"Is that it?" asked Ron. "Have we finally found it?"
"Only one way to find out," said Suzanne.
The group walked up to the key and took it. Alice gave it the usual examination and reported to the rest of the group.
"There is definitely powerful magic in this key. Way more powerful than our current magic key. There's only one way to find out if this key is all it's supposed to be though," reported Alice.
"I think I see its first test," said Thomas, pointing to the north end of the shrine. There was a door on the northern end.
"Try our other magic key first," suggested Suzanne. "Let's see if that key can open that door."
The group's old magic key could not open the door. However, the key that had been on the alter easily opened the locked door.
"I think this is it!" exclaimed Alice. "The Final Key!"
"About time," said Ron. "It better be all it's supposed to be. I am really tired of these hunts into dangerous areas and all this investigation just to find a key!"
"So," came a voice from within the chamber beyond the door. "You have found the Final Key. You must be powerful indeed to have made it this far."
The group entered the room and soon drew their weapons as they found a skeleton resting upon a grand throne. However, the skeleton did not seem to mean them any harm.
"Beware the Great Pit of Giaga," warned the skeleton. "All misfortune emanates from that accursed pit."
After voicing its warning, the skeleton vanished before the group's eyes.
"That was very strange," said Ron, his axe still drawn.
"Another thing for us to remember," commented Thomas. "There may be something to its warnings. It also seems I owe you all an apology."
"What for?" asked Suzanne.
"I've been criticizing this excursion since the beginning. It would seem I was wrong," apologized Thomas.
"Don't worry about it," said Suzanne. "We need some healthy skepticism on the journey."
"Though you could be less of a pain in the ass about it," suggested Alice.
Thomas chuckled at the suggestion, "I'll have to keep that in mind."
The group left the shrine and got back onto their rowboats, wondering if they had the strength to paddle upwards, since the dent in the ocean meant they would have to go "uphill." However, this dilemma was soon solved, as the water began to reform a few minutes after the group returned to their boats. After another struggle to stay afloat, the ocean returned to how it had been before, with the shrine of the Final Key once again under the ocean.
"Amazing," commented Alice. "Such elaborate defenses."
"A necessity, to be sure," said Thomas. "This key could be devastating in the wrong hands."
"It looks like we're finding ourselves under more and more responsibility, with all the artifacts of incredible power we've been accumulating recently," mentioned Ron.
"We'll have to be sure to put them to good use," said Suzanne.
Chapter 15: The Orochi
"We'll find it more and more difficult to sail," warned Captain Marbeley. "As the year reaches its end, the waters cool and icebergs and other dangers become commonplace."
It was already mid-November when the group had found the Final Key. The climate had indeed been getting colder and colder. Now the group was on their way to the city-state of Jipang that they had heard of from a man in the Portogan shrine. The four decided that they had gotten a little side-tracked by the Final Key. Nobody knew much about Jipang, especially what their political situation was or whether Jipang would be able to help the Romalian Empire and Isis.
The group had teleported the Mad Hound to Baharata and then sailed around the coast until they came across the island of Jipang. Jipang was on a tiny island east of Baharata. The four disembarked from the Mad Hound and headed into the city.
As the group entered the city they found themselves greeted by strange and sometimes unfriendly looks. While the townspeople were nowhere near as unfriendly as the people of the elven lands, the four knew that they were considered abnormal and potentially dangerous.
"It seems like we've gone to a lot of places recently that don't typically receive visitors," pointed out Ron.
"Well, Malandoras is pretty isolated from the other continents. Really, the whole eastern hemisphere is pretty cut off from the west, since there are few nations or settlements," said Alice.
The four talked with the local people trying to find an audience with the city's leader. The people of Jipang seemed downcast and low in spirits, as well as suspicious of the group's motives. The group came to a large building belonging to Himiko, leader of Jipang. The people of Jipang looked on Himiko almost as a god, believing he had the power and wisdom to achieve almost anything.
