Kitsune in the Shadows
Chapter 117 – Surrounded by Treasure

Ava, Cattleya and Rya just wouldn’t slow down at all, quickly running deep into the gleaming tunnel laid out in front of us. I just couldn’t understand why they were suddenly acting like this. I thought Rya needed to be close to me because of my mana, but she seemed to be doing anything but. However, it was Ava that I was the most surprised about, especially considering how she acted when this idea was first proposed.

It didn’t take long before they were completely out of sight, leaving me and Tybalt with only their voices to tell us where they were. It was only made worse that as we went deeper, more and more side paths opened up, leading to who knows where.

“Idiots…” He mumbled under his breath as he fastened his warhammer to his back, instead swapping to a short sword he had on his hip… although calling it a short sword might have been an exaggeration with just how short the blade was.

The two of us kept following behind the three of them at a constant pace, making sure that we didn’t trip over any of the many things scattered across the floor. The main concern for the two of us was any of the necklaces, just in case one wrapped around our feet. Well, that and the fact that a lot of the items were allegedly artefacts of some kind, assuming Cattleya was right about what was stored in this cave anyway.

“We’re going to have to speed up,” Tybalt said as he looked back at me briefly, “Even letting them get this far away from us is a big problem. I need you to make sure you keep your eyes on my back at all times. We don’t want you getting lost in here. If you end up tipping on something, make a lot of noise, and I’ll turn around immediately, okay?”

“… Okay,” I answered, not really having any other options given the situation.

We picked up that pace, not quite getting to a sprint, but moving much quicker than before. I didn’t even have to worry about tripping over anything all that much, as Tybalt was knocking whatever could get out of the way as he went. He was surprisingly reliable, just like Elenia had said, not that I had much time to really think about it anymore than that.

As we went deeper, even more paths opened up, some even leading to small chambers that acted as some sort of crossroads between different tunnels. Each time we ended up in one, both of us would have to stop and do our best to determine which path the others had gone down.

The only problem was that we didn’t always agree on the same direction, in part due to the incessant echoing, at least that’s what I thought it was. I always just decided to go along with what Tybalt said, and doing so, we could always still hear the other group relatively clearly, which at least meant we hadn’t gone the wrong way. However, the one thing that was quite worrying was that despite us picking up the pace earlier, the group just seemed to constantly be getting further and further away, with us never making any ground on them.

“Just how deep do these tunnels go?” Tybalt asked, “It’s been-… how long has it been?”

What do you mean-?

I tried to think back to myself, yet for some reason, I couldn’t quite remember how long ago we first entered the cave. I could remember going in, and since then, we haven’t stopped moving… but I didn’t feel tired at all, so it couldn’t have been that long.

…

“I hate being underground, I’m not made to live in the dark like this,” He mumbled, “When I get those three, I’m dragging them back up into the sun whether they’d like it or not…”

“…” I decided not to tell him that I heard what he said.

…

Wait, the dark?

Can Ava even see anything? How is she keeping up with the other two?

…

From there, we did the only thing we could and continued moving forward, although it didn’t take very long at all before Tybalt started complaining again…

“A dragon?” He said, “At this point, I expect to see a dwarf at the end of this labyrinth, maybe even a mole beastkin, but not a dragon. What kind of dragon would get its claws dirty just to do all of this? It goes on so far, I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up on the surface of the main continent once we finally get to the end.”

Have we really been walking that long?

I don’t feel tired at all…

We reached another split path, and Tybalt stopped talking to try to listen out for the other three once again.

After a few seconds, we heard the moving of coins from one of the paths along with a slight giggle, and both immediately turned to face it. But, just as we were about to start walking in that direction, I heard something else. A slight clink of metal against stone came from down one of the other paths.

What was-

“Don’t get distracted!” Tybalt shouted before I had the chance to turn and face whatever that was, “Just keep your eyes on me.”

“O-okay,” I said as we picked up the pace again… although I couldn’t quite shake the thought that there was something else in these tunnels with us, and it wasn’t all that far away.

…

It was all only made worse as I heard more and more sounds coming from the side paths we passed, be they occasional clinks or maybe some small towers of trinkets being disturbed and falling, but there was one time where there was something else hidden beneath all of that… a low, quiet growl.

