"Nice idea Ron. But next time, at least let us provide cover fire first. Then you might not need to take three fireballs head on," Suzanne suggested.
Ron nodded his head and replied, "I hear you. See, this is why I hate fighting spell casters!"
The group proceeded through the hills of the eastern wilds. They saw no more sign of cultists from this point onwards. They did encounter more than the usual supply of monsters, but they expected that. After an exhausting day of travel and fighting, the group set up camp in the hills. Alice once again had a frightening shift at watch as she expected an army of monsters and cultists every minute. Luckily, no such army appeared.
The group proceeded down the hills to the very eastern part of Aliahan, where they came across a beach. According to their map, the Cave of Enticement was directly north of the beach, in a valley inside the eastern mountain range and behind a small lake. The group had to go through another narrow pass in the mountains. Once again, the group prepared for a cultist ambush, but no such ambush came this time.
The group entered the valley and quickly found the small lake. They circled around the lake and found a hole in the ground, big enough to fit a person through.
"Is this the entrance?" Ron asked.
"There's no mention on the map or anything I've read of what the entrance to the cave actually looks like. All I've read is that it's supposed to be behind the lake. This looks like our best bet," Alice replied.
Fortunately, the group had brought some rope and a spike to drive into the ground. After they were sure the spike was secure, they tied the rope to it and lowered themselves into the cave.
As Thomas had mentioned a couple days ago, it did not take long for the group to reach a dead end.
"Well, time for us to go to work Tom!" Alice said.
"Do you guys have any idea how long this will take?" Ron asked.
"Borthan said it wouldn't take more than an hour," Alice replied.
Alice and Thomas went to work on enchanting the magic ball Borthan had given them while Suzanne and Ron made sure to guard the cave entrance so the spell casters could work. Luckily, not a single thing tried to enter the cave. The enchantment was finished without incident. Then Alice threw the ball at the southern wall.
"Take cover!"
The group quickly retreated out the entrance to the room as the reaction started. Magical energy flew everywhere. Eventually, the reaction stopped and the group examined the results of the incantation. There was now a hole in the southern wall and a visible room on the other side.
"Yes! It worked! Oh, and I almost forgot! Borthan said that this dispelled the seal on teleportation spells into and out of Aliahan as well. So even when we leave, we can easily return with a wing of wyvern!" Alice exclaimed.
"Wait, there was a seal on teleportation?" Ron asked.
"The seal wouldn't have done much good if people could still teleport here," Thomas explained. "So there was a seal put up that prevented people from teleporting into or out of Aliahan as well. I didn't know that the two seals were linked in such a way though."
The group went through the gap and down some stairs. On the next floor, they found the cave was not in the best of shape. There were large gaps in the floor that appeared to drop any unwary or clumsy travelers to the floor below. The group went down the first flight of stairs they came to. The stairs led them to a large room. By the looks of it, if they had fallen in any of the gaps, they could use those stairs to get back up.
"Monsters!" Alice shouted.
Four giant rabbits came at them. However, these did not look like the rabbits they were used to. These rabbits had purple fur. Ron, Suzanne, and Thomas ran at the rabbits with weapons drawn. Ron parried the rabbit's horn with his sword and then counterattacked at the rabbit's head. The rabbit pulled its head back, but not quick enough. Its horn was severed from its head.
As Suzanne charged the rabbit to the right of Ron's rabbit, it lowered its horn to catch her charge. Suzanne was ready for that though; she jumped over the horn and came down on the rabbit with a devastating downward stab. The rabbit lived no longer.
Thomas came up to his rabbit but was caught off guard by its sudden lunge and got caught in the side. He followed up with a crushing blow to its skull with his club, but the rabbit still lived.
The rabbit that Ron wounded jumped backwards away from his next attack. It then began to wiggle its nose and head in a strange way while growling. Ron pursued it and delivered the finishing blow. But right before he did so, purple bubbles appeared above the heads of the humans. Ron finished the rabbit and then fell over, asleep.
Thomas finished his rabbit off with another blow and examined his wound. It did not seem to be too bad a wound, he could leave it for now. He then looked to his comrades only to find they were all sleeping. He looked around to see if there were any more monsters present and we relieved to find there were none. He patiently waited for his comrades to wake.
Alice was first to wake. "What happened?" she asked.
"Apparently, those creatures can cast magic," Thomas answered. "We need to be especially careful around those things from now on."
After the rest of the group woke up, the team pressed onwards. The room they were in appeared to be a dead end, so they went back up the stairs.
"It's them!"
The group went up the stairs only to find four of the black-robed cultists standing by the staircase back up towards the surface.
"Quick, alert the others!" one of them yelled. Obeying the command, one of the others broke off and ran away.
Suzanne yelled at the cultists, "Wait! We don't need to fight! Stay your magic!"
The three remaining cultists laughed at her and prepared their spells. Alice finished hers first, however, and the three cultists were severely burned by her ground flame spell. Thomas went up and finished one cultist before he could finish his spell. Ron finished another one with a stab through the heart. Suzanne ran up to the final cultist and felled him just before he finished his spell.
