Chapter 25 - Twenty-Four (1/2)

After walking for a while and finding no monsters, we reach what looks like a jail, full of prison cells with metal bars closing them up, and many chains hanging around, some coming down from the ceiling and others on the wall. In some cells there were some strange blobs of meat, pulsating as if alive, like a heart.

What the hell…

I soon find the stairs going up leading to a building, one with a very strange yet familiar setting; there were chairs with little wheels under them, tables with strange devices, glass windows and doors, and many metal furniture around, like tables, cabinets, etc, as well as some dried out plants and wasted food.

We reach to a pair of glass doors, a little heavy and jammed, but I manage to open them sideways, exposing the outside for us.

And what greeted us looked like a gigantic cemetery full of tall grey buildings close to the sky which, in this case, was the dungeon celling full of crystals shining like stars, the fake light giving more deep to the blackness of the cave.

Far away a tower stood above all, a round clock amazingly still working, tick tacking his way around for all the ghost city to hear.

Shit, this place is huge, how does it even fit down here? And how are we supposed to find an exit?!

First things first, I thought, is that Leonel is hurt, hungry and tired, I need to find a safe place for him and start scouting the place up, even better if I find some food so we do not use our reserves.

Oh, and clean water too.

That's all? That I can think of, yes, for now.

As I walk Leonel's face doesn't react to anything, and he may control well his emotions and expressions however my senses capture more than that, feeling the distress of his muscles, his tired and hurt smell; which were apparent, believe me, is just hard to explain how smells work.

”For how long were you down there? And how you got there kid?”

Me calling him kid didn't have any effect anymore, but the question bothers him. ”Two days.”

Wait, what? How so? They should stay here for two to three days, as most excursions worked, but on day one they already messed things up? The cave in was the least of their problems, and how about those a.d.u.l.ts that were ”responsible” for the kids? Humf.

There were skeletons of trees all around, as a blueish moss took over the place with a few small mushrooms, illuminating only enough so that the shadows grow deeper and the corners were more hidden in the dark. Some excessively white lights stood high in some metal structure too, but most of them were flickering in and out, and many didn't work at all.

Leonel was with a high fever, so I couldn't wait any longer, he needed to stop and rest in a dry and safe place. Without knowing what to expect of this place, I walked by the main road, hiding behind some metal structures with wheels below them, as I see some cabins made of glass and metal in the form of a square box.

It didn't appear to be really safe, but the visibility would allow me to oversee any danger, and the glass would cover us from any wind or cold temperature.

Maybe bricks were better, I thought as I opened the glass door, but as I look over the few stairs that lead up inside a tall building, at its ominous quiet atmosphere, the mere possibility that anything could be inside there hiding in the shadows made me anxious; until further study about the creatures here and this dungeon I would not enter any of that; Hell, even those buildings could be the monsters for all I know!

I close the door once we are inside, lying down and letting the boy slide to the ground. Shit, should have brought clothes or something, but it all went down so quickly… and nobody would have thought that we would be stuck way down here.

My attention goes to Leonel as he was looking pretty shady. Unconscious, giving shallow breaths, his hands clenching, but still his face didn't change, even asleep. God damnit, what have you passed through kid? I put my paw on his forehead, trying to feel his temperature, but my fur got in the way, only his rosy cheeks let me know he wasn't fine.

I go to his legs only to see they are infected, with some yellow and red tissue around the wounds, scattered all around his skin. Ok, we need to properly treat that. I straight him on the floor and push his pants down with my teeth, slowly not to wake him up, and once I'm done I sit on top of him so he doesn't move.

By then he woke up.

”What are you doing?”

”Treating you.”

I start to peel off the bad skin with my talons, feeling him tense underneath me, but he simply says: ”I can heal that.”

”Yeah, sure brat, stop whining and let me take care of you.” I say as I keep peeling it off as quick as I can ”Just focus on getting better ok? Your MP is almost out.”

He shut up at that. Yeah, appraisal doesn't care about privacy, and now I know you have healing magic, your elements are light and wind, and you are level 34, 13 years old, and for what I saw back there very high level for your age; the a.d.u.l.ts were level 40.

Which raises the question again of how he got in this predicament.

Once I clean the wounds they start to bleed again, but with the bad skin off I start liking it clean, receiving a knee to the snout on the first lick.

”Ahgt, what the hell! I'm cleaning it you brat!”