"It links to a caged land.  We are pets no more." stated Nii.  Then, with a quick wave of its paw, the swirling vortex was closed. 

Only the ill winds of the land and the pitch darkness of the tunnel were available to them.  Urgency beset Beet as the wind outside the cave strengthened.  He grew fearful of the armed guards that must be waiting outside, ready to rush in to catch them.  Their escape had been unplanned.  Key’s injury was proof of that.  Success seemed remote indeed. 

"Where does this cave lead?" demanded Beet with quavering urgency. 

"It leads into a darkness of sight and a luminance of the soul.  Enter it." spoke Nii. 

The being’s words, opaque in immediate meaning as they were, nevertheless strengthened Beet’s resolve.  He moved forth into the very depths of the narrow cave, cautious, concerned, crowded around by the Pimi-Mele workers.  Blindness engulfed him.  The storm outside seemed distant compared to the growing sound of twenty-three little heartbeats following his every movement. 

A wall rose up before them.  Rough and smooth it was, loose dirt clung to it in places.  Beet’s fins searched its irregular surface, feeling for an opening, but there was none.  He looked with his eyes, but the depth of the cave blocked all light.  Little did he know that the storm outside would no longer let the light of the sun reach the ground.  Everywhere it was twilight. 

Beet despaired and closed his eyes with a great sense of loss.  There was no way out.  They were trapped, Key was hurt, and Cyrn was missing.  How miserable this merry journey had become. 

A thin bluish light streaked past his vision.  Beet abruptly opened his eyes to follow it" but it was gone.  Searching quickly with his eyes he could discern nothing. 

Turning quickly to the ambiguous Nii, he asked, "Did you see that light?" 

From the night it answered, "Darkness is all that our eyes may behold."