4. CAVE OF WATERFALLS (DURAN)

For what was supposed to be a brave and honorable quest, things were not going so well, Duran thought.

So far, he had found one occupied city and snuck out like a coward. Realistically, he couldn't have done much with the beastman, and self-sacrifice so early in his journey would have been largely a futile gesture, but still, it made him angry to find yet another opponent that he couldn't do anything about.

And here he was, encountering yet another obstacle on his trip to Wendel. The barrier to the cave was clearly magical in nature. Even worse than meeting an opponent he couldn't defeat, was to be stopped by magic, of all things. He was suffering some severe blows to his pride this week.

Tapping at the barrier with his sword, then whacking it harder, all he got for his efforts was a hollow ringing sound and a pain in his arm. He didn't expect to accomplish anything with the effort, but it did give him an outlet for his anger, at least until he could figure out a better idea.

--

Angela watched the young man banging on the obstruction with his sword. She felt somewhat satisfied that she was not the only one having trouble with it, remembering her own annoyance the night before.

Absorbed in his assault on the magic barrier, he didn't hear her approach. When she was almost immediately behind him, she cleared her throat. The man, obviously a knight by his armor, whirled around, sword at the ready.

Good fighting impulses, obviously, but not so observant, she assessed.

Now that he was facing her, Angela looked the knight up and down. Nice-looking man, definitely. Forcenan, she thought. He had thick, long auburn hair, and if his arms were anything to go by, the rest of his body must be well built, also. It would have to be, to carry the weight of all that armor. Forcenans were the only ones who refused adamantly to use magic in battle, so they relied on heavy armor and weaponry instead. Some strange ideas about the sword being superior to magic.

"You know, that won't work," she began, smiling witheringly.

"I figured as much, said the man, slightly sulky. "I need to get to the Holy City Wendel, but I can't get into that cave... I've been trying to figure out a way in for an hour."

Angela decided to leave out her own episode of frustration with said barrier. "I can help you with that." On her signal, the Fairy stepped out of her head and floated towards the magic barrier. Touching it with one tiny hand, she must have cast some sort of fairy-spell, for all of a sudden the air shimmered pink where the barrier had been located. Angela was tempted to stick out an arm to check if it worked, but taking a leap of faith, decided to play it cool. She crossed her arms and smiled smugly, as if she had known exactly what was going to happen.

Duran stuck his arm through the now-open opening instead. "Wow, you really did... What was that, anyway?"

"That," Angela paused for dramatic emphasis, "is a fairy from the Mana Holyland." Let him wonder what she was doing in the company of said fairy. She wasn't entirely sure herself, actually.

"A fairy? Where did you find it?"

"Her," Angela corrected. "Did you see a light in the forest last night?"

"Yeah, I did, coming out of Jad, but I was in such a hurry to get to Wendel, that I didn't bother checking it out. Not that I got very far," he said glumly, gesturing to the cave mouth with his sword. "So, you must be going to Wendel to, to come this way?"

"I am," Angela replied. Briefly, she sketched out the details of her travels, leaving out Koren and his humiliating treatment of her, and the part where she had nearly died in the snowfields. She wasn't ready to tell this man her whole story yet, no matter how handsome he might be. "Really... I see... so that's what happened... hmm," he listened, nodding politely.

"How about you?" she asked.

"Me? I'm Duran. Just like my father before me, I'm a swordsman in service to the crown of Forcena. I thought I was strong enough to defeat anyone, until one day the castle was attacked with magic," he said, with a trace of embarrassment, "and rushing to defend the king, I encountered a crimson-caped wizard, who almost killed me..."

Angela's mind was preoccupied and drifting, not really paying full attention to the story, until something he said snapped her back to attention. "Crimson-caped wizard?" she asked.

Duran nodded.

"Say, that wizard…" Angela speculated. The coincidence was almost too much, and she wasn't sure if it meant the Goddess was smiling on her or laughing at her. "That sounds like a man from home named Koren… we called him the Wizard of the Red Lotus…"

Anger flashed across Duran's face. "That's what he called himself. You know the guy?!"

"That's right, you bet I do!" Angela found herself suddenly furious as well. "But hey, don't get the wrong idea! He used to be just like me... totally useless with magic... But then, all of a sudden, he became the greatest wizard in Altena... Now, as the right arm of my mother, he's acting all high and mighty! He even goes around calling me... the Princess... 'Angela'! Ooo, just thinking about it makes me mad! " The words were spilling out faster than she could control them. "He tries to put me down, a hundred different ways, so he can keep his place close to my mother, and I'm sure he's the one who convinced Mother my life was something to sacrifice…" Suddenly she stopped, mid-rant, realizing what had come out of nowhere; something she hadn't thought about, something that was much more than she was prepared to let on. It really was Koren, she told herself, with a bit of surprise. But how? And why?

