Conviction

June held Gemm securely as she rested her head on his shoulders, still unconscious. He was running up the path as fast as he could, his teeth gripping the twig tightly in his mouth.

Behind him, he could hear the screeching yells of the Hatchlings as well as their bizarre movements that pursued in hopes of catching him.

"Damn it Gemm, wake up!"

He yelled, though muffled. 

Now was not the greatest time to be unconscious. Sure, Gemm had suffered greatly not too long ago, but at this point she should've woken up.

Casting it aside, June continued sprinting up. 

The path curved leftward, winding around the cavern, sending him higher and higher every step he took. His vision had more so adjusted to the darkness, and the light from beneath provided more than enough for him to perceive where he was running. 

However, the further up he went, the harder it was to watch his step. That, and resisting the fatigue which grew with each passing moment; it was extremely difficult to carry someone and run for his life at the same time.

Nevertheless, with heavy breaths, June persevered, not daring to look back. His adrenaline seemed to take full control, making it easier for him to push through without crumbling under the pressure of failure.

'Come on, come on!'

So far, he had seen nothing that would help them escape. The cavern was covered in cobwebs and weathered green moss, with the very edges of the space enshrouded by shadows that — frankly, felt sentient in their own way. Nothing was viable.

Panting, June carefully readjusted Gemm with a groan and continued running.

A few long seconds later, from the corner of his eye, June saw a glimmer of light, as though a glint of armor had been revealed within the dimness of the cavern for a flashing moment.

With not much else to turn to, he abandoned the path that led upwards entirely and shifted toward the right. 

Once he had sprinted close enough, June realized it was another opening. 

He took a quick glance to his other right where the army of vile Hatchlings continued toward him, before securing Gemm and running forward. What he hadn't realized, though, was that the opening led back down.

"Crap!"

Losing his footing, June was forced to turn and wrap his arms around Gemm as they both tumbled downward like two stones suddenly set free.

The impact hurt — hurt like hell as his body repeatedly met the brutal stone on his way down. After several aching rolls, June ended on a relatively flat surface, grimacing in pain.

The first thing he did was reach out to find Gemm lying beside him, still unconscious. With a sigh of relief, he set aside the Skewering Twig and glanced behind him.

Thankfully, the Hatchlings were no longer following. Their piercing screeches had even stopped the moment June and Gemm had fallen down the open passage.

'Thank th—'

For some reason, June felt a sudden chill run down his spine. He did not know what caused it, though. Tentatively, he stood back up, ignoring the pain that now riddled his body.

Wherever they had plummeted, it was dark, darker than before. Apart from a distant ray of light piercing through from a vantage point, nothing else was perceptible. The darkness itself also seemed denser, as if it were a tangible entity engulfing all light around them.

June had a premonition that this wasn't good.

With a heavier gulp than before, he approached Gemm cautiously.

Not wasting any time, he gently moved her arm over his shoulder and secured his grip around her waist before moving forward.

Although it was dark, June relied on the distant ray of light as his guide, as if following the sun's direction in a way. Luckily, there was nothing obstructing their path and eventually he arrived within a more spacious part of the cavern.

Craning his neck, June glanced at the dim ray of light they now stood beneath, its faint glow barely visible from a crevice in the distant ceiling. It was then that something bizarre occurred: the ray of light suddenly began blinking before escaping from the crevice altogether.

June flinched seeing the light move toward him, and in no time arrived just in front of him. 

Gawking at it, he was speechless.

It looked at him for quite some time, hovering in place like a singular orb. Then, very calmly, it shifted a few meters in front of June before descending a few feet to the ground.

'What…'

A moment later, the orb that merely served as a ray of dim light not too long ago, transformed into a orb of shining light, creating a scenic flash that swallowed the surrounding darkness around June.

Startled by the sudden burst of light, June instinctively looked away and shielded his eyes for a moment. The shining light didn't last long, and once it subsided, the space was no longer devoid of light — at least not mostly. 

And the single source that provided the newfound glow… surprised June as much as it puzzled him.

'Who are you?'

There, barely a few meters from him, knelt a knight. There was a gaping hole underneath the Knight, as if his act of kneeling shifted the structure of the ground on its own.

The knight was neither conscious nor alive — the sword piercing through its shining armor was clear proof of that. There were also several layers of cobwebs that covered its once pristine armor, highlighting the time that had passed since its death. 

And yet, June could feel that something was off about it.

Not only did it serve as the light that now illuminated his surroundings, but it held an inviting allure to it, as though it wanted something from him.

With knitted brows, June took a closer look… trying to discern the mysterious feeling that exuded from the knight. It was something indeed; he just couldn't quite figure it out.

'What is it..?'

It irked him, whatever it was. His mind understood something was amiss, but the thought of what it was would slip from him every single time. 

He wanted to inch closer, take a better look at the knight, but at that moment, Gemm erupted into a fit of coughs that caught him completely off guard.

June immediately shifted his attention toward her, gently moving her arm off his shoulder and waiting for her to regain her footing. Once she was stable enough, he softly guided her to sit on the dirt floor.

Unsurprisingly, she asked:

"Where are we?"