novelraw Chapter 84: The Cave
Chapter 84: The Cave
The cave was dark and narrow. So narrow that the group had no choice but to move in a single line.
Nile, of course, walked in front without hesitation, keeping her steps calm and steady. Axel followed closely behind her, using his eyes to scan the walls and floor. Kinsey came next, then Jayden and Kora, with Rick nervously clutching the strap of his bag. Ares walked behind them all like a bodyguard.
Even though he followed them inside this mysterious cave, he didn’t like it one bit.
The deeper they went, the colder the air became. The faint blue light from outside faded until it was completely engulfed by darkness. Only the glow from their devices and small ability sparks from Nile and Kinsey lit the path.
No one said a word, and eventually, the tight tunnel opened up.
They stepped into a small clearing inside the cave, wide enough for all of them to stand comfortably. The ground was uneven, and the walls were jagged, as if something had clawed through them long ago.
Up ahead in the clearing were tunnels. Three tunnels stretched out, and each disappeared into darkness.
Seeing that they’d hit a problem, Ares seized the opportunity to turn back.
"Alright. That’s enough," he said, and everyone looked at him.
"There are three paths," he pointed toward the three entrances. "Which means three chances to run into something we can’t handle." He pointed back the way they came. "I say we turn around and get the hell out of here. What do you think? The plan sounds amazing, right?"
Rick nodded immediately. "Y-Yeah. I agree."
Kinsey hesitated, then nodded as well. "This place feels wrong. It’s too far away from the Oval Camp, and I don’t think we should be here."
Nile crossed her arms. "No," she said flatly, and all eyes turned to her.
"We already started this. Might as well finish it. It wouldn’t make sense to turn back now."
"And go where?" Axel asked. "We wandered pretty far from the Oval settlement. We’re in an unknown cave that could lead anywhere."
Nile shrugged. "This cave is safe. We’ll just kill a few advanced beasts, grab their crystals, and leave. Sounds easy..."
Ares narrowed his eyes. "You’re way too confident."
She glanced at him and asked, "So?"
Ares, who had been standing by, listening to Nile, came to a solid conclusion. Nile was hiding something.
"You know way too much about this place," Ares said. "You were sure advanced beasts were here. Now you’re sure the cave is safe. How? How do you know all this?"
Ares wasn’t the only one thinking it. The clearing went quiet as everyone waited for an answer from Nile.
She stood there for a moment, staring down one of the tunnels. For the first time since they met her, she looked unsure.
Then she shrugged.
"I lived here before."
---
Everyone had different expressions on their faces after Nile’s reveal.
"WHAT?!"
Everyone shouted at the same time. The sound echoed off the cave walls. Nile just stared at them, clearly confused by their shocked reaction.
Jayden, for some reason, was the first to recover. "Why would you live in a cave?" he asked, genuinely baffled.
Nile rolled her eyes hard and let out a scoff. "You’re a moron," she said flatly. "I didn’t live in the cave. I lived on this planet."
"Oh," he muttered and kept quiet.
"Why would you think I live in a cave?" a disturbed Nile asked. "Do I even look like a cave girl to you? Can a cave girl do this?" she asked as she threw a small bolt of lightning at Jayden. It crackled past his head and slammed into the wall behind him.
Jayden only moved a second after the impact. He didn’t even see or predict the attack.
"Looks like someone is being salty about being a cave girl..." Ares muttered.
Nile crossed her arms, ignoring his jab. "I know this place. That’s all. Why are you all acting shocked? You know people live on other planets besides Earth too, right?"
Nile wasn’t lying. There were human settlements across several Atlas planets.
Not all humans stayed on Earth after something called The Expansion. The Expansion was a period of expanding and migrating. Once foreign planets were discovered, people began to migrate.
After the first war, some left out of fear. They believed that if the Skavs ever returned, they would target Earth first and ignore the outer planets. Others left because they believed Earth was dying and wouldn’t last much longer.
Nile Reed was born on Exo sixteen years ago. She had only moved to Earth recently to attend Oval Academy.
