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HELHEIM SCANS
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Chapter 64: The Snake Den (2)
Jedrick crawled into the snake pit as quickly as possible.
As Damion said, the passage widened a bit after a short distance.
It wasn’t as narrow as he had imagined, though the tunnel was quite deep.
Without a torch, it was impossible to see anything.
The walls and floor were uneven, with sharp, jagged rocks brushing against his shoulders and stomach.
Crawling through such a rough space while holding a flaming torch was more grueling than he had anticipated.
The heat and smoke from the torch flowed along the air currents and covered his face, making it hard to breathe.
The oppressive darkness closed in from all sides, heavy as if it had weight, bearing down on him.
Jedrick had never been afraid of tight spaces.
He had never feared the dark, either.
Yet, an intense sense of dread crept over him.
But the thought of slowing down—even slightly—meant Ram would have to slow down too.
And if that happened, their pursuers would surely catch up.
He couldn’t afford to lose even a moment.
Just ahead, he saw Charlon's legs.
She had stopped moving.
“Why aren’t you moving? Are you all right?”
Charlon’s voice, laced with pain, reached him.
“Are you okay, Charlon?”
Jedrick asked.
“I… I’m stuck...”
Her voice was filled with fear, far beyond mere discomfort.
“I can’t move… What do I do? My body…”
Jedrick gently grabbed her ankle and spoke in a calm voice.
“You’re okay. You’re not stuck. This tunnel isn’t that narrow.”
“It’s… my body… It’s stuck on a rock… I can’t move…”
Charlon, who had always been so fearless, was now babbling incoherently.
“Charlon! Listen to me. First, breathe. You need to breathe.”
“I… I can’t breathe... It feels like the rock is pressing on me…”
“It’s not pressing on you! I can see it! It’s your imagination. Just focus on breathing. Take one big breath, and then another.”
Charlon panted heavily, then exhaled slowly.
Behind them, the sound of Ram approaching grew louder, but he didn’t rush them.
Jedrick didn’t push Charlon to hurry either.
“Better? You’re breathing now, right?”
“I… I did…”
Charlon was sobbing.
“Good. Now listen carefully. Toss your torch forward first. Then use your hands to pull yourself forward. The rock isn’t pinning you. This tunnel isn’t narrow enough for that. Maybe your clothing is caught. Can you do that?”
Jedrick moved his own torch over his body, the scorching heat passing from his face to his chest.
Just before he tossed it backward, Ram reached out and took it from him.
Charlon’s voice came through again.
“I… I did it.”
“Good. Now try crawling forward.”
“I can’t! I told you I’m stuck!”
Charlon cried desperately.
And then, she began to sob.
“I’m sorry… It’s my fault for suggesting we come this way… I should have gone last… I can’t get through…”
The shouts of the pursuers echoed behind them.
Jedrick spoke calmly.
“Listen to me, Charlon!”
“I should’ve gone last…”
“Listen to me.”
“It’s all my fault…”
“Shut up, Charlon! Listen to me!”
Jedrick shouted.
Charlon’s sobs momentarily subsided.
“You’re not pinned by the rock, and you didn’t misjudge the situation. It’s just your clothes caught on something. I’m going to grab your ankle and pull you backward. You push with your legs. Got it?”
“Y-yeah…”
“Then we’ll move forward again. Understood?”
“…Okay…”
There was no time to waste.
Before Charlon could finish her answer, Jedrick grabbed her ankle and pulled.
It felt as if she were genuinely stuck—she barely moved.
From behind, Ram whispered softly.
“Jedrick, they’re right behind us.”
Jedrick didn’t respond.
He knew.
But nothing would change.
He warned Charlon.
“I’m going to pull hard this time. Be ready.”
“Okay.”
Once again, Jedrick didn’t wait for her response and yanked hard.
This time, Charlon’s body slid forward about a hand’s length.
“Aagh!”
She screamed in pain.
“Are you okay?”
It was too dark and cramped to see what had happened.
“I… I’m okay…”
“Can you keep going?”
