Chapter 7: The Cavern to Damcyan

The night was bitter cold. Cecil looked over to Rydia. At this temperature he was living on a hope that she would survive through the night. She seemed to sleep peacefully enough. She didn't look too cold, either. She lay there, sprawled out on the icy grit beneath her, carrying her dreams in it's grey hands. Cecil sat there. He wasn't quite tired enough to get to sleep in this, almost non-existent heat. He thought for a couple of hours. Hoping that Rosa wouldn't die while he was out on this nightmarish trip. A trip to a place Cecil didn't even know existed until he saw the body of his love twisting under temporary madness. Crying out for Cecil.... But Cecil didn't answer. He never even touched her. He just sat there feeling sorry for himself. Sifting through his thoughts made him drowsy, and eventually, he fell to sleep.

A low rustling noise carved into Cecils dreams. He opened his eyes to find an Imp with it's back turned to Cecil. He also found the source of the rustling noise. The bastard was rumaging through Rydias bag! Cecil quietly drew his sword and pressed the blade against the Imp's stoumach. He spun around, clefting flesh. He looked towards Rydia. She was still asleep. Cecil decided to bury the body. The hot stench of decay didn't make the most pleasant thing to wake up to. Especially when your dreams the night before had been perfectly sweet; uninterrupted. As soon as Cecil had covered the carcuss, which now lay in it's shallow grave, Rydia woke up.

"Mornin' Cecil!" She said cheerfully. It was almost as if she had a good sleep the night before. Who knows, maybe she had, but if she was anything like Cecil was, her night had been utter hell.

"Good morning Rydia." Cecil croaked dryly. "Have something to eat now. We're going through the cave as quickly as possible.

"You sound like you had a good sleep." Is she joking me?

"Not really. It was so damn cold."

"What are you talking about Cecil?"

"Are you numb or something? It was freezing!" Cecil yelled hysterically.

"No.... It was warm last night. Warmer than most."

"Are you finding this funny or something?" Cecil snapped. "How could anyone find that warm?"

What Cecil failed to remember, was that Rydia had lived her life in a remote desert villiage. For her it was a warm night. Rydia shrugged off Cecil's attitude. She got some dry meat and nibbled away at it.

The harsh desert wind whipped up the sand around them. The day was suffocatingly hot. Cecil glanced around. He was on guard, feeling a little bit vulnerable from the night before. The day seemed to have brought peace. But peace was not ahead of it. Cecil knew that when Rydia and he entered the cave, they would be facing terror worse than nightmares they had experienced before. Once stupid move could throw them down, into the abyss that stared at them from below.

Cecil had faced death countless times before, but this was the only time when he was really scared. He was scared because he didn't know what to expect. Military actions are planned by some great 'mastermind' who doesn't care who he kills. Nature attacks randomly, and throws it's weight at you a moment after it lends you a hand. Nature was unexpected.

Rydia finished her meat and gathered her things. She slung her bag over her shoulder and began to decend into the cave.

"Wait!" Cecil yelled frantically. "What the hell are you doing?!" He asked. His voice shook the child and chilled her spine. He wasn't just mad. He was hysterically angry.

"Well, Rosa's not going to get saved if you just sit there, staring off into space Cecil. I plan to save her. I don't know what you're trying to achieve though."

"You don't go into there alone!" Cecil bellowed. "You're not even armed, you stupid child!"

"That's still a hell of a lot more than you're doing, Cecil!" Cecil looked at his equipment, scattered across the barren land in front of him. He then turned to Rydia and saw a fire burning in her eyes. He then smiled.

"Rydia. You're talking to me like an adult, and you're taking responsibilty. I am proud of you." Rydia seemed slightly annoyed.

"You mean.... you were just doing this to test me?" Cecil chuckled to himself.

"No. I was pissed off alright. Walking into the cave alone was a stupid thing to do, Rydia. Even if it was just a couple of steps."

