Chapter Three
The sound of dripping water was the only sound made by the cave. It dripped from the ceiling, it dripped from the walls- it dripped from any where it could. The floors of the cave were wet and covered in strange mushrooms. An eerie bluish-green light filled the cave, but the source was unknown.
Xaldin stepped causally over the rocks and stones that covered the ground under the moss. Roxas was behind him, and Axel brought up the rear. His hand rested on the handle of his sword. The darkness in the cave held something and they all knew it.
"How long do you think it will take us to get through this cave?" Axel called to Xaldin.
"A few hours or so," Xaldin said in an unconcerned voice. Axel frowned and looked around the large chamber that they were in. The smell of moss, wet rocks and water filled the air (better then the smell of death back in Hellena). Axel looked up and could just make out the glittering eyes of the cave bats on the ceiling. The sound of the river began to fade and Axel was suddenly overcome by a sense of impending doom. It was the same feeling he had when he had faced the dragon. Xaldin stopped, but Axel hadn't noticed and he almost walked into Roxas.
"What's wrong?" Roxas asked, but Xaldin silenced him. Axel immediately strained his ears trying to hear what was creeping along in the cave. The sound of shifting rocks suddenly grew louder, and louder. It reached a deafening pitch then died down to silence.
"What was that?" Axel asked Xaldin.
"I'm not sure," Xaldin said sounding uneasy. "Maybe it was a cave spider or something."
"I hate spiders," Axel said flatly.
"Then you'll love the ones here. They're about four feet high, and if their fangs hit the wrong spot on your body they could kill you." He turned and smiled at Axel. "But they hardly ever attack people."
"Probably because most people don't go through Limestone cave," Axel muttered when Xaldin faced forward.
They reached the other side of the chamber and all three of them looked around. "Now what?" Roxas voiced.
"Now we try to find the tunnel that leads to the next…" but Xaldin's voice faded away as he walked along the edge of the chamber.
Axel and Roxas watched Xaldin move carefully around the cave. Both knew their chances of finding the tunnel was better if they all searched separately; they split up.
Roxas stepped carefully down between two large boulders and then immediately jumped up. As he jumped up out of the hole he accidentally sent rocks crashing into the pit. Both Xaldin and Axel turned to Roxas's shadowy out line. Roxas watched with a stunned look on his face, as the green slimy puddle he had accidentally stepped in slowly oozed up out of the pit.
"What the hell," Axel said in disgust as he made his way, clumsily, to Roxas, "is that?"
"What is it?" Xaldin called over.
"How the hell am I supposed to know?" Axel yelled angrily. "It looks like a moving green puddle of slime!"
"I know what you are talking about. Stay away from them they are poisons." Roxas instinctively kicked out his leg to make sure that there were not stray parts of the creature on him. Xaldin turned away from Axel and Roxas and came face to face with a large serpent.
Axel walked past the moving puddle of slime to Roxas. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine," Roxas said strongly, "It just startled me that is all." Axel gave him a searching look. Neither one of them heard Xaldin's curse as he tried to kill the serpent. An awkward silence fell between them and still they didn't hear the scuffle behind them.
"I still can't believe you faced Hellena to save me," Roxas muttered as he broke the silence between them. Roxas looked up into Axel's face when he felt his hand on his shoulder.
"I would face anything for you." There was another pause and then Roxas hugged him.
"I hope that I'm not disturbing anything important right now, but I could sure use a hand!" Xaldin snapped. Axel looked up past Roxas and saw Xaldin struggling with a creature in the shadows.
After the large serpent left they found the passage. The creature, apparently, had been sleeping in the tunnel mouth and had become unhappy when it was disturbed.
"Right," Xaldin said as he wiped sweat from his forehead, "let's go." He went first, followed by Axel, then Roxas.
It didn't take long for the air temperature to drop as they walked down the rocky path. Xaldin had, when they entered the cave, lit an oil lamp, so they could see down the path.
The whole time they walked down to the depth of the cave, they heard dripping, scurrying and faint evil hisses. Once or twice they had encountered a living puddle of slime. A few other times they ran into actual living masses of poisonous slime; in these colonies, all of the slime creatures wanted to attack them, but they all fled when Xaldin waved the lantern at them. The only damaging attacks they had were from the bats. They had become confused by the appearance of light and all of them had attacked Axel, Roxas and Xaldin.
Finally, after what seamed like hours, they reached a large cavern, though it wasn't as large as the entrance chamber. Two things that were similar between this chamber and the entrance chamber were that they were both lit by that same eerie blue light and the constantly rushing water.
