Hikari disassembled her boot, kept it in her backpack and pulled the sinew at the top shut.
The boot soles were soft and sturdy. Able to withstand her crushing weight without deforming, keeping her feet warm and comfortable on her trek down. But they obstruct the mana flow to her feet.
As the boots were removed, a folded layer of wyvern scale and black salamander armour wrapped around her knees extended down. The scales covering the top of her foot and the black salamander wrapped around under her arch, providing an extra layer of muscle.
Her bare sole touched the ground. She sent a pulse of mana through the stone, mapping out the cavern behind the ivory gate.
Badum! Badum! It was a massive plant organism. Roots penetrating deeper into the depths than what Hikari could sense. And yet, she could unambiguously sense a beating heart.
"(I'm ready Hikari)"
The heart of the flame elemental glowed brilliantly, illuminating the entire pit. The vines around the cavern began shifting violently in response, displacing small pieces of debris.
Hikari turned around and drew her sword, swinging it a few times to warm up her arms and shoulders.
"Go"
A surge of wyvern flame behind her. The heart of the flame elemental rattled. A concentrated beam of flame hit the ivory gate and began drilling through it.
Hikari felt a silent roar coming from beyond the gate. The ground shook. Small pieces of rock and stalagmite began falling onto them. Ella spread her wings upwards in an umbrella to shield herself.
Hikari focused in. She could sense a swarm of vines burrowing through the stone below and all around them. Channeling mana down into her feet, she hardened the ground below her and Ella.
The tunneling vines were stopped as they crashed into the hardened rock only metres below where Hikari was.
Hikari dashed to one corner of the pit, a row of runes on her sword glowed purple. The sword burned with the brilliant flames of the RazenHeir house. She dragged the sword along the ground, igniting the stone with a torrent of flames as she sprinted in a wide arc.
As the vines emerged from the ground, they emerged into a burning infernal, shrieking as they burned.
Hikari returned to her position behind Ella. She watched as the burning vines thrashed around as the RazenHeir flames slowly consumed them. Their pink petals shriveled up and turned to black ash.
Hikari braced. She sensed something bigger approaching her from below.
She glanced at Ella who was fully focused on channeling the heart of the elemental. The ivory door had sprung to life, constantly regenerating as it was getting incinerated by the searing beam.
"Only a matter of time before it runs out of bark."
She sank her sword into the ground. After a brief pause, the ground shook as a massive vine bashed itself against the block of reinforced stone Hikari created below her.
Hikari reinforced the ground. The massive vine retracted back into the depths, and slammed itself against the wall of reinforced stone.
Hikari was briefly thrown upwards from absorbing the impact of its blow. As she landed, she found the platform slanted. A massive crack right down the middle.
She reinforced, repairing the crack. The vine retreated back into the depths again.
She turned to check on Ella who was deep in concentration. The gate had lost most of its mass, but it was still whole
"If the ground hit her, the back blow from her channeling would be enormous. This won't do."
Hikari grabbed her sword. She closed her eyes and channeled for a few seconds.
The columns of runes glowed brilliantly, as did the edges. The stone around the tip of her sword turned to lava.
"Ella, stop the channeling." She ordered.
She did not hear Ella's voice in her head, but she could sense the intense concentration of mana gradually dissipating.
Her sword sunk into the ivory flesh like butter, the hand guard stopped directly onto the smooth, moist surface. Vines immediately appeared from the corners of the gate and slithered towards her.
A wave of mana gushed through Hikari's arm as the vines wrapped themselves onto her scales.
In an instant, the single pulse of flame incinerated the entire structure, melting the stone that formed its frame into lava.
"Ella." Hikari ordered between breaths as she recoiled from the immense release of energy.
The heart of the flame elemental rattled violently as it was suddenly pulled from its suspension. Ella landed on the ground, barely catching the crystal with both claws.
With a flap of her wings, she darted into the opening.
The ground below where she performed the ritual crumbled as a humongous vine emerged. Its tentacles spread out from the main stem, filling the entire cavern behind them.
Then it stopped. Silence.
The dripping sound of underground water.
Hikari stood still, supporting herself with her sword and meditated.
To her pleasant surprise, her sword was intact. It had not deformed at all even as it cooled,
allowing her to rest her arms on it.
It was quite the burst of power.
She still could feel the lingering burn in her arms even as she drained the mana from them.
She turned to check on Ella.
She was on the ground, curled up with her wings forming a protective bubble around her.
The runes on her scales flickered on and off. She would open her mouth wide periodically, releasing an invisible wave of energy that briefly blurred the air.
"Are you alright?" Hikari's voice echoed through the once again, dark empty cavern.
Ella's lips moved, speaking in her cryptic tongue again.
Hikari hoisted her sword. She bent down and picked up the dormant crystal with one hand. An itchy sensation as her fingers wrapped around it, getting stung by the residue energies.
"It's not safe here."
Ella continued her breathing routine for a while longer.
Slowly, she put one claw forward, sinking into the stone and began crawling forward.