The Uninvited Guest

"Are they going to be alright?" Leonardo asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Anna's eyes darted nervously towards the third floor before settling back on Leonardo.

"Yeah, mom will forget about them soon enough," she replied, though her tone betrayed her uncertainty. "Hit it," she added, gesturing towards a practice dummy they had set up earlier.

Leonardo nodded, taking a deep breath to steady his nerves. The air was cool and damp, carrying the musty scent of earth and stone.

"I really need this," Elara muttered, pulling a bottle of cold water from the fridge which sat at the corner of the grounds and drinking slowly.

Anna's voice cut through the oppressive silence. "Before you attack, "It counters your move, always the most effective counter," she explained, watching as Leonardo positioned himself in front of the dummy.

"I know how to strike," he said, more to himself than her. 

Eight years of chiseling ore in pitch-dark caves had taught him precision. The dummy's wireframe joints gleamed like a challenge.

He lunged, aiming for the throat.

The dummy twisted faster than he'd thought possible, its arm snapping up to bat his blade aside.

Metal clashed, and Leonardo felt the reverberation travel up his arm—not just impact, but a pull, as if the sword's hilt were drinking the shock.

Weird.

Anna snorted. "Told you."

"Mining's quieter," he muttered, circling.

The dummy mirrored him, its movements fluid and cautious. He adjusted his grip, fingers finding grooves in the leather he hadn't noticed before.

Adjustable guards. The realization clicked as the dummy struck again—a sweeping slash he deflected not with the blade's edge, but the broad flat near the hilt.

Clang.

This time, the vibration lingered.

The weighted pommel warmed against his wrist, and the elloros vines coiled around nearby barrels began to glow—soft at first, then brighter, as if feeding on the energy.

"What're you—?" Anna started, but Leonardo was already moving.

He sidestepped the dummy's next thrust, his boots scuffing the grass in a half-remembered rhythm. Lateral shuffle. Pivot. Like the Bàtá drums in that old book…

The dummy overreached, and he struck—not at flesh, but the weapon in its hand. The sword's flexible tip whipped around its wrist, hooking the practice blade.

"Disarm," he hissed, yanking back.

The dummy's weapon clattered to the ground.

Anna stared. "How'd you…?"

"It's all angles," he said, breathing hard. The sword's hilt had cooled again, the vines dimming. Defense as offense, he thought, recalling his father's notes on

"Ologun stances." He hadn't understood then. Now, his muscles did.

The dummy lunged once more, but Leonardo was ready. He dropped low, letting its strike sail overhead, and swept his blade upward in a shallow arc.

The edge grazed its ribs—not a killing blow, but precise. Economy of motion.

"That's surprising," Anna said, eyeing the faint scorch mark his blade had left on the dummy's torso. "Maybe you do know how to strike."

"I didn't do any of this with Altan. I still don't know how to fight," he sighed, walking over to face the dummy again.

"Don't sulk or you'll be like Kaelan."

He smiled, remembering the scent—the multi-eyed creature that lurked in the lower sections of the cave system, areas where agnite was most plentiful but no fire stones could be found.

The only light came from the explorers themselves and the glowing eyes of the beasts that hunted them.

One of the multiple cave systems in Volnia.

The air was heavy with moisture and the acrid stench of fear. The cavern stretched out before them, a vast expanse of shadow and stone broken only by the occasional glimmer of mineral deposits and the terrifying glow of predatory eyes.

"Hit anywhere, just shoot! The guards are coming!" a prospector shouted, his voice cracking with panic.

The group, numbering about two dozen, huddled together in the center of the chamber, their eyes wide with terror as they scanned the darkness.

"With what?!" another voice chimed in, frustration and fear evident in equal measure.

Before anyone could respond, a massive tail whipped through the air, decapitating one of the prospectors mid-sentence. Blood sprayed across the rocky ground, eliciting screams of horror.

The Donrolf, now fully grown, emerged from the shadows.

Its batlike features were twisted into a grotesque snarl, revealing rows of glistening teeth.

The beast's multiple eyes swiveled independently, scanning for prey. It let out a piercing shriek that reverberated through the cavern, causing loose stones to clatter down.

Leonardo instinctively hunched down, his heart pounding as he moved only when necessary. He could hear the labored breathing and whimpers of his fellow prospectors scrambling for cover.

"I'm going to die..." a man nearby moaned, curling into himself behind a pile of rocky debris fallen from the ceiling.

Leonardo pressed himself against the same debris, his breath coming in short, sharp gasps. "No, no, no," he muttered, trembling.

"I can't die here." He turned to the man beside him, recognizing an older prospector. "Old man, get up!" he hissed urgently.

The old prospector merely shook his head, eyes vacant. "We're going to die..." he repeated.

Leonardo's mind raced. He had come chasing rumors of a massive agnite chamber, but now that seemed like a fool's errand.

His dark stealth clothing felt like a meager defense. "If only Ronald was here," Leonardo thought before shaking his head violently.

"No, what am I thinking? Rald told me not to go!" He berated himself silently, his breathing becoming more erratic. The will to continue ebbed from his eyes, replaced by despair.

Suddenly, a hand gripped his shoulder, causing Leonardo to nearly cry out. He whirled to find a figure crouched beside him, wearing similar stealth gear but his helmet has two embedded dents on it. Dark blue hair fell over the man's eyes.

"Not yet, boy," the stranger whispered, his voice calm despite the chaos. He gestured towards the Donrolf. "See that? Its eyes. That's definitely its weakness."

Leonardo stared in confusion. "What do you mean, eyes? It's the ears, isn't it?"

The man shook his head, scratching his beard. "No creature like the Donrolf would have that many eyes if it relied on hearing. It would have killed us all earlier if it had enhanced hearing in this echoing cavern."

As if to punctuate his point, a bloodcurdling scream split the air. Another prospector, making a desperate dash for the exit ladder, was cut in half by the Donrolf's razor-sharp tail.

The stranger gripped Leonardo's arm tightly. "Don't be like that guy, alright?" he said with a grim smile. "We need to be distractions. You're small and blend nicely with the environment. I'll go east, you go west."

Leonardo's eyes widened in terror. "What? No, I can't—"

"See that waterfall over there?" the man interrupted, pointing to a cascade pouring from a hole in the cavern wall in the distant, forming a small, faintly glowing pool behind the beast.

Leonardo shook his head vehemently. "It's clearly glowing! No matter how dark my outfit is, it's still going to—"

Before he could finish, the stranger pushed him forcefully. "Good grief, just do it, will you? Get there, run back. We're just distractions until the guards show up—we're not here to get anyone killed, including ourselves."

As the man began moving left as planned, Leonardo found himself paralyzed.

He watched in awe as the stranger navigated the treacherous terrain with effortless grace, contorting his body and finding cover where Leonardo saw none. "Is he really a prospector?" Leonardo wondered.

The full-grown Donrolf towered over them, its massive form dwarfing fifty men. Its multiple green acid eyes swayed and bobbed, searching, while its powerful tail lashed back and forth, smashing rock formations.

Leonardo swallowed hard, his throat dry.

He knew he had to move, to be the distraction. But as he looked at the glowing pool and the massive creature between him and potential safety, he wondered if this would be his final adventure.

With trembling limbs and a racing heart, Leonardo began to crawl towards the waterfall, praying to survive and live to see another day.