I don't own Golden Sun. Really, I don't. Seriously.
Felix: He doesn't. If he did, I wouldn't have been mute in TLA.
Issac: And I wouldn't have been mute in the first game.
Kraden: ...
Episode 6: The road to Vale
The following day, Joe went to the King's chambers before leaving. Max and the messenger from Vale were there already.
"Ah, Joe! Thank you for joining us. You said that you will escort this man to Vale, didn't you? Well, I think it's time for you to leave. But before you leave, let me give you this present. It will aid you in your travels".
It was a small bottle, made of a single piece of sapphire, with Mercury lighhouse engraved in it. Joe had no idea of what it was, but the King said:
"This is the water of Hermes. Usually it is collected from the Lighhouse and used in the city, but this sample has been treated with many magical plants and herbs. It will heal anything. A single drop will make a tree grow taller than most, but it will also revive those about to die. If you encounter any undead creature, the smell of this potion will destroy it. It is truly the most powerful potion here or anywhere on Weyard". Imil seemed pleased with himself.
"Thank you, your highness." said Max "I'm sure we will find it useful. But I was expecting weapons or shields or something else, you know? My axe's edges have dulled from all those werewolves.".
Imil seemed surprised, but he only smiled and called a guard. The guard left and returned with a Mace and a Ring, carried in a blue pillowcase.
"This is the Cleric's Ring. It will protect you from any curse. If you wear this you will not fear any hideous 'side-effect', from any weapon or armor on Weyard".
Max took the Ring and put it on. It sparkled blue for a second.
"And this is something you will surely recognize".
The guard handed him the Mace. It glowed ominously. Max realized inmediatly what it was.
"It's the Mace that the Demon was carrying!".
"Yes. We've called it the Evil Mace. I had it recovered and studied by our sages. It's very powerful, but it's cursed. It will control you if you wear it without the Ring".
He took the Mace. It was heavier and sturdier than a normal Mace, and it glowed red for a split second, but then the Ring sparkled blue again, and the Mace returned to normal.
"And now, Farewell my dear friends. I pray for your safe travel to Vale".
…………………
"After leaving lands of Serland we must turn East, past the bridges. Then south to Bilibin and West into the lands of Vale". Joe was signaling the route in the map. His finger moved to the left, and he marked the mountains surrounding Serland. "If this mountains weren't here, we could travel very quickly to Vale. But those mountains have also shielded Vale from the werewolves, until now at least".
It was a magic map. It showed their location and also towns, cities, and even people. They had given a small amount of psynergy to it, so they were shown moving east from the cave were they had fought Seth, and reaching the first river crossing.
"Back in Vale, I heard that King Raniel was planning to build a mountain pass here, north of Bilibin" The messenger seemed to know the King very well. "I guess it's not a very good idea now, but if they actually built it, the troops from Serland would reach Vale in less than a week".
He was a tall man. His blonde hairfalling overhis deep grey eyes. His hair also revealed that he was a Wind Adept. But he seemed like a quiet person, lover of tranquility and peace. Hewas wearingonly a travel vest and a light sword, but again, his constitution was not precisely meant for carrying huge axes and heavy armors.
"Okay, but how do you know all of this? I thought you were just a messenger." asked Max.
"He's a Djinn hunter like us". Said Joe " Your djinn are hiding in your necklace, right?"
The man seemed surprised, but he nodded.
"Did you guess this only by looking at me?" he asked.
"No," said Joe "your necklace is hanging outside your shirt". And he pointed at it. The man quickly hid it.
"Well I'm not very good at this secrecy stuff, am I?"
"No, you're not".
Max just grinned.
………………..
After two days of travelling, they were in the Western Borders of Bilibin. Max looked at the map again. They were not very far from the mountain pass that separated Vale and Xian. A huge watchtower could be seen a little further to the South, and the ruins of Bilibin lay behind them. Heading Southwest, they reached the passage, only to find it closed.
"Who goes there! You cannot pass!" shouted the guard.
"I'm Leng, the Djinn hunter! I've returned from my mision in Serland. Open the gate!" Leng showed a signed authorization.
"Oh! sorry Lord Leng, but the King's orders are not to open this gate to anyone. If you wish to travel to Vale, you must travel further south, and pass through the secret underground passage".
"What! Do you realize that these lands are full of werewolves now? How can you expect me to travel there unnoticed?"
"I'm terribly sorry Lord Leng, but orders are orders. I can only pray for your safety".
"Ok. We will go through the secret passage. But our travel will not go unnoticed. Let's go".
………………….
"So where's this "secret underground passage" again?" said Max "we've been travelling two days and there's no trace of it"
"It's a little further south" said Leng, examining the map "If we go around this forest we will lose a day, but if we go through…"
"You fear that we might encounter the enemy" Joe said calmly. "We'll go through the forest. I feel an ominous presence in there. Maybe some ghosts but nothing serious".
"If you say so… But if anything happens it's not my fault".
After entering the forest they relied only in the map to show them the way out. But something was not quite right. They felt something following them very closely. But every time they tried to catch it off guard, they found nothing but trees.
"This is really getting on my nerves." Said Max. "Show yourself! Come here and fight, dammit!"
"Calm down, Max." Said Leng "If it wants to attack us it will do it somewhere where it has the advantage".
A few hours later they realized that the map was not showing the exit. Instead it seemed to lead them deeper and deeper into the forest. The sky grew dark and the sunset signaled the end of a day. But the moon didn't appear. They decided to light some torches to find their way in the night, but the torches only lit a small area around them. After hours of marching they decided to rest in aplace strangely devoid of any trees.
