CHAPTER 15: The Cave
The storm outside hadn't let up.
Rain lashed against the cliffs and trees like waves breaking on rock. Thunder rolled across the sky, not in sharp cracks, but in deep, growling rumbles that seemed to echo inside the very bones of the mountain.
Inside the cave, the trio huddled near the entrance where the cold stone met the outside world. They had eaten a quiet, early dinner, nothing elaborate, just meat that they hunted and hard bread, enough to fill their stomachs and settle their nerves. Now, the fire they once sat beside had dwindled to a faint, flickering spark barely enough to warm a hand.
No one dared feed it.
The deeper parts of the cave stretched behind them like a yawning mouth—black and still.
It was near midnight when a sudden roar of thunder cracked the sky like splitting timber.
Leo flinched awake.
His hand instinctively reached for the sword beside him. The shadows played tricks—his eyes still adjusting. Lightning flashed again, bright and violent, and in that instant of pale-blue light, he saw her.
A figure still and silent stood a few feet away at the edge of the dark.
Leo blinked. His breath caught in his throat.
Then another flash.
It was El.
She stood with her back to him, rigid, staring into the depths of the cave. Her cloak swayed gently from the wind curling through the stone walls. Her posture wasn't relaxed she was alert, listening.
"El?" Leo called softly.
She didn't turn right away, not until the next bolt of lightning lit up the sky again. Then slowly, she glanced over her shoulder.
Her eyes met his.
She raised a single finger to her lips—Shhh.
Leo rose from his bedroll and moved to her side as quietly as he could, every step careful against the uneven ground.
"What's going on?" he whispered.
"I heard something," she replied without taking her eyes off the darkness ahead. "It woke me up."
Leo's hand clenched around his sword hilt. "What kind of something?"
"I don't know," she whispered. "It wasn't close. Just... movement. Echoing from inside."
Another roll of thunder, slower this time, crept along the stone like a low growl. The light from the fire spark was too faint to help them now. Their only illumination came in brief flickers, lightning flashing like the breath of some god, revealing the cave in quick, haunting still frames.
"Should we use a light?" Leo asked, voice low. "I can conjure—"
"No," El cut in gently. "It might not be safe to let whatever it is know we're awake."
She took a cautious step forward into the dark.
Leo followed, eyes straining.
The tunnel narrowed the farther they went. Walls slick with moss closed in, reflecting faint glimmers from the fading firelight. The air thickened damp, cold, and heavy with the scent of old earth. Each breath was shallow. Every footstep whispered, too loud in the silence, like they were trespassing somewhere sacred or cursed.
The world felt surreal, half dreaming, half drowned in shadow. With each step, the cave floor sloped deeper and the air turned colder. The wet scent of stone and earth hung heavy in their nostrils.
Then—
Crack.
Leo froze mid-step.
A brittle snap echoed beneath his boot, louder than it should have been.
It didn't feel like stone.
He looked down, heart drumming.
A streak of lightning flared through the cave mouth—brief, violent.
Bones.
Long-dead. Dry and scattered. A shattered jawbone, hollowed eye sockets, ribs snapped like dry twigs. Some still tangled in scraps of ancient fabric, others half-buried in dust.
Leo's breath hitched.
"El..." he whispered
But she was already a few steps ahead motionless.
Another flash of lightning lit her profile.
And this time, Leo saw her face.
Sweat beaded down her temple despite the cold, and her skin had gone ghostly pale. Her eyes weren't just wide, they were locked. Unblinking. Staring into the dark ahead with a kind of quiet horror.
Leo followed her gaze
He squinted into the void, trying to make sense of the shifting black. The cave breathed around them its silence now broken only by the occasional rumble of distant thunder and the pattering of rain from outside.
Then, another flash brighter than before.
And in that moment of cruel clarity, he saw it too.
A shape.
Like a massive Boar, Its massive body sprawled across the stone like a mountain of muscle and bone, armored in thick, cracked hide the color of ashen slate. Spines jutted from its back in irregular rows, each one sharp as a butcher's blade, curving like ancient, rusted scythes. Despite its size, its breathing was shallow, rhythmic and disturbingly quiet for something so large.
Its limbs were grotesquely long, built for both crawling and crushing, ending in talon-like fingers that could split boulders. Its chest slowly rose and fell, the motion making faint clicking sounds from deep within its throat. From its hunched posture and heavy limbs, it almost seemed more like a predator that had evolved underground adapted for ambush and darkness.
The face or what could be called a face was the worst. Bone-white and stretched, its head was elongated with no visible eyes, only deep cavities where eyes should have been. In the center of its face, rows of needle-thin teeth protruded from a vertical slit of a mouth that looked too wide for its skull.
