Simo

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The sound of the ancient door opening was extremely jarring, with it came an indescribable pressure alongside a feeling of irrational fear. For some reason, I didn't dare turn my head to face the door as I kept my eyes glued on Sidus.

He was the same as I could see his pupils shaking nervously. The sound continued for a few seconds before It abruptly stopped, yet neither of us made any move, nor did we dare turn our heads to glance at the door. The feeling of terror gripped my heart, as an almost silent whisper seemed to call for me, tempting me to sneak a peak.

My body was almost helpless under the enticement of the unfamiliar voice, It had a strange allure to It, the language it called to me with was not one I was familiar with, It was quite bizarre, to say the least, yet strangely I was able to understand it, almost as if it was speaking directly in my mind.

My body began to subconsciously turn when my rational mind seemed to protest, 'No, I can't! If I look then I'll die!' I did not know from where such thoughts surfaced yet for a second I was faced with an internal struggle, with my dragonic instincts wanting me to take a look, while my more rational side refused to budge.

I subconsciously glanced at Sidus, only to see a terror-stricken expression on his face. He was slowly turning his head towards the door with a helpless face, the moment our eyes met, a pleading expression flashed past his eyes as if he was asking me for help.

Seeing that, my rational side finally won the battle as I hastily moved to block his point of view, settling myself between him and the ancient door. With my now larger frame, I was able to easily cover his vision as the door was no longer visible.

Sidus's face relaxed as his shoulders dropped, he then quickly closed his eyes shut and refused to open them, or even budge. I was about to say something when I felt an extremely cold breeze brush against the back of my neck, almost as If someone or something was breathing on my back.

The feeling of terror resurfaced as the ice-cold feeling made my scales shudder, from the corner of my eyes I was able to spot what looked like a dark shadow looming over me from all sides. Without hesitation, I decisively closed my eyes.

It was too late to do anything, and I had a feeling that If we were to run, things would not end up the way we want them to. 'Calm down Aether, if this thing had the power to directly harm us It would have done so the second it left the door, for now, It did not, so It's probably weak, perhaps the only way It could affect us is if we look at 'It' directly?' I inwardly mumbled, trying to distract myself from the feeling of someone pressing their face by the side of my own.

"Sidus, whatever you do, do not open your eyes!" I quickly reminded him to which he replied in an anxious tone.

"I know brother, but It's hard, I-It's almost as If my body Is trying to move against my will," He whispered.

'Shit, what to do? Sidus will probably not be able to hold on for much longer,' My mind began to race as I tried to think out of a solution when suddenly, a flash of inspiration passed by my mind.

I silently reached out to my newly acquired earth mana, although extremely faint due to the presence of the ominous dark mana, It was still nonetheless present since we were underground, and although extremely faint, It was still enough for what I had in mind.

With the help of the mana, an earth mask of sorts appeared on my and Sidus's faces, covering our eyes and preventing us from 'seeing' anything we shouldn't. "Sidus?" I asked nervously.

"This is your mana brother?" He asked cautiously, to which I replied with a sigh of relief seeing that he was still okay.

"Yes, for now, don't move-" I was not able to finish my sentence before an ear-piercing scream penetrated the air, causing my eardrums to ache and my knees to shake. The scream was exceedingly high-pitched, and It seemed to carry with It the ability to affect us physically as I could not control my shaking.

The thing whatever It was, was angry, probably since I stopped It from tempting Sidus? I could sense It standing mere inches away from my face, which made shivers run down my spine. I was not sure what I was facing which just made it all the more terrifying, yet I tried my best not to move despite my wobbly legs.

The cave began to tremble as an ancient force seemed to stir in our surroundings, this one was not sinister, and instead, It carried with it a hint of warmth and familiarity. Once this new presence appeared, the shadow that loomed over my head and was breathing in front of my face seemed to get pulled back.

I could sense Its struggle through the fluctuations of the mana in the air. It trashed about, trying to escape the mighty force that dragged It away. Soon, the sound of the door closing echoed through the cave, alongside It was a reluctant high-pitched scream that disappeared into the distance.

BANG

Silence once again reigned, yet neither did I nor Sidus dare move. We remained rooted in place for what seemed like ages before I finally felt like the place was safe again. I slowly reached out to pull off the earth 'mask' and hesitantly opened my eyes only to pause in surprise and shock moments later.

"Sidus, you can take off your mask..." I whispered, to which he did.

"Brother...where is the door?" He asked in confusion as his eyes darted about.

Faced with that question, I remained silent. We seemed to be in the same place, yet for some reason, that ancient door with strange symbols was nowhere to be found. The cave extended deeper before our eyes, akin to the open jaws of a monster, yet the door was not there.

'Just what the hell happened?' I inwardly muttered.

“I don’t know...” I said in reply to Sidus’s question.

His body visibly shuddered as he recalled the memory of what just happened before he asked.

“Do we continue, or do we go back?”

Hearing that, I almost unconsciously blurt out to go back before I held myself from doing so. On one hand, that ‘thing’ was extremely dangerous, It made me feel like I was helpless before It without even looking at It, yet on the other hand, It seems to be held back by some sort of familiar force.

‘A dragon maybe?’ I wondered before replying in a serious tone.

“Let’s continue for a little bit longer, If things get any more dangerous then we head back,”