Slugterran Saviours

Chapter 15

Author's Note: so im tired, i got a lot of homework this week, i still have CNY celebrations, but its up lets GO

1st October

Igor's POV

I stood in what used to be High Plains Cavern.

As I walked through the ruins of the place I used to call home, each rickety, soot covered building loomed over my head like an ominous reminder, as if the bloodstained cavern floor didn't remind me. Each footstep I took sounded through the empty cavern. I read the news outlets, I've heard the rumours. Everyone had knew what happened to Leo Shane. The caverns were in hysteria, the government could barely contain their own panic, let alone control the citizens. Defenders worked around the clock to maintain the order of Slugterra. Chaos and destruction multipled in waves, echoing through the caverns.

But as I stood at where it all truly began, I closed my eyes.

And I could almost feel the happiness that used to radiate in this cavern.

I could feel the welcoming warmth brush against my fingertips, gradually spreading through my entire body, wrapping my body in a comfortable, blanket like warmth. I could hear the cheerful laughs of the children that played joyously and ran on the streets, their footsteps pattering across the pavement, their squeals of laughter echoing through the caverns like a pleasing song. I heard the giggles of my own children as I leapt around the room, telling bizarre stories about the adventures of the Shane Gang, how they brought down the nefarious Dr Blakk, how the mysterious Junjie came to the 99 Caverns. I remembered the lighthearted chatter of the kindhearted, friendly people who lived here, where everyone knew everyone, where no one would turn down the chance of helping a friend in need, where everyone could be who they were and love who they loved without judgement.

I could smell the delicious fragrance of freshly baked bread, of the scented perfumes in the cavern cosmetics store, of the scrumptious food sold in the few restaurants this place had. Of the fruits sold at the roadside stores in the mornings, from the zesty, tangy smell of sour lemons to the sweet, fresh, waftfing aroma of peaches, the smell that filled my humble home. The smell of peaches my children grew to love as they munched down on them whenever we watched a movie on the worn couch in the small, but cozy building we called home. I could taste those peaches on my lips right now, the soft, melting flesh of the ripe fruit causing my tastebuds explode with the flavour, that same taste on my husband, Erio's, lips as he gave me a kiss before I went off to work.

Thinking of the past, my mind drifted back to a tall, dancing flame in the middle of a circle of our best friends, singing songs around the fire, laughing away as we talked about our day. My head on Erio's shoulder, watching as the flames danced above our heads, our three children playing with our friends' children, listening intently to Brodie as she told them about Trixie Sting, her best friend.

My mind shifted to another memory, of our three children sprawled around the floor, laughing as I leapt across the room, reenacting the extraordinary, daring adventures of the legendary Shane Gang, Erio watching in a corner, chuckling to himself, his copper eyes like embers burning in a slow fire in the soft orange light, flecks of golden shining in them as he looked at all of us laughing hysterically. Fawke trying to contain his laughter as he helped my husband wipe the table after dinner as he did the dishes. Orion and Raylee watching in awe as I told them the latest tale my mind had to offer. Where everything seemed perfect in our little home.

And my eyes opened once again.

The ruin and destruction lay in front of me once more. But my eyes weren't empty and souless, like they had been before. Now, tears welled up in them as they fell down my cheeks, their deaths replaying in front of my eyes. Seventeen year old Fawke getting hit with a ghouled Thresher, then a ghouled Boon Doc. Erio getting hit in the head with a ghouled Rammstone as he tried to duel the Masked Damsel herself, lying still as blood leaked from his shattered skull. How I sobbed as I ran from the cavern, Raylee in my arms, Fawke held up by his fourteen year old brother, Orion, who almost carried him as he struggled to walk, the four of us bolting out of the cavern as fast as we could, with nothing but a small pouch of gold and the charred clothes we had on our backs. Orion, mercilessly slaughtered by the Masked Damsel, who's heartless, glowing red blades struck Fawke, his state still deteriorating from the Boon Doc hit. How he fell to the floor, dead, a huge gash on his throat. Raylee's frantic, hopeless sobbing as she shivered in my arms, crystal growing rapidly around her heart, me holding her close, comforting her until she lay still, her body cold, limp, a ghouled Geoshard returning to the Masked Damsel.