Chapter 2: Escape
'Why is he here?! Why now!?' was the only thought that went through Leif's mind. He gnashed his teeth and clenched his bound hands so tight that his nails dug into his skin and drew blood. The look and attitude he gave the dragon was pure and unbridled rage.
As Leif was experiencing this emotion, nobody moved a single muscle. Too shocked to even breathe. Too shocked to even register this scene in their minds. Everyone lost all reasoning once they saw this majestic yet foul creature that looked like the literal spawn of oblivion, appear from the clouds.
As most of the onlookers had their mouths wide open and agape, the dragon, in all its menacing glory, raised his mighty head high and shouted toward the heavens in the language of the Dovah.
A tremendous roar that sounded like the crackling of a thunderbolt was heard in everyone's ears which brought everyone out of their stupor and immediately after, the skies above began to darken.
What was once distant thundering clouds grew closer and closer until it enveloped the entirety of the town.
One would think that having this big of a distraction would've been an amazing event to occur at their execution, as they could finally escape the clutches of the executioner's blade. For Leif, however, it was not something that he would've thought immediately.
Having this wretched dragon right in front of him was a terrible omen. Something that would've dreaded him due to the legends and myths that circulated among the people he grew up with.
Add to the fact that he had also met this beast years ago. This profane dragon, also dubbed the World Eater, had left his life in complete and utter ruin and shambles.
Just having to see this dragon again already made Leif sick to his stomach in hatred and fear as he was intimidated by how evil that devil of a dragon looked. The image of the same dragon brought about memories that were deeply imprinted onto Leif's mind.
Memories that reminded him of the helpless boy he once was.
Memories of what was once his peaceful life were decimated to nothing.
The more Leif kept looking at the dragon, the more his negative emotions began to take over.
As he was still knelt over the block with rage building up in his head and threatening to spill over, Ralof noticed his unresponsiveness at the moment and hurried over to him to get him to move.
"Hey, you! Get up! Come on, the Gods won't give us another chance! This way!"
Leif, not in his right state of mind still somehow managed to subdue the anger within himself, ran, and followed behind Ralof into another tower that could hopefully somewhat shelter them from the onslaught of the dragon.
At this point, the World Eater had already shouted, in what sounded to Leif as the language of the Dov, towards the skies and in response to the dragon a torrential downpour of blazing fireballs hit any and everything. Regardless if it was living or not, nothing was safe at this point.
As soon as Leif ran inside the tower and Ralof had closed the door behind them, Leif finally realized the magnitude of the situation and began to compose himself as he put his anger aside and used the logical part of his brain.
However, he did notice that because of his short moment of rage upon laying eyes on the dragon, the bindings that held his wrists together had already torn off from his raw strength.
"Jarl Ulfric! What is that thing? Could the legends be true?" asked Ralof towards Ulfric.
He seemed not to have been as worried or scared as Ralof as he calmly replied, "Simple legends don't burn down villages."
The deafening shout of the dragon was once again heard from outside as Ulfric now tried to rally everyone present: Leif, Ralof, as well as a few other Stormcloaks who fortunately escaped the onslaught of the dragon.
"We need to move! Find an escape! NOW!"
Leif and Ralof were the first to run up the stairs of the tower to search for anywhere they could go to be safe. Going up the tower would give them a better sense of an idea and view of where they could go. Even if the sky was dropping down fireballs non-stop, surely a fireball wouldn't happen to hit it while they observed?
However, that wouldn't have been the case when they reached the halfway point of the tower and met up with yet another Stormcloak who was busy clearing a way out due to the dragon's outburst that had collapsed the stairs that led to the roof.
As they decided to help the Stormcloak and started to take out the rocks that blocked their path, Leif felt a chill in his bones and felt the ends of his hair stand up.
Without thinking, he tried his best to yank both of the Stormcloak soldiers and toss them aside before the walls of the tower were penetrated through by sheer force from the headbutt of the dragon.
As it eyed around, Leif had fortunately gotten out of the way and signaled for the soldiers to stay quiet and to hold still.
The dragon then spewed a mouthful of fire into the collapsed rocks that blocked their way up to the rest of the tower and ruined all the progress they had made in the short amount of time they had.
