Their footsteps echoed off jagged stone walls that glistened with moisture, while the air was heavy and cool. A dim white casted narrow beams of light, revealing stalactites dripping from the ceiling and uneven ground underfoot. Shadows danced across the rocks, stretching and twisting with each flicker of the dim white light.
Epsilon asked,
"Are you gonna tell us that plan now?"
"No."
He remained quite for while, but then continued,
"I have an idea, of what to do. But I need to see that place for my own eyes first. If we're lucky, we might not even need to fight the terror at all."
For a moment, he thought he heard Galahad grumbling a little.
Eventually they arrived at their location as Sylas raised a hand, gesturing them all to stop. Peering into the light, he finally got to see the caverns first-hand, rather than just imagining the vague descriptions that he had heard from Gracia. Starting from the most obvious, was the immensely long stone bridge that connected from one side of the circular cavern, all the way to the other. It was decently wide, with it roughly being twice the width of a PTV as it toward above the calm waters below, with several thick pillars pushing the bridge up above the still waters.
"Does the lake look the same to you?"
"No.. it's further down then I remember. I couldn't even see the bridges foundations last time I was here."
He then picked up a tiny pebble, before tossing it away with as much power as he could muster. It didn't even cover 1/4th of the distance of bridge, but the second it hit the ground, something in the waters began to move.
The surface of the lake began to bulge, as a towering mahogany brown tentacle pierced through its surface. In a matter of seconds, it reached the bridge before slamming right down where the rock had landed.
Upon noticing that it had hit nothing, the tentacle slowly retreated back into the waters, and the lake calmed down once more.
Sylas just looked at it intrigued. He contemplated for a while longer, and in a second, Galahad was just about to go marching across the bridge. Dragging him back and pinning him down was easier said than done though.
"Silon, was there any kind of large body of water where you ended up?"
Recalling the much smaller lake he fell in upon his first arrival to the dream realm, he silently nodded.
"Did its volume change throughout the day?"
Curious as to how he knew about that, he nodded once again.
'He's figured something out.',
He leaned back slightly, letting his weight shift from one foot to the other as if the act of standing had become secondary to the thoughts circling in his head. His arms folded almost naturally across his chest, one hand slipping free to rise toward his chin. Fingers brushed the line of his jaw before settling there, thumb tucked beneath, as though holding his thoughts in place.
"Hmm.. it responds to any kind of stimulus, and the water is lower then it used to be.. Let's observe it for a while and see if it gets any lower."
It was a good idea. If the water could get lower, then the time it would take for the terror to reach back up from the water would significantly increase. And if they were lucky, the bridge might even exit its sensory range, letting them walk on it without worry.
But of course, one man objected,
"What?? I can't wait that long! I want to fight it now!"
Before Galahad could make a reckless move, Epsilon quickly delivered a light kick to the back of his leg, tripping him over surprisingly easily. He then sat on top of him, making it impossible for him to move.
"Hey! Get off me!"
He struggled for a good while, before giving up completely.
'This is sad..'
It was only possible because he was weakened of course, but to think he'd be sitting on top of a legacy one day.
**
Sylas looked down upon the crystal clear water, watching the reflection of his own face shrink back in disappointment.
'We've been here for 30 minutes now, but the water hasn't gone done even the tiniest bit. The next time it changes, it will certainly rise again.'
But still, it would stay at this level for a decent amount of time.
This place was peculiar. The walls where damn near a perfect circle if it wasn't for the natural rocks and cracks that had taken over, but also the several streams of water that used to flow from up above, had stopped pouring a long while ago. It was obvious that this place was man made, and even morse so that the bridge here was built by someone too.
Still, one question gnawed at his mind.
'Why did they build a bridge to a place that led nowhere?'
The bridge in question wasn't ordinary too. It was able to withstand the strikes of an awakened terror, as well as the erosion of the water for what could be thousands upon thousands of years since this civilization had died. Most structures in the dream realm had survived that long too, but this was something else entirely.
'Important enough to be this durable, but not important enough to be a citadel.'
Maybe the bridge did indeed lead somewhere once, but the passing of time had caused whatever that place was to inevitably be destroyed, and this bridge too was waiting for its turn.
Sighing, he looked at Silon who was half awake, laying on top of Xing who was already snoring quite loudly.
"Silon, wake him. It's time to go."
Stretching his arms a little, Epsilon lightly poked him in the cheek, but he remained in a deep slumber. This time with a hint of frustration, he gave a slightly more hostile slap.
"Ow!"
He slowly rose up now wide awake, with his hand reflexively moving to rub the big red mark on his face.
"The first thing we need to do is probably the easiest part. We just need to run to the other side without dying. Silon, you're coming with me."
Galahad picked up his red staff as he raised himself from the floor, but then Sylas raised his palm right at his face.
"Where do you think your going? As you are now you'll just be too slow."
A shallow breath slipped through his nose, sharp and quick. He considered just ignoring him and sprinting straight for the terror.
"Don't worry, I have other plans for you. I need you to wait for mine and Silon's signal. And then..."
He leaned in close to his ear, whispering something only for him to know.
Then looking at the silent white spirit, he muttered.
"Cia."
For a heartbeat, she froze. The sound of it seemed to bloom in her chest, stirring something both warm and unsettling.
"You don't need oxygen, right? I need you to go down there and distract it as much as you can. That things vision must be quite sensitive from being in the dark all the time, so your light should be able to mess with its other senses for a short while. Enough for us to get to the other side safely at least."