Final Fantasy: Chaos
Chapter One: Partners
Just outside Coneria Forest. . . .
"This is ridiculous!" the man in the black robes yelled.
"Thol, the old man said that they left it in a cave back when they were young because they couldn't carry it all. The only reason they didn't go back for it was because they were caught and were too old by the time they got out," said the tall, sword wielding man with red hair that was walking alongside him.
"You can be such an idiot sometimes, Tor. I swear if you were an Eskimo, you'd be buying ice every chance you got," Thol said in disgust. "If you had just pulled a job at the castle, would you haul it into a cave and then go right back? I don't think so. I'm telling you. That old man was full of shit."
"I don't know. I've heard from a few other people in town that the castle was indeed broken into and a suit of ancient armor was stolen."
"Arg!" the robed man said finally, his shoulders drooping in frustration as he shook his head. "Fine! We'll go find this cave and get your damned armor then! Damn it! Remind me again why I travel with you?"
Somewhere off to the west, a chorus of howls sounded out.
"That's why," Tor said as the howls trailed off.
Thol cursed loudly. "How far away do you think they are?" Thol asked, scratching his face under the mask that he wore.
"Hard to say. A couple of miles maybe. Let's hope that they don't have our scent."
They walked on in silence for ten more minutes, both straining to hear if they were being pursued by the wolves. Sure enough, a few moments later, they started howling again, this time sounding much closer.
"Damn it! They're after us!" Thol said.
Tor simply nodded and put his hand on the pommel of his sword.
Another three minutes passed when the woods suddenly erupted with motion.
"Heads up!" Tor yelled in warning as he drew his sword.
"Thank you Captain Obvious," Thol said sarcastically as he dropped his pack and readied his fighting staff.
A wolf jumped forward and Thol whacked it over the head with his staff before sending it fleeing with its tail between its legs from a low-level fire spell. That's right. Run you coward, he thought as it ran.
Tor in the mean time had killed three of the others and was fending off another two of them. He just killed one when the remaining one leaped at him with its jaws seeking his flesh. He managed to get his gauntlet up in time to prevent any damage and he bashed it in the skull with the hilt of his sword to get it to let go.
The wolf fell to the ground and was about to leap again when it was struck with a bolt of lightning. The shock stopped the things heart and it collapsed dead.
"Thanks! That was a wonderful little skirmish" Tor said cheerfully.
Thol simply shook his head and muttered "Disgusting." He picked up his pack and they continued looking for the cave. . . .
* * * *
They had been walking for about a half an hour when they came across the entrance to the cave.
"Well," Thol said looking at the entrance. "At least there's a cave. I'll give the old man that much."
"Come on! Let's go in," Tor said rushing in.
"Idiot! Didn't your mother ever tell you to look before you leap?" Thol yelled after him. Tor disappeared into the darkness. Thol cursed under his breath and followed his impulsive friend into the cave.
It took him a few seconds to get used to the darkness, but it didn't take long before he could see perfectly. He did, after all, have a slight advantage when it comes to seeing in the dark.
"Tor! Where the Hell are you?" he yelled out, his words echoing off the walls of the cave.
"I'm back here! Hurry up! I'll wait for you!" Tor's voice yelled back.
"Joy," Thol said to himself as he started toward the source of the voice.
He rounded the corner and saw Tor fumbling in his pack obviously looking for a torch. Shaking his head again, he said "What are you doing? You know perfectly well that I can lead us through here without you wasting a torch. It was your idea coming here so let's get going."
"All right, but I didn't see any other ways to go."
"Did you ever think to try the stairs over there, stupid?" Thol said motioning to the jagged hole in the wall. He knew perfectly well that the only thing Tor could probably see was a mass of darkness, but he liked to make him look stupider than he really was. It reminded Tor that he needed him for some things.
"Oh. I didn't see them."
"Of course you didn't, now let's go."
They started off over to the 'stairs' and headed down. They were more like slabs of rock that slowly worked their way down into the earth, but they were enough like stairs to make a comparison.
The next level was pretty much like the last only darker. Thol was sure he knew what was coming next.
"Geez man. I can't see a thing. Can't I light a torch now?" Tor asked.
"No. There's nothing obstruction our path, just follow the sound of my footsteps and you'll be fine." He didn't think he would tell him about the twenty-foot drop to the right of them as he would never be able to convince him that they wouldn't need a torch then.
"If you say so," Tor replied.
The path was fairly straight and Thol could see what looked like a door at the end of the passage.
"Is that light I see ahead?" Tor asked.
Thol looked again. It was hard for him to make it out because to him it was as bright as a well-lit room, but he saw the light coming from under the door none the less. "Why, I believe you do. Now why would there be light down here?"
"You think maybe someone beat us to it?"
"Doubt it. Just the same though, I think you might want to get your sword out," Thol said. He shifted his pack from his staff to his back and also readied his weapon.
He stopped in front of the door and waited for Tor to nod that he was ready. Over the years they had learned each others little signals, so they worked fairly well together. Tor kicked open the door and they rushed in.
The room was fully lit by a series of torches on the wall. That allowed them to see the pair of ogres that abided in the room.
"Oh shit," Thol said quietly. A pair of ogres would be quite a hand full. It was going to take more than just a simple fire spell to deal with these two.
"Don't worry Thol! I'll get one and you handle the other!" Tor said rushing at the closest one.
"Thanks loads," he commented sarcastically as he began chanting the words to a high-level spell. The other ogre had spotted him and began to move toward him with its club raised and ready to pound him into the ground. This better work, he thought as he reached the end of the spell.
He thrust his hands toward the ogre and an inferno of fire erupted from his palms to engulf the creature. To its credit, the beast managed to take a few more steps before the fire incinerated him completely.
Thol mentally congratulated himself for his handy work and glanced over to see how Tor was facing. He obviously was having a little difficulty but so far was holding his own. Nevertheless, Thol decided that he might as well lend him a hand with a less extravagant spell or two.
Thol quickly cast all four of his second level spells which included slow, darkness, temper and ice in that order. This left him without any more level two spells for the day, but the results had the ogre stumbling around more then Tor when he got drunk.
The temper spell helped greatly and Tor quickly finished off the second ogre.
"Wow!" he said after it was all over. "Sometimes I forget how impressive your magic can be."
"Wonderful. Now did you happen to notice during your little scuffle with the ogre that there is nothing in this stupid cave?" Thol voiced angrily.
Tor looked around and said "No, I hadn't noticed that."
"I thought not," Thol replied. He then sighed. "What would you do without me?"
"Hey," Tor said, realizing something. "I thought ogres didn't know how to make fire?"
"They don't," Thol said. "But I see what you are getting at. Congratulations, Tor. I think you finally had a thought in your life."
Tor said nothing as he was used to Thol's constantly making fun of him.
Thol in the mean time had approached one of the torches and had begun to examine them. Seeing nothing odd about them, he passed a hand above them. "I see," he said finally.
"What?" Tor asked.
"Well, these torches were lit by black magic. That is why they haven't gone out yet. Looks like someone put these ogres here for some reason."
"Do you think it was to protect the armor?"
"No. I'm afraid to say it, Tor, but there's no armor here. Let's go back to town now. I could use a good night's sleep."
Tor nodded and they exited the room. It was then that Tor noticed the drop off not more then ten feet away. His eyes bulged and he turned to Thol and said "You never told me!"
Oh Hell, Thol thought as Tor started rummaging though his pack. . . .
* * * *