Naptunie stood up, with her powder again, and this time, she waited for Tessandra’s instructions.
“Throw it as high and far as you can! Toward the entrance!”
It took only a few seconds for the smart Naptunie to understand what Tessandra was aiming to do, but it certainly didn’t make it any easier. She put all the powder into a ripped piece of fabric from her own clothing, forming a little bundle in a ball shape, and with all of her strength, she threw it just as Tessandra had said, far and high.
Tessandra chose her moment very precisely. She threw flames right when the little ball was about to hit the ceiling of the cave. The explosions boomed right away, shaking the whole cave. This time, the men panicked, running away from the first explosions as fast as they could. This was the lesser issue, though. Just as Tessandra had planned, the explosions reached the entrance of the cave, shaking the rocks that formed its walls. Perhaps dust had accumulated there, because the explosions grew exponentially above them, and everything began to collapse.
“Jinn!” Jisel shouted, suddenly panicked. “Run!”
They had no time to see what happened to the dragon. Tessandra turned around, grabbed Nana by the collar, and just like Cessilia with Jisel, they ran toward the cave’s wall, hiding from the collapsing rocks. The whole cave trembled and shook, as if they had provoked a real earthquake, with large stones falling, crushing everything under them. It didn’t last long, but it was a real nightmare, a deafening ruckus.
When things suddenly calmed down, they finally dared to look up. The entrance of the cave was now completely blocked by a mountain of rocks, with some men crushed underneath.
“...Congrats,” scoffed Jisel, “you’ve just buried us alive.”
Cessilia and Tessandra sighed, getting back on their feet and wiping the dust off their faces and shoulders.
“Are you alright, Nana?”
“I think... Oh, that was scary...”
They all quickly surveyed their surroundings, but everything was now quiet. Half of the cave had collapsed on its opening, making its ceiling look much lower and blocking the entrance. There was still a large opening, at the very top, but it was too high and dangerous to climb. The new little mountain of rocks was most likely very unstable.
Naptunie’s face paled as she noticed the red stains under some of the rocks. Even if some of the Yekara people had managed to flee, it was clear a lot had died in the collapse.
“Jinn!” Jisel called, immediately stepping forward. “Jinn! Jinn, are you alright?”
A weak growl answered her. She let out a faint sigh, relieved. Then, she suddenly turned to the other three women, furious.
“You almost killed my dragon!”
“So you d-do care about him,” muttered Cessilia.
“Of course! He’s my dragon! And now he’s injured while you’ve trapped me with you insane women!”
“You’d rather be under the rocks?” retorted Tessandra. “I’m sure we can find you a spot!”
“You almost killed us all!”
“Well, we tried to get out in a more peaceful way, but it didn’t work out. You’re welcome, by the way. You should thank Cessi. If it was me, I would have left you where you stood to die.”
Tessandra then walked away, going toward the rocks to try and find an opening, or make sure none of their opponents were still able to fight. Meanwhile, Jisel furiously turned to Cessilia.
“Why did you save me? I didn’t ask nor want to be saved by you! What is wrong with you, always playing the good girl? You could have let me die!”
“...M-maybe I should have,” said Cessilia. “You d-did injure and b-betray Ashen.”
“He betrayed me first,” Jisel retorted, full of spite.
“...B-but when I heard that you actually c-cared for your d-dragon before you g-got to safety, it ch-changed my mind.”
That sentence seemed to shock Jisel. She went mute, truly at a loss for words this time, simply glaring at Cessilia. The Princess had just saved her life, and she was now trapped with them in this cave. Her frustration was all over her face.
Meanwhile, Tessandra came back, sighing.
“The good news is, we’re not completely trapped, so it’s not like we’re going to run out of air. The bad news is, I don’t think we can get out of here by ourselves. Those rocks are completely unstable, we might kill ourselves if we try climbing up.”
“Great,” scoffed Jisel.
Cessilia couldn’t be bothered with that woman anymore, though. Turning her back on Jisel and Tessandra, she went back to Ashen to check on his state.
“...Is he going to be alright?” asked Naptunie.
Nana herself didn’t look alright. She was tired from the whole day, one of her buns coming undone. She had dark dust all over her face from the explosions, and unlike Cessilia and Tessandra, she didn’t have any scales to cover up the many scratches she got. Still, she wasn’t complaining at all, and instead, was down on her knees on the other side of the King, worrying about him. Cessilia sighed.
“...I hope he c-can hold on.”
She then got up, and went back to the little lake, observing the various plants and little submarine elements there, looking for something she could potentially use. Naptunie went with her, immediately helping her identify some of the algae.
Meanwhile, Tessandra kept staring at Jisel, her fists on her hips.
“Well,” she said, “at least now that we’ve got some free time ahead of us, perhaps you could finally answer some of the damn questions burning my tongue!”
“Why would I?” shrugged Jisel, crossing her arms. “I don’t see why I would cooperate with you at all.”
“Of course. You can also stay in your corner, and bleed to death after I cut off a leg or two,” retorted Tessandra.
Jisel grimaced. Although she was fine with dying, she probably wasn’t fond of being tortured. She glanced toward Cessilia. The Princess was already doing everything she could to save her lover. She and Nana had gathered small herbs, and fabrics from their clothes that were still more or less clean, and were even using Jisel’s long needles to do what they could on the injury.
