For the first half of the map, Lana was good with just filling in the access-ways. She didn't think her mother would be unwise enough to place her lab that close. Lana didn't think her mother would go to the left so she had Sil seal that side. She had 4 more gaping holes in the walls. She stood in the middle of the room and looked at each and down as far as she could see. She pointed at two more. "Those need to be sealed. These other two need to be shrunk to human-sized…"
"Biff, blow enough dirt into that corner over there. I want to grow us some snacks. Caser had to leave my bag up top for the babies."
While Sil did his thing, Biff did his. Lana listened intently down the paths to ensure they had no unexpected company approaching. Food was grown before Sil was done and all were able to get a bit of rest before continuing.
Looking at the two entrances, one went due south. The other went toward that mysterious direction the military was so hell-bent on going. Lana smirked and started walking slowly so the others could catch up. Fiza was not so accustomed to Lana's antics and had to scramble. Sil's eyes never left her so he was ready when she was. Caser appeared to have a smirk on his face, though he did sniff the air a bit before heading her direction.
"Fiza, I need you up here between us. Scan the entire area in front and to the sides." She looked to the others, "I need our formation tighter in here, please."
Duff asked, "why?"
Lana pointed to claw marks on the walls that were as high as 35 feet up. "There are bones in that corner over there. That skull there," she pointed, "looks hu…" Lana paused, remembering a promise she made. She made note of the entrances in the area and realized there was just one in the front-right and went to inspect the remains. There was enough light for her to see so she told the others to stay put. She kicked the remains around and only found one human. She examined it closely and realized the bone structure didn't look big enough to have been Minny's father.
Lana returned to her friends. "Let's keep going," and started walking without waiting for a response.
The team went through the entryway into a smaller cavern. She and Caser looked at each other as they smelled the air. Max, I need recon. Black smoke would have been seen if Sil had been looking at her at that specific time. The light on the machine didn't reach back that far.
Where do you need me?
Front left.
On it!
"Sil, I need that hole over there closed, please." She pointed off to the left. "Fiza, please stand behind me."
A few moments later, Max reported back. There is a fresh kill but all that is really left are some beasts bones. Do you want me to explore more? Lana shared his vision to see what he was looking at. Based on what she could see, the beast was at least a king-tier.
No. I think it's best if you help us explore for my mother's lab.
About 3 minutes after Max returned to the party, Sil finished. She directed him to the hole Max just explored. Yeah, that hole needs to be closed. She then directed Max down the next hole while holding on to Caser's tentacles. He flew a little way but she didn't see anything that would indicate it was the right way so she called him back. Sil was already waiting to see if that opening was going to get filled in or not.
Once Max was back above her head, "Sil, can you fill in that one and we'll then explore the one right there."
While he did that, she sent Max down the one they would be travelling to expedite closing off avenues that looked to be the wrong direction to her. Simply put, she was thinking, if I were to put a lab in, would it be in this area? She only had one piece of information. The trees had overheard men say there was a dead-end that she vanished behind. The next question was, Is Logan's scanner good enough to see beyond the dead end?
For the next 45 minutes, using Max to find the wrong way and the right way, having Sil close the ways she deemed wrong. The team found a dead-end. The scanner glitched. It appeared to lose any signal and the screen had wavy lines.
"Point the scanner the other way."
Using the light on Sil, Lana examined the entire wall and found nothing. She placed her hands on the wall and pushed. Nothing. She sliced her palm and put her blood on the wall. Nothing. She pressed her sword against the wall. Still nothing.
"Well, we found it… but what do we do now?"
"I say we close up all the other entrances and come back later. It will be safer that way and give you time to think," Sil offered his opinion.
Lana nodded.
"There were what, six openings to fill in?"
Sil nodded, "if that. Having Max sure is handy. Where did you meet him?"
Lana laughed, "in the same area I met Shalt, but before I met him."
Sil looked at her funny, "really? Where was I?"
Lana chuckled, "taking a nap."
Sil lowered his head. "I'm a terrible husband."
Lana stifled a laugh, "we weren't married yet. Well, not officially anyway. We were in our hearts."
Lana reached over and grabbed his hand. "You are a wonderful husband. You've been through a lot. You earned a few breaks. Now, I think we should be silent and just have you seal those holes. We are not alone down here."
Sil nodded and got to work.
As Sil got to the last one, a hole he had made small enough for a human to fit through, they heard a slithering sound. Before anyone could react, a humanoid body ducked down and squeezed into the hole. Slowly a snake tail followed it in.
Fiza screamed.
Duff and Biff froze.
"Caser, get them out of here!" Lana screamed.
"Humanoid Demon-tier," hollered Sil.
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