Tkk, tkk, tkk... tkk, tkk...

  The Drakling idly taps her cwed fingers against the empty wooden bowl held loosely in her hand. There is hardly a thought in her head as she stares straight into the firepce, watching the fmes within flicker and dance. That is such a hypnotizing sight... so... so beautiful and bright...

  Tkk... tkk...

  “My dearest love, ya are gettin’ restless.”

  “Am I...?” Krvavy slowly sighs out. With a bit of effort she peels her gaze away from the captivating fmes, tilting her head back and aimlessly looking up at the shadowy ceiling above. The rock up there isn’t exactly interesting, but it is easier on her eyes.

  “Aye.” Beryl’s voice grows just a bit louder as she steps closer. “Ya’ve done little but dig and ze about these past couple days.” Her dexterous hands find Krvavy’s shoulders. “Ya should go and do somethin’ more excitin’.”

  A much better sight now fills Krvavy’s vision, the back of her head bumping into Beryl’s belly as that tanned tomboy’s pert breasts come to loom above her. A warm and loving smile graces Beryl’s upside-down face as she peers past those wonderful caramel mounds. Which are completely uncovered, as usual.

  “Trying to take advantage of the fact that your punishment is over...?” Krvavy tiredly mutters back, rexing into the massaging touch of her Elf.

  “We’ve done tha’ plenty already, since ya graciously blessed me wit’ relief those few days ago~.” A pyful glimmer fills the Wood Elf woman’s bright, blue-green eyes as she gazes down at the Drakling. “And while Ah wouldn’t compin about ya vishin’ me in more pleasure, or even gettin’ ta do the same ta ya... Tha’ isn’t wha’ Ah meant. Ya need ta properly stretch yer legs. Ta get some fresh air and sunlight.”

  “I thought that you didn’t want me to go on another little adventure...?”

  “Ah don’t.” The tomboyish Elf quite firmly states, before softly shaking her head. “But Ah’m not talking about anythin’ like tha’.” Beryl leans in, nimble fingers kneading away the tension in her lover’s shoulders. “So... Would ya like ta go out and spend some time wit’ me?”

  The barbarian blinks. “You want to go hunting together?”

  “No, not quite. We may do a little, but Ah’m thinkin’ more o’ a... a hike.” Despite her unassuming words, a slightly pinkish hue begins to fill Beryl’s caramel coloured cheeks. “Just the two o’ us, out there in the hills... all alone.”

  Krvavy’s heart flutters as she realizes that her Elf is... that Beryl is basically asking her out. “That does sound nice...” She zily lifts a hand up to gently brush a loose strand of hair away from Beryl’s face, delicately tucking it behind the Elf’s long and pointy ear. “Yeah, I’d like that~.”

  A giddy smile pys at Beryl’s lips as she lets herself get guided down, eagerly accepting her Draconic lover’s upside-down kiss.

  “Mhhmm...” Krvavy hums rather happily, even as she lets that tantalizing tomboy pull back. “You want to head out now?”

  “Aye, if it isn’t a problem fer ya?”

  “It’s not. I don’t really have anything else pnned for the day. And I just had a snack.” The barbarian lightly waves the empty bowl still held in her other hand.

  Beryl’s nimble fingers give Krvavy’s shoulders one st squeeze before pulling away. “We might not get back before the sun sets, so do ya mind packin’ some food fer ter? Ah need ta go get dressed.”

  “Alright.” Krvavy replies, straightening her spine and taking a moment to stretch.

  As much as she’d like to get the bathroom and plumbing situation sorted as soon as possible... it’ll be nice to take a break from all of that digging.

  “Are you going to tell me what this backpack is for?” The barbarian asks as she carefully steps over some loose rocks.

  “Ah already did.” Beryl breezily replies. “Optimism.”

  “Yeah, and that still doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Does it not?” The Elf questions, a slightly teasing tone in her voice. “If we find somethin’ interestin’, then we will easily be able ta carry it back ‘ome. Better ta ‘ave the backpack and not need it than ta need it and not ‘ave it.”

  Krvavy suspiciously gnces at the tanned Wood Elf woman. “And what exactly might we find out here in the middle of nowhere?”

  “Now tha’ is the question, isn’t it~?” Beryl just barely stifles a giggled ugh, shooting her Draconic lover a pyful gnce back over her shoulder.

  The barbarian frowns slightly as she follows along after her Elf, climbing yet another short and rocky hillside. Beryl definitely has some sort of surprise waiting for her, though Krvavy has no idea what it could be. They are a couple hours away from home already, so it probably isn’t something that she would have set up or pnned herself...

  “This isn’t just a hike, is it?” That isn’t a question, but more of a statement.

