Chapter 37
***Recap: As Xion is back at the mansion speaking with Namine, Riku and Sam left on a mission to Prydain to find an oracular pig named Hen Wen. While there Riku summons back old friends, Bedivere and Mordred, to help them track down Taran, Hen Wen's watcher. They find Taran in the Kingdom of Morda, but discover that Hen Wen was taken by the previously slain Horned King. Riku is convinced he is the cause of the Horned King returning with the Darkness and goes out to fix his past mistakes.***
Sam looked around at the worn down farm houses that were covered with shimmering snow as she followed after Riku and Bedivere towards the town's main gates. Her eyes met with Taran's home and she could see Eilonwy glancing out the open door, no doubt searching for her.
Momentarily pausing, Sam looked towards Riku and raised her voice loud enough for him to hear, "Would it be a good idea to stop by Taran's to find out what happened with Hen Wen?"
Riku immediately stopped walking and replied, "It would probably be better if they didn't see me. We don't need their help."
"Actually," Bedivere spoke up, causing Riku to glance over at him. "I may agree with Lady Sam-"
"Lady Sam?" Sam interrupted with a smug smile, "I could get used to that." She looked over to Riku, "Why don't you call me that?"
Riku sent her an unamused look before going back to Bedivere. "Why do you think we should go see them?"
"Lady Sam told us that Taran claims Hen Wen was taken by the Horned King," Bedivere reminded him. "Taran may be able to provide us some insight on where the King resides now or what he is like."
Looking back to the snow that embedded his feet, Riku mulled it over for a moment before admitting, "Yeah, you're right." He looked back up and let out a long sigh. "I doubt they'll want to talk to me, though."
"This might be your chance to show them how much you've changed and make things right," Sam pointed out with a shrug as she walked towards him.
"Doubt it," Riku simply replied.
"I will go retrieve the others while you and Lady Sam speak with them," Bedivere spoke up. "We can meet right outside the town's gates."
Riku shortly nodded in agreement, "Alright." After Bedivere bowed shortly and walked away, Riku looked over to Sam with a frown. "Lead the way then, I guess."
Sam smirked and turned to the right, leading off the path towards the farmland. As they stepped off the road, the snow reached up to their calves, making it difficult to trudge through. They passed a couple homes before reaching a seemingly new wooden farmhouse with the front door wide open.
"Here it is," Sam told him, stopping a few feet from the door. "If you want, I could go inside by myself and just relay what I find out."
Riku thought about it for a moment before shaking his head, "No, I want to hear the info first hand; Taran has a habit of over exaggerating things."
"Alright then," Sam shrugged, walking into the home. She stopped at the doorway, seeing Taran and Eilonwy talking quietly by the stairway before noticing that Dalben was no longer rocking in front of the fireplace. Lightly clearing her throat, she caught Eilonwy and Taran's attention.
"There you are!" Eilonwy exclaimed as she turned and walked towards Sam. "We were wondering where you suddenly ran off to."
"I-uh, was getting someone," Sam admitted as she stepped out of the way to allow Riku to come in.
"Riku?" Eilonwy gasped and stumbled backwards into Taran.
"What are you doing here?" Taran stepped protectively in front of Eilonwy, glaring at Riku.
"I was here for Hen Wen," Riku replied curtly, while crossing his arms. "But I heard you screwed that up."
"Seriously?" Sam scolded him with a hushed voice. "I told them you changed and you come here with that attitude?"
Riku side glanced at Sam with a frown before letting out a long breath, "Fine…" he uncrossed his arms and looked back to Taran and Eilonwy. "I'm not here to cause trouble, alright? I'm only here because Hinata asked me to find Hen Wen-"
"Is Hinata here?" Eilonwy interrupted.
"No," Riku answered honestly. "But she's safe."
"She's having to stay hidden," Sam tried to explain. "She wanted us to find Hen Wen so we can ask to show a vision of her future-to see if she can safely leave or not."
"Why is she having to stay hidden?" Eilonwy asked.
"Long story," Riku replied. "The point is, we're here for her. But I heard that Hen Wen was taken by the Horned King and wanted to hear what happened."
"Why do you think we'd tell you anything?" Taran spoke up with a slight growl in his voice. "After everything you've done, how do you expect us to trust anything you say?"
"Because I can make things right," Riku confessed, clenching his hands into tight fists.
Sam whipped her attention to Riku as the others fell silent, allowing Riku to talk.
"Look, I know I messed up. I know I've never done right by either of you, and I'm sorry." He looked between Taran and Eilonwy as he continued. "But that isn't me anymore. I'm trying to help and make things right. I know the Horned King is back, he's back because of the darkness I used to kill him. I didn't know that would happen, but it did; and now that I'm here, I'm going to put a stop to it." Running his hand over his hair, he added, "You don't have to believe me, that's fine. We're here asking for help, but if you don't feel like trusting me, we can do this on our own."
The flames crackled in the fireplace, interrupting the tense silence as Taran's eyes flickered downward, considering Riku's words.
Reluctantly looking back up, he inhaled deeply and explained, "A couple days ago, I was with Hen Wen in the forest outside the Kingdom's walls…"
"Taran," Eilonwy whispered behind him, "you can't seriously be trusting him."
"We have to give him a chance, Eilonwy," Taran glanced back at her with an equally hushed voice. "If anyone is capable enough to stop the Horned King again, it's him."
"I don't know, Taran," Eilonwy replied, looking Riku over.
"I promise, he's telling the truth," Sam assured her.
Eilonwy frowned, but allowed Taran to continue, "I had been wanting to to find some truffles in the forest so I could make a special dinner for…" his voice lightly trailed off as his cheeks flushed, "...something." He cleared his throat. "Hen Wen's really good at smelling them out, so I brought her with me to look, but we didn't make it far. We were less than a mile away from the town walls when I suddenly heard a strange, unsettling whisper. Something about it startled Hen Wen and she sprinted away from me. I ran after her and the whispers grew louder until it sounded like someone was right next to my ear. I caught up to her, but only because she had been stopped by those strange shadow creatures…"
"The Heartless," Sam clarified for him.
"You know of them?" Eilonwy asked. "Have you seen them before?"
Sam silently nodded. "A lot actually," she replied.
"What happened next?" Riku cut in, getting back to Taran's story.
Taran rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably as he continued, "Well-uh, once I caught up to Hen Wen, we were surrounded by those… Heartless. I grabbed her and tried to run, but I couldn't get through. Then, right in front of us, this black shadow appeared. It covered the ground around us and out of it the Horned King appeared."
"What do you mean, Taran?" Eilonwy asked, hearing the story for the first time as well. "How did he appear?"
"I-I don't know," Taran ran his hand through his hair, swallowing hard before he continued. "He rose out of the dark shadow and had this purple mist surrounding him…"
Riku shook his head, "He turned into a Heartless…" He let out a long breath. "I was hoping I was wrong about that…"
"We can just go kill him, right?" Sam asked. "Is there anything special about him being a Heartless?"
"He's more powerful," Riku told her. "He isn't just using the darkness like me; the darkness is him."
"Well, shit," Sam mumbled. "You think we can do this?"
"We have to," he spoke quietly, before looking back to Taran. "What happened next?"
