Megumi awoke with the sun hitting the tent on the beach. Despite the time of year, it felt pleasantly warm inside even outside of her bedroll. She got up and stretched. Undine and Poro-tan were already awake and outside, she heard them talking, but couldn't really make out the details. 

She had decided to give the woman a little slack and had let her move about on her own since last night. There was a maximum range the aquamancer could go before suffering ill effects, and Megumi disabled the woman's ability to use magic, just to be on the safe side. It would take a lot of work for Undine to earn her trust after how they had first met.

She changed her clothes and packed up the inside of the tent before going outside. The sun shone down on her and she hadn't put her shoes on, so her feet squished into the sand in a pleasant way. She wiggled her toes and took in the fresh sea air. Her companions were sitting next to a fire eating breakfast. 

It looked like there was a plate for her as well. It must have just finished cooking. She smell drifted towards her when a slight breeze picked up, blowing her hair gently behind her as she walked over. 

"So, what's for breakfast? I'm starving!"

She plopped down onto a rock that Poro-tan had placed by the fire as a seat the night before. He gave her a flat stare in return for the dumb question.

"It's literally right there in front of you. Fried eggs, bacon, and toasted bread."

She stuck her tongue out at him. Megumi found herself in a good mood as of late. Nothing had really changed since she had spared Reynard and found out the truth about Cerberus' betrayal, but the weight of the world somehow felt a bit lighter. Maybe it's because she had a companion she could rely on? 

She reached over and took the plate that had been sitting on the rim of their make-shift fire pit to keep it warm, and sat the plate on her lap. Undine passed a fork over to her and she poked the yolks of the eggs, which were still runny like she liked them, and then proceeded to dip the toasted bread into it.

"What were you two up talking about so early? The sun is barely up."

"Just talking about what it's like to be undead. Did you know, that spicy food is like one of the best things to both of us after dying? I always liked it some, but not like I do now. Isn't that weird?"

Megumi shrugged. She had wondered if part of his taste buds had died from eating all that crap while he had been alive, so that was the only flavor he could enjoy, but since it was the same for Undine, it was possible there was some sort of connection. She took another bite of bread.

"Anyway, since we don't sleep as much as you anymore, we've been sitting out here most of the night. It's good to have company."

"It's so odd to only need a few hours of sleep. My attendants used to literally have to drag me out of bed when I had something important to do. But after only a few hours, I feel like I slept for half a day straight."

"Imagine having to sit up all night by yourself while she slept."

"It does sound terribly boring."

Megumi didn't add anything to the conversation. She just continued eating her meal methodically. Once the bread was gone, she dipped the pieces of bacon into what was left of the yellow yolks of the eggs and scarfed it down. 

"Hey, Megumi, think you could get us some cards or a chess set or something? That way we can kill time while you're asleep at night?"

"You're supposed to be guarding against threats while I sleep, not play games." She took a bite of egg. "But... I guess I can do that. I can see how it would be boring. Sorry, Poro-tan."

He smiled at her and then got up. "Thanks. I'd better break down the tent. I went to look for the horses last night, but they're long gone. I can't say I blame them. Those bug monsters were something else."

"You can say that again. Disgusting, abhorrent creatures!" Undine chimed in.

She shuddered to remember. Even after her 'bath' in the ocean, she still felt dirty from the bug juice that had gotten all over her. She would definitely be taking a long, hot shower when they reached the next inn. At the same time, she did not look forward to risking inns after the mess in the little town just past Rivean. 

Maybe the whole kidnapping experience traumatized me for life against inns?

She gave her head the barest of shakes at that thought. She needed to not be a wimp about this sort of thing. "Undine, grab me the map out of Poro-tan's bag, please."

The woman, who clearly didn't like taking orders from anyone, hesitated for a moment and squeezed her lips to a straight line, but she complied. Megumi unfolded the map in front of her and examined it. 

"I think that we're about here," she poked it. "That means we probably have almost a full day's walk to get to Seahaven. It looks like we can just follow the beach most of the way. Undine, you're from this country. What can you tell us about that place?"

"It's mostly a town for tourists. There are monthly festivals held there and they have beautiful blue sand beaches that don't exist anywhere else in the world. It's a quaint town compared to Rivean or Oleander. Maybe a third of the size, I'd say. It's a port city, one can book passage from there to Oleander, up around the cape, or even all the way to Windlemire, though I doubt that you'd want to go back there."

