They carefully navigated the cave, making sure to stick close together. They moved downward for quite some time without seeing any sign of eggs. Small crabs crawled along the walls, and clusters of coral and algae dotted the damp stone. With each step, a wet squelch echoed through the cave—something neither Rion nor Lie appreciated.
Eventually, the cave began to darken, but they could still see well enough—then they finally stumbled upon a wide open space and found what they were looking for.
Sitting against the wall, almost appearing merged into the stone like a giant zit, was a large egg. It stood about two feet tall and a foot wide. Rion blinked in surprise at the sheer size of it. The egg was pale white and looked somewhat slimy.
"This is it, huh," Rion said.
"Yeah, this is it," Lie confirmed.
"So… do we just stomp on 'em?"
Lie grinned. "You can try, but I wouldn't recommend it."
Rion gave her a curious look, then raised his leg and kicked the egg. Unfortunately for him, his foot bounced right off with a thud, and he let out a screech of pain. But doing so made him realize something. His voice dropped to a hush. "Wait… where's the mom?"
"Don't worry," Lie said between giggles. "Mother Clamshells spend most of the day out hunting. We're okay for now."
"I see," Rion muttered, rubbing his foot.
"Well, if that didn't work…" He raised his wand, and a glowing ball of magic formed at the tip.
BLAM!
The bolt of energy exploded against the egg, bursting it in an instant and splattering blue goo everywhere.
Rion cringed at the mess, but watching it implode was oddly satisfying. It reminded him of the slimes.
"Good job," Lie said.
"Only ninety-nine left." Rion commented.
"Oh—did it say that on the quest log?"
Rion nodded, then turned forward. "Still though… that's a lot."
In front of them, dozens upon dozens of eggs lined the cave. They stretched as far as the eye could see—covering the floor, the walls, even clinging to parts of the ceiling.
Lie smiled. "Let's get to work, then…"
—
For the next hour, they blasted egg after egg—Rion using raw magic, Lie using water spells. They agreed to split the work fifty-fifty, but Lie promised to take over if Rion got tired.
By this point, both of them were covered in blue goo, but they trudged on, crushing eggs one by one. After another hour, they had destroyed seventy-five. Just twenty-five to go.
"Let's wrap this up before the mom comes back. I don't wanna get covered in goo again tomorrow," Lie said, panting.
Rion nodded. "Likewise."
They continued, but then—scrape… Lie heard a strange sound coming from the entrance of the cave.
SPLOOSH!
Rion shattered another egg just as Lie called out, "Stop!"
"Huh?" Rion turned to her.
"Listen…"
Sure enough, a low scraping sound echoed from the cave's entrance. The sound of something dragging—then the clatter of feet.
No—claws.
A horrified look washed over Lie's face as she realized.
"She's back… Their mother is back."
(And thus, Rion's adventure continues…)