"Greetings!" said the man. "You have come to the Shrine of Courage. I am the cleric in charge here. How may I help you?"
"We just spoke with the seers in the side rooms," said Suzanne. "They've been telling us about the yellow orb. Can you tell us anything about it?"
"I know nothing about any orbs," replied the cleric. "I am in charge of administering the Test of Courage to the worthy."
"What is the Test of Courage?" asked Suzanne.
"This shrine was founded on one principle: 'A man can be measured by his courage,'" the cleric began to explain. "Beyond this passageway is a tunnel that leads underneath the mountain to a small desert. In the middle of the desert is a cave we call the Navel of the Earth. It is said to be a perilous place, filled with monsters and traps."
"'Said to be'?" echoed Suzanne. "Are you telling us you don't know?"
"Facing the unknown is an essential part of courage," replied the cleric. "Maybe there are no monsters in the Navel, and the courageous will find an easy trek through the cave. Maybe there are worse than monsters in the Navel. I administer the test but I have not taken it. I do not know what waits in the Navel."
"What is the reward for this test?" asked Suzanne.
"I am afraid I do not know that either," answered the cleric with a chuckle. "Maybe there is great treasure in this cave. Maybe the only reward is the pride one finds in facing his or her fears and living to tell the tale."
Alice slipped a suggestion to Suzanne, "Hey Susie. Maybe there's an orb in this Navel of the Earth. One of the seers did say we'd find the blue orb. And they said this shrine accounts for two orbs. Well the yellow orb is missing so the blue orb has to be here!"
"They also stated they can't actually see the orbs but only the connections they have," said Thomas. "If the yellow orb is not here then who is to say that the blue orb didn't also leave?"
"We can use the Echoing Flute when we're close enough," Ron reminded the group. "Then we'll know for sure."
"That's a good idea," agreed Suzanne. "If there's no echo when we're close to the Navel then we turn back."
Suzanne turned back to the cleric and told him, "We want to take the test."
The cleric laughed after Suzanne told him this, drawing many confused looks from the four. "'We' indeed! I am afraid not! Only one who has the courage to fight alone can take the test. I will not allow more than one in at a time."
Suzanne excused herself from the cleric for a moment to talk this news over with her friends. "Well that doesn't bode well for us. As a group we're formidable but on our own each one of us is vulnerable."
"What's to stop us all from going in? This one cleric here?" asked Ron. "I say we just shove past him and check it out."
"You would break this shrine's laws for your own benefit?" accused Thomas.
"Our own benefit and it wouldn't be the first time we did!" defended Ron. "Remember the time we got rid of a dictator? How many of his laws did we break in that endeavor?"
"That man was not a true ruler but an outlaw," replied Thomas. "Besides that he used people for his own gain and profit. People died needlessly under his rule."
"If we send only one of us into that cave then that person could die needlessly!" retorted Ron.
"But at his or her own choice," said Thomas. "Look, I agree with you. It's a stupid rule. But it's a rule that doesn't force people to make choices they don't want or to get hurt. Anyone of us who takes this test is well aware of the risk involved. I'd much rather we could all go into this cave but is it worth it to bend a tradition of this area for our own gain? Just what are we fighting against again?"
Ron looked like he was about to hit Thomas but then suddenly calmed down and said, "You're right. They're not forcing us to do this. If we strong-armed our will unto them then we'd be the villains, even if we have good intentions. Okay, I volunteer to take this test."
"Wait just a moment!" piped in Alice. "You don't have any magic at all! What happens if you come across a hoard of armored monsters? Let me handle this."
"You?" asked Ron with a laugh, causing him to receive a glare from Alice. "Your swordsmanship has improved but you've still got some work to do. What happens when you get cornered by a horde of beasts? You don't have the skill to beat them back with your sword and you won't have the time to work your magic."
"And neither of you are skilled in the healing arts," cut in Thomas. "If one of you gets hurt you'll be in a sour place. I can keep myself going long enough to get out of sticky situations if need be."
"But you're not skilled with a sword either," said Suzanne. "So I'm going in."
The others were about to protest but Suzanne raised her voice to silence them. "Think about it. I have enough skill with a sword to fight my way out of corners. I have some healing magic, though not as much as Thomas. I have enough to keep me going though. I also know some offensive spells to take out groups. I even know teleportation magic to get out of there if I need to. You guys are all better than me in some way but if only one person is going in then we need someone well-rounded and that's me."
The other three listened to her story and begrudgingly acknowledged she was right.
"What if teleportation is not allowed?" asked Thomas. "Retreat doesn't sound very courageous. Maybe they don't allow retries if you come back."
Suzanne turned back to the cleric to pose him the question.
"The courage to admit when you've met your limits is valuable as well," answered the cleric. "If an unskilled warrior were to dive into battle with a host of dragons it is not courage but foolishness that guides his actions. You are allowed to take the Test as often as you like so long as life still flows through your being."
"That settles it then," declared Suzanne. "I will take the Test."
