A Quick Day Trip

“My dearest love, ya are gettin’ restless.”

“Am I?” Krvavy sighs out, tilting her head back tiredly.

“Aye. Ya’ve done little but dig and lay about these last few days.” Beryl gently states, placing her hands on the barbarian’s shoulders. “Ya should stretch yer legs, get some fresh air.”

“I thought that you didn’t want me to go on another little adventure.” Krvavy states as she relaxes into the Elf’s massage.

“Ah don’t. But Ah’m not talking about anythin’ like tha’.” Beryl almost whispers into the Drakling’s ear. “How would ya like ta go out and spend the whole day wit’ me?”

“You want to go hunting?”

“No, not quite. We may do a little, but Ah’m thinkin’ more o’ a hike.” The tanned tomboy breathes out. “Just the two o’ us, out there in the hills... all alone.”

Krvavy shudders slightly from her Elf’s sudden seduction. “That does sound nice...”

Beryl leans over and plants a kiss on the barbarian’s cheek. “We might not get back before the sun sets, so ya should go and do anythin’ tha’ ya need ta before we leave. Ah still ‘ave ta get dressed and pack some food, so ya’ve got some time.”

“Alright.” Krvavy replies, brushing the Elf’s hands off her shoulders and rising to her feet. While Beryl is being a bit presumptuous with her plans, spending the day just wandering around outside will be a nice break from all the digging.

---

“Are you going to tell me what this backpack is for?” The barbarian asks as she carefully steps over some loose rocks.

“Ah already did.” Beryl breezily replies. “Optimism.”

“Yeah, and that still doesn’t make any sense.”

“Does it not?” The Elf questions with a slightly teasing tone in her voice. “If we find somethin’ interestin’, then we will easily be able ta carry it back home. Better ta ‘ave the backpack and not need it than ta need it and not ‘ave it.”

Krvavy suspiciously glances at the tanned Wood Elf. “And what exactly might we find out here in the middle of nowhere?”

“Now tha’ is the question, isn’t it~?” Beryl almost giggles out.

The barbarian frowns slightly as she follows along after her Elf, climbing yet another short and rocky hillside. Beryl definitely has some sort of surprise waiting for her, though Krvavy has no idea what it could be. They are a couple hours away from home already, so it probably isn’t something that she would have set up or planned herself.

“This isn’t just a hike, is it?” Krvavy idly states after a few minutes.

“Oh~? Wha’ makes ya think tha’?”

“Well, for one, we’ve been heading in a very specific direction this whole time.” Krvavy dryly replies. “And you are not doing a good job hiding that you are hiding something.”

“Ya’ve got me~!” Beryl happily smiles back. “But do ya want ta spoil the surprise~? We are almost there~!”

The barbarian slowly sighs out. “I can wait a little longer...”

“Thank ya, my dearest love.” The Elf earnestly replies. “Ah hope ya’ll like wha’ is waitin’ ahead.”

Krvavy lightly shakes her head. She trusts Beryl enough to not be worried about whatever the Elf is leading them towards, but she is still a little bit annoyed by all of this. Beryl could have just said that she had a surprise, no need to lie about this being a simple hike...

That said, Krvavy isn’t too annoyed. This has been relatively relaxing, and she has had a wonderful view nearly the entire time: Beryl is wearing her tight pants again. Even though Krvavy sees the Elf’s bare ass all the time, there is just something irresistible about seeing that tight leather stretch over Beryl’s firm butt...

“Aha! My dearest love, we ‘ave arrived!” The tomboyish Wood Elf happily declares. “Can ya see our destination~?”

Krvavy looks over the hill ahead of them, but not much sticks out to her. “Is it... that cave?”

“Aye! But do you see anything strange about it?”

The barbarian narrows her eyes and stares at the cave. It isn’t exactly close to them, so Krvavy can’t really make out any fine details, but... “It looks kind of square...?”

“Aye again~!” Beryl happily replies. “Tha’ it is! This ‘cave’ is an old ruin set inta the hill, or a ruin which the hill ‘as collapsed onta. Regardless ‘o tha’, it ‘as likely already been picked clean. Probably some decades or even centuries ago, hence why bringin’ the backpack is optimistic. But tha’ isn’t why Ah brought ya ‘ere. See those grasses near the entrance? They’ve been trampled quite thoroughly. Somethin’ is livin’ in tha’ cave.”

“So we are here to kill it...?”

“No, not necessarily.” The Elf replies with a gentle smile. “This is more o’ a chance ta explore an old ruin. But if there is somethin’ ta fight, well, Ah’m sure ya’ll ‘ave a great time.”

“Alright.” Krvavy nods her head. “Any idea what could be living in there then?”

“Not a clue. Ah ‘aven’t gotten close enough ta see any sort o’ tracks.” Beryl answers. “Though Ah don’t think it is likely ta be a normal animal. This area is too quiet, too empty. Somethin’ ‘as scared off most o’ the prey.”

