Tunnel Travel
Tunnel Travel:1969words
Update Time:2024-11-01 09:41:10
[Rock]The walk down to the next level was tedious. There were a lot of roads that led off to nowhere or went in circles or spirals and ended miles away from where they started. Of the trolls with us, Pyla and I were the best equipped to be in a deep cave. As we went down more, the other trolls were getting uncomfortable. Cave trolls could withstand the crushing pressure of a cave system like this collapsing. We could also dig ourselves out. Mountain trolls, like Forrest and Wylder, couldn’t do that. Tripp and Viola came with us, along with several other dark elves. They would also be more comfortable in this environment. They were small, but I saw what outstanding warriors they were when we were fighting the vampires. For all that I knew Viola was a trained warrior, I hadn’t seen her in action. Tripp had been the biggest surprise. He was just my brown-nosing little work buddy. I had no idea he was as good as he was, and the way he wielded those hammers gave me even more confidence in him. The impacts had gotten more intense until I could feel the cave giving way on a much lower level. As we went lower, something large was digging itself through the tunnels. It was too big to get there on its own. We couldn’t see it, but we could hear it getting louder as it moved toward us.“Any idea how much longer?” Wylder asked uncomfortably. “We’re approaching the next major cavern. It hasn’t been very long. You’re just having trouble because we’re so far below the surface and you’re not naturally attuned to this. Be on your guard. This is where Herbie said the beetles and their hosts are,” I replied. “And something big is coming. I can feel it close. It stopped advancing toward us a little while ago,” Pyla added. She and I were walking without shoes so we could be in contact with the earth. It kept us informed about the major changes in the tunnels and where we needed to make our turns in order to get where we were going. I was as on-guard as she was. The tunnels grew wider the further up they were. It was part of the goblins’ design. Large, open pathways seem safer to humans than smaller ones where they could get stuck. It enticed them to go further down. Down to the place where the tunnels got really confusing, ensuring it trapped them.When we reached the place where the next cavern opening was, I looked in. There was a light in the center of the room and I confirmed there was a light above the opening, keeping the creatures at bay. I returned to the group. “Do we want to kill these things, or do we want to hope the light keeps them in place while we go deal with Oberon and the demon?” I asked. “If the flames go out, nothing will stop them from escaping. They would be drawn to the demon if it was distressed and would try to protect it. Is there anything we can do?” Spencer asked. I touched the thick stone wall and dug into it mentally. The goblin magic that created the tunnels wasn’t as strong as it had been decades ago. There was a good chance I could influence it to close that opening, trapping the things, but it wouldn’t be a full-thickness closure. The stone would be difficult, but not impossible, to break through. “There’s a chance I can give us a little security, but it’s not perfect or permanent. What will happen to the revenant beetles after the demon is dead?” I replied. “If they can escape, they will. They will be drawn to another demon. Some will make the mistake of not protecting themselves enough. The moonlight can kill them as easily as sunlight can. It is simply a reflection of the sun’s light. A few will make it to the next demon, others will hibernate until another demon appears nearby, then they will risk leaving.” “After this is over, we can have some goblins erase this den,” Queen Ivy said. “That will end any remaining beetles. Rock, please seal the room as much as you can. It’s better to have tried than not to.” “Fire is a hindrance to them, but not deadly. This is a smart way of trapping them. I’m assuming this is magical fire instead of natural fire. How long will it burn?” Spencer asked. Harmony answered, “Typically, a fire witch controls magical fire. If the fire witch dies, so does their magic. Rock, seal the room. If that witch is still alive, then we got lucky and they may not be soon.” I nodded and went to the entrance. Putting my hand on either side of the opening, I channeled my magic into the stone. As it started closing, I saw the fire beginning to flicker, as if it was struggling to stay alive. We really got lucky. I pushed myself a little harder, trying to get it sealed before the flames died. Unfortunately, I didn’t quite make it. The flame in the center of the room blinked out of existence. I kept pushing my magic into the opening, but a few beetles made it out before the opening shrunk to be too small for them to get through. The arms of the beetles with hosts reached through what was left of the opening, trying to grab me. Even though it was disgusting, I didn’t stop. I needed to close this entirely if I was going to give us the best chance of trapping these things until the goblins could destroy the caves. Behind me, I heard my companions fighting the beetles that had escaped. None of them tried to attack