Cecil gathered his things and drew his sword. On the palm of his right hand there was a scar. It was from where the ring that set fire to Rydia's villiage had burnt him. He still didn't have a clue what the vision meant. But it hadn't pestered him since he had brought the depths of hell to the surface of the earth. Since he murdered all of Rydia's friends and family. He shruged off the past. What is important is the future. He wouldn't let himself be hindered by past mistakes. Rosa's life was being fondled by the hand of God and he has a mean grip on him. Cecil entered the Water Cavern.

The cave was damp. The stench of rot hit Cecils nose and almost sent him backwards. It was overwhelming. The cave was illuminated by the cracks in the mountian, travelling for miles up. The sound of a powerful river swept through the cave.

Cecils eyes adjusted and he saw that the river spanned a descent three metres in width, and an unknown length. It sounded like it went on forever. For all Cecil knew it did. Perhaps it just kept going down and down, through an endless tunnel into the earth. He saw the source of the rotten smell. The body of a merchant lie there, insects and animals feasting upon his dead flesh. His skull was cracked open and a trail of dried blood mark a path down a jagged rock, the top of which was crowned with brain matter.

Rydia stepped forward. Her bow was readied, and she had the weapon raised. She scanned the area, looking for creatures. She walked forward slighty and saw nothing. Cecil looked around him. Ahead of him was a wooden bridge.

"Rydia." He whispered through the dim lighting. "Follow me." Cecil and Rydia crossed the bridge. The wood began to bow under Cecils weight.

PLING! He heard Rydia's bowstring release. He looked down. A huge yellow toad collapsed into the waters, an arrow stuck out through both of the reptiles eyes. Another Toad lept up from out of the water and onto the land at the end of the bridge. Cecil ran, sword in hand. He shifted his weight in front of him and charged towards the toad. The bloated creature was about Cecil's hieght, which made it even easier form him to penetrate the toads ribcage. He pulled out his blade, and thick purple blood sprayed ahaead of the dieying monstrosity. Cecil walked past the heavy carcuss and across the solid, rocky support beneath him. He came to a small cliff which he climbed up but Rydia couldn't.

"Rydia. Theres only a couple of chests here. Wait for me, and keep a look out."

"You'd better not leave me here." Why would Cecil do that?

"Rydia. I swore that I would protect you...."

"You tried to leave me in Kaipo though." She had a point. Although, there wasn't the imminent risk of death that was here in the cave.

"Rydia. You have my word. I will not leave you here."

Cecil trudged on and opened both the chests. There was a potion and a weird peice of cloth, marked with a ring of lipstick. A Maidens Kiss. He had heard of it before, in an ancient legend. They worked against the metamorphic spell, 'Toad.' He didn't know weither it would be very useful or not, but it took up virtually no space, so he took it with him anyway.

"Cecil?" Rydia said. She sounded frightened.

"I'm here."

"Have you opened those chests yet?" Cecil answered by jumping down from the rock face. "Did you find anything else up there?"

"Nope. Nothing."

"Then... how are we supposed to get out of here?"

"If we keep following the river, it's got to lead us to another bridge." Cecil walked across the bridge and the summoner followed. Rydia was halfway across the bridge when it snapped and fell beneath her. She jumped and latched on to the side of the river. Her feet her almost in the water. If she touched it, the current would wash her away. Cecil clutched Rydia's arm tightly, almost snapping it in half. To complicate things further, a Jellyfish creature was climbing it's way up the rocks, to get to Rydias feet. Cecil pulled her up and put her down harshly. He stabbed the gelatinous monster and trudged on, not helping Rydia up along the way. The summoner dusted herself off and followed her companion. Actually, she wouldn't really call him that. He didn't show enough love or compassion to be her friend. Although Cecil cared about her deeply. There was an old saying which went:

A friend will bail you out of jail,

But a good friend will be sitting in the cell with you saying, 'We fucked up.'

Cecil had shared a lot of lifelong memories with Rydia. Maybe even more than he had with Kain.

