Leon looked from the monstrous guardian of the crystal, then shifted his wide gaze to Zoe's determined face.
Zoe gestured to an unstable pile of metal debris near the creature's head. "I'll create a distraction over there. Grab the crystal when the creature moves."
'I should do what?!' Leon's voice turned shaky as he questioned with a wide stare. "You said what?"
"Grab the crystal while I distract the beasts," Zoe stated as she walked toward the debris.
"No. Grab it while I distract the beast," Leon murmured as he countered her steps.
Zoe laughed, then turned back. "Sure. But I'll make sure your family gets some token after I walk out of here."
'Is this wise? What was I even thinking? What will I even use to create the disturbance? I have to put all fears aside and do it. Just for once.'
After deliberating, he dashed in front of Zoe again with a strained grin. "I'll grab it – just distract the thing!"
Zoe chuckled as she shook her head. "Better. But I'll still make sure your family gets something to remember you with in case you die." She turned and walked back to the debris again.
'What? So both actions are deadly?! What have I even gotten myself into?' As he watched Zoe, his mind cried.
'Please, let this work.' Leon pressed his fingers together like a monk praying.
"Now!" Zoe's scream filled the air as he watched her hurl a sphere of brilliant white light at the debris. Then, as it impacted on the debris, light and sound exploded through the silent valley with a deafening roar.
While the debris shot into the air, he saw the creature's eyes crack open, followed by an ear-splitting shriek of echoes.
"Run for it now!" Zoe's scream tore through the air as the creature rushed toward her, leaving the crystal unprotected. Then, Leon rushed toward the crystal.
Immediately he took it, he wrapped his fingers around it and slowly lifted it from its bed, gasping.
For a moment, he felt a sense of relief washing over him. But as he tilted his head, the relief vanished as the creature jerked
toward him. It was distracted but wasn't that stupid.
It ignored Zoe and charged directly at Leon at a horrifying speed.
His bones snapped as he ran away from the creature's nest, clutching onto the crystal like a heart in his hand. No matter how fast he was, he still couldn't escape from the creature's sight.
He stumbled repeatedly as the creature's thunderous steps shook the ground.
'I'm going to make it.' A foolish hope burned in his chest, hotter than the crystal in his hand as he sensed the creature getting near.
The world slowed down as a hot, foul breath struck his neck, causing him to stumble and crumple to the ground like a sack of stones.
'I will not die here.' His thought kept on repeating as he rolled onto his back.
As the creature neared him, he threw his hands up in a futile gesture of defending himself.
His heart raced like a rumbling wheel as he felt the creature's pulse thrumming through him, as he scrambled backward on the ground.
The creature's front legs slashed for Leon's head. First, he barely managed to block the strike with the rusted rod.
But on the creature's second strike, its sharp limb shattered the rod into two pieces as Leon tried to deflect it again.
He covered his face as the creature surged on the third time. The moment a sharp claw from the creature grazed Leon's hair, a bright golden light erupted from him and struck the creature's chest.
The strike was so hard it blasted the creature backward and sent it crashing into its own nest.
As he scrambled to his feet, Leon didn't wait to see it get up; he ran as if it were his last day to live.
He didn't care about anyone, not even Zoe – he just ran. When he finally paused, not hearing the creature's enraged cries, he saw Zoe walking toward him calmly, like a bride approaching the altar.
"You have a strong power," Zoe said as she brushed her finger across Leon's shoulder.
'I almost died. And you're saying I have strong power?! Who are you? Aren't you human?' In Leon's thoughts, he had already beaten Zoe senselessly.
But in reality, he just frowned as he watched her walk past him, laughing.
Leon took a deep, steadying breath, then straightened up and followed her. But even as they vanished from the valley, his mind still replayed the creature's chittering face.
He shared no word with her, not even a glance. The only thing between them was the gap and the rustling leaves on the branches of the trees they walked under.
As they stumbled upon a cave, they stopped and searched around it. As they moved, circling the cave, their postures remained identical until Leon broke free and sat at the entrance.
He stayed there for a while, staring at the blue glow moving in the crystal. "Is something in this?" Leon whispered as he saw a tiny, shifting movement inside.
For a better look, he raised it upward and watched as the moon's light shone through it.
"What the hell was that wrapping around my hand? It burned like fire, but there's no mark." Leon muttered inwardly as he set the crystal on his lap and checked his arms.
Leon surged into the cave as tiny whispers echoed around him. But just as he reached the spot where Zoe was, he saw her lips moving, forming silent words as if someone was right in front of her.
'Was she the one speaking? Ah, why did I even run inside? I thought it was one of those chittering creatures coming.' Leon chuckled and leaned against the ground a fair distance away from Zoe.
"That light… what bloodline are you from?" Zoe asked, her voice low with disbelief.
Leon didn't answer right away. He sat there frozen, his face blank, almost inhuman.
But as the word echoed in his mind, he turned to Zoe with a confused expression.
"I'm from a human bloodline," Leon responded.
Zoe giggled. "Dummy, we're all from the human bloodline. What specific family are you from?"
"I've heard my dad speak of that once but couldn't get the chance to know more of it."
He saw a genuine pity in Zoe's eyes as his voice faded.
"Sorry," she said in a voice that echoed in his ears like a breeze. "But your power… It's raw. Almost like something long abandoned."
Before Leon could seek answers to what Zoe said, a high-pitched whine cut through the air and drew their attention.
Then, in the far distance, they saw the wolf creature – the very one they had fought earlier– rushing toward them in haste.