Underneath the Silhouette-Chapter 87: Bindweed or Bust

Eirin and Shade looked at each other, their gazes meeting with a shared understanding that needed no words. Hesitation was not in their minds; the sudden understanding of the cause of the landslide and the town’s destruction motivated them.

Without a second thought, they turned and rushed back towards the Slumbering Slopes. The once effortless climb, which Shade had performed with such ease just yesterday, not took every ounce of his remaining energy.

Eirin found herself getting ahead of him, her worry for him warring with the urgent need to move quickly.

’This is humiliating,’ Shade thought, frustrated anger simmering beneath his fever-addled mind. His small legs ached, his lungs burned with each ragged breath, but the thought of Eirin seeing him struggle, of her getting ahead, spurred him on. He climbed faster, pushing through the pain and the weakness, refusing to be outdone by the teenage girl.

"Get away from me!" a shrill, desperate scream suddenly pierced the air, echoing from ahead.

Eirin stopped, causing the young man behind her to bump into her back with a soft thud. Before Shade could even complain, his eyes, still slightly unfocused, landed on the sight before them.

A young girl, no older than Eirin herself, was being roughly handled, her arms twisted behind her back, by a group of burly, sneering bounty hunters.

"It’s Hebe!" Eirin exclaimed, her voice a mixture of shock and recognition, as she pointed an accusing finger at the very nymph who had turned Shade into a child.

Hebe’s delicate hands were held tightly, cruelly, by two of the bounty hunters, thus causing her to be unable to use her formidable power.

Seeing the young girl struggle, her face contorted in a mix of fear and desperate anger, Eirin knew, with a fierce certainty, that she had to help, regardless of the danger. But how? If Shade could only control his power, if his full strength hadn’t been stolen, this would have been a piece of cake, a simple display of overwhelming force.

Now, they were vulnerable.

"Help me!" Hebe screamed again, her voice tearing at Eirin’s heart, a desperate cry for aid.

In an instant, Eirin acted. Driven by pure instinct and a surge of protective fury, she swung her arm in a wide, sweeping arc. A blade of concentrated wind, shimmering with a faint, ethereal blue, sprang from her fingertips, slicing through the air with a faint whoosh.

It came slashing at the bounty hunters holding Hebe, a direct, powerful strike. They screamed, not in pain, but in sheer shock and alarm, as the invisible force slammed into them, sending them stumbling backward.

Blood, dark and stark, gushed from jagged cuts that appeared on their arms and chests where the wind blade had struck. "You!" the one still holding Hebe, a large, brutish man, shouted, his face filled with rage.

With a vicious snarl, he gave Hebe a violent shove, pushing the young girl away from him with brutal force, sending her tumbling towards the edge of a steep, rocky drop-off.

Eirin gasped, a choked sound of horror escaping her lips, her eyes widening filled with terror as she couldn’t do anything as Hebe plummet. "How could you!" she shrieked, the words ripped from her throat.

The men, despite their injuries, let out coarse, mocking laughter, believing their escape was assured. But their amusement was short-lived. A fierce, desperate energy, born of fear and adrenaline, surge through Eirin. She began swinging her hands wildly, desperately, controlling the very air around them.

Gusts of wind, strong and unpredictable, lashed out, pushing the remaining bounty hunters away, shoving them back from the edge, driving them deeper into the treacherous, rocky terrain of the slopes.

Shade didn’t hesitate. Without a word, he turned and followed the retreating men, his small figure disappearing into the ominous maw of a nearby cave entrance. Eirin groaned in frustration, a sound of exasperation, before she was left with no choice but to follow behind them, her heart pounding with a mixture of fear and reluctant admiration for Shade’s reckless courage.

They walked down the straight, dark path, the light from the cave entrance quickly fading behind them, plunging them into an inky blackness that seemed to press in on all sides. But no matter how much they walked, how many steps they took, it was as if they would never meet the end of the cave. And the deeper they got in, the air grew thick, heavy, constricting around them, a pressure building in their chests.

Eirin reached out, her hand finding Shade’s small and warm hand. She held it tightly, afraid that if they lost each other in this suffocating darkness, they would never meet again.

Just then, a guttural, ear-splitting screech echoed through the cavern, followed immediately by a loud, monstrous growling that vibrated through the very rock beneath their feet. The sound was so intense, that it caused them both to clap their free hands over their ears, trying to muffle the deafening roar.

