A/N: Well, that was a pretty quick update! Actually, consider yourself lucky, this chapter was already prewritten, just needing some author polish. The next few still need polish, but I'll get there. So, you can hopefully expect some reliable, steady updates, in future, for at least a bit. I hope. Anyway, first things first, reviews! In no particular order, starting with…
GoldenSunGeek: You thought that it was the best chapter yet? Cool, thanx! That makes me feel better, especially seeing as I thought some parts might appear rushed, but if you liked it… anyway, hope you liked that fic I mentioned.
Spacejoe: Hey you! I'm glad you liked the chapter. You're right, describing Psynergy can be hard sometimes, especially in battle, but I think I've got the hang of it. And fear not, Shadow Wars is coming soon!
The BladeShip: Even though you only reviewed the first chappie, I'm assuming that you'll read this far. I agree, Golden Sun makes an awesome story (that's why I'm doing it!) and I would definitely pay for it without a second thought. Fear not, I finished both GS games (twice). But are you sure about the name thing? To the absolute best of my knowledge, Felix and Jenna's parents are never named. But then, I'm relying on my unreliable memory. If you do know what their proper names are, please, tell me! I'd rather have proper names than made up ones.
CombatWombat: I dunno if I should bother, because you're probably not gonna read this far, so I'm gonna send your reply via email. (bit nitpicky though, weren't you?)
Jenna Wilder: Hey, a new name on the list! Hi! Cool, you found nothing wrong with it! That's good. Yeah, I'm glad you like that I follow the story well (not doing so annoys me also). rubs where he has been poked Okay, I'm updating, see!
(3 question mark):Sorry, for some reason, quick edit won't let me put down a question mark three times like that. Sorry! Anyway, glad you liked it. As for your question, I'm going on the theory that non-Adepts can't see the actual Psynergy being used (like the blue glow and stuff) but can see the effects of it, such as the fire burning or such. Because once the fire gets burning, it's no longer Psynergy, see? It burns on it's own. So, the effects are seeable, I guess. Well, that's my theory anyway. If anyone else has any thoughts on this subject, tell me!
WildfireDreams: Thank you for your glowing praise! Yes, I try to make only the right changes to make the game a good story. Thanx for reviewing!
Disclaimer: Why do I bother? Blah blah blah, MoR doesn't own GS yadda yadda yadda.
Okay then, before I continue, can I just ask my reviewers… what do you all think of a name change? I was thinking of renaming this fic "Golden Sun: The Broken Seal", which was, I'm told, the original Japanese title. Any thoughts, feel free to mention. I was just thinking lately that the title could sound better, but that's just me.
Up, anything else? Not that I can think. Well, get reading then.
CHAPTER SIX
THE JOURNEY CONTINUES
Isaac and Garet continued heading east from Vault for several hours before deciding to have a rest at noon. Eventually they would have to start going northeast in order to reach the Goma Tunnel. On the other side they would have to go to Bilibin and hopefully find out where Saturos was heading from there, although Isaac had an idea of where that might be.
Garet was looking at a patch of rather large mushrooms on the ground. They were incredibly big and there were more of them than what would normally grow in one spot.
"You know what?" he asked, "I feel like eating some of these mushrooms here right now."
Garet bent over to grab a handful, but suddenly pulled his hand back as though something had bitten him. He jumped up with a yelp and Isaac looked over to see what was happening. Then the mushrooms seemingly looked up and opened what appeared to be beady red eyes! They even had small mouths with rows of small pointy teeth! More things that had been affected by Mount Aleph's power.
The whole dozen or so of them suddenly uprooted themselves and started running after Garet looking like they wanted to eat him! They all jumped up on him trying to attack the large Fire Adept. He flung them off in a rage and, venting all his anger, incinerated them with his firepower, a large flare of flames killing them where they were.
"Wow, I've never seen a mushroom that could take a bite out of you before!" Isaac said, cracking up laughing.
Garet just ignored him though, muttering to himself, "Stupid mushrooms. Since when do they attack people? This Psynergy thing in plants and animals is getting out of control!"
After that Garet refused to go near any mushrooms as they continued their journey. Fortunately they didn't encounter any other creatures again.
Then they started heading northeast, and the Goma Mountain Range was just coming into view. It was supposed to be a three-day journey there and they had only just begun. They crossed a bridge over the river and continued their journey. If they did meet more things like those mushrooms though, it would be an interesting trek.
