AN: Sorry this is so late, I had a lot going on today. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy today's installment!
As I'd hoped, by morning Avani was completely recovered. She rose first, and when I woke up, she was in the midst of her exercise routine, Dylas still sound asleep on his bed roll. The scent of the coffee I made woke him, and we had a quick breakfast. Avani was ready and raring to go, so we suited up, set Baldur on guard duty, and headed out. This time when we reached the fork in the southern road, we turned west.
Soon we passed a hermit's cot set back from the road, and shortly after that we spotted the large mouth of a cave set into the hillside. We heard voices, so we quickly and quietly ducked into the shelter of the shrubs alongside the road. Before long, a pair of soldiers in the uniform of the Sechs military came up the road. I couldn't make out all that they said despite my keen senses, but I definitely discerned "Lord Ethelberd," "research," "Rune Spheres," and "final hurdle" in their conversation. They turned and entered the mouth of the cave, and after a few minutes, we cautiously followed, our weapons drawn.
Inside the cave we found a labyrinthine series of caverns, connected by tunnels and hidden passages, and occupied by hobgoblins, goblins, and other monsters. Finally, after an exhausting search and numerous skirmishes, we reached an unguarded chamber with a staircase leading down. We paused for a short break to eat and drink, heal our injuries, and rest a little. Soon, though, we proceeded cautiously down the dimly lit stairs.
When we neared the bottom of the stairway, we again heard voices—the same as before, I was almost certain. They seemed to be discussing what kinds of monsters they'd like to be turned into—a peculiar topic of conversation, I thought. Soon we heard the sound of a heavy barrier being opened, then closed again, followed by silence. We entered a chamber that contained only a blockaded passage to the north and warp points to both the east and the west. We looked at each other, then Avani shrugged and ran towards the eastern warp point, vanishing in a burst of light. Dylas ran after her, looking highly annoyed, and I followed close behind.
I suddenly found myself in another cavern, where Avani was already engaged in heavy combat with a small, vile-looking sorcerous monster. Dylas was a few paces ahead of me, running to her aid, so I quickly cast Water Laser and hit the monster with the high-energy stream. Soon he was defeated, and we continued on after Dylas scolded Avani for her careless haste.
Again, there was a maze of passages and caverns, filled with somewhat tougher monsters than on the previous level—mages, undead monsters, and more hobgoblins. Finally we reached a room that contained a switch and a warp point. The switch was color coded to match a portion of the barrier in the first chamber, so Dylas threw it and we warped back to the first room. Sure enough, part of the blockade was down, so we knew we were getting there. By now we were nearing exhaustion, though, so we decided to return to camp and continue tomorrow. Avani cast Escape, which deposited us just outside the mouth of the cave, and we returned to camp, ignoring any monsters that didn't actually prevent our progress.
After dropping off our gear, we headed to the spring to fish for our evening meal and wash the sweat and dust away. Upon our arrival, we discovered that Dylas had caught a few decent-sized lobsters in his trap, so we quickly bathed and headed back to cook them. Dylas prepared the lobsters for grilling, tossing the raw meat of the smallest two to Baldur for his supper. As he made his preparations, I gathered some more greens for a salad. Meanwhile, Avani said she felt obligated to report our discovery of the cave to Arthur, so she returned to town using the Escape spell, reappearing a while later just as Dylas was finishing cooking the lobsters. We enjoyed the delicious grilled lobsters, then afterwards we sat around the fire cleaning our gear before turning in for the night.
The next morning, we all rose early and ate a quick but hearty breakfast before setting out again. We cautiously approached the cave, but again there was no guard set. This time we just bolted through the first floor, ignoring any monsters that didn't block our route for the sake of speed. We quickly reached the stairs and descended to the second level. This time we entered the western warp point all together, our weapons drawn and ready.
We emerged in a cavern and came face to face with a huge minotaur. It bellowed in rage and charged, and we leapt forward to meet it in combat. It carried a massive battle axe—capable of great damage, but slow. As we charged, I noticed that Avani had sheathed her huge sword and drawn her smaller dual swords. I hadn't seen her fight with them yet and was amazed by the sight. Since they were so much smaller and lighter, they did less damage with each blow, but she was able to strike so much more often that the overall effect was pretty impressive. Using her superior speed and agility against the lumbering beast, she was devastating in her attack.
We dispatched it more quickly than I would have thought possible, and after a short break, during which Avani healed everyone and restored some of her expended energy with a little food, we continued on through the interconnected caverns. We fought several more minotaurs and a number of the earth shades known as gaias as well as more of the same monsters as we'd fought yesterday, finally reaching a second chamber containing a switch and a warp point. We threw the switch and jumped into the warp point, returning to the first cavern on that level. This time we found the barrier completely removed, and we entered a cavern with yet another staircase leading down.