"I was in shock…" Taran continued, having a harder time talking about it as a sheen of water covered his brown eyes. "He reached forward and took Hen Wen from my hands… and then he just... disappeared…"
"Don't blame yourself, Taran," Eilonwy softly placed her hand on Taran's shoulder. "No one could have expected the Horned King to return. Especially in such an unheard of way."
Taran didn't reply, only downcasting his eyes towards the floorboards with a solemn look.
"Alright, thanks," Riku quickly spoke, looking towards Sam and giving her a nod. "We'll be back." He turned to leave.
"Wait!" Taran suddenly spoke up, causing both Sam and Riku to stop. He lifted his gaze and told them determinedly, "I want to help."
"Thanks, but we don't need it," Riku told him. "You'd honestly only get in the way." Sam scoffed and elbowed him, making him look over to her and whisper, "It's true, he doesn't know the first thing about fighting."
"I know," Taran agreed, stepping forward. "But, I'm the one that lost Hen Wen and she's my responsibility. If something happened to her, she might need me." When Riku hesitated, he stepped forward again and added, "I won't get in the way, I promise."
Riku sighed, obviously not moved, as Sam whispered to him. "Come on, he wants to help."
"We already have Ben and Jack as dead weight," Riku reminded her with a hushed voice. "You really want to add another person to that list?"
Sam just looked at him with a frown, "You are insufferable sometimes, you know that? Just give the kid a chance-he gave you one."
Riku stared back at her with a blank expression before suddenly letting out a quiet groan. "Fine," he motioned his head towards Taran, "you can help, but I'm not slowing down for you."
"Thank you, I won't let you down." Taran quickly acknowledged his permittance, turning around to run up the stairs before Eilonwy stopped him.
"Taran, are you sure about this?" Eilonwy spoke quietly while casting glances towards Riku and Sam. "Trusting Riku enough to tell him about Hen Wen is one thing, but offering to go on this… rescue mission with him... Are you sure that's wise?"
"Hen Wen is my responsibility, Eilonwy," he told her, taking her hands lightly into his. "If Riku is telling the truth about trying to get her back, I need to be there. He says he's here to make things right and that's what I need to do, too."
"I don't know, Taran…" Eilonwy replied softly, averting her gaze. "What if something goes wrong? I… couldn't lose you."
Taran smiled and squeezed her hands, "You won't, I promise." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before running up the stairs to get ready.
Eilonwy looked after Taran until he disappeared before turning her attention to Riku and Sam. Standing tall, she stalked towards them and glared at Riku. "Of all the times to return here, this is the day you choose… I hope you know that I am not the slightest bit sympathetic towards your apology. If it wasn't for Taran's insistence that Hen Wen was his responsibility, I'd-" She cut off mid-sentence with a huff as she placed her hands on her hips and looked away. Taking in a deep breath, she added with a calmer voice. "I do hope you find Hen Wen, though, if for nothing else than Hinata's sake."
"Noted," Riku simply replied, with the slightest hint of a smirk. "And I'll let Hinata know you say hello."
The corner of Eilonwy's mouth curved into a smile before she turned and walked away, heading upstairs to help Taran get ready.
"She really doesn't like you," Sam commented once Eilonwy was out of earshot.
Riku lightly chuckled. "Told you. Honestly, I'm surprised Taran was the one that decided to trust me."
"Thank you for letting him come along," Sam replied. "He deserves a chance."
Riku silently nodded before asking, "Are you just saying that because he reminds you of when you wanted to come back to Twilight Town?"
Sam scoffed, "Yeah, maybe. I just felt bad for him, I guess."
Accepting her answer, Riku looked outside at the seemingly endless snowfall. His thoughts went to their mission ahead and he swallowed hard. "This isn't going to be easy."
"Yeah, I'm getting that impression…" Sam replied, crossing her arms. "Do you know where the Horned King is?"
"I'm going to guess he's at the same place he was when I was here last time," he informed her. "His castle got destroyed, but he could have easily used his darkness to rebuild it."
"Perfect," Sam sarcastically remarked. "A darkness filled castle built by a guy that probably has a huge bone to pick with you since you're the one that killed him. This is going to be a party that Hinata will be sorry she missed."
"Yeah…" he mumbled.
"Alright, I'm ready," Taran got their attention as he walked back down the creaky stairs.
A thick brown coat covered his tunic, with a black leather belt around his hips, holding the sheath to his blade on his side. His orange hair was fully pulled back, keeping it out of his face. He pulled on a pair of black snow boots by the door and stood back up straight.
"Let's go," he strained a smile to Riku before turning back around and sending a small wave to Eilonwy, who was standing silently at the top of the stairs with watery sheen over her eyes.
With a silent nod of acknowledgement, Riku left the house, immediately met with the chilling winds of the outdoors. He could hear the footsteps of the others crunching through the snow behind him as he led the way towards the town gates.
"It should be about a week's journey to the Horned King's castle," Taran spoke up. "At least, where his castle used to be." He cleared his throat and added, "I hope you have enough supplies for the journey."
"We'll be fine," Riku assured him. "We just need to meet up with the others before we get going."
"Others?" Taran asked a bit hesitantly. "How many others?"
"Five, I think," Sam informed him, walking alongside him. "Other than Mordred, they're all pretty nice. Don't worry, you'll be in safe hands." She sent him a reassuring smile and he faintly smiled in return.
Riku glanced over his shoulder at them before looking forward as he reached the main gate. He was suddenly stopped by spears crossed in front of him.
"Halt!" A guard's loud voice caught his attention and he looked over to see a fully armored man looking him and the group over. "The outside walls are not safe for travel."
Riku looked past the guard, seeing Bedivere with Mordred and the others in the outskirts of the outside forest. His frown deepened as he brought his gaze back to the guard. "We'll be fine. We can take care of ourselves and we won't be travelling alone."
The guard looked Riku and the others over with an unsure expression, but nodded to the other guard, raising their spears and allowing them through. "Be sure to be back by sundown…"
"Thanks," Riku told them as he led on through.
As he passed the gates, Riku looked towards the forest. Even from the town, he could see the familiar glowing eyes of random Heartless creeping in between the trees and snow covered bushes. Shaking his head at the sight, he turned his gaze towards the rest of the group, where Bedivere and Mordred were chatting as Ben and Jack played in the snow. Eirian dug her narrow nose into the snow, throwing piles of it into the air to rain down on a laughing Ben.
Bedivere looked up as he noticed Riku approaching and asked, "Trouble? I noticed the guards stopped you."
"Not much," Riku replied, "They were just warning us it was dangerous out here."
Mordred turned to face Riku and immediately groaned, "Don't tell me the whiny brat is coming with us!" He blatantly motioned towards Taran, "Just had to invite him along, didn't you?"
Taran scowled and stepped forward, "My name, is Taran! And I have as much right to be here as you do… whoever you are."
Rolling his eyes, Mordred grumbled to Riku, "This is going to cost you double."
"Exactly how much are you expecting us to pay you?" Sam asked.
"I'll figure that out once we finished the mission," Mordred replied gruffly, "but double the amount I decide."
"Oh please," Sam rolled her eyes.