Ivan continued heading northeast, now almost completely north. He clutched the Shaman's Rod protectively. With it, his power in Psynergy was much increased. It would come in handy if he needed to protect himself from the dangers of Lunpa's thieves. He had hidden his regular clothes in his backpack and was travelling in a simple grey cloak, which made him appear like a poor farm boy. No thief would want to bother with someone so poor looking. This was just what Ivan wanted. It was going to be dangerous, but he was sure he could do it.
He had already entered lands controlled more a less by bandits, but luckily nothing had happened to him… yet. If anyone so much as suspected he might be worth something, he would be as good as dead. Psynergy was a powerful weapon, as he had learned, but it could only protect him so much.
He topped the last hill finally and there it was before him, Lunpa, City of Thieves. He didn't have a clue how he would get in if the guards refused him entry, or even what he would do once he got in there.
Lunpa was a large city, surrounded by tall, thick wooden walls and the sheer cliffs of the mountainside that the town was built next to. Many large buildings could be seen jutting over the walls, but most of the town was hidden from view. Deep inside the town, on the other side, was 'Lunpa Castle' a gigantic underground fortress, accessible only by a single, large, heavily fortified door in the cliff face.
Somewhere deep in there, Hammet was held prisoner. Ivan had no idea how he would save him, but he had to try.
Idly, his mind wandered to Isaac and Garet's quest and how important it was. How the whole future of Weyard depended on just those two. He had thought a lot about the quest that they were undertaking lately, since leaving Vault. His quest to save Master Hammet seemed almost unimportant in comparison. But he couldn't think of that now. He had to focus himself on the task ahead.
He strode up carefully to the only gate into Lunpa. It was large and wooden like the walls and guarded only by two men with long, broad-tipped spears. They wore simple mail armour, black leather tunics underneath. They were both dirty and unshaven and had black, unkempt hair jutting out from under their helms.
One had a disjointed nose, like it had been broken many times before in brawls and healed up again. The other had a couple of teeth missing, probably from getting into fights also.
They both eyed him up and down, but seemed to decide he was too poor to be worth any effort robbing. Inside, Ivan felt relieved. At least this part of the plan had worked. He stopped in front of them and cleared his throat.
"Excuse me, I'm a farm boy from near Vault and was wondering if I could gain entrance to the city." He told them meekly. Not the best was he could have put it perhaps, but he felt too intimidated to think of anything better to say.
The two guards looked at each other for a moment. Ivan began to feel nervous. What if his plan failed? What if they knew he was Hammet's servant? What would they do to him then? He wasn't exactly the bravest fifteen-year-old around, although he had felt a lot more emboldened since he, Isaac and Garet had defeated those thieves who had stolen his Shaman's Rod back in Vault.
But he was, after all, a simple servant, he wasn't meant for big, brave adventures. That's why he hadn't wanted to go and help them, Hammet held hostage or not. Then what was he doing here, risking his life in a city of thieves?
Because he was loyal to his master, father figure and mentor, that's why. He couldn't just leave him without at least attempting to help. He would've gone to Kalay to get help, but the bridge across the river was gone and it would be weeks before it was up again. Finally one of the guards turned to him.
"You wanna come in, huh, kid?" He sneered. Ivan nodded uncertainly.
"Well to bad!" the guard raised his voice, "No-one is allowed to enter Lunpa on Dodonpa's orders! Now beat it!"
Ivan delved into the man's mind with his Mind Read technique, the bandit unaware of his actions.
Stupid kid... why won't he go away?... Can't be from Kalay... they wouldn't have had time to hear about this and sent help already... not this kid anyway... couldn't be one of Hammet's whelps... why's he starin' like that?... What's he doin'?...
Ivan realised he needed to stop right away, and ceased his Mind Read.
"What, didn't ya hear?" The other guard spoke up, "Or are ya just stupid? Get outta here!"
Ivan quickly ran off, not bothering to say anything to the two bandits, before they started to get really angry. He disappeared over the hill and quickly ran into a grove of trees to the side of the road. His plan had pretty much failed. He couldn't even get in. There was no way to get over the city walls, even if he took care of those two guards.
It was hopeless.