"Look, I’ve always wanted to kill advanced-tier beasts," she said. "I just never had the chance. Now I do, and I’m not wasting it because a few scared puppies are shaking."
"If you know this place so well, then pick a tunnel. Why did we stop in the first place?" Axel asked.
Nile paused just for a moment before answering.
"I haven’t explored this part of the cave," she admitted.
Ares started laughing immediately.
"So you have no idea what you’re doing?" he cackled. "Fabulous! We’re following a broken compass, I see. Mind if I check a few loose screws in your head?" he sneered.
Nile’s fists clenched. Then sparks of electricity started dancing around her fingers.
Ares didn’t move back. Instead, he stepped closer, smirking. "Go on," he said. "Try it. I’ll just absorb it like always."
Kinsey looked between them nervously, and Rick shifted his weight.
Ares then turned away from Nile and faced the group. "Everyone get ready. We’re leaving this goddamn cave."
"No!" Nile snapped.
She looked at them one by one. "If you’re scared, then leave."
Without waiting for a response, she turned toward the three tunnels. She chose the middle one and started walking.
"Let her go," Ares said, waving her off. "Since she’s so bent on getting herself killed, I’ll help her with a very grand funeral. Wonder what kind of coffin design she’s into..."
"I’m going after her."
Everyone immediately turned to Axel.
"Axel—"
"You stay here with the others," Axel said. "I’ll bring her back, make sure she doesn’t get killed."
He started moving before anyone could stop him. Inside his mind, Aurora scoffed.
"Oh, infernal hell! You’re an idiot."
Axel ignored her and stepped into the tunnel after Nile.
Nile must be one of those humans who took very long, fast paces because Axel had been moving through the dark tunnel for a while now, boots scraping against stone, and there was still no sign of her. The tunnel felt narrow and closed in, so he slowed and stopped.
"Nile?" he called out.
There was no answer. Not even footsteps.
"This is a bad idea," Aurora said in his head. "Walking alone into an unknown cave on a foreign planet. You never learn, do you?"
"I need to find her so we can all get out of here..."
After a few more minutes, he suddenly hit something solid. He stepped back and frowned. In front of him was a steel door, infused right into the rock.
"A door?" he muttered. "Oval-issued?"
That made no sense. He decided to check it closely, looking for any Oval Corp markings or codes. There were none. No serial number. No logo. Instead, there were symbols carved into the surface. Not something he recognized.
"Meh." Axel shrugged and grabbed the handle.
The door opened with a low creak and revealed what was inside. It was a lab.
Rows of glass tubes and water pods lined the space. Some were cracked, some intact. Cables hung loose from the ceiling. The lights were dead. Dust coated the floor. Whatever this place was, it had been abandoned for quite a long time.
Axel stepped inside slowly and noticed that on the far side of the lab was another door. He walked to it and pushed it open, only to find Nile inside. She was crouched down, looking at something on the floor.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Axel said. "Why did you take off like that? We need to go back."
Nile didn’t look up. "I don’t take orders from you," she said flatly. "Or anyone."
She flicked her fingers at him. "Come take a look at this."
Axel hesitated, then walked over. "What is this place?" he asked, looking around.
"I don’t know."
"That’s funny. You lived on this planet."
"And?" Nile snapped. "That doesn’t mean I know every corner of it."
Axel stepped closer and saw what she was looking at. A pool of blue fluid spread across the ground, thick and sticky. And beneath it was—
"Is that skin?" Axel froze.
Axel recognized that texture and that bluish color.
"No," he told himself. "That’s not possible..."
"What is it?" Aurora asked.
Nile finally looked up at him. "You recognize it, don’t you?"
Axel swallowed hard. "Yeah... That’s Skavvern skin."
The door behind them suddenly burst open, and Ares walked in.
"There you are," he said hurriedly. "This little trip is over. We’re leaving, now."
He glanced down. "What are you looking at?"
Nile straightened. "There’s a Skavvern in this cave," she revealed.
Somewhere deeper inside the cave, someone screamed.
It was Kora.