Chapter Five - Part II:

Tekke Site

The dust was still settling.

Chunks of stone scattered across the floor.

One of the golems lay cracked open—green veins dimming.

The second had fallen face-first, embedded halfway into the far wall.

Jane sat against a low boulder, her breathing sharp.

Blood still marked the corner of her lip, dried now.

Hanna knelt beside her, one hand steady on her own knee.

They survived.

But the tunnel was blocked behind them—

caved in from the fall and the final impact.

Ahead, two thin passages curved into the dark.
One left.

One right.
Both too narrow to walk side by side.
The left was lower.

Too tight for Jane.

Hanna’s eyes flicked toward the passages.
Then back to Jane.

Jane stood slowly.
Her eyes followed Hanna.
Then turned to the left path.
“No way.
We find another way. Together.”

“We will,” Hanna answered, softly.
“You’ll take the right path.
Keep your left hand on the wall.
I’ll take the left one.
Keep my right hand on the wall.

If they meet up—
we’ll find each other again.
If one of us hits a dead end,
we wait or turn back after twenty minutes.
Deal?”

Jane’s jaw clenched.
“I don’t like it.”

“I know.”
Hanna smiled gently.
“I don’t either.
But I can fit through there.
And you can’t.

And if we both take the same path
and there’s something waiting,
we’d have no room to fight.

it’d be worse than facing it alone.”

Jane stood fully.

Stretched her arms once.

Hanna raised her right hand.

Fingers curved like a crescent.

Jane met it with her left.

Not a handshake.

Not a wave.

Just a touch, palm to palm.

Then they turned.

One left.

One right.

Steps quiet.

Ice flickering faintly behind them.

Stone above.

Stone below.

Jane moved carefully through the narrow path.

Each step tested the ground.

Still sore.

But steady.

Her tunnel curved once,

then opened slightly.

A draft touched her cheek.

Fresh air.

Then,

just ahead,

light.

A faint glint bouncing off uneven stone.

She stepped through the last arch, into a hollow alcove.

And froze.

Ahead, across a jagged pit—

a collapsed tunnel mouth.

Crushed inward.

Beneath the rubble, wedged between the boulders—

a flicker of blue.

Ice.

Her voice caught in her chest,

then she stepped forward.

“HANNA!”

No answer.

She ran to the edge of the drop,

boots scraping the edge,

then crouched low.

“Hanna—answer me!

 I swear if you froze your arm again just to save a bug—”

Faintly, from the other side.

"I’m fine!

But the path’s blocked!"

Jane let her head drop.

Relief in her throat.

“You better be.”

Then she smiled.

Jane pressed her hands to the stone.

"Hold on, I’ll try to—"

“Wait, go back a bit.

Let me try something.” Hanna voice came muffled.

Hanna stared at the boulder.
She took a shaky breath.

Right glove on,
Ice.
She crouched and placed her palm on the stone.

A thick layer of frost spread fast,
but barely reached a crack.
She grimaced.

She pulled off her red glove,

pressed her hand flat.
Heat bloomed,
steam curled,
but the boulder barely hissed.

Her lips tightened.

She glanced down at both gloves.

Hanna’s voice was louder, slightly strained.

"I’ll need to use both to break it!"

Jane’s voice cut through the stone with sharp urgency.

"OK! BUT DON’T FORGET—

FIVE SECONDS,

HANNA!"

"I know," Hanna answered, her voice fading.

 Hanna stared at the boulder again.
 She took a shaky breath.

Left glove on. Ice.

Right glove on. Fire.

She didn’t wait.

Crack.

Hiss.

The stone groaned under the force,

ice spreading wide, steam hissing as flame tore into it.

She stumbled back as the boulder split and collapsed inward, light bleeding through the dust.

Blood ran from her nose. Her legs trembled.

She wiped it quickly with the back of her hand
and
melted a bit of ice in her palm,
cleaning it quietly.

Footsteps.

Jane.

She emerged from the settling dust and rushed to her.

"Are you okay?

Did you get hurt?

Let me see your nose,

show me your hands."

"See?" Hanna turned her face, showing her nose, then her fingers. 

But behind her back,

on the ground—

a red pool of blood.

Jane exhaled slowly, a breath of relief escaping her chest.

She turned back toward the wreckage of the boulder and started walking.

 "So…

any luck with treasure on your path?"

Hanna blinked,

pulling herself from her thoughts.

"What?

Oh…

treasure?

No, no.

I saw some glowy mushrooms.

That counts?"

She caught up to Jane,

with a proud little smile,
brushing dust from her tunic.

Jane gave a quiet huff.

"I don’t think so."