The Antagonist's Full Moon

34. Abandoned Cave

According to Dean's earlier estimation, the wagon he and Liv were riding on had reached the town of Themaris before afternoon. The speed of the elves who had normal-powered magic was indeed different compared to Frode.

Now, both carts are in a queue of vehicles that want to enter the territory of Liv's father.

Dean waited patiently. The plan is to get down inside the city, before the driver checks his luggage. He also instructed the same to Liv. Again, Dean peeked at the wagon Liv was riding in. It's still in the queue, not far from the wagon where it's located.

However, Dean felt this queue for so long. How strange. In fact, there should not be much to check if a vehicle wants to enter the city, in addition to the driver's identity letter, plus a trade letter for oxin carts. There was no way that something like that could take such a long time.

Dean peeked around through the crack of the wooden barrier. He saw that there were many vehicles in the same queue, even longer. Some drivers got off their seats, looking ahead, to find out what was causing the queue to be blocked.

"What's going on?" ask a driver to a professional colleague, who just returned from near the gate.

"There's a thorough examination. The gate guards will search our luggage."

What's?! A shakedown? dean's screams in my heart. He did not anticipate this.

"All stuff? But, there are items that should not be opened up to the recipient's hands at the destination!" protest of a driver.

"They will not unload the crates. Just going to ask what it is," explained another driver.

Dean's eyes were wide open. Soon he peeked towards Liv's wagon. The elf girl hid inside a sealed box. Liv's safe. Dean's gonna be in trouble. He just hid behind a carpet roll. There wasn't a single empty box in her wagon, as Liv found.

Dean thought fast. Sweat drenched his forehead and his heart beat as if to escape from the chest cavity. If he was caught, he would already be in this elf world.

One idea came up. The man got down slowly from the wagon, sneaking around. He hoped other drivers around would not notice him.

Dean was lucky, the entire driver was too tired to wait in line, until he did not notice a black hooded figure quietly descending from a cart.

After his foot managed to stomp on the ground, Dean crawled into the undercarriage. Every time the wagon moved forward, Dean crawled along. Arriving in front of the border wall gate, it was the turn of the cart where Dean was hiding that was inspected.

Before the soldier could get close, Dean clung to the woods under the wagon, closing himself in there. Dean hangs behind the bottom of the wagon like a spider-man hero in his favorite action movie.

"We'll check your luggage" said the bodyguard. The driver invited.

Luckily, Dean was no longer on the wagon. The inspecting soldier actually searched the entire corner, even the carpet scroll where Dean had been hiding was also temporarily lifted, to see what was behind it. Dean let out a long breath, very relieved.

"Why should there be a search like this? This never happened! I can be late to deliver the goods!" protest the driver.

The examiner's bodyguards bowed slightly, then said, "I apologize for the inconvenience. It's a direct order from a member of the Themaris family."

Members of the Themar family? Could it be Liv's father? Is he looking for Liv? But, for what? Wasn't he himself the one who drove Liv to this Themaris town?

Dean's wagon got through the check. The wheels of the vehicle continued to accelerate, entering the city, passing through various buildings and settlements.

Dean's hands were flushed, withstanding the stinging and aching holding on to the wood of the cart. Once again he was lucky, because before long, the driver stopped his wagon somewhere. The driver looked through the contents of the car for a moment, then entered a building.

That's when Dean let go of the handle. The man crawled out. The atmosphere of the streets is quiet. Apparently, he was on the edge of town near the border wall. Dean immediately ran away from the crowd, sneaking among the tree houses, heading towards the west gate of the city. The abandoned cave is on the outside of the western border wall.

Dean's two reddened hands rubbed against each other. Inwardly, he prayed that Liv could also pass the gate check.

***

"You! Finally arrived!"

Dean exclaimed, welcoming Liv who had just arrived at the mouth of the cave where the two of them were going to look for a chunk of magic crystals. The cave is indeed old, with various rocks and foliage growing wild all around. There was a yellow ribbon across his mouth, a sign that this cave did not allow anyone to enter because it was dangerous.

Liv came running, her breathing gasping. "I-I don't understand .. why the soldiers were looking for me ... ," Liv said. Apparently he also heard that there was a thorough inspection at the border gate.

Dean peeked behind the girl's body, checking if anyone was following her.

Dean invites Liv further into the deeper side of the cave. On the ground floor there is a rail line that used to be used by miners to deliver transportation cars in the form of iron ore. During the activity of this cave, the iron ore continues to be mined and sent to various corners of the country to be formed into everyday items. Until one day, the iron ore was exhausted and this cave was abandoned.

Liv ignited the torch using fire from a magic stone. The darkness in the cave is now gone, though not completely. The silence came when Dean looked further into the cave.

"Is this cave safe? What if there are ferocious animals?" liv asked, hiding behind Dean's back. The man grabbed the torch in Liv's hand.

"The prosecutor has already cleared this place before the miners work. The priest's magic is still there today. So, yeah, it's safe. Take it easy," Dean said. Even so, Liv remained afraid to walk in front. Slowly, he followed Dean leading the way.

"Do you know the way?" ask Liv.

Dean snorts. "Of course!"

"This cave is creepy .. is it true, in your novel, I was as brave as that to explore this cave alone?"

"Hmmm, in the novel, you can't think straight. After being chased out by your father, you went here after having your mind shut up for days. You could say, you didn't realize that you had gone so far into the cave."

Dean led the way, several times he decided whether to turn right or left. It was true, not a single ferocious animal had attacked. There are still remains of small wooden carriages left by their owners, on the rusty tracks. The walls of the cave are circular and held up by wood to prevent landslides.

Now the wood looks weathered to age. Instead of fearing being attacked by vicious animals, Liv is more afraid in case there is a landslide in this cave.

Dean and Liv kept walking and walking. Sometimes there are bats flying out. Not really, half an hour they walked. The feet are starting to feel sore. Liv started complaining.

"Is it far away?"

"In a moment .. well, around here!"

Dean pointed at one open area. There are no rail cars on the ground. There's nothing. Just one point of an ordinary cave is meaningless.

Dean handed Liv the torch, then ran over to the area. The man began to jerk his feet to the ground floor of the cave. It made Liv panic.

"What are you doing?! Stopit! It could landslide!"

Liv's warning wasn't published by Dean. The man told Liv to do the same.

"There's a basement around here, where the magic crystals are. In the novel, you fall into a hole that leads to the space. We just need to find him!"

Liv obeyed Dean's orders. The girl began to stomp the ground forcefully. There was the sound of the bum-bum earthy, produced from his feet and Dean. Five minutes they did it without success. Not a single hole emerged from the crack of the ground that was trampled so hard. Dean's getting restless.

"Am I wrong? But I remember exactly, in this direction the path ... ." Dean murmured while still stomping the ground.

Starting to rouse, the entanglement firmer and make the cave wall vibrate. Scraps of earth fell from the ceiling of the cave. Liv's getting scared.

"Dean, stop! You can destroy this place!!"

Again, Liv's words were not published. Dean started cursing. "Come, dong, si*lan! I have to find the crystal ... HUH!!"

Dean's final shout accompanied by a very loud jolt, managed to make the ground around his legs split apart. Just a few seconds later, the hemisphere got wider and the pieces fell out of nowhere. Suddenly there was a big hole.

"Aghhhh!!" Dean yells. The man fell into the hole.

"Deean!!"

***

((Ryby: Sorry for days without uploading. His older brother, his only brother, had just returned to Rahmatullah. Please pray yes, may almarhumah husnul khotimah. Aminn ya robbal alamin)