Chapter Seven:
A Need to Be Strong
"Here we are." Said Derek at last after what felt like ages of flying- and in his case, running. "I know exactly where they are at in here, so follow my lead."
The girls landed on the ground, tightening their cloaks.
"Wait..." Ingrid suddenly held out a hand. "Something's not right here." She said warningly.
Wanda and Derek looked back at her.
"What are you talking about?" Blinked Tress.
"I've got a bad feeling about this... That's what." Ingrid looked right into her eyes.
Wanda then felt it too. Like a cold chill running through her body, halting all movement. She turned around, looking at the entrance.
"Look out!" HuiLing screeched. She zoomed in front of Wanda, and next thing they knew, she was yelling out in pain as she became surrounded by a black lightning from above.
"HuiLing!" Wanda called out, but Derek grabbed her and pulled her back.
"It's too dangerous!" He warned her.
Wanda and the others stared as HuiLing slowly disappeared. She struggled against Derek, who had his arms wrapped firmly around her to prevent her from getting into harms way.
"HuiLing!" Shouted Wanda again when HuiLing had completely gone. She fought hard not to tremble, and failed. Now instead of defense, Derek was holding her for comfort. He knew the two girls had a special bond, after all, HuiLing had been the first one to become friends with her.
"She's gone..." Tress was blinking furiously.
"That's right." Came a merciless voice.
"Fusagu!" Ingrid recognized it at once, and looked up.
The boy smiled at them all as though greeting old friends.
"You remembered my name." He said this as though it surprised him.
"Where did you take HuiLing?" Demanded Wanda, her shock and grief turning swiftly into rage and determination.
"You'll have to continue through that door to find out." Fusagu waved a careless hand to the entrance into Phobos' hideout.
"I'm not going to play games with you, you little brat. Tell us where HuiLing is!" She glared up at him with such a fierceness that none of the group had ever thought possible from her.
Fusagu was unbothered by this. In fact, his smile became broader than before.
"To tell you the truth, that attack was meant for you." He admitted. "But, we can find our uses for the girl. Now... go through that door, and then you'll be able to find out where the screecher is."
"Junior, if I get my hands on you, you will regret what you did." Wanda snapped.
Fusagu laughed before vanishing.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Asked Tress.
"Let's go." Wanda took the first step into the underground hideout that belonged to Phobos.
What met her eyes beyond the door caught her off guard. It looked like a closet with mirrors right in front of them.
"What in the heck is this...?" She asked, walking up to the mirror. She heard the sounds of a door hissing shut.
"Wanda!" Ingrid shouted.
"Guys!" She ran to the door, but it slammed shut just as she reached it.
She slammed her fist on the door even as it began to fade.
"What kind of place is this...?" She turned around to look at the mirror. She saw her own reflection in it staring white-faced and scared right back at her. "What?" She walked right up to the mirror. It was a full body mirror, and more appeared on either side of it. "I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR YOUR GAMES, MOONSHINE!" She bellowed, remembering somehow that it was the girl called Moonshine who used mirrors in her attacks.
The familiar laugh filled the closet as more full body mirrors mounted on the wall appeared all around.
"Where did you take HuiLing?" She demanded.
"You'll find that out soon enough." Moonshine's voice angered Wanda even more.
There was a loud clunk then a jolt, and she felt as though the closet was moving upward like an elevator.
"Now they're both gone..." Said Tress.
"Great... just what we need." Ingrid looked irritated and angry.
"Calm down, guys." Derek said as he went to pry the door open. "Tress, try burning the door down."
"One fireball coming up!" She said only too eagerly, raising her hands.
"I'm not going to play your games, Moonshine!" Shouted Wanda. She looked in front of herself at the mirror, and her now stubborn reflection. A small speck of blood dripped down her cheek, and she felt it with a sense of curiosity.
More blood appeared all over her face. She looked at the mirror in front of her and saw a sight that horrified her. Her face was covered with blood and wounds that she even felt on her physical body.
She told herself that it was only a reflection and illusion caused by Moonshine, and bent down to her knees, covering her face to avoid the awful sight. It was as though the witch was reaching in to her heart to find her deepest fears.
A thought came in to her mind, as though HuiLing was telling her through memories not to give in to the illusion. She suddenly remembered the first time the two actually became friends.
