Everlasting dream (18+)

Chapter 91 — Deeper!

Chapter 91 — Deeper!

[Aster]

The shaking intensified by the second. Walls vibrated, and pebbles rained down on Aster's head and shoulders... luckily, not big enough to cause any real harm. His sister's panicking cries rang loudly from behind, and he kept crawling deeper into this dark tunnel as fast as his weak body allowed, ignoring the pain in his knees and especially his palms. He tried to use his forearms and wrists more than his hands, but even so, every little rock that pressed against his wrapped hand stung like hell.

To make things worse, the narrow passage suddenly split in two directions, making Aster stop momentarily to decide which one was better. The tunnels were identical—no hints as to where either led or which was safer. Before he could even start thinking about where to go, he felt Silvia bumping into him from behind.

"Come on, faster!" she shrieked, pushing him forward urgently.

Aster's glowing eyes darted anxiously between the two passages, trying to pick one. But stress and time pressure made it impossible for him to focus. "I-I don't know which one! Left or right?" he yelled back in panic over the deafening roar of rocks grinding against each other.

"Left! Go left!" Silvia shouted back, pushing him into that tunnel without giving Aster a chance to argue. A hiss escaped his lips when his palms touched the ground, pain flaring up for a moment before fading away as they kept crawling forward. The sound behind them grew louder and louder until it seemed like walls were falling apart around them; dust filled their mouths and noses.

Aster tried calling his mother, "Mom! Are you okay?" but couldn't hear his voice over the noise. Thoughts of her getting stuck and being buried alive filled him with dread. He managed to steal a glance back, seeing a glimpse of her silver hair in the faint glow of his eyes before it disappeared behind Silvia's petite frame. But it could've just been a trick of light, something he wanted to see and simply convinced himself that he did. He wasn't sure for certain.

Only when her muffled voice came from somewhere among all that grinding and scraping of stones, "I am... don't w-worry, sweetie," did Aster breathe out in relief. He turned his head back to see whether or not she needed any help, but his palm suddenly found nothing beneath it as he moved forward.

— "Ack!" A sharp cry escaped Aster's lips when he tumbled forward into darkness... only to land on his butt on a hard surface a mere moment later. A loud yelp of pain followed after hitting his little tailbone; the sudden impact made him arch his back in agony while holding onto his sore behind. He wanted nothing more than to let loose a colorful stream of curses, but he knew he had no time for that. His girls were still there.

Aster scrambled back up to his feet with trembling hands and legs, ignoring the throbbing ache in his rear as best as possible. In one swift motion, he grabbed Silvia by putting his forearms under her armpits before pulling her towards himself, into wherever this was. His weak body trembled beneath her weight, but somehow, Aster managed. He turned around and looked at the opening in the rocky wall, waiting for their mother to appear.

A second, two. Still nothing... Dark stones stared back at him in a wordless mockery of his worst fears; she wasn't coming out.

— "Mom!" he yelled desperately, but no reply came from that narrow hole besides the deafening noise of rocks grinding against each other. As more seconds passed by without any sign of his beautiful, loving mother, he couldn't help but start freaking out that she was about to be buried there alive. 'No! No!' Aster's mind screamed at him. He had to do something.

Just when the boy was about to crawl back into that tunnel after her, her silver hair suddenly appeared amidst the shadows, letting out a faint reply barely audible over all that shaking noise. "I-I'm here..." Nivalis said between heavy pants for air as stones shifted dangerously around her, threatening to crush her soft body. "Just... a bit more..." she added before tossing the dagger out of the hole as it kept getting in the way. A soft clank of a blade against the ground reached Aster's ears, but he paid it no mind.

Exhausted and bruised, Nivalis struggled to push herself forward, but the final stretch of the narrow tunnel proved too tight for her wide hips. Again and again, she tried to pull herself towards her little angels but simply couldn't. Her movements grew increasingly frantic as she failed each attempt, her nails scratching at the stone floor in panic.

Aster and Silvia rushed towards her without hesitation, reaching inside that narrow tunnel for their mother's shaking hands. Nivalis was desperate enough to grab onto them immediately, almost pulling them both inside with how strongly she tugged at their arms. With his feet against the wall, he leaned back as hard as that little body could muster, grunting from effort while gritting his teeth in pain. Her nails dug into his wrist painfully, but he didn't care; all that mattered now was getting her out of there.

