After Sienna left,
the cave grew quiet again.
Miryeong moved to a spot near the entrance and stood watch,
while Muryeong sat leaning against the cave wall with his axe held to his chest, his eyes closed.
Jincheong fidgeted with his fingertips, steadied his breathing, and dozed off in brief snatches.
Bido tore off bits of the remaining bread where the embers had nearly died out, blankly staring up at the ceiling.
What it was like outside,
what signs of movement were passing through the imperial camp now—
there was no way to know from in here.
Instead,
only the light spilling in from the entrance told them the passage of time.
At first, the light had lain long across the floor of the entrance, then shifted little by little to the side.
The bright line that had licked across the surface of the rock grew shorter,
its color turning white, then dimming yellow again.
It meant the sun had climbed overhead.
The inside of the cave was still cold, but the air outside was changing.
Around then—
Bido felt warmth in his hand.
At first, he thought it was only his imagination.
A stone was a stone.
Of course it should be cold.
But when he opened his palm, the small stone was definitely warmer than before.
It had not been heated over a fire, yet warmth seemed to be seeping from it.
Bido rolled the stone between his fingers.
From beneath its smooth surface, a very faint heat rose.
‘Does it… change with time?’
If it stayed inside the cave for long enough, did the stone absorb the warmth of his hand?
Or when sunlight began to shine—
No, this was a cave.
Bido tilted his head and closed his hand around the stone again.
It was then.
A gust of wind swept in roughly from the entrance.
Then came footsteps.
Miryeong hurried into the cave.
As if she had forgotten how to walk quietly as usual,
her feet scattered pebbles and made noise.
“Everyone. Clean up.”
Her voice was low.
Composed, and short of breath.
Muryeong’s eyes opened at once.
Then he pushed his back off the wall, rising from where he sat, and immediately stood.
Jincheong also got to his feet.
Though his eyes were not fully awake yet, his hands moved first.
Bido reflexively shoved the hand holding the stone into his pocket.
Miryeong swept her gaze once through the inside of the cave.
Embers, food, bedding, footprints.
“We erase them. The traces. All of them.”
Muryeong asked in a low voice,
“They’ve come?”
Miryeong nodded.
“Knights are bringing soldiers this way.”
Bido’s throat went dry and stiff.
Miryeong continued.
This time, her certainty was firmer.
“It’s definitely the priest’s Mirkin.”
“They’re following the presence. This isn’t a simple search.”
At that moment,
near Bido’s thigh—
inside his pocket grew hotter.
The stone.
What traveled to his fingertips was not warmth, but something close to heat.
As if it were a signal that they had “come closer.”
Bido swallowed his breath.
The cave became busy.
Jincheong swept the floor with his hands, covering the footprints,
and Muryeong dragged leaves and dirt over to blur the traces near the entrance.
They smothered the embers with sand.
The food and cloth were rolled back into their clothes.
Miryeong looked back toward the entrance once more.
Though no distant sound of metal clashing could be heard from outside—
Miryeong’s expression was already that of someone who had heard it.
“This way.”
Miryeong pointed toward the darkness.
“Quickly.”
There was no hesitation in her gesture.
One side of the rock wall, where the firelight did not reach.
The “small gap” she had explained the day before.
As Bido followed, his breath caught for a moment.
Only when he came close did he see it.
Between rock and rock,
there was a gap just wide enough for a person to pass through.
But it was not open like a “door”; it was a crevice one had to twist one’s body into and push through.
Bido stared at that gap and faltered briefly.
The darkness seemed to be breathing from within.
Deraul.
Miryeong’s words came back to him.
Timid, dangerous beings that attacked anything in sight when cornered.
The stone in his pocket grew hot.
As if it were saying, “Here.”
“Bido.”
Miryeong called softly from behind him.
“Don’t hesitate.”
Muryeong went in first.
He turned his body and vanished into the gap along with his axe.
Jincheong followed.
Bido looked toward the entrance one last time.
