The figure and I reached the edge of the cave where the underground river stopped and the waterfall begun. I had expected to have to wait for my eyes to adjust, but the view was almost as dark as the cave we had journeyed through.
"What is this place," I asked as I observed the small lake or large moat which lined a castle on an island.
"This is Haunted Cave," replied the figure as he gestured broadly with his arms.
"Ok, so this leads to Triton right?"
"Yes," he replied lowering his arms.
"Well then how am I supposed to get through to Olde Town? Tritons swarmed, and they sealed the gate."
"I'm sure they'll be able to tell the difference between you and the undead."
"Wait that's what came out of here? The undead?"
"Yeah. I mean, it's called Haunted Cave for a reason."
"Fair enough, but how am I supposed to get through?"
"It's not hard. They attack what they see, so don't allow yourself to be seen," the figure replied as he sat down letting his cloaked legs hang over the edge of the waterfall. The weak current flowed around his soaked robes and off the edge of the cliff.
"That's not going to be easy. There's bound to be hundreds of them," I said as I sat down next to him. We sat in silence for a while as water dripped off of our soaked clothes. After a long silence I asked, "How did all this start?"
He paused, and looked at me for a moment. I searched for the eyes which may have resided somewhere within that cowell, but not even his chin or was visible. He turned back to gaze at the castle. After another pause he answered. "Sylvia. It all started with Sylvia."
With this, he pushed himself off the rock face and plummeted into the water below. I waited for a few moments but he never resurfaced. I grew concerned, and decided to go in after him. I stood up and walked a few feet into the cave. I feared he may have cracked his… skull on a rock or something, so I wanted to put as much space between me and the cliff as possible.
I took a running start and jumped as far as I could. I splashed into the water holding myself in a tight ball and was relieved to refursace unscaved. I swam under, and began to search for my companion. To my surprise, the water was only around twenty feet deep and I quickly reached the bottom. I used the rocks on the lake bed to hold myself under as I looked around. The water was dark, but I could see a few meters in every direction. I moved from rock to rock searching, but soon had to resurface for air.
As my head bobbed above the surface, I heard shouting from above. "What's with you and water," the figure yelled down at me from the island. "Come on man, get up here."
I swam to the edge and began to scale the island's sheer cliff wall. "Why does everything have to be on a cliff," I grunted as I pulled myself out of the water. After about half an hour of teaching myself how rock climb, and cursing the name of my best friend, I reached the top shaking from a mixture of adrenaline and exhaustion.
I rolled onto my back, and began to look around for him but he was nowhere to be seen. Considering that he was at one point imaginary, I decided it would be alright to sleep the climb off.
I dozed to the sound of falling water, and distant screams.