"Taran saw the Horned King," Riku explained to Mordred, bringing the discussion back on topic, "and Hen Wen is his pig, so he's tagging along. He won't cause trouble… hopefully."
"That's reassuring…" Mordred muttered under his breath.
"So he did indeed see the Horned King," Bedivere commented, "which confirms our suspicions that he has returned. I have filled the others in on the new mission."
"Thanks," Riku nodded towards him. "We should get going then."
Closing his eyes, he held out his hand and a black portal appeared out of the snow before flickering out of existence. Riku opened his eyes in surprise and tried again with the same result. He looked down at his open palm with confusion.
"What's wrong?" Sam walked up beside him and asked with a quieted voice.
"I'm not sure…" Riku whispered back honestly. "It's like I can't keep a connection."
"Are you trying to get to the old castle?" Sam asked him, seeing him nod in return. "Maybe something's off there. Like, could there be too much darkness or something?"
"I doubt it-corridors are made with darkness," he explained, shivering from the cold as he turned around and asked Bedivere. "How long would it take us by foot to get to the Horned King's castle?"
"Assuming he is based in the same area, a little more than a week," Bedivere replied.
"We can't take that long…" Riku mumbled, turning back around. He placed his hand to his chin, thinking it over.
"Maybe the King was able to block any Corridors from appearing at his castle," Sam suggested. "I mean, you said he's made of darkness now. Maybe he has the ability to do that sort of thing."
"Maybe…" Riku somewhat agreed with a thoughtful tone.
"Could you make a Corridor near the castle? Like a couple miles away?" Sam asked.
"I'll try," Riku nodded, holding out his hand again and closing his eyes. "Last time I was there with Hinata, we spotted the castle from some mountains… Maybe I can go there..." As the words left his mouth, a black portal sprouted from the ground, pulsating powerfully. Riku opened his eyes and smirked, "There, that worked." He glanced over his shoulder and motioned towards the portal, "Alright, let's get going."
"Go… in there?" Taran asked unsurely as he slowly backed up until Mordred tightly grabbed his shoulder and shoved him forward.
"Come on," Mordred growled, "the faster we are, the quicker I can get away from you."
Taran frowned and rubbed his sore shoulder as he complied and entered the portal, followed by Eirian with Ben on her back and Jack floating beside them.
As Mordred neared the portal, Riku commented, "You going to be mean to him the whole time?"
"Only when he annoys me," Mordred replied, crossing his arms. "Which, if he's anything like you were, will be all the time."
Riku scoffed, "Just get in the portal."
Mordred chuckled as he walked inside, followed closely by Bedivere. Sam sighed and sent Riku a look before she went in as well. Once alone, Riku scanned their surroundings once more, making sure no one was around, before escaping inside the portal and making it disappear behind him. They all reached the other side of the Corridor within minutes, even with Taran gawking at the unusual surroundings.
As they entered the light at the end of the Corridor, they came out on a snowy mountainside. The wind whooshed past them at harder, sharper speeds, sending ice shards into them and making them shield their faces with their arms. It was difficult to see anything more than the blinding white of the snow around them until Riku lifted his hands and surrounded them with a shimmering shield. Harsh winds and snow hit the sides of the domed shield, but inside with the group, it was suddenly calm and oddly tranquil.
"Everyone alright?" Riku called out, his voice barely heard over the whistling wind outside their safe shield. He got a grumble of answers in return as he looked around, trying to make out anything outside the shield that could resemble a path. Bedivere caught his attention when he placed his hand on Riku's shoulder.
"I believe I spot a cavern not far from us," Bedivere told him calmly. "It may be wise to find shelter inside so you can rest and recover your strength before we move on."
"Agreed," Riku quickly concurred, "Lead the way."
Bedivere simply nodded as he walked back towards the mountainside. As Riku walked beside him, he could barely make out a darkened circle in the mountain, but as they got closer he could see that it was indeed a cave. As everyone entered the cavern, Riku released the shield, stumbling forward from a combination of the strong outside winds rushing into him and the loss of energy from his body. He leaned against the entrance of the cave, welcoming the chilling air and icy snow on his warmed skin as. Looking outside, he paid attention to the falling snow, noticing something peculiar. The wind was moving in a circular motion, as if it was spinning around something huge. He narrowed his eyes as he stared at it, barely noticing as Bedivere walked up beside him.
"Notice something?" Bedivere inquired, startling Riku slightly.
Riku whipped his attention to him for a moment, before looking back outside. "Yeah… I think so anyways." He paused for a moment before explaining. "It… sort of looks like the wind and snow is swirling around something."
Bedivere stared outside for a silent minute. "Hmm…." he hummed, "I believe you just might be onto something. It may just also be the reason you were unable to create the portal earlier."
"You think so?" Riku asked, looking up at him.
"Indeed," Bedivere nodded, "I believe the Horned King's new domain may be what's in the center of that blizzard and perhaps the weather conditions were too severe to keep the connection."
Riku frowned and bit the inside of his cheek. "I was worried that might be the case… How is he doing that? It takes more than just darkness to create something like that."
"He may not be working alone," Bedivere suggested, "Or it's also very possible he has a vast array of powerful enchanted objects at his disposal. There are many items in this land that could control or influence the weather."
"We've really got our work cut out for us," Riku sighed as he looked over to Bedivere. "This is getting a lot tougher than we initially intended. If you or Mordred don't want to take the risk, I-"
"We aren't going anywhere," Mordred interrupted, making both Bedivere and Riku look back at him. "It's been months since I've had a decent bounty job. I'm not missing out on the chance to take out those damned Heartless." He motioned his head behind him, "If you're worried about the risk, look at them. They're the ones you should be worried about."
Riku looked past him towards the others. Sam was sitting down on the cave floor, talking calmly to Eirian as Ben chatted away to Taran about their off world adventures. With a sigh towards Ben's continued blatant disregard for the world order, he turned his attention back to Mordred.
"I might send Ben and Jack back at least," Riku agreed. "But we need to figure out a way to get past the blizzard and into the castle…" he looked back outside towards the swirling snow, "If that's even what's in the center of that mess."
"I'll look around," Mordred told him as he turned around and walked away, "These caves might lead somewhere."
"Alright…" Riku quietly replied as he glanced back at Sam, catching her gaze in his. "How are you feeling about this?"
"I'm following your lead," she shrugged in response. "As long as we get Hen Wen in the end, I won't complain."
Riku slightly smirked, "That's a relief at least." He walked towards the rest of the group, "Ben, Jack…" As they turned to look at them, he knelt down in front of them and explained. "It's going to get a bit dangerous; it would probably be better if you guys wait on the ship."
Ben's lantern eyes slightly dimmed as he let out a sigh, "You're probably right…"
Reaching into his pocket, Riku pulled out his communication device and handed it to Ben. "And try giving Hinata a call once you get back to the ship. The connection might work better up there."
Taking the device in his metal hand, Ben nodded and replied with a saddened voice, "Yes'sir." Using his free hand, Ben pressed on a small compartment on his chest, about where his compass used to be in his previous body. It went inward before flipping around to reveal a small control board.
"So that's how you beam yourself back to the ship," Sam commented, looking at the control board with interest.