Fortunately, Duran hadn't seemed to have taken in the last of her words; Angela wasn't sure if Duran was speaking to her, or musing to himself, as he looked into the distance. "The greatest magician in all of Altena... But I'm the son of the greatest swordsman in Forcena...For the memory of my father, I can't afford to lose to him again." Blinking slightly, he turned to meet her eyes. Angela felt momentarily flustered; I must be quite attracted to this man for just a look to affect me, she thought to herself. "Well, it looks like we're both going the same way, so let's go together! Nice to meet you, my lady Angela!"

Angela proffered her hand, which he kissed, with true knightly chivalry. She told herself that it was going to be so much more enjoyable traveling in the company of a strong, handsome man.

But really, deep down she knew she was tired of feeling alone.

--

As they entered the coolness of the Cave of Waterfalls, Duran pondered the story she had told him. If she was indeed, the Princess - and she certainly carried herself like one - her story was very revealing. There had been rumors of Altena's plans for a full-fledged invasion, but from what this girl had told him, apparently the situation was more complicated and dark than he had suspected. The Queen had tried to kill her own daughter, and then ordered her arrest for treason? What was wrong with these people? Was it a side effect of all that magic usage?

Sword at the ready, he tried to lead the way through the cave, but she stuck firmly to his left side. No damsel in distress, this one. There was some fire in her, underneath her composed exterior. He had heard that Altenan women were like that, cool on the outside and hot within.

The other thing they were noted for was their icy good looks. Angela was definitely gorgeous, with that pale porcelain skin, and the thick violet hair falling over her shoulders. Not to mention the body, which she obviously was not shy of showing.

He had a feeling it could be an interesting journey. She might not be so easy to figure out. Well, he was never one to back down from a challenge.

--

Despite the rumors that the Cave of Waterfalls had been overrun by monsters, all Duran saw were a few bats and mushroom-things. He suspected the more common people might have been afraid to travel through, but for a seasoned fighter such as himself they were barely worth a second glance. Even Angela, armed with nothing more than a heavy staff, seemed to think they were hardly worth a swat.

Still, the passage was long, and they made several wrong turns. They finally settled for the night by a pool of clear water. A weathered Goddess statue, the sort frequently seen along travel routes, stood by the underground lake, its presence in the underground cavern lending calm to their sleep.

It was a few hours into the next day when up ahead, they saw a glimmer of light and the sound of running water - quite a lot of running water. It could only be the large waterfall that gave the cave its name. As they headed towards the open light ahead, suddenly they heard a girl's shriek breaking the peaceful sound of rushing liquid.

"Eeek! Somebody!"

Duran heard Angela's shout, but he was already running towards the source of the cry. As he broke into the high-ceilinged cavern, he saw a young girl of about ten, clinging to the edge of a slender rock bridge crossing the chasm above the drop to the bottom of the falls below.

With almost a single motion, Duran drove his sword back into his sheath, and bending down, yanked the child up onto the bridge. He fell onto his back with a grunt, and the young girl on top of him.

Angela kneeled next to him, a look of concern on her face. For him, he thought, not the kid.

"I'm okay," he told her, then looked over at the young girl. "Who are you, and what's a cute little girl like you doing in a dangerous place like this, anyway?"

The girl stepped to her feet, brushing the dirt off her blue and pink robes as she stood. "I'm Carlie, of Wendel," she proudly announced, "and I am not a little girl. I'm fifteen years old!" As she made this pronouncement, her big blue eyes narrowed, and she tossed a head of coppery curls that poufed wildly around her face.

Duran found that hard to believe, seeing as Carlie, standing, missed his neck by several inches. But... if she was really from the Holy City, that explained her clerical robes.

"I'm looking for Heath!" Carlie continued.

"Who?" Angela asked, dumbfounded.

"Heath's a nice priest who takes care of Carlie since she has no mom and dad. But Grampa sent Heath to Astoria, and Carlie had a baaaad feeling about it, so she followed! When she found Heath, a bad man took him away, and Carlie couldn't get into the cave…" Carlie was openly sniffling, just on the verge of tears. "Then you came along, and Carlie followed you in! But she took a wrong turn, and fell down!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Duran could see Angela with arms crossed, obviously irritated at the distraction. "Wait here, Carlie," he told the girl, and went to confer with his companion.

"We can't leave her here, Angela," he told her.

"I know," she sighed, "but it's going to slow us down to be saddled with a kid all the way to Wendel."

A moment of silence passed. Duran had thought she would argue more, but it seemed to be settled. "Carlie, we'll take you back to Wendel. We're going to see the Priest of Light there."

"The Priest of Light? That's my Grampa, Carlie will show you the way! We're almost there!"

That's good news, thought Duran, I'm sure the Priest will be pleased to see us when we bring his grandchild back home.

Carlie skipped ahead across the bridge. Looking at her childish enthusiasm, Duran would have never had guessed that her life had been in danger only minutes before.

True to the child's word, within the hour they had stepped outside of the cave. Ahead of them they could see their goal, the Holy City of Wendel.