CHAPTER 89: INSIDE THE CAVE

"We’re almost there," Julian whispers.

Maeve follows quietly behind him. Those horse haelions have excellent hearing.

Julian tries to walk as silently as possible, which is hard when the ground is covered with dry leaves.

But they manage to reach the destination without any incident.

"We’re here," Julian whispers. He gestures with open arms, as if presenting a gorgeous house.

Maeve looks around, then at Julian, confused. "I don’t see..." She makes a vague motion with her hand, indicating nothing is there.

Julian smiles and walks toward a section of rock wall covered in vines. He pulls the vines aside like a curtain, revealing a cave.

He tilts his head toward the entrance. "Come on in."

He steps inside, holding the vine curtain open for Maeve.

She follows.

Julian closes the vines behind them and walks into the cave.

"What do you think? Not bad, right? I hid here to rest. Those horseys may have excellent hearings, but they have poor eyesight." He says, in low voice.

"So, we need to keep it down while in here, other than that, we’ll be able to rest, even sleep. Just don’t snore." He winks.

Maeve’s mouth goes open... the she shuts it again. Why is he winking and why does he look cute doing it?

Maeve is twenty-six, and she has never considered herself attractive. She’s spent her life hiding in libraries with books instead of people. She has no social life, and she definitely doesn’t go around flirting with men.

And why am I thinking about my social life when I’m trapped in a dungeon and I might die here? Not the time!

She shakes her head, as if snapping herself out of her fantasy.

"This looks nice. Are you sure it’s safe enough for us to rest?" She keeps her voice low too.

Julian nods. "I took a nap here and I’m here. But, I also did this while I was napping."

He moves toward the cave entrance, takes out something from his backpack, and places them on the floor.

He takes a step back and fiddles with his watch.

A faint shield is erected, covering the entrance.

"With this, they can’t come in. So, we’ll have time to prepare ourselves." He turns to Maeve and smiles.

"That’s... Montrose Aegis... but... I’ve never seen those devices. Are they new products from Montrose Corporation?" Maeve asks with a clear admiration in her voice.

"Erm yes. Kind of. But they’re not for sale, yet. With these little devices, I can make a cube or room of any shapes with Aegis. We’ll be completely safe."

"If they’re not for sale, how did you get your hands on it?" Maeve doesn’t understand.

Julian blinks. It never occurred to him that he hasn’t introduced himself and that Maeve doesn’t know who he is.

"Oh, I’m sorry. I haven’t really introduced myself, have I? I’m Julian Montrose. Nice to meet you."

"Julian Montrose? The Montrose Genius?!"

"Shh!" Julian chuckles.

Maeve presses her lips together and quickly glances at the cave entrance. Nothing is there. She exhales slowly in relief. She turns back to Julian and repeats her question in a much lower tone.

"You’re Julian Montrose?"

"Yes." He nods, grinning. "And you?"

She shakes her head. "I’m not Julian Montrose."

Both of them freeze. A beat.

Then Julian laughs but quickly clamps a hand over his mouth, trying not to be loud.

Maeve, on the other hand, is blushing hard. Her cheeks are bright red. She covers her face with both palms.

"I know you’re not Julian Montrose. Because I am," Julian says, half laughing, half trying to keep it down. "Isn’t it polite to tell me your name when I’ve given you mine?"

"I know. I don’t know why I said that," Maeve mumbles, palms still glued to her face.

Julian continues to giggle. He can’t help himself. He’s been alone and on edge for hours. Now there’s another person with him, and she’s proven herself to be competent. The fact that she’s attractive? That’s a plus.

When he finally manages to speak again, he says, "Don’t worry. We’ve been running on adrenaline and fear most of the time. Now we finally get a chance to rest. We should take it. And thank you for making me laugh."

Maeve slowly lowers her hands. Her cheeks are still red, though not as bright as before. She keeps her eyes down, refusing to look at Julian.

"My name is Maeve Collin, and I work at The Library of Altheon in Solarys," she says, barely audible.

Julian’s eyes widen. "The Library? Wow. That’s amazing!"

"Really? It’s not boring? People always think librarians are boring." Maeve lifts her face, showing her smiles, clearly happy that someone finally thinks her job isn’t dull.

"Well, do you like it? That’s what matters. And speaking of boring, look at my job. I’m stuck in the lab all day. People say that’s boring too."