Once the dragon finally flew away to continue the chaos, Leif, Ralof, and the other soldiers all had visible signs of relief that were very soon replaced with worry and disappointment as they saw their work go up in literal flames.
The rocks had collapsed once more and even some of them were already in the process of being molten, which forced everyone to rethink their next plan of action.
Just then, Ralof saw through the opening the dragon had made earlier and observed that the house's thatch roof right next to the tower was burned away, leaving a clear way into the second floor of the house, if one was brave enough to jump.
Ralof then told Leif about it, due to his size and muscle mass which raised his survivability in Ralof's mind, and urged Leif to see if he could get down.
"What will you guys do?" Leif asked with a worried tone.
"If the Gods will it, we'll find another way. If we jumped, both of our legs would snap."
Leif found that reasoning to be logical and remembered that he had survived worse. Without much hesitation, he quickly made the jump down to the house below.
While in midair, however, Leif noticed that the further than he calculated and that he was coming down a little too fast.
Judging from the impact he was to expect, Leif quickly adjusted his body to roll upon impact as soon as his feet touched the hardwood floors.
A little trick that he learned from his life through various trials, he quickly landed and rolled to minimize the force of impact on his legs.
Getting up quickly, Leif looked back up at the two soldiers and gave them a sign that he was okay.
As he saw Ralof smile from surviving the fall, both he and the soldier quickly went back down the stairs to regroup with Ulfric to come up with another plan of action.
Before Leif could do anything, as he turned around to look for a quick way out, one of the house's support beams, which was on fire, fell towards him.
Not wanting to collide headfirst with the beam, he quickly dodged out of the way and using the momentum, rolled towards a hole in the floor that the fire had burned open.
Quickly traversing through the house, which was now barely holding on due to half of the structure being up in flames, Leif made his way to the first floor and exited out to a small clearing.
This time in the clearing he met that kind Imperial soldier, the same one who was somewhat nice to him mere moments before his expected execution.
"Haming! You need to get out of here! NOW!!!" the soldier shouted towards a child who was observing the chaos in excitement.
This child seemed to have been that earlier child who was sent inside his home when he asked to watch the soldiers, not knowing about the execution.
Though, his excitement was short-lived, as the dragon suddenly landed a few meters away from them.
This prompted the little Nord named Haming to quickly heed the Imperial soldier's commands and as he quickly ran towards where Leif, the soldier, and an old townsman were, the dragon, in all of its glory, spewed out a stream of hellfire.
Without even thinking, Leif grabbed Haming by the scruff of his shirt and pushed him towards the old townsman, mere inches away from the boy being cooked alive.
"T-thank you." the boy meekly said towards Leif.
Hadvar noticed the selfless act of Leif and quickly acknowledged his deed with a nod of his head.
"Still alive, Leif? Keep close to me if you want to stay that way." the Imperial soldier said as he noticed Leif when he acted upon impulse.
"Gunnar, take care of the boy. I have to join up with General Tullius and join the defense."
The old townsman, who was named Gunnar, unsheathed his blade and said "With my life. Gods guide you, Hadvar."
Hadvar simply gave a firm nod of his head and signaled for Leif to follow him toward where General Tullius was.
However, in Leif's mind, he did not want to meet someone who didn't care if he was associated with the rebellion or not.
Whether he was innocent or not.
But what other choice did he have other than following this soldier named Hadvar?
Perhaps he would be able to properly explain his situation and why he was there at the wrong time during his capture.
All of these thoughts flashed through Leif's mind and before Leif could come up with a choice, he was broken out of thought by Hadvar.
"C'mon! Let's go!"
|---.---.---|
After meeting up with Hadvar, Leif helped him in trying to rescue as many townsfolk as possible.
Due to Leif's strengths, he and Hadvar had managed to save many people who were buried beneath rubble and using the little knowledge Leif had of healing magic, managed to get some people out of critical conditions.
What used to be the quaint and quiet town of Helgen, was now a smoldering mess of ruined buildings and smoke that permeated throughout the air. There was carnage everywhere with people either running away from the ensuing chaos, fighting back, and laying on the ground either due to their injuries or simply succumbing to their injuries and perishing.
For Leif, this was a familiar yet tragic scene.
The cries of anguish and suffering of everyone around him reminded Leif of what had happened to him all those years ago.