It was asleep.
Its breathing was deep, rumbling, like a distant avalanche echoing within its chest.
And around it scattered like broken offerings were bones. Dozens, maybe hundreds. Not just animals. Humans.
Leo stood frozen in place. Leo's heart stopped for a second and his stomach turned.
The silence between thunderclaps felt endless.
He swallowed, unable to speak, unable to blink.
The silence returned, louder than any thunder.
El turned her head slightly, her voice no more than a breath. "We need to go back. Slowly."
Leo nodded.
No fire. No words. No sudden movement.
They backed away, step by agonizing step, into the waiting dark praying the storm outside would not wake the storm within.
Matthew stirred from sleep, disoriented by the echo of thunder and the sharp scent of damp stone. He opened his eyes only to find a shadow looming above him.
He jerked instinctively, but a hand clamped over his mouth.
"Shh! It's us," Leo whispered, his voice low and urgent as he slowly removed his hand.
Matthew blinked, heart pounding in his throat. "What's going on?" he whispered back. "Why are we whispering?"
"Before we tell you… promise you won't shout. Or make any sound," Leo said, his eyes glinting faintly in the dim flickers of lightning.
Matthew nodded, though unease had already sunk into his bones.
Outside, the storm continued to rage. Thunder rolled like distant war drums, and each flash of lightning illuminated the mouth of the cave, casting long shadows that danced and vanished just as quickly.
Leo glanced deeper into the cavern and then back to Matthew. His voice was barely audible. "We're not alone. Deep inside this cave there's something. Huge. Sleeping... for now."
Matthew's breath hitched.
They'd been resting in something's lair this whole time?
Panic clawed up his chest. "Then what are we still doing here?" he hissed, already reaching to gather his things. "Let's get out of here before it wakes up."
Before Leo could respond, El spoke.
Her voice, quiet as a breath but sharp as steel, cut through the thick silence.
"Let's kill it."
Both boys froze.
A fork of lightning tore through the sky outside, throwing jagged shadows across the cave walls. In the flickering light, El stood with her arms crossed tightly over her chest. Her jaw was set, expression unreadable but her fingers trembled.
Leo stared at her, stunned. "What?" His voice cracked, pitched too high. He caught himself, clapped a hand over his mouth, then hissed again in a strained whisper, "Are you insane? You saw it, didn't you? That thing… that thing isn't just a beast, it's a Greater Beast. I don't even think I saw eyes. Just… void. And did I mention the pile of bones? Human bones?"
Matthew stopped packing. His mouth hung open, caught somewhere between disbelief and a protest that couldn't find the words.
"I'm with him," he muttered, jabbing a thumb in Leo's direction. "That thing is ten of us put together—and that's being generous. Armored or not, it would tear us apart. We need to pack up, back away slowly, and pray to every god this side of the mountain that we don't wake it."
"I know what I saw," El replied, calm, unwavering.
Her voice was low but steady, like a rope pulled taut. "It's terrifying. I'm not pretending it's not. But remember what I said about monsters and humans?"
Leo's eyes narrowed, the memory surfacing unbidden.
"You said monsters can be outsmarted," he murmured. "Humans... not always."
"Exactly," El said, eyes fixed on the dark mouth of the cave. "That thing is asleep. Right now, we have one chance, one opening. If it wakes up and decides to come after us, there won't be a second."
Matthew rubbed his face, groaning. "So your plan is to poke the sleeping demon because… maybe that's better than running?"
"No." Her voice was like flint now, striking against something buried deep. "I'm saying we kill it before it kills someone else. Or us."
Lightning flashed again, casting her face in stark relief cheekbones sharp, eyes shadowed, but burning.
Silence followed.
The wind howled outside the cavern, dragging rain like knives across the stone. Thunder rumbled low, a warning growl echoing through the mountains.
Leo stood still, heart pounding, gaze flicking between them.
She had a point.
If the Greater Beast woke up while they were still trapped in the mountains, with cliffs behind them and storm ahead... they'd be cornered like prey. And in this weather, waiting out the rain wasn't just foolish, it was suicide. Lightning was frequent. The paths slippery. The beast? A gamble. But so was everything else.
Leo's mind raced. Do we really have a chance?
It was madness.
But maybe madness was better than waiting to die.
He looked at El her resolve firm despite the tremor in her fingers. Then at Matthew nervous, yes, but still here. Still listening.
Leo swallowed.
"If we do this…" he said at last, voice barely above the whispering storm, "we'll need a plan."