“I’ll… I’ll try…”
Charlon began crawling again, gasping for breath, though her movements were painfully slow.
“Charl…”
Jedrick started to urge her on but stopped.
She was already doing her best.
Pushing her would only make her panic.
‘Will this tunnel ever end? What if we have to crawl like this for hours?’
He remembered a story his father had told him when he was a child.
‘Never enter a cave just because you see an opening. Caves always narrow as you go deeper, and by the time you can’t move forward anymore, it’s too late. You can’t go back either, and the panic will freeze you in place. That’s how you die—even if you could breathe just fine. I’ve seen two men die like that. And I swore I’d rather endure ten days of torture than die like that.’
Jedrick’s heart pounded at the thought of Damion, at the front, saying, “It’s blocked.”
“I see the way out!”
Damion’s voice, bright and clear, echoed through the tunnel.
At the same time, the sounds of their pursuers grew louder behind them.
Charlon began to crawl faster, but to Jedrick, it still felt agonizingly slow.
Occasionally, his outstretched hand would bump into her heel, making her flinch in surprise.
‘Don’t push her. She’s giving it her all. If I rush her, she’ll panic and fumble. She’s already overcome so much fear. Even warriors would freeze in her position. Charlon’s already moving again. This is her fastest.’
Jedrick glanced back and saw Ram’s torchlight approaching from below.
Charlon’s ragged breathing and the men’s labored breaths surrounded him from both directions.
“Take my hand!”
Damion’s voice came from ahead.
Charlon’s body was suddenly pulled forward as Damion helped her out.
With no one blocking his way, Jedrick crawled forward with all his strength, finally emerging from the tunnel.
They were still inside the cave, but this area was much wider than the snake pit they had crawled through.
Apart from the two torches Damion and Charlon had brought, the place was pitch dark.
The walls on either side were barely wide enough for one person to stand.
Damion and Charlon stood closely together.
“Ram!”
Jedrick extended his hand into the tunnel.
Ram’s torches came flying out first, followed by his hand.
Jedrick grabbed it and pulled with all his strength.
Ram rolled onto the ground as soon as he emerged, then swiftly drew the sword from his waist.
He pressed himself tightly against the wall next to the exit.
From within the narrow tunnel, a Geron man poked his head out.
Because of the tight space, anyone exiting was forced to crawl, making it a perfect setup for the person lying in wait to deliver an execution.
Without hesitation, Ram swung his sword down on the man’s neck.
Red blood spurted out, obscuring the crimson torchlight.
Ram adjusted his stance and thrust his sword into the tunnel again.
A scream echoed from inside.
Urgent voices called out from beyond the snake’s den.
"Retreat! Retreat!"
"Don't push! You can’t go in there!"
The sound of scrambling and scuffling followed, but soon, everything fell silent.
Ram, poised to strike again, relaxed his stance and focused on the noises coming from the snake's den.
“What’s happening?”
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Asked Damion.
“They’re retreating.”
Charlon, breathing heavily, asked nervously,
“What do we do now?”
Despite what she had just endured, Charlon remained remarkably composed.
Damion picked up a fallen torch from the ground and illuminated Charlon’s face.
“Don’t worry. Archbishop Aikop’s knights will understand the situation soon and come to our rescue. The royal knights won’t abandon me, and Born’s knights would never leave the princess of Vormont behind.”
Jedrick, still catching his breath, added,
“There were a lot of enemies. Aikop only took fewer than ten knights.”
“But we have horses. If necessary, we can return to the Elum camp and back here in just two hours. If even one of us makes it there and alerts them, dozens of soldiers will rush here immediately.”
Damion spoke with conviction.
Jedrick, however, doubted the process would happen so quickly but refrained from arguing.
They had no better options.
“Do we just hold out here until reinforcements arrive…?”
Damion asked, his earlier confidence faltering.
“Yes. The exit is narrow. Even the most skilled swordsman would have to crawl or lie down to pass through here. If we hold this spot, I can stop them alone.”
Jedrick pointed at the ground.