Where he was once in the very same position.
Crying and mourning the death of everything he had ever cared for.
These were the scenes that Leif could focus on.
Not the dragon that was wreaking havoc.
Not the endless stream of fireballs that came raining down the skies.
However, some ethereal force that came from the back of his mind yanked him back to reality and focused on the matter at hand.
Not knowing what had caused him to come out of his stupor, Leif simply let it go and wiped away all the negative thoughts that clouded him.
Right now, he was helping set a bone back into place for an Imperial footsoldier who was unfortunately hit by debris.
Though Leif wished he could've done more to help all the victims affected, there was only so much that he could do.
As he was helping all the townsfolk and Imperials alike, he noticed that he and Hadvar had separated.
Looking around, he had not noticed that Hadvar had already regrouped with his battalion and was currently engaging the dragon on the other side of town.
Since Hadvar was probably his only chance at talking about his innocence, Leif did not have a proper way of speaking with General Tullius but right now that did not matter to him at all.
Hoping that Hadvar was doing alright, Leif continued running around the town avoiding fireballs. He then came across a large stone keep.
The building looked to be somewhat intact with minimal damage, but as he tried to open the door, he found it to be locked shut.
As he quickly ran around the keep to find another way in, he ran into another familiar face.
"Ralof!"
Ralof immediately noticed Leif's voice and quickly turned to Leif.
Never forgetting Leif's unique physical features, Ralof's face quickly softened and greeted Leif.
"How've you been, lad? Been a few hours since you jumped down from that tower." Ralof said as he and Leif quickly clasped each other's forearms as a sign of mutual respect.
"Just trying not to be killed. Helping the folk from sharing that fate, the works, ya know?" Leif said in a joking tone.
Leif and Ralof ended up chuckling a little to themselves due to Leif trying to make light of the circumstances.
Despite the situation, both Leif and Ralof tried their best to make the best of what they had and humored themselves.
Leif noticed that Ralof also had the same idea of trying to get inside the keep.
"So, found a way in yet? The main door is locked shut."
"Not yet, lad. But I think one of these Imperial corpses has a key." Ralof said as he pointed to one of the many corpses that had died since the start of the attack.
Scanning the charred remains of some of the soldiers carefully, Leif noticed that one of the burnt corpses had a silverish, metallic tinge to it.
Leif immediately brought out the connection between the armor of the corpse that had unfortunately melted onto their skin and the female captain who was the only soldier that had, what he thought to be, steel armor.
Logically thinking that someone in her position would be the one to carry a master key, he quickly made it over to her corpse.
As he quickly walked over, careful not to step on any of the corpses, the nauseating and pungent smell of burnt flesh infiltrated his nose, and as he came over to her corpse the face, which once signified a strong and capable Imperial woman, was now unrecognizable.
Offering a quick prayer towards the divines, Leif carefully searched her body for the key to the keep, which he eventually found. Fortunately enough, it had not melted away.
Signaling to Ralof, who was busy searching the other corpses that littered the area they were in, Leif quickly inserted the key into the lock and finally opened the gate.
|---.---.---|
Heading inside, Ralof immediately notices a person slumped on a table, barely illuminated by the lantern on it.
"Hey! Brother!"
Quickly heading over to make sure one of his comrades was okay, Ralof was left saddened by the lack of response.
Leif, standing a few feet away, also felt a little disheartened due to the close bond these Stormcloaks had with each other.
"We'll meet again… in Sovngarde, brother…"
Giving the Stormcloak a better position to enjoy his eternal rest, Ralof offered the deceased Stormcloak soldier's war axe to Leif.
"I wouldn't want to intrude upon your comrade's weapon."
"Besides, I'm not much of an axe person," Leif said as he punched his palm and cracked his knuckles which signified his personal choice in weaponry.
"Suit yourself."
"Shall we get going then?"
Ralof used the key that Leif handed him and quickly opened the doorway that led toward the lower levels of the keep.
Upon entering the stairway, Leif felt that chill in his bones again, just as when Alduin crashed through the tower's walls.
Having a strong gut-wrenching feeling as well that seemed to be demanding Leif to quickly move forward, he took off and ran further into an open area despite Ralof's protests.