Ben glanced up and nodded, "Yeah! I calibrated the controls into myself so we could beam back no matter where we are!" With a single finger, he pressed a larger red button, but other than letting out a faint chime, nothing happened. "Huh…?" Ben asked as he pressed the button a few more times without a result. "It's not working…"
"You're kidding, right?" Riku hung his head with a light groan.
"But that doesn't make sense!" Ben exclaimed. "It's never not worked before!"
"Why can't you make one of those portal things to get him back?" Taran spoke up.
Riku sighed as he pushed himself to stand. "I was hoping I wouldn't need to. I need to save my strength for the mission… but I guess there isn't any other way." He held out his hand to summon the Corridor.
"Wait!" Ben jumped up, making Riku pause. "Save your strength! Just let Jack and I tag along for the whole mission! We can stay out of the way, and Jack is basically invincible! He might be helpful!"
"Ben is super tiny right now," Sam pointed out. "And he's becoming buddy buddy with Eirian. I'm sure she'll protect him."
Riku frowned but nodded, "Alright. But don't expect me to go out of my way to protect you. I have enough things to worry about."
"Yes'sir!" Ben saluted, his eyes brightening with his excitement. "You won't regret it!"
"And stop telling people about other worlds," Riku reminded him. "I don't how many times you have to be told not to do that."
"Wait, those stories are true?" Taran asked in astonishment.
"No," Riku quickly averted the question as he turned around. "Now we need to figure out a way to get out of here."
"I came back just in time then," Mordred got their attention as he walked towards them with a large cloth satchel in his hands and a smug smirk on his face. "This is one of the tunnels I used to use when I was still a bounty hunter at the castle, it should lead to the catacombs."
"How can you know for sure?" Sam asked, getting up from her seat beside Eirian. She walked towards him and crossed her arms. "There's probably a good dozen of caves on this mountain and we just happen to go into the exact one you used to use?"
"Actually," Bedivere spoke up, joining the group, "There used to be an entire labyrinth of tunnels underneath the castle that led to different parts of Prydain. It was a quick and easy way for Bounty Hunters under the King's rule to get from job to job without the need to stop in neighboring towns, especially if those towns had a bounty on the hunter's head."
Taran huffed, "So you're saying that when I was trying to escape the Horned King's with my friends and Hen Wen last year, I could have just taken those tunnels rather than using the front gate?"
"Unlikely," Bedivere shook his head. "The tunnels were well hidden and without knowledge of where they lead and which ones to take, you very well could have easily gotten lost and never found your way out of them."
"Sam had a good question still," Riku interrupted, waving his hands to get everyone else to stop talking. He looked to Mordred. "How do you know this is one of those tunnels?"
"This," Mordred held up the satchel. "It's one of my satchels I kept in the tunnels. It's filled with backup supplies of dry food and weapons in case I needed them for a mission."
"There should also be engravings on some of the rock walls," Bedivere added. "In a miner's code used to tell hunters where to go."
"Yeah, yeah, saw that too." Mordred waved him off before looking back to Riku. "It will lead us right into the castle-"
"And into the eye of the blizzard…" Riku finished for him, placing his hand on his chin.
"Assuming the entire tunnel isn't collapsed once it gets to the castle." Sam pointed out. "Didn't you say the castle was destroyed the last time you were here?"
"It is quite possible the tunnel-ways stayed intact," Bedivere assured her, as he walked forward to join them. Placing his hand to his chin, he added, "However, the only way we'll know for sure is by going through them to see for ourselves. At the moment, it seems like our only option."
"Yeah…" Riku slowly and thoughtfully replied, his gaze fixated on the dark inner cave. "If we get to the end and just find everything collapsed, we'll double back and figure out something else."
"Works for me," Sam shrugged. Turning towards the darkened cave, she moved her caped coat away from her left arm, revealing her mechanical arm and allowing its blue glow to illuminate the way. She ignore the wave of gasps and murmurs from the others as she walked forward, leading the way.
"What in the blazes is that?" Mordred asked rather loudly, his voice echoing through the cave as Sam groaned.
"What do you think it is?" She asked him in return, glancing behind her as Mordred jogged to meet her pace. He shook his head, for once at a loss for words. Sam smirked as she looked back forward and continued leading on.
The sunlight outside slowly dwindled away as they ventured further into the cave, causing the blue light from Sam's arm to be the only illumination for them, spare for the small amount of light from Ben's eyes that merely lit the way for him. Odd carvings were barely visible along the cave's rocky walls, casting dark eerie shadows around them as they walked. Sam could hear the huddled footsteps behind her as she led forward with the occasional comment from Ben to Taran or a low growl from Eirian who was unhappy to be in such a tight and confined space.
Glancing beside her to Mordred, Sam asked quietly, "How did you guys used to see in the caves?"
"I usually had a torch," he replied gruffly. "If I had known we'd be back in these caves, I would have made sure to bring one."
"Can't you make your arm any brighter?" Taran complained, grumbling as he stumbled over an unforeseeable rock. "I can't see anything back here."
"This is as bright as it gets," Sam answered, "Anyone else is welcome to light the way instead."
A sudden purple light in the corner of Sam's eye made her whip her attention around to see Riku holding a flickering purple and blue flame in the palm of his hand. It proved to be brighter than the crystal in Sam's arm and lit the entire narrow cavern as far as they could see.
"Couldn't have done that earlier?" Sam put her arms out at her side with a frown.
"I don't exactly have a ton of magic reserves to keep this up for long," Riku reminded her as he walked forward and took over leading the way. "But I can light the way for a little while."
"At least I can see better," Taran spoke up. He uncomfortably eyed the ball of flame in Riku's hand, but didn't dare to question it.
The group fell back to silence as they continued through the cavern, the flickering flame lighting the way. Jack fretfully darted around the group, whimpering and occasionally letting out a low growl. Sam lifted her hand as he passed her way, patting him on the head in an attempt to calm him down.
"What's wrong, boy?" She asked him with a hushed and calmed voice. "Don't like the cave?"
Jack nuzzled into her hand, but continued to whimper. Floating away from her hand, he looked further down the cavern and suddenly flew on ahead.
"Jack!" Sam called after him, running after him for a moment before he flew out of sight.
"What's its deal?" Mordred asked.
"He seems to be wary of something," Bedivere spoke up, running his hand along Eirian's snout. "Perhaps he senses danger ahead?"
"Maybe we're reaching the end of the cave!" Ben suggested as he climbed onto Eirian's back.
"It is starting to get colder again," Taran agreed, running his hands along his arms.
"We have to find him," Sam spun around towards Riku.
"He'll be alright," he assured her. "He wouldn't wander off without coming back. He's too loyal for that."
Sam frowned and opened her mouth to object before she was cut off by Jack's bark echoing further down the cavern. With a gasp, Sam sprinted towards the sound, yelling behind her, "Stay with the others!"
She heard Riku call after her but ignored him as she hurried after Jack. The glow from her arm lit her path. She vaulted over a rock blocking her path and landed on the other side, stirring up a cloud of dust. Looking back up, she noticed faint white puffs of air appearing right in front of her lips with every heavy breath. A chilling icy wind ruffled her hair as she got back up to her feet and continued.