As usual, the group had their weapons and magic taken away as they sought audience with Himiko. The group was surprised to find that Himiko spent his days in a room with no throne or chair of any kind. The ruler stood awaiting the group as they entered.
"What do you want?" asked Himiko, clearly not happy to see the four travelers. "I despise outlanders such as you. You better have a good reason for being here, and you better explain that reason quickly."
"Have you heard of the Archfiend who plagues southern Tarasia?" asked Suzanne.
"Yes I have and I have no interest in hearing any more fairy tales," replied Himiko angrily. "You must be the one called Suzanne. I received a message from both the Romalian Empire and Isis about you. You may have scared that idiot emperor and his whore queen-ally into some wild goose chase, but you're not about to get me to. Leave."
"We apologize for wasting your time," apologized Suzanne as the group left Himiko's room.
"Geez," grumbled Ron once they were out of earshot of any listeners, "I think we had a friendlier welcome from the elf queen."
"What about these people makes them think they can treat people like dirt?" demanded Alice angrily.
"It would seem we have little more to gain here," pointed out Thomas.
"You're right. We should probably just leave," said Suzanne sullenly.
"Not yet," said Alice cheerfully. "We've made it a habit to stay in every place we go to for at least a night. Why break the habit now?"
"She's got a point," agreed Ron. "The townspeople don't trust us, but they haven't been hostile yet. Unless they try to kick us out we may as well stay the rest of the day."
"Fine," replied Suzanne. "We'll look for an inn and then everyone can do as they wish for the rest of the day."
The group found, however, that the only inn in Jipang had been closed to visitors for some reason. The group decided that they'd once again have to set up camp just outside of town. Suzanne was not feeling up to talking to any of the villagers so she decided to watch the camp for the rest of the day. Thomas, as usual, had no interest in talking to people and also stayed behind, as Jipang had no library for him to visit. Ron and Alice decided to head into town and look into the usual hot spots for the local news.
"I've noticed a great decrease in your determination since talking with Himiko," Thomas pointed out.
"It's nothing. I just hate all these rulers looking down on us and treating us like this," replied Suzanne.
"It's more than that. This is the third nation in a row we've failed on. We had some great initial success, but now our luck has run dry. It may have been better if our two successes were spaced between these failures, to renew our hope every so often," Thomas theorized.
"You're right. After all the success we had at first, I think I became a little bit arrogant. There's no way we could fail after going two for two, I thought," admitted Suzanne.
"I would say it was two for three. I would say Aliahan was our first try and that we were not successful with them," corrected Thomas.
Suzanne could not help but chuckle at Thomas' brunt honesty. "I suppose that's true. I guess our successes were between failures."
Suzanne's short burst of mirth quickly faded. "I can't help but remember what our good kin
g said to me when I first requested to go on this journey. He asked if my bloodlust would continue after being laughed at for such an idea. To be fair, he said it would be because we're from Aliahan, but it's the same sort of thing."
"Has your bloodlust disappeared then?" asked Thomas.
"Is that what you think this has been about?" replied Suzanne.
"To be honest: no I do not. I never thought this was about bloodlust or revenge. I always was under the impression that you, like your father, believed this sort of journey was necessary to fight a greater evil. The need to gain pride for your deceased father may also have played into it, but above all else I thought you wanted to help people," guess Thomas.
"You're right. His majesty our king was incorrect. It was never about bloodlust. I don't get a violent satisfaction or happiness every time I slay a monster. To be honest, I don't really want to fight at all. But I know I have to, so I do. No big deal really," said Suzanne.
"Don't say that. Even monsters have lives. All lives are big deals. That is another crime this Archfiend has committed. To pit monsters against humans on such a grand scale means incredible loss of life, both monster and human," scolded Thomas.
"I'm sorry. I guess I've never seen much value in the life of a monster," admitted Suzanne.
