Parasitic Heart: I Accidentally Picked The Rune Of Calamity

[ Slug Winged Raptor, 4th Gate- mid rank. ]

Vritra instantly hid behind the wall as he saw a giant Raptor sleeping in the distance. 

It looked even more gigantic than the ones he had seen before. 

' 4th Gate, that beast is as strong as Dax or maybe even more. It can kill us all in a heartbeat. ' his heart had started beating wildly. There was fear, but in this, all he felt a little excited too. This world brought a completely new type of thrill. 

" What's there? " Azhar questioned in a hushed tone. For some reason, he trusted this 15-year-old boy enough to let him lead the group. 

" A raptor. " Vritra replied in a solemn tone. 

The group was surprised, but then they all became uneasy. They would all die here since not even the rune masters could come here to protect them. 

" F- Following you was a mistake. We are all going to die- " Riham began to speak as his body shivered. He seemed as if he could cry in the next moment. 

" Shhh, don't speak. " Azhar, who was being supported by Riham and Harris, whispered. His expression had become tensed too.

The attendants became silent, and soon all the gazes were focussed on Vritra, who stood at the edge of the wall. Even Riham looked at him with a pale face. 

Fsssshhh... Fssssssshhhh...

After his heart had calmed down, Vritra once again peeked at the giant Raptor. 

Even though its size was bigger than the ones they had seen before, its body seemed skinny. There was no fluid over its scales, and the beast seemed to be sleeping as it kept releasing whistling sounds with each breath. 

' It is sleeping. Maybe there is a chance that we could pass through without alerting it. ' Vritra pondered. Despite the high danger, this was their only choice. 

But unlike what he thought, the Raptor wasn't sleeping. Instead, it had fallen unconscious because of hunger and thirst. The beast had been stuck in this place for quite some time. 

It was close to dying. 

After falling down here through a trap, the beast hadn't been able to find any exit and was trapped here for a very long time. 

The beast at the 4th Gate won't be driven to such a state in a couple of months. Even the runes he possessed were now destroyed. 

Fsssshhh... Fssssssshhhh...

Vritra remained silent. After looking around, he picked a small stone. 

Holding his breath, he threw the stone towards the beast and hid back immediately. 

Fsssshhh... Fssssssshhhh...

' It didn't wake up. Going forward is our only option right now. Who knows, maybe its senses aren't working or it would have already noticed us. '

Vritra turned around and looked at all the members of the group. Then he whispered: 

" The Raptor is sleeping. We have to silently move forward. Watch your steps and do not make any noise. " 

The attendants looked terrified. One by one, they glanced at the sleeping Raptor so that they wouldn't be surprised by the visual once they started walking. 

Vritra turned his gaze towards Sana and added: " You can hold my hand if you want. "

Before he could even complete his sentence, his senses told him Sana took his right hand and gripped it tightly with her left hand. His hands felt soft and warm. 

Sana's hands were a little sweaty because of fear, but at this moment, she couldn't think about any of that. Her heart relaxed as she felt his warmth. 

Fssssshhhh... Fssssssshhhh...

" Let's move. " Vritra nodded at the group. Unlike the others, he looked calm. His dark eyes made the others feel as if nothing could go wrong. 

" B- But what if it wakes up? " One of the boys in the group asked in a low, trembling voice. 

" Follow us if you want, or you can go back. Just be quiet. " Vritra said as he lightly pulled Sana's hand and nodded towards her. 

Sana was breathing heavily. More than the fear, it was because she was holding his hand. She was clinging to him for her dear life. 

The others looked at one another and, in the end, they decided to follow this silent but rude leader of theirs, not that they had any choice. 

All nine attendants took in a long breath, trying to stop the shivering of their bodies. Finally, with steps as silent as they could get, Vritra walked forward while holding Sana's hand. 

The group followed behind him, even though they had seen the giant beast already, but the sight of it sleeping still made their hearts palpitate in fear. 

They bit their lips and tried their best not to release any sound. Step by step, they walked forward while looking downwards so they didn't stumble over a stone; a simple task of walking silently seemed extremely different now. 