"Excellent," said the cleric. "Follow me this way."
After getting her equipment straight and exchanging a few items with her comrades Suzanne followed the cleric down the tunnel leading underneath the mountain. The cleric wished her good luck and she was on her way.
Suzanne had made sure to take the Echoing Flute, the Final Key, the staff from the Soo and the Meteorite Armband with her. The flute and key would help her find the orb while the staff and armband would help her fight. She played the flute as she walked and had only gone about a mile before the flute began making echoes. Satisfied that she had a pretty good clue as to where the orb was she put the flute away.
Suzanne made her way to the middle of the desert where she was told the Navel of the Earth was. Sure enough she came upon a giant hole in the desert. There was an old, moldy, wooden staircase leading downwards into the cave. Suzanne carefully went down the stairs.
Suzanne found herself in a small room. She proceeded into a large hallway. There were skulls mounted on sticks lining across the hallway. Suzanne guessed that they were placed there to scare off some of the test-takers. She did not let herself be fazed by such a tactic. She came across a door at the end of the hallway, took out the Final Key, and opened it.
She was almost immediately greeted by three large green crabs. She was familiar with these crabs from around the Isis region. She may have wondered what these crabs were doing so far from their native land but now was not the time to wonder. Knowing the creatures to have hard, armor-like shells and a fondness for improving their defenses with magic she pulled out the staff from the Soo.
She spoke the command word and directed the ensuing stream of flame at the three crabs. Luckily they were all positioned in a neat line and the fire hit all of them. One died immediately while the other two took significant wounds. Realizing their danger the crabs quickly advance upon Suzanne rather than use magic.
Suzanne did not have time to put the staff away and so focused on blocking their attacks with her shield. She blocked one claw strike but got clubbed in the side by the other. Her armor absorbed the bulk of the shock and so the attack did little more than push her to the side. She quickly dropped the magic staff behind her, drew her sword, and rushed one of
her enemies. The creature was far slower than Suzanne and found itself unable to do anything to prevent her blade from going through its head. The other crab desperately swung at Suzanne with both its claws but Suzanne jumped clean over the attack and came down with a vicious swing to its head, almost splitting it in two.
Suzanne looked around to make sure there were no more monsters nearby and continued on. She was now in an intersection with hallways going to the left, right, and directly across from the door she had just opened. She decided to take the left path. The hallway went for a long ways and eventually came to another intersection. But Suzanne could see that she did not have time to decide on a path to take at the moment; there were five giant purple mushrooms with eyes and limbs in the intersection.
Luckily Suzanne had the element of surprise on her side. She used the magic staff to toast her foes. Two enemies seemed to resist the attack outright while one was hit by it and lived. Taking advantage of the increased speed given to her by the Meteorite Armband Suzanne took out her sword and stabbed clean through one of the non-wounded mushrooms.
The remaining two mushrooms seemed to run away in fright at first but then stopped their running and pointed at Suzanne, sending two missiles of ice at her. With the aid of her magic armor the two spells did little damage to her. She chased down the other unharmed mushroom and ended it with a swift strike to its forehead. The last mushroom tried a desperation ramming attack with its forehead. Fortunately for Suzanne this mushroom did not have any sleeping powder on it like the ones the group had fought in the cave where they found the Dream Ruby. Suzanne barely felt the creature's blow and sliced it in half in return.
Suzanne now examined the new intersection she found herself in. Like the last one this one also split off three ways: left, right, and forward.
"Great," Suzanne thought to herself. "I suppose part of the challenge is not to lose heart when there are so many different directions to go. I hope some of these passages link back to each other."
Suzanne took the left path again. She came across a hallway a lot like the one right after the entrance. It was about the same size and shape and also had skulls mounted on sticks. She proceeded through the hallway into a small room. There was an old, moldy, wooden staircase in front of her. She looked up to where the staircase led and was startled to see it led outside. The cleric had led her to believe that there was only one entrance and exit to this cave. Deciding to be thorough in her search she decided to see how far she ended up from the first entrance she took.
A few hours of wandering around lost and in confusion, along with a few easy fights along the way, Suzanne had come to a few conclusions about the cave. For one, she had left from the same entrance she had first entered from. Not believing that her sense of direction could be that off, she checked the surrounding area of desert for other entrances. But there was only once she could find.
She decided to head back into the cave to see where she had erred in her navigational skills. She retraced her steps and made sure to write down as accurate a map as she could as she went. She wound up exiting the cave again. According to her map there was no way she could have exited. She tried starting at the entrance and taking the right path, the path she seemed to return from. Indeed, she somehow ended up on the left path at the entrance again.
Suzanne realized that, somehow, these paths connected to each other without making any turns at all! She could probably wander forward in a straight line, taking no turns, and never reach a dead end. She decided to test this theory out by not stopping at the entrance but keeping her path straight. Sure enough, she came back to the entrance a second time. Annoyingly enough, there was always a fresh batch of monsters to challenge her every time she came back to the intersection.