I just tried to shake off the thought and ignore whatever that might have been. Rya said that she was coming down here to fix the problem, so if that was what was causing it, she wouldn’t have ignored it… I hoped.

…

*Crash*

What was-?

“Aah!” Ava screamed out, yet the sound came from behind us.

I immediately spun around, worried that we had somehow taken a wrong turn without noticing, but all that greeted me was a wall… right where we had just come from? I turned back to Tybalt, but again, I was greeted by another wall. Both the way back and the way we were heading were just… gone… along with the people who should have been there. Instead, all I could see were two small tunnels, one to my left and one to my right.

…

…

My mind was racing to try and explain what was going on, but no matter what I came up with, it just didn’t make any sense. The two tunnels I could go down were much smaller than the ones Tybalt and I were just walking down, so it wasn’t that I had just got a bit disoriented when I turned. It simply wasn’t the same place, but that didn’t make any sense. All I did was turn around; I didn’t take a single step.

Maybe…

I don’t know…

I poked my head into one of the tunnels and opened my mouth in preparation to call out for anyone, but just before anything actually came out, I heard the same low growl from before, just ever so slightly louder.

…

I’ll just…

…

I-I’ll stay here.

I-

…

It was hard to say if being able to see in the dark was a good or bad thing in that situation, as while I knew that there wasn’t anything too close to me, I could also see just how far the tunnels stretched on for in all their gold-laden horror. It didn’t even make sense that every inch of this place was decorated so extravagantly, even if it had all been stolen; it was just too much.

…

Could this be an illusion?

As I sat there, my mind continued to work. The idea of an illusion wasn’t too far fetched, at least if whatever did this was also who was making the ships crash… but at the same time I could feel the stone walls, I could pick up the coins and other trinkets on the floor; Tybalt even verified that the ring we found was one of theirs. That couldn’t all have just been an illusion, could it?

…

It was never this bad before… I think…

But what if it was? Were Tybalt and I actually chasing Ava, Cattleya and Rya, or were we just hearing things? Was Tybalt even here with me in the first place? If this was an illusion, when did it start? Was it when we entered the cave? Could it even have been back when we were in the city?

…

Could it have even been a few days ago? A week?… Ever since we arrived?

I shook my head to try to get rid of the thoughts. I thought it was better that I didn’t know the answer.

…

Is that why I haven’t been able to speak to Ovia? What if she’s trying to say something to me right now, but I can’t hear her?

As that thought crossed my mind, the growling got a little louder. I immediately looked in the direction I heard it from, but saw nothing.

It’s okay… There’s nothing-

Once again, the growling got louder and louder, as if something was very slowly making its way towards me. But still, I stayed there, being as quiet as I could.

It’s just an illusion. It’s not real.

…

It didn’t matter how many times I repeated that in my head; the growling just continued, until eventually, it got to the point where it felt like it was coming from just around the corner. I gave another look into the tunnel, but as I did, right where the turn was, a pile of bracelets fell over, followed by eerily clear heavy footsteps.

No, no, no, no-

I got up, deciding it was better to brave the other tunnel instead of sitting and waiting to find out if whatever I could hear was real. Chances were that it was, as even if this was an illusion, there must have been something controlling it… at least that was what made sense to me.

What if it really is a dragon?

Even as I started moving, the sounds continued to inch closer. As it did, I began to pick up the pace, making my way through the cramped space as quickly as I physically could without looking back. Paying little attention to all of the scrapes I was getting all over my hands.

Thankfully, up ahead, the tunnel seemed to open up, so, using whatever I had left in me, I made one last sprint forward. But, as soon as I reached the end of the narrow tunnel, my foot caught on an unfortunately placed rock and I was sent tumbling forward into an open chamber, sliding over gold coins until my back met the other side of the small room.

A sharp pain shot up from my right knee as I tried to get back to my feet, forcing me back down to the floor.

Looking around, the ceiling was much higher inside the chamber. In addition, there was much more loot piled up, from mountains of money to stalagmites decorated from base to tip in artefacts. But that wasn’t what caught the bulk of my attention… There was only one path out of the chamber, the one I had come from.

I had found myself in a dead end.

And the sound of footsteps slowly approaching wasn’t going to let me forget about it.