CHAPTER 120: GEM OF TAYUN

Nova stared up at the giant gemstone, sprawled out on the ground, her legs kicked out and hands planted behind her, grazed from where she braced herself against the idiotic fall. Some pain throbbed up her arms, but it was nothing she couldn’t handle, especially with the priority of what was in front of her right now.

That thing scared the crap out of her!

A gust of wind roared into her face, flinging her hair back and pressing her further into the cave wall at her back, she brought her hands up to shield her face against it, the wind drying her eyes out to the point it was painful, but her arms felt like led and struggled to keep them in front of her face. They gave way, flopping by her sides as soon as the wind dropped.

It was still staring at her. Its eyes were a vibrant blue and white, like anvil lightning in grey, dark skies. She was utterly captivated and fearful of it, unable to look away, yet there was something telling her to look down, show this... being respect. And she did exactly that.

The fine hairs on the back of her neck and arms stood on end, her heart pounding to a shaken tune. The eye blinked slowly, almost seeming bored, before it closed its eye and disappeared again until all Nova could see was this shadowed being shaped in the foetal position. The moment its attention left her, so did the crushing weight on her chest, and she drew a full breath.

Nova placed her hand on her chest, inhaling deeply and calming down.

"-VA!"

"NOVA!"

"I swear to the almighty gods if she doesn’t answer soon, I will kill her," Aiyana snapped aggressively from somewhere around the cave.

"Nova, lux mea, answer me. Is everything okay?" Yoa sounded much calmer.

How long had they been calling her name for?

"Sorry, I’m fine..." Nova replied, her voice a little shaky. "Are you unable to move still?"

"We are stuck," Yoa replied with a breath of relief at hearing her voice.

She pushed off from the ground, sliding along the wall, her eyes trained on the gemstone with the strange creature inside. The being might be asleep, but power flowed from the gem, the golden veins branching out across the ceiling where the gem hung, pulsed like it was some sort of beating heart. She couldn’t quite understand what she was looking at, but as she stepped closer, one side of the gem was starting to darken into a brownish-black colour, like that of scorch marks.

Slowly, she walked around the gem, her gaze flicking back to the being inside, wary of it, and the strange power thrumming from this gem and creature. On this side, where the gem was discolouring, the power had dimmed a lot. She followed the darkened part of the gemstone up to the ceiling and watched as two of the vein-like structures had shadows flowing through the gold, almost smothering it.

Nova tilted her head slightly, watching it as the temperature seemed to drop. She stroked her arms to stave off the growing chill. "Something’s wrong..." she whispered, though she couldn’t understand what this thing was or why it was so important that the darkening gem and weakening power were so important.

"You guys should really see this..." Nova called out and walked around the gem to follow the short tunnel until she was in front of them again.

"And how do you suppose we do that?" Aiyana arched her brow.

Atia gave her a stern look. "What?" She shrugged. "We can’t move from this spot, and somehow our shifter-less friend can?"

The trio looked back at Nova as she took Yoa’s hands, trying to budge him from the spot. "She is an Electa..." Yoa whispered. "Maybe Tempakar’s ire led us here by fate..."

His eyes locked with Nova’s as she stared up at him. "What did you see in-"

Before he could answer, power rippled up his spine. It was more potent than usual—Tayun’s call to help those in need. His chest tightened as the magic that had held him there was released. His back straightened more. "The Vohraki..." He murmured, gaze going distant.

Nova saw the urgency. She was used to it now. "Go," she urged.

"Take her back to the hideout," Yoa commanded.

"The treehouse?! While Tempakar’s fury smites down on us all?" Atia asked, clearly looking at him like he was mad.

Yoa was already turning away, his body rippling with power, the shift about to take place. "No, the other hideout." He looked to Nova, burning her image to his mind before he shifted into his jaguar form and raced off.

"Be safe," Nova whispered, her words carrying warmth along the bond, as she tried to keep her concern to herself.

This Serakai stuff was still new to her, and it was both strange and somehow completely natural that she and Yoa were utterly connected to the point they could feel each other’s emotions and were now practising telepathy. So far, she could only hear glimpses of his thoughts after struggling for an hour to break through some mental barrier that was like climbing a huge brick tower.

"Wooh! Finally!" Atia sighed, his body relaxing from whatever magical hold this place had on them.

Aiyana rolled her shoulders and looked at the tunnel Nova had gone down. "You kept saying something is wrong in here..." The pulsing golden light shimmered along the branched out veins in the stone above, almost in answer to Aiyana’s words. Her gaze drew up to the ceiling, then found Nova’s eyes. "Only you were allowed to go in there..."

She looked back at the tunnel and headed that way, her claws slicing through her fingers in preparation for a threat. But before she could pass the threshold, an invisible barrier kept her from entering. She tried to press against it with her hand, then barged into it with her shoulder, the sound echoing along the rocky terrain.

In doing so, the golden light above them flickered, almost shuddering like the power it took to put the wall up was straining on it. Atia strolled up to it next, touching the invisible force and tilting his head. "I wonder if it is because Nova is an Electa... or whatever is behind there doesn’t want us to see it..."

Nova parted her lips, about to explain what she saw, but the moment she did, nothing was voiced. Her eyes widened at the magic holding her tongue. Her mouth struggled, opening and closing slightly until she gave up, noticing a subtle breath releasing from this cave.

It truly was strange here.

"There they are..." A croaky, elderly sounding man spoke from afar.

"Mmm... That’s more than a little snack..." Another creepy voice giggled.

The trio looked at each other, and Nova cursed under her breath. "Time to go!" She squeaked.

Aiyana and Atia shared a look. "Nah, time to fight, little snack," Atia grinned at her.

"Time to put some of your training to good use," Aiyana winked at her even as the duo placed themselves between Nova and the upcoming threat.

"They’re in human form right... not... not bats...?" She whispered. Neither of them responded as they readied with those manic grins for what was about to come. She made an extra attempt to calm her nerves and fear of the flying rodents, squeaking, "Right, guys...?"