The ground wasn't covered in moss, but instead all the rocks were wet and slimy. Xaldin put the lamp out and placed it back on his belt. Axel and Roxas watched him walk away. Then a moment later, Xaldin had to jam his lance between the rocks to stop himself from falling.
All three of them approached the cold river. It twisted around a corner and vanished. "It's too far to jump," Xaldin told Axel, who had walked right up on his left. Roxas carefully stopped on Axel's other side and stared at the river.
"How deep is it?" Axel voiced.
"Pretty deep in some points, but it's too cold," Xaldin said and he turned to Axel. "If we were to try to walk or swim through it, we could get swept away to God knows where, or we could get sick from the cold." He looked around the cave. "And I'm sure that you felt the temperature change as we came down here." Roxas bent down to the water as Xaldin spoke and placed his hand into the cold looking water, but it wasn't cold at all. In fact it was quite warm.
"Hey its actually…" But Roxas never finished his sentence. The rocky bank collapsed into the fast moving warm water, and it sent all three of them into the rapids. All three were easily swept away.
Roxas soon found out that the water was quite deep. He swam up as fast as he could, and broke the surface a moment later. He shook the water out of his face as he tried to stay afloat. He looked forward and saw the water splash against the various rocks. He swam hard to the corner and barely missed the wall. Roxas felt the water pick up speed as it rushed down a hill. He avoided yet another corner then he felt the bottom of the river and was thrown forward.
The water had flooded the floor of the room as it spread out, and because of this the water was only up to his knees. Roxas stood up, and moved to a large boulder that was easily above all the water. It took a few minuets to get up on it because he was so wet, and he kept sliding off. When he finally got on it he looked around the room. Not all of the room was flooded, just the lower areas.
"That was some ride," he said and then he shook the water out of his face. After he pushed back his hair he began to wring out his cloths. He gave up, knowing he was doing a bad job, and instead removed his shoes and dumped all the water out of them. He heard someone swear loudly, and he looked up. It didn't surprise Roxas that it was Xaldin. Apparently he had gotten up, only to fall backwards with a loud splash.
"Damn it!" He snarled as he dived forward in an effort to stop his lance from floating away. There was another loud splash as Axel hit the floor, and, like Roxas and Xaldin, he was flung forward because of the sudden stop, and then fell on the unexpecting Xaldin. Both men swore as they fell back away from each other and Xaldin's staff floated over to where Roxas was. He jumped down and took the lance, and carefully moved to the other two.
"That was so bad!" Xaldin yelled and he looked around.
"Actually that was pretty fun… except for the landing," Axel looked up, and took Roxas's outstretched hand.
"Thanks Roxas," both Axel and Xaldin said as Roxas pulled Axel up and as he handed Xaldin his lance back.
"Now where do we go?" Roxas asked Xaldin.
"Up would be the best place, but we'll follow the river for now to see where it's going," he said as he pushed his wet hair out of his face.
All three moved through the water with considerable noise. Xaldin thought that nothing in their right minds would live down there- they were safe, for now. As they walked on, they suddenly realized that the water had become shallow and that they were soon on dry land.
They stopped for a break for about twenty minutes. The whole time, Axel attempted to dry out his clothes- to no effect. Xaldin had his own way; he rested his lance against the wall and flapped his arms violently, trying like Axel to dry off. He had better results than Axel did. Roxas, who was mostly dried, just sat down and watched the two. He was tired so he was resting up, because he knew that they still had a long way to go.
Roxas watched Axel for a few moments, and then looked at the ceiling. He watched the water drip down off the ceiling for awhile, until Axel yelled. Xaldin looked down at Roxas and they both exchanged confused looks then they both turned to look at Axel.
A giant spider (which looked like it could be the size of a horse) walked right past Axel. It was very hairy and didn't notice Axel at all as it walked by. Axel stood were he was, sword raised, ready in case it attacked. The spider didn't seam to notice Roxas or Xaldin as it walked straight to the wall. It smashed into it then turned to a different direction until it hit something else. All eyes were on it when it turned. Its whole face was severely burned; as if someone had spilled boiling water all over it its face.
"That's not good," Xaldin said as he watched it bump into a boulder.
"What's not good?" Roxas asked.
"Those burns on the spider,"
"So, what about them?" Axel snapped as he sheathed his sword.
"It seams like it was bitten by a cave viper. Their venom causes damage like that, but a viper would have to be at least fifty feet to leave a mark like that on a spider that big," he said. He began to look around the room, and was still doing so when he started to speak again. "Those burns looked fresh… We'd better get moving, now."
