by Jack Crosby
I didn’t get the lucky bounce this time for a Blizzard Blade, but it did finish the old door off. Instead of dying, however, he just grunted and the battle came to a close.
Once out of it, he coughed some more before speaking. “You two got the drop on me,” he rumbled, shaking the entire place.
“You shouldn’t have neglected your duties and allowed this place to enter such despair,” Zara chided him back.
His single eye began to focus on her. “You! What are you doing here?”
I gave a side glance over to her, but she didn’t seem too concerned with the door’s recognition of her. “I think you know why. Just open the door and allow me and my companion entry.”
He looked like he was going to attack for a second time, but then thought better of it. “You were lucky here today, creature. The next judgment door will be prepared.”
“I would expect no less.”
This was very confusing. I was sure I was missing something, but I kept my mouth shut. The large door swung open, creaking along the way. Once it did, the face disappeared and the door fell off of its hinges. “I doubt that meets code restrictions,” I joked.
“The magic keeping him here was broken when he relented.” She reignited her smaller fire spell, illuminating the room behind the door. “It’s a shame that this doesn’t have the same splendor it once did, Dante.”
To me, it looked like an overgrown greenhouse. There was an old stained-glass window on the top; it was so smudged up that barely any light came through. The room itself wasn’t all that large, just covered in greenish black vines and dead plants. Zara walked in and I followed along. It didn’t take but a few steps to get to the middle, right under the window.
“Here is where we will discover the first clue,” she explained.
“Clue?” I asked, dumbly. “Okay Zara, give a guy a bone here.”
She snapped her fingers and a black pair of wings spread out behind her back. “You’re probably too young to remember these.”
My whole body froze. The night Rex and I fled from the kingdom and down to the earth below, I caught a glimpse of the monster that destroyed Skylonus. The black dread wings were a lot smaller here today than they were that night, but I knew exactly who this was.
I drew my blade. “You’ll likely kill me, but I can’t let what you did go unpunished.”
The wings disappeared. “You’re right, Dante, I would likely kill you in battle. Yet you are wrong about the other – I didn’t choose to do that. I was summoned to.”
That was just lip service. “Wrong; everyone knows the devil dragon causes nothing but chaos and ruination.”
Zara, or Tiamat as she was better known, placed her hand on my sword and gently pushed it down out of her face. “Dante, do you know what happens when a summoner calls forth one of my brethren or myself?”
“Why does it matter?”
“Because they are temporarily given control over us. We have no choice but to carry out the command. It just so happens my powers are used more for death and carnage than some of the others.”
I was so skeptical about this. My hand was still gripped tightly around the Kraken’s Wrath hilt, even though the likelihood of my striking out against Tiamat was very low. “Your attack caused me to grow up without a home, without friends my own age or my family.”
She nodded. By now, her pupils had formed the slits best known with dragons. “Words won’t heal the hurt, but I do offer something else.”
“What’s that?”
“A chance to fight back. There are four hidden places in this world, the Forest Temple just being the first. Each one holds a clue in unlocking my power; making sure Gibraltar can never use me again as a weapon. Here, look…”
The two of us stepped up to the pedestal in the middle of the room. There was a shimmering outline, as if something should have been there but wasn’t. I went to touch it and for a second, I saw a bright red stone light up, before it disappeared again.
“The first stone is a ruby,” she said.
“What does it mean?”
“One day this will all make sense. For now, you won’t remember any of this when you go back in a minute or two.”
Wow – wait? “What do you mean I won’t remember?”
“These areas are enchanted, meaning what happens here stays here until the time of action is demanded. Everything will make sense when it is meant to.”
Tiamat moved on me, fast. Her arm wrapped around my waist and she kissed me fully on the lips. I felt her fork like tongue dart into my mouth, just for a moment. “Until we meet again, Dante, whether it is in the next dungeon or in real life.”
My head started to get all foggy and everything faded away.
::Zara left party::
****
My eyes opened for a second – Kira was still there, sleeping. Hmmm, I was having a very weird, but vivid dream, but couldn’t remember anything that had happened. I shrugged my shoulders and fell back to sleep.
****
Like clockwork, the moment the effects of the tent were up, we were both refreshed and ready to travel. “That was quite the moment together, Prince Dante.”
“I’d very much agree!” My smile couldn’t have been wider, even if I tried. “We should definitely do that again,” I suggested.
“We can and we will, but first thing’s first, we need to make it to Gibraltar.”
Of course. The mention of Gibraltar brought everything back to reality. I needed to go and find Rex before anything bad could happen to him. “Once we leave the safety of the Wild Lands, who knows what’ll be waiting for us out there.”
“As long as we’re together, we’re stronger than anything they can throw at us.”
Her attitude was refreshing and I was quite happy to have her on as a party member. With the tent packed up, we were ready to hit the road and exit the second place I’d called home.
**Left Wildlands**
**Entered Gobi Mountains**
A vast set of mountains gave Gibraltar a natural barrier from threats to the east. The Wildlands also provided another obstacle, though one that wasn’t nearly as dangerous. As we passed the final tree, Kira and I took in the great mountain path let led up the only passageway that was accessible this time of year.
