Harm and Harmony

-Chapter 121-

Day: 184

Days Left: 5296

Lives Saved: 0

"We've been at this for hours now!" Harmony kicked the ground, scattering sand. "Why haven't we found her!"

The three imps retreated back. They stared at each other, regretting choosing to go with this group instead of the other one.

"I am certain we will find her soon, Miss Har'ony," said Calixte, hesitantly placing a webbed hand on Harmony's shoulder.

"I just thought that this would work!" Harmony slammed her fist on the ground.

Reggie cowered his head, whimpering.

"Wait, no, no..." Harmony calmed herself and patted the rottweiler's head. "I'm sorry. I'm not angry at you. You've done a great job." She turned to Calixte, rubbing her eyes, her voice quivering. "I thought that this would work... I thought that we'd find her by now."

"I know," said the amphibian, crouching down beside the young woman. "I had hoped too... but we must keep on persevering. We cannot give up-"

"I wasn't going to!" Harmony paused and lowered her head. "Sorry. Didn't mean to snap..."

"No, no," said Calixte, nodding his head in understanding. "I was stating the obvious."

"Hopefully Rin and Sumit are having better luck."

"Yes, let us hope so."

Harmony sighed as she stood back up. "Why did I think this would work?"

For the past several hours, the group had been following Reggie as he picked up Corinna's scent. He had led them back to the house at first then all of the other places Corinna had frequented.

"Of course it wouldn't have worked," continued Harmony. "Corinna's underground, no way he could pick up her scent through all of the sand and stuff." She looked back at the three imps who impatiently chased each other in circles. "Maybe we should go back to the Land of the Lost, start the trail there."

Everyone else nodded in agreement, none of them really possessing any other suggestions or ideas, and followed Harmony back to the Land of the Lost.

*

Crying and sobbing, the imp clawed at the sealed tunnel exit. The imp and Corinna had only just made it out to freedom, yet the young woman was snatched away again so quickly. Screeching and punching the ground, the imp gazed down at its body, seeing how small and powerless it was.

Sucking in a deep and determined breath, the imp continued to dig out the blocked exit. So distraught and panicked, the imp only caused more rocks to tumble and fall. It wasn't getting anywhere like this. Corinna was down there, caught by some sort of creature.

The imp's ear pointed ears perked up, hearing loud and bickering noises approaching. Darting to the side, the imp hid behind a rock.  Footsteps were coming its way, several of them.

"Are you sure it's this way?" asked a male voice.

"Yes," replied a female one. "My instincts tell me so."

"You're instincts! Please don't tell me we've been following your gut feeling! I thought you had some sort of special method in locating them-"

"Yes. That is my special method."

"Well! If we're too late and we find Corinna's crushed and mangled body buried somewhere, you can be the one to explain to Harmony why!"

The two voices were then muffled by a chorus of nattering and hissing.

Recognising those sounds, the imp peeked its head over the rock. Its eyes wide, the imp bounced out from its hiding spot and dashed over into an embrace of three of its friends.

"See," said Rin, giving Sumit a smirk. She tapped her forehead, the black letters on her mask fading and flickering. "We found them, didn't we?"

Sumit frowned and crossed his arms. "Pure coincidence." He looked around. "So here's the missing imp... but where's Corinna?"

The imp broke free from its reunion hug with three of its friends and tugged at Sumit's sleeve. It then pointed at the sealed tunnel exit.

"She's still in there?" Sumit inspected the rocks that blocked the way, about to move them when the imp stopped him.

The imp placed a clawed finger to its lips.

"We have to be quiet?" guessed Sumit.

"Is the sandwyrm down there?" asked Rin.

The imp nodded and repeated the hushed gesture again.

"Suppose it has sensitive hearing then?" pondered Sumit. "Or echolocation." He sighed. "If we move these rocks too loudly, the sandwyrm will come after us."

"We have to be stealthy," said Rin. She paused, seeing a tiny gap in between the rocks. "You think you can fit through that?" she asked Sumit.

Sumit tilted his head, examining it. "No matter what size I turn into, I'll be able to squeeze through that. But there's also the chance that I won't even be able to fit in the tunnel." He turned to face Rin. "But it's worth a shot, right?"

Rin nodded. "You go on ahead and find Corinna. We'll stay here and move this rubble for you two to escape."

"Sounds like a plan!" Sumit clapped his hands together. "Alright, everyone... please stand back!"

Rin and the four imps took a step back.

"A bit further."

They took another step back.

"Bit more."

Sharing a look of caution, Rin and the imps took an even larger step back.

"Perfect!" Sumit gave them a thumbs up. He retrieved his red and orange speckled mask that was clipped onto his belt. He stared down at it and breathed out slowly. "Okay... please be one that can fit in the tunnel."