"Damn! That one went to alert his friends!" Ron said in frustration.
"We've got to be careful guys. They'll most likely have an ambush ready for us," Suzanne said. "I'll take the back for now so I can watch out behind us. Everyone, make sure to be quiet. Ron, carefully check around every corner we have to turn around."
"Good idea Susie," Alice said.
The group proceeded carefully and quietly through the cave from here on out. They came across one hallway that was cut off by a gap too large to jump across. The group proceeded the other way. They happened across a chest containing an antidote herb and then went through a very long hallway.
"I don't like this," Thomas whispered. "This would be a perfect place for them to ambush us."
When they got to the midpoint of the hallway, they came across a large caterpillar. The caterpillar sensed their presence and attacked. Suzanne was first to reach it but was forced to quickly roll away as the creature tried a body slam on her with its massive body. This opened it up the Thomas' club and Ron's sword. However, they found that the creature's skin was surprisingly tough.
"What kind of caterpillar is this?" Ron whispered.
The caterpillar turned on Ron now and tried a body slam on him. Ron got away from its body, but the creature slashed him in the face with its surprisingly sharp legs. The creature then earned a fireball to the face and another series of club and sword blows. It finally succumbed to death.
"Geez, that thing was tough," Ron whispered.
"That fight probably alerted our friends too," Thomas replied grimly.
However, the group made it to the end of the hallway without a sign of the cultists. The group proceeded onwards. They had another encounter with the giant purple rabbits, but managed to kill them before they could get off the sleep spell. The group found its way to another staircase.
"Where are those cultists?" Ron asked.
The next floor was a large hallway that split into three paths. The group
tried the middle path first, and came up to a large door.
"Wait!" Suzanne said. "See if you can hear anything on the other side of the door."
The group listened on the other side of the door for a short while, and then decided it was safe to open.
"It's locked," Ron said.
"Try Baker's key," Alice suggested.
Ron used Baker's key on the door and disabled the lock. The group proceeded in only to find a dead end. The group turned around and tried the path that had been to the right. They came to another door and stopped and listened again.
"I can hear something," Ron whispered.
"It sounds like…chanting," Thomas observed.
"We need to think worst case scenario here guys," Suzanne said. "There could be a large number of cultists past this door. Alice, have your ground fire spell ready. I'll have my own fireball ready. Ron, they'll probably be able to hear you going at the door. Open one side of it first and back away. Alice and I will fire spells at them from behind the other side, but if they set that on fire, you, Tom, and I will charge in with everything we have. However, Tom, watch everyone carefully. We may need you to start whipping out healing spells."
"Sounds like a great strategy Suzanne," Ron said. "Everyone ready?"
Everyone nodded. Ron worked at the door. When the lock was disabled, he kicked open the right side and then backed away. A large volley of fireballs hit the door, almost destroying it completely and setting it on fire.
Realizing their cover was effectively gone, Ron yelled, "Charge!"
The group charged into the room. There were seven cultists in the room. Four of them fell victim to Alice's ground fire spell, but it did not have the range to reach the other three. Suzanne finished one of the four of with her spell and then drew out her sword and charged another. Ron and Thomas both finished off a cultist each before they could finish casting. However, the three on the other end of the room and the one Suzanne was charging at all got their fireballs off.
Suzanne got hit by three and fell to the ground due to the force of them. Thomas immediately sent a healing spell as she got back to her feet. Ron got hit by one but was still able to finish off the cultist Suzanne was going for. Alice sent another ground fire spell at the remaining three cultists.
However, three more fireballs came at the party. Thomas got hit by two and Alice got hit by one. Thomas healed himself while Suzanne and Ron rushed two of the cultists. The two fell easily to their blades. Alice finished the last one off with a fireball.
As Thomas healed Alice, Ron looked around the room and said, "I hope that's all of them."
"We haven't checked that last room yet. We better check that," Suzanne said.
"It was pretty clever of them to follow us in here. I'm guessing they were using us to leave Aliahan," Thomas said.
"But how did they know we were going to break the seal?" Suzanne asked.
"Maybe they heard about it from the castle?" Alice theorized. "That's where that innkeeper said they were from right? Or maybe, they were just hanging around the cave and sensed the magic ball we had with us. I could sense it had magic in it the moment Borthan gave it to us. They may have just wanted to steal it, but then when we broke the seal, they took it as an added bonus. I just hope that's it. I don't think I have enough magic left in me to even make a spark, much less a fireball."
"Hey, is that the Traveler's Gate?" Ron asked.
The group turned around towards the center of the room. Indeed, there was a mystical blue vortex in the middle of the room.
"Looks like it," Alice said.
"We still should check that last room," Suzanne said.
The group went down the only path they hadn't taken yet. Ron unlocked another door and they proceeded in to find another dead end. There were no cultists inside, but there were monsters. The monsters did not notice the group though.
"Let's just leave," Suzanne said. "We don't need to fight anymore right now."
The rest of the group agreed and they went back to the Traveler's Gate.
"I'll go first," Ron said.
"Be careful!" warned Alice. "It's said that when you go through a Traveler's Gate, you get really dizzy! And I mean really dizzy."
