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Awoken from her slumber, Yuna rose to her feet, the numbing pain from her injuries still coursing through her body. Every movement felt heavy, as if the very air around her was thicker, colder. The temperature deep within the dungeon had dropped dramatically overnight, and the puddles that had been liquid just yesterday had now frozen solid, their glassy surfaces reflecting the pale light from the distant cracks above.
Despite the discomfort, she steeled herself. Rite and Lisa, already awake and ready, quickly packed up their belongings. With Yuna's condition better, though not fully healed, they knew they had no time to waste. Their only goal now was to escape the dungeon that had kept them trapped for so long.
Rite pulled out a map, studying it carefully. They had been running aimlessly for hours, desperate to find Yuna, and the chaos of their escape had left them disoriented. The map they had relied on was no longer accurate, the familiar lines now shifting with every turn they made. The dungeon was notorious for this—its core continually reshaped the path, as if to trap those who sought to escape. Only those with intimate knowledge of its shifting nature could ever hope to navigate it safely.
Yuna, still too weak to walk, was carefully placed into the same pack she had been carried in since the beginning of the journey. Rite made sure to adjust the straps, securing her with gentle hands, before turning to Lisa.
"We move now," Rite said, his voice low but determined. He adjusted the map once more, checking their path. "We're heading away from the spiders, and we've got to keep moving."
The fear that lingered in the air was palpable. Even with their skills, fighting endless hordes of spiders wasn't an option. The thought of facing such a threat again sent a chill down their spines. Their only hope lay in avoiding them altogether.
Hours passed as they moved through endless tunnels, their only company the echo of their own footsteps and the constant, nagging sense of danger following them. The further they went, the more distorted the map became. Rite cursed under his breath, realizing just how unreliable it was in this part of the dungeon.
"Rite," Lisa said after a long stretch of silence, her voice breaking through the tension. "I think we need to talk about our next steps. Once we're out of here, what do we do?"
Rite's brow furrowed, as though the idea of a future beyond the dungeon was still foreign to him. "I don't know," he admitted. "But it's not safe to stay near the village, not with monsters still lurking here."
Lisa glanced over at him, her eyes narrowing with concern. "What about your family? Up north, right? You've told me before."
Rite's face darkened slightly, a touch of uncertainty creeping into his voice. "It's been years since I've been home. I'm not even sure if my brothers still live there. And I'm not sure if the people in Joureafla are very welcoming to elves."
"It'll be okay," Lisa reassured him, though she seemed unsure. "I can use a spell to conceal myself. But… what about Yuna? I'd think it's more dangerous to take her to the humans. You know how they feel about our kind—and especially dragons."
Rite's expression hardened at the thought. "They once called my people demons… for no reason at all."
Before either of them could speak further, an unsettling sound echoed from above them. The skittering of claws, followed by the sharp snap and crush of wood, broke the tension between them. They froze, listening intently. For a long moment, the noise stopped, leaving only an eerie silence in its wake.
Rite and Lisa exchanged a glance, both of them holding their breath. Could it be another monster? It was rare for creatures of the dungeon to leave its confines—only those that had absorbed the dungeon's essence could survive the harsh outside world. But the unsettling sound made it impossible to ignore.
As they approached the final stretch of their journey, they found themselves standing before a hatch, its surface worn and rusty. Yuna, nestled in the pack, had her attention fixed on the sounds. She had sensed something was amiss, her instincts alert to every movement around them.
Rite moved cautiously toward the hatch, his heart racing. With a firm grip, he took hold of the latch and, with all his strength, pulled it open. The harsh sound of metal scraping against metal rang out, vibrating through the air.
"Click."
The hatch creaked open, and the sunlight that filtered through the cracks seemed like a distant dream—a sign that freedom was within their reach. But they knew this was far from over. They still didn't know what waited outside or what dangers still lurked behind them.
As the light from the outside world began to spill into the dark dungeon, they stepped forward, the sense of dread never leaving them.