by Noah Layton
‘Precious stones… You come across a lot of those in the rivers?’
‘Sometimes. We explored many passages of water across these parts of Agraria. The land does not only hold things that grow, but shining things that the earth creates and stores.’
I had never considered that before. I had been so focused on crops that I had neglected to think of the other bounties that the land offered up. The land that I had explored so far had largely been dominated by trees and shrubbery, but in rocky areas there could be other things – ores and precious metals to name a few.
I would just need to find somewhere that hadn’t been ransacked by other explorers.
Elera pocketed the necklace in her inventory and put out the lights in the cave, leaving us with only one torch which she carried.
I checked my weapons. The scimitar remained the most appropriate weapon of choice down here considering the limited fighting space. I wasn’t satisfied with that alone, so I produced my Arcane Blast power stone and equipped it in my left hand.
‘They’re afraid of magic, right?’ I said. ‘This might give us a little extra help at keeping them away from us.’
She led me to the opening in the wall and raised the fire to it. It was just large enough for me to crouch within, but seemed to open up fifteen or twenty yards ahead.
‘Are you ready?’
‘Are you?’ Elera asked me.
‘Born ready,’ I smiled, faking a little confidence. ‘Lead the way.’
Elera headed into the tunnel just ahead of me as I followed her. As the tunnel opened up enough for me to stand up straight, I looked over my shoulder back towards the hidden cave that had been her home for months.
There was nothing but darkness. I couldn’t even see the entrance any longer.
We were the light-bearers now, and if it went out the monsters at our heels would cut us down in the darkness and devour us alive.
Elera led me quietly along tunnels that expanded and contracted over and over the further we delved into them.
Every so often I would hear a sound that wasn’t our suppressed footsteps against the rocks or our quashed breath.
The sounds of the sirens was animalistic, but the more I heard from the unseen tunnels that surrounded me on the other sides of the rocks, the more they started to sound like mocking cackles.
We’re coming to kill you, and there’s nothing you can do about it. This is our territory.
I shook my head of the thought, glancing over my shoulder then turning ahead to see Elera holding her hand up in a halting motion.
She turned to me, then pointed straight ahead of us.
A lone siren was crouching in the tunnel ahead. In the firelight the silhouette of its form flickered, coming into view then disappearing over and over again.
Elera placed a finger on her lips, then pointed to my scimitar, then her own neck.
I got the hang of what she was saying – pierce it through the neck and kill it swiftly. If I gave the creature a chance to move it wouldn’t hesitate in trying to slaughter me, or worse, to screech for help.
Its scaly body rose and fell with each shuddering breath that it took.
Elera hung back, shedding enough light for me to see but not so much that it would awaken the siren from its restless slumber.
I readied the scimitar and took a step forward. Suddenly I realized just how loud the crunching of my boots was against the ground.
I continued forwards, watching my every step.
The siren’s sleeping whimpers became more disturbed the closer I got, until I halted just a few feet behind it and held my breath.
I only had one shot at this. If I missed and it had a chance to screech, its hundreds of friends would come running and rip mine and Elera’s flesh from our bones until we were reduced to skeletons.
I raised my sword, calculated the jab, and used both hands to drive the blade forwards.
The mass of scales and gills upon its neck startled me at first; for a second I thought that it would slip and I would go slamming to the side.
Once the blade cut through, though, its inner flesh collapsed so fast that I almost did fall forwards.
The siren let out a sharp cough as I pierced its neck from one end to the other. Its body went rigid, suspended on my sword as its limbs outstretched like the reflex action of a dead spider whose exoskeleton had been disturbed.
I remained there for what felt like a quiet eternity. The siren’s gargles and coughs grew more withered until they stopped altogether, and its limbs fell limply at its sides.
I pulled my sword out. The siren’s body collapsed forward messily, unmoving.
In the approaching firelight of Elera’s torch, I caught sight of the blue liquid dropping from the blade of my weapon.
‘The blood of a fish-beast,’ she whispered. ‘Their innards are like acid. It is best not to let it touch your skin.’
I checked myself and wiped the blood on my sword upon the creature’s body.
Elera continued to lead the way through the tunnels of the cave. We ran into no more sirens or creatures in the dark as we proceeded along further passageways.
Every so often the sounds of screeching and howling would come our way. With each cackling caw we stopped in our tracks, hardly daring to breathe until the sounds came to an end and we continued along our way.
How much could I really trust this nymph? Elera was my only way out of this place; whether I trusted her or not didn’t really matter, but the prospect of her betraying me was constantly in the back of my mind.
But why would she have saved me in the first place? Surely it would have been easier just to leave me to the sirens than to go to the trouble of rescuing me.
I repeated my mantra in my head.
‘We are here.’
Our current passageway arced left and widened sharply. It gave onto a large, high-ceiling cavern with a large waterfall in the centre.