She was now eight years old, and Wanda was hanging back from the group. They were visiting a flower garden in Heatherfield with their families, and she was not sure how to approach the girls.
"Hey, Wanda, these roses are the same color as your eyes!" HuiLing bounded over, pointing at the nearest red roses.
"Y-you think so?" Stammered Wanda.
HuiLing looked Wanda right in the eyes, then at the flowers and smiled.
"Definitely! Hey guys! C'mere!" She waved at the others. "Don't they bring out her eye color? These flowers?"
Cerella looked between the two, then at the flowers. She blinked several times.
"They do." She said in surprise.
"That's a rare trait to have!" Ingrid pulled one of the roses from the bush. "You need to stop being so shy when you've got such pretty eyes!"
"B-but I..." Wanda stuttered nervously as Ingrid handed her the red rose.
"Hey! I've got an idea... why don't we all gather flowers that match our eyes, or personality?" HuiLing sprang forward.
"I already know which flower I'm going to look for." Cerella flung her hair around in an elegant manner, imitating her mother.
"Yeah, the white ice berg rose." Tress looked slightly irritated as Cerella walked off to a section of white roses to pick the very best from the lot.
"Come on, you can help me find my flower." HuiLing grabbed Wanda by the arm and dragged her to some nearby peonies.
"I-I don't think peonies suit you..." Wanda muttered as HuiLing bent down.
"What do you think suits me then?" HuiLing looked back even as she looked at a particularly lush peony.
"A Dahlia flower or Lily." Wanda pointed over to the distant Dahlia experimental garden and to the Lily's in the pond nearby.
"You have good taste!" HuiLing hurried over to find the Dahlia that suited her best.
The Dahlia's here were huge, as large and round as a big dinner plate, and lush and vibrant as a rainbow or sunset. Wanda walked right into the garden to find the one that she spotted earlier.
"HuiLing... Over here..." She said.
"This one is HUGE!" HuiLing did not bother to keep her voice down. It was taller than they were by five feet and looked like an explosion of color on one flower. The base of the flower was yellow, with orange bleeding through on the tips of the petals like someone used a water color brush on them. "That'll be my flower from now on! Hey, I know we've known each other for a while, but you wanna be friends?" She looked over at Wanda.
Friends... Wanda smiled at the thought.
"Sure!" She nodded.
Wanda stood up.
"That's right..." She said out loud. "We're friends. She was my first friend... and I won't let her down like this." She looked at the gruesome image in the mirrors around her. "I told you before, and I'm going to say it again: STAY OUT OF MY MEMORIES!"
Lightning surrounded and engulfed Wanda. She raised her hands as the sound echoed around her like a thousand chirping warblers. She thrust her hands at the mirror directly in front of her, putting all of her power into this attack.
"And I could care less if I get seven years bad luck for breaking a mirror." She added.
The sound of the lightning was even louder when she focused the lightning into her hands and right at the mirror. A crack appeared where her hands pressed flat against the glass. Then the crack grew, and several more appeared until finally a loud boom shook the small closet and glass shards flew all around her. She looked up and around as the mirrors all broke consecutively when the lightning spread itself around at impact.
When the glass settled on the floor, she looked around at her new surroundings. Everything was a white mist, with clouds swirling about. Squinting, she looked ahead and saw someone lying on the floor.
"HuiLing!" She shouted, and her voice echoed eerily around her. She flew up into the air so as to avoid stepping in the broken glass, then landed next to the fallen figure. "Wake up!" She shook HuiLing's shoulder. She noted that HuiLing was back in her normal, civilian form wearing Meridian dress robes again, with her long black hair hanging loosely all around her as though she had been plopped there like a rag doll.
"Do you like the decoration?" Asked Moonshine, appearing behind Wanda, who turned on the spot to glare back at her.
"We need to get in there." Said Ingrid after hearing the explosion.
"Hello, Guardian who controls earth right behind you." Cerella said in a lofty, irritating tone of voice.
"Well, do your thing then." Tress rolled her eyes. She hated it when Cerella took that tone with them, as though she knew everything in the world and they were dunce's.
Cerella stepped up to the door and raised her hands in front of her before closing her eyes.
The others watched as roots from the ground rose up and forced their way into the cracks of the door. Then Cerella closed her hands, and the door shattered into splinters.
"Nicely done, sis." Derek said.