By now, the sound of rocks grinding against each other was so loud it made Aster's eardrums ring. Dust filled the air as small stones fell all over them from above, making breathing hard. He glanced to his right and saw Silvia doing the same, her tiny digits wrapped around their mother's arm. "Pull! Harder!" her girlish voice rang through all that noise, tears streaming down her pale cheeks.

Nivalis cried out in pain as those jagged stone walls scraped her skin, leaving long red marks along her sides and hips. Her sky-blue eyes looked up at Aster in such a way it felt like she was already accepting her fate of dying in there, accepting that these were the last few seconds that she could see her sweet babies. She mouthed something he didn't understand, perhaps a last goodbye, but Aster wasn't having it.

'I won't let you go to that weird place full of flying corpses,' he thought before casting the strengthening spell on himself, even though his old one was still in effect. Silvia's voice grew more hysterical as time passed without any success getting her through; she was almost screaming at him now.

His golden eyes began glowing even brighter than before. The heat inside him intensified, sweat pouring down in rivers from every part of his small frame. Every muscle inside him burned like the very hell itself gave him the strength to make a difference. "Come on!" Aster shouted, pulling with everything he had in him. Veins on his pale skin pulsed dangerously as blood rushed through them at high speeds.

With one final yank, Nivalis suddenly slipped forward, popping out of the narrow tunnel like a cork from a bottle with an almost comical grace, and tumbled onto her children in a tangle of limbs. All three fell backward with a scream that echoed through the darkness briefly before laughter of relief replaced it.

The laughter was short-lived as the cave's shaking intensified violently around them. Nivalis' blue eyes widened in fear; she threw herself over her babies to shield them from falling debris, her heart pounding rapidly against their chests. The loud rumble filled their ears, some rocks collapsing around them before silence fell just as abruptly.

Aster lay on the ground beneath his mother's body, panting heavily against her soft breasts that pressed into his face, his chest rising and falling quickly beneath her tight embrace.

"Are you two alright? Does anything hurt?" Nivalis asked breathlessly after a moment, rolling off them onto her knees; her long silver hair obscured part of her face, sticking to the tears on her cheeks and sweat on her forehead. She immediately slipped her shaking hands beneath their cloaks, searching for any signs of injury. Their petite bodies wiggled against her hands as she did so, pale skin covered in dirt and dust.

— "Yeah, I am..." Aster mumbled shyly, moving her hand away from between his thighs. He pushed himself into a sitting position with a low groan, grimacing at the pain in his sore buttocks. When they all fell to the ground, his poor behind took another hit. Other than that... he was okay.

Silvia nodded beside him, letting her mother do her thing under her cloak. "I think so," she whispered hoarsely, wiping away tears with a sleeve of her cloak before giving Aster a tiny smile, only to get worried once again when she saw scratches on their mother's pale skin through the torn fabric of her clothing. "Are you okay, Mom?" the girl asked with a sniffle.

"I'm fine, sweetie..." Nivalis pulled away from the girl and looked down at herself, noticing how her tunic barely clung onto her body in rags, torn apart from all that scraping against the rocks, now revealing scratched, dirt-covered skin beneath it. Her soft breasts were exposed partially, moving up and down heavily with each labored breath she took, her pink nipples stiff as the cold air caressed them. A few trickles of blood were visible, but nothing too concerning. "Just a few scratches, nothing to worry about," she added, turning her blue eyes back to her daughter and son.

In one swift motion, Nivalis pulled both into a tight hug against her chest, pressing her heads to the sides of her breasts. Her eyes closed as she sighed shakily, feeling their hearts beating strongly beneath her embrace. The best sensation in this whole wide world for her... "Oh gods, I was so scared..." she whispered, about to lower herself to kiss their foreheads but stopping at the last second. Instead, her attention shifted towards the tunnel. Or better say... lack of it. Now, it was just another rocky wall among those surrounding them. Not a single seam or crack could be seen on its surface, not even a hint.

For a few heartbeats, no one moved or said anything. The silver-haired trio just sat there, staring at where the narrow hole used to be... until Aster spoke up. "Where... are we?" he asked in a hushed tone, looking around with his faintly glowing golden eyes that barely illuminated their surroundings. Yet another tunnel, as vast as it was tall, just enough for Nivalis to stand properly. It stretched far into the darkness ahead, bare rocky walls on both sides.