Leng seemed calm considering the situation. Joe lay against a tree, his eyes fixed on the small fire before them. Max had his mace firmly clutched in hand. There was complete silence around them. Finally Max stood up and said:
"Hey Joe, why don't you burn this whole forest down? We should have been outta here hours ago!"
"No. An evil force is at work here. Look". He raised his hands and created a fireball. Then he sent it out towards a huge tree. The fireball exploded on impact, but the tree was not even bruised.
Then they heard a sinister laughter echoing throughout the forest.
"There's…. no…. way… out……" a voice said. It came from nowhere.
"You… cannot…..escape….". There was a pause. Then they heard the voice say "You…. will… die…."
"Hah, who do you think we are?" Max looked all around readying his mace " Show yourself and fight if you dare!"
"At last"Joe reached into his backpack "A perfect opportunity to try the gift from King Imil."
He opened the bottle. A fresh and invigorating smell came from it. Suddenly the voice seemed to come from various places at once.
"The Water of Hermes! Gyaaa!" Then some of the trees dissapeared, leaving behind only some leaves. Leng took one from the ground. A strange red mark appeared on it's surface.
"This is the sign of the crypt-lords." He said, "I guess they summoned some spirits to possess this leaves and take us deeper into the forest".
"They're probably working for the demons" Max said "They know who we are, and where are we going".
Suddenly, a man appeared near them. He wore a strange mask, and his clothes were like those of the priests, but instead of the white color that they wore, these were pitch black, with red borders on the sleeves. He also had a bracelet on each arm. They were black, and had strange inscriptions on them.
"Who are you! How did you defeated all of my spirits?"
"They were no threat to us" said Max "but who are you? Why did you bring us here?"
"Know only that you will join my army of the undead!" And as he said this a powerful and evil aura was felt across the forest.
"I'm the Demon Eacus! And soon you will call me master! Go!" He then made a sign with his hands and suddenly hundreds of zombies and undead monsters appeared.
"The water of Hermes won't help you now! They are not moving on their own, instead, it is my will that makes them move!"
The trio of djinn hunters soon found their hands full. Zombies were not the least of their worries, as there were also orcs and trolls among them.
Moving swiftly, Joe parried all of the attacks with his sword, and countered with fire walls and eruptions. "they are not only stronger, but faster too" he thought.
"Geez, there's no end to their numbers!" Max said. The evil mace seemed to enjoy killing all of them, but it's poison was useless against the zombies. He mostly attacked orcs and trolls.
Joe took of his ring and tossed it to Leng. He jumped and catched it in mid-air, and He inmediatly unleashed the power of the djinni. That gavehim a huge advantage over the zombies. He was as swift as the wind, and his sword seemed to move almost on its own.
"This is taking too long. If we don't do something soon..." Leng thought. And then he saw something strange on the demon's robes. The sleeves were getting darker! Then he realized his trick.
"His clothes are filled with the blood of these creatures! That's how he controls them!" and he charged against him.
But the demons were not precisely known for their weakness. When Leng attacked, his sword was deflected easily by the demon's bracelet. It countered with a swift punch to the chest, which Leng evaded barely.
"He's too fast!" he thought, but another hit with the demon's palm made him lose balance. Some zombies grabbed his legs and inmobilized him.
"Plasma!"
A powerful bolt of lightning later and he was free. But the demon was not even bruised. It charged a powerful attack in it's hands and released it, pointing at Leng.
Somehow Leng managed to unleash another djinni which shielded him from the attack. But he was now much weaker than when he started. He was not powerful enough to take on the Demon, and they still needed to destroy the monsters. He found an easy solution.
"Joe! Unleash one of your djinni!"
Joeunleashed Cannon. A powerful blast of pure mars Psynergy attacked the Orc Lord that he was fighting against, burning it to mere ashes.
Leng raised his hands to the sky concentrating. As if to answer his wishes, the clouds gathered around the forest. Then he said:
"Oh, powerful Goddess of Vengeance, burn all of our enemies with your fiery tornado! Megaera!
A second later two giant swords fell from the sky. Suddenly both exploded into a tornado made of fire, burning everything around them. Then Megaera, the goddess of vengeance itself, appeared and took each sword in one hand. She smiled to them and dissapeared.
"So, Eacus, let's see what can you do, now that you're all alone" said Max " Take this!" and he charged with the mace.
"No! Stop!" Joe shouted, but it was too late. The demon sent a powerful blast of dark energy against Max, who landed on nearby trees. Luckily, he was only bruised. Leng decided to try with Psynergy. "Spark Plasma!" He cried. Several bolts began to form above the Demon, who concentrated his energy on a barrier. Joe and Max used this chance to attack from behind. Max unleashed Ground, holding the Demon in place.
"Searing Beam!" A huge beam of fire formed in front of Joe, and was then launched against the Demon. Taken by surprise, it was unable to deflect it, and was sent flying against the trees, knocking down a few. But it was not enough. The Demon began to glow, and concentrated all of his power in one final attack.
"You are going to die! Even if this attack kills me, My Lord will bring me back to this world as a reward! DARK BEAM!"
"He's gonna take out the entire forest with that!" Leng said.
"No, he won't" said Max "Mold!" A golden sign, resembling a djinni, appeared on the demon's chest; just when it released the Dark Beam.
Joe knew what that meant. And He reacted just in time. "Flash! Now!" A red barrier appeared in front of them and the Dark Beam of the Demon turned right back against him. The resulting explosion was strong enough to destroy a large area of the forest around them. When the dust settled, they saw that there was no trace of him, or of the monsters for that matter.
With the Demon destroyed, the forest (or what was left of it) was no longer filled with the dark aura. The light of the sunrise was enough to clean any evil that was left in it.
"So where's this secret passage again?" Max said, picking up his bags.
"A little further south" said Leng, grinning.