Disclaimer: I don't own Neopets the Darkest Faerie.

Chapter 11:

Tor had been able to smell the ocean a mile away, though he didn't say anything to Roberta. He stayed silent until they had emerged from the trees only to find themselves atop a rocky cliff overlooking the sandy beach below and the ocean. A strong breeze blew into their faces a Roberta's hair whipped Tor in the face.

"Sorry," She said with the laughter ringing in her voice as she tied it back with a small band. She stood at the very edge of the cliff and looked down. It was no less than sixty feet to the ground. "Whoa," she whispered, taking a step back. "How do we get down?" she asked.

Tor looked to his left and then to his right, seeing that the cliff continued to stretch out on both sides farther than he could see. He dropped his backpack down onto the ground and yanked it open. "I guess we're climbing. I've still got that rope gun that my dad built."

"Sounds good to me," Roberta nodded and sat down on the ground, crossing her legs.

Tor raised his eyebrows briefly before starting his search for the rope gun. Roberta certainly wasn't like most women he knew. Most would probably rather sit alone at the top of the cliff and wait for him to do the dirty work than climb down sixty feet of a cliff with the only support being a bit of rope. He no longer found it all that surprising when Roberta said something like that. He pulled out the rope gun and released the catch. "Hold this," he said, handing Roberta the gun. He took the end with the hook and found a sturdy tree which he wrapped the rope around five times before pounding the hook into the root with his fist.

"Is there enough rope on this thing to reach the bottom?" Roberta asked worriedly. "We never really tested out how much distance it had."

Tor nodded and went to his backpack again. He dug around for a bit before pulling out two pairs of gloves and tossed the smaller pair to Roberta. "Yeah, there's about sixty on it. Maybe a little less, but that won't do much harm. These gloves will make going down much easier too."

"I can see that," Roberta said, inspecting the gloves closely. They were another invention from his dad, made for rock climbing. They made of strong leather, enforced with little bristles that were great for gripping onto things. Tor had tested them out many times around the farm and found that he'd been able to scale the side of the barn with a bit of extra work.

"Drop the gun over the side," He ordered and Roberta did just that, watching it fall through the air before stopping just a few feet from the ground. Tor tugged on the rope to make sure that it was secure before asking, "You want me to go first?"

Roberta shook her head. "I'll go. You spot me and keep a grip of the rope in case it comes loose."

"Alright. Be careful."

Roberta looked over the side of the cliff, standing with her back to it as she gripped the rope tightly in her hands. "Yeah, I got that." And then she dropped over the side. Tor watched her carefully, keeping a tight grip on the rope just in case. Nothing seemed to faze that girl. In a few minutes she had reached the ground. "Alright, you're turn!" she shouted up to him. Tor could barely hear her over the wind and from the distance. He tugged the rope once again before starting his journey to the ground.

Tor let the rope slide through his gloved hands for a few feet before clamping down hard and digging his feet into the cliff face. He repeated the process over and over, it becoming easier along the way. Once his feet slipped and he dangled for a second or two before he got himself back under control. When there was ten feet to go he let go and dropped into the sand. He stood up and adjusted his backpack. "Well that was something new."

Roberta nodded and looked up at the top of the cliff. "What about the rope?"

"We'll leave it. Escape route."

"Good idea. Let's rest here for a bit."

Tor nodded and sat down, leaning against the rocks. He took off the gloves and tucked them into his belt which held his sword. He gazed out at the ocean. It was so… endless. "You know, one day I think I'd like to sail the ocean."

Roberta turned to look at him with a small smile. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. I've heard many stories from sailors who come to Meridell to sell their goods and it sounds amazing. There's so much out there that we've never seen, things that we couldn't even imagine."

Roberta was silent for a few moments. Her fingers closed around the amulet that still hung around her neck. "Yes, it would be incredible, I'll admit that. But then I think about the things we have seen. We've been to Altador of all places. And when I think about that, it seems like there can't be much more to see."

"One day, Roberta, I'm going to take you on a journey over the ocean and prove you wrong about that one."

Roberta laughed. "I'm sure you will, Tor. But until then, I'll stick by my opinion." She stood up and held out her hand. "We should probably start searching. It might take a while."

…

Hours later, the two travelers returned to that same spot, feeling weary after spending the entire day searching. All they had found were clues that the werelupes were in the area such as bones from their prey and traces of a footprint or two. Any other footprints or scents had been washed away by the ocean. By the time the sun began to set, they'd found nothing.

"We'll have to keep searching tomorrow," Roberta sighed as they sat down in the same sparsely area of grass as before. "We won't find anything in the dark." Tor just nodded silently, his ears drooping slightly. Roberta put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry Tor, we'll find it and we won't leave until we do. I can promise you that."

