Cat Dragon Story～～～Ten ②～～～
I made a song using the lyrics of a lullaby that appears in the story. "The Trail of the Dragon's Tail"
https://youtu.be/m4-1xUFlgoY
If you like, please listen to it as a closing recap after reading or before going to bed.
~~~The Longest Night of the Three~~~
After leaving the battle site with Zanos and his men, Elliot and his friends walked deeper into the forest.
After walking for a few days, as the sun set and silence and darkness began to take over the area, they reached an open area.
There, a large, quiet lake like the ocean spread out, so large that the opposite shore could not be seen.
In the deep forest, the lake was silent, as if time had been forgotten, and its peace seemed to have remained unchanged for centuries.
The surface of the lake reflected the surrounding scenery illuminated by the moonlight like a mirror, and occasionally a gentle breeze blew across the water, creating ripples.
But soon the wind gained strength, and the lake began to make small waves.
The moonlight gradually faded from the sky, and a low rumble of thunder could be heard from the distant mountains. Soon the lake water lost its former calm, making a thunderous sound like the sound of a giant drum being struck, and raging waves began to pound the shore.
Lightning lit up the lake's surface, and for a moment the lake shone white. Each time, the earth shook with an explosion that seemed to split the heavens.
The wind grew stronger, blowing violently like a wild beast chasing its prey, the trees swaying wildly and scattering their leaves. The lake was no longer a quiet mirror, but like a living thing that had begun to move.
On the shore of the lake, Elliot, Alex, and Michael were desperately trying to use magic to escape the storm, but they were at the mercy of the power of the storm.
Elliot, realizing that things were not going well, called out to the two, "We'll teleport away, grab hold of me."
Alex and Michael, who also felt a sense of danger, grabbed Elliot's arms and the three of them disappeared from the lakeside.
They moved into the forest, but the storm did not let them go. In that place, where the angry wind blew, the trees that had collapsed, been knocked down, and were uprooted attacked the three mercilessly.
"This isn't good enough! Let's go next!" Elliot screamed, and cast the magic circle again.
Next, the three appeared on top of a hill, and immediately after that, lightning flashed violently above their heads, and the lightning struck a giant tree standing nearby.
The roar deafened them, and the tree split in half and began to burst into flames.
The three left the place to escape the flames, but without a moment's hesitation, lightning struck them one after another, and each time, rocks and pebbles exploded and attacked the three like pebbles.
"Damn, this isn't good enough either. Next, next!" Elliot shouted, his voice hoarse, and he cast the magic again.
Next, the three of them appeared in the cave. It was quiet inside, unlike outside. As if they hadn't been breathing until then, the three of them exhaled and started breathing heavily with their shoulders.
They seemed exhausted and collapsed, lowering their waists, exchanging glances with each other and showing expressions of relief.
Michael asked, "Are you all okay?" Alex replied, "Yeah, we're okay," and Elliot nodded silently.
"Let's just get through this," Michael said, and Alex said in a slightly playful manner, "That was close, I thought we were done for," to lighten the mood. When he turned to look at Elliot,
he noticed something was wrong with Elliot.
Elliot was staring blankly at one spot with a blank look on his face. Alex called out, "Are you okay, Elliot?" Elliot didn't reply, and remained blankly.
Alex went over to Elliot and shook his shoulders, speaking a little more forcefully with a concerned look on his face. "Hey, what's wrong, Elliot?"
Then Elliot regained focus and, a little surprised to see Alex in front of him with a concerned look on his face, asked, "Huh? Alex, what's wrong?"
Alex looked a mixture of astonished and relieved, and said, "What's wrong? I mean... you..."
At that point, Michael interjected and said to Elliot, "You were in a daze for a while." Elliot seemed to remember what he was saying and said, "Oh, yeah, sorry... I..."
He felt dizzy and his body swayed. "Wh-what?" Michael said. What Elliot felt was not dizziness. The moment a low, deep bass sound that seemed to rise from the depths of the earth began to reverberate, the ground suddenly began to shake violently.
Then, the rocks and ceiling inside the cave gradually began to collapse, threatening to attack the three.
To the three, it was as if the Grim Reaper was raising his scythe and attacking them, saying, "I will never let you escape," and they felt a pressure so great it took their breath away. The true nature of that pressure was a fear that slowly tightened around their hearts.
The shaking became even more violent, and it became difficult for the three to stand, and they could only crawl on their hands and knees.
As the collapse intensified and the ceiling was about to fall and crush the three, Alex shouted out loud, "Everyone gather together and form a group. Elliot, teleport again. Michael, use time manipulation to buy us some time."
Elliot looked desperate and said, "But where are we going? There's no safe place left..." Alex interrupted him and said, "Anywhere is fine, just get out of here. We'll be crushed."