"Jack?" She called out as she ran, not appreciating the ever growing harsher winds pushing against her.
His bark answered her, as well as the clamoring of something metal. The clanking was rhythmic, one after the other as if they were metal boots walking towards her. Sam held out her mechanical arm, hearing the whir of it powering up as she listened intently and cautiously moved forward. Further down the cavern, she could see the faintest glint of a metal helmet reflecting the glow from her arm.
Sam scowled and whispered, "Heartless!"
As the word left her mouth, the creature stepped into the light, revealing it was a Soldier Heartless. Sam held out her open palm, ready to fire a blast of energy, but she paused. Something was off about it. It calmly stared up at her, it's red claws down at its sides as it lightly kicked the ground with its boots, lacking the usual twitch that Heartless had. The bottom of the beaked helmet slowly opened and a familiar bark came out of it, making Sam jump.
"Jack?!" She exclaimed, getting a string of barks in return as the Soldier shook and Jack's ghost body flew out of it. "How in the world did you do that?"
Jack proudly wagged his tail in response as the Heartless shook his head, regaining its own consciousness. With a startle, it jumped back from them and bared its claws. Sam scoffed and held out her palm, firing a short blast of energy. The blast shot straight through its torso, making the rest of it crumble to the ground and disintegrate.
"What were you thinking?" Sam softly scolded Jack. "How did you even figure out you could do that?"
"Sam?" Taran's voice echoed to them. "Are you nearby?"
"Yeah, I just caught up with Jack!" She called back, seeing the purple glow of Riku's flame as they caught up to her.
"You shouldn't have run off like that," Riku scolded Sam with a frown, sweat gleaming on his skin despite the icy wind around them. "What if there were Heartless in here?"
"Well there were, apparently," Sam motioned to Jack proudly floating beside her. "Jack somehow managed to possess one of those Soldier Heartless."
"Really?" Riku asked, looking over at Jack. As Jack barked in agreement, he smirked. "Cool, that could be pretty helpful."
"And dangerous," Sam pointed out.
"Wait, what do you mean by possess?" Taran asked with a bit of a shake in his voice.
"Who cares?" Mordred growled. "Let's keep moving, I'm starting to feel cramped in this damned cave."
"Alright, let's keep going," Riku nodded, pushing forward until Sam stopped him.
"Let me light the way," she motioned her head towards the flame flickering in his palm. "You're obviously getting exhausted and you'll need your strength."
Riku reluctantly nodded and clenched his hand closed, fizzing the flame out of existence and allowing the glow from Sam's arm to be the only lighting around them. "Thanks…" he quietly told her as Sam smirked in response.
"Yeah," she turned back around and looked down the cavern. "If Jack was able to find that Heartless, there should be more nearby-"
"Which could mean a way out," Mordred finished, pushing forward. "Well what are we waiting for then?"
As if in response a loud clamor of metal boots echoed towards them, making everyone pause. Jack's ears flattened on his head as he growled, knowing exactly what was to come. Mordred began to draw his sword, but Sam put out her hand to stop him.
"Not a lot of room for a sword fight," she told him, holding out her mechanical arm, powering it up.
"Is that the best idea?" Riku asked.
"Do you have a better one?" she asked in return, glancing behind her at him. "Everyone stay back, alright? I've got this."
Mordred looked to Riku with an unconvinced look, but Riku nodded. With a roll of his eyes, Mordred walked back to the group per Sam's instructions. "Fine, let the girl handle it." he grumbled under his breath.
They waited as the metal clanging grew in volume until they could see the glint of multiple Soldiers heading straight towards them. Heat emanated from Sam's arm as it began to reach its maximum power range. A faint smirk teased the corner of her mouth as she saw the dozens of Soldiers stampeding towards her. The moment they stepped into the light and the front line could be fully seen, Sam held out both of her hands and fired a massive beam of energy straight in front of her.
"What the blazes!?" Mordred exclaimed, jumping back in unison with Taran yelling out in surprise.
Bedivere simply covered his eyes from the intense light as Ben stared, downright giddy, with his mouth gaped open. Riku rolled his eyes, thinking to himself that Sam was showing off, but he couldn't shake the tiniest feeling that she was actually doing something rather cool.
The blast disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, fizzing out of existence and leaving a massive pile of green and clear orbs in its wake, without a Heartless in sight.
Sam looked over her shoulder, making sure to make eye contact with a bewildered Mordred before asking, "Did I handle it well enough for ya?"
Riku scoffed and walked forward, absorbing a good amount of the green and clear orbs into his skin. He took in a deep breath from the new adrenaline pumping into him and turned around to see Mordred arguing with Sam over what had just happened. Loudly clearing his throat, he caught their attention, "Let's keep moving."
Without waiting for their response, he turned and continued walking, allowing some of the surrounding orbs to meld into him. Even without the glow from Sam's arm lighting the path, he had grown accustomed enough to the darkness that he could see his way.
"What are these things?" Taran asked as he tipped toed through the pile of orbs until a couple green orbs absorbed into him, "Ah! I think some of them just went inside of me!" He frantically pulled at his clothes, "What's happen-"
"Calm down," Sam quickly interrupted his panic, grabbing onto his arm. "It's just leftover stuff from the Heartless. The green ones help you heal and give you energy boosts. The clear ones recover magic. Alright? You're fine."
When Taran slowly nodded as he took in a few deep breaths, Sam patted him on the back and continued moving forward. She jogged forward and matched her pace with Riku's, glancing over at him beside her. "You doing alright?"
He barely looked over at her and nodded, "Yeah, I'm…" he let out a breath and confessed with a whisper, "I'm just worried about Hinata."
Sam softly smiled and glanced behind her, making sure the others couldn't hear them. "I'm sure she's fine. As long as she's at the mansion she'll be fine."
"Yeah… I just hope everything went alright with Xion." he replied with a frown.
"Me too," Sam nodded. "But let's not worry about that right now."
"Yeah, you're right," Riku took in a deep breath. "I just-"
He stopped mid-sentence when he felt a snowflake land on his cheek. He reached up, feeling the wet piece of melted ice against his skin. Looking up, he saw small flakes of snow breezing towards them from up ahead.
"We must be close to some sort of exit," Sam held out her own hand, catching a few flakes as well.
"Stay with the others and light the way," Riku placed his hand on her shoulder before running forward, "I'll go on ahead."
Without waiting for her response, he went off, sprinting until he could no longer hear their footsteps echoing behind him. The snow began to grow in its intensity, more and more of it swirling into the cave with the rough winds. Riku welcomed the chill as he ran, barely making out a ray of sunlight around the corner. As he turned, he covered his eyes from the sudden intense light shining through the cave's exit. He slowly removed his arm from his face and saw a handful of Shadow Heartless blocking the exit. Summoning Soul Eater, he lunged forward and took them out easily with a couple slices.
The cave's exit let out right inside the eye in the swirling blizzard. Even here in the relative calm he felt bombarded with strong winds and snow. His heart sank at the sight before him; a towering castle made out of what could best be described as thick sludgy darkness.
