Currently in my sight, the big black shrub nest, similar to a bird nest, with height equal to the top of my head. Built exactly at the side of the tallest tree in this cave. From afar, the nest looked just like another shrub but larger in size. The thought of it being a nest had never crossed in my mind. It was only when our distances were narrowed down and the top of the eggs peeked out.

"Uumuu!!" Elly released me from her grip and quickly moved forward on her own. She cheerfully bounced her way there, while not showing any sign of fear at all.

I had become wary about my surrounding since I learned about the nest. Once again, I darted my eyes vigilantly and travelled every corner of this unusually long cave. The ceiling was so high up that no one would be able to reach without having a wing sprout on its back. Trees that grow in the cave were so tall that people might briefly assumed that the trees were thin, but in fact, the trunk of those trees were remarkably thick. And there was some white fog covered a few parts of the ceiling, as if they were clouds. It gave the cave an otherworldly feeling to it.

The cave has a shape resembled to a rectangular aquarium. All four corners were almost straight up. Both the ground and the ceiling were strangely aligned. It was almost a perfect rectangular if not for the constantly uneven ground and those stalagmites that protruded from the ceiling. If I was told to describe this cave in a word, it will be a 'forest'. A fantasy looking forest to be precise, as the bright light that gleamed on the cave had that hint of blue and purple glow.

Elly had reached by the side of the black shrub nest. The height of the nest had totally overwhelmed her, but she easily sprang on her feet and jumped over to the top. She landed effortlessly, stood on the tightly built black shrub nest and hopped down to its center. I couldn't see her from where I stood. I glanced to left and right again, briefly assumed that there were no monsters lurking around. Whatever that owned the eggs should have a size of a giant. So, I moved closer to the nest. One hand clutching on the shrub.

"Elly...?" I called on her name, just to make sure that she was still there.

She didn't reply to my call but I can hear the noises she made inside the nest. She was constantly rustling and moving within the nest. Without further waiting, I hooked my hands on the edge and slowly climbed my feet on the branches that wrapped around the shrub, acted as a ground to step. I pulled myself up over to the edge.

A dozen of eggs were thrown to my sight. Those big green striped eggs were gathered in the center of the nest, tilted left and right. Elly was tying some of the eggs with a long thick rough looking vine. She tied it in a nice-looking knot. Unexpectedly good enough to hold three giant eggs together. I honestly thought that she will be munching on the eggs right on spot. But, she seemed to be preparing to move some eggs away from the nest.

"Yuu!" She noticed me after the eggs were neatly tied together.

Some of the eggs beside her had been cracked open, empty inside, I wondered if that was her doing. Elly seemed to be quite familiar with this cave. She might have been visiting the eggs quite often to feed on them. Now, it makes me wonder, how long has she been staying in the cave? Does she live with her mermaid family in the caves? Are there other mermaids in these caves? I crouched down and stroked at the shell of the egg. It was unexpectedly velvety smooth when I touched. I kept stroking at the egg while mulling over the unanswered questions.

Slluurrrrppp!!

I have only taken a few seconds off her and now she had already cracked an egg open, dwelled her head into the crack, feet on toes and slurping down the gross slimy substance as if drinking a yummy soup. I honestly thought that she won't be feasting on the spot, but she eventually did it. I couldn't understand the way her mind worked at all. And why would she need to tie the eggs?

Elly raised her head up with the transparent slime plastered all over her mouth. She flicked her tongue out and swipe at the corner of her mouth clean. It wasn't a good manner but her cute face overwhelmed her sloppy trait. People will forgive her for the adorable expression she constantly made and for her sparkling blue eyes. And that fluffy light blue hair too.

Elly waved her hand, beckoned me to come over and join her. But I shook my head to refuse her offer. She puffed her cheek for a sec but then she dwelled her head in once again and the slurping sound started. To be honest, I didn't think that eating in a nest of an unknown monster was a good idea. I will let her finish that one and get her to leave the nest immediately. I’ve been getting eerie feeling since earlier. My instinct has been keen recently and I didn’t like it.