Hammet was outside of his help now. But what was he to do then? Once again, he thought of Isaac and Garet, heading east, with Weyard's fate in their hands. They would have to cross the Goma Range somehow, and they would need a guide of some sort to help them find their way in unfamiliar lands.
Maybe he could help them? Rarely did someone with his powers encounter others like him. They could really use another friend. He could already feel an urge to help them, maybe it was his destiny? He had a knack of making the right decision based on his feelings and 'gut-instinct'. It was as though his soul was in tune with the flows of destiny. He wasn't really much of a warrior, at least he didn't think so, but he could help them in other ways. His Mind Read and other abilities would prove invaluable. And he could fight at least a bit.
So why not help save Weyard from tyranny, using his powers for the good of mankind, instead of wasting them in a servant's life? The world depended on two boys with the odds stacked against them. He could help even things out.
His mind was made. He was going to join Isaac and Garet and help them in their quest. But then, the sound of something stirring in the woods brought him out of his thoughts. He turned to see a man standing behind him by a few feet, calmly strolling towards him slowly. He had a sly smile on his face, which looked very treacherous. His black hair was slicked back, making him appear more devious, and his dark blue cloak was drawn to hide his body.
Ivan didn't need to look any closer to know he was hiding a weapon of some sort. He was clearly one of the mercenaries hired by Dodonpa's forces. But what was he doing bothering what he must have thought to be just some poor kid? Unless, maybe...
The man stopped just beyond arms reach and looked down on him over-confidently. Ivan looked up at him with his purple tinted eyes through his fringe of blonde hair, trying not to show any sign of fear.
"What's a boy like you doing here near a city like Lunpa?" He said to him, trying to sound friendly, but coming out like a bully to a child half his size.
"I was just visiting." Ivan said politely, hoping to get rid of him. Surely he couldn't be interested in robbing him? It would have been a big mistake on his part if he did.
"Oh, a boy like you doesn't just 'visit' a place like Lunpa." The mercenary replied slyly, still trying to sound friendly, but failing miserably. Ivan's keen purple eyes caught sight of something behind the mercenary.
Another bandit, armed with a bow and arrow. He heard a slight sound with his keen ears, and his pupils flicked briefly to see another thief hiding behind a shrub armed with a sword.
There were three of them.
"I was just passing through. I'm going now, so you don't need to bother with me." Ivan replied meekly, hoping now he would decide to leave him alone. But the man continued badgering him, this time not trying to hide his true intentions.
"Listen, kid," he said sternly, "You didn't come here unless you were some sort of a spy for Kalay looking to rescue Hammet. I can't think of any other reason. Regardless, you're coming with us, we can't let anyone breathe a word about Lunpa to the outside world now, and our law dictates that we'll have to 'confiscate' all your items."
He sneered down at Ivan like a bully taking candy from a baby. Ivan knew that anything 'confiscated' would never return to him. And he couldn't let himself become a prisoner, or else he'd never rescue Hammet.
Or aid Isaac and Garet.
Ivan tightened his grip on his Shaman's Rod behind him.
Looks like I might have to fight my way out he thought grimly to himself.
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that." Ivan replied steadily, preparing for trouble. His voice no longer sounded small and meek as it usually did.
"Well then, we'll just have to force you!" the man yelled. In one smooth motion, he swept aside his cloak and pulled out his sword, holding it above his head to intimidate the youth. Quickly Ivan pointed his Rod at the thief and unleashed a powerful gust of wind that blew the man back a few feet and hurling him into a tree, winding him.
The archer behind him, who, rather stupidly, hadn't readied an arrow, quickly moved to pull one from his quiver and fired it.
But not before Ivan raised his hand and formed a whirlwind between them, swirling dirt and twigs through the air. The arrow was spun out of control and flung harmlessly out of the way.
Ivan then redirected the swirling whirlwind into the archer, twirling him about helplessly in the air. Ivan then dissipated the spinning airstream causing the man to be flung into the air and into a tree, hitting every branch on the way down. When he landed, he was well and truly unconscious.
Ivan then turned to see the other swordsmen running furiously towards him with his sword in the air. Ivan aimed his rod and unleashed a bolt of lightning at him, knocking the man to the ground and leaving him in shock. His metal armour was unable to deflect that.
That lighting bolt was one of the few destructive techniques he had learned by himself over the years with Hammett, he was to peaceful to actively find ways to learn others.