Cerella took a bow and flipped her hair around.
"Thank you, thank you very much." She smiled.
"Shall we go, then?" Asked Ingrid, stepping forward.
They all walked into the hall, and saw nothing but white mist blocking their path, and clouds swirling all around.
"What the...?" Tress blinked, her eyes having trouble adjusting to the strange light.
Moonshine stood before Wanda, only this time without her round mirror.
"What did you do to HuiLing?" Snarled Wanda, lightning fizzling at her hands in her rage that was hard to keep restrained.
"I just put her to sleep. Just because you destroyed my main power source does not mean that I am completely useless to Lord Phobos." Moonshine smiled down at Wanda. "There's no way to wake her up. So stop badgering the poor girl."
"Wanda!" Tress flew over to her after spotting her, HuiLing and Moonshine in the mist and clouds.
"Girls...! How did you all get here?" Wanda looked around.
"Cerella said Open Sesame and broke the door down." Ingrid sniggered.
Cerella looked overly proud of herself.
"So you've broken through my barrier... no matter..." Moonshine raised her right hand, and her elegant robes fluttered about her as she moved. "You'll die here and now, Guardians!"
"Wanda, you wake up HuiLing, we'll handle this chic." Tress said, getting her hands ready for fire attacks.
"At least until you two are ready to join us." Cerella smiled, patting Wanda on her right shoulder as she passed.
"How do you expect me to wake this rock up?" Wanda looked incredulously at them.
"Hey, you know HuiLing best. I'm sure you'll come up with something." Ingrid waved.
"Derek, be a darling and look after the temperamental angel." Smiled Cerella mischievously.
"Right..." Derek stared incredulously at his younger sister. "Like she needs looking after."
He looked back at her as she knelt down beside HuiLing while the others faced Moonshine.
As Wanda thought about how to wake her up, she remembered that she could use the Heart of Kandrikor to communicate with her parents. Maybe she could use its power in the same way, only with HuiLing and communicating with her subconscious to wake her up. She pulled out the necklace and looked at it.
"Wanda...?" Blinked Derek as she held it over HuiLing's head.
"Please..." She muttered under her breath as the Heart began to glow its red light. "I need your help. Revive her from Moonshine's trap. Bring her back to us." The Heart hovered in between her hands, glowing red, then pink as she put all her concentration to it and the revival of her best friend.
Moonshine saw the glow, and her eyes widened with excitement.
"The Heart of Kandrikor! The thing that master is seeking the most!" She exclaimed, and her hand directed itself at Wanda.
"No you don't!" Ingrid shouted as black lightning shot from the woman's fingers at Wanda.
A wave of water blocked the lightning attack with a loud rumbling from below.
"I say it's time to teach this lady a thing or two about playing with fire." Tress raised her right hand while her left fell to her side. A pillar of fire circled around her body and focussed into her hands before she sent it at Moonshine, who was forced to summon a shield against the attack.
"So you've got a shield against fire, big deal." Cerella pointed a finger at the ground. "What about a shield that protects you from below?"
What looked like a giant tree trunk shot from the ground, and its branches wrapped around Moonshine's entire body, leaving just her head exposed at the top far above them.
At that same time, Wanda had finally manage to reach HuiLing.
"What's going on?" Came HuiLing's voice through the Heart, sounding like an out-of-tune radio. "Who's there?"
"It's just me, Wanda." She explained. "Listen, that witch Moonshine put you under a sleep spell. We have to pool our power together with the Heart of Kandrikor in order to wake you up while the girls have her occupied."
"Right. I hear you." HuiLing fell silent as she concentrated as well as she could under her current circumstances.
"How are things going?" Ingrid asked Derek as Moonshine began to struggle against Cerella's trap.
"I think she finally reached HuiLing." Replied Derek, glancing at the two girls.
"Good... Because I think this gal is going to need stronger bars to imprison her." Tress backed away from the tall tree as it began to shake with the effort Moonshine was putting in to escaping.
It happened in two flashes. Black light erupted from Moonshine and she broke free of the tree, and red light erupted from the Heart of Kandrikor that blasted the mist and clouds away revealing the dark and dank passageway they were to follow after defeating Moonshine.
HuiLing stood once again in her Guardian outfit, her hair back in its usual style, and a slightly sleepy look still lingered on her face until she saw what was happening.