  “Oh~?” That less than innocent sound confirms Krvavy’s suspicion. A grin fills Beryl’s face as her long, Elvish ears pyfully wiggle. “Wha’ makes ya think tha’?”

  “Well, for one, we’ve been heading in a very specific direction this whole time.” The Drakling dryly returns. “And you are not doing a good job hiding that you are hiding something.”

  “Ya’ve got me~!” Beryl happily admits, blue-green eyes gleaming with amusement. “But do ya want ta spoil the surprise~? We are almost there~!”

  The barbarian bites the inside of her cheek, before slowly sighing out. “I can wait a little longer...”

  “Thank ya, my dearest love.” The tanned Elf earnestly replies. “Ah ‘ope tha’ ya’ll like wha’ is waitin’ ahead.”

  Krvavy lightly shakes her head. She trusts Beryl enough to not be worried about whatever the Elf is leading them towards, but she is still a little annoyed by all of this. Beryl could have just said that she had a surprise, no need to lie about this being a simple hike...

  That said, Krvavy isn’t too annoyed. This has been retively rexing, and she has had a wonderful view nearly the entire time: Beryl is wearing her tight pants again. Even though Krvavy sees the Elf’s bare ass all the time, there is just something irresistible about how that tight leather stretches over Beryl’s firm butt...

  “Aha! My dearest love, we ‘ave arrived!” The tomboyish Wood Elf happily decres. “Can ya see our destination~?”

  Krvavy looks over the hill ahead of them, but not much sticks out to her. “Is it... that cave?”

  “Aye!” A proud smile pys at the tomboy’s lips. “But do you see anythin’ strange about it?”

  The barbarian narrows her eyes and stares at the cave. It isn’t exactly close to them, so Krvavy can’t really make out any fine details, but... “It looks kind of square...?”

  “Aye again~!” Beryl happily cheers, all but pressing herself up against Krvavy’s side. “Tha’ it is!”

  The more Krvavy looks at it, the more... unnatural... that cave seems. Not in a dangerous or unsettling way. It is just a bit odd. The rocks outside of it are fine, but past that entrance... The floor looks too ft. The walls look too straight.

  “This ‘cave’ is an old ruin set inta the hill, or a ruin which the hill ‘as colpsed onta.” Beryl expins, her enthusiasm dampened just enough to leave her sounding rather serious. “Regardless o’ tha’, it ‘as likely already been picked clean. Probably some decades or even centuries ago, ‘ence why bringin’ the backpack is optimistic. But tha’ isn’t why Ah brought ya ‘ere. See those grasses near the entrance? They’ve been trampled quite thoroughly. Somethin’ is livin’ in tha’ cave.”

  “So we are here to kill it...?”

  “No, not necessarily.” The Elf replies with a gentle shake of her head. “This is more o’ a chance ta explore an old ruin. But if there is somethin’ ta fight, well, Ah’m sure ya’ll ‘ave a great time.”

  “Alright.” Krvavy simply nods. “Any idea what could be living in there then?”

  “Not a clue. Ah ‘aven’t gotten close enough ta see any sort o’ tracks.” Beryl answers. “Though Ah don’t think it is likely ta be a normal animal. This area is too quiet, too empty. Somethin’ ‘as scared off most o’ the prey.”

  “Like another rock bear?”

  “No.” The Wood Elf sounds certain of her answer. “Ah’m talkin’ about some sort o’ monster.”

  Krvavy bnkly blinks a few times. “What exactly makes something a monster if the rock bear doesn’t count?”

  Beryl returns her lover’s owlish gaze. “Ah’m... not quite sure.” She admits with a shrug. “The line between beast and monster is a bit blurry at times. Ah think it mostly goes by ‘ow magical somethin’ is? But Ah suppose tha’ them bein’ more aggressive and dangerous would also ‘elp...”

  “When you say magical, do you mean that they can cast spells? Or just that they are infused with magic and are stronger as a result?”

  “More the tter, but there is still a degree o’ the former.” The Elf replies, her brow furrowed ever so faintly. “There are those tha’ can do some instinctual magic, such as drakes and other dragon-like monsters capable o’ breathin’ out different elements, but tha’ isn’t really the norm as far as Ah’m aware.”

  “Hmm. Alright.” Krvavy’s Soulbound weapon manifests in her hand, its rge axehead gleaming in the sunlight. “Lets go and see what’s inside.”

  A happy smile creeps its way onto Beryl’s face as she turns towards the cave. With gentle steps the Elf quickly crosses the distance without making a sound, walking over loose pebbles and scraggly roots as if they weren’t there. Even after spending all this time with her Elf, Krvavy is still awed by just how silently Beryl can move, and it seems all the more impressive compared to her own lumbering gait.