All three of his assailants were down now. But he couldn't waste time, others would come. He knew where he had to go. There was only one passage through the Goma Range and he would need to meet his friends there. He ran south-east as quickly as he could, eager to join Isaac and Garet.
Weyard's future hung in the balance and now he was going to be part of deciding it's destiny.
Isaac and Garet stood at the base of the Goma Mountain Ranges. They had travelled for two days to get here, and had met few more of the annoying small monsters, from mutated rats to giant mice. They had even seen some killer bats one night, not unlike the ones from Sol Sanctum, and even the 'killer mushrooms' that they had first encountered upon leaving Vault.
But fortunately they had not run into any truly dangerous beasts, like those wolves. And the monsters that they had encountered were thankfully not too aggressive or powerful. Most only attacked when they accidentally disturbed them, and of them, many ran off when they put up any form of resistance. Those that hadn't were easily dispatched.
The power of Alchemy had warped many animals and beasts, but Isaac and Garet were good enough fighters to deal with them.
"These mountains aren't as big as Mount Aleph." Garet mused staring up at the peaks, the wind blowing through his red-coloured spiky hair.
He stroked his chin with one leather-gauntleted hand and looked over to Isaac's pack, which contained all the food to keep it safe from Garet's insatiable appetite. "We had a small breakfast, Isaac. We should stop and have some more." The large Fire Adept suggested.
"Forget it, Garet," Isaac replied, looking down at the map of Angara, the wind blowing his messy blond hair back, "You already ate enough for the two of us. We're supposed to ration it. We can eat some more tonight. Honestly, Garet, I don't know how you can keep such an excellent figure on your diet." He looked up towards the mountains, his blue eyes searching for something. The sun shone down on them, some time before noon.
"There's supposed to be a cave that allows us to go through the mountains somehow." He told his friend, "We'll have to go up and look for it."
Garet looked a little displeased at this news.
"We won't have to go across the river, will we?" He asked in a concerned voice, "You know I hate water." Garet had always had a dislike of deep water, perhaps because he was a Mars Adept, which meant that he had never learnt to swim, which only intensified his dislike. But then, it was known that water weakened the power of Fire Psynergy.
"Don't worry, Garet," Isaac replied, "the road runs right up to this tunnel, so I'm sure there's a bridge somewhere along here."
He put his map away and they continued on their way along the road towards the river.
They came across the bridge in no time, running across the river. But it was broken.
The central part was all snapped off, the wooden planks long since washed away. But the central wooden support pillar, which had once held up the bridge, was still there.
Must have been damaged by falling boulders from the Mount Aleph eruption. Isaac thought to himself.
He looked to the gap, trying to gauge to distance. Isaac reasoned he could probably jump from what remained of the bridge to the central pillar, and from there to the other half.
Garet stood uncertainly on the land by the bridge.
"Isaac, you're not seriously thinking of jumping across are you?" He asked nervously eyeing the river, the old brave, boastful Garet no longer shining through.
"If you can think of a better way Garet, I'd like to hear it." Isaac replied, not even taking his eyes of the river.
Isaac took of his pack and threw it across, easily landing it on the other side of the bridge. Without hesitating, he jumped and landed on the central support pillar that still stood out of the water, holding out his arms to balance himself.
"Isaac, if you fall in, don't go looking to Garet to rescue you!" Garet called out, provoking a laugh from Isaac.
"Garet, if anyone needs rescuing, it'll be you." And with that, he made the last jump to the other side, landing next to his pack.
"All right Garet, your turn now." He called out to the muscle-bound Fire Adept who was staring uneasily at the distance over the water.
He took off his heavy pack, and threw it to Isaac, he caught it in his hands, nearly dropping it in surprise at it's weight. What in Weyard did Garet have stored in there?
But he ignored it for now, and chucked the pack to the ground next to him, looking out towards his friend.
"Come on, there's no stopping now!" He called out.
Garet looked carefully at the distance he had to jump, and the water underneath, for a moment longer. Finally, he jumped to the stump, and without stopping to think, jumped over the water, to land next to Isaac.
"That wasn't so bad now, was it?" Isaac asked him jokingly.
"Be quiet about it would you Isaac?" Garet muttered in reply, "Water isn't exactly a Fire Adept's best friend you know."
As Isaac put his pack back on, he looked over to the waterfall in the distance by the mountains where the river came from. He noticed that the water actually came from a hole in the side of the mountain, and next to it was the entrance to another cave.