"Hey girls, mind if I handle this one?" She asked. "I owe her for giving me a nap."
"Have at it." Tress grinned.
"Scrawny little magician going to give me a run for my money?" Moonshine's laugh was derisive and cruel.
HuiLing took to the air, and rose up to the high ceiling. She raised both her hands high above her, and a great wind started to roar all around them.
The girls and Derek on the ground had to brace themselves against the force of the strong, hurricane force winds that swept around them all.
"Two can play at this game." Moonshine raised both of her hands. Only instead of wind, black lightning crackled and chirped all around her.
HuiLing spun her arms, then her body around, and the wind rose up and circled around her in a giant tornado before spinning at Moonshine.
Moonshine in turn directed her black lightning at the tornado. The lightning crackled and chirped loudly in protest, but it soon vanished as the tornado inched closer and closer to her.
There was a loud screech as Moonshine was engulfed by the tornado.
Wanda smiled as she fixed her hair.
"Never piss off HuiLing." She said when the tornado vanished and Moonshine's limp form was seen on its back lying on the ground.
"I d-don't get how little brats like you could defeat me." She gasped for breath as she turned over and struggled to get back to her feet.
"You seem to be forgetting that you're looking at the new Guardians of Meridian." Tress retorted.
"We're like a bad thorn in your side. We never go away." Ingrid smirked nastily at Moonshine.
"And if you mess with one, you mess with all." Cerella finished the statements being made.
Moonshine began to fade away.
"Then hear me out, Guardians of Meridian... Prince Phobos will win and my friends will seek vengeance on you for killing me." She said before collapsing onto the ground. Her body vanished entirely, leaving behind no trace she was ever alive in the first place.
Chapter Eight:
From the Inside
"Come on, let's go!" Derek shouted at the five girls as HuiLing landed on the floor beside Wanda. "Now that Moonshine's gone, Phobos knows we're here."
They did not even have time to register the magnitude of their first real victory.
"We have to hurry." He said, and he led them down a narrow passageway into the darkness beyond the entrance to the hideout.
Everything around them was dark, but Derek knew these halls well, as he had snuck through a few times before bringing the new Guardians in with him. At one point, Wanda stopped. The others turned to look at her.
"HuiLing, you go in the air and fly ahead. Alert us if you see anything." She instructed.
"Roger." HuiLing gave a mock salute and took flight.
"And Cerel', we'll need you to keep in touch with the earth around us. You can use it to sense anyone approaching from any direction, right?" Wanda looked at her, and she smiled as if to say 'of course I can.' "And Ingrid, Tress and I will be the first wave of retaliation if anything happens until HuiLing gets here. This way Derek can just focus on getting us to our parents and not be distracted."
"Sounds good." The others agreed to the plan, and they followed Derek to a narrow cliffside that was up against a flat wall with nothing to hold on to if part of the cliff gave way.
"This is the most dangerous part, girls. Only two of us can be on here at the same time otherwise it will be too weak." He explained. "Plus, there's that chasm." He pointed at the deep ravine. All they saw was shadow, they couldn't even see the bottom.
HuiLing came around the bend at high speed.
"Bad news, there's those guys on the other side." She said, unusually quiet. "I caught a glimpse of them just in time before they spotted me."
"They probably know why we're here." Muttered Tress.
"Wait! I have an idea!" Ingrid said suddenly.
"Ok, you don't have to shout." Cerella put a finger in her ear temporarily.
"Sorry... But here it is..." She apologized quickly.
"That Guardian has probably told them about us by now." Scar said.
"Let them come." Growled Adamant.
"I'm going down below. I want to play with Ingrid again." Smiled Fusagu.
"Be cautious." Instructed Rhea as Fusagu jumped into the air and in to the chasm below.
"Right... there are only five of us now." Abrade stated.
Fusagu did not look back as he faded in to the darkness.
Derek, Wanda, Ingrid and Cerella were running on the thin trail, while HuiLing and Tress were flying directly above them.
A burst of water erupted from the bottom halfway across, and Ingrid raised both of her hands. A second wave of water met the first, and a resounding crash echoed throughout the cave system.
"That was pretty fast, Guardian." Came Fusagu's voice. "You're improving with your power."
He appeared out of the darkness, riding on a pillar that was rising from somewhere down below.
The group paused.