"Well you should. It may be naïve, but if monsters saw value in humans and if humans saw value in monsters, we may see less Great Wars," said Thomas.
"Hey guys! You won't believe what we found out!" called the voice of Alice as she entered the camp.
"Yeah guys, there's a reason why all the citizens here looked so down, besides our arrival," chipped in Ron.
"What reason is that?" asked Suzanne.
"These people are being terrorized by a dragon called the Orochi," explained Ron. "Apparently, the beast won't attack the village so long as the people sacrifice a beautiful young woman every so often."
"The time of the sacrifices is random, determined by none other than our darling Himiko himself," continued Alice. "The villagers say he has divine abilities that allow him to determine the longest time to go without sacrificing someone without angering the beast."
"That's awful!" exclaimed Suzanne. "No wonder everyone in the city looked so down. It wasn't just us after all. Where is this Orochi?"
"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" asked Thomas.
"Yes. We're going to slay the Orochi ourselves and save the people of this city," declared Suzanne.
"But why? They haven't asked for our help and I'm sure they've tried to slay the beast. What makes you think we'll be successful?" asked Thomas.
"We have to try. You said that once. We can't sit by while these people suffer," replied Suzanne.
"Well said!" beamed Ron. "I'm up for another dragon fight!"
"They said the Orochi lives in a nearby cave just northeast of here," said Alice. "Let's do this!"
As Alice had said, there was a cave just northeast of Jipang. The cave was only a couple of hours away from the city. The group descended into the cave and found that it was incredibly hot inside.
"Oh my goodness!" exclaimed Ron. "Perfect lair for a dragon! Could it be any hotter in here?"
"Actually, some dragons prefer the cold," corrected Alice. "They would be quite miserable in here."
"How can a bunch of things that breathe fire like the cold?" asked Ron.
"Some dragons don't breathe fire. It is said that there are some that breathe terrible gales of cold and ice," explained Alice.
"You're making that up. Everyone knows dragons breathe fire and that's that," argued Ron.
"Who's the sage here? I'm telling you, some dragons breathe ice!" yelled Alice.
"No time for arguing! They're here!" called Suzanne.
The group was confronted with two monsters that looked very similar to the human-fat monsters they fought in the cave near Baharata, the ones that could cast the confusion spells. These ones had red skin rolling off them. They still carried staves of similar nature to the green versions near Baharata.
Deciding that magic would be worthless against the creatures, Alice took out her sword and ran at one of the creatures. She gave it a slash across the midsection. However, the creature's layers of skin and fat kept the blow from being anywhere near fatal. The two creatures then displayed incredible agility as they quickly retreated from Alice's charge and cast spells at the group. Both Alice and Suzanne were hit with the yellow waves of confusion spells. Alice managed to shake hers off, but Suzanne was visibly disoriented.
"Beware Suzanne! The spell's affected her!" warned Thomas. As if to prove his point, Suzanne came at Thomas and managed a slash across his shoulder. Thomas began casting a sleep spell and sent Suzanne to sleep. Ron finished off the creature that Alice had wounded with a crushing blow to what may have been the creature's face (it was hard to tell.)
Seeing the surviving creature attempting another spell, Alice ran at it to try and kill it before it could finish its casting. Just as before, however, the creature's girth cushioned the blow from killing it. The creature finished its spell and sent yellow waves at Ron. Ron managed to resist the confusion and return the creature's spell with steel. The monster died.
The group made sure to stay away from Suzanne as the effects of confusion wore off. After that the group went to work exploring the cave. The group took a left right off the bat and went down a large hallway. They soon found their way blocked by a stream of fiery rock; a mudslide of flame.
"What is this!" asked Ron, taken aback by the scene.
"Lava," answered Alice. "Make sure not to touch it. It's as lethal as it looks."
"Wait, isn't lava found in a volcano?" asked Suzanne.
Alice, knowing what Suzanne was hinting at, was hesitant to answer. Seeing Suzanne's pressing look, she could not help but tell the truth, "Yes. It is."