  As they approach the cave it becomes incredibly obvious that this thing isn’t natural. Not only does it have an oddly square entrance, but they can quite clearly see grout lines and bricks in its walls. It is honestly more of a hallway leading straight into the hill rather than any sort of cave.

  “My dearest love, could ya create a small hook ta ‘ang my bow ‘ere?” The Wood Elf softly whispers out her request, gesturing to the wall beside her. “It won’t be useful in such close quarters, and Ah don’t want ta damage it if we do run inta a monster.”

  Krvavy nods and raises her hand, spending just a few points of mana to create the small stone hook. The barbarian gnces to the side once she is done, staring into the hallway-cave. It is surprisingly dark in there, with the sunlight not extending very far past the entrance, rapidly growing dim before descending into pure darkness.

  “You didn’t happen to bring the ntern, did you?” Krvavy quietly asks. She already knows the answer. But maybe it was stashed nearby...?

  Beryl simply shakes her head in response.

  The barbarian holds back a groan at that. “Why not? You knew we’d be going into a dark cave.”

  “Ah thought tha’ ya could use the opportunity ta practice yer Fire Magic.” At least the Elf has the decency to let a tinge of guilt fill her hushed voice... “Makin’ a light should be simple enough fer ya.”

  Krvavy slowly sighs out. That is some really terrible reasoning. The barbarian could have still practiced her magic and made her own light had Beryl brought the ntern along...

  Not having the ntern just creates extra problems for them to deal with. They are going to be completely reliant on Krvavy’s mana to see, so if she runs out they are kind of screwed. And to make it even worse, Krvavy will need to keep one hand occupied with making and maintaining the light, which will obviously affect how well she will be able to use her two-handed axe.

  The barbarian gently shakes her head and turns her left hand around, so that her palm faces up. Beryl hasn’t really given her much of a choice here, so she might as well try. Better than wasting an entire day by just turning around and leaving...

  But she will need to have a talk with her frustratingly short-sighted Elf ter.

  It only takes Krvavy a few moments of focusing before a small red fme flickers to life in her palm. Frowning slightly, she spends a few more seconds trying to make it brighter, to limited success. This little fme should make enough light for them to see, but it is very red. The entrance to the cave is already looking rather sinister in this deep crimson light, and that is with the sunlight overpowering it...

  “Are ya ready?” Beryl quietly asks, getting a quick nod before they both step towards the darkness.

  “Empty?”

  “Yup.” Krvavy sighs as she ducks back out through a worn stone doorway. She doesn’t know what this pce used to be, but there are a lot of small rooms with nothing in them. Not just nothing of value, but nothing at all. Just a slight bit of dirt and debris on the bare stone floors.

  The novelty of exploring a buried ruin is quickly wearing off, growing gradually more boring with each empty room they find. On top of that, they haven’t seen even a single sign of life in here. But at least the ceilings are high enough that Krvavy doesn’t have to constantly hunch over... Only when passing through those worn doorways.

  Beryl makes a quiet noise to catch Krvavy’s attention, gesturing into the darkness with her dagger.

  Gncing over to where her Elf is pointing, the barbarian sees a pile of rubble just at the edge of her light. Getting closer confirms what she assumed: the hallway ahead of them has caved in. It looks completely impassible, at least without some digging.

  “No, Ah wasn’t pointin’ at tha’.” Beryl states from a few paces behind Krvavy. “Look ‘ere.”

  Turning around, Krvavy sees her Elf squatting down off to the side, pointing her dagger towards a hole right at the base of the wall. There is a little bit of rocky rubble on both sides of it, but none in front. Almost as if the debris was shoved out of the way.

  “There is a room on the other side o’ this.” The Wood Elf softly whispers.

  The hole is not particurly rge, easily expining why Krvavy didn’t see it at first. It is possible that someone as slim as Beryl could squeeze through it, but there is absolutely no way that Krvavy could fit. So whatever creature made this hole can’t be particurly rge, assuming it is even still around. And assuming that a creature even made it.

  Krvavy crouches down beside Beryl, holding out her hand and trying to shine her crimson fme through the hole. “Can you see anything?”

  Beryl’s eyes glow ever so slightly in the firelight, their beautiful blue-green colour piercing through the darkness. “Not really... There are some rocks in the way, but Ah think tha’ it leads further in.”

  “Really?” The barbarian skeptically asks, gncing over at the cave-in. It isn’t that far away, but it still feels unlikely that the room would extend past it. Especially since they don’t even know how much of the hallway has caved in...

