Hikari circulated her mana as she meditated.
Ella sat behind her. Her claws make a slight dent on the skin on Hikari's back muscles.
Gradually, Hikari winded down the mana flow in her body, her core absorbing the mana while Ella sucked out the excess.
Hikari opened her eyes. The dimly lit cavern that had been her holdout for a length of time that she had failed to track.
She felt better after the session.
Her body felt lighter as it was emptied of the conflicting energies she had absorbed in such a short span of time.
Ella detached her claws from Hikari's back and continued meditating.
Hikari could sense the mana in her body gradually dropping to a stable level.
Soon, she too was done, stretching out her claws and arched her back in a yawn.
She pranced to the group of pots filled with giant caterpillar meat.
Hovering her head over an opening, she gently gave the meat a light sear with her flames before pushing the pot along the ground to Hikari's feet.
"(Lets eat, mistress)"
"Sure"
Hikari held a stone in both hands. Focusing her mana, she crumbled the stone into chunks.
Then, some of the pieces began to move away from the pile. Leaving a pile of white flaky crystals behind.
Hikari pinched the whitish crystal, crushed it into dust and rubbed a bit on the meat and dug in.
A bit of rock salt did wonders on the oily meat.
Ella heated pot after pot, ferrying them to Hikari.
She kept the last three pots for herself. Aside from the meat, she had a potful of glowing golden flowers and another one filled with chunks of rocks with crystals sticking out of them.
She stuffed a chunk of meat into her mouth, followed by a clawful of flowers. While chewing, she snuffed through the pile of rocks and found a crystal protruding out of a rock.
Rolling her tongue back, she broke the tip with her front teeth. She made a crunching sound as she chewed the crystal inside her mouth.
"Salt?" Hikari held up a piece of rock salt.
"(No, mistress. It's not good for me.)"
Hikari crushed it, rubbed it on the meat in her hand and ate. As she chewed, she noticed a reflection on a small crystalline surface buried inside the stone.
Handing it in her hand, she crumbled the stone around the crystal.
"Here." Hikari showed Ella the crystal she found.
Ella looked up and nodded her head excitedly.
Hikari tossed the crystal over.
Ella caught it with her claw and immediately began nibbling off the tip. She took another bite of meat and flowers before nibbling away at the crystal.
"You like that?"
"(Yes, Ella eats crystals. It lets Ella grow stronger scales)"
Ella continued nibbling away at the crystal.
Hikari pulled the pot of stone formation to herself. She reached her hand into the pot, channeling her mana. The sound of stone crumbling into tiny pieces. One by one, she fished out the crystals from under the rubble and tossed it to Ella.
Ella happily caught them. After briefly dusting the stone debris off, she began nibbling down on them between mouthfuls of meat.
Hikari finished up the rest of her meat, downed a pot of water and began her meditation.
Her condition was improving as she spent time in the cavern with Ella.
The feeling of strain on her body had dissipated.
Her movements had become more stable.
She was much better able to control the disparate energies coursing through her body.
After a period of time, she opened her eyes.
Ella was in the corner where her pile of salamander armour was at. She dropped some strange organs, dripping with blood, into the viscous black fungus.
"Ella?"
Ella turned around and crawled to Hikari. Her tail wagging.
"(You are awake mistress.)"
Hikari stretches herself.
"Just call me Hikari."
"(Yes, Hikari)"
"What are you doing?"
"(Ella's feeding it. Some parts are not good for us to eat. But it seems to like it.)"
Hikari looked over at the viscous mass. A lot of it had been burnt by the flame elemental. But now, it appears to have regained its former size.
"Good work Ella." Hikari bent down and patted her on the head with her hand.
Her tail wagged as Hikari praised her.
"You live here?"
"(Yes, Hikari)"
"How long?"
"(Ella doesn't remember.)"
"Are you actually the wyvern queen?"
Ella tilted her head and gave her a curious look.
"(Ella doesn't understand? Ella used to be a wyvern)"
"Did you order the wyverns to attack?"
"(Ella doesn't talk to the other wyverns much. Ella thinks the wyverns attack because of the big bad monsters in the mana veins. Ella sneaks past monsters to get her food. But the other wyverns cannot get food.)"
"Makes sense."
"(But Hikari cleared two veins. The wyverns should be getting back to normal now.)"
Hikari nods.
"Where did they come from?"
"(Ella does not know. They just appeared.)"
Hikari thought for a bit.
"The men that came for the tower?"
"(Ella recognizes them. They serve … )"
Ella's lips moved. Sounds that Hikari could not recognise.
"Argh…" The ringing sound again. Hikari blanked out for a brief moment.
"(Are you alright Hikari?)"
"What happened to me?" Hikari rested the left side of her side on her palm.
"(Ella thinks Hikari hasn't fully awakened her rune word. Hikari's mind stumps when it tries to understand a word that it doesn't understand)"
Hikari gave Ella a confused look.
"Anyway, did you try to fight them?"
"(Ella scared. They are dangerous. Ella might die.)"
"I see"
Hikari stood up and walked to her gear. Ella followed.
"How long have I been here?"
"(23 cycles Ella thinks.)"
Hikari paused. She couldn't believe she had been in the cavern for so long.
"I need to get back."
Hikari placed her fingers on the vicious black fungus. It responded to her touch and began crawling up her arm.
"There's the last mana vein?"
"(Yes, Hikari)"
"Can you fight?"
"(Ella can fight. But Ella senses the monster in the last mana vein is the strongest. Ella should make Hikari some better armour before hikari fights the monster.)"
"good point."
Then, Ella slithered quickly to one corner of the cavern. She placed her hand on a pillar. The runes inscribed under the layer of dust lit up in a golden glow.
Hikari felt a barrier being lifted.
Ella pushed a pot to Hikari. It was filled with pieces of grey wyvern scale that clanked against the stone pot.
"(Ella sheds her scales a lot. Ella's scales can make strong armour for Hikari.)"
Hikari looks down at Ella. A subtle satisfied grin appeared on her face.
She lifted her foot and gently rubbed it on Ella's hair. Her tail wagged
"Lets begin"