As they reached the end of the trail, a cave came into sight. The heavy brown rock stretched beyond their line of sight, and inside they saw nothing, just a hole of black, an empty abyss with silence that echoed their footsteps as they entered it. Hunter lit his lantern and took the lead as they walked hesitantly through the cave.
Only minutes passed before the walls began to shake. They all froze, scanning their surroundings. But besides the few feet of light the lantern cast, they couldn't see much of anything. screeching and growling echoed around them, chunks of rock fell from above and the ground began to rumble. Hunter and Cyrus backed up against the shivering walls of the cave, but Pich kept her feet glued to the ground. She tucked her head between her knees and covered her ears with her hands, but nothing could block out the sound. The rock continued to crumble over their heads, coating their hair and shoulders with a dark layer of dust and dirt.
Suddenly it all stopped. The pounding stopped, the walls no longer shook, and a loud silence filled the cave again. All at once the intense environment froze. Pitch stood up, looking at her friends for reassurance. But she was met with frightened faces and heavy breathing. But the confusion shifted back to panic as the cave lit up with an orange flame and a large, green- scaled creature with wings flew above their heads, it's tail dipped in fire.
"Dragon," Pitch whispered to herself. The beast left the cave, leaving an oak tree in flames. Pitch and Hunter locked eyes, speechless in shock. They hadn't realized Cyrus had left them until his footsteps stopped.
As they got closer, a black figure showed in the darkness. Hunter lit a torch and threw it by it's feet to get a better look at it. It's a person. Her black hair rests on her thighs, her skin paler than Pitch. She turned around and looked at Cyrus, who was already staring at her. At this, they were able to see her white irises and fangs, blood dripping from her mouth. Hunter pulled out his knife and lunged at her.
"No!" Cyrus yelled. He ran over to Hunter and grabbed his wrist before he could hurt the girl. "Don't kill her!" Hunter looked puzzled.
"Why not?" he asked, pulling his hand away from Cyrus's grip. Cyrus was quiet for a moment.
"Because we have no reason to." Hunter scoffed and forcefully put his blade back in his belt. Pitch walked up to the girl and put her jacket over her bare shoulders.
"Are you alright?" she asked kindly. But the girl just stared at her in silence, tilting her head, she didn't speak the common language. In face, Pitch began to believe that she didn't speak at all. The girl wore nothing on her body but a black collar around her neck, it had a tag that read: Asinine.
"Asinine?" Cyrus spoke. She perked up and smiled at him. Cyrus had a smirk on his face as he continues to stare at her. Not at her naked body, but her. All of her. He put his arm around her shoulders and lead her out of the cave.
