11. Find the bunny

A rat and a dog sat in uneasy silence, their conversation laced with hesitation and half-started sentences. The air between them was thick with awkwardness, the kind that clung like damp wool, refusing to dissipate.   Elsewhere, Merlin, weary from the day’s trials, attempted to rest. Cre, however, found himself drawn by an inexplicable sign—a nudge from something unseen. It felt like an invitation, a whispering urge, and before he could second-guess it, he was chasing a pinecone into the cave’s yawning darkness, leaving Merlin alone, slumbering and exposed. When Cre finally caught up with the group, Lia made a choice. She would go back, unwilling to leave Merlin vulnerable in the depths.   The party pressed onward, deeper into the mine’s tangled corridors, following the path where one of the Uloon bandits had fled earlier. The descent was treacherous, a downward hike that tested their footing, the air growing colder with every step. Eventually, they stumbled upon a crossroads—a place where the tunnels split into three separate paths. The darkness was thick, suffocating. They strained their ears, listening, searching. Only the third path yielded anything—a faint, skittering sound, something small but restless. Uncertain of what lurked there, they elected to take the first path instead.   It led them to a chasm, deep and relentless, slicing through the earth like an open wound. Water rushed below, whispering secrets as it passed, and above it stood a bridge—rickety, fragile, betraying the promise of safety with each swaying plank. Gwen sent her familiar, Persephone, across first. The snake moved with cautious grace, but the bridge had no mercy. A plank splintered beneath her, and in a sickening instant, Persephone plunged into the cold waters below. The group hesitated, their pulses quickening. This bridge wasn’t worth the risk. Defeated, they turned back and tried the second path.   Here, danger found them quickly. Two Uloon and a Vudd lurked in the shadows, waiting, striking without warning. The fight was brief but brutal. Blades flashed, spells crackled, and in the chaos, the bridge across the chasm—already fragile—was obliterated, reduced to splintered ruin. There was no turning back now. The only path left to them was the third.   They ventured into it, stepping into the heart of skittering nightmares. Spiders. Two massive creatures and swarming clusters of smaller ones, eyes glinting in the dim light. The battle that ensued was fierce, each strike met with thrashing legs, venom-dripping fangs snapping too close for comfort. When the last of the creatures fell, the party wasted no time. They fashioned a makeshift rope bridge, testing its strength before taking the plunge, crossing one by one, each heartbeat an eternity.   The other side was no kinder. More Uloon. More Vudd. The clash of steel and shouts filled the cavern as the group fought tooth and nail. But then—one enemy broke away, sprinting toward a larger, open space. The party pursued, weaving through the mine’s cold veins, and there, in the flickering torchlight, stood a cage.   And inside it—Daisy.