"Kyaaaa! A snake! What if it had hurt our son?! Kill it!" a woman shrieked as she grasped her child and swiftly moved to a safer distance, watching an older man combat the snake away from him. "This creature! I bet it was the one that fed off of my lifestocks! Death certainly would be too lenient!" the older man growled as he hit the snake until it started bleeding. "Calm down! Please! I'll handle it from here! This type of snake can spit poison. If you harm it further it will surely strike back!" a young man said as he held back the older man's arm, taking hold of the wooden branch in his hand. "It would?! Goodness me! J-just get rid of that creature! What if my daughter got injured? My grandson even..." the older man said as he quickly reached out to his daughter to lead her away from the snake and the young man. The young man stood still, watching the old man and the woman leave before he dropped

"You seem a little rough for the wear.... but overall still kicking. That in itself is a relief." the guide said as they helped Mikhail back up and headed towards the side of the cave wall. "Thanks... so the loud sound was from you both?" Mikhail asked as he glanced towards the guide. "Yes. We managed to make our way in here but the entrance we came in crumbled just as we managed to get through. A little later and we'd have gone to meet our maker." "Sounds rough... ugh..." Mikhail mustered before grimacing from the pain. "Drink this. Its something to soothe the pain." Mikhail glanced at the flask handed towards him and took it without much hesitation. He gulped down the contents and handed the flask back to the guide as his face gradually grew flushed. "This... hic... kind of burns my throat..." Mikhail said slowly as he tried to keep his vision focused.

"The flower you seek... is not merely a flower. It is the essence of One's kind. Each flower symbolises the life of the Keeper." Rachneid said as he glanced to Mikhail. "One cannot simply give it away for free. Especially since the fully bloomed one is of One's most precious memory... Quatrapatala is cruel to force me to give up my memories of 'her'." Rachneid said with a sad tone. "I... didn't know..." Mikhail muttered as he noticed the hint of sadness it Rachnied's eyes. *** Long, long ago, the Keeper was not one of our kind. They were devout followers of Quatrapatala, a direct descendent birth once every century. "Haahh~ living in this cave is so boring. There's nothing but lava, lava, lava and minerals. Ugh. Why can't I ever go up unlike the other snakelets?" a girl said as she kicked at the dirt path. "Hmm? What's this?" the girl said aloud as she picked

Mikhail slung Soleil's arm over his shoulder as he supported her by her waist. There were plentiful of lacerations on her body but none too severe."Are you alright? I have the herbs Susie bought from the vendor but... the guide did not tell me what it specifically was for. It has a smell liken to that of pain killers though... Lie down for awhile. I'll apply it for you." Mikhail said as he rested Soleil down, leaning against a rock.Mikhail fished for the bag of herbs he had kept in his waist bag. He peeled open the cloth bag and fished out for the herbs before glancing at soleil again."Can you hold this for me? Try to stay awake until we reach the capital city. I'm worried." Mikhail said as he handed the bag to Soleil before ripping the cape Susie had slung on him earlier.He quickly applied the little bit of alcohol he had left to his handkerchief before cleaning the debris off of Soleil's wounds."Agh-- It... hurts..." Soleil gasped as she tig

Mikhail glanced around at his surroundings. The dense forest was a huge contrast to the empty cavern filled with stalactites and stalagmites.The residual heat from the cavern of lava had long dissipated only to be replaced by the humid weather in the forest after the heavy thunderstorms. Even that seemed like a distant dream as the dark skies clad with lightning and thunder was now replaced by a cloudless sky where the sun shone with great brilliance, peeking through the dense foliage.Mikhail kept to himself as he pondered about how they were to meet up with Susie and what kind of transport they would use to head back to town. The horse he had rode on during their trip to this location had been disconcerted by the thunder and had ran off, leaving Mikhail to fend for himself.As he followed blindly after the guide, with the sound of branches crunching beneath their soles being his lead, he snapped back to attention when the guide stopped dead in their tracks. A