Meanwhile, Christina, who had been listening to the entire conversation through her Lav, sprang up from Rachael's bed, her face a picture of fury.
Stefan, who had also been taking a slight nap, flinched awake, his eyes lingering on Christina's angry expression. "Is something wrong over there again?" he inquired.
"Nevermind! I'm going home!" Christina curted, storming out of the room and slamming the door behind her.
"Something is definitely amiss with her, isn't it?" Stefan asked.
Rachael burst into laughter, her voice rising. "Of course! Isn't it obvious?"
"No, it's not."
"Isn't that what people call jealousness?"
"Ahh, that's true!"
"As a lady, you must know how to play hard-to-get."
"She's actually in love with Mike, despite all the facade and pretense."
"Hahaha! Her pride is suffering greatly."
Stefan chuckled. "I guess Mike was flirting with pretty Anthropters over there, that would explain the reason for Christina's behavior."
"I doubt that. My brother is not the type to flirt, especially with creatures that aren't human, I thought you know him better than that," Rachael smirked.
Stefan shook his head disapprovingly. "You never know, there might be jaw-dropping and sexy bat ladies over there. You should never trust men when it comes to women. WE ARE DANGEROUS!" he emphasized.
Rachael glared at Stefan through the corner of her eyes. "Dangerous? From someone who's never had a girlfriend before? Don't make me laugh," she scoffed.
"Who says I have never had a girlfriend before? Don't jump to conclusions. I can charm any lady. My cuteness knows no bounds," Stefan countered.
As he glanced at the clock on the wall, his smile quickly disappeared. "Jesus Christ, it's 8:47 p.m.! I'm in trouble! I have to go home now!"
He stood up from the chair beside Rachael's bed and reached for the door.
Rachael raised her head to confirm, her eyes widening in terror. "My parents are late today!" she exclaimed, turning to Stefan. "They'll be here soon. You can't leave tonight."
Stefan stopped on his track and turned back. "Why?"
"We'll be in trouble if my parents find out my brother is absent. I told them last night that he's staying at your place. It won't work twice."
"So what now?"
"Sleepover. On Mike's bed."
"What!? What about my parents!?"
"You'll feed them the same lies I fed my parents last night."
"Shit;"
"We're dead if we get caught!"
Stefan grimaced. "We or you?" he asked.
Rachael rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Let's call your parents first and tell them."
*****
Mike and Miram took slow, cautious steps toward the cave's mouth, their senses heightened as they attempted to verify the source of the voices. The sound of distant voices and flapping wings echoed through the air.
Meanwhile, outside the cavern, Domra and his army, still pursuing Mike and Miram, approached the spot where the duo had seemingly vanished.
They halted at the edge of a vast, yawning hollow, their eyes fixed on the breathtaking sight before them. A fire river, its surface churning with molten flames, flowed into the distance, its end unknown.
"They couldn't have possibly gone in there, could they?" one of the warriors whispered to another.
"They'd die if they did," another warrior replied. "They can't even fly across the fire river. No one can. Not even the Jyuran, despite his power."
Domra's gaze locked onto the slow-flowing fire river below, his eyes burning with rage. The power of Dahra coursing through his veins was consuming his very being.
"Continue to search around for them," he ordered, his eyes never leaving the fire river. "They should be here somewhere."
The colony dispersed in different directions, and their movements blurred. However, they maintained a safe distance from the edge of the hollow.
Mike's eyes widened in utter disbelief as he watched the colony staring right through them, their gazes seemingly passing through the cavern as if it were invisible.
"They can't see this place?" he wondered aloud. "How's that possible?"
Miram's brow furrowed in contemplation as she scratched her jaw, attempting to grasp the phenomenon.
"Even when we were fleeing from them earlier, we didn't see any hole, let alone the fire river," she mused.
"How is this possible?" Mike repeated, his eyes shifting to Cat as though seeking an explanation.
"The gastral shield not only works on width, but it also works on depth," Cat said; her response was brief, yet it held deep meaning.
"Are you inferring that the fire river is not an illusion, and it actually exists under your land?" Mike quizzed.
Cat nodded frantically, her gaze locked onto the colony outside the cavern. "To them, it will always appear as a vast valley with a fire river flowing between," she explained. "The gastral shield protecting this mountain runs down several meters below, making us invisible to them."
"What if someone accidentally falls inside?" Miram asked. "Wouldn't they find themselves here, like us?"
Cat shook her head sideways, a gentle smile on her face. "The gastral shield is powerful beyond your imagination," she responded. "It has been keeping us invisible for more than forty years, even Dahra couldn't find us."
She cast a short glance at Mike and Miram before returning to Dahra's army outside, their movements visible through the mouth of the cavern.
"And when I say invisible, I mean completely invisible and transparent," she emphasized. "So, anyone who falls inside will die. They would be pulled by the incredibly powerful gravitational force of the fire river."
The flickering light from the fire river in the hollow illuminated the area, casting eerie shadows on the walls of the cavern. This allowed Mike and Miram to watch the activities of the warriors outside with unsettling clarity.
The same light also enabled Dahra's warriors to navigate their surroundings, their movements seemingly choreographed.
"You're able to get in here because of the Jyuran," Cat said to Miram. "Else, you would have been long gone by now, pulled into the depths of the fire river."
"I don't understand," Mike said.
"Everyone here except you would see the fire river if we got outside of the mountain," Cat responded. "The Jyuran could distinguish between reality and illusion. You can only see it now because you're inside this sanctuary."
"Wow. I'm starting to love this. So…. if the fire river really flowed under your land naturally, wouldn't you guys die of heat?" Mike asked. "Or how are you guys surviving?"
"The foundation of our houses is strong enough to stop the heat from reaching the surface, and apart from that, the temperature that rises to the surface is not strong enough to affect our daily lives," Cat explained. "However, unlike your planet, which depends on the star's energy, our planet simply survives on the fire rivers, which gives our soil solar energy."
"What about water?" Mike asked. "Don't you guys need water?"
Cat's face turned quizzical, her own curiosity activated. "What is water?" she asked.
"A colorless and transparent liquid which forms seas and lakes," Mike explained patiently. However, his words only seemed to spark more confusion.
"Seas and lakes? What are those?" Miram inquired.
Mike's eyes widened in disbelief as he turned around to face the three Anthropters, their faces contorted in confusion.
"What the fuck! Are you guys pretending to be ignorant?" Mike grumbled, but the Anthropters didn't seem to understand. They just stared at him, their faces blank as though he was speaking a different language.
Mike scanned the three Anthropters again, searching for any sign of comprehension. However, their reaction remained the same - confusion and curiosity.
"You're not going to tell me you don't know what rain is, are you?" Mike asked.
The Anthropters stared at each other for a while and then turned back to him.
"What is rain?" they asked.