Chapter 39: The Impossible Escape
Every strike from the Commander's massive fists shook the entire cave, sending violent tremors through the rocks that barely protected them. Inside the narrow gap, dust rained down, and small rocks crumbled from the ceiling and walls, threatening to crush them at any moment. The sound was deafening, a mix of the Commander's angry roar and the shattering of rock.
Kaelen, Emily, Caleb, Ethan, and Laila were crammed into the gap, their bodies pressed together, each one trying to make themselves as small as possible. Emily and Caleb were pressed against Kaelen from the sides, while Ethan and Laila trembled behind them, their eyes filled with terror. Kaelen felt weakness creeping into his bones, but he forced himself to stay vigilant. There was no room for surrender now.
"We can't stay here!" Kaelen yelled, trying to raise his voice above the enormous noise. "This wall won't hold for long."
Emily was panting, her hair covered in dust. "But... where do we go?"
"There must be another way out," Caleb said, his eyes scanning the narrow gap. "Or at least a deeper place to hide."
Kaelen's heart was pounding wildly. He had almost completely exhausted his energy in the last rush. The pain in every muscle of his body was screaming, but his mind was working at a feverish pace. He looked at the Commander, who was striking the wall in a semi-regular pattern, focusing on almost a single point. Each blow was leaving a deeper crack in the rock.
"He's focusing on one point!" Kaelen said suddenly, his eyes lighting up with a dangerous idea. "He's trying to create a breach."
"If he continues, the entire wall will collapse!" Laila said in a faint voice, her eyes widening.
"That's exactly what we want," Kaelen said, the tone of his voice carrying a desperate resolve. "When he makes a gap big enough... we'll go through it."
Everyone looked at him in shock. "Are you crazy?" Ethan said. "He could crush us!"
"We have no other choice!" Kaelen retorted forcefully. "We'll wait for the right moment. When a large part of the wall collapses, there will be a moment of confusion. That's our only chance."
The plan was insane, but desperation was driving them. Every blow brought them closer to death or to a chance at survival. The wall began to crack visibly, and larger fragments of rock began to fall.
"Get ready!" Kaelen yelled. "When I say 'now'... run as fast as you can!"
Their bodies tensed, their eyes fixed on the point of collapse. The Commander gathered all its strength for one final, decisive blow. Its massive fist rose into the air, then fell with destructive force.
BOOOOM!
The rock wall at that point exploded, sending a massive cloud of dust and flying debris. The cave shook violently, and the Commander's angry roar rose up. In that moment of absolute chaos, with visibility almost zero, Kaelen screamed at the top of his lungs:
"NOW!"
They all rushed forward, Kaelen in the lead, followed by Emily, Caleb, Ethan, and Laila, dodging falling rocks and debris. They didn't look back. They passed through the gap the Commander had created itself, finding themselves in a narrow, dark passage, barely able to see their way. Their breaths were ragged, and their hearts were pounding wildly, but they had survived... for a moment.
The Commander's roar echoed behind them, growing more distant with every desperate step they took in the darkness. But they were not safe yet. They had entered an unknown part of the cave, and darkness surrounded them on all sides, carrying with it the promise of new dangers.