"I'm sorry. I knew I wasn't supposed to go near the lake. I thought…" Anna lowered her head.
"I'm sorry too. I should have brought weapons or Bob with me."
"It's fine! We all made it out in the end. No one was injured. Everything is fine." Lazarus cheered them both up.
"This is troubling," Xiaolang said.
"What is it, Xiaolang?" Laurel asked.
"These guns were not strong enough. They could barely protect us against scarabs. There are bigger monsters out there."
"Maybe we just hit bad spots. Those scarabs have very tough armor, right? If we hit their bellies, maybe we could do some damage." Shingo said.
"..." Xiaolang wasn't convinced. But he knew Shingo was right. The scales were so tough that Bob had been using them for grindstones.
"Maybe we should kill more of those scarabs and make armor out of their scales. That should protect us better, right?" Lexus said.
"Killing is wrong!" Lazarus complained.
"Anyway, that's not important. We have found a ruin. Tomorrow, we will bring Auscella near it. Let's see what's inside." Laurel said.
Yes. They had found a new ruin, and probably the last ruin here on this island. If there was nothing inside that ruin, they would be in trouble.
During the night, they prepared more than usual. Lazarus made more ropes from nearby vines while Bob sharpened their spears and stone knives. Meanwhile, Xiaolang, Laurel, and Lexus went to the plains to collect more metallic onions.
The trip went without issue. Xiaolang managed to get two baskets before the snakes and the salamander guarding them appeared on the beach. Xiaolang decided to retreat. Even though he had a gun now, he no longer felt comfortable antagonizing the animals.
Afterward, they stored the onions and cooked several of them for dinner. Then, before the sun rose, they slept. After breakfast, the group went to the mountains once more, fully armed as if they were going to war.
"Be careful. From here, we go slowly. Those spidercats might return." Xiaolang warned the others.
"We could just shoot them!" Lexus sighed.
"Only if you can see them. Bob, we will be relying on you. Light a torch at the back while I shine the flashlight at the front. If you see anything, warn us. You could even fire at them with your gun." Xiaolang said.
"Understood." Bob nodded.
The group entered the cave. Just a few moments after they entered, a growl echoed through the cave, sending chills through their hearts. The smug Lexus quickly grabbed his gun tightly, aiming at whatever was in front of him.
Xiaolang inched closer. The beam of light from Bob's torch pierced through the darkness. The tension stretched on. Beads of sweat rolled down their brows despite the chilly air around them.
"That's the ruin!" Laurel said. She and Lexus sighed, then walked closer to the green wall.
"Stupid!" Xiaolang cursed.
"Watch out!" Bob dropped his torch and raised his gun. Two beams of light pierced through the darkness and hit the leaping shadowcat.
"Mraw!" It leaped back and disappeared into the shadows. Xiaolang aimed his flashlight toward where it had disappeared, but found nothing.
Laurel froze. She froze again.
"Laurel! Lexus! Are you okay?" Lazarus brought her gun close to her chest. She scanned her surroundings, wary of anything that moved.
"Yeah. I'm sorry." Laurel was shocked to the bone. She had almost been kidnapped again. Lexus also froze. It was brief, but Xiaolang's flashlight had illuminated the terror on his face when the spidercat leaped at him. He realized he had almost become its dinner.
"Be careful. If it kidnapped you, we don't know where it would take you. It had abandoned this nest, you know." Xiaolang said, implying that they might never get the kidnapped child back.
Laurel nodded. Unlike the scarabs or rhinos, the spidercat was far faster than the children. It could kidnap them at one end of the island, and the children would never catch it.
"I… I will watch the perimeter." Laurel said, her voice shaking. "Lazarus, if you would help me, I would be grateful."
"Another ruin!" Auscella hopped toward the wall, recognizing the ruin immediately. She then tilted her head.
"What's wrong, Auscella? Can't you open the door?" Anna asked.
"Um… This is not the door." Auscella said.
"Where is it, then?" Lexus' voice rose, tinged with worry. This was the only access to the ruin they had. If this wasn't the door, how far would they have to dig? Moreover, as Laurel had warned them before, the cave could collapse if they dug recklessly.
"On that side." Auscella said.
"Huh? But that's the sea." Lexus said, wondering what was on the other side of the cave. Moreover, her finger was pointing downward.
"Is it underwater?" Laurel asked.
"Maybe…?" Auscella tilted her head.
"Alright. Let's leave this cave. It's too bad we didn't bring Mistral. We could create a 3D map of this place. Maybe we could ask Auscella to pinpoint the exact location of the door." Shingo said.
"She knew where it was, right? Couldn't she just bring us there?" Lexus asked. He turned to Auscella. "Did you know where the door to the ruin was?"
Auscella nodded.
