Chapter 177: 139. Delving Deeper

"So I checked and we could actually get 'Club Luna' licence plates," Cerys said as she drove the mini-van along the country road.

"They let you have up to eight characters," she added. "Which means 'Lunamobile' won't fit unless we drop a couple letters. And I think shortened versions like 'Lunamble' or 'Lunamobl' are both too confusing."

Melanie grumped, "We're not calling it the Lunamobile!"

"You remember how Club Luna was supposed to be a secret, right?" Kaylee asked, although she was smiling again.

The blonde wolf shrugged, "Just having the name there doesn't mean anything. People won't know it has anything to do with magic. What do you think Cass?"

I shrugged, "I don't know? I guess it might be ok?"

"Y'all haven't forgotten about the rumours back at school, have you?" Melanie asked. "Folks might not know what 'Club Luna' means at first, but if people see us rolling around with that plastered all over the mini-van they're going to put two and two together."

Cerys sighed, "Fine. I guess the Lunamobile will have to stay incognito for a while longer."

"Still not calling it that," the older wolfgirl stated. "And Third Line's coming up ahead, you want to turn left there."

"Yeah I know the way. It's only been two days," our club leader grumbled.

It was about noon on Tuesday, and the two wolfgirls had taken another sick day so we could all visit the cave again right away. They were both up in the front seats, while me and Kaylee were in the second row. And Nina was by herself in the third row behind us.

Our last two club members were both back at the house. Sasha actually wanted to accompany us, but Nina convinced her old friend to stay behind. The fallen goddess was disappointed to miss the trip, until she was reminded of how fragile and mortal she was now. And Willow was ok with staying at home, for most of the same reasons.

As for Melanie, she really didn't want to go into the cave again, but she also didn't want to hang around at home while her girlfriend was investigating something potentially dangerous. So she came with us, but she was going to wait by the cave entrance while the rest of us went inside. That way if anything went wrong the older wolfgirl could call for help or something.

"Hey Cass, were you still thinking about getting your license?" Cerys asked as she made the left-hand turn. "Considering you paid for the van, it feels like you should at least get to drive it now and then."

I shrugged, "Me and Sasha talked about doing the lessons together? We haven't made our minds up yet, but I guess if she wants to do it then I'll go with her."

Melanie commented, "I should take the test one of these days. Or I guess I need to get a learner's permit first, then do some practicing before I try the test."

"Why don't the four of us all get our learners permits together?" Nina suggested. "Melanie, Sasha, Cass, and me? Then Cass and Sasha can start taking lessons while me and Melanie do some practice driving? Then she and I can go take the test."

We were already slowing down to park on the side of the road as Cerys nodded, "Sounds like a plan to me. Everyone in Club Luna should know how to drive the Lunamobile."

"I think Cass doesn't care about driving because she knows how to teleport," Kaylee teased as we all climbed out of the mini-van. "Cars lose their appeal when you can just poof yourself to where you want to be in an instant."

The wolfgirls both rolled their eyes as we all set out on the hike back to the cave. As always Cerys and Melanie shifted to their wolfgirl forms the moment we were out of sight from the road. By now we all had a pretty good idea where it was, plus both werewolfs could pretty much track it by scent at that point. Especially since it wasn't that long since we were there. At least the weather was nicer, we had sunshine today and the ground was dry instead of muddy.

We continued to talk about driving and licenses and stuff during the hike, and by the time we reached the cave it sounded like Nina and Melanie had already decided the two of them plus me and Sasha were going to get our learners permits on Friday. Which didn't leave us a lot of time to prepare, since my cousin and I would both have to start studying the drivers handbook if we wanted to pass the written test.

Nina was confident we'd do fine though, and we needed to focus on the cave again so I didn't bother trying to argue.

"I feel like crud waiting out here while you four go back in," Melanie sighed as the five of us stood just before the cave entrance.

Cerys pulled her girlfriend into a hug and stated, "It's ok Mel. Thanks for coming this far. I doubt we'll run into any trouble, not with two and a half demons and a goddess on our team."

"Just in case though," the blonde wolfgirl added as she handed over the van keys, "You hold on to the Lunamobile keys."

Melanie grimaced, "All right. Be careful though, ok? All of you. I'll be hanging out right here, and I'll be listening so holler if you need help or anything."

Like last time, me and Kaylee took the lead. Cerys and Nina were behind us, and as we entered the cave our club leader suggested "Let's not waste any time ok? We've already seen the first fifty or sixty meters of this thing a few times, so unless something new's happened let's keep moving. I don't want to give up or turn back today unless we absolutely have to."

