The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)

Chapter 60: Immunity

Part 1/3

“So, this is the cave,” Neddy said, looking at the carved opening with a frown. All seven of them were standing outside, their weapons at the ready. Although originally they had planned on bringing their tames with them, the cave’s entrance seemed large enough to only fit the humans. Tiffany nodded.

“Yep. Andres and I found it when we were setting up our home,” Tiffany responded. Ruby plugged her nose, fanning the air quickly with her other hand.

“It REEKS in there, are you sure the artifact or whatever it’s called is in there?”

“I’m very positive,” Tiffany answered, “You trust me, I assume?”

“We do. We just don’t want to waste our time,” Samuel told her, “For all we know others already know about these artifacts and are on the move to collect them. We need to be swift.”

Star squawked in agreement, and Aurora shivered.

“I’m getting a bad feeling about this.”

“Don’t be afraid!” Andres said, pointing a finger in the air, “I’ll go in first!”

Andres stepped into the darkness. Neddy shrugged, and stepped in along with Ruby. Tiffany followed, and now Aurora and Samuel (along with Star) were the only ones who needed to enter.

“Ladies first,” Samuel said, waving his hand to the entrance, “Don’t let your fear rule you.”

Aurora scoffed and stepped in, wielding her spear. Samuel stepped in and immediately he was greeted with a strange, vicious smoke. The green fog covered the entire cavern in a blanket, and as Samuel breathed the fumes in he felt dizzy.

“This is weird,” Ruby commented, her nose still plugged.

“Poisonous gas,” Tiffany said, “Not to panic. It doesn’t seem lethal, but let’s not take our chances. I’ll get rid of the fog and clear a pathway for you all.”

Bum, Bum, Bum.

“What’s that noise?” Aurora asked in fear, looking around with panic in her eyes.

“My heart,” Tiffany said, putting a hand to her chest, “My ability to adapt at will…”

Gills began to grow on Tiffany’s neck, and everyone looked on in awe as Tiffany inhaled a large puff of gas. As the fog cleared, everyone began to venture into the dark, creepy cavern…

Hissss!

“Snake, snake!” Neddy cried as a giant snake with a large frill slithered toward them. Ruby aimed her crossbow and pulled the trigger. A stone arrow pierced its skin, and venom began to spew out onto the floor, coating the damp grass in a thick layer of ooze. The snake let out a hiss of pain, before coiling up and striking at Samuel. Samuel weaved to the side, and Andres took his fist and socked it right in the face.

POW!

The snake went flying, and Tiffany followed up with a roundhouse kick to the head. With one final arrow, the snake was killed.

“Well that wasn’t so bad,” Neddy apologized, “Sorry about that, I should have helped…”

“It’s okay Neddy, just kill the next one for us, okay?” Ruby said with a smile. She put a hand on Neddy’s shoulder, and he flinched reflexively. He gave a smile back to her.

With the snake slayed, the seven quietly walked forward.

As the fog was swallowed by Tiffany, it was evident that there was now a fork in the road. Three paths lay ahead of them, and although the poisonous gasses were absent from each one, the temperature seemed to grow hotter and hotter.

“So, there’s a fork,” Neddy pointed out.

“What now?” Ruby asked.

“We need to split up. It’s the only way we’re going to get the artifact quickly enough,” Samuel declared. He began to air his graduation robe, it was starting to get damp on him and sweat began to collect at his hairline, “Heat’s absolutely killing me.”

“No, are you a fool? We need to stick together! What if we run into something like that snake again?” Aurora asked. She looked beyond Samuel at one of the paths and began to shiver.

“We’re fully capable of taking them down!” Andres argued, punching the palm of his fist.

“But is he? Or she?” Aurora said, pointing at Neddy and Ruby.

“Then we just need to create the correct pairs,” Tiffany reasoned, “Let’s not grow rash though. Andres shall go with Neddy, I shall go with Ruby, and Aurora can go with Samuel and Star.”

“Seems fine by me,” Samuel murmured, “We’ll go left then.”