54: Caves

The next morning, when I woke up, I saw Milo and Jen sitting by the windows left in the side of the structure for watch. Hari and Liane were still asleep.

I made my way to the fire, where Crisplet was resting. Did fire elementals even sleep?

Waving to the two who were awake, I knelt beside the fire and got to work. I didn’t have the ingredients for porridge, and I was starting to run low on boar belly. I could technically make pancakes, but I didn’t have enough butter or fruit to go with them. Instead, I went with a roll cut in half, then, using my last six eggs, I cooked them in the pan with butter, scrambling as I went. I’d seen Geo do this once, and it tasted really good on toasted bread.

Once it was all ready, I infused four of the five plates. Before going to wake people up, I pulled out the five stone sticks, using the last three leaf-bladed spiders and two stone scorpions. I pushed a blood tear into each, using up the last of those as well. Finally, after sprinkling some salt and pepper, I stabbed the sticks into the ground so they’d roast slowly above the fire with Crisplet’s help.

Happy with everything, I carried two meals over to Jen and Milo, who hadn’t left their positions today. Then I woke Hari, which was easy—my approach alone was enough to rouse him. Then came Liane.

“Five more minutes!” she mumbled, covering her head.

I sighed. “Breakfast is ready. It tastes really good,” I coaxed.

“Oh, I’m cooking some spiders and scorpions as well,” I added. Immediately, she sat upright. Of course, that would get her awake.

We all ate in silence. The only sound was Crisplet playing in the coals. It felt a little awkward, so I tried to break it.

“So, do you think we’ll find anything up there?” I asked curiously.

“I imagine we’ll find an empty nest or a monster that’s taken it over. But we need to make sure it’s clear, or as soon as the Galvonson can fly, it’ll be looking for food nearby—and I’d hate to hear a child got taken because we failed in our job,” Hari said, his tone sombre at the reminder of what failure could mean.

I just nodded. It made sense. I’d made the spiders and scorpions not just for Liane to snack on, but because they’d be handy buffs in case we needed them. If everything was correct, they should give regeneration to the party.

“The spiders and scorpions should give you a regeneration buff. I figured it might be helpful if there’s combat today,” I said.

If looks could kill, the glare I got from Liane for giving away her snacks would have murdered me ten times over.

“I made you two! But this is the last of what I have. After this, I only have larger stuff left in my supplies—and the Lake Veyran bugs. I decided that tonight, if we had the time, I’d cook several of the bugs and maybe some extra pieces of Thunar, since that was fairly easy to cook and delicious.”

“Fine… but we need more,” she said, still unhappy at being woken up.

Once they were ready, I infused the scorpions and spiders together. In total, I’d already used 340 mana, so I needed to be careful not to run out.

As we left camp that morning, I noticed Milo didn’t dismantle it, instead leaving it standing. We made our way up the mountain again, following Milo as he used his magic to compact the dirt, with Liane ahead of him leading us towards the ledge she’d spotted.

It took a couple of hours before we reached the spot, mostly because we needed to compact the loose, dusty rock and harden it into something we could walk on without sliding down. I was still jealous of Liane and Jen, who seemed to travel over the top without a care in the world.

At this stage, I stood in the middle of the group, Jen behind me, with Hari and Milo in front. Everyone besides Milo had weapons in hand, ready to go—but so far, we hadn’t seen anything at all.

With how dangerous I’d heard this mountain was meant to be, the lack of any sign of life was both welcome and unnerving. I felt like I wasn’t the only one thinking that way.

“Is it always this quiet up the mountain?” I whispered, matching the mood.

“No. No, it’s not,” Jen said.

Looking up at the ledge that held the cave, I stared in amazement. I had no idea how we’d reach it. It was well above us, on an overhanging ledge. We’d need to climb the rock face to reach it.

Or so I thought.

Milo got to work, creating almost a staircase out of the rock. It wasn’t pretty, but it gave us a way up. That was fine—until I got about halfway and made the mistake of looking down.

It was so far down. My mind raced. I could fall off. I’ll die.

A hand touched my shoulder.

“It’s okay. Eyes forward. Keep walking. You’ll be fine,” Jen whispered, seeing me freeze up as she followed behind.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself, then forced a step forward.

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It felt like the longest few minutes of my life, but I eventually made it to the top. What stood before us was a giant cave entrance, and to the side near the wall was a massive collection of wood and sticks.

“This was the nest at some point, but it’s been destroyed. We need to make sure no Galvonson survived—I don’t see eggshells,” Hari said.

“Wait… we’re going in there?” I asked, pointing at the cave.

“Sure are. Now would probably be a smart time to take a bite of the food Trev gave us,” Hari said, pulling his own scorpion out of storage. Milo and Liane had spiders, while Jen had a scorpion, refusing the spider.

Liane had been snacking on hers for a while now, so she’d already have the buffs active.

We all started walking forward into the cave. Helpfully, Crisplet naturally provided light, so Milo didn’t need to waste any more mana doing that.

Deciding it wouldn’t hurt, I used Arcane Foraging, just to see if anything showed up around us—and to my surprise, it did.

“Uh, I see a large mass not too far ahead on the right,” I said, watching the faint blue outline of something. I also spotted several mushrooms scattered deeper in the cave that glowed incredibly bright, and what looked like a vein of something running deeper down into the rock, pulsing with a solid glow.

“Everyone, be ready. Crisplet, move back. Trev, get near Jen,” Hari said, that leadership tone coming through again.

“Milo, cast a light up ahead,” he added. Milo obeyed, sending a small ball of light drifting forward into the cave.

“Uh, it’s a little more to the right, but it should be right there,” I said. As we came around a small bend, we smelt it before we saw it.

It was the size of a horse—but very much dead, half-eaten. The corpse of a Galvonson lay sprawled on the ground.

“Something ate it. Be on your guard,” Hari said. “See anything else, Trev?”

Looking around again, I saw that nothing had changed. We were much closer to the mushrooms now, and the glowing vein seemed to run straight through the rock itself.