Purple Dragon (Yona of the Dawn)

Double Perspective

Alya's P.O.V

The further in we went the more anxious our group seemed to get, everyone, preparing to jump into action at the slightest sign of trouble. I could tell Hak was itching to get in on the action, he had been on the sidelines for all the fighting portions so far but somehow I think it should be that way. Maybe it's the dragon's blood talking to me but I keep getting these sudden ideas, bursts of inspiration and it's like I suddenly understand the purpose of things going on. Maybe it's a part of my power that allows my mind to connect with the others or maybe it's just intuition. Either way, I'm sure that it's our responsibility to complete the challenges that have been set.

"Sin-ha can you see anything coming?" Hak asked and he shook his head staring deep into the darkness. Yun, forbid me to use my firepower unless absolutely necessary to give me more time to recover.

"Maybe we'll get another puzzle and get a break," Gija said hopefully. I rolled my eyes like they would let up this far in. The challenges are only going to get harder from here on out.

"GAH!" Everybody jumped back when Jae-ha shouted, he had been in the lead with a torch. He held it down towards the floor and we all saw he had sunk down to his knees. The ground had turned from stone to... I can't even describe it. It still looks like the stone ground but it had the consistency of very watery mud. The rest of us stood back but Jae-ha was slowly sinking farther in. Gija slowly edged forward until his foot was at the edge of the mud and reached out. Jae-ha grabbed his right arm and with his dragon strength Gija pulled Jae-ha out. There was a loud SQUELCH as he came free. Once he was on solid ground Jae-ha tried cleaning the mud off his clothes.

"How far down the hall do you think it goes?" Hak asked. He was looking at Sin-ah but it was pointless, the mud blended into the stone flawlessly. There was no way to tell the difference without getting in. Jae-ha said once he had sunk it was like his legs were frozen. He couldn't move no matter how hard he tried.

"So... what are we supposed to do?" Yun asked. I leaned down letting a small flame appear on the tips of my fingers. I held it down to the substance but on contact, the flame went out. I immediately jumped back alarmed. Nothing, absolutely nothing has ever been able to extinguish my flames. I reached out in my mind to the others, I wanted to know what they were feeling about this.

Sin-ha was pretty calm, quietly observing the situation. Gija was pretty much freaking out (what else is new?) Jae-ha was still more worried about getting the mud off his clothes than figuring how we're getting across this obstacle. Zeno's mind was split, half his mind was thinking about our predicament while the other was wondering when we would eat again. I wish I could see into Hak, Yun and Yona's minds. If I could access everybody's thoughts I could combine theories and figure out a course of action.

"There has to be a way, the dragons wouldn't have given us an impossible challenge." Gija cried. Something in Gija's words struck a cord.

"Impossible... maybe that's exactly what it's supposed to be. Or at least what it should seem." I said. Everybody was looking at me like I was crazy.

"Alya...." Yun started. He probably thought my injuries were getting to me.

"Yun, you have rope right?" I asked. He nodded and pulled it out of his pack. I removed my sword and handed it to Sin-ha before grabbing one end of the rope and looping it around my waist and knotting it. I handed the other end to Gija.

"If I yank on it three times pull me back up," I said and he nodded alarm evident in his eyes.

"You aren't actually going to jump in that are you?" Yun shouted and I nodded turning to the mud. It really didn't look like it was there as I stood on the edge and stepped off. I sunk down to my chest quickly, I grabbed the stone wall took a deep breath and shoved myself down into the mud. The second my head went under I sank faster when suddenly the rope went tight. Gija must have felt me going down and pulled the rope. I yanked on it once and I started going down again. Without warning, everything around me disappeared.

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Yona's P.O.V

I didn't want Alya to jump into the mud. I didn't want her to tie that rope to herself, I didn't want Gija slowly lowering her deeper into the pit. Why? What was Alya thinking? What does she think this will accomplish. Her head went under, a few seconds later the rope started going down faster and Gija gripped it preventing it from lowering further.

"Pull her back up!" I shouted alarmed. The rope jerked hard in Kija's hand and he slowly let it go dropping Alya further into the mud. Gija kept letting it loose until he was at the end, there was no more rope to release.

"Her weight is gone!" Gija suddenly said alarmed.

"What do you mean her weight is gone? How can it be gone?" Yun demanded.

"I could feel her weight pulling on the rope and now nothing is pulling on the rope." He explained. I turned back to the mud pit, I wanted to scream for Alya to come back but I doubt she could have heard me. None of us knew what to do when Gija suddenly screamed and yanked on the rope, it took a minute when Alya came out covered in mud. Yun and I helped her back to her feet on solid ground and it took her a minute to get the mud off her face.

"I was right, we aren't meant to go straight. We have to go down. There's a cavern below." She said breathing heavily. Yun and I both leaned down to make sure she was okay.

"How are we going to all get down there without getting lost?" I asked.

"We send one person down first, then the others grab the rope and the first person pulls them through," Hak said immediately. We all turned to Gija knowing he would have to be the first to go down this time.

"But... how will I know where I'm going?" Gija asked. He looked like he really didn't want to do it.

"Keep your hand on the wall. It goes all the way down." Alya said looking up at him. Gija opened his mouth, my guess is to protest but Alya gave him a scathing look and I guess he thought better of it. I don't think I'd want Alya mad at me either. Tying the rope to Gija's hand he stood on the edge of the ground before jumping in. He sank faster than Alya, my guess because he's a lot heavier than her. Everybody grabbed onto the rope, I stood between Hak and Jae-ha waiting. Not soon enough Gija gave a sharp tug on the rope and the rest of us jumped in. Hak yanked on the rope letting Gija know we were ready. Everybody took a deep breath and suddenly we were being pulled down through the mud quickly. It was a strange sensation and I couldn't see anything because I had to close my eyes or risk getting mud in them. Without any warning, I was falling through the air and...

SPLASH! I was pulled up out of the water and looked around in surprise. The cavern was beautiful, the lake was small and we climbed out. Most of the mud had washed off me and my clothes. The walls of the cavern were lit with different colored gems and it took me a minute to realize they were the dragon colors.

Once everybody had climbed out Alya lit a fire so we could dry off. It took a while but soon enough we were ready to start walking again.

"Hey, Alya, any insight into what you think is going to happen?" Yun asked.

"Yeah, I think we're in for another fight." She said.

"Why's that?" Hak asked.

"Once we got inside our first challenge was a fight, then a puzzle, then a fight and now another puzzle. If the pattern stays the same we're in for a fight." She told us. And knowing how often she's been right we all prepared ourselves for a battle.