“Like another rock bear?”

“No.” The Wood Elf shakes her head. “Ah’m talkin’ about some sort o’ monster.”

Krvavy blankly blinks a few times. “What exactly makes something a monster if the rock bear doesn’t count?”

“Ah’m not quite sure.” Beryl admits with a shrug. “The line between beast and monster is a bit blurry at times. Ah think it mostly goes by how magical somethin’ is, but Ah suppose tha’ them bein’ more aggressive and dangerous would also help...”

“When you say magical, do you mean that they can cast spells? Or just that they are infused with magic and are stronger as a result?”

“More the latter, but there is still a degree o’ the former.” The Elf replies. “There are those tha’ can do some instinctual magic, such as drakes and other dragon-like monsters capable o’ breathin’ out different elements, but tha’ isn’t really the norm as far as Ah’m aware.”

“Hmm. Alright.” Krvavy’s Soulbound weapon manifests in her hand, its large axehead shining in the sunlight. “Lets go and see what’s inside.”

A happy smile creeps its way onto Beryl’s face as she turns towards the cave. With gentle steps the Elf quickly crosses the distance without making a sound, walking over loose pebbles and scraggly roots as if they weren’t there. Even after spending all this time with her Elf, Krvavy is still awed by just how silently Beryl can move, and it seems all the more impressive compared to her own lumbering gait.

As they approach the cave it becomes incredibly obvious that it isn’t natural. Not only does it have an oddly square entrance, but they can quite clearly see grout lines and bricks in its walls. It is honestly more of a hallway leading straight into the hill rather than any sort of cave.

“My dearest love, could ya create a small hook ta hang my bow ‘ere?” The Wood Elf whispers out her request as she gestures to wall beside her. “It won’t be useful in such close quarters, and Ah don’t want ta damage it if we do run inta a monster.”

Krvavy nods her head and raises her hand, spending just a few points of mana to create the small stone hook. The barbarian glances to the side once she is done, staring into the hallway-cave. It is surprisingly dark, with the sunlight not extending very far past the entrance, rapidly growing dim before descending into pure darkness.

“You didn’t happen to bring the lantern, did you?” Krvavy quietly asks.

Beryl simply shakes her head no as a response.

The barbarian holds back a groan at that. “Why not? You knew we’d be going into a dark cave.”

“Ah thought tha’ ya could use the opportunity ta practice yer Fire Magic.” The Elf responds in a hushed tone. “Makin’ a light should be simple enough fer ya.”

Krvavy slowly sighs out. That is some really terrible reasoning. The barbarian could have still practiced her magic and made her own light had Beryl brought the lantern along...

Not having the lantern just creates extra problems for them to deal with. They are going to be completely reliant on Krvavy’s mana to see, so if she runs out they are kind of screwed. And to make it even worse, Krvavy will need to keep one hand occupied with making and maintaining the light, which will obviously affect how well she will be able to use her two-handed axe.

The barbarian gently shakes her head and turns her left hand palm up. Beryl hasn’t really left her with much of a choice here, so she might as well try. Better than wasting an entire day by just turning around and leaving... But she will need to have a talk with her Elf later.

It only takes Krvavy a few moments of focusing before a small red flame flickers to life in her palm. Frowning slightly, she spends a few more seconds trying to make it brighter, to limited success. This little flame should make enough light for them to see, but it is very red. The entrance to the cave is already looking rather sinister in this deep crimson light, and that is with the sunlight overpowering it...

“Are ya ready?” Beryl quietly asks, getting a quick nod before they both step towards the darkness.

---

“Empty?”

“Yup.” Krvavy sighs in response as she ducks back out through a worn stone doorway. She doesn’t know what this place used to be, but there are a lot of small rooms with nothing in them. Not just nothing of value, but nothing at all. Just a slight bit of dirt and debris on the bare stone floors.

The novelty of exploring a buried ruin is quickly wearing off, growing gradually more boring with each empty room. On top of that, they haven’t seen even a single sign of life in here. But at least the ceilings are high enough that Krvavy doesn’t have to hunch over constantly...

Beryl makes a quiet noise to catch Krvavy’s attention, gesturing into the darkness with her dagger.

Glancing over to where her Elf is pointing, the barbarian sees a pile of rubble just at the edge of her light. Getting closer confirms what she assumed: the hallway ahead of them has caved in. It looks completely impassible, at least without some digging.

“No, Ah wasn’t pointin’ at tha’.” Beryl states from a few paces behind Krvavy. “Look ‘ere.”

Turning around, Krvavy sees her Elf squatting down off to the side, pointing her dagger towards a hole right at the base of the wall. There is a little bit of rocky rubble on both sides of it, but none in front. Almost as if the debris was shoved aside.

“There is a room on the other side o’ this.” The Wood Elf whispers out.

The hole is not particularly large, easily explaining why Krvavy didn’t see it at first. It is possible that someone as slim as Beryl could squeeze through it, but there is absolutely no way that Krvavy could fit. So whatever creature made this hole can’t be particularly large, assuming it is even still around.