"I'll be fine," Ron said.
Ron stepped into the blue vortex. He immediately started spinning fast and sunk into the vortex. Ron's vision did not register him sinking though. To him he was just spinning faster and faster, the room getting more and more blurry. Ron thought he was going to puke. He desperately wished for the spinning to stop. As if to answer his wishes, it did. However, when his vision cleared, he found he was in another room.
Ron fell off this room's blue vortex and waited for his comrades. One by one, they followed. First Suzanne, then Thomas, and Alice came last. All of them took a few moments to clear their dizziness.
"Let's never do that, ever, ever again," Alice groaned.
After the group recovered, Suzanne spoke up, "Okay guys, we're in a new land. When we get to the next town, we'll all be on our best behavior. As citizens of a land looked down on and even hated by other nations, we don't want to draw unnecessary attention to ourselves. Nevertheless, our task is to gather information on the Archfiend, and even try to persuade people to work together. Now, let's go."
Chapter 4: The Emperor's Request
The messenger approached the throne in a rush. He came across his emperor sleeping on the throne. The messenger looked around nervously for someone of higher position. It was not the duty of a lowly messenger such as himself to wake the emperor. However, nobody except the some men of the Imperial Guard was present. The messenger asked the captain, the emperor's bodyguard, to wake him up.
"Sire. Sire. Sire! Please awaken, your Highness!" the man said.
The emperor awakened groggily. After a few seconds of clearing his eyes and getting his bearings straight, he spoke, "My apologies, did I miss another meeting?"
"No sire. This man has a message for you," the captain replied.
The emperor turned towards the messenger, "A message? Well then, let us hear it."
The messenger spoke nervously, "Y-yes sire. Most interesting news. It seems there are some visitors in the capital!"
"Visitors? Forgive me, but that does not seem worthy of waking me up," the emperor cut in.
"But sire, these visitors come from Aliahan!" the messenger exclaimed.
This got the emperor's attention. "Aliahan you say? Why, this is the second time in eight years! Rather odd for a land isolated from the world. Do you know why they are here?"
The messenger answered, "The rumors say they have been asking many questions about our land, the neighboring lands, and…" the messenger paused and then mumbled, "The Archfiend."
"Hmm, this is most interesting," the emperor mused. "These visitors seem eerily similar to the visitor we had eight years ago. Is he in the group by any chance?"
"I cannot say sire. Many do not remember what the other stranger looked like. However, those that do say he is not with them," the messenger answered.
"Okay then. Very good on delivering the message. If you are not too busy, I would give you another task," the emperor spoke.
The messenger got excited, "Anything for Your Highness!"
The emperor began speaking again, "Bring the visitors to me. I would like to speak to them."
"But why would the emperor want to meet with us?" Suzanne asked.
"I don't know! This guy just came up to me and told me we were all summoned to the castle to speak with him. He said to gather you all up and then we have to go as soon as possible," Alice explained.
"He must know we're from Aliahan. That's the only reason the emperor would personally meet with random visitors to his land," Thomas theorized. "But how did he find out where we are from?"
Thomas's question was a valid one. Although the group had sought information on the Archfiend, they also tried not to reveal where they were from. It turned out to be a difficult task, but not for the reasons the grou
p had thought. They had thought that the Archfiend would be such a talked about topic that anyone who asked questions clearly had to be from an isolated region. As it turned out, little was known about the Archfiend. Nobody wanted to talk about it either. The only thing the group found out was that the Archfiend resided to the south.
"Um…that may have been my fault," Ron said reluctantly. "I went to the bar last night and may have said something I shouldn't of."
"What!" Alice yelled. "How could you have done that! We specifically agreed not to reveal where we were from!"
"Hey, I had a very good reason!" Ron defended himself.
"How good looking was she?" Thomas asked.
Ron was surprised by Thomas's question, "What?"
"Don't play dumb," Thomas responded. "How good looking was she?"
"How did you know it was over a girl!" Ron asked, very surprised Thomas guessed it.
"So it's true!" Alice yelled. "You betrayed us over some girl!"
"Okay, that's enough," Suzanne cut in. "I think we can gather that though the emperor knows we are from Aliahan, he's not going to imprison us or he would have sent soldiers to arrest us. If I had to guess, he's curious as to how and why we are here."
"That's not the point!" Alice persisted. "How could he go against what we agreed on over some girl!"
"Hey, you heard Susie. No harm done! It all worked out all right! In fact, if I understand everything right, this might actually help! You should thank me!" Ron shouted back.
However, Alice was not thankful, "You're so full of it!"
As the two continued their shouting match, Suzanne whispered to Thomas, "How did you know it was because of a girl?"
Thomas chuckled and answered, "Whenever he has a 'good reason' for doing something stupid that 'good reason' is always scoring with a girl."
"At ease, all of you," the emperor said to the four.
The four had kneeled upon coming up to the emperor and now stood back up.
"Allow me to introduce myself," the emperor went on. "I am Emperor Vilisik of the Romalian Empire. How has your visit been so far?"
Dragon Quest Novel Page 4