Megumi nodded thoughtfully. It sounded like a decent place to continue relaxing. She also wanted to see those blue sand beaches. What was it that made them blue? Was it just some sort of mineral abundant in that specific region, or was it related to some sort of monster. "Sounds like a decent place to rest for the night. We should get going soon if we want to make it."

Undine groaned and Megumi was sure it was about the thought of having to walk that far. The woman needed to be less stuck up when it came to things. She wasn't some rich high lady anymore, and even if she was, there was no way out of walking to their next destination. It bothered her how lazy Undine was. Were all nobles like that? No. Her parents had always been down to earth, and so was Reynard.

She stood up and walked around the beach a little bit. The rocky area where they had made their stand against the bugs was just a ways off in the distance. She wondered if anything had come to feast on the corpses in the night. Maybe that had kept any monsters away from them, but she couldn't be sure and didn't want to go look to see what remained of the things.

Kobolds were said to inhabit underground tunnels all around this region and the things were pests, but they did come out from their holes at night to scavenge. The tunnels of the monsters were mostly a mystery, as most people who went down into them never returned. The little beasts had a propensity for setting up traps, and their fast rate of reproduction meant that the wayward explorer was typically vastly outnumbered even if they wandered in upon the smallest of dens. 

At least the things did a service for the world. They tended to clean up monster messes that adventurers left everywhere. Other monsters would also eat the carrion, so at least there weren't rotting monsters all over the place at any given time. Poro-tan had finished putting away the tent and her two pets were now kicking sand over the fire pit.

Once all was said and done, they trudged along the beach towards their next destination. After a while, Megumi found that she no longer enjoyed the feel of sand between her toes, and sinking into it every step was draining her energy. They could walk along the waterline where the sand was wet and packed in, but she didn't feel like having her feet wet the entire walk. 

The coast continued to curve for as far as she could see, and soon there wasn't any way back up to where the road was. Steep, rocky cliffs lined the beach and it looked like it would be near impossible to get up. She hoped they didn't get trapped down here in a high tide or something. 

Waves continued to rhythmically beat against the shoreline, but it was mostly calm. The swells were small and the sky was completely clear, so there was little chance of trouble today. Her feet were now starting to sting and she gave in and went over to the wet sand and walked along, with her feet getting wet each time the water ebbed and flowed. 

After a few hours of walking like this, her legs were tired, and she was feeling cold as the wind had began to pick up. She stared over at the cliffs and saw that there was finally a way up. It would be a little scary, as the cliffs were now over fifty feet high along the shoreline, but there was a narrow trail that wound its way up the stone all the way to the top.

"Okay, I've had enough of this already. Let's get back up to the road."

"I told you that you should wear your boots," Poro-tan said mockingly.

"Even with boots, I would be sinking in every step! Let's go. We can take that trail up the cliff-side." 

"I couldn't agree more. I'm sick of trudging though this." 

Megumi got an idea. "Hey, Undine, could you make us some stairs out of ice all the way to the top? That would be easier than going up the trail."

The woman put an irritated look on her face before replying. "The amount of mana required to manipulate that amount of water would be incredible. There's no way I could do something like that. Besides, the stairs would be slippery. That's just about the dumbest idea I've ever heard."

Megumi's eye twitched in irritation. "Shut up." She shoved the woman aside and stomped over to the trail and looked up. The entire thing was extremely narrow, and it had been cut straight into the stone somehow. Had a geomancer made this? The path was only about a foot and a half wide, so they would have to travel up sideways. 

At every spot where the trail had a switchback, the trail was cut in a bit deeper before it turned upwards. She took a deep breath and started up the trail. Rock scraped against her back and she felt like she had been cut once or twice before reaching the first switchback. The wind was blowing wildly now and off in the distance, she could see clouds beginning to form thunderheads. 

Her nice day was quickly disappearing. She looked down, they had gone up about 20 feet so far. It was dizzying to be so close to the edge of something so high up. A fall from here would break bones at the very least. They still had more than half the distance to travel. She leaned against the rough stone and took a deep breath before continuing.

Wind buffeted her hard once she reached the second switchback, but there was only another fifteen feet or so to go to reach the top. She continued inching her way up, and then lost her footing. She slipped and fell forwards off the cliff, but a strong hand reached out and grabbed hers, yanking her back up. 