"You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up." Smiled Ingrid as water circled around her.
"But Ingrid...!" Wanda looked up at her.
"Go!" Snapped Ingrid in a firm tone of voice.
"Think you can take me on?" Fusagu asked, amused.
"Kid, I KNOW I can take you on." She flexed her hands as the others moved ahead.
There was a loud crash as the two waves of water slammed in to each other.
Wanda looked back, but Derek called her to reality again.
"Come on." He said, grabbing her arm.
"Right." She nodded, looking ahead.
There was the sound of metal rushing through air, and a tree branch extended from the wall to block the needles. Wanda looked back and saw Cerella with a hand on the wall, a furious look on her face.
"Surprise attack, huh?" She asked Rhea. "That's pretty dirty, considering."
Rhea appeared above them in the air, and Cerella looked up. The branch that extended from the wall then whipped around and slammed in to Rhea, forcing her to the ground.
"I'm not letting you one step closer." Growled Cerella.
Rhea looked up at Cerella.
"Well, boy, looks like I have a new opponent." She said to Derek as she stood up and more needles appeared in her hands.
"You guys go on ahead." Cerella smiled. "I'll take care of this wench."
Cerella touched a nerve at her comment.
"You'll pay for that, little brat." Snarled Rhea, her eyes flashing silver.
"Let's go, before Cerel' gets any more pissed off than she already is." Tress said quickly.
They hurried along the trail, the sound of the water and earth battles fading away.
There came a loud noise ahead of them, like lightning cracking in the distance. Wanda jumped forward when HuiLing told her where it was coming from, built the energy in her hands then shot it in the direction of the attack. The resulting boom echoed around them and shook the underground cavern.
A blast of fire came after the black lightning, and now Tress shot forward, sending her now favored fire arrows at the fireballs that were aimed at them at the same speed as the black lightning from the previous attack.
"Nice." Wanda smiled as Tress dusted off her hands. Fixing her glasses, then she put her hands on her hips. "It's going to take a lot more than little fireballs to get rid of us." She nodded.
"So you've made it this far, even after we sent Moonshine after you." Abrade appeared before them. Adamant stood next to her, as well as Scar.
"Just get out of our way and let us go to our parents." HuiLing demanded angrily.
"Not going to happen." Adamant frowned. He raised his hands, and so did Tress, fireballs appearing in both of their hands.
Derek now unsheathed his sword at the sight of Scar and his weapon of choice, and HuiLing took to the air after seeing Abrade.
Will, Irma, Terrane, Cornelia, HayLin and Matt all felt the shock waves from the battle in the distant cavern.
"Sounds like they're getting close." Terrane said.
"HayLin, can you use any of your powers from before to hear how close they are? Maybe we can help them." Suggested Will.
"I'll try, but it's been a while." She nodded. She closed her eyes and 'reached' outward with her hearing, focusing on the direction of the shock wave.
Wanda, HuiLing, Tress and Derek dodged a black lightning attack as well as they could on the trail.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!" Cerella shouted from behind. "You nearly got my hair!"
"Oh what a tragedy." Ingrid's sarcasm caused a smirk to split across the other girls' faces.
"All right, now I'm pissed." Cerella growled, using words she rarely spoke. She slammed her hands to the ground, which instantly began to shake like an earthquake was brewing. The cavern shook so violently that dust and rocks fell from the ceiling.
"We've got to make this quick, before Cerella causes this place to cave in." Tress covered her ears as the noise increased.
"Right." HuiLing raised her hands in to the air, and clenched them in to fists. "Everyone, brace yourselves!" She called out to her friends as a tornado appeared around her then began to grow.
"Wait! Tress, you thinking what I'm thinking?" Wanda flew up next to HuiLing, Tress nodded, then flew to her other side.
"Derek, get out of the way!" Ordered Wanda.
He looked up, and his eyes went wide at the sight. Wanda and Tress were pooling their power in to the tornado that HuiLing was summoning. Fire and lightning crackled in random spots, hissed everywhere as the tornado expanded. The three then directed the tornado at their attackers. Derek jumped out of the way at the very last second, to avoid getting sucked in to the tornado.
From below, a pillar of tree roots and branches shot upward at Rhea, slamming her in to the ceiling, causing a large hole to appear in it. Her mask fell off her face with the impact of her head against the hard rock, and blood trickled down because of the angle.