We descended into another empty chamber with a passage open to the north, where we found a minotaur and another of the little sorcerous monsters holding a green fey captive. We defeated them, and Avani released the imprisoned green fey. In her gratitude, she offered to follow Avani as long as she wished. Avani accepted her proffered friendship but told her to return to her stables in Selphia for now, to rest and recover from her ordeal. The fey vanished in a flash, and we proceeded, fighting our way through more labyrinthine caverns, coming up against minotaurs, little mages, demons, and more, until we reached a chamber containing only a warp point. We stopped to rest and heal our wounds, then entered the warp point, exiting in another empty chamber with a passage to the north.
That room contained both a demon and a minotaur, which we soon defeated. The next room, though contained a small golem—something none of us had faced until now. As a Sechs construct, the Tamitaya spell on our weapons would not work—we'd have to annihilate it completely. It was tough, made of stone and incapable of feeling pain or of tiring. My spear would not be effective against it, so instead I focused on casting Water Laser, letting the powerful jet of water blast the Golem's stone, wearing it down as Avani attacked with her heavy long sword and Dylas battered it with a series of mighty kicks and punches. It was the toughest opponent we'd faced yet in those caves, though we knew that there were certainly worse battles still to come.
After a few more rooms, we found ourselves no longer in natural caverns, but in finished rooms with massive metal columns, smooth floors, and artificial lighting. We soon entered a room that was empty, where we again rested for a few minutes to recover strength and heal our wounds. Avani spotted a switch that activated a warp point—possibly a shortcut back up to the entrance, though we didn't yet know for sure.
As we reached the door to the north, we heard voices. We listened and heard a loud, arrogant voice that we didn't recognize triumphantly extolling some recent accomplishment. We slipped soundlessly into the room, to behold a massive dragon at the far end. Before it was a man in a uniform and cloak with long gray hair and some soldiers. The gray-haired man referred to the beast as the Native Dragon Terrable, though from their conversation it appeared to be a clone. I shivered at the idea of someone cloning the Native Dragons—the four Dragon Gods of the world. The stranger cackled loudly, proclaiming that with the Rune Spheres, he was now able to wield the power of an Earthmate, and I felt Avani stiffen next to me. She leapt forward, demanding the return of the Spheres, and the soldiers all whirled to face her. Dylas and I placed ourselves on either side of her, weapons drawn, and faced the strange man.
He slowly turned and looked keenly at Avani, then with a malicious grin, said, "Ahh, you're Avani, the Earthmate of Selphia. I am Ethelberd, the Emperor of Sechs. So tell me, Earthmate, did you like the gift I sent to you? He couldn't have succeeded against an Earthmate, of course, but I hope you had fun with him nonetheless. Just think of him as a warm greeting."
"A… greeting? You… because of him, Venti and Doug are…." she replied, shocked.
"Doug?" Ethelberd said with a scowl. "Who is this Doug?"
"Sir, he's the dwarf whose clan we slaughtered before manipulating him into spying for us in Selphia," one of the soldiers reminded him.
"I don't remember anything about that," the Emperor said with a dismissive gesture.
"You—how can you say that?" Avani shouted, shaking with rage and gripping her paired swords so tightly her knuckles turned white.
With another dismissive gesture, Ethelberd said, "Never mind that—take a look at this, Earthmate!" And with that, he moved to the side as the huge dragon stepped forward with an enraged roar as it slashed the air with its single, massive horn, opening great, dark wings tipped at the joints with cruel claws. "You see what the Rune Spheres can do? I created this clone of Terrable using their power! Impressive, isn't it?"
He strode up to the huge beast and struck him on his flanks, driving it forward. "Now, Earthmate of Selphia, show me your strength! Defeat this wraith of a God!" And with that he departed through a side door, closely followed by the other soldiers.
"As a Dragon Priest, I'm not sure how I feel about fighting even a clone of a Native Dragon, though perhaps true loyalty is shown in having the courage for remonstration," I said as I prepared for combat.
"Can't be helped now anyway," Dylas grunted, crouching for a leap. "So I say, bring it!" And with that, we charged as the monster bellowed a challenge.
Since Terrable was the Native Dragon over the element of earth, we had to avoid any earth-imbued weaponry—they would strengthen him rather than weaken him. Because of this, Avani utilized her wind-imbued dual blades rather than her more powerful long sword. She quickly set to hacking and slashing, using her acrobatic skills and her speed to create a veritable whirlwind around his head and neck, confusing and enraging the beast. Dylas drove in a series of kicks and punches on his flanks, and I cast Dual Sonic repeatedly, sending blades of wind energy slashing over and around him.
The Terrable-clone fought back with a fury, swiping at us with his long horn and his powerful tail and trying to crush us with his huge claws, but our onslaught soon began to take its toll. Nevertheless, he managed to knock Avani down with his tail, and as she lay helpless, temporarily stunned by his blow, he reared back, preparing to gore her with his horn. With a shout, I dove in with my spear leveled at his exposed belly, driving it in with all my might. Screaming in agony, he swiped at me with one of his spiked wings, rending my armor and sending me flying through the air. I hit something hard, and everything went black.
Disclaimer: Rune Factory 4, most locations and many of the characters in the story, and the game's plot belong to Neverland Co. and XSEED Games. The story plot and some characters and locations are my own invention.