[Confirmed hiatus, I guess??] The Fall Into Darkness - HermitCraft fanfic

Chapter 24 - The Truth

POV: EX

Location: Forest near Area 77

As my chest heaved, I looked up at Grian as he froze up.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean something's in there and it sucks up magic," I replied, almost snapping at him in my frustration.

He glanced through the trees toward Area 77, his gaze seeming to rest upon the entrance even though it was too far away to easily see it.

"What do we do?" he asked, his blue gaze still trained on the bunker.

"We need to find out what it is and figure out why Scar and Doc are holding it," I replied.

He didn't reply as he bowed his head and moved his gaze toward the ground.

"When?" he finally asked, his gaze still trained on the grass below him.

I straightened, my breath had calmed enough for me to be able to stand.

"Tonight," I answered.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

I skillfully dropped down through the trees, the moonlight barely reaching the grass underneath the canopy. I glanced over at Grian and he gave a nod. Together, we silently advanced toward the Area 77 bunker. Grian had chosen to wear his diamond armor but cast a silencing spell so that Doc and Scar wouldn't hear us if they were inside the bunker.

We paused just as we were about to exit the thick cover of the forest. After a moment's pause, we dashed toward the entrance, hoping we would make it inside without any problems. Moments later, we slipped inside the entrance with no alarm sounding.

I raised a hand to my head and cast a quick spell so that I could detect where the magic-sapper was. I signaled for Grian to follow me and dashed down a hallway. He quickly followed me after a glance at our surroundings.

After following the hallway for a little while, I took a right and found myself in a staircase. I went down a little bit and soon reached the bottom.

I held out a hand and stopped Grian from going any further. I pointed into the room and he stiffened. Inside the room stood several cages, most of which unoccupied. However, there was movement inside the furthest cage from the entrance.

I glanced at Grian and we went closer to the cage. I raised my hand and let some of my magic show, but not all of it. A pale white-furred hand reached out of the cage and grabbed the magic, taking it for himself. I jumped back in surprise as the ball was taken. Grian and I exchanged glances and we looked at the trapped creature. Neither of us had ever seen anything like it. Its coat was pure white and its skin was a blueish silver color. Grian stepped back in fear as glowing red eyes peered out from the darkness at us.

"That's not-" I cut off as a growl sounded behind us. Grian and I turned to see Doc standing near the entrance, his trident in hand, and his expression raged. "What are you doing down here?" he growled through gritted teeth.

"Doc, do you know what that is?" I replied, gesturing toward the creature behind me.

He growled. "No, we don't. That's why it's in here," he answered. "And now I can see that you should be too." Grian took a step back away from Doc, his light blue eyes wide with fear. I stepped in front of him.

"You really shouldn't lock up sentient things that you don't understand," I growled through gritted teeth.

"Why not?" he asked, suddenly examining the tri-tip end of his trident. His mismatched gaze snapped to me. "If the sentient thing doesn't tell me what they are, that means they're a danger to the server."