Chapter 135: Not so friendly
The first thing Allen felt was the throbbing in the back of his neck. Like someone had jabbed him with a harpoon filled with caffeine and regret.
"Ughhh... what now..." he groaned, trying to move—only to find his arms bound behind him and his body lashed to a thick, moss-covered pole. Great. A pole. Always a pole.
He cracked one eye open and blinked against the faint, pulsing glow of underwater crystals embedded in the cavern walls. The place was damp, humid, and weirdly warm. Definitely not the turtle village. Definitely not a five-star spa, either.
And... where was Lunari?
"Lunari?" he rasped.
A familiar giggle echoed from nearby.
"Ehe\~ I found a shiny rock! It looks like a boob!"
Allen jerked his head toward the sound—and there she was.
Lunari was floating in a shallow pool that looked like it had been dug straight into the stone floor, splashing around like a goldfish on bath salts. Her wet hair clung to her cheeks, her tail swishing lazily behind her. She had absolutely no idea they were still in danger.
Surrounding the pond, however... was a small crowd of tall figures.
Dark-scaled. Tail-swinging. Slitted eyes glowing faintly amber in the cave’s light. Their bodies were lean and reptilian, covered in armor made from volcanic rock and bone, and some had sharp fins cresting their heads like mohawks. They looked like a weird fusion of gladiators and Komodo dragons—and every single one of them was watching Lunari like she was an alien soap opera.