Soon, the panicked screams of those same bounty hunters followed, their terrified cries preceding them as they burst out of the darkness, bumping violently into the two students. Their eyes were wide, bloodshot, and filled with an abject terror that overshadowed their recent injuries.

Sweat ran rivulets down tear temples, glistening in the faint, ambient light that seemed to emanate from nowhere. They ran away, scrambling past Eirin and Shade as fast as their legs could carry them, heedless of any obstacle, as the sound of growling grew impossibly louder and the ground beneath them began to tremble once more, with a powerful, rhythmic beat.

"Let’s go," Shade said, his small voice surprisingly steady, completely devoid of fear. Without waiting for Eirin’s reply, he started walking deeper into the cave, directly towards where the growling was coming from, and away from where the bounty hunters were so desperately running.

Eirin groaned again, a sound of pure, unadulterated frustration, before following Shade. They saw a faint, shimmering light not far from them now, a beacon in the oppressive darkness, and that’s how they reached the deepest part of the cave.

The passage opened into a vast, breathtaking cavern, illuminated by an otherworldly glow.

The teenage girl looked around, her eyes widening in wonder. It was like a hidden paradise, a safe haven filled with vibrant greeneries and delicate, sparkling flowers that seemed to pulse with a soft, inner light. She looked up and saw a huge opening high above them, a natural skylight, letting them see a patch of the clear, cerulean sky, a contrast to the cavern’s depths.

In the very center of this verdant oasis was a wide, circular pond with sparkling, light blue water, its surface rippling gently as if alive. It was like a miniature, untouched paradise, complete with the gentle sound of unseen birds chirping softly from the lush foliage around them.

This made Eirin wonder, a frown creasing her brow, where could the thunderous growling have come from? The idyllic scene was at odds with the terrifying sounds they had just heard.

Just as the thought formed, the ground started shaking again, a deep, echoing rumble. The sound of a loud, deliberate stomp filled their ears, vibrating though the air, growing closer with each beat.

A colossal, rocky creature, truly immense, appeared before them, stepping out from behind a curtain of glowing vines. It was a lumbering golem-like being, its body composed of massive, rough boulders and dark, ancient stone, its eyes glowing with a dull, orange light.

"N-Nævi," the huge creature cried, its voice a mournful, ear-shattering rumble that made the very cavern tremble. The sound was deafening, causing the two students to cover both of their ears once more, wincing from the sheer volume. "Leave me alone!" it screamed, its voice laced with agony and rage.

"Bring back Nævi to me!"

The huge golem-like creature swung its massive, rocky arm in a wide, sweeping arc, a devastating blow aimed directly at them. Eirin reacted on instinct, a burst of adrenaline coursing through her veins. She dodged the colossal limb, pulling Shade away from its path with a powerful shove, barely escaping being crushed.

"What do we do?" she shouted, her voice thin against the creature’s roar, as she looked at Shade’s small, vulnerable body.

How was she going to rely on this man, this once powerful figure, when he was not even bigger than the young girl, Coleen?

The irony was bitter, the situation desperate.

Eirin looked around, her eyes scanning the hidden paradise for any clue, any advantage. That’s when she noticed something sparkling, truly glimmering, in the very middle of the wide blue pond.

It was a white flower, almost luminous, with a soft yellow hue at its center. "Is that...?" she murmured, her voice filled with dawning realization and a surge of desperate hope. "The weeping bindweed?"

When Eirin squinted, leaning closer, she realized that water, crystal clear, and seemingly endless, constantly dripped out of the delicate petals of the flower, and it was indeed the pure, magical source of the pond’s sparkling water.

The teenage girl pointed out to the glowing flower, her finger trembling slightly with excitement. Shade, following her finger, saw the weeping bindweed as well, a flicker of recognition in his still-distant eyes.

"I’ll distract the monster," Shade said, cutting through the creature’s mournful cries. "You get it." His words, however, caused Eirin’s forehead to crease in disbelief.

’Isn’t it the opposite?’ she thought, the absurdity of his suggestion almost comical in their dire situation. How was this small boy, barely taller than her waist, supposed to distract such a humongous, enraged monster?

"Hurry!"

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