Moving as fast as he could, he remained far behind the two ladies, his only guide being the faint glimpse of the blue torch they were holding. Now that his body was fully healed, the only dilemma he faced was his intense hunger, but it was too small a problem.
All he prayed for was that his stomach not grumble while he was trying his best to remain hidden behind them. They were walking fast, moving swiftly through the darkness with only the pale light showing them the way, and through that light, he followed.
The walk was torturous for him as he was desperately trying not to garner their attention, and so far he was doing quite well. He didn't have any means to keep track of time, but as he began to pant slightly, he knew that they had been walking for a long while.
The hard rocks grazed against his feet, causing him immense pain, which he was slowly finding rather difficult to endure. But he didn't have any other choice if he wanted to get out of the chasm.
After a long while of walking, the path forward began to fork, and after a brief stop, the sisters made a turn to the right while he swiftly followed far behind them. He moved quickly until he finally reached the forking area and then stopped and gazed at the path that led to his right.
In the distance, the light remained still, which meant that the sisters had stopped moving, but given where he was, he couldn't tell what their reason was. Then, after a while of complete stillness, the light flickered, and afterward, began to move.
He tilted his head and almost furrowed his brow.
"What the…"
However, he didn't have an opportunity to furrow his brow, as everything was already clear to him. The sisters had turned around and were moving back, and it seemed that they were rushing as well.
He gritted his teeth and glanced to the left of the path, but at last, he decided to stand right where he was, refusing to bother himself with what would happen if they happened to meet him.
'It's just a dream anyway.'
It wasn't long before they finally reached him, briefly slowing down as they noticed his figure in the darkness. Luna only threw a quick glance at him before she walked past him quickly, heading in the opposite direction.
He watched as they hastily walked off, and then the ground began to tremble. At first, it was subtle, but it quickly grew more violent, getting worse with each passing moment.
He glanced at the darkness in the forking road once again and then ran off in the opposite direction with a dreadful look on his face.
'How could I be so stupid? Of course, they were running away from something.'
As soon as he began moving, the earth erupted into a hundred slabs of shattered brown rocks, and something large, writhing, and menacing appeared in the darkness, moving swiftly toward its closest target.
With grim resolve, Sta rushed forward, trying his best to catch up with the two ladies who were quickly moving further into the distant darkness, currently on the run from the same thing that was chasing him.
Well, the new body of his felt familiar to him, which was why he had been able to walk despite the grave injuries he had suffered earlier, and now, that strange sense of familiarity was starting to feel useful once again.
The Earth trembled once more, and, gritting his teeth, he jumped high and pushed forward.
Still desperately trying to piece more of the plot together, he was finally able to recognize one of the major things that would lead them back home. Well, they wouldn't need to find a way out... at least.
As he leapt forward, narrowly escaping the aftereffects of the horrible quake, the shadow behind him descended into the ground once again, the earth trembling as it moved forward.
He groaned.
"Damnation."
As his feet touched the ground, which was now sloping, he dashed forward, moving as fast as he could, and then, as he began to close the gap between him and the sisters, he gritted his teeth and slid.
Using his momentum, he bent his legs and pushed forward, allowing his lower body to fall and go coursing against the ground. It already worked once, so he doubted that it wasn't going to work again.
As he slid, the hard surface of the ground bruised his skin; he could hear the sound of rocks shattering as the earth trembled, and then he caught a glimpse of light, but it wasn't pale and blue like the one the sisters had with them.
It was a bright golden hue that seemed rather warm and welcoming… mystical… glorious… It was unlike anything he had seen before.
Normally, he would have stopped to admire the sight, but he had a massive creature currently chasing after him in hopes of turning him into a meal.
"The end of the tunnel."
He mumbled as he groaned once again, quickly springing back to his feet and running forward. He smiled bluntly, marveling at how he was able to perform such fluid motions effortlessly.
Behind him, a writhing creature continued to chase after him, but their speed was quite evenly matched. Star had gotten the head start, so he remained ahead until the golden light in the distance began to get bigger and glow brighter.
The two sisters disappeared into its glowing brilliance a few seconds before he caught up as well, and without a single moment of hesitation, he leapt forward into the light.
The light was blinding, forcing him to quickly close his eyes as he was swallowed by it; thereafter, he didn't feel anything. It was as if the world had gone silent, freeing him from its torturous grip of destiny… of fate… of life.
He felt... He felt free.
But then that strange sensation suddenly changed; the elusive freedom he felt vanished, and all he felt… all he felt was the intense wind blowing against his body from below as he was being pulled down by gravity.
He was falling.
"The hell…"
He gasped in shock, quickly realizing his mistake as the ferocious wind almost choked him. Resisting the urge to cough, he continued falling, and then a loud thud resounded.
He crashed full force against the floor, his legs and hands getting bruised. He swayed for a moment before falling on his back; his eyes felt heavy, and his mind was hazy, a bit disoriented.
After a while, his mind finally cleared, and he was able to see once more, though his hands and legs were still in peril.
All he could see was a tranquil scene, green vines sprawling on the golden-white ceiling, and hanging in the middle was a single golden-brown chandelier, illuminating the entire room with divine golden light.
However, he couldn't help but feel strange about the room as he remembered his fall. For something that dropped him from so high, the ceiling he was seeing was rather short, and he couldn't see any caving entrances on any side of his strange room.
Stretching his hands and legs slightly, he pushed his upper body up from the floor and glanced around at the ivory floor on which he sat and the golden-white walls that surrounded him, and somewhere to the side, right next to one of the walls, a single tree stood; its bark was as golden as the sun and its leaves were a mix of yellow and ivory.
Standing just a few meters away from him were the two sisters standing apart from each other, their gazes intently fixed on him. Luna still had the torch with her, but its fire was extinguished.
And then, somewhere above them, a deafening roar resounded, and the sound of shattering rocks followed, bringing with it the dreadful view of a black, worm-like creature the size of a train falling from above.
Their adversary from the shadows was far more persistent than he had imagined.