Thick stones were stuck together with the dark sludge to create a thin crumbling bridge over the familiar chasm that Riku remembered from his previous visit to Prydain. Flying Heartless of all types circled the top of the castle, swarming around a spire of ice that protruded from the highest tower. The spire seemed to be the source of the raging storm, energy pulsating from the ice and into the clouds. Around the base of this disturbingly built castle were swarms of Heartless, clumped together to create what looked like festering piles of black insects.
Riku stood silently, his stern expression hard to read as he heard the others slowly approaching. Sam walked up beside him, saying something about having a hard time catching up to him, until she saw the castle in front of them and stopped short. Her mouth fell agape as she realized what they were really up against.
"Well shit…" she finally spoke up, making Riku chuckle unexpectedly.
"Yeah," he replied with a bit of odd humor in his voice. "That's about what I thought too."
"Aw yeah!" Mordred hooted as he came out of the cave. He pumped his fist into the air. "I am going to slaughter these guys!"
Taran eyed Mordred with obvious concern as he carefully walked out of the cave, making sure to steer clear of Mordred. He looked up at the castle and gulped loudly, yet oddly didn't say anything about it. The moment Eirian was outside, she spread her wings and soared into the sky, barely glancing at what was in front of them. Ben let out an excited yell, tightly grasping his short arms around her neck as they ascended into the air.
"Should we be worried about that?" Sam whispered to Riku as she watched them fly off.
"Safer up there than getting in the way down here," Riku replied as he turned around to see Bedivere silently observing their circumstances. Bedivere caught his gaze and simply smiled in return. "What are you thinking?" Riku asked.
Bedivere turned his gaze back to the castle and the horde of Heartless surrounding it. He took a deep breath and admitted, "I believe we have a difficult day ahead of us." He looked back to Riku and added, "But not one that we cannot handle."
"Of course we can handle this!" Mordred added excitedly, almost giddy with anticipation as he slung his large blade over his shoulder. "There's a ton of those bastards, but they're the easy ones."
Riku looked back to the Heartless horde by the bridge to see that a majority of them were indeed Shadows or Soldiers. It would be relatively easy for his group to take them on. He smirked, "You're right. We take those guys out, then we're in."
"It seems that the Horned King did not expect anyone to get through his barrier of ice." Bedivere added, walking forward and beginning to descend the rocky hill they found themselves on. "He did not fortify his fortress well."
"As well as we know," Sam pointed out before looking over to Taran, who had yet to say anything since seeing the castle. As the others went on ahead, she put her hand on his shoulder. "You alright?"
Swallowing hard, Taran shortly nodded, "Just… never thought I'd be here again." He looked over at Sam with a bit of a forced smile. "Last time I was here… it didn't go well."
"Yeah, so I've heard." Sam chuckled softly, noticing Taran giving her a surprised look, "Oh, uh-Hinata told me about it. At least a little bit anyways."
Taran let out a sigh, "I sure wish Hinata were here instead of Riku… but, Riku really does seem like he's changed."
"You know, Hinata told me something about that whole situation you might like to know," Sam rubbed the back of her neck.
"What is it?" he looked over at her.
"Riku didn't want to capture you guys," she began walking down the hill, causing Taran to follow after her.
"He was just following orders…" Taran finished, a bit bitterly.
"Well, no, I don't think so," Sam admitted, "That's not what I heard anyways. Hinata said that when him, Bedivere, and Mordred found you guys, Riku fought to get that Cauldron destroyed right there without anyone getting hurt. It was the others that insisted they capture you guys and bring you back to the castle."
"Wait…" Taran stopped walking. "Bedivere and Mordred… you mean the two other guys with us? They helped with that?"
Sam paused and suddenly closed her eyes, "Oh dammit, you didn't know that, did you…?"
"Of course not! The only one I saw was Riku!" Taran stomped up to Sam and threw his arms up, "You mean that I'm not on a mission with ONE of my captors, but all THREE of them!?"
Sam was silent for a moment before saying, "Think... think of it as giving them a second chance. They aren't wanting to capture you now and you're all working towards a common goal."
Taran scoffed and went on ahead, grumbling under his breath. Sam stared after him with a frown as Jack floated back to her from the group up ahead and snuggled into her cheek.
"That could have gone better," she muttered as she scratched Jack behind the ears. Shaking her head, she pushed herself forward, jogging to catch up with the others.
As she reached the rest of the group, they were nearing the thin rocky bridge that led across the steep chasm to the castle. Heartless festered around the start of the bridge and their malleable heads turned towards them as they heard the group approaching. Their yellow eyes glowed as they twitched and slowly began to charge towards them.
"Been waiting all day for this," Mordred ran forward with his blade ready, letting out a hearty laugh as he swung and took out six of the Shadows right in front of him.
"Incoming!" Ben's voice yelled out as Eirian swooped down with her wings stretched out wide and went across the center of the horde, catching well over a dozen in her claws while others disintegrated upon impact with her wings against their necks. She flew back up with the Heartless captured in her claws and dropped them over the chasm below.
"That is indeed my girl!" Bedivere cheered out as Eirian flew back into the sky, clearing his throat when he noticed the others looking over at him. Pulling out his rapier from its sheath, he ignored their looks and charged forward, joining Mordred in the fray.
Riku summoned Soul Eater and sent Sam a nod before he ran forward, grabbing her arm, spinning and throwing her forward, towards the center of the horde. Sam rolled as she hit the ground and instantly sat up, firing a long blast at the Heartless surrounding her, before activating her plasma shield to block an oncoming attack and bringing out her staff to swing it around her.
Even Jack joined the battle as he floated near Sam, going into random Heartless to force them to attack their own until his host was destroyed and he flew into another. Taran stood at the back, shakily taking out whatever Heartless were right in front of him with his blade. He sliced through a Shadow, letting out a breath of relief as it disintegrated, but not noticing as two Soldiers approached him from behind. He turned last second and stumbled back to the ground in surprise, frozen in fear as they jumped towards him, baring their sharp red claws before they burst and disintegrated in a bright purple flame. With a heaving chest, Taran looked over to see Riku, who was just putting down his arm after summoning the dark firaga to take them out. Riku gave him a short nod before moving on to continue his attack against the horde.
"We've broken through!" Bedivere yelled out, getting everyone's attention, "Now's our chance to get inside!"
"Right! Let's go!" Riku ordered, looking to Sam and Taran to make sure they got the message, before running towards the bridge.
Mordred took a couple more full swings before turning and running with the others along the bridge. The edge of the stone crumbled as they stomped across, but held strong. Riku stayed at the back, taking out excess Heartless until the others were across. Bedivere lifted his hand to his mouth, letting out a shrill whistle that got a roar from Eirian in response as she immediately flew down to them and landed right beside the stone double doored entrance to the castle. Riku ran across the bridge, firing one last string of Dark Aura against the Heartless before turning to face the door. Dark sludge dripped from the thick cracks in the door, making Riku feel almost sick to his stomach as he placed his hands against the stone door along with the others and pushed. With a loud creak, the door finally gave way, slowly scraping open to allow them entrance. The disgusting stench of darkness bombarded their senses the moment they were inside, making all of them cough and gag.