They all slowly got up on their shaky feet; dust and small pebbles fell off their bodies in clouds when they did so. Aster felt Silvia's fingers wrapping around his forearm tightly as she pressed against him, her cold digits digging painfully into his sweaty skin. He didn't mind it, though, not one bit. Her touch was comforting.

"I don't know..." Nivalis whispered back after a moment, touching the wall where they had come from to ensure it was real before her gaze followed the long passage stretching away into nothingness ahead. Silence filled the air, not a single gust of wind reaching their skin. Only then did they all realize what a dire situation they were in. It was an absolute disaster, truly.

Aster could see on their faces that they all were thinking about the same thing, even if barely illuminated by his golden eyes. Their backpacks, food he had been collecting the entire winter, blankets—everything—were gone. They were left with only the clothes they were wearing now... and that was it. He and Silvia wore just cloaks with nothing but boots beneath them, and their mother wasn't in a better state either, torn up as she was. And the worst? Most likely buried alive with no exit out of here.

The silence was broken only by their breathing and beating chests, pounding like drums against their ribcages. 'Damn it all to hell,' Aster thought bitterly before leaning against the wall behind him, feeling dizzy and nauseated from all those emotions swirling around inside him—fear, worry, sadness... Or maybe it was something else?

That feeling, one that had led him and Silvia to this cave, was still there. It was hard to put into words... as if his heart sensed something was wrong about this place, as strange as it sounded. 'Maybe just air has more mana than usual?' he tried to rationalize it in his mind, standing up straight again. Whatever it was, he tried to ignore the feeling and focus on protecting his mother and sister. His girls were all that mattered now.

Just as Aster opened his mouth to suggest they search for another way out of here, Nivalis spoke first instead. "Let's look around. There must be another way out of here," she whispered hoarsely, picking up the knife from the ground near her feet and taking one last glance at the wall behind them. Right at the spot where the narrow hole had been before, she carved a small cross onto it with the blade's tip, scratching against the stone until white lines appeared on its surface.

The sound loudly echoed through the tunnel, making Aster wince uncomfortably as he watched his mother do that. "In case we start walking in circles..." Nivalis added, looking down at her children with a small smile that did not quite reach her eyes. It was forced and brief, disappearing from her lips as quickly as it had appeared.

Aster nodded, hiding his worry behind a forced smile of his own. "We have been through worse... we'll be fine," he said softly, trying to sound confident and reassuring, even though fear gripped him tightly deep inside. His eyes darted toward the dark passage stretching out ahead, where their faint glow illuminated little other than rocky walls on both sides. An idea came into his mind then; he voiced it aloud without hesitation. "Let's always stick to the right wall. This way, we won't get lost," Aster suggested, glancing back at Nivalis and Silvia. "So if we ever need to return here, all we have to do is follow that same wall back."

"Good idea, honey," Nivalis replied, nodding approvingly before adding in a hushed tone. "One more thing. Let's only whisper from now on. Who knows what could be living in these tunnels... Better be safe than sorry." Her blue irises glanced at the darkness before them warily. "And have your mana ready."

"O-okay. I still have plenty left," Silvia said, nodding to her mother's suggestion. With her hand still holding Aster's wrist tightly, she reached out and took their mom's palm. Nivalis' warm fingers intertwined with her daughter's before giving a gentle, recurring squeeze. "We'll be fine... we'll be fine. There has to be a way out of here..." Silvia muttered under her breath, repeating those words like a prayer, each time getting quieter than before.

— "Just give me a moment. I need to gather more," Aster whispered to them, taking a deep breath as he concentrated on igniting more mana within himself. It took only a minute to replenish what he had spent earlier to free Nivalis from that trap. "Okay," he exhaled slowly once it was finished, giving himself a moment to adjust to the burning sensation beneath his skin.

"Let's go, then..." Nivalis breathed out, puffs of air visible before her lips as she started walking down the dark tunnel with her children close behind her.

They walked through the darkness with only Aster's faintly glowing golden eyes lighting the way ahead. No one said anything as they followed the cold stone wall beside them, occasionally stumbling over loose stones or cracks in the ground despite their efforts to be cautious.

Being so deep underground meant it was damn cold, as if it was late autumn all of a sudden; each breath came out in puffs of white mist before their faces, only to disappear into nothingness soon after leaving their mouths. They listened closely for any sign of life in these dark tunnels but heard only the echoes of their boots shuffling against the uneven floor beneath them.

