The boy guided the group through the thick brush, shooting suspicious looks at them the whole time. He had been joined by a girl with golden hair streaked with black, a dark panther following her closely.
They were speaking in an unfamiliar language, but Richie could help but feel like he'd heard it before. Not heard it, but recognized it.
"What language are you speaking?" he asked, receiving glares from the two.
"None of your business," the girl spat, her panther growling at the pair.
Eclipse was still holding on to Eddie, Iris nowhere to be found.
Richie didn't feel like he was in any danger, so he didn't blow his flute. He could tell Stan was silently asking him to, but Richie wanted to find out what the Konillians were all about.
After an hour of walking through the forest, the sun began to set. The pair leading the group shared a nervous glance, commanding their hostages to keep up.
"We can't be stuck out here at night," the boy said. "Hurry up."
They began to walk faster, everyone grabbing their friend so they wouldn't end up lost. Eddie ordered Eclipse to go find Iris, noticing the menacing looks that their captors' bonds were giving the dragon.
After another few minutes of sweating and getting scratched by the thick plants, the group broke through the brush. There was a mountain before them and the girl with the panther ran up to it. In seconds part of the mountain vanished and revealed a cave like entrance.
"Holy fuck," Richie whispered, his eyes wide as they walked into the mouth of the cave.
It shut behind them, reducing the space to darkness.
"What the hell?" Mike's voice asked, grabbing onto whoever was next to him.
There were panicked voices and the group all held onto each other, asking who was who to try to make sure they had the full group.
"Guys, calm down!" Eddie yelled. His arm was sore because Richie was gripping him so tight, as if he'd vanish without the grip.
"Look," came Stan's voice, and everyone looked around, their eyes eventually falling on the glowing outline of a door. "Come on."
They walked toward the door outline slowly, holding onto each other like their lives depended on it. As soon as they reached it, the door opened, making the group jump back in confusion.
A new girl stood on the other side, her eyebrows raised. She had dark hair with purple streaks in it and a snow leopard following her.
"Are you going to follow or stay out here all night?" she asked, stepping out of the way.
Richie grabbed Eddie's hand and followed the girl. They ended up in a great hall area, with high ceilings that had clearly been crafted out from the inside of the mountain. All around them were balcony type places and people waking all around it.
They had sculpted a whole community inside of a mountain.
The group was guided to a large door sculpted from rock and lined with gold. The girl with the snow leopard opened it and walking inside.
"Sir?" she asked and they saw a man sitting in a chair.
He wasn't accompanied by an animal, but the girl that guided them released her leopard and it went up to the man, bowing lowly. He pet the animal's back before addressing the people in the room.
"Who are they?" he asked, eyes narrow.
"Katelyn and Edwin brought them and told me I was to bring them here," the girl said, walking to the side.