As expected, the inside was darkened, dim green-fire lit torches lined the walls of the stone ladened room, two staircases went up to a second level and hallways were in almost every direction. More Heartless were inside, rising out of pools of the dark sludge splattered on the floor and walls.
"This place is disgusting," Sam coughed, covering her nose with her hand.
"Yeah…" Riku slowly replied, looking at each possible path.
"Which way do we go?" Mordred asked, stepping forward to challenge the growing Heartless.
"It would be best to stay together," Bedivere spoke softly, scanning the area just as Riku was.
"Does anything look familiar to you?" Riku turned and looked up at Bedivere. "Any idea where the throne room would be?'
Before Bedivere could answer, they could hear Taran gagging and retching behind them as he threw up from the overwhelming foul stench. "I wish I stayed home…" he whispered weakly with a shaking voice. Sam went over and patted his back as Riku looked back to Bedivere.
"Unfortunately no," Bedivere confessed with a bit of a sigh. He looked around, "This design is nothing like the castle the Horned King had before. Yet if I were to guess, I would imagine the throne room would be higher up, if not on the top floor."
"What makes you say that?" Mordred asked as he eyed the Heartless, who seemed content to stay in their black sludged puddles, staring silently at them with glowing eyes.
"Because that's where I would have my throne room," Bedivere answered plainly.
"It's worth a shot," Riku shrugged, walking forward beside Mordred to look at the immobile Heartless, "Let's get moving, something tells me the Horned King is using these guys to keep an eye on us. Don't let your guard down."
Sam pulled Taran back up to his feet as the rest of the group made their way towards one of the staircases. Taran weakly walked beside her, dragging his feet as he pushed himself forward.
"Come on," Sam urged him, pulling on his arm as she walked up the stone staircase, careful to avoid stepping in any loose darkness splattered across the steps. "We don't want to fall behind."
Taran nodded numbly as he quickened his pace and allowed Sam to remove her hand from his arm when she knew he could keep up. Reaching the second floor, they were met with four possible hallways to travel, each lined with black wiry torches lit with green flames. A new staircase was nowhere in sight and glowing yellow eyes bore into them from the splattered darkness along the walls.
"Which way?" Sam asked, walking towards the nearest hallway and looking down it.
"We could split up," Mordred suggested, "Split into teams to go down each path."
"That would be unwise," Bedivere pointed out, looking intently down each hall. "We do not know what to expect here and it would be best if we stayed together."
Jack barked, getting their attention as he floated towards the far right hall. Motioning his head towards the path and a faint wag of his tail, he turned and flew into it, disappearing from their sight.
"Better than nothing," Sam shrugged as she ran on ahead to follow Jack.
Splintered wooden doors were on either side of the walls, some of them emitting a dark purple mist and others oozing the black sludge that seemed to be a common accent for the entire castle. Sam looked at it all with distaste, glancing behind her at the others who obviously shared her sentiment for the decor. Jack barked, getting their attention once again as he floated through the doors in front of them; weaving in and out of the rooms, scoping them out.
"That pet of yours is actually pretty helpful." Mordred nudged Riku with his elbow. "Any other tricks it can do?"
Riku opened his mouth to respond, but was stopped short when Jack poked his head out from one of the doors, giving out a string of barks before disappearing back inside.
"He said there's something we should see in there!" Ben interpreted for them, sliding down from Eirian's back.
He toddled ahead, pushing past the others until he reached the wooden door Jack had led them too. With a grunt, he shoved his short hands against it, barely moving it until Riku came up behind him and opened the door for him.
"Thank you!" Ben chimed as he ran inside, skidding to a stop with his mouth agape at the sight.
Three fully grown Gwythaints growled loudly at the far end of the room, with black spiked chains tightly wrapped around their necks and legs. Thick, deep gashes were cut in their black and scaly skin, given to them by the sharp clawed hands of the Heartless surrounding them. In the center of the room was a sizable nest-like structure made of blackened tree branches and the dark sludge. Three large speckled eggs were resting in the nest, occasionally twitching as the little creatures inside of the shells moved around.
"He's breeding them…" Bedivere spoke with a grave tone in his voice, his right hand clenched around the hilt of his blade as he glared at the scene in front of them.
Eirian ran forward, growling at the sight and instantly slashing her claws at the Heartless in the room. The other Gwythaints let out roars at the sight of Eirian, cheering her on as she massacred the Heartless.
"Come on, we need to help!" Sam ran forward, firing a blast at a Heartless about to hit one of the chained up creatures.
The others immediately joined in, spare for Taran who stayed safely right outside the room. They made quick work of all the enemies in the room, even scaring away the extra Heartless that were clumped in the puddles of darkness along the walls and ceiling. Eirian rubbed her head along one of the chained up Gwythaints, as they emitted deep-throated sounds to each other. Sam slowly and carefully walked up to the Gwythaint, grabbing the chain that kept it secured against the wall and charged up her mechanical hand.
"Lady Sam, stop!" Bedivere exclaimed, grabbing her shoulder and pulling her back. "I want these creatures to be saved as much as you, but they are wild and untamed. There is no telling what they will do to any of us if they are released."
"I can't just leave them here," Sam motioned towards them, "I mean, just look at how close Eirian seems with them. You really want to just leave them here?"
"I do not want to," Bedivere looked solemnly at the chained up animals before slowly pulling out his left arm that was hidden in his jacket, revealing his stubbed arm.
Sam's eyes widened with a gasp at the sight.
"Please trust me when I say, I know what these creatures are capable of." He concealed his stubbed hand back in his coat before adding, "It's too dangerous to let them go free while we are here."
Sam looked back at the creatures as Riku stepped forward, "Come on, Sam. There isn't anything we can do. We need to keep moving."
"Everyone get out," Sam ordered with a low voice.
"Sam-" Riku grabbed her arm.
"Get everyone out," Sam brought her determined gaze back up to Riku's, "I'll let them go and catch up."
"Don't be stupid," Mordred scoffed, "Let's ju-"
"Just get out!" Sam yelled, clenching her hands tightly closed.
"It's your funeral," Mordred grumbled under his breath as he turned and left the room, pushing Taran out of the way of the doorway.
"Are you sure about this?" Riku spoke with a quieted voice as he eyed the restless creatures. "This is risky, even for you."
"I'll be fine. If I have to… I'll defend myself and take them out," she swallowed hard, "But it won't come to that."
"I can help," he offered in return.
Sam quickly shook her head, "You need to keep an eye on the rest of the group. I'll be fine."
Bedivere sighed and placed his hand on her shoulder. "I understand where your heart is coming from and won't stop you." Giving Riku a nod, he turned and left the room.
"Don't die, Hinata would kill me," Riku plainly told her, finally conceding.
