No Way Back

Leopold was the first to react. Kicking off the ground with his four claws, he lunged toward Isabella and shielded her from the falling boulder.

The wound ripped open again from his violent movement, splashing droplets of golden blood onto the rocks.

“I'm fine—” Isabella struggled to lift her head.

“Cut the chatter and run!” Blake's voice echoed through the smoke and dust as he flew deeper into the cave. “They're closing the perimeter!”

Only then did Leopold clearly see the scene outside through the collapsing cave entrance.

In the sky, three silvery-white figures hovered at a low altitude, their wings emitting a pure glow. The leading angel held a dazzling long spear. Unfortunately, his face was hidden beneath the glow of his hood, obscuring his features.

Leopold did not hesitate any longer.

Lowering his body, he used his head to nudge Isabella up from the pile of rubble. The white dragon's wings were not yet fully unfurled, and there was no fear in her icy-blue eyes—only a stubbornness he was already beginning to grow familiar with.

“Retreat deeper into the cave! Quick, Leopold,” Isabella said, enduring the pain as she stood up. “There's an underground river inside.”

Leopold did not waver. He leaned down, gently bit the edge of Isabella's wing, and pushed her deeper into the cave. The white dragon stumbled a couple of steps before spreading her underdeveloped wings, gliding low through the narrow passage.

Another streak of silver light pierced from behind, this time blasting directly through the rocky ground where they had just been standing. The entire ground exploded, sending stone shards and searing heat waves rushing toward Leopold's back. The shockwave pushed him forward, sending him rolling twice.

“Damn it, what a mess!” He flapped his wings and finally took off from the ground.

The narrow rock walls scraped against his spread wing membranes as debris continuously peeled off from both sides. It had to be said that dragons were natural flyers. Leopold nimbly maneuvered through the narrow cavern, dodging most of the falling rocks.

His wound continued to tear, golden blood dripping along the scales of his underbelly, but he did not dare to stop. The terrifying figures behind them could catch up at any moment.

Ahead, Blake's grayish-blue figure flickered in and out of sight in the dim passage. He flew very fast, seemingly highly familiar with this cave.

“Watch out for the third fork on the left!” Blake's voice drifted back from ahead, accompanied by heavy panting. “There's an airflow from the underground river there!”

Leopold glanced down at Isabella beside him. The white dragon was flying close to his left wing, nothing but exhaustion left in her icy-blue eyes.

“Isabella...”

“I'm fine, Leo.” The white dragon shook her head. “Let's just survive first.”

Boom!

Another streak of silver light pierced from behind. This time it didn't hit any of the dragons, but the silver light destroyed a stone pillar. The entire passage shook violently as massive sheets of rubble poured down from above, blocking the path they had come from. Dust billowed, instantly obscuring most of their vision.

“They don't want to chase us inside!” Blake's voice came from the gray haze, carrying a hint of hindsight realization. “They want to seal the entrance! They're forcing us to flee deeper!”

“Isn't that a good thing?” Leopold choked on the dust and coughed twice.

“What do you know!” Blake made a sharp turn ahead, his grayish-blue tail sweeping against the rock wall. “This is the Eisenberg Mountain Range! The cavernous underground rivers below are extremely intricate. We'll be trapped to death in here!”

“Still better than being pinned down by a silver spear.”

Blake did not reply, but his grayish-blue figure suddenly dropped in altitude, gliding almost flush with the ground.

The passage suddenly opened up after they turned another corner. A damp breeze welled up from below. Leopold looked down and heard the faint sound of rushing water beneath them.

“The underground river,” Isabella panted beside him. “It's right below.”

“Fly down?” Leopold asked.

“We have no other choice.” Blake's voice echoed from below. He had already taken the lead in diving down. “There's no way up. The angels have sealed all the upward passages.”

Leopold glanced down at the wound on the side of his neck that had reopened. He felt a bit dizzy, unsure if it was from blood loss or because this body was inherently weak.

“Keep close to me,” Isabella told him, then tucked her wings and dived straight down.

The wind howled in his ears. Darkness swallowed all vision, leaving only the faint glow of Blake's scales below as a point of reference. The sound of water grew closer and louder, and Leopold could already see the faint light emitted by the cavern's fluorite.

Blake had already landed on a protruding rock at the edge of the underground river, his grayish-blue tail dipped in the water as he panted.

Leopold landed beside him. The moment his four claws touched the rock, his knees buckled, and he almost fell.

“You're bleeding.” Isabella landed behind him, her white wings trembling slightly as she folded them. “Leo, you need to—”

“Stop the bleeding first,” Blake said calmly, his voice slightly less abrasive than before. “I'll help you.”

Leopold was taken aback.

Blake had already approached, bringing his grayish-blue dragon head close to the wound on Leopold's neck. He swept his vertical pupils over it, then opened his mouth, exhaling a small wisp of icy-blue mist from his tongue to cover the wound.

Leopold felt a bone-chilling cold spread from the wound, but the bleeding quickly stopped.

“Your dragon breath is ice-attributed?” Leopold asked.

“Don't thank me,” Blake said, pulling his head back and looking away. “And don't get the wrong idea. I just don't want to drag a corpse along later.”

Beside them, Isabella snorted softly, as if letting out a small laugh.

“Where do we go next?” Isabella asked Blake.

Blake chin-gestured toward the downstream direction of the underground river. “Follow the current. It's about a two-day journey, and we should be able to find an exit through a mountain fissure.”

Having said that, he shook his head again. “None of us are brown earth dragons, so I'm not entirely sure about the exact conditions.”

“Indeed,” Leopold mused as he stared at the flowing water. “The underground river could narrow, or it could plunge deep underground. In other words, this is just a waterway we can take.”

“Yes.” Blake nodded. “Fortunately, there seem to be plenty of fluorescent jellyfish in this river, so at least we won't starve.”

The surface of the underground river was very still, with only the low sound of water brushing against the rocks. Fluorescent jellyfish floated in the water like tiny suspended lanterns.

“You're saying those jellyfish are edible?” Leopold's intuition told him these jellyfish were poisonous.

Blake didn't even turn his head. “The earth dragons' inherited memories record that the fluorescent jellyfish in the Eisenberg Mountain Range are non-toxic.”

“Why do you know so much about the Eisenberg Mountain Range?” Isabella, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up.

“Bella, do you remember Bradley? That earth dragon who loved eating berries.”

Isabella nodded. Among their group of migrating young dragons, there had indeed been such an earth dragon.

“He died... to save me.” Blake slowly lowered his head. Once he finished speaking, everyone fell silent, leaving only the rushing sound of the river.

“I am deeply sorry about that,” Isabella tried to comfort Blake. “You shouldn't blame yourself too much...”

“What do you know?!” Blake suddenly raised his head as if provoked, his voice abruptly rising. “Bradley was so foolish! He clearly possessed greater talent, and he could have easily escaped on his own!”

“Foolish, absolutely foolish! Just like you, Isabella!” Blake's emotions grew highly agitated. “Why? Just why?!”

Blake's roar echoed above the underground river, his front claws crushing the gravel by the water.

Isabella did not back away, nor did she argue. She simply stood there quietly, her icy-blue eyes watching Blake.

Silence hung among the three dragons for a long while.

“Blake,” Leopold couldn't help but speak up.

“Shut up!” Blake snapped, whipping his head around. “You don't know anything! You can't even remember how you died! What right do you have—”

He didn't get to argue with Blake, because the entire underground river instantly fell dead silent.

Blake realized something was wrong. Leopold glanced toward a nearby boulder. “It seems the master of this place has arrived...”