Cecil followed the flowing water until he came to another bridge. Taking more care than he did with the last bridge, he held Rydia's hand as he walked across. There was a small patch of land, marking another bridge, at ninety degrees to the previous one. He was shocked to see a figure standing on the bridge. He drew his sword and sneaked his way up to him. He raised his blade and let it fall, gaining it's own deadly momentum. The figure turned around, raised a rod and a magically barrier appeared, intercepting the strike between the clod steel and the mans neck. It was a man. He was elderly, perhaps in his late sixties and carried a staff with him. He was dressed in a purple robe, and had a long white beard and hair. His long face was decorated by a pair of thick glasses. He was obviously a powerful mage. Could he be from Mysidia?

"Watch where your vile blade falls, Dark Night. I shall not reward you with death, if you can help me." Cecil held his blade back but did not sheathe it. There were still many a wonder in the Water Cavern, and most of those wonders were deadly.

"That depends on what you need help with..." Cecil said through his teeth, not letting his guard down. The great mage gave a half smile.

"My daughter was tricked by a lowly Bard who had cast a love spell on her," the mage began. "Not only that, he pulled her into Damcyan against her will."

"What do you need help with?" The mage lowered his head slightly.

"I sense a great evil amassing there... I believe that it is the Bard's doing..." Suddenly something clicked in Cecils mind. He had seen this man before. He travelled through Baron when Cecil was just a boy. He reeled back in slight shock. He just tried to kill a great celebrity!

"Then.... You are the great Sage Tellah!" Cecil yelled in suprise. Rydia scanned the cave, bow in hand. She didn't know what creatures Cecil's yelling had awoken. The mage nodded.

"Hmm... Great Sage... It has been many a year since I was last called that. Yes. I am Tellah." Tellah chuckled to himslef softly.

"So you are here to save your daughter?" Cecil asked, as if it wasn't obvious enough.

"Yes. You have guessed correctly, Dark Knight. I would be there already if it weren't for the Bard sending his lowly minions out to block my path..." Cecil found all of this a little bit odd. Bards are normally peaceful people. It was highly uncharacteristic of them to cause trouble like kidnapping, 'amassing evil' and sending 'minions'.

"What do you mean, minions?" Tellah began to tell them of the one whom 'the bard sent to the front lines:

"In the early ages, the ones which we have come to know of as the ages of mythology, the Gate to the Underworld was created. The Master of the Immortal Evils sent to this world, a sentry of the gate. Octomammoth, he called it. Octomammoth feasts upon living flesh, but cannot sense souls. Either we fight the Guardian of Hell or die to get past. That said, not alot of use would there we in death."

"But... You're the great Sage Tellah! You can bring the dead to life!" Again, Rydia scanned the area. The only things that were upsetted by this racket where a group of bats, hovering a good 30 feet up.

"Well, to be honest, all of my spells have gone. I have forgotten them at the moment when the stinking Bard stole away my Anna." This Bard sounded like he needed some sorting out. He could start a war in he wasn't careful, although, Cecil had helped start many. He wasn't one to talk, athough expertise in starting wars brings expertise on preventing them. "With your Dark Sword, we may stand a chance against the powerful Octomammoth."

"I don't know-" Cecil was cut off by Tellah, who had turned his attention to Rydia.

"Oh, The girl is a summoner?" Rydia remained silent, only nodding her head once to confirm 'yes.' "Quite gifted, I sense... There is a possibilty that the three of us may be able to slaughter Octomammoth." The thought of fighting a 'Guardian of Hell,' made Rydia a little quesy. Octomammoth would have to be defeated to continue, and to save Rosa.

"We also must go to Damcyan!" Cecil put into the conversation.

"Wonderful!" Tellah replied. "I will follow you to Damcyan." Just like that, the great Sage Tellah joined Cecil and Rydia, if only for a short leg of the journey.

I said I wasn't going to continue and look what happened. I wrote another chapter. Actually, the majority of this had been on my PC before I annouced the hlat in writing, so I decided to finish this chapter, at least.

What this means, however, is that you won't take me seriously the next time I say "Guys, it's over," now are you?

Anywho, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, ZC.