The boy sprinted as fast as his bare feet could take him.
The mountainous crocodile smashed through trees headfirst, never slowing, its glittering yellow eyes fixed on the boy.
Just as despair tightened around his chest, a blur cut through the mist.
Steel screamed.
A figure descended from above and drove a sword straight into the crown of the crocodile's skull.
The impact shattered the air.
A violent shockwave exploded outward, throwing the boy off his feet and slamming him into the ground. His vision spun as stones and dirt rained down.
The crocodile lurched sideways, its massive body rolling as the girl leapt away, her bare feet skidding across rock.
"My attack had no effect on it?" the blue-haired girl gritted her teeth. "Just how tough is this thing?"
The beast rose.
Unhurt.
The boy shouted hoarsely. "That's the King Croc! Only a master level fighter can hope to wrestle with it!"
The blue-haired girl's expression twisted. Shock flickered in her eyes, then fury hardened her gaze.
"It killed all my friends," she tightened her grip on the sword. "If I return without even avenging them, I won't be able to sleep!"
If she hadn't slipped deeper into the waterfall, she might have died, too.
Now, she attacked the crocodile head on, slashing her sword and creating a strong gust of wind that briefly stopped the crocodile.
"Ngh," the boy who was more than fifty feet away could barely stand against the wind. "She's so strong, but if she attacks out of anger, then she's only going to die sooner!"
Just as he predicted, the crocodile snapped its jaws shut, catching the blade between its teeth.
Crack~! Break~!
The sword shattered like glass. It was like breaking a toy.
The girl froze for half a heartbeat, but then jumped back and made distance.
The crocodile dashed forth at her, trying to swallow her alive.
The girl vaulted over the crocodile, twisting midair to drive the broken sword through its spine.
Dozens of jagged spikes on its back shot through the air like launched spears.
One of those spikes tore through her left shoulder, ripping her arm free.
The scream that followed was raw and short, cut apart by the roar of blood and water as she crashed on top of the beast's back.
She hadn't expected its scales to erupt outward.
That mistake ended the fight.
The boy, who wanted to flee, now ran toward the beast before fear could stop him.
The crocodile's height was as tall as a palm tree, and its body was too slippery on the sides for him to climb it.
He got frustrated as he wasn't even able to climb the damned beast.
But then the girl rolled down the crocodile's flank and fell next to him. She was bleeding out and was nearly unconscious.
He picked her up and darted straight toward the waters.
There was no way he'd be able to escape from the crocodile on the land, especially not when carrying her.
So he decided to jump into the great stream instead, hoping that the strong currents would be kind enough to help with his escape.
Holding her tightly, he jumped into the mighty rushing water stream, and the crocodile chased him with ancient anger and greed.
However, the waters picked up speed as they flowed down the slopes and soon got split into multiple streams. The crocodile could not enter the stream the boy went through as the size of that stream was too small for it, so it ended up going down another stream.
As for the boy and the girl, the waters were so strong that the boy couldn't do anything about it.
He was a strong swimmer, but the current turned skill into a joke. Carrying her only made it worse. The river dragged them where it pleased.
His body kept bashing against the moss-filled rocks, and there was nothing he could do but hold onto the little bit of breath remaining in his lungs.
Just moments before he was losing his remaining breath, he pushed himself toward the surface of the waters.
He succeeded in doing that, but then he ended up getting sucked into a smaller stream that was going down a hidden hole in one of the seven mountains.
"No, no, no!" He tried to swim back against it, but the force was just too strong. He was also carrying the blue-haired girl with him, so it proved impossible for him to swim against the flow.
In the end, he was forcibly thrown down a long tunnel before he fell in a pool inside a big closed chamber.
He quickly dragged himself and the girl to the solid ground, chest heaving.
Her body was limp.
Her shoulder was mangled.
He pressed on her abdomen, forcing water from her lungs. He tore off his shirt and bound her wound as tightly as he could, hands slick with blood.
He put his finger under her nose and couldn't even feel any wind. He checked her pulse and couldn't feel it, either.
"Don't die on me," his voice was shaking.
He kept pressing her chest and also blew air into her mouth.
He pressed her chest. Again. Again. He forced air into her lungs, ignoring the ache in his arms, the dizziness creeping into his skull.
Minutes passed.
Then, she coughed.
Air rushed into her lungs in a violent gasp.
She still didn't open her eyes, but he was relieved that she didn't die.
A few seconds passed.
He put his finger under her nose just to make sure she was breathing.
Now, he felt air movement, so relief caught up to him.
Taking a breath, he looked up and around.
The chamber was vast, its walls embedded with faintly glowing stones. But that wasn't what froze him.
Fist imprints covered the walls: deep. ancient and profound.
At the chamber's center stood a stone slab carved with words worn smooth by time.
He read them aloud, voice barely above a whisper.
"If you believe in your fists, you shall find freedom here."