212 The Danger Lurking Around

CHAPTER 212

"Get down!"

The urgency could be felt in Marin's voice as she whispered to them. Following her instructions, Coralia and Doris dove back into the water the same time she did.

The moment they dove back in, Jareth moved his gaze to the side. His eyes narrowed and his brows furrowed as he stared ahead. Soon, his sharp eyes started darting around, scanning their surroundings.

Astrid caught sight of his action and followed his line of gaze. "What is it?" she asked, her own eyes searching for any possible clue as to what he was looking at.

He didn't answer her but fixed his gaze ahead. Astrid moved forward, hoping to get a better look at what he was looking at. 

"Get back, Astrid." His head snapped to where she was in front of him.

She finally stopped and turned to look at him. "What is the matter, I do not see anything?"

"I thought I sensed something lurking around just now, but it is gone. I can't sense it anymore."

"Is it an animal, a dangerous beast perhaps?" She moved back to where it was, her gaze returning to the little white tiger phoenix beast.

"Did you sense it as well, Snow?"

"No master, but come to think of it, I did sense something when I first came out of the cave. I got distracted when I heard your voice and ran to you." Snow replied her through their mind link.

"Hmm, this proves that there is obviously something hiding around," Astrid said, confirming Snow's words.

She shifted her gaze back to Jareth. "We need to leave here, Jareth."

"Yes, I know, it is not safe to be outside now, we need to get back inside the cave. Who knows, what kind of beast is in the vicinity," Jareth replied her, taking a swift glance around.

"That's not what I meant, Jareth. Let us leave here. It is too dangerous to go back inside."

"It would be more dangerous outside, Astrid." Jareth countered her words. She was not thinking of the bigger picture here.

"What if what is lurking around is inside the cave, wouldn't that pose a much greater threat going back to its lair, its den? Nahh!"

She shook her head, clearly showing him her disagreement.

Jareth let out a soft sigh at her disapproval and carefully let Snow down, moving closer to her.

"Hey, think of it this way. We do not know what awaits us here at the dead of the night and whatever beasts there would be, they would be at an advantage. It is their territory and they probably can see at night, but we, on the other hand, it would be like entering the lions then."

Jareth moved closer to her and took her hand in his. "On the other hand, if we do go back to the cave, we reduce the risk of the number of beasts attacking us and besides, we can take it on. Don't worry, I would protect you, Astrid."

Also, there is even the probability of whatever is lurking around not to be in the cave and just outside.

After some minutes of convincing, Astrid finally agreed and the team all went back into the cave.

Fortunately, for Marin, when she was watching Jareth's every movement from the side, she had already predicted his movement and knew he was about to sense them, that was when she made them hide fast.

Not only that, knowing he was an elf and that his senses were extremely sharp, Princess Marin created a water cloak above them.

The water cloak was a thick layer of water used to conceal something and at the same time, making it seem like what is, isn't, like it was never there in the first place.

And no matter how big the object is, it can cloak it perfectly well.

So when Jareth had peered deep just from where he was standing, he couldn't have been able to see what laid beneath, other than the clear depth of the river.

By the time they were gone, Princess Marin rose from the water, so just her upper body could be seen. After about a minute of careful searching, she beckoned on them to all come out.

Not too far from where they had been just now, towards the side of the river, Princess Marin finally emerged out of the water, so only her chest up could be seen.

She quickly scanned everywhere, her bluish-purple eyes moving to and fro in the dark night, making sure no one was hiding to catch them. After about a minute, she signalled them to come out.

All the mermaids followed her lead and in no time, several heads broke out of the surface of the water.

From the side where Coralia stayed, she could see Princess Marin's clenched fist hidden away in the water.

Although she looked calm and unperturbed, Coralia knew that was not the case. Marin couldn't act rashly and risk them being exposed, thereby letting Astrid and the Jareth escaped.

"What should we do? We cannot attack them inside the cave now," Doris whispered to Marin, breaking the silence and moving closer to her.

"True, we couldn't attack before either. We have no powers in our human form. It would have been useless leaving water to chase after them."

Marin had already carefully analyzed their situation and no matter how it seemed, it was almost impossible. Perhaps Doris was right. They did miss a golden opportunity when Astrid was in the water.

At least then they had the advantage, but who knows, they had just water but Astrid had the elements. Just two mermaids may not have been enough to finish the job. If only they had been there earlier, but regrets were too late now.

"I suggest we retreat for now and track them better, wait for another opportunity," Naida suggested.

Several of them nodded, agreeing with her suggestion.

"Bring him to me."