"So then. This stuff is probably how my father died," said Suzanne.
"Are you all right?" asked Ron.
"I'm fine. It's just funny looking at what did him in. If it were a monster, I would feel anger. But seeing an inanimate object like this…" Suzanne trailed off.
"You sure you're fine?" asked Alice.
"Yeah. Let's keep going. We have an appointment with a dragon," replied Suzanne.
The group turned back around to the cave entrance and followed the other path where they found another hallway. They followed the hallway and eventually found a chamber heading to the right. The group entered the chamber and found themselves greeted by three bears.
"Watch out guys!" called Ron.
Alice cast a spell and the bears found huge spines of ice rising up from underneath them. The ice then shattered giving the beasts several cuts in addition to the wounds they sustained from the sharp pieces of ice stabbing them from the ground. Suzanne took advantage of the bears' surprise and ran one of them through with her sword. The two surviving bears ganged up on her and while she managed to dodge one of them, the other one caught her across the face.
Thomas ran up and stabbed one of the bears in the shoulder, but the bear still had enough strength to fight. Ron ran up and decapitated the other bear. Alice unsheathed her sword and finished off Thomas' bear with a quick slash to the side. The bear succumbed to its wounds.
"So ice this time huh?" asked Ron to Alice.
"Well, I've never really understood why one should 'fight fire with fire.' It seemed to make more sense that way," replied Alice. Ron could not help but laugh at her response.
The group continued making their way through the cave. The chamber they were in actually turned out to be empty. The backtracked to the hallway and found that after the chamber it almost immediately split into another hallway. This hallway led into a very large room but the group found their path blocked by more lava. The group was forced to backtrack back to the main hallway.
As the group worked their way through the main hallway, they found another entrance to the large room on the left. However, this entrance was also blocked by lava.
The group returned the main hallway. The hallway made a left turn, such that it was now going the opposite direction of where it was going from the entrance. The hallway seemed to be winding its way around the edges of the cave.
The group came to another split to the left that led back into the main room, around which the hallway was wrapped. This time the group could make progress into the room and they found a staircase in the middle. As usual, the group skipped the staircase to explore the rest of the floor for their target. The large room led back to the main hallway, but on the other side of the lava that had blocked the group the first time. Here they found a chest. After checking it, they found a peculiar mask inside.
"What is this?" asked Ron. "It sure does look funny."
Alice used her magic to start investigating the object. The group was surprised when she suddenly dropped the mask and started backing away.
"What is it Alice?" asked Suzanne.
"This mask has extremely powerful magic within it. It can make the wearer almost impervious to physical attack!" she exclaimed.
"Really! Sounds like my kind of equipment!" said Ron as he started for the mask.
"Don't touch it!" Alice shouted. "It's also cursed! It breaks the mind of whoever wears it! You know those confusion spells that have been thrown at us a couple times now? Imagine living under that spell forever!"
"Are you serious?" asked Thomas, horrified at the prospect.
"Well, forever might be a little dramatic. Like all curses, it can be broken. At the expense of the mask, of course. So you see, it really is worthless to us no matter what," explained Alice, now starting to calm down.
The group back tracked to the part of the main hallway they could make progress through and found it ended at one last chamber. Unfortunately, the chamber was empty. The group went back to the stairs and went down them. The four were quickly greeted by two large, red, moving rock formations. The strangest part of these rock formations may not have been their movement but by the eyes that glared from the top rocks.
"Those rocks are alive!" warned Suzanne. "Ready yourselves!"
Alice sent her ice spikes up from the ground underneath the rocks. The rocks were almost taken apart by the ice, but kept their form. Suzanne sent a slash at one of the rocks, not knowing if her attack would have any effect on whatever it was that she was striking. She was relieved when the rock formation broke to pieces and the eyes disappeared.
Dragon Quest Novel Page 20