Tommy, Maggie, and Antonio made it inside the caverns safe and sound. The three walked deeper into the cave and away from the opening’s sunlight. They soon realized how dark the inside of the cave was. There were small light sources scattered throughout the cave depths, but none that they could reach. Antonio figured he should get out his phone and access the flashlight, but to his shock, the phone seemed to be out of batteries.

Tommy noticed some glowing mushrooms sticking out of the ground and tried to pile them into cloth to use as torches, but they gave off minimum illumination. They couldn’t risk using the crystal for light because it would draw too much attention to their presence.

They continued to press on, but Maggie stopped the two boys and motioned for them to stay silent. She told them she might have heard footsteps that didn’t belong to any of them. The three quickly hid behind a nearby wall and waited for the shadowy figures to pass. Once they were sure that the coast was clear, they snuck away in the opposite direction, with no intention of encountering whatever could be in the cave with them.

Eventually, the three of them reached a room where the crystal pointed toward the center of the ceiling. The area in the cave had bright glowing crystals dangling from the ceiling like luminous glow worms. The sand between their shoes softened with every step they took.

Tommy and Maggie walked cautiously, trying to avoid the drops of water on the softening sand as they also watched for falling crystals from the ceiling. Antonio's gaze fixated on the dazzling display of lights. He didn’t pay attention to where he walked and nearly tripped on some rocks in his path. Maggie scolded him to be more cautious with his surroundings, to which he merely nodded.

As the three reached a dead end in the road, they got confronted by a dark gray granite wall and were not sure what to do now.

Antonio noticed a yellow crystal lying on the ground nearby and went over to inspect it.

“Whoa...” He said aloud, hypnotized by the brilliance of the stone.

Tommy glanced at Antonio walking toward the crystal. His eyes widened once he realized that Antonio intended to pick it up.

“Wait, don’t do it!” He shouted, but was too late.

As Antonio moved his fingers closer to the crystal, and it gave out a little spark that sent a shock wave through his arm.

“OW!” Antonio cried as he backed away from the yellow crystal. “What the heck!?”

“Are you all right?” Tommy asked as he ran over to check on him.

“Yeah, I am, but why did it do that?” Antonio wondered while rubbing his wrists and hands.

“Well...”

“Hey, do you guys know why the crystal lead us here?” Maggie asked. “It doesn’t seem like it's shining light anymore...” She gently shook the crystal in her hands, but it wouldn’t respond.

Just then, the ground beneath her feet changed color. She bent down and went to touch it. Colorful, wet dirt covered her hands as it went under her fingernails.

Another light appeared under the soft ground; the three explorers hurriedly kneeled on the ground and dug up the sand, trying to expose the light source. They reached an object in a spherical form that projected many colors from the white light, similar to a prism.

“Whoa, what is that?” Tommy asked. “Could that be what the crystal was leaning towards?”

“No way! Is this a precious gem?” Maggie muttered to herself as she picked up the object and stared at it.

“Wait, you know what it is?” Antonio questioned, not taking his eyes off it either. There is more to this that Maggie isn’t telling us. “How do you know—?”

“Hold it right there.” A gruff male voice called out behind them.

The voice made Tommy, Maggie, and Antonio snap around, finding the guys from the previous cave incident staring back at them.

“You guys again?” Maggie asked, holding the gem behind her back.

“Why hello again, you meddling kids.” One of the Miletis greeted with a wicked grin.

“What do you want? And what are you doing here?” Maggie challenged them.

“This is one of our digging sites for collecting crystals. I never thought I’d see you three here, though. So why are you here?” The larger Mileti said.

“None of your business!” Tommy yelled, trying to sound more menacing towards the group.

“Ah, but we need to know what you have behind your back. Is that a gem?” The second Mileti inquired, pointing out that Maggie hid her arms.

“I... don’t know what you’re talking about.” Maggie lied. “And why should we?”

“That magical thing might be what our research needs. You should come with us, or at the very least, hand it over quietly...” The first Mileti warned her.

“Like we’d listen to you!” Tommy retorted.

“Yeah, we heard the whole story,” Maggie added.

“Do you think we’d help you with everything that you’ve done?”

“Oh, so you thought those creatures told you everything, huh?” The Mileti said in a bitter tone. “Well, basically, they are the ones in the wrong!”

“Huh?” Antonio’s mouth gaped. Did I hear that right?

“Those Orso Loobas started the fight; they attacked us and took away the supplies we needed for our research and safety. We had to survive on our own dangerous accord...”

“So that’s why the bears attacked from before...” Antonio muttered, lowering his head.

“That is why you should join us,” The third Meleti said as if reading Antonio’s mind. “We can work together to defeat them and find a way out of this mess!”

Tommy scratched his head. “Well, we’re still not sure about—”

“Oh no, it’s not here anymore!” Maggie cried out, frantically scanning the surrounding area. “I can’t find it; I could have sworn I held on to it...” Maggie stared at her empty hands, no longer having the crystal in her hands.

A roar erupted and echoed through the cave. “What was that?!” Tommy exclaimed as he pressed his ears together in protest.

“I think it came from outside!” Maggie exclaimed.

The trio ran toward the opening of the cave, momentarily forgetting about the intruders. The Miletis watched in disbelief at their escape.

So close. The leader of the group thought as he clenched his fists.