“That looks quite ominous,” I said without a hint of sarcasm.
“Stories of the beasts that live in these mountains travels fast. It is up to us to make sure it is clear for Master Yamato and the rest.”
No pressure at all with that, I thought to myself. Still, she was right. With us in the lead, it was our job to ensure the safety of those who followed. So we took our first steps on to the gravel path and began to make our way up. It didn’t take long for the air to get very chilly, very quickly.
I could hear Kira’s teeth clattering together. “Are you okay?” I asked.
“I forgot how cold it was up here. Let’s just keep pushing ahead and get off this mountain quickly.”
That was a plan I could get behind. Still, I took off my overcoat and handed it to her. She took it, reluctantly, but I was glad to see her chills calming down. If either of us froze, we’d be no help in the mission.
“HEEEEELLLLLPPPPPP!”
We both looked at each other. “Whoever that is, they’re close,” Kira observed.
Grabbing my sword, I braced myself for whatever came into view. And what came into view was a smoking hot redhead being chased by a group of kobolds.
Kira prepared herself, too. “Are you ready, Dante?”
“You know it.”
The redhead raced by us, but the kobolds stopped and the battle began. Before anyone could even make a move, the redhead rejoined us. “I can help you two.”
She was carrying a crossbow and was wearing a set of armor that screamed makeshift hunter. “If you’re a good shot, we’ll take all the help.”
The redhead’s speed was out of this world. She got the first crack at these cold weather bastards: Multi-arrows
A blast of arrows ripped out of the crossbow and carpet bombed the kobolds. There were four of them and each one took a decent hit, probably lost a quarter of their health. Kira followed up with a regular attack: One-two combo
The lead kobold was hurting, but he beat me to the punch: Razor’s edge
The kobold’s claws dug into my body and man, those things were sharp. That charm I’d gotten from the boar did the trick, though. Not that much health was lost. “You’re going to regret that,” I fired.
It was my turn: Quick strike
With one kobold down, the odds quickly went to our favor. The three of us fell into a good rhythm together and one by one, the kobolds met the same fate as the very first. As Kira struck the last blow with an Uppercut attack, experience points and gold rained down on us. Kira and I both bumped levels to fourteen and thirteen, and our new friend jumped to level fifteen.
We didn’t get any cool equipment, but that was okay. “You two okay?” I asked the girls.
They nodded and sighed. “That was quite the greeting,” Kira said to the newcomer. “I’m Kira and this is Dante. We’re scouts for the Nagano Empire on a mission of diplomacy to Gibraltar.”
I was worried she said too much. “I’m Alyssa, wild game hunter and part time mercenary. Sorry you caught me in a rather embarrassing moment.”
“Not at all,” I chimed in. “Bad moments are practically my middle name.”
The pretty girl smiled at my joke and reached out with a hand. “Well it is nice to meet you, Dante, Kira.”
I shook her hand first and couldn’t get over how soft her skin was. It was like expensive velvet. Kira noticed me lingering and pushed me out of the way so she could properly greet the lady. “Are you traveling to the Wildlands?” she inquired of Alyssa.
“Oh no, I was about halfway up the passage before the kobolds found me. Unfortunately, coming back this way was the best bet. I’m trying to get over into Gibraltar and go to the village of Matlock.”
That village name meant nothing to me. Kira knew exactly where it was, though. “We have to pass through there. You are more than welcome to join us, if you’d like.”
The girl’s eyes lit up. “Thank you so much. These mountains are very dangerous and there is safety in numbers.”
::Alyssa the hunter joined the party::
With the three of us marching forward, we discovered a save point right around the first turn. “We should probably take advantage of that,” I said.
Save Point 2; Disc 1
Dante (lvl 14)/Kira (lvl 13)/Alyssa (lvl 15)
After saving, we reentered the path. Snow began to fall, which only made the traveling worse. We didn’t see the next two sets of enemies to attack us; a group of wolves and two Gibraltar soldiers. It wasn’t anything our new group of three couldn’t handle. Alyssa was a crack shot with that crossbow, but it didn’t get by me that she had a knife on her hip. I wondered where that skill came into play.
Once we reached the top of the trail, we decided it was time to take a break. “We’ve been at this for quite a long time,” I said as I found a nice rock to sit on.
“How can anything find these conditions livable.”
“Many monsters and dangerous wildlife call these mountains home, Kira was it?”
The blonde nodded to the redhead, pleased that she remembered her name just after a short period of time. Unlike that mage, Zara, Kira seemed to actually like having Alyssa with us. Hmmm, Zara, there was something about her that was uncanny and different.
I didn’t expect to see Zara anytime soon, but sitting here, freezing my as off wasn’t a great option to pass the time. As soon as we were rested, we needed to leave the safety of this little cove and begin the much longer and winding path down the mountain to Gibraltar. Rex and I had heard tales of the other side of the mountain passage – dangerous and unruly were words often used to describe it.
“Hmmm, what’s that?” I asked, pointing to a small opening.