A very strong scent of iron attacked his nose and as Leif made it towards an open underground area, the sounds of swords clashing and the sparks of lightning bolts could be heard.
Getting to what looked to be a spacious area on the lower levels of the keep, what Leif saw was truly gruesome.
Lots of bodies mangled up in either cages or strewn up against the walls, blood practically everywhere, and bones littering the many corners of the room, Leif saw what could only be described in nightmares.
However, his thoughts were interrupted by a female Stormcloak soldier yelling as she swung her greatsword towards a meek-looking Imperial wearing a cowl over his head.
One inexperienced in the combat of Nirn would think that the person capable of handling such a large weapon would be effective against someone who looked to be unarmed. Though most of that train of thought is true, it is not always the case.
Due to the magical advantage that the Imperial had over the Stormcloak, he had kept the woman at bay using a stream of lightning.
As Leif was contemplating if he should intervene, he quickly noticed that the Imperial soldier was exuding a pertinent aura of death and malice.
Making the connection between the one who caused the gruesome sights in the area, Leif knew who to side with.
With the female Stormcloak already having the attention of the Imperial, Leif quickly closes the distance as the Imperial torturer keeps attacking her from a safe but close distance using Sparks, a basic yet effective lightning spell.
Leif, hidden in the blindspot of both the Stormcloak and Imperial soldiers, slowly but surely approaches the torturer.
Despite Leif's large frame, he quietly reaches the assailant from behind, even without the knowledge of the female soldier.
She eventually collapsed and used her sword to keep herself upright as the damage she had accumulated was taking its toll on her.
Perhaps it was due to a misstep or perhaps it was due to the growing shadowy figure that triggered an instinctual fear, the torturer quickly turned around and noticed Leif.
Not taking any chances and before the torturer could cast any spells, Leif grabbed him by the head and gripped him as hard as he possibly could.
Although Leif himself has more overall raw strength compared to your refined Nord warrior, he was far from the strength required to crush skulls with a single hand.
He just did what felt right under the circumstances and proceeded to lift the torturer up with one arm and then proceeded to slam him into the ground.
CRACK
A small but noticeable crack was visible on the floor of the room they were in but that wasn't the reason for the cracking sound.
The torturer had his head cracked open upon impact with the ground. A gruesome sight to behold, but such was fitting for a man who relished in the acts of torture.
In just a few seconds the muffling screams and flailing body of the torturer eventually stopped as Leif retracted his grip from the now lifeless corpse.
He had little remorse for people who inflicted pain in exorbitant amounts onto others no matter the reason.
However, a certain dragon or any person who is whole-heartedly deserving of such pain would be the only exception for Leif.
The female soldier, who was already in a weakened state, finally noticed Leif and gave a thankful smile before resting on the ground in exhaustion.
Though Ralof was further behind Leif as he could not keep up with his pace, he still managed to see the end of the altercation.
His face said it all: mouth agape and eyes widened at how much strength this young man had.
The image of shock on Ralof's face went unnoticed as Leif tried his best to heal the female Stormcloak to which he made small but effective progress.
She could now hold herself steady without the use of her sword as support.
Ralof, now composed, took to confiding with the soldier about what the current situation was and what their next course of action should be.
Leif on the other hand, went around the room to observe his surroundings more clearly now that the threat was taken care of.
He saw a pair of iron cages that stood a little taller than himself, and upon looking through the iron bars, he saw a body that was knelt over and clutching its stomach.
The person inside likely passed away due to starvation and as such provided a reason for why they were positioned that way.
As he looked closer, the small candles and torches in the room illuminated the glints of 7 gold coins, a small coin pouch, and two small glass vials. The glass vials were different only in color as one was green and the other blue.
Trying to reach the gold coins by fiddling his arms and fingers through the gaps in the bars to no avail, Leif exhaled loudly in frustration.
Sometimes, these are the moments he wished he was a little bit more nimble and small. Although he had such thoughts from time to time, he had no problems being larger than the natives of this land.
Hearing Leif's sigh, Ralof looked to see what he was doing after offering the female Stormcloak a healing and stamina potion he had found on one of the shelves. He went to see what Leif was up to.
"You see something you like?"
"Yeah, but I can't quite get it," Leif said as he pointed towards the gold coins, just begging to be taken.