The place felt lifeless. Nothing stirred in the darkness around them—not even a single insect or critter. After living so long in the forest, this place was unnerving and felt incredibly wrong. "Don't blink so often, please," Silvia suddenly whispered against his ear, her lips brushing ever so slightly against Aster's pointed earlobe.

When she moved her face away, he noticed how nervous she looked, her big golden eyes full of fear. Letting a sigh escape his lips, Aster nodded in understanding. "I'll try," he whispered back, blinking just one eye at a time. It was quite uncomfortable, but if it helped calm down his sister even for the slightest bit, then so be it. Her hand squeezed his wrist in quiet thanks, those tiny fingers trembling against his sweaty skin.

A few minutes later, the tunnel split into two paths. There were no differences between them; both disappeared into complete darkness ahead of them. Silently, they went to the right one, following the same wall as before, just like Aster had suggested earlier.

And then the same thing happened again. And again... and again. In between the sixth and seventh turns, Aster's eyes dimmed noticeably, his spell finally running its course after so much use. Without the strengthening spell, he felt like he would faint any second; his legs became heavy and sluggish beneath him, each step more difficult than the last. 

Having no choice, he cast the spell anew. He didn't want to burden Nivalis by carrying him, not yet, at least. The pain of casting such magic was nothing compared to what she had endured today. And he still had plenty of raw mana coursing through his veins, ready to be ignited whenever needed. 'Soon we'll get out... soon,' he told himself firmly, feeling the pain all over his body again as his eyes glowed brighter once more. 'I swear, I'll sleep for two days straight when this ends.'

Aster glanced behind, checking if they were being followed by something or someone, but there was nothing but complete darkness. "How long do you think we have been walking?" he asked quietly against his sister's ear, his warm breath tickling her skin.

Silvia shrugged slightly. "Maybe two hours? This place is huge..." she replied just as softly, looking at him briefly before returning her attention forward again. She did her best to ignore the cave's cold air, which kept biting at her underdeveloped naked body beneath the thin fabric of her cloak, causing goosebumps to cover every part of her pale skin.

'I thought at least six. This is insane,' Aster thought with a frown creasing his brows as he eyed the walls around, wondering how far these tunnels stretched beneath the ground. And what could be living here?

...

The winding tunnel stretched endlessly ahead of them, twisting and turning in ways that made it hard to keep track of direction. Each stone seemed identical to the one before, and each passage looked like any other. There were so many dead ends... so many turns that Aster lost count after a while.

Exhaustion settled over them, their bodies growing heavy from hours upon hours spent trudging through these dark, rocky tunnels. Their ankles hurt, feet sore inside boots, muscles screaming for rest... yet they kept pushing forward. Every time the tunnel went slightly higher than before, they couldn't help but hope for it to lead out into the open air at last, only to have those dreams crushed when it dipped again. 'Just a little bit more,' or 'maybe just a tiny bit further,' they kept telling themselves with every turn. But nothing awaited them but more endless darkness after each turn.

"Alright... let's rest for a bit," Nivalis finally whispered in a tired voice, sighing as she looked around one final time before helping Aster get off her back, where he had been carried for the past half an hour or so; she insisted on it, leaving him no choice but to obey. "This place looks safe... enough," she mumbled while leaning against the wall and lowering herself down until her butt landed on the cold stone beneath them. The small chamber they stumbled upon seemed as good of a place as any other.

Nivalis patted her thighs invitingly, motioning for her children to sit. They quietly approached her but found it hard to find comfortable positions among the three. After several minutes of shifting and trying different things, they ended up with Silvia sitting on top of Aster, leaning against him back to chest, while he sat on their mother's lap. It was simply warmer this way, with the boy between them.

Silvia relaxed against her brother's chest, suddenly whispering, "I'm a little bit scared, to be honest..." Her golden eyes darted around the dimly lit chamber while Aster's bandaged hands rested on her thighs. And cold, too," she added, a visible shiver running through her petite body.

"I'm sorry, my love..." Nivalis sighed sadly, rubbing her daughter's sides to warm her up. "We'll find a way out of here soon, okay? Don't worry," the woman tried to reassure the girl, despite her fears being just as strong.

