The ravine’s oppressive silence wrapped around them like a shroud, thick and suffocating. The chill in the air wasn’t just from the damp walls of the gorge, but from the unshakable feeling that something terrible was lurking just beyond the shadows. Each step echoed softly against the cold stone floor, swallowed by the blackness that stretched endlessly ahead.Lizzie’s sudden halt was like a ripple of fear shooting through the group. Her sharp intake of breath made Calvin’s stomach drop, and he turned to her, dread already forming in his chest. The ravine seemed to darken further as if the shadows themselves sensed the tension.“Lizzie, what is it?” Calvin’s voice cut through the silence, low but urgent. His eyes darted between her and the pitch-black surroundings, muscles tense, preparing for whatever threat she sensed.Lizzie stood still, her figure outlined by the faint glow of their lanterns. Her wide, alert eyes stared into the abyss ahead, and she was breathing shallowly, like a
The tension among the group had been simmering since Lizzie’s vision, but it came to a head just a few steps down the dark ravine. Without warning, the bodyguards stopped dead in their tracks, exchanging uneasy glances. Calvin, walking ahead with Lizzie, immediately noticed their hesitation.He turned to them, his voice calm but with an edge of impatience. “What’s going on? Why are you stopping?”One of the bodyguards, the tallest of the group, cleared his throat, his face pale in the dim light. “Look, Calvin, we didn’t sign up for this. We’re here to protect you, sure, but this…” He gestured to the darkness around them, the ominous shadows that seemed to pulse with unseen threats. “Going into the ravine was already pushing it. But now, after those monsters, after what we’ve seen… No. We’re not going back in there. Not to face that again.”Another guard nodded in agreement, his grip tightening on his weapon. “This wasn’t part of the deal. We’re paid to protect you from human threats,
Lizzie cursed under her breath, her steps quick and frantic as they raced back through the shadowed ravine. The thick, oppressive darkness seemed to close in around them, making every sound, every rustle of the rocks beneath their feet, feel amplified. Her pulse hammered in her ears, and every few seconds, she shot Calvin a sharp glare. “You’re insane, you know that?” she hissed, her voice laced with frustration and fear.Calvin didn’t answer. His jaw was set, eyes trained ahead, unyielding. In any other moment, he might have laughed at her remark, maybe even ruffled her hair like the older brother he was, but not now. The weight of the looming danger pressed heavily on him. There was no room for jokes, not with the terrifying sounds of battle growing louder ahead.The distant roars of the creatures mixed with human screams—harsh, guttural cries of desperation that made Lizzie’s skin crawl. It was chaos in the distance, and it was only getting closer. The air smelled of earth and fear
Lizzie’s glowing green eyes cut through the suffocating darkness like twin lanterns, unwavering in their focus as she clung to Calvin’s back. Each time he shifted his footing, dodging jagged rocks and uneven terrain, she instinctively leaned into him, guiding his movements with subtle pulls and sharp whispers.“Just up ahead,” she murmured, her breath warm against his neck, sending a faint chill down his spine despite the heat of the moment. “We need to keep moving, Calvin—don’t stop.”Calvin could feel the faint tremor in her body, her muscles tensing with each passing second. But it wasn’t fear that drove her—it was determination, a steely resolve that matched his own. He trusted her completely. With every stride, Calvin’s feet danced across the treacherous path, his boots slipping only slightly on the gravel beneath him. The ravine seemed to twist endlessly, the walls closing in like a monstrous throat, eager to swallow them whole. The distant sounds of the creatures reverberated t
Lizzie, still catching her breath beside him, stiffened as the reality of the situation dawned on her. She shot Calvin a sidelong glance, her face pale but her eyes hardening with resolve. The leader’s hand gripped the pistol tighter, his patience wearing thin.“You saved us,” he continued, his tone a mockery of gratitude. “And I thank you for that. But make no mistake—we’ve come too far, lost too many to leave empty-handed. Show us the way, or…” The cold metal pressed harder against Calvin’s skull, driving the threat home.Calvin swallowed, his mind racing for a solution. He could feel Lizzie tensing beside him, the familiar glow beginning to stir in her eyes again. He needed to keep her calm, keep her from doing anything reckless.“Listen,” Calvin said slowly, his voice low and measured. “You don’t want to do this. We’re not your enemies. We’ve all been through hell together, and there’s no need to make this any worse.”The leader’s chuckle was dark, devoid of any warmth. “Spare me
Calvin and Lizzie slowly stood up, their muscles stiff with exhaustion but their minds now racing with fresh tension. As they straightened, they were met with the unmistakable sight of gun barrels trained on them from every direction. The Han Xin survivors, the very people they had risked everything to save, were now their captors. Calvin's jaw clenched, and beside him, Lizzie let out a low curse under her breath.“Keep moving!” one of the Han Xin men barked, his voice cold and impatient.Lizzie shot a furious glare at Calvin as they started walking, her steps deliberate but heavy with frustration. "*I told you!*" she hissed under her breath, just loud enough for Calvin to hear. "We shouldn’t have saved them. This is what they do after everything? You knew this would happen, didn’t you? You knew and still—”“Lizzie, calm down," Calvin replied softly, though his voice carried a gravity that matched the dangerous situation they were in. His eyes, as calm as they appeared on the surface,
As they reached a darker, more ominous part of the ravine, the atmosphere thickened with tension. The air was cold, damp, and filled with the faint echoes of water dripping from unseen cracks in the rocks. Calvin slowed his pace, glancing around as if searching for something. Then, he stopped abruptly, his movements deliberate.“This is where we need to stop,” Calvin said calmly, his voice cutting through the uneasy silence. The Han Xin soldiers, weapons still trained on him and Lizzie, exchanged skeptical glances.“Why stop here?” the leader asked, suspicion heavy in his tone.Calvin turned to face him, his expression unreadable but composed. “In order to find the Fountain of Health, I need to meditate. The path ahead is full of dangerous forks and dead ends. If we take the wrong one, we’ll be lost, or worse.”Lizzie shot Calvin a quick look, her eyebrows raised in disbelief. She opened her mouth to speak but quickly closed it, sensing this was part of his strategy.The leader of the
The atmosphere grew thicker with anticipation as the Han Xin soldiers waited for some kind of sign—anything—that Calvin was actually doing something. The ravine was eerily silent, save for the distant, muted sounds of water trickling and the occasional soft growl from the hidden monsters that still lingered far behind them.Calvin sat perfectly still, cross-legged on the cold rock, eyes closed and seemingly deep in meditation. His breathing was steady, too calm for the danger surrounding them. Lizzie stood off to the side, her eyes occasionally flicking from her brother to the impatient faces of the Han Xin soldiers. She was trying to stay composed, but the longer the silence stretched, the more her nerves began to fray.One of the soldiers, a younger man with a scruffy beard, finally broke the silence. “What’s taking so long?” he grumbled, eyeing Calvin suspiciously. “Is he even doing anything? Usually, when he does his thing, there’s some kind of glow or something, right?”Lizzie sh