Ralof fished a few lockpicks from his pocket, handing them over to Leif.
"Just keep at it carefully, until you hear a light click. Careful not to break it."
Leif, not being a complete amateur at the lockpicking game, quickly got to work.
Though his hands and fingers are large enough that he would need to be even more precise in his movements, he did end up finding the sweet spot and picked the lock.
It did take him a second try as he wasn't at a higher level.
Click
The satisfying sound of a lock being successfully picked was music to Leif's ears as he pushed the gate open and collected his spoils.
As Leif collected everything, he noticed that behind the body of the person who died here was a small book.
Upon retrieving the book, he noticed the imprint of a flaming hand, a universal sign that symbolizes the school of destruction magic.
Fueled by curiosity, he opened the book cautiously to which he was immediately assaulted by the knowledge of what was contained within.
Arcane symbols and an electrifying feeling awakened within the palms of his hands as soon as he came to.
He quickly got out of the cage and felt a tingling sensation in both his hands.
Feeling as though his hands might explode as they held a tremendous amount of energy that threatened to overflow, he faced a far wall in the room, simply held up his arms, made a pushing motion, and widened his hands to full extension.
A large and abundant amount of electrical sparks blasted out from the inside of his palms and landed on the stone wall in an instant.
BOOM
A small but audible thunderclap was heard as it echoed throughout the room and a small tremor was felt alongside it.
Due to the spell cast by Leif as well as the many quakes that the dragon on the surface was creating, the wall that was hit collapsed and a small opening left a cavernous path behind it.
Leif, not knowing that was going to happen, quickly coughed and kept his cool.
Despite being a young adult, he still found himself acting like a child.
"Guess I'm stronger than I thought. I meant to do that, as you know" Leif said as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head as he just grinned.
"Ah, of course, you did," Ralof said as he simply sighed aloud.
"At least you made us a path. Let's go."
"Is she ready? I mean are you ready, madam?" Leif asked as he wondered if they should continue despite her wounds.
"Helfna. I must thank you once again, sir?" she asked Leif.
"Leif, at your service," he replied as he showed his childish side and bowed formally.
"Yes Sir Leif," Helfna replied as she also comically copied his act. "And yes, I am ready."
"Perfect. Shall we?" Leif said as he pointed to the cavernous passageway that he opened up accidentally.
|---.---.---|
As they traversed through the dreary passageway, led only by the glow of their lanterns and the glowing mushrooms creeping up the walls, the tremors that could be vaguely heard and felt were starting to lessen as they went deeper, signifying that the dragon's onslaught was starting to end.
They discovered a split in their path: on the left side, the path was completely and utterly decimated with rocks, presumably by all the mayhem that had ensued. But on the right, a pathway that was somewhat manageable in passing.
The option was apparent and before they went accordingly, Ralof gestured to make everyone stop.
"I remember this place", Ralof said as he pointed towards the collapsed passageway. "This is where the guards trained and led to the flank out of Helgen."
As he pointed towards the only clear way that was open, he said in a worried tone, "But this way, I don't think it was covered in the map I'm familiar with."
"Perhaps it was added to one that you aren't? Besides, it's the only way forward." Leif simply said as he squeezed through the rocks and onto the narrow path.
"As long as we don't run into any more of those Imperials, we should be fine," Helfna said as she and Ralof followed.
"By the way, I don't think I've ever seen you in our ranks. Have you joined recently?" Ralof asked her.
"I did, but just moments after I was given my armor, we were ambushed and taken prisoners."
"Unlucky," Leif said as he continued to walk forward.
That is until he abruptly stopped in his tracks.
"What is it?" Ralof asked.
"Shhh. Do you hear that?" Leif asked as he turned back and gestured to both of them to keep quiet.
pat-pat-pat-pat-pat
Barely audible scurrying sounds echoed through the tunnel.
Living in the wilderness alone for as long as he had would lead to him developing sharper senses compared to most, which he used fully at this moment.
As they continued to walk deeper down the path, the sounds could be heard more clearly.
PAT-PAT-PAT-PAT
Leif noticed the walls and ceiling were covered in a thick web. As he slowly moved forward, the webs started to grow even more denser until eventually, he reached a clearing almost entirely encased in webs.
Before he could react, a spider the size of a chicken lunged at Leif.
