Chapter 45: Once Again
Elijah gripped Dune's arm with an unexpected force, dragging him toward the darkened water. Dune's eyes widened in a mixture of confusion and frustration as he felt the cold rush of water rising higher, surrounding his feet.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Dune yelped, but Elijah didn't answer.
With a grunt, Elijah shoved him forward into the water, and Dune, still struggling to heal his hands with Neba, fell into the frigid depths. His healing was slow, his hands still raw from the brutal fight, and his body felt as though it were dragging a weight with each movement. The pain didn't subside, but he forced himself to push through it. He wasn't ready to drown here, not yet.
Elijah glanced over at Dune, and his usual smirk turned into something more serious.
He swam faster as the tunnel below them began to narrow, water sloshing around their bodies. It felt like they were diving deeper into something unknown.
The water cleared slightly as they reached the end of the tunnel. The two of them burst out into an air pocket, gasping for breath. They stood up, their clothes heavy with water, dripping down their faces as they surveyed their surroundings.
Dune's gaze met Elijah's, but it wasn't the sense of victory or relief that filled his chest. There was an odd feeling in the air, a weight, a coldness that didn't belong to the physical environment.
He looked around, eyes narrowing as his breath caught in his throat. This place... it feels wrong.
They stood in the middle of another cave, but this one wasn't like the others they had crossed through. The air here felt thick, as though something ancient and restless lingered in the dark corners.
The only source of light was a soft, eerie glow emanating from a cluster of crystals embedded in the walls. The dim light barely illuminated the cavern, and shadows seemed to stretch unnaturally long, as if reaching for them.
Dune slowly took a step forward, his boots scraping against the cold, uneven floor. He squinted at the walls, the dark corners, trying to make sense of what they were seeing. The sight before them was something neither of them could have predicted.