Demon crystals, end

The unusual team danced with death more than a few times today, and they managed to survive too, which was the most important part.

At the moment, he was prouder than ever for these demonic moles. Gustav was happy to call them his children, because they popped up just when all hope felt lost, or utterly abandoned.

"Careful now, we can't risk hurting your step mom here." Gustav said.

The demonic moles were chattier than ever, and they could equally comprehend every request. By now it was apparent that these demons didn't grow or age like anything else, as a buffed-up size for them, almost always equaled to an upgraded maturity level.

They ate a few blood roots before, which made each of them almost three feet wide now, and about two feet tall. A few senses of cooperation grew with them, as they urged more than ever to accommodate their 'master'.

Since Gustav couldn't climb or crawl through the snug, two-foot wide tunnels which the moles had dug to get here, a new pathway was mandatory.

The moles had a pretty good sense of where to go, so now they could dig up another tunnel which was both wider, and went straight upwards. Such a path was more than accommodating, for a couple of people who were battered by this hell-hole!

The first plan was to get back to the eggs, and they could escape afterwards. A new pathway was clawed surrounding that demand, quite efficiently even. These demons didn't just claw through mud and dirt now, they shredded through it!

"Should be enough, children. You can keep going now, and uh… thank you for all the help." Gustav added, as he took the first step on the new tunnel.

It was important to thank them, as these moles have proved more than organized. At this point, they couldn't even be considered children and nonetheless clueless animals.

Only two moles were down here, which meant that the rest prioritized the protection of the newly laid eggs. They remembered and practiced a prior demand very well, and now, they were even saving their father!

Such a level of consciousness and comprehension was phenomenal; They were over-performing, just to keep everything intact! 

Gustav wanted to reward them greatly, and urged to destroy another monster himself, just so today's heroes could feed on it!

This situation demanded otherwise, however, now was not the time for another battle. They had to escape this hell-hole, just for the sake of helping Arila survive. 

She needed food, and a lot of it too if she was going to bounce back and walk around again. They had to rush, and at this point they hoped that they didn't have to fight again soon.

"Gotta keep my head… for now. Then I'll come back and blast them Terrugas myself if I have to. Shouldn't be hard to find that pool, my kids can help." He muttered, and tried to embrace logic now the most as things were looking up. 

They had a demon crystal too, which was the whole highlight of this trip. Judging from the chunk of information that roamed his head, even a single crystal should be enough to do the trick!

With that considered, he was happy that it had been bashed deep in his leg until a few hours ago. It would be a hassle to hunt for more crystals, especially now when they had the opportunity to leave this place!

Anyway, Arila broke his cycle of deep thoughts apart, as she started nudging and teasing the other.

"Step mom, huh… bet I heard that right. Does this mean that you want to marry me?" She asked.

The sudden walking they had to do, woke her up a little bit more. It was advantageous, and she used every ounce of her energy to make this situation awkward. 

"You're definitely worth considering, and I'm not saying that because your rhino-ass looks better than your human one." He answered, and undoubtedly teased too.

The overall morale arose for the better, they were happier now, and were motivated by the idea that greater relief was closeby!

There were still many questions that they didn't have the answer to, like those stone carvings which they found earlier on. Those were written in an alien language, and were paired with a few weird statues too!

Who wrote all that, and why it was a thing to begin with, could be a few questions without answers! Regardless, the little team couldn't afford to hang around here for long. 

They went for the demonic eggs first, and instantly picked them up. They seemed fine, well protected, and likely weren't going to hatch today.

Gustav placed all four of them on Arila's lap, and then carried her along with the eggs.

"Oh… feels pretty warm." She sighed, and actually held them closer to her chest. 

These eggs were a foot tall each, so they covered Arila's chest almost entirely. All she had to do was hold on to them gently enough, and in exchange, the same items provided her with another spike of much needed heat.

Heat helped her feel a bit more alive, which was good because they still hadn't made it to the surface, and the home village itself was a few kilometers away!

"Look at us, traveling in style. We could've really used a tunnel like this before." Gustav added, just to help the other feel more active.

"Right!" She answered, but her mouth was still pretty dry, so it was a bit difficult to make sense out of her low-toned, muffled words.

That didn't stop her from trying regardless, she later added. "When we come back here to kill those bastards, we'll take a tunnel straight to the pool. Your kids will dig up another one, they seem pretty good at it."

"You still want to fight those… Terrugas, huh? I love you a little more now, we're definitely coming back here. Soon as we help you bounce back." Gustav followed along, and hugged the lady tighter.

The sorrow and pain they felt today, had to be made up with revenge. They were both rageful, regardless of how much they tried to keep it together now.

Exploration was out of the question, and their next visit here would solely circle murder! The demonic moles would be a great tool too, as their abilities to dig now were greater than they ever were!

It only took a few minutes to reach the surface, where they were immediately greeted and kissed by moonlight.

The tunnel they made helped beyond bounds. Even as an eight-foot tall mammoth, Gustav had no problem walking through it, and only had to crouch a little along the way.

Now however, he insisted. "I hate to be an ass, children, but please break this tunnel down. I didn't eat a bunch of dirt behind you until now, just for a bunch of monsters to follow us."

It sounded smart to destroy a large, wide-open tunnel which any enemy could make use of. Gustav didn't know if they would leave that hell-hole to begin with, but it was better to be safe and sorry.

The moles obliged, of course. This was easy for them. All they had to do was claw on the tunnel's walls, until it got weak enough for a great portion of it to collapse mostly on its own!