"Good idea," Axel said slowly, and calmly. Axel walked over to Xaldin who picked up his staff. He then bent down and pulled Roxas up. "This cave is more trouble than it's worth."
All three of them walked very carefully through the rest of this chamber. They had found many sink holes as they moved through it and none of them were looking to fall into one. They did notice that there were no more living things except for the spider, which was now missing.
It didn't take long for them to find out where all the water had gone. It had been forced into a larger, deeper river which flowed right off the cliff to the rest of the chamber two hundred feet below.
"I'm not crossing that river ever again," Xaldin said as he examined it. Axel was also apprehensive about the river. He, like Xaldin, did not like that random experience. Roxas however moved to the waterfall and found that there were many large boulders. All were spaced enough for someone to jump onto them. Roxas looked at the other two. They were both trying to figure out how to get across.
He stood up, and took a few steps back then ran forward and jumped to the first stone. "Roxas!!" Axel roared. Xaldin whipped around as Roxas jumped to the next stone.
"There's a path of stones to the other side!" Roxas yelled after he landed on the third stone. Axel looked at the edge of the falls and spotted the first one.
"There," he said as he hit Xaldin in the arm, "close to the edge."
"It's hard to see with all the mist; you go first so I can follow you," Xaldin said as he squinted to see the first one. Axel shrugged and moved to the edge and back up. He took a few steps at a run, then jumped. The rock was slimy and slippery, and when Axel landed he almost lost his balance. When he looked down, he noticed that the originally clear water was now opaque. Axel spotted the second stone easily and jumped for it so Xaldin could get on the first.
Roxas led the way across the river. They made sure that they were not too far apart so they could easily help each other if something happened. It took a few minutes, but Roxas soon jumped onto the bank. He turned around; Axel and Xaldin were only a few jumps away from where he was. Axel jumped to the rock on the edge of the waterfall and immediately jumped to the next; the footing was better on the last rock than on this edge.
"Careful, that one on the edge doesn't have much room," Axel called to Xaldin. Roxas dodged away as Axel jumped to the bank. He turned to see Xaldin throw his lance over. It landed five feet away from Roxas. The two on the bank looked up to see Xaldin prepare to jump.
Roxas immediately knew that Xaldin was going to fall, and so did Axel who immediately jumped out onto the rocks. Xaldin landed on the small rock. He slipped and fell backwards off the waterfall. Axel jumped onto the rock, then laid on it and leaned forward, off the edge with his hand out stretched.
"Hold on!" he yelled over the waterfall to Xaldin.
"There's nothing else to do but that!" Xaldin called back to Axel. Axel leaned forward some more and grabbed Xaldin's hand, but it was wet and slipped form his grip.
"Xaldin!" Axel yelled as Xaldin's other hand, the one holding the rock began to slip. Axel leaned forward even more, he felt as though he might slip, but he grabbed Xaldin's outstretched right hand with both of his and pulled him up. Roxas watched helplessly on the shore as Axel slid forward on the rock. Some how they both managed to stand on the rock. "Go," Axel said and he pointed to the next rock, so Xaldin jumped to the next stone, then to the bank where he collapsed. Axel laid on the ground next to him when he reached the shore.
"You…should have….left me…" he said in broken speech, and he stood up.
"You don't mean that, and besides you have to report to the king." Xaldin nodded and he helped Axel up.
"Thank you." They both grinned and placed a hand on each other's shoulders. "Let's go," he said letting go of Axel, and retrieving his staff. Then they both walked to the new tunnel and left Roxas behind.
Roxas sighed. "They've only known each other for about a day and they act like they're childhood friends…I wish Axel could understand me like he does Xaldin."
The new tunnel led to the biggest chamber they had been in yet. It was filled with many stone paths that reached unbelievable heights and depths. They stayed on their path for a long time and only stopped when they reached a split.
"Oh nice!" Xaldin suddenly yelled out and he jumped to the path on the left. "Rock fireflies."
"Really?" Axel asked and he sounded very excited.
"Yeah right here," Xaldin said and he waved to Axel. Roxas, who had no idea what was going on, followed the excited Axel. Floating in the air near and around Xaldin and Axel were many glittering yellow fireflies.
"Wonderful," Roxas said sarcastically, "bugs and they glow in the dark and fly. Fascinating. Now can we go?"
"These are very useful," Xaldin said; he plainly had not heard what Roxas had said. "Especially near battle fields."
"Definitely," Axel added. Roxas looked at Xaldin then at Axel and then back again.
"Would somebody please, explain what the hell is so special about these stupid bugs?!" Roxas suddenly yelled. His angry voice echoed through the cave back at them, then Axel looked down at him.
