Slugterran Saviours

Chapter 25

Author's Note: well last chapter was tragic and i wrote the majority of it on monday itself whoops sorry ya'll. And also i'm sorry if this chapter is shit too, i lost 2 writing days because i went on a school trip and i've been trying to save my grade for this assignment cause group members fucking suck :))))

7th November

"The slugs have been like this ever since last week. We know they've been growing weaker, but this is the worst we've seen it." Alfa, the protector of Energy Caverns, informed the slugslingers as they stood before a slug farm, observing the slugs in the compartments. All of them lay down in their compartments, all sickly pale, the colour fading off them as the light barely flickered in their eyes. His heart ached with pity for the poor slugs as he saw them in this state. He could feel them dying, he could feel their life essence fading away with every second that passed. He looked over at the Infurnus, Bonfire, that stood on his left shoulder, who had the same solemn look on his face. He hated seeing the slugs suffering and dying, a part of his job he had to live with.

Anthony Hèroe was the Protector of the Northern Caverns, after all.

"Any connection you can see, anything you can do?" Alfa asked the five slingers that stood before the slug compartments as she too stared at the dying slugs, deep in thought. Anthony stepped forward, closing his eyes as he took off his aegan blue gauntlet, placing his fingers and palm on the floor of the slug farm. He let his energy flow outward, sensing for any similarities in their energies as the Shadow Clan symbol on his hand glowed brighter. But the only similarity he could find was the fact that their energies were simply fading away. He frowned as he opened his eyes, the Shadow Clan sign on the back of his hand fading back to it's regular glow as he put his gauntlet back on.

"Well, there's the obvious stuff. They're all energy related slugs. Fandangoes, Tazerlings, Phosphoros." Shang pointed out, gesturing to the slugs as he turned towards the rest of the people in the room. Alfa nodded, her golden eyes solemn, filled with fatigue, the dark circles under her eyes darker than her cedar brown skin.

"And the caverns that have a lot of those slugs are dying. It's been wracking, even slug experts are stumped." She informed, running her hand through the thick, black curls of her afro, shaved at the sides.

"Some crazed conspiracy theorists think it has to do with the legend of the Elementals." She continued, and Anthony stiffened at the word Elemental. He remembered how the Northern Caverns were nearly torn apart due to the Air Elemental, the Elemental of the Northern Caverns, being ghouled, taking most of the cavern's energies with it. His sapphire blue eyes widened as he looked at all hid team members, the terrified look in their eyes telling him that they thought the same thing. He looked back at the tired Afra, asking,

"Afra, can we use the meeting room for a second?" She nodded firmly, before she took her saber blaster from a nearby table.

"Sure." She beckoned for the five of them to follow her as she started walking out of the slug farm and towards the council building. As they walked through the busy cavern, people smiled at them or backed away from them as they passed. The Northern Protectors smiled back, waving at the children, giving them winks and finger guns as they walked by them. Anthony smiled as he watched Shang get carried away with entertaining the kids, stopping to hold small conversations with them, occasionally having to jog to catch up with the rest, his gingerbread brown eyes filled with joy as he made it a priority to high five and wink at every kid that looked at him. The rest of the gang let him be, knowing how the action helped him cope with his younger sister's death after the Dark Slinger's rule over the Eastern Caverns. Zuli turned to the woman that led them through the cavern, her voice concerned and worried as she told Afra,