Then—
he lowered himself and pushed his body into the gap.
The rock scraped his clothes, and his breath caught in his throat.
The smell of cold stone stabbed his nose.
The darkness swallowed Bido.
The inside of the crevice was absolute darkness.
Bido stretched a hand forward, feeling along the rock wall as he advanced.
The stone beneath his fingertips was cold and damp.
When he inhaled, the scent of rock settled all the way down his throat.
Since he could not see ahead, every step took a long time.
And yet he knew there was no time to take.
The stone in his pocket was hot.
If he struck it just once to make light, the path would become much easier.
For an instant, Bido thought of it, then immediately erased the thought.
‘If I make light now…’
Light lingered longer than sound.
More than anything, there were other eyes in this darkness.
Bido stopped the hand that had been fiddling with the stone.
Instead, he drew shallower breaths and moved his feet cautiously.
The presence of the three ahead of him was close.
Miryeong, Muryeong, Jincheong.
Other than them—
he felt nothing.
That made it even more frightening.
The crevice in the rock continued for a long while, then at some point suddenly seemed to open up.
The ground beneath his feet became level, and the air changed.
It was not the cave’s peculiar chill, but something stranger—
air like that of an old room.
At that moment,
voices that seemed to ring inside his head came from all directions.
“…Go… go away….”
“…I’m scared….”
It was not just one voice.
It sounded like a child’s, and also like an old person’s.
Above all, it was not a sound “heard with the ears.”
Just like yesterday, it settled over his thoughts.
He heard Miryeong swallow dryly close by.
As quietly as she could, as if pressing down the air, she said,
“Just a moment….”
“We’ll leave after a little while, so don’t worry. We’re only here for a moment….”
There was no presence, yet the voices continued.
“No… I don’t like it….”
“Go away….”
“Here… our home….”
Bido took the stone from his pocket.
His palm trembled a little.
The stone had been hot, but the moment it touched his hand, it felt cold.
As if what clung to it was not heat, but “consciousness.”
Bido spoke in a very small voice.
“Um….”
“The one who gave me this gift….”
Before he could finish, another voice cut in.
“…Ah.”
“…It’s the mixed one….”
Then several voices overlapped.
They seemed to be whispering to one another.
“That’s right… it’s mixed….”
“Why…?”
“Human…?”
“Haraya…?”
“Why…?”
Bido held his breath.
It was then.
From behind them, very far away—
from the direction of the cave entrance, shouts faintly drifted in.
“What’s going on!”
“Is there a Mirkin that erases presence or something?!”
He could not tell whether it was a priest or a knight.
Only the texture of the voice was sharp with anger.
The group held their breath at the same time.
Even the sound of cloth brushing felt loud.
The voices of the Deraul began to murmur again.
“…Scary….”
“…They’re shouting….”
“…Is it because of these people…?”
“…We have to send them out….”
Miryeong silently adjusted her stance.
Muryeong’s axe moved very slightly, and Jincheong’s hand searched the ground.
They were movements made in case of the worst.
At that moment,
the smallest voice cut in.
“…No….”
“…They’re not bad….”
Bido recognized that voice.
It was similar to last night.
The voice that had whispered, “I’m scared….”
Then a cold sensation touched the back of Bido’s hand.
The same sensation that had touched his ear yesterday.
Cold, but not sharp.
It brushed past as if “checking” his fingertips.
“…See.”
“…It’s all right….”
When those words were heard,
the murmuring all around them began to subside little by little.
“…Mm… just for a moment….”
“…Then later….”
“…Don’t stay long….”
The shouting from the entrance also grew more distant.
Whether someone had given up or changed direction, there was no way to know.
Only then did Bido let out his breath.
Very slowly.
The stone in his hand—
was gradually cooling.
As the heat faded,
the fear that had been crawling up his spine seemed to settle, if only faintly.
Facing the darkness, Bido moved only his lips.
“…Thank you.”
No answer came back.
But the cold trace left on his fingertips
seemed to tell him that his words had reached somewhere.