I walked to the other side of the nest, crouched down and sat on the edge with both legs hanging down. Then, I gaze upon the sight that I had never seen in my life. I fed my eyes with all the unknown flora, trying to guess the closest kind of the plant I knew to those surreal looking plants. There were orange mushrooms with spiky head covered the bottom of the tree trunk. Tawny vines crawled all over the trunk surface to the end of the branches of those trees which resembled the redwood trees in my knowledge. But the trees in this cave were colored blue. And they were way taller than the redwoods. If we compared, I was an ant beside those humongous trees. I tilted my head further up to view at the top of the tallest tree beside me. The end of the tree was so high up away and it was hazy at the top. I couldn’t really see clearly because of the patches of fog that were swirling on the air above.

Unexpectedly, it was a bit windy inside this cave. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the slight breeze from within the cave. Despite the weird color the plants here got, the air smelled as fresh as a forest in the morning. Could it be that the exit was closer than I had expected? At the end of the cave does have a big cracked hole that lead into another tunnel. But before advancing, there was something I wanted to make sure first. I will need Elly to guide me there. For now, I will try to relax for a bit and enjoy hearing to the gently rustling sound made from the shrubs brushing by the wind, in addition of Elly's slurping and munching sound of course.

But then, it was starting to get strange. The wind was getting stronger. My hair swayed all over the place and the shrubs around me rustled wildly because of it. Somehow the wind I had enjoyed became ominous. It was not natural. The direction of the wind came from on top of the nest. As if something massive was hovering above it, flapping the fierce wind upon us. I tilted my head and gazed upon the empty space above me. Though weird, I did feel something was hovering above us. I could faintly hear the sound of a wing flapping on the air, while nothing appeared to be on sight.

SCRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

Followed by a bash of wind, pulling all the foliage toward the direction of the ear-piercing scream. I stumbled upon the blast and fell backward. Eyes searching on the source of the sound while my back bounced on the nest. Elly leapt to the air, landed sharp at the edge of the nest with a stance braced for upcoming impact. Her tiny little back stood there unwavering, her blue fluffy hair fluttered with the wind and she snarled while exposing her cute canine teeth. Her usual adorable expression had changed abruptly.

I rolled and crouched on my feet with hand thumped onto the ground, being wary for a monster that I couldn't see yet. The ear-piercing screech still echoing thunderously in this huge cave. My ears were ringing and I couldn't hear any sound other than the screech. I couldn't find any monster in the sight. Not around the nest and not above it too. But, Elly seemed to know what we're facing. She had her gaze viciously fixed on a point where I saw nothing.

"Elly! Run!!" I shouted at her tiny back, trying to get her to stop exposing herself to danger. She glanced at me from the corner of her eyes but completely ignored me. She turned back and deeply inhaled, chest inflated and she opened her mouth.

WOOOONNGGGGGGG

She replied with an equally loud piercing scream, in a sound wave similar to whale cry that no human could possibly produce. The transparent sound wave briefly distorted the sight I was seeing, the ground vibrated and the shrub shaking uncontrollably from the scream. I tightly pressed and blocked my ears to suppress the ear-piercing scream from further creeping in. But, it was futile. My head felt like splitting and my vision blurred for a sec.

The visible transparent sound waves travelled the cave in a speed of light and broke once it hit on matters. One of the wave hit on a transparent being that seemed to be hovering on the air. It roared from the shock. Slowly, from the middle to all over its body, the monster dispersed from the invisibility and revealed its almighty form.

Shiny, rich, iridescent blue feathers with emerald sheen flaunting gorgeously when glanced on the light. Those feathers adorned its majestic looking wing that has the length of a truck. Its head was similar to a hawk-eagle but adorned with two long antenna-like golden feathers, swinging in sync as the monster flapping its wing. The claws on its feet were painted with the same golden color and seemed to be sturdy and strong. The body of the monster was big enough to fully cover the nest if it brooded on it. Which made sense, as the eggs seemed to be laid by it. The glow of the cave flaunted its elegant form perfectly on the air. It was a breathtaking sight to me.