"But your job isn’t boring. Look at the things you’ve invented. Aegis? That’s amazing!" Maeve’s eyes sparkle.

"Really? You think so?" Julian brightens, happy that someone outside his family appreciates his creations.

"Are you kidding? Of course. Montrose Aegis is incredibly useful. It’s saved people from mortal danger. Do you know how many lives you’ve saved?"

Maeve speaks her mind with full enthusiasm.

Julian is grinning ear to ear, completely unable to hide his happiness. He’s usually behind the scenes. Arthur is the face of Montrose Corporation, the one who always shows up in public.

Julian has always stayed away from the limelight. People know his name, but his face? Almost no one knows what he looks like.

And now he has one person who thinks he’s cool. One person who sees him. It feels like he’s finally been validated. Every hour he suffered, every drop of sweat, every fear, every worry, every brain cell he’s lost... it all suddenly feels worth it.

While Julian and Maeve are chatting happily about their supposedly "boring" jobs, unaware of anything else, outside the cave a full herd of horse haelions is gathering. Their hooves scrape against the dirt, low growls echoing through the forest-like dungeon. None of them realizing that danger is circling closer, step by step.

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"We’re here," Aldriana says. She’s panting hard, her legs feel like jelly, and the back of her clothes sticks to her skin like glue from sweat. She exhales loudly as they reach a small opening in the terrain, grateful for even a moment of space to breathe.

Liam and Arthur are right behind her, both immediately scanning the surroundings for the gate she predicted would be here. They search left and right, eyes sharp, but there is nothing. No shimmer, no distortion, no sign of a dungeon gate.

They’re panting and sweating as well, but not because their stamina is running out. Their bodies are tense from worry, from the unspoken fear that they might be too late. Every step on the way here, they’ve been imagining the worst: Julian injured, trapped, or gone.

Now, standing in this empty clearing with no gate in sight, that fear only grows heavier in their chests.

Liam looks at Aldriana. "I don’t see any gate. Is this the right place?"

Arthur doesn’t say anything. He’s waiting, watching her, wanting to see if her guess is actually correct.

Aldriana points at the center of the clearing. "It’s there."

Both men stare at where her finger is pointing. Nothing is there. Not even a shimmer.

"Liam, you’ve been practicing how to feel your surroundings, yes?" she asks.

Liam nods, still staring hard like he can force something to appear with his eyes alone.

"Don’t use your eyes. They’re useless here. Close your eyes and feel."

Liam obeys instantly, shutting his eyes and straightening his posture.

"Arthur." She turns to the oldest Montrose, who is currently looking at Liam like Liam has lost his mind. Arthur finally looks back at her.

"You can see it too. Use your watch. It can detect mana... heartstone energy, right?"

"I turned the built-in Arcatherm off when it detected your energy down there." Arthur lifts his watch and turns it back on. He fiddles with the settings, then takes out his phone to see the readings more clearly.

His expression slowly shifts.

She’s not lying! There’s an energy fluctuation over there. Something is there even if he can’t see it.

Aldriana watches his face and knows the moment he sees it. She lifts a hand slightly, stopping Arthur from speaking. She wants Liam to concentrate without being interrupted.

"Aldriana," Liam calls, eyes still shut.

"Yeah?" she answers softly. "What do you feel?"

"That... something... is moving... right over there." He opens his eyes as he says it, pointing straight ahead.

"Arthur, is Liam pointing at the right direction?" Aldriana asks, her tone almost like a teacher checking a student’s work.

Arthur nods without hesitation. "Yes, he is."

"Good." Aldriana is satisfied. "And excellent job, Liam. You can feel it. That moving thing is mana. Or heartstone energy. Remember that feeling."

She exhales slowly. "Now I’m going to show you something."

Aldriana steps toward the center of the field. With every step, she feels the mana getting thicker, heavier, wrapping around her like invisible mist. The energy hums as it seeps into her body, recognizing its own.

The wind begins to stir and shift, drawn to her. Liam and Arthur watch silently, both of them sensing something in the air changing. The nature around them seems to respond to her presence.

Aldriana deliberately showcases her power. She needs them to see. Especially Arthur.

She stops suddenly and lifts her right arm, fingers out, like she’s touching something in the empty air.

In that moment, all three light orbs vanish. Darkness swallows the clearing. Pitch black.

But Arthur and Liam can still see something, faint glyphs pulsing around her, lighting her silhouette in the darkness.

And a shadow of a gate slowly appears.