Cerella was surprised at the sight of what she could do when pressed on a matter.
"Fusagu, you're on the wrong side!" Ingrid shouted.
"Says who?" Asked an irritated Fusagu. Sure he was having fun with Ingrid, but the length of their battle was annoying. And he could sense that the others had failed by now.
"Do you even know why you're fighting for Phobos? Do you even know what he's done?" Asked Ingrid as she blocked another wave of water from Fusagu.
Fusagu did not reply. The more he thought, the more he wondered. All he had been told was that the Guardians were evil creatures who stripped Phobos of his powers and status. But now that he had been faced with them, he saw otherwise. He stopped attacking Ingrid and looked at her.
"You say this as though you understand what's going on Ingrid. When you've only been a Guardian for a short while... Why?" He asked.
Ingrid smiled.
"Because Phobos kidnapped my mother without warning, and the mother's of my friends as well. Not to mention, my leader has lost both of her parents to him and wishes nothing more than to see them again. I imagine you too must miss your parents, Fusagu." She said sweetly, reaching out a kind hand. "If you come with us, we can take you back to Meridian and help you find them."
Fusagu stared at Ingrid long and hard. He remembered being told by someone to always look for the truth in things, and his heart was telling him she was right. He had been in the wrong and must make amends now. But thinking about it was easier than doing.
"It's ok, I'll be with you one hundred percent of the way. Think of me as an older sister, ok?" She saw the struggle in his eyes
Finally he reached out his own hand and accepted hers. She pulled him off the wave of water that he was standing on, to the trail that she was. He looked back at the wave and it fell silently down into the depths of the abyss.
"Let's go. I'll clear things up with the others before we continue, ok?" Ingrid smiled.
Fusagu nodded, still holding on to her hand, unsure what to think right now.
The two walked forward to where Cerella had been fighting, and Ingrid waved at her.
"Hey!" Smiled Ingrid.
Cerella was about to say hello back when she saw Fusagu. She was about to put her hand on the wall before Ingrid held up her hand to stop her.
"WAIT! He's on our side now!" Ingrid said quickly as Fusagu hid behind her.
"How can you be sure? After what he and his friends did to HuiLing?" Glared Cerella.
"He was only being fooled by Phobos. He was tricked." Ingrid explained quickly. "Come on, Cerel', give him a chance. He deserves one. Please?"
Cerella looked at the boy now cowering behind Ingrid.
"Fine." She turned around sharply. "Let's go see how the others are doing."
"Looks like they didn't need our help after all." Smiled Terrane.
"They certainly have improved on their skills in such a short time." Matt leaned against the wall as he thought about the incidents that HayLin recalled for them.
Wanda, Tress and HuiLing landed in front of Derek, who stared up at the girls in shock.
"That was awesome!" He said as Wanda helped him to his feet.
"So, everything's hunky-dory here?" Cerella asked when they reached the four.
"In a sense." Nodded Tress. "Hey Ingrid, who's that hiding behind you?" She asked.
"It's Fusagu." She smiled in response. "But it's all right," She went on without pause. "He's on our side now. He was being tricked by Phobos, and believed me when I told him that. He thinks his parents might still be in Meridian, and if we take him back with us, we can reunite them."
Wanda looked at Fusagu, who poked his head out from behind Ingrid.
"I-I'm sorry about everything that happened." He stammered.
Wanda walked up to Ingrid, then knelt down, to be at eye level with him. Everyone stared at her as she stared at him.
Then she did the unexpected and smiled.
"I understand." She said. "It's easy to be fooled by someone in a strange world." She reached out a hand, and he shook it, smiling brightly for the first time that he could remember. "I was nearly brainwashed by Moonshine's tricks and illusions, so I can understand." She stood up and looked at the others.
HuiLing thought that this was good enough for her.
"That's Wanda for you. Able to see the good in everyone!" She said loudly.
"That's your job, HuiLing. I'm just giving this kid a second chance that he deserves." Smiled Wanda.
"Anyways, let's get going. We're so close to seeing our parents again." Tress said.
Ingrid was smiling down at Fusagu when he looked back up at her in surprise.
"I told you it would be all right." She patted his head before following the group down the rest of the trail and to a large hallway that looked like it was carved out of the mountainside. Fusagu looked after them for a few moments before running to catch up.
