Levy stared into the darkness before him, unable to move for what felt like forever. His knees felt weak as he sat up. His shoulders slumped, defeated. Just as he’d found some hope of finding answers, his guide had been ripped right out from under him. He took a deep breath, pulling himself to his feet. He had to get him back, so he made his way forward, plunging into the darkness.

An odd silence filled the cavern, his footsteps breaking its hold as they echoed around him. Regardless of how lightly he tried to walk, the hard stone beneath him was unforgiving. Every now and then, he paused, hearing the distant shuffling of sand against the ground or the muffled sounds of struggle. Before long, the last rays of subtle light disappeared around a corner and Levy was truly in the dark. Alone, or so he hoped. At first, he figured it would be too difficult to navigate through the darkness. Sliding his hand along the wall gave him a consistent enough guide. But an uneasiness clawed at the back of his mind.

What if he missed Cabre in the dark?

What if something snuck up on him and snatched him up too?

What if he was too late because he took too long fumbling around?

With those new fears ignited, he pulled his hand away from the wall and pressed his palms together, focusing his energy until his fingertips started to glow. As he separated his hands, a small, yet powerful ball of glowing purple energy began to form. It grew until it was around the size of his head before he sent it floating ahead of him. The walls of the cave were a dark yellow-grey sand stone reaching up to a peak just out of hands-reach above his head. Looking back, he could see where his fingers had formed fine lines into the loose material. The floor was different: sturdier. A thin blanket of sand, surely from the walls and ceiling coated the floor. Upon closer inspection, Levy could see a trail through the sand. Skid marks as something dragged its prey deeper below. It had to be Cabre. Keeping his light just far enough ahead of him to light the path, but not so close to blind himself, he followed the trail. The path was long and winding, growing colder the deeper he went. There were places where paths split off, branching out in every which way. Sometimes the trail went cold, as if Cabre had just disappeared into thin air only for it to pick back up further ahead.

He felt like he’d been walking for hours when the narrow path he’d been following finally began to open up into a larger cavern. He paused as the path began to widen. There was light up ahead! It was faint, but enough to make a difference in the darkness. As a precaution, he let the energy from his light source fade, watching it dissipate. Taking slow, careful steps, Levy made his way into the entrance. Before him, a large, natural hollow had been carved out of the stone. Sun peeked in through a plethora of holes poked through the ceiling. It was almost like the insectarium of a child. Like crude holes poked through the lid of a glass jar, providing air to trapped creatures.

Around the walls, other pathways dug their way through the stone, leading to who knows where. Levy closed his eyes and strained his ears, trying to pick up any signs of where his traveling companion had been carried off. In the distance, he heard the faint trickling of water. A small source, but one he was sure people would bleed dry if they knew of its presence. The skittering of small bugs sounded from somewhere ahead. Then, splitting through the ambiance, he heard a horrible shrieking roar nearby. With a renewed sense of urgency, he threw all sense of caution to the wind, making a break down the cavern halls towards the noise before its direction left his mind. Down the largest of the hallways, the gaps in the ceiling continued, providing him much-needed light. Levy furrowed his brows as he raced down, his eyes catching sight of odd divots carved into the walls. He shook his head, pulling his focus back to the task at hand.

“Get away from me!”

Levy heard an angry shout from up ahead. It was Cabre! He was sure of it. Rounding a corner he finally caught sight of his companion. In front of him, a large furry-bodied creature with scaly wings and a long snout hung from the ceiling. Large taloned feet dug into the sandy ceiling as it opened its mouth filled with sharp, crooked teeth in another horrible shriek as Cabre kicked it away. It flapped its wings furiously, leaning its body away from its assailant before swinging closer. At this distance, Levy couldn’t quite tell what it was doing, but it made a wretched hacking sound as it opened its jaws a second time. He’d never seen a creature like this before, but he knew it wasn’t going to be friendly. He had to get Cabre out somehow and he had to act fast. Searching the ground in a quick once-over, he found a decent-sized rock. Picking it up, it was about the size of his palm. A good size for throwing.

‘Here goes nothing.’ He let out a sigh.

His eyebrows furrowed in a fierce expression as he hurled the rock at the back of the creature's head. It smashed a bit higher than its intended target, breaking into pieces against the creature's shoulder blades. It stopped what it was doing and turned its head to look at Levy, its jaws parted making a horrible crackling sound.

“Hey, fur face!” He yelled, trying to taunt it further.

It narrowed its eyes and cocked its head to the side. With a trembling thud it dropped from the ceiling, its talons scraping eerily against the stone of the ground.

“Yeah, you!” He continued. “Why don’t you come pick a fight with someone who can actually make it entertaining?”

Before he could say anything else, the creature launched toward him, extending its wings in a powerful display as it propelled itself forward. Levy’s eyes widened, not quite expecting such a quick response before he promptly dove out of the way, just barely making out of the creature's trajectory.

It turned its head to the side, slamming its shoulder against the wall as it kept its eyes on Levy. He stood, turning quickly to run as, in one swift movement, it was in pursuit again, its mouth open wide, trying to snatch him up before he could escape. He followed where the light continued down the pathways, thankful when the passages made loops back towards Cabre. With luck on his side, maybe he could lose the creature and free him before it knew what happened. But luck wasn’t on his side, it would seem. One wrong turn, and he found himself at a dead end. He didn’t have time to panic, though. With a deep breath, he mustered his courage and pressed a foot firmly against the wall. He shifted his weight, using what momentum he had to push himself off the stone, sending him into the air just enough to clear the creature's head. Arms outstretched, he caught himself on its back, tucking into a roll as he pushed himself off of his attacker. With this headstart, he took off down the corridor again, jolting to a halt in front of Cabre.

“You found me?” Cabre asked, perplexed.

“I wasn’t just going to leave you.” Levy panted, pulling his knife out.

Cabre shrugged. “Could’ve fooled me.”

Levy glared before continuing to cut him free. The creature had restrained Cabre’s arms and torso to the wall with some sort of stringy, gooey substance. Levy realized now that that’s what the divots in the walls were for; to keep its prey out of the way of its travel. 

“One arm down. One arm to go.” Levy said, grunting as he pulled his knife through the substance.

A shriek making its way down the hall interrupted him. Levy quickly turned, his eyes wide as he watched the creature careening its way toward him.

“Hold that thought.” Levy said, shoving the knife towards Cabre.

With his one free hand, Cabre clasped his hand around the weapon as Levy bolted off, the creature hot on his trail. Unfortunately, some of the goo had crept down onto his chest practically gluing the knife to his body. He groaned and squirmed, trying his best to pull the knife free without sending it flying across the hallway. With one final tug he eventually freed it, grasping it in his freed hand as he cut his other arm free. He took a few steps forward, a shudder wracking his body at the feeling of the gooey substance still stuck to his arms, but he’d have to deal with that later, down the hall he’d come from, he could hear the creature still in pursuit. As fast as he could, he took off, pulling his sniper from his hip as he could.

He broke into the clearing watching as Levy dodged out of the way as it rammed towards him. This time, its skull ran directly into the wall, stunning it just long enough for Levy to pull his pistol from its holster.

“No, Levy, wait!” Cabre yelled.

A pistol would be loud. Louder than his sniper. Too loud, but Cabre was too late. Levy squeezed the trigger and…

BANG!

The creature fell to the ground with a soft thud, its pursuit finally at an end, but the cavern around them began to rumble. Sand shifted down from the ceiling and walls as the entire cave seemed to shift.