Tor sighed. "I know." He held the vial of the cure up in front of his face. The orange light from the sunset shone through the glass creating a distorted image. "I hope this works…"

"It will. Angus is one of the best Potion Makers known, even in Brightvale. He's the one who taught Gerwuld everything he knows," She said comfortingly, speaking of the prickly Potions Master of Brightvale. "Except manners. Gerwuld has no concept of manners."

Tor grinned, remembering the many encounters he'd had with the older lupe. "I remember the first time I met him. He yelled at me for stepping too close to one of his cauldrons."

"Well he was making a particularly dangerous potion that could potentially explode if something got in it that the recipe didn't call for."

"Oh, so you're on his side now. I see how you are."

"Wait, what? I was just—"

Tor cut her off with his laughter. "I was just kidding Roberta. Even so, it was no reason for him to call me a half-brained kid who didn't know his tail from his nose."

Roberta shook her head, laughed. "That's true," she sighed and they fell silent, wearing grins on their faces at the memories. The sun had sunk behind them in the west and the faced the beginnings of night. The moon was just beginning to rise over the sea, though there were still faded streaks of orange over their heads. "If we weren't facing danger head on right now, I would really love it here. It's so peaceful."

"Yeah," Tor whispered in agreement. He listened to the waves crashing on the shore a few feet ahead and let himself doze off to the comforting sound. Roberta was doing the same her head resting on his shoulder. A part of tor knew that they shouldn't fall asleep, that this was a dangerous area to be in, especially at night, put the sounds were too comforting. The waves, the wind rustling over the sand, the music…

Music? Tor's head snapped up, startling Roberta. "What's wrong?" she asked, looking around for whatever had set the knight off.

"Do you hear that?" he whispered, straining his ears to hear the music. It was soft and sad, like a lullaby, and he had heard it before.

"Hear what? Tor what in King Altador's name are you talking about?"

"The music!" He whispered excitably. He climbs to his feet and dragged Roberta up onto hers. "Listen!"

Roberta looked at him, confused, but closed her eyes. An expression of concentration crossed her face for several seconds before her eyes opened and she nodded slowly. "I hear it. Where is it coming from though? It sounds familiar…"

"Because you've heard it before. On the beach near Brightvale, where we met. It's called a harpflower and they're very rare."

"Okay… but why—"

"Don't you remember the story? 'The flowers will sing their mournful tune.' Roberta this is what the Shadow Raider was talking about! The harpflowers! They only play their music at night when the moon it up, which is why anybody who ever tried to find the caves couldn't. Who in their right mind who stay around here at night, and those who did would just pass the music they heard off, not even realizing that it was exactly what they were looking for!"

Roberta smiled widely. "So all we have to do is follow the sound of the music!"

"Exactly." He looked in the direction where the music was coming from. "We had better get ready for a fight, Roberta, because there's going to be one."

Roberta nodded solemnly and they both turned to their endless backpacks. Tor found and equipped his Altadorian armor for the first time since the journey began. He sheathed his sword at his side and strapped his shield onto his back. Roberta found her Altadorian battle robes which did not offer much protected, but each thread held a bit of magic that acted as a shield from many attacks and were easy to move about in. She would be a hard target for any attacker. They looked at one another for a few moments, feeling ready for battle. This is what they lived for.

"Ready?" he asked.

"For anything."

Tor nodded and hid his pack behind a rock while Roberta did the same. Keeping a hand on the hilt of his sword, Tor led the way, following the music. A distance away he found the first flower, hidden in the beach grass. The deep sapphire blue of the daffodil like flower caught his eye and he knelt down next to it, the music filling his ears. There was just enough light from the moon to see the music scale patterns on the petals.

"Wow…" Roberta whispered. "Oh, there's another one!" And sure enough, several feet away there was another flower, and a little farther away another. Just as the clue given by the Shadow Raider described, the flowers were leading them to their destination. Beyond them, Tor could see several more, hidden among the grass. They seemed to be glowing in the moonlight, becoming brighter and brighter as the moon rose. Each flower sounded different, yet the sounds all went together to form a single, beautiful song.

They continued to follow the flowers until the line stopped at the base of the cliff. Tor frowned, seeing nothing there. "Oh what the—"

"Wait," Roberta held up a hand, shushing him. Her eyes were closed in concentration and Tor waited. "I can sense magic here." She touched the rock and her eyes snapped open as she peered closer. "Tor, look at this!"

Tor edged closer and leaned forward to see what she was talking about. It would have been hard to see, even in daylight, but there was a small circle etched into the rock and a cross stabbed into it which Tor knew symbolized a dagger. "His mark. But how do we get by?"

"I'm not sure…" she placed her hand on the stone again with a small frown of concentration. "Wait…" A few moments later she swore. "Dammit! It requires a password!"