Her heart pounded in her chest, and she felt vertigo take over as she looked down where she had almost just fell to her death. She felt herself beginning to panic and clung tightly to the cliff face as the wind continued to howl around them.

"Calm down. Listen to my voice. We're just a little ways away from the top. I won't let you fall, but we have to keep going."

She took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay. Just don't let go of my hand." 

Five minutes later, the three of them safely reached the top. All around them stood a beautiful meadow with tall grass. She turned around and looked down. The cliff had to have been even higher than she had thought it was. It was hard to believe they had actually climbed up it. She sat down on the grass and stared out at the ocean. 

"Are you okay?" Poro-tan leaned down.

"I'm okay."

"I'm fine, too. Thanks for asking," Undine added sourly as she took a seat next to Megumi.

"Never let me do something stupid like that again, okay, guys?"

"As if we could stop you when you put your mind to it. Lest you forget we are your... slaves," Undine retorted.

"I will do my best," Poro-tan said while glaring at Undine.

"What? It's true! We could have all died doing that."

"Just put a lid on it, all right? It looks like she made the right decision anyway. Look."

He pointed out at the ocean again, and the thunderhead clouds were already almost here. The ocean's swells had grown large and the tide was coming in fast. Already, half the beach was gone.

"We were lucky to find that trail, honestly. If that keeps getting higher, we would've been swept out to sea."

Megumi didn't like the thought of that. Luck had been on her side once again, and she silently thanked the gods for that. She got herself back up onto her feet and dusted herself off before retrieving her boots and stockings from her bag and putting them on. It was nice to be warm, and she still had a little sand between her toes, but there was nothing to be done about it for now. 

They had to be getting at least somewhat close to the town by now. She peered down the coastline, but still didn't see it though. They had been moving a lot slower than she had estimated. Maybe they wouldn't make it to town today, after all? She didn't relish the thought of being caught out in a storm.

"We need to get moving. I want to sleep in a nice warm inn tonight, not in a tent on the wet ground."

Her companions murmured their agreements and then they began walking along the cliff towards the south. The long grass swayed in the wind and appeared to ripple as they went. She couldn't help but admire the beauty of it and stared off into the meadows as they walked. That was when something terrible happened. 

The ground cracked beneath her steps, and all three of them fell into darkness as the ground crumbled beneath their feet. She hit the ground hard with a thud and felt her leg snap. She screamed in agony and squeezed her eyes tightly shut. 

Fuck! What the hell! 

Undine had landed next to her with Poro-tan atop her, and had been knocked unconscious. Poro-tan groaned, but got up to his feet and looked around. Megumi gritted her teeth against the pain and grabbed one of the two strong healing potions they had left out of her bag and downed the orange liquid. She tried to look down at her leg to see if the bone had been sticking out, but it had been too dark, and she didn't feel anything with her hand other than severe pain when she touched the region around her calf.

The potion had begun to do its job and she lay back staring up out of the hole above. She had fallen a good twenty feet and there was no way back up. She hoped there weren't more bug monsters here. They had to find a way out. There had to be one, right? She moved her leg a little, it was still sore, but no longer broken. She would definitely have a limp, but was it worth it to take another potion? No. Not yet. 

"I have a very bad feeling about this place, Megumi."

"No shit. We need to get out of here, Poro-tan. I hate being in enclosed spaces. This is even worse than when we lived as moles for a while in the dungeon."

None of them possessed any kind of light magic, so Poro-tan had turned on Holy Blade. A white light filled the cavern they were in and she checked on Undine. "She's breathing. Took a hit to the head, but I think she'll be okay." 

Megumi retrieved one of the minor healing potions and rolled the woman over. She used her teeth to pop out the cork on the bottle and poured the light red liquid down her newest pet's throat. A few moments later, and Undine woke up. 

"What just happened? Where in the world are we?" she said, looking around.

The light from Poro-tan's spell seemed to make the aquamancer wince, and Megumi wasn't surprised as it was holy magic. It must be uncomfortable for him as well to be that close to it. She stood up and took in their surroundings. The cavern was quite large and there were two pathways leading off from where they were. One went north, the other south.

"I guess we should continue heading south?" Poro-tan pointed.

"Okay. Lead the way and make sure you hold that up so we can see. We will stay close."

She retrieved her staff and gripped it tightly in her hand. He nodded and the three of them huddled close together as they began to trudge away from the small circle of light, where raindrops had begun to pour down into the hole.