“It’s done… Let’s go.”
Holding her breath, Miryeong slowly turned back toward the crevice they had entered through.
Muryeong followed first, and Jincheong walked out after him.
Bido was about to look back into the darkness one last time and move his feet—
when there came a small thud from the side.
And light.
Whoosh—
The space was suddenly revealed.
The uneven floor that had been hidden in complete darkness,
the damp rock wall, and—
the “shapes” holding their breath.
At the source of the light stood a small Deraul.
The cold touch that had brushed Bido’s ear last night.
The voice that had whispered “gift” that morning.
It was that child.
Only then did Bido see.
Centered around that small Deraul,
Deraul surrounded them on all sides.
Some seemed to be clinging to the walls, others seemed to have risen from the floor.
There were too many to count at once.
Their eyes flashed in the light,
and their violet skin showed more deeply.
The group swallowed dryly at the same time.
They were afraid that even breathing too loudly might provoke those gazes.
Then a voice came.
“Goodbye….”
The voice was small, but it rang clearly in his head.
“Mixed one….”
Miryeong stopped for a moment, then lowered her head very slightly.
A brief motion that might have been a greeting, a promise, or caution.
She walked toward the crevice now visible by the light.
One by one.
Miryeong first,
Jincheong next,
Muryeong third.
Bido remained last.
The small Deraul was looking at Bido.
Its expression was difficult to read, but its voice trembled somehow.
“…Scary….”
“…But… it’s okay….”
Bido’s chest tightened, and he swallowed his breath.
Then, very faintly—
he smiled.
It was a truly small smile.
But he did not hide it.
Bido lowered his head.
“Thank you.”
There was no answer.
Only, the small Deraul raised its hand and made the light a little brighter.
The edges of the crevice became clear.
Bido pushed his body into the gap.
The rock scraped his collar, and the darkness closed behind his back again.
—
Once they slipped out of the narrow crevice, the air of the cave changed sharply.
Until just now it had been filled only with the smell of stone,
but now smoke, sweat, and the scent of fire-scorched wood were mixed in.
The moment Bido inhaled, he felt his throat sting.
There was firelight.
Torches thrown haphazardly about.
Some had rolled across the floor and stopped, clumsily breaking the darkness.
The inside of the cave was in disarray.
On the walls and floor were marks where spears had been thrust at random.
Long scratches ran where stone had been scraped away,
and some places were shallowly gouged, as if dug out with the tip of a sword.
Traces of someone stabbing wherever their hands could reach, as if certain that something was “here.”
For an instant,
Bido imagined what might have happened if they had been even a little late.
The priest’s Mirkin.
Movements that found them through the knight’s amplified presence.
When he imagined the moment it had entered the cave,
cold sweat ran down his back.
Muryeong moved first.
Keeping his footsteps as quiet as possible, he pushed a fallen torch on the floor with the tip of his foot and extinguished it.
The flame fluttered briefly, then went out.
Jincheong pressed himself against the wall and tried to steady his breath, but his eyes swept the surroundings first.
The place where they had been sitting.
There were traces that someone had touched it.
Miryeong was looking toward the entrance.
Listening closely, like someone reading the texture of the wind.
Then she said quietly,
“…For now, they’re moving away.”
At those words, Bido swallowed.
Moving away.
In other words, until just now, they had been close.
Miryeong turned back and added in a low voice,
“I’ll go to the entrance and check again first.”
Her gaze brushed over the three of them in turn.
Miryeong said nothing more.
Instead, she drew a firm line.
“Everyone stay here quietly.”
“Do not move, no matter what.”
Bido nodded,
but his fingertips naturally felt inside his pocket.
The stone.
It was cooling even more than it had in the Deraul’s space.
Miryeong silenced her footsteps and disappeared toward the entrance.
Outside was not noisy.
Only the smell of burning torches remained, while the scent of people had faded.
Bido pressed the stone in his pocket with his fingertips.
As its lukewarm heat faded, his fear settled with it.