Take Back the Light

Chapter 29

Eli led the way out of Wild Spores Cavern. It was barely first glow, but the gang had already gotten a distress call out east.

He'd been hoping to hear something from Alana, but she hadn't contacted him at all last night or in the morning. They hadn't exactly made communication plans, but Eli had figured he would get some kind of indication that she was okay.

The radio silence wasn't exactly unusual- she had lived for five years alone, and while the Shane Gang definitely considered themselves to be a family by now, they hadn't been together for anywhere near that long- but it was unsettling. Eli had an unexplainable feeling that something was wrong, but he couldn't think of what it could be.

As he rode down the mushroom-lined paths and roads of the caverns, he decided that as soon as the distress call was taken care of, he would check in on Alana.

And mere seconds after that decision, he heard Trixie suddenly yell,

"Eli! Look!"

Eli glanced up at the path ahead of him and slammed on Lucky's brakes. The white and orange wolf came to a screeching halt, almost throwing Eli from his seat. He leaned forward, looking at the small white slug on the ground that seemed completely unfazed, jumping up onto Lucky's head and looking up at the Shane with a blue eye.

"Mage?" Eli asked incredulously. He looked around, expecting to see Alana emerge from the mushroom trees around the gang. But nobody came.

Mage shook her head and chirped urgently, looking concerned. Burpy hopped down from Eli's right shoulder and began to chirp and gesture with her. Trixie rode her Mecha up next to Eli, watching as the two slugs talked.

"Have you ever seen Alana separated from Mage?" she asked worriedly. Eli frowned and shook his head.

"No," he responded grimly. "No, I haven't."

Burpy and Mage finished their conversation. Burpy hopped up to Lucky's screen, pulling up the map and pointing at a red V on it. Eli felt every muscle in his body tense up.

"Blakk?" he guessed, looking down at the spot that marked the Blakk Industries citadel. Mage nodded, and then looked back at the map, searching for a spot. Eli's heart sank.

Please don't...

Mage pointed to a spot in the Jungle Cavern, not far from the Dark Periphery. Trixie frowned and looked up at Eli.

"You said Alana was following after something the Unbeatable Master told her. Was it in that direction?" she asked. Mage chirped and nodded. Eli ran his hands through his hair.

"So Blakk found her? That's what happened?" he asked, looking down at Mage. The Boon Doc nodded sadly.

"What about the distress call?" Kord asked, driving forward so he was level with Eli and Trixie. "The people out there sounded like they were bein' terrorized. But if Blakk's got Alana..."

"Pronto would not suggest splitting up the group," Pronto said, driving up next to Kord and peering up to where Mage had pointed to on the map. "Both missions are high-stake and extremely dangerous!"

The three slingers turned to Eli, who stared at the map for a moment, then at Mage. The healer looked terrified.

"What would Alana want us to do?" he asked, already knowing the answer. Trixie did, too. Her shoulders sagged.

"Go after the distress call," she said bitterly.

"But she could be in danger!" Pronto argued.

"There's no 'could' about it," Eli said. "She's definitely not safe. But Blakk wants her for her energy. He won't kill her, at least not right away."