"Sounds good," Kaylee nodded in agreement.

We didn't rush, but the four of us kept up a steady pace as we made our way deeper into the cave. Cerys and Nina followed a few paces behind Kaylee and I. The wolfgirl was carrying a flashlight but my sister didn't bother. My girlfriend didn't need one either, and I used magic again so I could see just fine in the dark too.

It didn't take long before we passed the spot where Willow did her rituals, then it was only another couple minutes before we reached the part where we found some of Rick's belongings.

Our progress slowed a bit after that, both due to the tunnel getting smaller and more cramped and also because we were being a lot more careful as we got into new territory. We kept moving forward though, with both Kaylee and I watching out for any signs of trouble or any evidence of the missing geology student.

The cave continued to get narrower as it sloped further downwards, and by the time I figured we were about two hundred meters in we were probably twenty meters below the surface. It curved left then right so it was hard to say where we were in terms of the surface landscape, but I was positive we'd gone under one of the ravines.

By that point there was no way to stay side by side, it was way too cramped. Kaylee moved out in the lead while I stayed close behind her, then Cerys was a meter or two behind me with Nina right behind the wolfgirl.

We probably covered another twenty or thirty meters beyond that, when my girlfriend stopped and whispered "I see something up ahead. The cave seems to open up, like there might be a larger chamber or cavern?"

"I think that's where the rotting-fruit smell is coming from," Cerys responded quietly. "It's turning my stomach. But let's keep going ok? Carefully though!"

The four of us started moving again, and by looking between my girlfriend's triangular fuzzy ears I was able to see the larger space up ahead. Kaylee slowed even more as we approached the entrance to what definitely appeared to be a cavern, then she cautiously peeked inside and took a look around.

"Oh crap!" she whispered as she suddenly moved forward into the larger space. "It's him, the missing guy!"

"Kaylee wait!" I hissed as I hurried after her.

I found myself in an oblong cavern. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all the same rough rocky surface as the tunnel we'd just come down, but there was plenty of room to stand up and stretch and stuff. It was probably about ten meters from side to side, and five meters across. The roof was a good three meters high in the middle part, but even towards the sides it was nearly two meters high.

The tunnel we'd come through opened into one side of the longer wall, near the corner. And the first thing I noticed as I looked around was there were four or five more nearly-identical tunnel exits, so I made certain to memorize which one we'd come through.

The next thing was just as important. Laying on the ground in the middle of the cave was our missing student, Rick Kovacs.

He was laying flat on his back with his hands at his side and feet together, as if he'd been carefully placed like that. He was still fully dressed, in blue jeans and a light tan-coloured jacket, with black hiking boots on his feet. He even had a small navy blue backpack slung over one shoulder. It was half underneath him and couldn't have been that comfortable depending what was still inside it. His sandy blond hair was kind of messy, but his tanned face was clean-shaved. His eyes were closed and his expression seemed kind of peaceful, which was both a relief and also worrying.

Kaylee was still slowly moving towards him, but I could see something I was positive she couldn't. And I really didn't like it.

"Kaylee stop!" I stated. "I can see magic on him, but it's weird."

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Cerys followed me into the cavern as she asked, "How do you mean, weird?"

Nina was behind her, but my sister stood at the tunnel exit, probably to make sure she knew which one was the way out.

"The magic on him is green," I replied as I stared at the motionless human. "Every other magic I've ever seen was purple, but this stuff's green. Like a pale green, it looks kind of unhealthy? Like sick magic?"

"He looks like he might still be alive," Kaylee stated. She was still staring at the guy, and she gestured "I don't see him breathing, but his colour looks fine. And he doesn't seem to be injured or anything."

It actually reminded me of when Kaylee and the others were stuck in the witch hunter's sleep spells, except in that case they were obviously still breathing. It was a similar look though, only in this case instead of a faint purple glow over Rick's body it was a pale green glow. And he was completely motionless. He wasn't breathing, but he didn't look dead either.

Nina suggested quietly, "Maybe it's a stasis spell?"

"There's the bones you saw," Cerys said as she pointed her flashlight past the inert body.

Sure enough there were bones scattered around at the far end of the cavern. Some looked human, but some looked like animal bones. They looked old though, like they'd been there a long time.

After a few seconds Kaylee asked, "So what do we do?"

"We need to try and save Mr. Kovacs," Nina said. "Assuming he really is still alive."

Our club leader decided, "Pictures first. Give me a minute to record everything, then we'll figure out how to save the guy. Then we'll all get out of here."