Aster tightened his arms around Silvia's waist as he tried to share his warmth with her, but the cloaks were in the way for him to do it properly. "I can help with coldness. Let me..." he mumbled, pulling out a part of his cloak from beneath her butt and draping it over her skinny frame, making sure she was fully covered. She wiggled a bit under until her head emerged through the hole in the collar, right next to Aster's face. "You can use away your mana. If something happens, I'll use what's left of mine," he whispered into her silver hair.

"No, I feel safer with it inside. I'd rather be cold..." Silvia answered back, moving her hands around her back and lifting the fabric of her cloak all the way up to her shoulders, exposing her entire back completely naked against him; her petite butt squished against Aster's groin as she pressed herself as close as possible into his body heat. "Thanks," she mumbled softly and kissed his cheek before relaxing fully into him, resting her head on his shoulder while staring at the wall ahead.

The heavy silence fell between the three of them again until Silvia broke it again, her whisper barely audible, "I still can't believe it... everything happened so fast. We just got out of that scary forest," she admitted, finally voicing something they all thought but didn't say aloud. "I thought we would find a nice quiet village to live in, get a cat or something... not this. It's not fair," she added sadly.

"It is not..." Nivalis sighed, looking up at the ceiling with worry in her blue eyes. "We just need to figure out a way out of here, and everything will be fine once again," she said softly, resting her cheek against Aster's head momentarily before looking down at the girl. Besides, we are all still together. It's not that scary when we have each other, right? This place is just... empty."

Aster's eyes began to dim as his spell finally ran out; he didn't cast another one this time, letting the darkness engulf them. Feeling Silvia tense up against him, he tightened his embrace and pressed his lips against her pointy ear, whispering gently, "I'll protect you. And warm you. Don't be afraid."

The girl shifted her hips slightly, adjusting her position on top of him before nuzzling into Aster's neck, hiding from the darkness with her face buried between his shoulder and jawline. He felt her breath come in soft puffs against his collarbone while her cold butt kept moving around ever so slightly until she found a comfortable spot for herself. By tragical coincidence, it was directly over his flaccid shaft, which now lay nestled snugly between the cheeks of her petite behind. She must not have noticed it, as his member shrank quite a bit from the cold...

'Don't get hard. It's not the time... do not,' Aster scolded himself, closing his eyes momentarily. He focused on his breathing, slow and deep, trying not to think about that cute behind pressing against his penis and how soft her behind felt. Also, his mother's breasts were pressed against his back. He tried not to think about them, too.

But for some reason, the harder he tried to push such thoughts away... the more they kept creeping into his head. And the more they crept in there, the more he felt his shaft swell and lengthen between his sister's pale butt cheeks, a place so forbidden yet pleasurable. The boy bit down on his lower lip harshly, 'No. Just no,' Aster pleaded with himself, gulping loudly as that familiar warmth spread throughout his little boyhood.

A surprised gasp left Silvia's lips when she felt Aster's hardness pressing into the place no brother should ever touch; Aster winced in embarrassment. "Sorry," he mumbled so quietly that even he couldn't hear himself, feeling how much he throbbed between her tender buttcheeks.

Silvia gasped in surprise against his neck when she felt Aster's hardness pressing into the place no brother should ever touch, making him wince in embarrassment. "Sorry," he mumbled so quietly that even he couldn't hear himself, feeling how much he throbbed between her tender buttcheeks.

"Ugh..." the girl groaned back, shifting her hips to the left so his erection would press against the right side of her behind instead of being in between. Aster felt how his balls were being crushed between them but dared not complain about it. Only as Silvia settled down again, finding a comfortable spot for herself, did she relax again into him, nuzzling back into his neck. "Now, if you could stop tickling my leg, that would be perfect," she whispered, leaving a tiny kiss on his sweaty skin.

"I'm not?" Aster muttered in confusion, tilting his head to the side as he raised his bandaged hand into the air and used a bit of mana to make a tiny flame appear above his index finger... only to see something absolutely disgusting wriggling along the side of Silvia's leg on top of the cloak. The flickering flame of his spell revealed something he wished immediately to forget. A sickening mix of leech and centipede, the creature so vile that even his mind refused at first to process what it was looking at. There were way too many legs than any animal should have, each as long as Aster's fingers but no thicker than needles. Its slimy, dark-red body was filled with tiny little holes that pulsated rhythmically, almost like a heartbeat.

The way Aster screamed can only be compared to that of a five-year-old girl whose parents just got killed in front of her.

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