On instinct, Leif quickly punched forward making contact. The spider burst into a mess of green blood.
Most of it splattered on Leif's arm and immediately hit him with a numbing sensation.
However, the numbness quickly receded.
"What was that?!" Helfna exclaimed out loud as she realized what had occurred.
"Damn spiders," Leif said as he tried to wipe the blood off him.
"A-Are there m-more?" Ralof asked in an almost whimper-like state.
"Scared of a few bugs, eh Ralof?" Leif asked as he took one of the now-deceased spider's legs and waved it right in front of his face.
"Look, it's trying to say hi," Leif said through laughter.
"STOP IT! They just gross me out. Too many eyes, you know?"
"Uh-huh. Sure. Okay." Leif said while smiling and nodding.
He dropped the leg and looked around the room.
Upon setting his eyes to the ceiling his blood ran cold.
'Ah crap'
"Damn you. But I'm serious, be wary. These fiends always hunt in groups?" Ralof said, grabbing his sword and turning his back towards Leif, protecting their rear.
"I don't see any more of them?" Helfna whispered, her eyes darting around the cave searching for the abominations.
"Wait!" Leif shouted in a whisper.
"Look up!"
When Ralof and Helfna saw what Leif pointed out, they stood petrified on the spot.
Well, more like Ralof just had his soul ripped out of his body.
What met their gaze back was a spider.
Though not any sort of spider, as this one was big. Perhaps even bigger than a bear.
Its many red eyes just looked at them.
In curiosity?
In hostility?
However, that was quickly answered as the spider lunged toward them, its fangs bared and dripping with venom.
Leif quickly took the greatsword from Helfna and tried his best to parry the spider.
TING
His attempt was successful as the spider was now on the ground with one of its fangs now missing.
Not giving it a chance to attack first, Leif ran headfirst into the spider's vicinity.
The spider, somehow comprehending what Leif was doing, shifted its body and also charged towards Leif.
He wielded the sword skillfully, attempting to pierce its head.
However, that wouldn't be the case as the spider attacked using its front two legs as spears and tried to do the same to Leif.
Leif, having his battle experience kicking in, quickly dodged out of its way and using the momentum, propelled himself towards the side of the spider.
Though it would've worked if the spider had been normal, using bare instinct and sense alone, it countered and thrust its spear-like legs toward him.
TCHK
Leif somehow managed to contour his body to dodge the spider once more. This time, however, he managed to cut through two of its legs cleanly.
As the spider lost its sense of balance and stopped momentarily to adjust itself, Leif utilized the situation to his advantage.
He ran forward in a zig-zag-like pattern and jumped with all his might. Using the force of gravity to create a downward force, he thrust his sword downwards ready for the kill.
The spider, not noticing any of this until the last moment, could not do anything given the circumstances. It let out one last shrill cry before going silent as the blade went through one of its many eyes, out through its underbelly, and did not stop until it finally reached the floor.
KREEK
The light in the spider's abundant eyes started to wane and moments later, the spasms stopped and the light finally dimmed to complete darkness as the spider was now a corpse.
Leif took the sword out of the spider's head and quickly sighed out the breath he held in.
"Well, then. Shall we continue?" Leif said as he gave the greatsword back to Helfna.
At this point, both Helfna and Ralof's expressions carried shock and awe.
They did not expect Leif to be this experienced in handling himself or that he beat a giant spider that many had lost their lives to with such ease and in such an efficient way.
Though Helfna was even more shocked as Leif handled her blade in only one hand.
Her greatsword, which was purposefully made longer and heavier, was handled by Leif as if it were just a mere longsword that any run-of-the-mill person could wield.
Although he was a head and a half taller than herself and a full head taller than Ralof, the amount of strength he possessed was simply nothing to scoff at.
'He's so young but he possesses this much skill and strength.' She had thought as well.
Leif was younger than she was, due to the lack of aging that was present on his face compared to herself and Ralof.
It is true to note that Leif was young. The lack of a beard would also spring people to note how young he was but his overall figure made people have doubts.
But as she began to take more of a note of Leif's appearance, she failed to notice that Leif's hair had been red since she met him.
Not the red that she and many more of her race had, but a red that gave off a pulsating shade.