me, but I knew they wouldn’t get far if they did. My skin was not as easily punctured as one might think, despite being softer than a full troll's. As the stone closed, the arms that were reaching out were broken, squished, and, eventually, severed. The smell was as bad as it had been the night those things attacked Carmen and Austin. I turned back to everyone else. The beetles had been killed, and Harmony was heaving at the scent. She was the most sensitive to it out of all of us. I pitied her but tried to get everyone to focus on moving forward. We still needed to find my missing mate, and I didn’t want to be here if the beetles and revenants broke out of the cavern. “This way. We need to keep moving,” I said. Spencer helped Harmony move past the beetle corpses. I stopped for a moment to bury them using my magic, so it did not affect Carmen and Austin the same way on our way back. This wasn’t something we wanted stopping us. We pressed on. As we went down further, I could hear something grunting and straining. It sounded larger than anyone in our group. “How big can demons get?” I asked Spencer. “If they get strong enough, they could rival some of the tallest skyscrapers in the world. The thing is, the larger they get, the harder it is for them to breathe and move. They rarely try to get big for that reason,” he answered. “Is there a reason this one might have?” He shrugged. “If supernaturals see size as power, then it could have elected to grow to a certain size. They don’t need to get much bigger than a large troll in order to have full control of their powers, no matter how strong they are.” As we got closer, I could feel the ground shaking beneath our feet. The grunting was getting louder, and I could hear what sounded like flesh tearing. We weren’t where my magic said the next large cavern was supposed to be. Instead, there was a massive thing blocking the path. It was pushing a limb of some sort into a narrow opening in the stone. Whenever it pushed in, the sound of its skin tearing echoed in the tunnel and the creature would growl and snarl. I sensed the earth to learn what that opening was. I found it was one of the false tunnels up. It went in a spiral up and became more narrow as it rose. I could feel feet on the ground in the tunnel, eight feet, four wolf and four human. Even if it wasn’t Carmen, we needed to save them. Queen Ivy grabbed my arm and pulled me back behind the wall we’d rounded. I growled lightly at her. We were too close to my mate to stop for whatever this was. “We need a plan. If not for Harmony’s cellphone flashlight, we wouldn’t be able to see at all. Someone needs to hold it if the non-cave-dwelling people are going to be worth anything in the fight,” she hissed. I sighed and nodded. Queen Ivy was right, as much as I didn’t want to admit it. We needed to strategize before we charged in, especially since we didn’t know what we were dealing with.“It’s after something in a narrow opening. I think it’s Carmen and Austin, plus someone else. I sensed two humans and one wolf. It could be Oberon if the demon turned on him, with either Carmen or Austin in wolf form,” I suggested. “That’s possible. Demons aren’t actually loyal to anyone, not even the people who summoned them. Their evil wants to harm others, and they are more likely to turn on those who summoned them than any other creature is,” Spencer explained. “What’s the plan, then? Can you draw your sword?” Harmony asked. Spencer took a deep breath and started whispering a prayer, then reached behind him. After a couple of moments, he sighed and brought his empty hand out from behind him, showing it to be empty. He shook his head. “I’m sorry, I can’t.” “Then all we have is Harmony,” Ivy said. “We can call Rhett. He said he could help if it looked like she might not be strong enough. If we have him here, then we won’t have to wait on him,” I replied. Growls and snarls accompanied the sound of feet rushing down the corridor. We turned toward the noise. Light started filling the tunnel, and we finally saw Rhett come around the corner trailed by three werewolf warriors who had their hands changed into claws and two larger werewolves in their half-shifted form. They were almost as tall as me and were nude, though covered in fur. “I’ve brought some backup,” Rhett announced with a wave of his hand toward the wolves. “Where’s Carmen?” the shorter of the two half-shifted wolves asked in a deep, yet familiar voice. “Mike?” “Where’s my sister?” he snarled. I nodded to myself. This might help us fight the thing better. “We think she’s pinned down by the demon in a tunnel with no outlet. We were just planning our attack,” I replied. “Trent and I will go in first and start attacking. As soon as we get the thing to unblock the opening, I want the smaller fae to head in and check on who is in there and help protect them until the demon is dead. I don’t want my sister getting involved in this fight,” Mike said. Alpha Trent just nodded. He was onboard with following his Beta. If he was fine with it, I was, too. I knew Mike was thinking of Carmen’s safety, and I completely agreed with his decisions. We got to work on our battle plans and how we would attack the thing. I was so close. My mate would be mine again, and I would never let her go.