“It looks like a small cave. I wonder if something is living in there.”
Kira got up after her observation and went over. “Yeah, there’s something in there, all right.”
Alyssa armed her crossbow with a wicked looking bolt. “Do you want me to take a blind shot?”
I joined the two of them by the opening. “What if it is something harmless, just looking for a rest from this frigid mountain air. Let’s see if we can’t tempt it out before jumping the gun.”
Kira opened her satchel and brought out a piece of meat. I didn’t even know she carried random meat around. Seeing my confused stare, “This goes with a noncombat skill; Beast lure. I’m not all that proficient at it, but here goes.”
She set the bait down and the three of us backed up. We waited and sure enough, something moved out of the hole. It was an odd-looking creature with the head of a small bear but the body and of raccoon.
It grabbed the meat and scarfed it down in one gulp. “Thanks for the meal, everyone.”
“Did it just speak?”
“I think it did, Dante.” Kira grabbed my hand and squeezed it.
“OH MY GOD!” Alyssa squealed. “It’s a bearcat!”
The little creature stood on its hind two legs and bowed at us. “The name’s Rico, but yeah, I’m a bearcat. A freezing cold bearcat, but that’s my problem not yours.”
Alyssa was enamored with the little guy. “What are you doing all the way up here? Bearcats generally live in warmer climates.”
He dusted some of the snow off his coat and huffed. “I was sick of not being able to see the world. I was on my way to the Wildlands, but realized too late that I wasn’t cut out for this. Say…” his eyes got really big. “Are you guys heading back down towards Gibraltar?”
“We are,” I answered.
“Would it be cool if I tagged along?” He flashed his razor-sharp claws. “I don’t have the best stamina but my attack power is out of this world. You can use me as an ally in battle.”
Allies were rare; they were a one hit wonder in battle with huge attack power. The only downside to using them is if your opponent expected it and quick-countered. Because of their low health score, the ally’s attack would fail and they would be knocked out of battles for a bit until they recovered.
Still, having a bearcat ally seemed too good to pass up. “We can do that, if the ladies don’t mind?”
Alyssa was practically jumping up and down over the thought and traveling with the cute critter. “No complaints here.”
“I am also keen to help the bearcat.”
So it was settled.
::Rico the Bearcat joined the party::
Rico jumped up on my back, thankfully not digging his claws into my skin. With a party of four, we picked everything up and began the trek down the other side. It wasn’t long at all before we discovered there were new enemies waiting for us.
Two blob like monsters were blocking our path forward. “Are those snow sludges?”
“They sure are, Kira.” Rico shook his head. “I didn’t expect those two to keep following me.”
We all readied our weapons. “There’s no going around them, so it looks like we’ll have to go through. Everyone ready?”
The girls signaled forward and we took the action to the snow sludges. The two of them were expecting a bearcat, not a group of skilled warriors. With the surprise on our side, I felt the first attack should go to Rico: Ally assist
The bearcat leapt forward off my back and ripped his claws into the first sludge. His attack power was off the charts! He earned a back hit, critical, and overkill all on one move! The first snow sludge disappeared without even knowing what hit him.
“You didn’t need us,” a very happy Kira shouted.
“I never would’ve gotten the drop on them without your guys’ speed ratings,” he countered.
Whether he needed us or not, between Kira and Alyssa getting the next attacks in, the snow sludge’s partner never stood a chance. An Uppercut and Turbo bolt put the
last enemy to bed and we reaped the rewards of gold and experience. That was almost too easy.
“We got lucky on that one,” Alyssa killed the mood. “Snow sludges, when not caught like that, are damn hard and tricky to defeat. Let’s be thankful this time, but keep our guard up.”
“You speak more like a soldier and less like a hunter,” Kira observed.
“I was a soldier in another life,” she admitted. “But that’s neither here nor there. We should move on before we attract any negative attention.”
It was safe to say that topic was closed for business. We picked up and kept moving down, taking Alyssa’s advice and being very careful. Turns out she had good reason to say those things. The next group of snow sludges we encountered took a hell of a lot more to kill than the first two. We needed to use up some of our healing potions afterwards to get back to level.
“Any of you two going to get any cure spells soon?” I joked.
Unfortunately, none of us was a mage of any sort. There were three kinds, white, black, and blue. White mages were the healing kinds that had access to holy spells. Black mages tapped into the primal elements and used those are offense. Blue mages stole skills of their enemies and used them against their targets. Blue mages were rare, or so Rex told me as he explained life on the world below when I’d been a little bit younger.
With no mages in sight, we just needed to be careful and make sure we didn’t blow through our potions too quickly. We fought the next group of enemies much smarter; two wolves and a snow sludge. And as a bonus, we all leveled up which gave us a free refill on all of our stats. We were halfway down the mountain and not doing too bad.
Both Kira and Alyssa got new skills. “Dragon punch,” Kira told me. “That’s going to be real useful as it has the fire element attached. These snow and ice elementals won’t know what hit them.”
“My Blizzard blade has been quite useless.”
“I got Split shot; so ordinary attacks will now break off into two. That’ll save some skill points in the future.”