The wolfgirl pulled out her phone and took a bunch of pictures of Rick laying on the ground, the scattered bones, and the various tunnels leading off from the cavern. After a minute or so she was satisfied, and tucked her phone away as she asked "Ok who has an idea on how to save this guy? Cass, maybe you can just drain the magic off him?"

"I don't know," I hesitated. "Like I said, this magic looks weird? I don't think I want to drain that into me."

Nina suggested, "Maybe we can dispell it the normal way?"

"Yeah. Good idea sis," I nodded.

I tried a dispell spell, the same one I used when the fairies shrank Kaylee last summer. The green magic on Rick's body flickered and wavered, then after a second or two it seemed to collapse. And a second after that he took a slow shuddering breath, but he didn't wake up.

"He's alive!" Kaylee stated. "He's breathing!"

At the same time I suddenly felt like we were being watched, but I couldn't tell where it was coming from. All the different tunnels looked imposing and I was positive there were things just out of sight in the darkness that had been stirred up by my demonic magic.

Cerys seemed to feel it too. Her ears folded back and her tail hung down between her legs as she half-whispered, "Let's just grab him and get out of here."

My girlfriend looked at me and asked, "Can you teleport us all out?"

I glanced around then shook my head, "Maybe? But I don't want to risk it. I think something in here is sensitive to magic, and I don't want to upset it any more than I already have."

Our club leader made a quick decision, "Nina you and me will carry this guy out. Cass, Kaylee, you two follow us. Watch our backs, hopefully whatever brought this guy down here won't be too upset we're taking him with us."

"Ok," I nodded.

It was a bit awkward, but both Nina and Cerys had supernatural strength so they didn't have any trouble lifting the full-grown man. My sister was in the lead, with Cerys behind her and Rick Kovacs suspended between the two of them. Despite their strength it was still cumbersome for the two of them, especially having to crouch low and navigate the narrow cave tunnel.

I made Kaylee go next, while I stayed at the very back. I had no idea if whatever called this place home could actually hurt me, but my girlfriend wasn't immortal and neither were my friends, so I figured they'd be safest with me in between them and anything that might try coming up behind us.

The trek out was slow but nobody spoke, there was just an intense focus on getting the human and ourselves out of the cave and back into open air. So we all just kept moving, and as the tunnel gradually got a bit wider and higher it became easier to move so our pace picked up too.

"We're nearly there," Cerys suddenly announced. She sounded out of breath as she added, "I can smell the fresh air ahead."

It still seemed to take us another minute or two before we could see daylight, and another thirty or forty seconds after that when we all finally emerged from the cave. Nina and Cerys gently set Rick down on the ground, then the blonde wolfgirl practically collapsed into her girlfriend's waiting arms.

Nina moved to lean against a tree, while Kaylee crouched down next to the unconscious man so she could check on him. And I just stood there warily watching the cave mouth. I still had that 'being watched' feeling, and I didn't want to risk something coming out after us and catching us by surprise.

Melanie carefully lowered Cerys to the ground as well, and the two of them sat together with arms around each other as the older wolfgirl asked "You actually found him?! Is he ok?"

"He's alive," my girlfriend responded. "Unconscious though. I can't see any injuries, but it might just be shock. Or dehydration? Or starvation..."

"So what should we do?" Nina asked. "Can we heal him?"

Kaylee sighed in frustration, "I know a bunch of healing spells but I can't cast them anymore. And without knowing what's wrong with him it'd be trial and error anyways."

Cerys suggested, "We should just call him an ambulance. The authorities are already involved anyways right? Best thing to do is hand him over to the humans and let them take it from here."

I shook my head, "Not from here. The fewer humans that know about this cave the better. Let's get him back to the mini-van. We can tell them we saw him unconscious on the side of the road or something."

"That's not going to be a fun hike," Melanie frowned. "Carrying a guy without a stretcher through the woods."

Cerys grimaced, "Tell me about it. Can't be any worse than carrying him through a half kilometre of tiny cave tunnels."

"We're clear of the cave, I think we can teleport from here," I replied. And a moment later I did just that, all five of us and Rick Kovacs appeared on the side of the road beside our mini-van.

"Woah," Melanie blinked as she looked around.

At the same time my girlfriend pouted, "I can't wait to learn how to do that!"

"I guess I'll make the call," our club leader said as she pulled out her phone again.

A few seconds later she was acting excited and out of breath as she spoke into the phone, "Yeah hi! Me and my friends found a guy unconscious on the side of the road? I think he needs an ambulance!"