Sam strained him a smile as he let out a long breath and turned to leave the room, bringing Ben along with him. Turning back around, Sam looked at the Gwythaints, each roaring and growling, clawing towards her and pulling on their chains, only digging the spikes further into their skin. Taking a deep breath, she walked back up to the first one where Eirian was still comforting. She carefully grabbed the chain, and held out the palm of her mechanical arm. It glowed brilliantly as she powered up a controlled and continuous blast of energy that only went forward by a couple inches. Ever so slowly, she sliced through the chain, the energy causing the metal to glow a bright orange as it melted away. The moment the chain went slack when she had cut all the way through, the Gwythaint froze, immediately noticing something different. Taking the moment, Sam grabbed the chain around the creature's neck, noticing Eirian's glowing green eyes watching her as she cut through the chain once more. The Gwythaint began to wriggle, making Sam have to speed up the process. The instant the chain fell free, the Gwythaint let out a massive roar, spreading its wings and tossing Sam to the ground with a hard thud from the movement. Without looking at the others, the Gwythaint barreled towards the door, escaping and leaving the others to their own devices.
Sam's chest heaved heavily as she pushed herself to stand back up. Eirian nudged her arm, leading her to the next Gwythaint. The next one growled as it already saw Sam approaching and despite Eirian communicating with it, it backed up, curling against the wall.
"I-it's alright," Sam tried to soothe it as she powered up the small energy beam from her arm. "I won't hurt you, I just want to help."
The Gwythaint scampered back, the spikes along its back standing at attention, ready to strike. Its growl grew in volume as Sam began slicing through the chain. It slashed its claw towards her, but the chain stopped it from moving more than a couple inches. Sam took a deep shaking breath as the chain fell slack, waiting to see if the creature would strike again without the restriction of the chain. Instead, the creature looked between Eirian and Sam, staying perfectly still as Sam went forward and grabbed the chain around its neck, cutting it loose. As the chain fell to the ground, the Gwythaint slowly walked along the edge of the room until it reached the door, and then flew out.
"Just one more," Sam smiled uneasily at Eirian, "I can do this."
The last Gwythaint roared in response, its glowing green eyes were narrowed and hardened as it glared at Sam approaching. It jumped and desperately tried to fly away, only being kept down by the spiked chain digging deeper and deeper into its skin. Eirian flew in front of it and tried to calm it down, but instead it only hissed in response, wriggling furiously when Sam grabbed the chain. Sam clenched her hand around the chain to keep it steady, feeling the spikes cutting through her gloves and into her skin, as she sliced through it with her mechanical hand. The moment it fell loose, Sam jumped back, avoiding a spiked tail swung her way. The Gwythaint growled and bucked, trying to kick off the bindings around its neck.
Sam carefully walked back towards it, making sure to keep back from its violent thrashing. "I need to get the chain around its neck off before it can go."
Eirian glanced at her before suddenly jumping up, landing on the Gwythaint's back and shoving it to the ground. It wriggled underneath her claws, trying to bite her off, but due to the remaining chains, was unable to take her on. Sam gave Eirian a thankful nod as she carefully walked forward and grabbed the chain around its neck before it snapped at her with a growl.
"It's alright," Sam hushed it, putting out her hands, "I promise, I'm just trying to help."
She tried to approach once more, but was snapped at, causing Eirian to lift one of her own claws, and firmly hold down the Gwythaint's mouth. Sam took the opportunity and rushed forward, quickly cutting through the chain. The creature twitched, causing Sam to accidentally slice a cut across its neck, making it glare at her. She apologized, but continued, finally cutting through the chain and allowing it to freely fall to the ground.
With a roar, the Gwythaint, shoved Eirian off and spread its wings. Sam stumbled backwards, falling to the ground and twisting her ankle. She winced and scrambled back a few feet, gasping as she saw the Gwythaint staring right at her, scraping its claws against the floor. With a low growl, it stalked towards her before it suddenly leapt right at her. Letting out a scream, Sam held out her arm, about to summon a bolt of energy.
"Sam!" Riku's voice caused her to open her eyes again and she saw a shimmering shield surrounding her as the Gwythaint clawed at it from the outside.
Her chest heaving, Sam looked towards the door to see Riku holding out his hands, summoning the shield around her. Eirian let out a roar, jumping on top of the freed Gwythaint and biting its neck, rendering it instantly immobile as it fell limp. Sam brought her hand to her mouth at the sight, biting back a scream. She barely realized the shield around her fizzing away as Riku came over and grabbed her arm, forcing her to her feet.
"Gah!" She suddenly yelped out, falling forward and grabbing her leg, "My ankle…"
"I thought I told you not to get killed," Riku grumbled as he sent a green mist to her ankle, making her cringe at the painful recovery. "If I hadn't been here-"
"I got two of them out…" she mumbled in interruption, glancing back at the lifeless Gwythaint that Eirian had slain to protect her.
"That's great, but you almost died in the process," Riku pointed out, pulling her towards the doorway. "The others are a bit ahead, Bedivere is leading the way. I had a feeling you'd need help, so I doubled back."
"Thanks…" she told him, stopping by the nest. "What do we do about these eggs?"
"We can't carry them with us, if that's what you're thinking," Riku pulled on her arm. "Come on, we need to get moving."
Eirian walked over to the eggs and sniffed them, nudging one of them with her snout. Spreading out her wings, she flapped and hovered upwards until she was right over the eggs and carefully clasped a claw around two of them.
"Eirian will take care of them," Riku assured her, still pulling on her arm.
Sam gave Eirian a small smile and a nod before turning and following after Riku,slightly limping as her ankle was still healing from Riku's magic. She kept her eyes down as Riku led the way, they met back up with the rest of the group within a few minutes.
Bedivere placed his hand along Sam's arm. "I am relieved to find you safe." She looked up at him and slightly smiled before he looked around, "Where is Eirian?"
"She's taking care of the eggs," Sam softly spoke, "We were able to get two of the Gwythaints out, but… Eirian had to kill the last one."
"What matters is that you made it out in one piece," Taran spoke up, coming over and giving Sam a smile. "I'm glad you made it back. We were getting worried."
"I wasn't," Mordred grumbled with his arms crossed.
Sam softly chuckled, "Thanks. I'm glad I'm back too."
"So Eirian left?" Ben toddled over with his eyes dimmed.
"She'll be alright," Sam assured him, kneeling down to his level. "She's taking care of the eggs in that room."
"Yeah…" Ben sighed as he turned around and hung his head, "I just wish she could have said goodbye first."
Sam stood back up straight and looked over to Jack, who floated excitedly into her arms. She scratched him behind the ears and whispered, "Thanks for showing us that, Jack."
He happily barked in response and nuzzled into her hand, before giving her cheek a quick lick and floating off to be by Riku, who was slowly walking ahead.
"Hey," Riku called back to the others. "I think we finally reached the end of this hallway and there's another staircase."
"Splendid," Bedivere straightened his coat as he walked on to meet Riku.
They had reached another foyer with a tall spiral staircase leading up a spire. Sludge dripped from the ceiling and the spire's walls, falling down to them on the floor. Riku stepped out of the way of a sizable drop and looked at it distastefully.
"There's definitely something up there," Riku looked back up at the staircase. "Might be the throne room."
"Well, one way to find out for certain," Bedivere glanced over at Riku with a bit of a smirk.
"Guess we're going up," Sam sighed.
***Author's Note: Thank you all for reading! I hope you are enjoying their time back in Prydain; it will reach it's exciting conclusion next chapter! I know I said that this would be the last chapter of Prydain, buuuuut I ended up writing a bit more than expected haha! Anyways, I hope everyone has a great week! Thank you so much for reading! ***