Tension raised up high in the air, it has become a gauging competition between the giant flying monster and the small fearless Elly. She had just provoked the monster with her own roar, one of the reason might be to expose its body. The monster glanced at its nest. Then, it threw its angry stare back to Elly, who didn’t feel any guilt for breaking the eggs at all. That flying monster flapped its wing forward as the body jerked backward. Next, it spread its wing open, beat the wings down and speeded up high to the air. Seeing the monster flaring up in the air, I quickly climbed up onto the edge to where Elly stood.

"Come with me! Elly!" I yanked Elly on her arm trying to pull her away from that place, every second counted, with eyes frequently glancing above. Despite that, she didn't move even an inch from her entrenched stance with both eyes still sharply locked on that monster. She didn't budge at all. She ignored me and keep staring at the currently high up in the air monster, shrouded by the fog at the cave ceiling, ready to pounce down. "Elly!" I shouted at her but she didn’t react. So, I stopped pulling on her arm and helplessly watched at her snarling face.

What should I do??

The monster screeched again and I covered my ears on reflex with eyes shifted instantly to it. The monster threw itself straight down with head pointed at us, uncovered itself from the fog. In a speed I couldn't follow. Elly stomped one foot back while she swung her hand into a fist. No fear could be sensed from her.

The monster brought a gust of raging wind as it inched closer to us. I squinted my eyes from the blasting wind and unconsciously crossed my arms in front of my face, as if it will protect me from the impact. Elly leapt up at the same time the monster had opened its beak wide to greet us. She landed her tiny fist onto the head of the monster, causing a blast of force that exploded during contact, the monster was thrusted straight and trashed to a tree further away. The trunk split and tilted to one side because of the impact, but the flinched monster was still alive and kicking. It barely regained its balance and hovered at place. Its golden eyes glinted with fury.

If that punch was landed upon a normal human, the head will be smashed right on the place, with the body staying still because of the abrupt speed and strength. Even though the punch was packed with exploding force, it didn't inflict any visible damage to the monster. But, the punch did cause the monster to be taunted and it screeched ferociously toward us. Hearing the roar of the monster, Elly gritted her teeth. Not any hesitation shown on Elly's little face, she leapt to the tree trunk, kicked and sprang from tree to tree which dented the trunk surface because of the force. Elly was jumping her way fast toward the monster. While I still stood nearby the nest, not knowing how to react.

Far from the nest but still visible to the eyes, Elly had closed the distance between them. By the moment she reached the closest tree to that monster. She sprang straight from the tree and threw her kick directly toward the monster. But, it was dodged, barely. The kick landed on the already split trunk and the tree finally broke down from the second impact. Elly flipped on air and landed her feet on the closest tree. With her little feet, she moved up and sprinted vertically on the tree trunk with unfathomable speed. The monster flew up followed her with the equal speed, rotated its body and thrust its claw toward Elly but she dodged flawlessly while she jumped and flipped over the monster toward another tree behind it. She scrunched down as she landed on the trunk, gathered a bit of momentum and sprang with a strength that caused the trunk to be smashed apart, with a leg pointing toward the monster, she landed a kick on the head once again. The monster was sent straight down, hit the ground, the area was destroyed and the monster roared out of grimace.

Not giving it a chance to recover, Elly continued, she landed on another nearby tree, kicked with all her might, she blurred straight down, flipped herself right above the monster and she stomped mercilessly at the thrashing monster, so powerful that it caused another earth-shaking explosion reverberating within the caves. The stalagmites on the ceiling shook wildly as if they were going to break and fall. Gust of dust caused by the impact flew all over the place with them at the center. The dust was thick enough to impede my vision. All I could hear was the scream of the monster while the earth shook every once in a while.

