Chapter 38: Winged Serpent
Stahl had awoken alone over two hours before the human had, feeling a bit sore from the fight, but nowhere near as drained since she hadn’t been the one shielding against everything the demon threw their way. As the shewolf’s mind filled in her memory, a grip of fear encased her heart. She was with Aster and her prince, but they were nowhere to be found.
Alarms sounded in her mind as she assumed the worst, her mind playing dark tricks on her as she imagined her human and her prince laying slain before the demon, bleeding out in the large arena. The thought provoked a harsh shudder from the beast. However, she tried her best to push his panic aside, and work on what she could do about her current predicament.
Stahl stood, having to crouch from how low the cavern ceiling was, while making her way to anywhere but where she had awoken. The walls were close together where she was, and the she-wolf feared she may even be trapped between some of the more narrow places, but she managed to squeeze through where was needed without even losing her armor.
She noticed the stench of sulfur combined with the staunch heat, and felt the warmth emanate from the very walls of rock that seemed to close in around her. She wasn’t able to move quickly because of how narrow and small the passage got for her at times, but she progressed steadily enough until she reached an open area.
She had been moving for well over half an hour by her guess, but this area was the first real drastic change she had seen, a good sign that she was at least making progress and out of such tight quarters where she couldn’t even defend herself in if needed. Suddenly, something caught the she-wolf’s eye as out of place in this new area, and her mind surged back to the endless possibilities of unknown, and cruel fates.
Hanging from the ceiling, or rather from partially inside of the ceiling, was the humanoid bat she had been fighting alongside. The creature was affixed up to its torso in rock, a single arm hanging down limply from the embedded body. The familiar glaze of death glossed over his eyes and his mouth hung agape, his tongue already drying up from the extreme heat.
Perhaps it was only bad luck for the bat, but it seemed the teleportation had its own risks, as the evidence hung down above her. It would appear one wouldn’t necessarily be moved to somewhere they could survive. Stahl had a wicked thought strike her mind like hot iron in a forge.
*What if I find Aster like that next?* The panic had returned, hammering a sense of dire urgency deep into the she-wolf. She needed to get out of here, and find him, or she might perish alongside that bat from the madness of assuming the worst before getting to Aster. The she-wolf quickened her pace, sprinting through the now wider tunnel with increased vigor.
It wasn’t long until she saw an opening ahead, allowing her first glimpse at possible escape. *Aster’s not weak, he might have found a place already.*