Quest for the Emblems

Chapter 16

George had ventured really deep into the cave, with only his torch as a light source, when he came across some weird looking vegetation. He noticed how the plants would give off signals to the others surrounding it as he walked.

"Are these reacting to my footsteps?" he wondered out loud.

His torch suddenly flickered, leaving him in darkness.

"Hmm... that's weird" He said when the flame returned. The light flickered once again but this time he heard a heartbeat.

"Sapnap must be playing some weird trick on me," George concluded. When the lights returned he heard a sound from behind him. He turned around to come face to face with a beast that was twice his size, and against his better judgement, he lets out a scream before running.

"George!" he heard Dream calling out, and ran towards the voice.

George turned to see the beast stampeding towards him at a fast pace. He quickly ducked behind a corner and covered his mouth, hoping to muffle his heavy breathing. His heart started pounding erratically when he heard the beast's heavy footsteps coming his way. He shut his eyes hoping that the beast wouldn't see him, but then he felt its very breath and powerful aura hit him.

He slowly opened his eyes to see the beast staring down at him. George tried to keep himself from screaming, and gripped his hands tighter over his mouth as he felt his whole body shake. He wasn't ready to cast a spell to defend himself, was he really gonna die this way.

"George! Where are you!" Dream yelled once again, as the party's running footsteps echoed through the cave.

The beast huffed, and George stifled a yelp as the beast suddenly took of in the direction of the noise. George slowly slid down to the ground and took in deep breaths to calm his heart. I thought I was a goner, but why didn't it attack me? I was standing right in front of it.

George thought back and realized that the beast only became aggressive after he screamed, and when it was standing right in front of him, it seemed as if the beast couldn't see him.

It took off the second that Dream yelled, it can't be... is it blind? George thought. At that moment it seemed like the only possible explanation. He remembered the weird plants that he found earlier, and realized that the beast was probably connected to them in some way. If that thing only relies on its hearing then... Oh no, George immediately stood up and ran to where he heard the party.

"George answer us!" He heard Sapnap yell, and he picked up the pace, If they keep this up, they're going to be in danger.

~0~0~0~0~

Sapnap and Dream were running about frantically. They had found a wide open space of the cave, that branched out to several tunnels. The duo were running into separate ones only to report that it was a dead end.

Karl's eyes were darting around as he rubbed his hands nervously, "Lady Myra will not be pleased when she hears that we lost her son in a cave." he said worriedly.

"We'll find him, we have too," Sapnap said as he darted down another tunnel only to report another dead end. "Why are there so many tunnels!" He yelled angrily while heading back. He looked over at Dream who was yelling over and over again for George.

"Dream calm down," Wilbur said placing a hand on the blonde's shoulder.

"What do you mean calm down! He could be hurt and bleeding out somewhere!" Dream yelled back.

"You're not helping the situation by panicking Dream," Sapnap pointed out as he walked over to him. "And George knows healing magic so he should be fine."

Dream let out his frustration through a sigh, "I'm sorry, I'm just really worried."

"We all are, but we'll find him." Sapnap said before his face turned into a smug smile, "Then, you can confess your love to him."

Dream was about to tell Sapnap to wipe that smug smile off his face when their torches flickered out again, the sound of a heartbeat echoed even louder than before.

"Okay you have got to stop doing that, it's freaking me out." Tommy told Sapnap.

"I already told you that it's not me." Sapnap responded, annoyed at the fact that they didn't believe him.

"Tommy look out!" Tubbo yelled as the beast attempted to crush him from behind.

Dream was quick enough to grab the boy and run to safety. The beast suddenly turned and started running towards Tubbo. The young mage stood frozen in fear as the angry beast got closer and closer. At the last second the boy was scoped up by somebody and placed down near the cave walls.

"Geor-"

George brought his finger to his lips, telling everyone to stay silent. The group, though confused, complied. They watched as the once rampaging beast, wandering around in circles, even though they were right in its line of sight. George had a hand over Tubbo's mouth, and after he reminded the boy to be quiet he lifted his hand off.

George searched the ground till he spotted a rock, he quietly picked it up then threw it to the far corner of the space. The beast stomped over to were the sound came from, and the rest of the party got the message that it was blind, but they knew better than to try and attack it.

They could feel how powerful it was, and it was not something that you want to mess with. George signaled for them to quietly sneak out while the beast was distracted, but Tubbo tugged on George's robe grabbing his attention. Tubbo pointed to the beast then to his own chest, George narrowed his eyes as he stared at the beast, before realizing what Tubbo was trying to tell him.

This monster had a core.