considering the speed of the monster, it would take a little more than twice as long to reach them.
So, they only had 20 minutes to come up with a plan if they didn't want to die.
Kalen ran to the edge of the tunnel and leaned out to take a closer look at the hole and the entrances to the other tunnels.
He looked up and down, hoping to find another tunnel nearby, but unfortunately the entrance to another tunnel was dozens of meters away from where they were, making it impossible to climb... or not at all.
"Everyone, take off your jacket and give it to me!"
Before they came to Urasis, it was winter in their world, so everyone had a jacket.
Kalen received the jackets one by one and tied them together to form a makeshift rope.
It took him almost ten minutes to make it, leaving him only half that time to get down.
Kalen approached one of the walls and tied the rope tightly to one of the larger panes of glass he could find at the edge of the tunnel.
Oliver looked at the makeshift rope and couldn't help but go pale.
"Will this hold?"
Kalen looked at him and smiled, hiding his nervousness.
"I hope so"
They had to take turns so that the rope could support the weight of the women and men, and the lucky one to see if the rope would work was Donovan.
"It's okay, I'm sure it'll hold" Donovan said to himself, trying to calm himself as he grabbed the rope and prepared to climb down.
Donovan gripped the rope with more strength than he knew he had in his body and began to descend very slowly.
Although the young women behind him wanted to see if the rope would hold, they didn't have time before the monster arrived, so they took turns lowering the rope.
Shortly after the last young woman had descended, Donovan reached the cave.
"Ha ha ha... I made it"
His hands were shaking, and his legs were about to give out on him... but he had made it.
Feet above him, Elisabeth, Talika, and Oliver began to descend the rope while Kalen waited for space to descend.
But just as he was about to descend, he heard the scream again and raised his head to look down the tunnel.
At the end, the monster began to approach, waving its tentacles erratically and with a look of agony on its human face.
"Shit, hurry up!"
Kalen started to lower the rope as soon as Talika gave him some space, but as soon as he grabbed the rope, it came loose from the light crystal.
Maybe the rope hadn't held all the weight, maybe it held until the knots unraveled, but they would never know because as Kalen felt his body begin to fall, his thoughts clouded over. He felt nothing as he began to fall into the void.
'Is this how I'm going to die?'
A cocky grin appeared on his face.
"Ha, I guess I deserve it"