The blue water that rushed through was so bright that it seemed to give off a dim light that lit our way, constantly vanishing and entering.
I knew the real source of the light – the stone that lurked within.
There were no sirens in sight, so far as I could see, but that made sense – those guarding it would want to stay as far away from the light as possible.
Elera pulled me down to crouch by the entrance as I marvelled at it.
‘The thing you seek is within the water there.’
‘Inside it?’
‘The water falls in a circle. The centre is sheltered. The sirens hide the stone there so that it may not harm them.’
I looked around the cavern for any sign of a siren. The only suggestion that there were any nearby was the occasional faint screeching, but I had no doubt that they were too far away to cause any immediate threat.
‘Wait here,’ I said. ‘Keep a lookout for any of those bastards coming our way. The moment I’m out of there we make a break for the exit and get the fuck out of here.’
‘Be fast. I have no desire to dwell in this place long.’
‘You’re telling me.’
‘Go.’
I dashed out from our hiding place and hurried across to the waterfall’s edge. Droplets splashed me as I stood before it.
Looking into the water, I was unable to see anything beyond the constant flow.
I was just going to have to trust Elera and brave it.
Sword at the ready, I jumped through the water and onto the other side.
Immediately I was soaked by the powerful stream. I emerged sharply onto the other side and found myself within the inner chamber, surrounded by water on all sides.
It was unbelievably secluded despite the crushing sound all around me, but all of that fell away at the sight of the power stone. It was sat upon a pedestal directly in the centre of the small space. Light from its core lit the area brightly.
Power stones were damn difficult to come by. This one would be assigned to the Telekinetic Blast spell that I had found in
the chest.
And it was right in front of me. Could it really be this easy?
There were no prehistoric alarms that would set it off, no booby traps...
In a swift movement I snatched it up.
Nothing changed.
I turned and exited the waterfall, marvelling at the stone.
And that was when I came face to face with a siren.
I didn’t even think about it.
I raised my sword and slashed out, but didn’t hit the mark.
The blade cut through the beast’s chest, spilling blood, but its vocal chords were still working just fine.
‘RAAAARRRRKKKK!!!’
I kicked the siren back and swung out, cutting through its neck, sending it flailing to the ground.
Elera hurried over to me from her hiding place.
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’
‘How should I have gone about doing that? Calling out to you and bringing them our way even faster?’
I heard something feral and angry far-off. Elera clasped her hand over my mouth, and we both listened.
A chorus of screeching rose up all around us in the caves. They were everywhere.
And they were all coming to kill us.
Shit.
‘RUN!’
Elera took my hand in hers and we high-tailed it for the exit.
We dashed rapidly along a series of new tunnels.
With every corner we turned I expected to come face to face with the sirens, but somehow me managed to avoid them – right up until I thought we were home free.
‘This way!’
We turned, the sirens hot on our heels, and came face to face with another group.
We halted in our tracks. A group of no less then forty of them monsters were waiting for us, blocking the exit. The tunnel that led up the exact same way that I had arrived.
But there was no sign of the wreckage of the Mossley.
‘Shit.’
I took the torch and brandished it before me. The faces of the sirens faces filled with fear, and they collectively staggered back, away from the light.
Together we moved forward as I growled out like an animal, swinging the torch back and forth.
Soon enough the other group arrived at our other side.
There were no less than a hundred of them now. They had us surrounded on both sides – the way we had come and the way we intended to go.
‘We need to do something, Tall-man!’
‘I’m thinking!’
We were back to back, pushed up as close to each other as we could get. There was nowhere for us to go.
A nearby siren suddenly snarled and threw itself at me. It bore its claws into the air, its mouth going wide as its fangs flexed.
I swept out with the scimitar and sliced messily through one of its arms.
The brutal stench of fish guts hit me immediately as the creature hit the ground. Screams exploded from its mouth and echoed all around me.
I raised my sword and slammed it through its neck, ripping it free from its dying body.
My actions only angered the other sirens more.
They were afraid of magic, but I only had two charges left in the Arcane Blast power stone, and the one I had just acquired was totally useless at the moment.
‘Fuck this.’
I handed the torch to Elera who took the role of holding the sirens back for a second.
I hurriedly retrieved the Arcane Blast power stone from my inventory, then-
‘Arcania!’
I launched a torrent of purple flames at the closest group of sirens.
One unlucky siren was suddenly engulfed in flames. It screeched and howled painfully, flailing around for help, but its companions had no interest in helping. They all cowered away from their flaming kin, while looking to me in fear.
I fired again, hitting another, then again.
And suddenly I found myself with only two charges remaining.
‘Shit…’
Think, man, think… Wait…
What if the Arcane Blast didn’t have to deplete?
I took the torch back from Elera and pressed my hand to the fire of the torch. ‘I really hope this works.’
‘Hope what works?’
‘Arcania!’
Purple flames expelled from my hand. The sirens in the immediate vicinity all cowered in its light.