"Such a cunning trick," Suzanne thought. "How many became hopelessly lost due to this? How many thought they were wandering in a labyrinth with an infinite number of enemies?"
She finally proceeded forward through the only path she had not taken yet. She came across a large, grand room. In the center of the room was what looked like a place of ritual. Pillars surrounded the middle ceremoniously. However, there was no altar or decoration in the area to confirm that suspicion. There were also two passages to the left, two to the right, and one on the other end of the room.
Suzanne decided to try the passage to her left. After a small hallway she came into a small room with a treasure chest in its center. Suzanne realized that this could easily be a trap; the chest was probably one of those fake chest monsters such as the one the group encountered in the Pyramid. Suzanne wished she knew the spell to check but knew she had little choice but to spring the trap. She had gained tremendous skill and better equipment since then. Though she did not want to fight one of those things by her own, especially considering how she ended up last time, she cautiously went forward to open the chest.
Her fears were confirmed when the chest sprang forward and bit down with great force. Had Suzanne's reflexes been a hair slower she would have lost a hand again. The chest monster wasted little time as Suzanne could hear muffled whisperings coming from it. She realized that it was probably casting a spell. With her sword already drawn she jumped forward into melee with the thing. The creature suddenly ceased its spell and tried to chomp down on Suzanne's arm but Suzanne proved the quicker. She landed an expert blow on the creature hiding in the chest.
Suddenly Suzanne was hit by a large fireball which exploded upon impact. The force made her stagger backwards though she did not suffer incredible pain from the blast. Suzanne then realized that this was another multi-tasking beast; the creature had not stopped whispering even as it tried to bite her! This chest monster was even more dangerous than the one from the Pyramid.
Having no choice but to see the fight through, Suzanne recovered from the attack and charged the creature again. This time the monster managed to bite her shield arm, dealing a vicious gash as its teeth pierced through her armor as though she were wearing only normal clothes. But she managed another return strike to the monster in the chest, though it was not as direct as her first strike. At the same time, the creature finished another spell. A sparkle of green light traveled the short distance from Suzanne to the beast. It had drained some of her magic.
Suzanne patiently waited for it to strike again, so the chest would open and expose the monster inside. She was surprised when its next spell activated first. A cloud of black and purple smoke in the shape of a skull engulfed Suzanne. The next moment seemed to last an eternity. Time seemed to stop. Within the smoke Suzanne suddenly felt an incredible tug. But it was not a physical tug, like someone trying to pull her somewhere. It was as if the smoke was tugging at her very soul, trying to separate it from her body.
Suzanne tried to fight the smoke off. She tried to step out of it or strike the creature. She tried to simply move. But the pain was piercing. She could not believe it was possible to feel such pain. She wanted desperately for the pain to end. Anything would be preferable to such excruciating agony. Even death would be preferable…
No! Suzanne quickly snapped herself away from such thoughts. As she did so the pain seemed to subside, the cloud disappeared, and time went back to its normal flow. Distracted by the spell Suzanne failed to dodge another bite from the beast, this one tearing into her midsection. Suzanne realized that she was losing a lot of blood from her wounds at this point and needed to heal herself soon. She launched a desperate strike at the monster, trying to hit it before the chest closed. She felt relief as her sword connected with flesh and the chest fell to the ground, unmoving. She tested it quick to make sure it was not a trick but sure enough, the creature was dead.
Suzanne took a moment to heal her injuries. Since she was not an expert in the healing arts it took her several spells to do so. Deciding that this encounter had been too close, she decided also to teleport out of the dungeon before another chest monster rendered her unable to. This test would have to be a failure.
"It was probably an incredibly powe
rful spell, one that tries to inflict death without inflicting wounds. It is said to be capable of ending a powerful warrior's life in mere moments," explained Thomas after Suzanne told her story of her attempt at the Navel of the Earth. "You're very lucky to be alive."
"Then that monster must have been a mimic," said Alice, with notable awe in her voice. "They're the most powerful of chest monsters. It is said they could kill half a dozen warriors with one spell. Besides that they had other spells for disabling or harming others, could bite and cast magic at the same time, and that bite is no joke either. It's incredible that you managed to defeat one in single combat."
"Those monsters must be really rare right?" asked Ron. "There are probably plenty of chests in that place and one of them must have the orb. The others can't all be mimics right?"
Alice did not look so sure, however.
"Hopefully I won't have to check all of them," suggested Suzanne. "There was what looked like a shrine of sorts near the entrance. I'm hoping that the chest containing the orb will be similarly decorated. Or even better, maybe there are no more chests. Or maybe all the chests are near the entrance. Other than the mimic, I didn't face great opposition. The cave was filled with monsters we've seen before. I'm sure any one of us could hold their own in the portion I explored."
"It's too dangerous. The cave could be filled with those things," said Thomas.
"We don't have a choice," replied Suzanne. "I've proven I can handle one in combat. I'll be even better prepared next time. We need to find that orb."
Dragon Quest Novel Page 25