"Damn, what happens now?" Elliot shouted and teleported for the fourth time.
The teleport destination was the lakeside again. The wind was getting even stronger, all the trees around were knocked down, and the lightning was unstoppable, all of them attacking the three with overwhelming murderous intent.
The scene was so gruesome that Elliot couldn't help but mutter, "Is this... hell?" At that moment, a large tree was blown by the wind at high speed and hit Elliot directly, sending him flying along with the tree.
Both Alex and Michael yelled out "Eliot!" Michael used time manipulation to slow down Elliot's flight and Alex ran to help him.
Then a blunt stone flew towards Michael and hit him directly in the head. Michael's head was split open, he bled and collapsed.
At the same time, just as Alex was about to catch up with Elliot, the effect of the delay magic wore off, and Elliot was sent flying away with great force.
Alex, who was chasing Elliot, saw Elliot being blown away and realized that the effect of the delay magic had worn off, so she turned towards Michael wondering what was going on. There she saw Michael lying on the ground, bleeding from his head.
Alex felt a chill run down his spine as he saw Michael fall to the ground and was startled. He turned around and ran to Michael, picked him up and called out, "Michael, hey, Michael, stay strong."
Michael groaned softly, "Uuuh." Alex's expression relaxed slightly as he saw this.
At that moment, Alex felt a chilling presence coming from the lake behind him, and turned around fearfully. Then, the blood drained from his face, and he opened his eyes wide and said, "You're kidding me."
There, before his eyes, there was overwhelming despair and absolute murderous intent, spreading out before his eyes and approaching him. It was the appearance of a gigantic tsunami, dozens of meters high.
"I'll say it again, I will never let you escape." That's what Alex heard for sure.
Holding Michael with one arm, Alex desperately tried to create a giant tree to use as a shield to protect himself, but it was completely meaningless against the overwhelming power of the tsunami, and the giant tree and the painful screams disappeared into the muddy water.
After a few minutes, or maybe a few hours, Elliot, who had been blown away and lost consciousness, woke up. The storm had ended and the area was quiet again.
"Where am I?" His hazy memories slowly returned, and Elliot began to remember what had happened. He felt around his body to check if he was injured and if he was still alive. It was an unconscious action.
"I'm alive..." he muttered, and at the same time tears welled up in his eyes, "Uh, uh, uh," he cried, savoring the miracle of being alive.
"That's right, where are they?" Elliot's memory was clear, and his first thought was whether Alex and Michael were safe.
Elliot started walking towards the lakeside, shouting as loud as he could in a hoarse voice. "Michael... Alex... Where are you? Michael... Alex" Elliot kept shouting as he walked.
After a while, he heard someone shouting from afar. "Kel... Utt..." It was Alex. Elliot ran towards the voice and called out, "Alex, we're here!"
Alex also heard Elliot's voice and started running. "Elliot." They both ran towards the voice, reunited halfway, and hugged each other tightly.
Alex said, "I'm glad you're safe. I'm so glad." Elliot replied, "I'm glad you're safe too. I'm so glad. I'm so glad."
They released their embrace, looked at each other, and savored the joy of being reunited.
Elliot suddenly realized something and asked Alex. "Where's Michael? Where's Michael?"
Alex shook his head and said with a pained expression, "I don't know. After you were blown away, a big tsunami came and we were both swept away."
Elliot looked confused for a moment and said, "No way..." but quickly regained his composure and replied, "Let's look for him. We're safe, so he should be okay too."
Alex seemed to agree and said, "Yeah, that's right, we can definitely resume." A ray of hope was returning to their faces.
"Michael, where are you?" The two continued to shout and wandered around. Several minutes, or maybe hours, had passed. Their voices had become hoarse and raspy from shouting continuously.
Then Elliot's voice stopped. Alex, who had been searching a little distance away, was curious and went over to Elliot.
Alex found Elliot and approached him, calling out, "What's wrong, Elliot?" Elliot stood there, staring silently at a spot on the ground.
Alex arrived at Elliot's place with a puzzled look on his face and looked towards the ground where Elliot was looking.
"Uhh..." Alex was speechless.
At Elliot and Alex's feet, Michael was buried in the mud, his mouth was clogged with mud, and his eyes were wide open, staring at the two of them.
Seeing this, Alex collapsed to his knees and cried out in an inaudible voice, "Aaaaaah, Michael, damn it." Elliot stood there, tears streaming down his face in silence.
Elliot called out to Alex, who knelt in front of Michael, covered in mud and cold, and cried. "Alex, let's get Michael out of this cold mud as soon as possible."
Alex nodded, and the two carefully dug Michael out, cleared the mud from his mouth, carried him to the lake, and washed his body clean with the lake water.
Then the two cried in front of Michael, who was lying there, until dawn.
Continued in Episode 7