Suddenly the orange of the fire was replaced by a constant purple flame atop the torch that remained alight.
I smiled maniacally, brandishing my sword and magical torch, casting the latter back and forth before me.
The fear in the eyes of the sirens ignited immediately. Their screeches became low and filled with terror. They were almost falling over each other to move further from the light.
Elera and I spun back to back. I continued to wave the flames before me, sending the sirens back in waves.
‘We need to move like this,’ I said. ‘Keep turning and we stay alive. Get us to the exit, now.’
We began our trek through the tunnel, turning steadily the entire time. It was the only way to keep them away from us, and even with that fact considered the sirens still pursued us to the bottom of the pit that I had first landed in.
The mud that had almost sucked me into the ground was pooled across the tunnel floor as we approached it. It was layered only slightly, but I still had to fight to pry my boots from it.
Stopping beneath the pit, I looked up.
The rotting carcass of the Mossley was splayed out in the tunnel above. It’s two sides had separated entirely then compressed together, and were now suspended precariously in the tunnel just five yards over our heads.
Rocks jutted from the walls far enough for us to climb up them. If we could make it to the Mossley there was a chance that we could make it out of the caves altogether.
A chance.
Elera began the climb while I waited at the base with the torch. With every sweep to keep the sirens back, I saw the flames begin to die. In less than a minute they would be reduced to embers, and I would be encased in darkness.
My sword was sharp, but the sirens outnumbered me vastly. They would easily overwhelm me.
I had one charge left on the power stone. Even if I reignited the torch, I couldn’t carry it and climb at the same time.
I placed the torch on the ledge and clambered up to it, leaving it there as I followed Elera up to the ship.
‘Watch yourself,’ Elera called down just below the ship. ‘They’re following us…’
At my feet the fire was dying but still keeping them at bay – my problem resided on the other side of the tunnel’s walls.
Some of the creatures were beginning to climb the walls opposite us.
‘Move!’
Elera scrambled up to the ship and pulled herself through the gap in the hull. I dragged myself up the rocky walls in pursuit of her, finally reaching it and pulling myself up.
As I dragged myself through the hole, the Mossley gave another terrifying creak now that my weight was added.
This nymph was nimble, but I couldn’t exactly say the same for myself.
I arrived by Elera’s side, who promptly climbed up to the deck ahead of me. There was hardly any light here, but as I shuffled to stand and look for the exit above I felt my foot knock against something heavy.
The explosives.
They were still down here. Somehow not a single one had gone off.
There were so many of the bastards pursuing us that I briefly considered setting them alight and riding the Mossley down into the depths as a flaming corpse, crushing every single one of them in the process, but through the screeches and the shaking a voice shouted down to me.
And it wasn’t Elera’s.
‘JACK!’
‘ARIADNE?!’
I leaped up and pulled myself through the gap to the deck. Elera grabbed my arm and helped me clamber to the surface.
‘JACK! GRAB THE ROPE!’
The surface was ten yards ab
ove us. The mud that had surrounded the Mossley was leaking down the walls of the pit, having dissipated and slipped down beneath the earth. It was so thick that even after hours it hadn’t reached the rocks we had climbed at the bottom to reach the shipwreck.
Hanging over one of the Mossley’s broken masts which had become suspended over the pit was the rope that had once been around my waist. It was rapidly being lowered – but it wasn’t going to reach us.
‘Raarrk!’
A siren appeared through the gap that I had just emerged through. I struck at it with my blade, slicing through its face and sending it falling back into the hold.
‘Tall-man!’
Elera pointed up to the remaining mast. Its end had snapped, but from a foothold at its remaining part there was a chance that we could make it to the rope.
I moved first, testing my weight and scrambling up with Elera right behind me.
At its peak I gauged the jump. I could make it.
My peripheral vision was filled with our encroaching enemies, scrambling up the walls to get to us, dodging patches of sticky mud as they crawled like flies.
‘TAKE THE ROPE!’
I leaped into the air, reaching madly for my salvation.
My hands grasped around the rope and I swung uncontrollably through the air.
With my first return back to the mast, Elera leaped to me and clasped her arms around my waist.
‘BRING US UP!’
The rope began to heave with grunts from above following each jolting movement upwards that we made.
On the deck of the Mossley, the sirens were clambering through the gap too quickly. We were moving, but they would reach the walls and clamber up to us before we reached the surface.
All it would take is a jump from one to reach the rope and bring us down into the hellish pit of monsters below.
It was beyond lucky that the explosives inside the hold hadn’t gone off when the ship had collapsed the first time, but now their presence became a miracle.
I retrieved the Arcane Blast power stone once more and equipped it.
I had one shot to do this right.
I pulled a hand from the rope and pointed it down to the hold. My own bodyweight and Elera’s was being supported by nothing but a single hand, which was also trying to cling onto the stone.
‘Kill them!’
‘Wait…’