"Let's go." Laurel nodded. Auscella led them out of the cave through another exit. Cloud reapers flew above them, landing on the ledges of the cliffs. Their eyes locked onto the children while their small forelimbs anchored themselves to the narrow ledges.
"There." Auscella pointed toward the cliff. "It's under the water."
"Ugh… You never make this easy, huh?" Lexus groaned.
"We brought some ropes." Bob said.
"Who should be the first?" Xiaolang asked. The children froze. For them, the sea was synonymous with danger. Dangerous and gigantic leviathans lived in the sea.
"I—No. I will." Bob was about to suggest himself, but Laurel interrupted. Bob was the strongest member of the group. She wanted him to stand guard in case monsters attacked. If monsters attacked, he could pull her back to the cliff faster than anyone.
"Laurel… I think I should go." Lazarus noticed the tremble in her hand. She was afraid. Deathly so. Only her sense of responsibility forced her to volunteer.
"Lazarus…"
"I am lighter than you! Please don't worry. I am good at staying alive!" she said. Her words made no sense, but for some reason, they soothed Laurel.
"Lazarus. I think I should be the one to go." Xiaolang frowned.
"Just help Bob pull the rope. If I get into trouble, okay?" Lazarus said. Xiaolang nodded.
"Don't worry! I will make sure to shoot any monster that comes close!" Lexus pumped his chest. Confidence was the only thing he had over others.
"I would worry if you shot me instead. You weren't exactly accurate when shooting the scarab yesterday." Lazarus frowned.
"Hahaha. And here you were bragging about your 100 hours of experience in games." Laurel laughed.
"It can't be helped! The gun here was just weird!" Lexus said.
"Excuses…" Laurel scoffed.
"Stop fighting. Let's focus on the problem. I need all of you to guard me, okay?" Lazarus said.
"Auscella will come too! Without Auscella, you cannot open the door."
"..." Lazarus froze.
"…You know, maybe we should all go down the cliff." Laurel said. This time, everyone agreed.
"Live and die together, huh?" Xiaolang hated the notion. But Laurel was right. He didn't want to be the sole survivor. Without Auscella, they would die here anyway.
"Let's go. I have tied the rope to a nearby rock. Watch out for the cloud reaper," Bob said. "It might be safer to go down one by one."
"Alright. I will go first." Lazarus took a deep breath. She rappelled down the cliff. Every step was filled with fear. The height. Then the monster.
A laser beam blasted from the cliff, aimed at the cloud reaper that had flown a bit too close for the children's liking.
After who knew how long, she hopped onto a reef. Waves from the sea occasionally sprayed her with salt water, drenching her clothes.
Next was Xiaolang. Lazarus kept a watchful guard. She even dipped her face into the sea, wondering whether there were any monsters inside.
After Xiaolang safely made it onto the reef, Laurel was next, then Anna, then Auscella, then Shingo. Lexus and Bob were the last. So far, everything went smoothly. No monsters in sight. Yet it only frightened Xiaolang more. It felt just like in the cave, like the calm before the storm.
"So, where is the ruin door?"
"There." Auscella said, pointing to a cliff a bit under the water. She then tilted her head. "Hmm?"
"What is it?"
"The door is open. But nothing comes in," she said. The children understood her. She meant to say that the door was opened, but they still couldn't get it because the dirt that piled over the cliff.
"It's buried. We have to dig," Xiaolang said. "Bob and I will dig. The rest of you, pay attention to the outside. Auscella will guide me where to dig."
And so, they dug. They didn't bring a shovel, so they used their spears. The hard stone broke into the dirt. When it hit rocks, it let out a thunk. The sound was rhythmic, almost boring, lulling the children into a sense of peace.
One hour. Two hours. Three hours. Four hours. The sun almost sank to the horizon. They had been out for more than twelve hours, yet they kept digging. The children were already used to labor now. They dug without complaint and had fully acclimatized to the planet's atmosphere and gravity.
Then, the dirt gave way.
"Xiaolang!" Bob lashed out his arm, catching Xiaolang as his legs fell into the pit. The ground had given way, but instead of cursing, his face brightened as light escaped from the small hole they had dug.
"Found it! A tunnel!" Xiaolang said, peeking his head inside.
"Yes! We did it!" Lexus pumped his fist.
But little did they know that, from the depths, something stirred. The constant clanking sound had disturbed its sleep. They were right. The creature of the depths lay inside the sea, and the constant clamoring of the children had awakened it.
Ugh… Mistral, please help me. I need you. I'm stuck. How can we learn alien programming languages? Without you, we can't access the ruins. We need you. This is a lifetime opportunity. Mistral can be more than humanity. If only he could learn the alien machine language, we would be off this planet soon. ~Shingo