Wizardland

"Isn't that reassuring?" Aiden remarked sarcastically.

"Same, just want to know how these powers work. When I figured it out...I don't know if I want to stick around the surface world. It's weird up here," Cole commented.

"So it's a deadly barrier thingie, great," Al grumbled, putting her little hands on her hips.

"It's not too bad up here. I guess the places that you've seen so far are a bit odd, but the world's pretty big." Esther smiled and tapped her chin lightly with her index finger. "Maybe when this is all over I'll show you the calmer side of the world."

"I guess there's no other choice than to try and find the source. It could be a seal somewhere or someone close by." Raine looked around. "Although the cave continues forward and the only other path is back the way we came. Let's look for any hidden tunnels."

Erik nodded. "I'll move forward," he told them. "Just yell if you guys found anything."

With that, he sprinted forward without waiting to hear their replies.

Aiden sighed as he watched Erik sprint off. "Couldn't he wait until the rest of us say something?" he muttered.

"Sounds good," Cole said, but did not look thrilled. A loud bump made him jump. "Did you hear that?"

Al sighed. "This is icky. Hate this."

"I did. I hope it's nothing threatening . . ." She looked around to see if there were any moving shadows. "I don't see anything . . . guess we better keep an eye around us."

"I guess not. I'm going to stay here and see if there's any openings in the walls. What about you?" She turned to Aiden and tilted her head.

Erik reached the deep part of the tunnel and sniffed the air. His ear twitched once he recognized one of them and lowered his head to sniff at the ground. "Someone else is in here too other than those three back there," he muttered.

Aiden sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "I'll head back to the entrance. Who knows. We might have missed something there on our way in."

"Just what we need," Cole muttered.

"Someone or something?" Al asked.

"This is probably a stupid question but . . . can you defend yourself in any way?" Esther turned to look at Cole. "I know a bit but if there's more than one then . . ." She trailed off her sentence knowing that Cole can fill the blank.

Raine laughed lightly and looked down to Al. "Do you want to stay with me or go with Aiden?"

Erik reached a wall and began to paw at it, yelping when he felt a jolt go through it. He limped backward, licking his paw as blood began to spill. "Well, that's just wonderful."

Aiden crossed his arms and looked at Al, waiting for her answer.

"Nah, I don't even know what my ability is. I just got recruited here 'cause my dad was some kind of wizard," Cole said.

"I don't know. Sounds like I'm gonna get eaten either way," Al said.

"Well . . . I guess you better stay behind me." She scanned the tunnel and tried to pick up on anything strange sounds. She heard a yelp a bit off. "Did you hear that?"

"You won't get eaten. We won't let that happen." Raine smiled with assurance towards Al. "If you like, you can go hide against the wall."

Erik limped away from the wall before he heard a voice off in the distance. Confused, he headed to where the source was coming from.

Aiden nodded and turned to Raine. "I'll go on then," he told her before spinning around and walked towards to his destination.

"Yeah..." Cole hesitated. "But I don't know what it is. I'm not great at identifying land animals."

Al frowned deeper. "What if the wall eats people, though?"

"No worries. I know all about animals." She turned toward to direction of the noise and closed her eyes. "I believe it's a wolf. Sounds friendly. Hello! Can you help us?" She kept her eyes closed and waited to see if the wolf would give any sign that it heard her.

"The wall won't eat you. I promise." Raine smiled and walked over to the wall. "See. It's perfectly safe." She placed her hand on the wall and smacked it a few times.

Erik perked up at the familiar voice, immediately dashing over to them. Once he caught sight of the two, he slowed down to a stop. "It's about time I found you two," he remarked.