Damion glanced at the decapitated body, shuddered, and quickly turned away—perhaps out of consideration for Charlon, or maybe because he didn’t want to see it himself.
“That might not be enough,”
Ram said, still listening intently toward the den.
Jedrick joined him, straining his ears.
Muffled voices echoed faintly, their words indistinct.
“Can you hear them?”
Ram frowned as he tried to make out the words.
“They’re saying… they’ll light a fire.”
“A fire? Here?”
“I can’t make out everything, but… something about smoke… filling this place… and gathering grass.”
The implication was clear.
“It’s rabbit hunting,”
Jedrick muttered.
“What does that mean?”
Damion asked.
“They’re going to fill this place with smoke, force us out, or suffocate us to death. Charlon, are you alright?”
Jedrick cut himself off, noticing Charlon leaning against the wall.
“I’m fine,”
She said, lowering her torch until it slipped from her grasp and hit the ground.
She nearly collapsed, but Damion quickly tossed his torch aside and caught her, gently lowering her to a seated position.
“Why didn’t you say something, Charlon? Are you hurt?”
Jedrick finally noticed her clutching her side, her fingers stained with blood.
“She’s injured.”
Damion’s voice rose in alarm.
“How? When?”
Charlon covered the wound with both hands and answered,
“When we were crawling through the tunnel earlier...”
“She must have gotten caught,”
Jedrick said, his heart sinking.
“When I pulled you out—”
“It’s not your fault,” Charlon interrupted firmly.
“It is! I thought it was just your clothes caught, but it must’ve been a sharp rock, and I—”
“Enough!”
Charlon scolded him, cutting him off.
“It’s not your fault. I was too scared to notice my own condition, and if you hadn’t pulled me out, none of us would’ve made it through that tunnel.”
“But—”
“No buts. If you’re going to apologize, save it. If you’re going to blame yourself, shut up.”
Damion looked startled.
“That’s… a bit harsh.”
Charlon gave Jedrick a teasing smile.
“It’s payback. How dare you tell the princess of Vormont to shut up!”
Jedrick wanted to snap back, but he held his tongue.
Charlon’s brief smile quickly turned into a grimace of pain.
“They’re lighting the fire now,”
Ram said, his gaze urging a decision.
Damion, technically the commanding officer of Elum’s forces, was just an eighteen-year-old boy in this moment.
Charlon was even younger and injured.
Ram was an exceptional warrior but lacked knowledge of such environments.
Jedrick, too, had no prior experience with this kind of survival.
Still, he had to act like he knew what he was doing.
He didn’t want to spread his fear to the others.
“The wind is flowing from here toward them, so it’ll take time for the smoke to fill this place. But they’ll figure out a way. They won’t just give up.”
Jedrick picked up the torch Charlon had dropped and led the way deeper inside.
“We need to move farther in, just in case. Damion, take care of Charlon.”
“Got it.”
Damion was already helping her.
“I’ll stay back for a while to ensure they’re not following,”
Ram said calmly.
Jedrick trusted Ram’s confidence, even without expression.
As long as they guarded the entrance, no matter how many attackers came, they wouldn’t get through.
If they tried, Ram would execute them one by one.
“If they find a way to get the smoke in, don’t hesitate—follow us immediately!”
Jedrick began walking.
The ceiling lowered, and the path narrowed.
He worried whether Charlon would be able to crawl through if the passage got too tight again.
Even now, the uneven ground made walking difficult.
The path might eventually be blocked entirely or require climbing.
‘Can we hold out until reinforcements arrive?’
Jedrick wanted to believe Damion’s words, but a sense of foreboding gnawed at him.
It felt like this entire situation had been orchestrated by someone.
Even their retreat into this tunnel felt like part of a larger plan.
If that were true, reinforcements wouldn’t come.
‘Damion would call it superstition. But I can’t shake the feeling that some greater force led us here.’
If such a force existed, Jedrick doubted it was divine.
‘This is all nonsense. I won’t believe it.’
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HELHEIM SCANS
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