The atmosphere was tense; all the boys and girls were sweating; their steps were short and slow. Even after a few minutes, they hadn't even covered such a short distance. 

While walking, Vritra was having thoughts of his own. 

' It doesn't seem like this Raptor had arrived here from the same trap we have come from, so there are other entries here. '

Fsssshhhhhh... Fssssssshhhh...

The 4th Gate beast didn't wake up as the attendants crossed more than half of the distance; the sound of its breathing every time startled them. 

' We are close; the entrance should be close now. ' Vritra sensed the trail and thought. 

It took them more than a dozen minutes to finally pass by that area. After turning over the corner, they all released the breaths that they had been holding in unconsciously. 

All of them sat down and wiped off the sweat from their foreheads. Even their clothes were drenched in sweat. 

Vritra remained standing and observed the area in front of them. After a short walk, there seemed to be another large space after a turn. 

He decided to wait a little so everyone could relax before going forward. Even now, they were being careful not to release any kind of sound. 

Sana was still holding his hand just as tightly as she stood beside him and kept staring at his face, rewarding herself with his serious look. 

***

After a brief rest, the group once again continued in silence. They had been walking for about 400 or so meters when they once again found themselves in a large space, with the path in front of them blocked.

" What are we going to do next?" Riham asked in a low but irritated voice. 

" There must be some way to open the hidden passage just like before. So, search the walls on the sides." Vritra replied, as he let go of Sana's hand and looked around. The teenage girl was finally able to breathe normally. She felt her heart was going to explode earlier. 

" Sorry, I can't be of much help in this because of the injury. I still can't move around." Azhar spoke with a grim expression, but since he had been helping everyone from the start, no one in the group showed any hate towards him. 

After Harris and Riham had helped him sit down against the wall, all the rest of them began to observe the walls while pressing their hands against random spots on the wall. 

Their bags tested beside Azhar. 

While searching for some kind of trigger on the wall, Sana kept stealing glances at the boy whom she kept falling deeper for. With how much care he displayed only towards her, she could feel that he really was in love with her too. 

Over twenty minutes had passed, but there was still no sign of any hidden passage opening. The space was large, so they needed to carefully cover even more walls now. 

...

" I- I found it." Suddenly, a slightly loud voice sounded, but the boy hastily placed his hands over his mouth as he remembered the beast they had seen earlier. 

Everyone turned to look towards Harris. Once again, he was the one to find the trigger to the secret passage. 

He stood on the left wall from the entrance. The trigger was more than 1 meter from the ground. 

All of the attendants gathered around him and saw his right hand pressing against a bulging stone on the wall, like it needed to be pressed inside. 

" S- Should I do it? " Harris asked, and his gaze unconsciously moved towards Vritra. 

"..." Vritra remained silent for a few seconds. He had played various kinds of scenarios in his mind. Then he spoke: 

" After pressing it, you both need to help Azhar. We have to leave this space as fast as we can. " 

Without any complaints, the two escorts of Azhar nodded. They knew it wasn't the time to decide who can be the leader and who not, not with the threat of a 4th Gate beast. 

Harris breathed in a long breath. He glanced over all his companions. Then he pushed the stone inside with all his strength. 

RUMBLE

In response, the cave shook while producing a loud sound. The eight attendants almost fell down as they felt trembles in the ground below their feet. 

After the trembling stopped, the loud rumbling sound continued to ring as if to announce the opening of the door. 

The group collectively looked to their left. There they saw that a part of the wall had slowly started to rise. It was the gate. 

It was a little more than two metres wide. It seemed very thick and heavy. The speed at which it was opening was very slow. 

The attendants were overjoyed to have successfully found a way out of here. Then they remembered Vritra's word. 

Riham and Harris supported Azhar. All of them walked towards the large stone door after picking their bags and stopped a few metres in front of it. 

After a few seconds had passed, the gate had risen up by around three centimetres. The rumbling sound didn't decrease by one bit. 

' Just open already, ' unlike others who were happily waiting for the door to open, Vritra was feeling extremely anxious. 

This loud sound, coupled with the visions he had seen before, Vritra felt like each second was bringing them all closer to danger. 

ROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR

THUMP THUMP