Wedan grabbed my hand and pulled me along as he began to run. I followed him blindly, not daring to look back. I knew Wedan was strong, but even he seemed nervous.

He had mentioned a creature roaming the mine, but he hadn't said what kind. We just kept running. Wedan held a torch to light our way and I could feel the coldness of his hand. The mine's tunnels were narrow, making our escape more difficult.

I thought we were safe when the sounds behind us faded into silence, but Wedan continued to urge me on. I turned to him and called out.

"The noises have stopped," I said. "I think it's stopped following us."

"Keep running," Wedan replied. "Creatures like this like to play games."

We reached a fork in the tunnel with two exits, one to our right and one to our left. The mine continued on both sides, but we had to choose a direction. Wedan hesitated, glancing quickly from right to left as he tried to decide.

As I turned my head to the left, I heard a faint rattling sound. Thinking it might be a human survivor, I moved closer to investigate. When I squinted into the darkness, I saw a huge snake staring back at me.

It opened its mouth and lunged towards me. I barely had time to react before Wedan grabbed me and pulled me to the right. We ran as fast as we could, but the snake slithered after us.

I didn't have much time to think. I was mostly focused on running and not looking back. But then an idea came to me.

"Did you see that wooden support up ahead?" I asked Wedan.

"I can't miss it," he replied.

"Okay," I said. "When I say 'now', we'll hit it together as hard as we can. It should slow the snake down for a bit."

"The plan is a little amateurish," Wedan said.

"Now!" I shouted.

Wedan and I struck the wooden support on either side as hard as we could. Our combined efforts dislodged it and the ground collapsed, blocking the snake's path. We were out of breath from running and Wedan turned to me.

"Not bad, princess," he said. "Not bad at all."

"Thanks, ice bear," I replied. "It's good to hear that from you."

"Oh, that's funny," Wedan said. "I don't know if you've noticed, but we're trapped."

"Wait, what?" I said.

Wedan held up the torch and pointed to the blocked path. "The tunnel we took was under construction," he explained. "We're probably at the bottom of the mine."

"What was that creature?" I asked.

"Ōkina hachūrui," Wedan replied. "A mountain snake, almost 25 meters long."

"Its skin looked pretty thick," I said.

"It is," Wedan agreed. "And its teeth are very sharp. Rumor has it that it's lived here for a long time and even ate one of the elite soldiers. Furon replaced the dead soldier with a new one."

"Furon could have killed the creature if he wanted to," I said.

"He could have," Wedan agreed. "But Furon loves terror and that creature is terrifying. I don't think he would do that."

"These rocks won't hold it for long," I said. "It could attack at any moment or we could run out of oxygen."

Wedan pressed his ear to the wall on his right. "You're right," he said. "We need to get out of here."

Wedan tapped the wall in front of him with his left hand, searching for a weak spot that he could strike without causing a collapse. When he found it, he punched the wall hard and opened a new path for us on the right side. We hurried through the opening and watched as the area behind us crumbled.

The path ahead of us was clear, but we could still hear the creature. I turned to Wedan and voiced my thoughts.

"If we follow this path, we might be able to find an exit downwind," I said.

"We can't do that," Wedan replied. "The creature is too big. It will catch us before we reach the exit."

"So what's your plan, Wedan?" I asked.

"If we want to get out of here," Wedan said. "We have to defeat it."

Wedan knew that we couldn't escape without defeating the creature, but I wasn't sure how we were going to do it.

"Yeah, but how?" I asked. "We both know its skin is too thick to be affected by ice."

"Maybe if you could create sound waves with your voice, we could confuse it," Wedan suggested.

"I'm afraid I can't," I replied. "I used a lot of power on the red hawk. My sound waves would have to be very strong to stop that creature. Otherwise, it won't work."

But then an idea came to me. "I have enough energy to trap it," I said.

"What's your plan, princess?" Wedan asked.

"If you can distract it and get it to chase you, you can build a wall of ice around it," I explained. "The snake will have trouble seeing through the transparent ice. Then I'll go around behind it and use my sound wave to destroy the wooden supports. That should trap it."

"I'm impressed, princess," Wedan said. "You're as clever as you are beautiful."

I blushed at his compliment but was glad he liked my plan. "But that won't hold it for long," he added.

"It doesn't matter," I said. "We just need to buy enough time to escape."

Wedan nodded in agreement and reached down to scatter small pieces of ice on the ground. Curious, I asked him what he was doing.

"This will mark the direction we came from," he explained. "So we'll know where we're going. And the creature hides well in the shadows, so when it passes over the ice, we'll hear it."

"What are the chances of the ice melting?" I asked.

"Don't worry," Wedan replied. "Ice chunks don't melt easily and they don't slip when you step on them. They just make noise."

We continued to walk slowly through the tense mine. There was no sign of the creature. It seemed that we had lost it, but for how long? Given its size, it was only a matter of time before it found us again in the narrow but long mine.

Wedan continued to scatter ice on the ground as we walked, marking our path so we could see where we had come from. If we split up, we could use the ice to find each other again. That was part of the plan. I held the torch and scanned our surroundings for any sign of the creature.

Meanwhile, I asked Wedan something that had been on my mind. "How long have you lived here, Wedan?" I asked.

"Since my sister died," he replied.

"It must have been hard living here alone all these years," I said.

"You get used to it in time," Wedan said.

"Do you miss her?" I asked.

"Yes," Wedan said. "Sometimes."

"I miss my mom too," I said. "But I think she and I are like islands in the sea. Separate on the surface but connected deep down."

"How does that work?" Wedan asked.

"My mother isn't here," I explained. "But by doing what she asked me to do, I feel like she's with me. She gives me strength."

"I'm sure she would be proud," Wedan said.

"I think your sister would be proud of you too," I said. "Who knows? Maybe that's what she wants for you."

"Maybe," Wedan agreed.

As I looked at Wedan's face and got to know him better, I realized that he wasn't as reckless as he seemed. He was just a man afraid of losing someone again. A noise from behind us interrupted my thoughts. It sounded like something had stepped on a piece of ice.

Wedan grabbed the torch from my hand and pointed to a narrow corner. "Hide here," he said. "I'll draw its attention. When it starts following me, you know what to do."

I nodded and Wedan moved away from me, making noise to attract the creature's attention. The sounds from behind grew closer and closer. I stood silently, not moving, waiting for the creature to pass by me and follow Wedan.

I could hear it slithering along the ground as it passed. When I turned my head slightly, I could see its massive body. It was even bigger than I had thought. When the creature spotted Wedan, it sped towards him.

I emerged from my hiding place and grabbed the torch from the wall to light my way. I had to follow the trail of ice quickly to find out where they had gone. The snake was so long that I didn't even need to follow the ice. I could see the tip of its tail from where I stood.

If I knocked down the wooden supports now, it would be easier for the creature to escape. My goal was to collapse the supports near its body to immobilize it. The snake's attention was focused on Wedan, so I moved quickly. If it couldn't break through the ice wall, it wouldn't take long for it to turn around. I had to hurry.

I reached the snake's body just as it was trying to break through the ice wall with its head. Our plan was working perfectly. I gathered all my energy and let out a powerful shout, aiming my sound waves at the wooden supports near the snake's body.

But as my sound waves spread out, the snake turned its head towards me. I was now its new target. It could jump on me at any moment. It pulled back and lunged towards me, but I managed to bring down the wooden pillars before it could reach me. The collapsing earth trapped it inside.