"A Password?" Now it was Tor's turn to swear, ten times worse than Roberta had. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"We wait," Roberta said simply. "We wait until someone leaves or comes back. Then we'll hear the password and we can get by."

"We can't afford to wait any longer!" Tor hissed in agitation, his tail lashing. Roberta stood, unfazed.

"Your sister has waited this long, she can wait a little longer, Tor. We hide our scents, and we wait. The moment the door opens—"

"We kill them. As silently as possible. I remember."

Roberta nodded. This would be a silent mission, with little speaking and quiet kills. No werelupe they came across could be left alive and any bodies would need to be hidden anywhere they could. They didn't need the entire pack attacking them at once, though it was something they were both aware that they were capable of. "Now, we have to hide our scents. Any suggestions?"

"Yes, and you won't like it."

….

"I can't believe you made me do that," Roberta muttered, wrinkling her nose at the smell of carrion. The rotted smell would easily hide their own scents and from the look and smell of the place, no werelupes would think twice about it.

""It's ten times worse for me you know," Tor replied.

"It's in my hair!"

Tor fought back a chuckle. "Come on, we have to hide quickly."

Within minutes they had perched themselves in a tree that overlooked the sealed entrance. There wasn't much cover, but they wouldn't need cover for long. Tor made himself as comfortable as possible, crouching on a thick branch that he could easily jump and kill from. Roberta sat in the same position on a lower branch, her wand in one hand and a dagger in the other. She would provide support from above and in the case that there was more than they expected she could take a few down with a dagger. Neither of them were a force to be reckoned with, especially as a team.

A half an hour passed and they still sat there, completely still like two predators. And then Tor heard footsteps, coming from within the tunnel. He leaned forward and pricked his ears. Three of them. He hissed down to Roberta as a wave crashed on the beach. If he could hear the werelupes, they could hear him. Roberta looked up at him and he held up three fingers. She nodded and got ready to jump.

"Sic transit gloria mundi."

It was a low growl of a voice, but Tor was just able to hear it, even if he didn't know what it meant. There was a loud groaning sound and as Tor watched a part of the stone seemed to slide away into the ground, forming a doorway. Three large figures stepped out of the tunnel and sniffed the air. Tor held his breath, but after a few moments the three carried on. That's when Tor made his move.

He jumped from his branch, pointing his sword down. He landed on the shoulders of the third werelupe who was slightly behind the other two and as he landed, his sword plunged through the beast's neck, severing the spine. Tor wrenched out his sword as Roberta dropped from the tree onto the leading werelupe. The other had turned around at the sound of his companion's body slumping to the ground. Tor slashed his sword, slicing the werelupe's throat. He looked over at Roberta just as she ripped the dagger from her opponent's eye and cut off his pained howl by slicing its throat. It dropped to the ground, dead.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, you?"

"Yeah." He looked at the now sealed entrance and stepped forward.

"Well now what?" Roberta questioned, seeing the stone wall again.

"Sic transit Gloria mundi," Tor said. And immediately the stone began sliding down again. He grinned at Roberta and pointed to his ears.

"Thus passes away the glory of the world," Roberta whispered. "Rather, worldly things do not last."

"Huh. So that's what that means? I wonder how the assassin knew the password."

"Don't know. But we should hide these and get moving."

Tor nodded and threw the two he killed over both shoulders. His knees sagged slightly under the massive weight, but it wasn't too bad. Roberta on the other hand, was stuck dragging the last body across the sand. They waded through the waves until Tor was up to his knees and Roberta up to her waist. His armor didn't rust and her robes were charmed to repel water. They dumped the bodies into the ocean and let them drift off. As sad as it was, nobody would pay much mind to any werelupe that washed up on the beach. It wasn't exactly common, but it wasn't rare either to stumble upon a body of one.

They walked back to the tunnel and covered up any sign of a struggle. Tor looked into the darkness. It seemed to curve to the side shortly after the entrance. "Ready?" he asked.

"Ready."

He walked into the darkness and led the way, feeling around with his arms. After the first bend, Tor realized why the legend named this place the Golden Caves. On the walls torches hung in holders that were drilled into the stone. The tunnel widened into a circular room and everywhere there were barrels filled with jewels and neopoints. There was gold and silver, pearls, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and diamonds, anything that held any value that Tor could think of. He looked at Roberta who was staring around in wonder.

"This is amazing! Look around Tor! There's got to be more here!"

And indeed when Tor looked down the two tunnels that split off from the circular room, everything seemed golden.

A/N: And another chapter down. Sweet. I'm finding this story more and more interesting to write. The next chapter will contain quite a bit of fighting, as you can imagine. I mean, if you've played the game then I'm sure you did a lot of killing when it came to infiltrating the werelupe lair.