Propelling into darkness was quite the unnerving experience, feeling the air become cooler and damper as I descended into a pit of shadows and the unknown being incredibly frightening. The few faces remaining, staring down at me as I fell away, faded into the blackness too quickly. Their reassuring expressions blurred, morphing together as my eyesight was shrouded in obscure haziness. I squeezed my eyes shut and attempted to ignore the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as my body dropped towards the cave floor below.

Eventually, my feet were reunited with the earth as the members who had arrived earlier unclipped me and embraced my trembling build, congratulating me for battling the fears endlessly biting at my mind. Baekhyun twinkled brightly, illuminating the cave in all of its eerie glory. The ceiling consisted of jaggedly sculpted stone, pointing directly at each of us as though threatening to snap and shoot perilously down at any time, and the walls were relatively close together, pressing us in tightly. There was the occasional speck of green moss, but the area was otherwise a mixture of dull browns and greys and the slight blue where a stretch of water commenced. Every few seconds, there was a ripple, something breaking through the still surface.

On unsteady legs, I wobbled over to the water, kneeling down by its edge to slowly swirl my fingers through it. Unexpectedly, it was heated, soothing my tensed muscles and pumping my blood. I cocked my head in confusion, prodding at the water with a single finger at a time as though doing so would force the temperature to decrease. So enticed by the warmth, I was startled by a spontaneous commotion.

‘Put me the down!’ Luhan screeched, wildly swaying through the air due to the propulsion of his thrashing legs.

He was the last member and Baekhyun was determined to have him join us safely, sprinting over to stand beneath the dangling member. ‘Stop flailing around! I can’t help you until you’re a little more tranquil.’

Terrified of the height he was stuck at, Luhan’s brain had been switched into a mode of irrational thought and adrenalin. Entirely ignoring the advice of the guide, he kicked about and bucked his hips, trying frantically to reach a wall or ledge. He began twisting, his body convulsing and the ropes tangling around one another, creating unwanted friction.   

‘It’s starting to snap!’ Kris shouted, darting forward to grasp the bottom of the rope, attempting to pull Luhan down.

‘Stop moving!’ Baekhyun screamed.

Many hands shot out, all grabbing at the ropes, forming a safer place to land if Luhan should fall. I stood further back, gazing up and watching as he swung back and forth above me, squealing in pure terror. He was almost pirouetting through the air, spinning so rapidly that I could hardly make any sense out of his features, and ultimately, he started to plunge towards us.

At the sound of the rope breaking apart, the climbing equipment clattering noisily to the uneven stone floor below, I speedily flung myself out of the way of Luhan’s tumbling limbs. From my spot sprawled painfully on the ground, I witnessed the harshness of the impact. He fell in slow motion, arms floundering uselessly and eyes bulging with shock and realisation of a horrible fate. His back crashed roughly against a protruding stone with the most atrocious of thuds, his body immediately becoming limp, chest no longer heaving. One arm toppled numbly into the water, floating, blood seeping out to colour its vastness a deep red.

On hands and knees, I scurried towards him, my skin grazing painfully. I could hear the others running over to join me, words of distress pouring unconsciously from their mouths. None of us reached him in time.

The creature was like a purple mist, a cloud churning around to form the faint outline of a menacingly enormous horse. It pounced out from the water - its sockets empty of eyes, only incandescent with a disturbingly pure white – and wrapped its flimsy legs around Luhan’s body, yanking him under the murky surface, disappearing into darkness. Without thinking, I dove into the water and began to powerfully force myself deeper.

There was a weak glimmering light in this haunted place and as I ed closer, I could easily make it out to be Luhan’s insentient figure, hovering there as though restrained by invisible wires. I swam up to him, gripping onto his shoulder and moving to paddle back towards the surface. He didn’t budge. I whacked him, shook him and screamed even though I knew no one could hear, but he was frozen in a timeless space. Time was not something I had much of. My lungs were aching intolerably and the lack of oxygen was beginning to make my thoughts crazily fuzzy, nonsensical and ludicrous.

Suddenly, there was a strong pressure around my ankle, wrenching me helplessly lower and lower into a wet abyss. I squirmed and flung my arms about, trying to grasp onto any kind of lifeline, to hold on just a little longer, but Luhan’s body was rapidly growing slighter in my line of sight. I dared to peek down and instantly regretted it, meeting the ghastly face of the demonic creature, its teeth gnashing hostilely.

As it recklessly tore into my calf, I was struck with a sudden understanding, blocking out the excruciating agony. Spinning, I stretched out my arms and extended my fingers, presenting the creature with my pale palms. It ripped its mouth away for a moment, gazing up with the lifeless eyes like it was confused by my actions. When I didn’t move, it began to swish towards me, jaw opening and closing, threatening to rupture my defenceless body. Finally, it came within perfect range.

I mustered up my power to take control of the water around me, creating a disastrous vortex around the creature’s shifting limbs and propelling myself up into the air. Whilst gasping desperately for a decent breath, I clenched my fists, choking the creature with the overwhelming force of overheated water. It shrieked, trying to break free from my deadly bind, but made no progress, only injuring itself further and knocking itself into oblivion. As it sunk back into the formidable depths, I paddled feebly back to solid ground.

Kris darted forward to pull me out, crushing me into his chest, uncaring that I was drenching his shirt with salty tears and dirtied water. He tangled his arms around me tightly, filling my heart with silent promises of holding on, protecting me.

I would have smiled, but Minseok’s pleas snapped me from my daze. ‘You have to bring him back! You can’t let things end like this!’

‘I’ve never revived someone before…I…I’m not sure if I know how’, Yixing cried, forcing his words out through violent sobs.

There on the ground, still and certainly not breathing, was Luhan. How he had gotten back here, how they had possibly managed to get through his undetectable shackles, I wasn’t sure. But I didn’t care. What mattered was that they’d found him.

I crawled over, pressing my quivering hands against Luhan’s chest. ‘Yixing, you have to try. No one will blame you if you can’t do it, only if you don’t try.’

‘I don’t know where to start’, he whined, swiping at his eyes.

‘From the beginning’, I whispered.

With a nod, he shuffled to hover over Luhan’s motionless body. He rubbed his hands together, as though generating electricity, and touched them delicately to the spot above the other man’s silent heart. The cave echoed with the soothing hums seeping out from Yixing’s parted lips and the scuffing of shoes as each member circled around Luhan, creating a barrier.

‘What the hell is this? Are we a cult?’

I craned my neck to see Luhan’s bewildered expression as he sat up and stared at each of us with a significantly judgemental gleam in his eyes. Sighing, I fell forward, resting my face against the crook of his neck and wondering why the hell we didn’t just leave him there. Things would have been much quieter.     

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Damn.
That esculated quickly.

^ I found this after writing the chapter [search Kelpie myth and prepare to be shocked] and I feel like it very perfectly captures the moment. The only difference is that Luhan wasn't awake because he was enough of a to get himself killed lol ^

On a note unrelated to Pathfinders, I really want to punch SMent for letting Kyungsoo get hurt. 
And I want to punch Kim Jongdae. In the mouth. With my own mouth. His new hairstyle is life and he no longer looks like a poodle. I'm ecstatic over it tbh.

PS; come be my friend on Twitter @thekimjongway

Chu ~ <3