It was death to go back the way they came.
Skeletons pushed out from the cave walls and poured from that direction room towards them, racing as their inhuman growls filled the air.
An army of the dead.
It was a horror Belladonna had never witnessed in her entire life.
Maybe the necklace was indeed a trap after all.
The fun of leaving unsolved mysteries as mysteries was staying alive.
Moria was wrong and the people of Aniktaki were right to have decided not to concern themselves with this cave.
Well, it was too late for Belladonna now.
Wasn't it?
Her running steps fell into sync behind Alaris and he raced away in another direction, with his hand tight around hers in a firm grip.
She followed blindly, her steps unbalanced and uneven sometimes, her body juggling everywhere from the desperation of her run until she was side by side with him.
Every turn he took, she did too.
He lead and she followed.
Simple.
No questions asked.
"What is that?" His breath sounded a little too even for someone running at the kind of speed he was. "When did you start getting that?"
"W--hat? Having skeletons run after me because they fancy me so much?" Belladonna asked, her words tumbling over each other as she looked over her shoulders. "For a while now. It's fun. You should try it sometimes."
She added a breathless chuckle.
The skeletons were hot on their trail, fast and with a sense of direction. Some were now climbing the clay walls of the cave, rapidly crawling towards them.
Belladonna's heart skipped a beat, her facade of bravery quickly slipping away, her grip tightened around Alaris' hand as she ensured that the headstone was safe in the bag she had carried across her.
"The black webby marks," Alaris answered point blank, and it was at that moment she was able to see the black webby marks that looked similar to the ones Eli had.
That brought her attention to two things.
Alaris was holding her and it didn't seem to be causing him any pain, that wasn't the reaction she always had any time the thing would lure her to hold Eli.
That was another thing.
Her marks didn't seem to be luring Alaris.
Alaris was nothing like her though, she couldn't use him as a yardstick to judge this kind of thing.
"This isn't the first time, is it?"
Was this really the right time for this? Belladonna definitely didn't think so, the Skeletons looked more visible now than before, their long white body coming into a clear view under the dim golden torch lights of the cave.
Well, that couldn't be good.
"You should have told me."
"What does it mean?"
Belladonna couldn't for the life of her understand why his reptilian eyes held so much anger because she kept this from him.
Honestly, at that point, she had totally forgotten about it.
What would he do if he were to find out that the webby marks also caused her to bleed?
"The magic of dabbling in and out of your dreams to go to different places is taking a toll on you. It is all up to your neck, it might get to your heart soon. Do you know how dangerous that is?"
So it had to do with too much magic.
That confirmed it then.
The marks on Eli's hands definitely had to do with the weight of the Alterer taking a toll on him.
A swift yank.
Another corner.
Another turn into another tunnel.
Belladonna just hoped they wouldn't run into something worse.
Did Alaris even know where they were going?
Were they going out of the cave or even deeper?
Belladonna's chest was heaving and dropping too fast now, the fact that she could still talk was an absolute mystery, even to her.
By Ignas, never had she ran so much in her entire life!
"You should have told me."
Was he really scolding her right now?
"We need to take a break. We are not invading any magical places till I see changes."
"I'm not taking any more silly breaks," she gritted.
"I won't have you die on me."
"You'll do exactly as I say, and if I say I want to go to Find Thanatos Sunflower, you will take me there. Stop acting like you care. I know you don't, Bride Thief." her voice was barely above a whisper and the only reason she was sure he was able to even hear that was because he had excellent hearing.
It made her curious about what creature he was exactly.
Maybe she could do a research on it when all this was over, learn more about what he was truly capable of.
The growl of the Skeletons chasing them shook the cave, sending a hard reminder to her of what they were running from.
Something about being with Alaris made her feel safe. Maybe it was the confidence in his magic.
That was stupid, knowing that sometimes it was unstable, especially around auras like the one Lady Kestra, the Soul Witch, had.
"For Fuck's sake, it's Alaris and on the contrary, I care a lot about you, Nightshade. How else will I get out of this hellhole if you're dead?"
"Find another willing bride?" She mocked.
"Why do that, when you are the only bride I want." He returned with the same energy.
Something flew across the air, and Alaris pulled her away right in time for them to duck.
It was a skeletal hand.
Belladonna's eyes bulged in fear as she turned back to see that the skeletons were now a few steps away from them. They seemed to grin from ear to ear at their impending victory.
Even she could see it despite their lack of medium for such expression.
"They are closing in on us, do something," she shouted, her breathlessness, needing such volume for her to even get words out.
"This human body restrains me," Alaris gritted with a frustrated grunt. "I can't bring my abilities to the perk. Humans are so weak."
The skeletal parts that had been flung in front of them were doing something weird.
Attaching and becoming what was chasing them.
By Ignas, they were being attacked from the back and the front.
"Alaris!" Belladonna's gaze didn't move from the Skeletons in front of her, knowing now that there was nowhere to run. "Do something!"
The height of pleading, and the desperation in those words were things Belladonna could have never thought she was capable of.
Suddenly, Alaris yanked his hand away from her. She looked beside her, reaching to hold him once again because not doing so just felt unsafe, but it suddenly fell silent in her mind, like for a moment everything stood still.
Everything was cold too. Even the air as she breathed it in, stinging the roof of her nose with the coldness, goosebumps lacing her skin, every part of it, even the part that was covered with her dress.
There was something within those growling skeletons that was racing towards them.
Something that stood still.
Felt more dangerous.
A shadow.
A woman's shadow.
One that was staring right at her.
But a deafening scream from behind jolted Belladonna from the trance, a frantic cry from Taria, the shadow disappearing before her very eyes at that exact moment, before she turned to look behind her.
"Wh--at? What are those? You? What am I--- what are you---?" Help! Someone help me please!"
Belladonna frowned, looking around quickly, the painful realization of what had just happened crashing on her.
Alaris was no longer in Taria's body.
Where was Alaris?
Did he just--- leave her alone here?
Again?