A deep shade that mimicked the color that coursed through most living beings.
Blood red hair that reached down to just above his neck.
Crimson waves that seemed to flow like river water that he would always run his hands through.
All this seemed to have aroused a sense of attraction that laid dormant in Helfna's mind but was immediately put aside.
Though the redness of her face was slowly appearing, she quickly snatched the blade away and sheathed it on her back, before coughing a bit to disguise her blush.
"Good kill, lad. Might have to give me some pointers when we're out of this mess." Ralof said as he pat Leif's back in a proud manner.
"I aim to please," Leif said as he crouched next to the spider's corpse before he tore the still intact fang.
"Smart choice. The venom of that spider alone could be worth some coin." Helfna said as she finally composed herself.
"Are you guys ready to continue?" Leif said as he put the fang away for safekeeping into the pouch he had found earlier.
"Of course." Ralof and Helfna both answered.
|---.---.---|
As they all left the little clearing and the webs lessened more and more, they finally felt a draft of wind, signifying an exit not too far along.
Before that, Leif's sharp senses made them come to yet another stop.
Low and soft grunts could be vaguely heard in Leif's ears and as they got closer to the source, it was made obvious what had been making the noise.
A very large bear that had many various deep scars adorned on its body was seen.
It was in a deep sleep but what Leif knew about bears in general is that they are always alert even when unconscious.
"Shhh. There's a bear just up ahead." Leif said as he signaled for Ralof and Helfna to get down to a crouching position.
"Those senses of yours are something else, aren't they?" Ralof said in a whisper.
"How did you even hear it before we did?" Helfna asked.
Leif just kept looking at the bear as he tried to see how he could deal with it.
Should they try to sneak by it?
Or should he get the first strike in and hopefully get it in one shot?
"I'll defer the decision to you guys. Should we try to kill it or sneak right by?"
"Kill."
"Sneak."
Leif deadpanned at both Ralof and Helfna.
'So much for that.'
"We should strike since we have the upper hand," Ralof said to Helfna.
Helfna refuted, "What happens if we fail? Despite Leif's and our skills, we won't get out of this fight unscathed."
As they kept bickering on and on with each other in hushed tones, Leif analyzed the situation even further.
'Alright so if I can sneak until I get an arm's length away. I think I could stab it right around its heart from the side.'
Leif kept staring as he went over a simulation in his head, one that he saw himself just pissing off the bear even more.
'Okay…maybe not that one.'
He then looked toward the path that led right toward where daylight was piercing through the exit and studied where they should walk through.
He nodded to himself and quickly broke Ralof and Helfna's quarrel.
"Helfna's right…"
Helfna gave a triumphant grin towards Ralof as if saying 'I told you so'
As the group reaffirmed their decision and observed their path making note of what to avoid so as not to awaken the sleeping beast, Leif began to lead the way and quietly told them, "Step where I step."
As quietly as possible, Ralof and Helfna aligned their path with Leif's footprints and slowly and cautiously, progressed past the bear.
As they neared the exit without triggering anything that would rouse the bear awake, a deep rumble shook the cave loosening the rocks above.
RUMBLE
From the jittering of small pebbles to the crashing of the stalagmites from the cave ceiling, the slumbering beast arose.
On reflex alone, the bear rose quickly on its two hind legs and stood tall, looking around its territory.
As the shaking got worse, the same roar of the dragon echoed through the cave, immediately signifying what caused the quake.
"By the gods! RUN!" Ralof was the first to shout as sneaking by was now a lost cause.
Everyone darted for the exit as they noticed the large falling starting to block the exit and prevent their escape.
The bear, hearing Ralof's exclamation, quickly chased right after them.
Whether it was to attack any that was in its territory or simply trying to run away from the eventual collapse didn't matter as their way out was going to be no more.
CRASH
Soon the light started to get brighter and brighter until they made it through just as the cave collapsed crushing the ever-nearing bear but barely missing Ralof bottoms, the last one to escape.
Freedom at last.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Shaje_Islam
Shaje_Islam Here's the long awaited second episode. Very sorry it took more than a month, but as me and my friend have noted, this is just something that we do for fun. Expect the next chapter to also take a while as our schedules are very busy. As always please enjoy as we really took our time to detail everything. See you in the next chapter!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone