Chapter 84 The Oasis in the Volcano pt1
I stare in sheer awe at the foliage around me.
The air is thick with humidity, making every breath feel like a sip of water. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Everything is so green, so alive, and so, so wet. The vibrant emerald hues of the leaves are both deep and bright, each drop of moisture on their surfaces glistening like tiny jewels. Trees and plants I’ve never seen before grow thickly all around the expansive cavern, their leaves and flowers forming a dense canopy that shelters us from the unseen sky above.
High above, some sort of ethereal light peeks through, casting a soft, golden glow that illuminates the whole cavern as if it were outdoors. On the far side is an enormous waterfall, its roar filling the cavern with a soothing thunder. The water cascades down in a shimmering veil, pooling into a crystal-clear lake before drifting off into several rivulets that snake their way throughout the cave, creating a symphony of babbling streams.
I walk on springy moss, its softness cushioning my every step. Once more, we’ve gone from defying death to being surprisingly safe. Disbelieving my own eyes, I scan the exotic-looking fruits on the trees, each one more colorful and strange than the last. The air is perfumed with their sweet, intoxicating scents. Malachi, always the most careless, grabs a purple-orange one and bites into it with abandon. Bright green juice covers his mouth and drips down his chin. He blinks once, twice, chews, and then starts devouring the whole thing.
“It’s sweet! It’s fucking sweet!” he shouts, his voice echoing off the cavern walls.
I watch in awe as each of my friends picks a different fruit, their eyes lighting up with glee as they take their first bites. The taste must be heavenly, as everyone is grinning from ear to ear. The scene feels almost surreal, like a dream come to life, an earned respite.
Unless… I kneel next to a stream and fill my hands with lukewarm water. Taking a cautious sip, I find it’s sweet and clear. I quickly fill my mouth until the entire front of my body is dripping with water.
“This is too perfect,” Zaries says as he kneels next to me and drinks as well. He hands me a small red berry covered in seeds.
I pop it in my mouth gratefully, not trying to hide the moan of satisfaction or the way my eyes roll back in my head as the sweetness unlike anything I’ve ever tasted dances over my tongue.
“I could stay here forever and never want for anything.” Sylvain sighs as she lies on the moss next to me and stretches out.
“It’s too—”
“Perfect,” Oberon says, finishing Zaries’ thought.
As if on cue, the cave seems to grow louder. The roar of the water is overpowered by the screeching of something very large and incredibly angry.
High above us, the light that heats the cave blots out. Something dives in, followed by something else, and more…and more. Until there are hundreds of shadows darting through the light and racing straight toward us.
“Wyverns!” Malachi screams. He runs, wild-eyed, and we all turn and sprint as fast as we can. The air fills with the beating of leathery wings and the high-pitched shrieks of the creatures.
So many of them. Most are small, not much larger than a bat, yet flashing teeth and fury, their tiny claws slashing at us. Others loom larger, their massive wingspans swallowing my vision, casting dark shadows over the verdant vegetation. Their scales glisten like dark jewels, and their eyes burn with a predatory intensity.
Terrified, we swat frantically, trying to keep the wyverns from flying too close. Sylvain screams as a blazing jet of fire from one of the larger ones blisters past us, the heat singeing our clothes and hair. The smell of burnt fabric and the acrid tang of smoke fill the air. We run for the center of the cave, for the lake, the only refuge we can see amidst the chaos.
In a desperate, unified leap, we all jump off a small cliff. The moment stretches, our bodies suspended in midair, the screeching horde above and the shimmering water below. The water is hot as we hit it, enveloping us in a shock of warmth. The heat is a strange comfort, a fleeting escape from the terror above. We plunge into the depths, the world above muffled and distant, the water offering a brief, surreal sanctuary from the frenzied attack.
We stay under, holding our breath, as hundreds of wyverns fly over and mill in a circle like vultures.
Swim for the falls! It’s your only chance!
Without time to think, I kick off the bottom of the lake and propel myself toward the falls. The world around me is a chaotic blur of splashing water and desperate movements. There could be a place behind it, a spot to hide. It’s the only chance we have.
My lungs burn with a fiery intensity as I reach the frothing water. I turn my head, frantic, to make sure the others are following me. Their faces are contorted with effort, red from the heat or from holding their breath, I can’t tell. Fear and determination flicker in their eyes, mirroring my own desperation.
I turn and propel myself into the torrent of the falls, surrendering to its massive pressure as it slams me into the ground.
The force is overwhelming, a relentless hammer that drives me down. Unable to do anything else, I claw against the bottom of the lake desperately, the rough texture scraping my fingers raw.
If I can get past the flow of water, it’ll let up. I know it, I—
The ground gives out from underneath me, a powerful sucking sensation snatching my hand. A scream rips from my throat, the last of the precious air expelled from my lungs as the current yanks me by the arm and propels me into the abyss below.
I'm thrashed around in darkness, my body hitting every rock as I’m sucked at impossible speeds through an underground current I can’t fight. Panic grips me, a cold, unyielding vice as my lungs scream for air and my vision blackens. Each impact sends jolts of pain through me, and I feel my strength waning, my resolve cracking.
After all this, after passing all that, living through everything I’ve lived through… I’m going to drown.
The thought is a cruel whisper in the back of my mind, a stark, horrifying realization that gnaws at my dwindling hope.