TBATE | GREY x CAERA - A Fanfiction

Chapter 4

The rough stone floor of the tunnel glowed with a dim amethyst hue, reflected off from the crystals that were scattered all over; their numbers increasing as we went deeper.

I had decided not to absorb aether from those crystals, since the aether contained in them wouldn't account to much, besides from the fact that they seem to contain that "unknown particle" which is somehow 'potent' enough to try and devour aether!

'Could it be some byproduct that resulted due to the sedimentation of rocks in this region?', I thought, remembering the colour of the radiant sky outside, which could possibly emit some radiant energy and might be trapped inside those rocks, creating such potent energy source over the period of this region's existence.

Before my mind could dive deeper into the matter, I noticed the tunnel coming to an end at a few meters away from our distance. Caera and I glanced at each other, before sprinting to the end, curious to see what's lying on the inside, although I already had a few guesses of my own.

Our steps soon came to an halt as the tunnel opened up to a huge dome-like structure, brightly lit, completely in contrast to the dark tunnel that we had traversed to reach here.

My eyes took a moment to adjust to the sudden assault of the light. Once my eyes opened, it was drawn to the cackling noise that came from the other side of the rough stone floor.

What I saw was a large piles of shining amethyst crystals in a form of a mountain, a few hundreds of thousand, in numbers. My jaw hung open at the sheer number.

But what caught my attention was the sight of my companion among the mountain pile- whose actions almost made me freeze.

'Uh- Regis- what are you doing?' I asked with a slight hesitation, looking at my companion- munching on the crystals, one after another, like a- well- 'dog munching on its treats'.

Regis's eyes widened at sound of our arrival as his head lifted away from the crystal pile to glance at us. He then quickly went back to his- eating. His wolfish head buried back inside the pile of crystals.

He spoke out loud after few moments, "Awthoor youbrr heherr gwoooh" his tone slightly muffled.

I froze at his words-!

"Regis", I said., my voice as deep as it could be. Not giving a moment for him to answer, I continued, '"are you- high?'- I bit back my words, feeling incredulous to even say it out loud.

But the shadow wolf has been acting strangely, so far to give away my real name in public. And our mental-link oscillating, as if one of us is going in and out of consciousness.

'How can he consume aether without my core? How much aether did he consume? Could he absorb the 'unknown particle' too? And- why is it affecting his senses?!' I thought, looking at the large of pile of crystals, more than few hundred of them, which had went dim and lifeless. Some broken to bits and some had holes, made by- claws. And some even burnt to its core.

Knowing that I won't get any answers with the wolf's current 'condition', I could only shake my head. Regis noticed my reaction and promptly stood up.

"Don't worry, oh my pitiful master! For I, your mighty god-made weapon of destruction, has secured a hefty sum of top-notch aether crystals. Please accept my humble offerings, dear master!" Regis said in an exaggerated tone, as he pushed a pile of crystals towards me.

I deadpanned at him, not moving to accept his 'offering' right away.

'Oh don't look at me like that, princess. It's not I like cheated on you.' Regis barked in amusement looking at my reaction.