"Watch," he said simply, and he waved his hands at the bugs. They suddenly glowed in a bright white light. A strange warm kind feeling filled Roxas's body and now he didn't feel tiered or cold. "They heal you and restore your health," he told Roxas kindly.
"That's cool," Roxas said and he looked at his hands. "Can we go now?"
They left the path and continued down the path they had originally been walking on. Every so often, they found the bugs- they also heard hissing, but it would die out before they could figure out where it was coming from. After awhile, Xaldin knew where they were, so they were hopeful about getting out.
They climbed the slippery staircase and came into almost fully sunlit chamber. There were holes in the ceiling that allowed a bit of light to come through, but they couldn't tell if it was moon light or sun light. They could see the light reflecting off the crystal pools that were scattered around the room. At the other end of the room, they could see a small shrine, and the exit not far from it.
"Let's go," Xaldin said strongly, and all three of them ran down the twisting path. Just before the shrine they all stopped dead. The hissing noise had returned and it was as louder than it had ever been. Axel unsheathed his sword, and at the same time, Roxas unsheathed his two swords. There was a crash and all three of them turned to the exit.
A large gray and brown serpent fell to the ground. Its mouth was wide; its front fangs were longer then Roxas was tall. It uncoiled its tail and bent low to the ground.
"Urobolus, the guardian of the cave," Xaldin said, and he swallowed hard. "We have to fight it to get out." Axel turned from Xaldin to the snake.
"Wonderful."
Urobolus lunged, and all three men scattered. Roxas was forced behind a rock. Axel became stuck behind Urobolus and Xaldin found himself in front of Urobolus. It lunged forward, at Xaldin. Axel plunged his sword into Urobolus's side. Urobolus hissed angrily and swung around to Axel. Roxas jumped out from his hiding spot and with all his strength plunged his dulled swords through the serpent's middle part. The serpent rounded on Roxas who was trying to pull out his swords.
"Roxas!" Axel yelled. Xaldin rushed forward at Urobolus and swung his staff across its front; slicing through the tough scales; blood splattered everywhere
Roxas fell back and his swords clanged noisily on the ground; Axel was struck by Urobolus's tail and landed on his back; Xaldin was thrown forward into a shallow pool of water. Urobolus quickly slithered through a tunnel near his shrine. A moment later his head and half his body appeared out of a hole about thirty feet off the ground. Roxas sat up and rubbed the back of his head, then quickly ran out of the way as Urobolus spat a toxic green liquid at him.
Xaldin sat up from the pool, and pulled green slimy plants off his shoulders, then stood up. Axel rolled onto his stomach, and pushed himself up. Once he was standing he looked up and saw Urobolus sticking out of the hole. "How the hell are we going to get him now?" He said as Roxas ran over to Xaldin.
"Now what?" Roxas asked, but Xaldin said nothing.
Suddenly he dropped his lance, ripped one of Roxas's swords from his hand and threw it as hard as he could at Urobolus. "Damn you, you fuckin' serpent!" The sword struck Urobolus in the middle and he slid out of the hole and crashed onto the ground. Xaldin blinked the stared at the serpent. Axel jumped up and forced his sword through the serpent's head, and then looked up at Xaldin and Roxas.
"You have anger issues," Roxas said simply to Xaldin as they walked forward. When they reached the serpent, Axel handed Roxas his sword and the blonde sheathed it next to his other.
"Can we go now, before anything else happens?" Axel said flatly as he sheathed his own sword.
"Let's," Xaldin said, and he moved away from the serpent. Roxas turned and looked at the serpent. He had a strange feeling, a very strange feeling. Urobolus's body twitched and he suddenly reared up. Roxas stepped back.
"Roxas!" Axel yelled and he ran forward along with Xaldin. A ghostly blue light appeared in front of Roxas and it filled the chamber. Xaldin and Axel stopped and covered their eyes; Urobolus cried aloud, a piercing screech, but the light itself made a loud humming noise. Urobolus crashed to the ground and fell dead. The light faded and Roxas fell forward onto his knees. He stared at his shaking hands.
"Wh…What just happened?" He felt Axel's arms around him. He closed his eyed and leaned forward, drained of everything and confused. Axel straightened up with Roxas cradled in his arms.
"What's going on?" Xaldin asked.
"I'm not sure," Axel replied as they began to walk. He looked down at Roxas, whose eyes were closed and was trembling slightly. "I'm not sure."
Veroxen: Sorry all I haven't had time to work on this with all the tests I been involved in. I hope this was worth the wait but if it isn't no big deal right? Stay tuned for Cy with the next chapter.