In the next minute, the monster suddenly jerked up from the dust, flapping its injured wing but eventually crashed back to the ground. It turned its helpless face toward Elly, who was walking leisurely out from the gust of dust. The monster quivered, fear had engraved in its eyes. With the broken wing, it could no longer soar to the sky nor escape. The monster was troubled but still didn't throw its hope away. It stood once again with pompous chest and head up glaring bravely at the tiny Elly. From a glance, Elly might have looked like a worm to the monster, but in reality, the monster was no match for Elly. The monster once again turned its body invisible, hoping to raise the chance of survival.

While I couldn’t see the monster. Elly kept walking with her eyes fixed on one place as if the invisibility didn’t happen at all. While invisible, the monster threw its attack and caused the ground to be trashed all over but Elly dodged with ease, even though the attacks was supposed to be invisible. She sprang from left, right, and to left and right again while dodging and closing the distance to the deliberate invisible monster. Elly leapt forward intended for another merciless kick but the monster successfully blocked her attack. The impact caused its invisibility to dispersed.The monster was pushed aback with one claw on the air, which it used to block her attack and staggered with another claw balancing its body on the ground.

Continuing her attack, Elly leapt toward the monster before it regained its footing, but this time, her leg was radiated with a blue glowing light probably imbued with magic. As if teleporting, she blinked forward and landed a powerful spin kick straight on its abdomen in a speed of lightning. The monster spurted black blood from its beak and was sent straight to the furthest east cave wall. Its body was forcefully thrust through layers of trees across the cave with unfaltering speed.

Trees in between Elly and the monster were shattered and smashed down. The monster crashed straight onto the cave wall and mashed flat from the crash before it slid down to the ground. It was the end for that monster. I put all my strength onto my feet and started sprinting toward Elly. She jumped into a distance branch and stared emotionless at the dying monster. Speckled of blood painted on her face, her blue eyes glistened like a bloodthirsty predator.

The once gorgeous looking monster had thrown into a bloody mess. Blood spurting out from its teared open flesh, the lustrous blue feathers were now stained with its own black blood, the majestic wings of it had broken into pieces, it was not a shape of a wing supposed to have. It was a sight painful to see. The monster squealed in agony because of the faint consciousness it still maintained in that gruesome state. Elly casually leapt from branch to branch toward the monster and eventually reached by its side. She moved closer and clenched her fist. The sparkle on her blue eyes vanished and she was about to throw another deadly punch to that dying monster. I didn't like what I was going to see.

"Elly!! Stop!" I ran with uncontrolled breath while shouting at her. But, she didn't hear my voice, her powerful fist thrust straight, shattered the skull of the monster, blood splattered like a firework, the inside was scattered all over the place. The monster's head had been crushed into pulp and the body stopped moving from the absent of its brain. It was the end of its life. I was staggered at the moment she landed that fist. Even though the monster was obviously dead. Elly didn't stop. She drew her fist again. Shadow covered her face. My throat was bubbling hot. And my body seemed to be strangely contained with energy.

"ELLY!!"

My voice reverberated within the cave. I almost choked from the shout I yelled out by myself. Similar to the one Elly screamed previously, the sound travelled with a visible transparent waves that slightly distorted the view, to all over the cave in a lightning speed. I was surprised. But, it did abruptly stopped Elly from throwing another fist. So, I will think about that later.

Elly turned her emotionless face toward the direction of the sound. In a sec, she looked like as if she didn't recognize me. But then, the light gradually returned to her eyes, a smile was put on her face, she retracted her hand while turning her body facing me. Elly had returned to her usual self.

"Yuu?" She tilted her head while looking at me, her face spotted with blood, her hand was coated all black and still dripping fresh blood. She raised that bloody hand and waved at me cheerfully. "Yuu... Yuu!!" She jumped on place happily with the gruesome body of the monster by her side. I noticed that there were still some slimy substances around her mouth, which was from the egg that was laid by the monster she just brutally killed. The monster was just protecting its eggs. I felt bad for the monster. But, still, we need to survive too. I didn't think Elly's doing was wrong. It's just, that the way she ended it, was a bit hard to swallow.

She grinned happily while showing her teeth from ear to ear. I forced a smile back at her. What just happened had deeply etched in my mind.

Elly is not someone that I should provoke with no reason.