My (Monster?) Hero Life

Chapter 83: Silence Is Golden

Kace glanced at the gaping hole with eyes full of apprehension. Usually, he felt pretty comfortable in dark spaces thanks to the natural advantage it would normally give him. However, something felt wrong to him about this one.

He could not place his finger on it, but it felt like there was a presence prodding at his survival instincts. It almost made him feel as though the cave itself was alive. 'I hope I'm wrong.' He thought as he watched Captain Raven slowly step foot inside.

When Raven failed to get eaten alive, the rest of the group felt the tension in their bodies loosen its grip on them. Feeling a bit more relaxed about it one by one, they followed him into the depths of the earth. Kace jumped slightly as a member of the crew sparked a piece of flint against a stone to set his torch alight.

He had completely forgotten that unlike the monsters amongst them, the crew were nothing but normal human beings. So it was only natural that they would need a source of light. 'Fucking normies.' Kace cursed in his mind. Pissed off that they could essentially be giving away their position to anything that may have decided to take up residence down here.

However, it was marginally better than an infinite amount of cursing that would ensue every time one of them would bump into something. So for now at least he could put up with it. 'I can always kill them myself if it looks like they'll get us killed.' Kace thought pensively.

His amber eyes gave an off an unnatural look, as the light from the torch flickered across them. Causing the members of the crew who had witnessed it to shiver. Many of them wondered if they should be more afraid of the monsters that may be in the dark or the one that was definitely amongst them.

Captain Raven kept a slow pace as he was trying to be considerate for the humans amongst them. After all, they were definitely still tired, and they might have a use for them later so there it was beneficial to them to make sure the crew could keep up. Although he was careful to make sure that if he had to look behind himself that he would not look directly into the flames.

This was not his first rodeo, so he knew it would cost him his night vision, just like it would for the humans. His eyes swept the path ahead for any signs of hidden danger. Even though he made sure to double-check even the slightest detail he could find no evidence that something may have set up shop within.

This left him confused. The entrance certainly looked like it had been tampered with so there should be something. 'Sometimes, the lack of evidence is the evidence itself though...' He thought as his mind wandered, searching his memories for any details of a creature that may hide its tracks that lived on the Island.

His memory failed him though, as he realised that they had never come across something that fit the bill. This only caused his concern to grow. They could be dealing with a new breed of an already existing monster. This could mean that something that was already dangerous may have just become something lethal.

"Grugda? Can you do anything this?" Kace asked while taking note of the concern that was hovering over everyone.

"Sure. Give me time." Grugda replied while raising an eyebrow. He found it strange that Kace would be considerate enough of others to ask him to ease their worries.

When the others heard their short conversation, they all looked at them with gratitude. It was quite a big deal to them if they could detect any danger before it was too late. Many of them silently began to thank the gods since this could possibly prevent their untimely demise.

Grugda channelled mana into his hands before placing them on the cold earthen walls. The spell he was using detected even the slightest vibration in the earth. It provided the Eljein with something resembling a holographic map within his mind.

Any vibrations that it detected would light up the corresponding area on the map with a red pulse. Grugda concentrated for a few minutes as the map slowly expanded to the maximum range the spell could reach to. All seemed to be well. As only the slight shivers coming from the crew were showing up.

Just as he about to give the all-clear, he suddenly broke out in a heavy sweat. He swallowed a lump of saliva as he waited to confirm the readings were accurate. When there was no room left for doubt anymore, he nervously removed his hands from the wall.

Noticing his friend's sudden change in character, Kace kicked his senses into high alert. At the same time, he waited for Grugda to explain what he had found. When a few minutes had passed, and Grugda had still failed to share his findings Kace could no longer hold it in.

"C'mon buddy! Where are they coming from!" Kace complained loudly as he kept his eyes focused on the front.

"Shh!" Grugda rebuked him, covering Kace's mouth with his large hand. 

Kace had never known the Eljein to be afraid while surrounded by earth. So he was taken aback by the situation. 'If something can scare him. Well then, we should all be scared.' Kace reluctantly thought. His mind began to imagine all sorts of unspeakable horrors lurking in the dark. Just waiting for them.

A few heartbeats passed, but it felt like forever to those standing in the narrow passage. Grugda slowly performed the same spell again. Each move he made seemed to empathise the need to be gentle. As though he was afraid that his own vibrations would alert something to their presence.

Kace watched as Grugdas complexion visibly paled, as he detached himself from the wall even more shaken than the first time. The light of hope was completely gone from the Eljein's eyes this time as he looked at them.

"We're surrounded." He managed to say before the walls of the cave burst inwards upon them.