  “Aye,” the Elf nods, “it is an oddly long lookin’ room. Not like the others we saw.” Beryl pulls back slightly and gnces up at Krvavy. “Ah think we should try goin’ through ‘ere.”

  Krvavy simply raises an eyebrow.

  “Ah don’t mean as it is now. Ya could easily widen this hole wit’ yer magic.”

  “I know what you meant.” The barbarian dryly responds. “But I’d rather not cause a cave in and get buried alive.”

  “Ach,” Beryl dismissively clicks her tongue. “Tha’ wouldn’t ‘appen. Ya know wha’ ya’re doin’. There is a lot o’ clutter in there, so we might actually find somethin’. But if ya don’t want ta...”

  Krvavy gres at her Elf through the dim red light, before sighing in defeat. “Fine...” She exaggeratedly groans, pcing her Soulbound weapon on the ground.

  Reaching out with her now free hand, Krvavy begins to carefully remove chunks of stone. She doesn’t want to waste too much mana doing this, as she doesn’t want to risk plunging herself into darkness, so the chunks are a little on the rger side. Almost too big to hold in just one hand. Guess it is good that her Elf is here to help her out.

  After a few short minutes... the hole has been widened enough that Krvavy could easily crawl through it. Of course, with how ridiculously tall she is, that means that Beryl would only need to crouch to fit through.

  Which is exactly what the Elf does.

  “Hey!” Krvavy quietly protests.

  “Ya made it big enough, now come on through!”

  The barbarian grumbles a bit as she grabs her axe and crawls towards her Elf. The hole isn’t a tight fit by any means, but Krvavy would have still appreciated the chance to make it even rger, even if it cost her more mana.

  “See? This is a weirdly long room.” Beryl states as the barbarian rises to her feet on the other side.

  Krvavy can’t help but find herself agreeing with the Elf. This room is about as deep as all the ones they’ve seen so far, but it continues on in the direction of the cave-in further than their light does. It is almost long enough to be a hallway in its own right.

  “Hmm... Ah think tha’ this might ‘ave been some sort o’ bunk room.” Beryl comments, gesturing to some rectangur cubbyholes carved into the wall across from the hole. “Either tha’ or some sort o’ crypt.”

  “Well, I don’t see any bodies...” Krvavy idly responds as she looks around the room. There are quite a few rocks just piled around, but she has no idea where they could have come from. The ceiling looks fine, with just a few slightly unsettling cracks across it, and the walls don’t look like they’ll be falling in anytime soon.

  “Oh? Look at this, my dearest love!” The tomboyish Wood Elf calls out with barely contained excitement. “It’s a sword!”

  On the ground in front of Beryl, partially buried in some rocks, is a chunk of extremely rusted metal. It might have been a sword at one point, but it definitely isn’t one any more, only vaguely resembling a sword in its general shape. And on top of that, the rusted thing looks like it’ll disintegrate as soon as anything touches it.

  “Calling it that is a bit generous.” The barbarian mutters out.

  “Ah know it isn’t much, but it is at least somethin’.” Beryl shrugs back. Her eyes gleam in the dim light. “If this was left behind, then who knows wha’ else we might find?”

  Krvavy just lightly shakes her head. She isn’t going to get her hopes up after seeing that bit of rust. But still, it is better than nothing. And if they can find some metal that isn’t quite as rusted, then it might be worth taking...

  Slowly making their way through the long room, neither Drakling nor Elf spot anything other than the piles of rubble littering the ground.

  “And there’s the door.” Beryl gestures with her knife to the far end of the room, just as it comes into view. “Doesn’t look blocked ta me.”

  “Guess you were right.” Krvavy dismissively shrugs. There seems to be a few small rocks spilling through the corner of the door, coming from the direction of the cave-in, but not anywhere near enough to stop them from passing through.

  “How much longer can ya keep tha’ fme alight?” The Elf asks as she looks into the darkness beyond the doorway.

  “A few hours. Assuming I don’t have to do any more digging, that is.” The barbarian replies, quickly checking her character sheet to confirm that. “Why?”

  Rather than respond, Beryl simply gestures for Krvavy to come closer.

  Just a few paces past that doorway is a very rge pit, blocking off the entire hallway. On the other side of it, barely visible in Krvavy’s crimson light, is another cave-in.

  The flickering red fme in Krvavy’s hand isn’t bright enough to light up the bottom of that dark pit, but it is enough for them to see that the hallway seems to have colpsed downwards into it, making a rough slope that they could use to descend further into the depths.

  “Want ta see wha’ might be down there?”

  “Sure.” The barbarian answers without hesitation. She has more than enough mana to keep this light going for quite some time, which would be the biggest concern holding her curiosity back and at bay.

  Together, they both step towards the darkness.