Krvavy crouches down beside Beryl, holding out her hand and trying to shine her crimson light through the hole. “Can you see anything?”

Beryl’s eyes glow ever so slightly in the light, their beautiful blue-green colour piercing through the darkness. “Not really... There are some rocks in the way, but Ah think tha’ it leads further in.”

“Really?” The barbarian skeptically asks, glancing over at the cave-in. It isn’t that far away, but it still feels unlikely that the room would extend past it. Especially since they don’t even know how much of the hallway has caved in.

“Aye,” the Elf responds, “it is an oddly long lookin’ room. Not like the others we saw.” Beryl pulls back slightly and glances up at Krvavy. “Ah think we should try goin’ through ‘ere.”

Krvavy simply raises an eyebrow.

“Ah don’t mean as it is now. Ya could easily widen this hole wit’ yer magic.”

“I know what you meant.” The barbarian dryly responds. “But I’d rather not cause a cave in and get buried alive.”

“Ach, tha’ wouldn’t happen. Ya know wha’ ya’re doin’.” Beryl clicks her tongue dismissively. “There is a lot o’ clutter in there, so we might actually find somethin’. But if ya don’t want ta...”

Krvavy glares at her Elf through the dim red light, before sighing out in defeat. “Fine...” She grumbles out, placing her Soulbound weapon on the ground.

Reaching out with her free hand, Krvavy begins to carefully remove chunks of stone. She doesn’t want to waste too much mana doing this, as she doesn’t want to plunge herself into darkness, so the chunks are a little on the larger side.

After a few short minutes the hole has been widened enough that Krvavy could easily crawl through it. Of course, with how ridiculously tall she is, that means that Beryl would only need to crouch to fit through.

Which is exactly what the Elf does.

“Hey!” Krvavy quietly protests.

“Ya made it big enough, now come on through!”

The barbarian grumbles a bit as she grabs her axe and crawls towards her Elf. The hole isn’t a tight fit by any means, but Krvavy would have still appreciated the chance to make it even larger, even if it cost her more mana.

“See? This is a weirdly long room.” Beryl states as the barbarian rises to her feet on the other side.

Krvavy can’t help but find herself agreeing with the Elf. This room is about as deep as all the ones they’ve seen so far, but it continues on in the direction of the cave-in further than their light does. Its almost long enough to be a hallway in its own right.

“Hmm... Ah think tha’ this might ‘ave been some sort o’ bunk room.” Beryl comments, gesturing to some rectangular cubbyholes carved into the wall across from the hole. “Either tha’ or some sort o’ crypt.”

“Well, I don’t see any bodies...” Krvavy idly responds as she looks around the room. There are quite a few rocks just piled around, but she has no idea where they could have come from. The ceiling looks fine, with just a few slightly unsettling cracks across it, and the walls don’t look like they’ll be falling in anytime soon.

“Oh? Look at this, my dearest love!” The tomboyish Wood Elf calls out with barely contained excitement. “Its a sword!”

On the ground in front of Beryl, partially buried in some rocks, is a chunk of extremely rusted metal. It might have been a sword at one point, but it definitely isn’t one any more, only vaguely resembling a sword in its general shape. And on top of that, the rusted thing looks like it’ll disintegrate as soon as anything touches it.

“Calling it that is a bit generous.” The barbarian mutters out.

“Ah know it isn’t much, but it is at least somethin’.” Beryl shrugs back. “If this was left behind, then who knows wha’ else we might find?”

Krvavy just lightly shakes her head. She isn’t going to get her hopes up after seeing that bit of rust. But still, it is better than nothing. And if they can find some metal isn’t quite as rusted, then it might be worth taking.

Slowly making their way through the long room, neither Drakling nor Elf spot anything other than the piles of rubble littering the ground.

“And there’s the door.” Beryl gestures with her knife to the far end of the room, just as it comes into the light. “Doesn’t look blocked ta me.”

“Guess you were right.” Krvavy shrugs out. There seems to be a few small rocks spilling through the corner of the door, coming from the direction of the cave-in, but not anywhere near enough to stop them from passing through.

“How much longer can ya keep tha’ flame alight?” The Elf asks as she looks into the darkness beyond the doorway.

“A few hours. Assuming I don’t have to do any more digging, that is.” The barbarian replies, quickly checking her character sheet to confirm that. “Why?”

Rather than respond, Beryl simply gestures for Krvavy to come closer.

Just a few paces ahead of them is a large pit right in the middle of the hallway, with the path beyond it blocked by another cave-in. Krvavy’s flickering red flame isn’t bright enough to light up the bottom of that dark pit, but it does show that the hallway seems to have collapsed downwards into it, making a rough slope that they could use to descend into the dark depths.

“Want ta see wha’ might be down there?”

“Sure.” Krvavy answers without any hesitation.