That must be Goma Cave. Isaac thought. The road led slowly up to it, winding up the foothills and along the cliff edge. Isaac and Garet followed the road up there, walking under the shadow of the Goma Mountains and the canopies of the trees that dotted the hills. They climbed the steep steps that led up to the cliff face, and walked steadily along the ledge to, eventually, the ledge of rock jutting out next to the waterfall, which led to the cave entrance.
But they couldn't reach it. A part of the ledge that they walked along had broken away, leaving a large gap. They might of been able to jump it, but a large rock blocked the only possible landing point, completely over grown with ivy vines.
"Seems the road hasn't been used for a fair while." Garet stated, pointing out the obvious.
"But Saturos and the others must have come this way; it's the only way over the mountains." Isaac replied, "Even if they did move the boulder back to block our way, why would it be covered in vines? That much would need at least a year to grow."
"Maybe they came to this point some other way?" Garet guessed. They had headed in this direction. They couldn't have put the boulder here to block any followers, it had obviously been here a while, judging by the vines.
But then one of them, Alex, Isaac remembered his name was, could hover and warp. Could the others do the same? Perhaps they had just avoided the rock rather than move it, trying to fool any that might follow. It didn't matter, Isaac reasoned, they just had to go this way.
The Great Elder had told him he would have the guidance of the Mars Elemental Star, which he kept safe at his side in it's Mythril Bag, and something told him he had to go this way, or else they would fail in their quest. He couldn't let that happen.
So he focused his mind and his body started to glow light blue with Psynergy, at least to Adept eyes, and he stretched out his hand and started to move the rock with his power.
But it wouldn't budge. Instead of just snapping out of the way, the vines held the boulder firmly in place, which seemed rather unnatural.
Isaac let the power of Psynergy dissipate from his body and stood there staring at it, stoking his chin thoughtfully.
"It seems we can't move it." he mused.
"Leave it to me!" Garet boasted, stretching out his arms, "a Fire Adept like me should have no problem with these weeds." And he immediately started channelling his Psynergy, flames crackling at the ends of his gloved hands and a large flare of fire enveloping the vines. But when he stopped and the flames subsided, the vines of ivy seemed only a little singed. Isaac could have sworn that he could feel the vines resisting through his affinity with the Earth.
"I don't believe it!" Garet exclaimed. "They should have been incinerated!" Isaac thought about it. Garet would end up exhausting his entire Psynergy supply if he tried his technique, although he seemed not to realize that.
"Hmmm... maybe what we need is more fire..." he murmured, stroking his chin, trying to look thoughtful. He was about to try again, this time more powerfully, when Isaac spoke up.
"It's no use." he said, shaking his head, "Our Psynergy isn't strong enough to free that stone."
Garet looked at him defiantly. "Well, we have to try at least." was his reply.
"You want to move that stone, right?" A young, cheerful voice from behind them said.
They turned to see a short, blonde haired kid with purple eyes stride up casually from behind them. It was Ivan. But what was he doing here, all this way from Lunpa? He walked in between them, paying no mind to their puzzled looks, and looked to the rock.
"It looks like it's trapped in the ivy." he observed.
"Yeah, we noticed that!" Garet pointed out. "What are you doing here?"
"Hey, Ivan!" Isaac gave him a big smile, "It's good to see you again, but why are you here, Ivan?" Shouldn't he have been in Lunpa, trying to rescue his Master Hammet from Dodonpa's thieves?
"I couldn't get into Lunpa..." Ivan muttered ruefully, shaking his head, "Don't get me wrong!" He added hastily, seeing their expressions, "I didn't come here to ask for your help. Your quest has been on my mind ever since I left Vault."
"Our quest?" Garet asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"Remember? I read everything that happened in your minds." He reminded them, "I couldn't just leave, not with all these terrible things happening."
"So what you're trying to say is..." Isaac started.
"If I can't rescue Master Hammet, then I want to help you..." He looked to them hopefully, "Please allow me to join your quest."
"Sure," Isaac told him cheerfully, "The more the merrier. Besides, we can use all the help that we can get."
"Welcome to the party, buddy!" Garet told him, slapping him on the back again, "Now Saturos and his cronies will have a lot more trouble trying to get rid of us!"
"So, anyway, that Ivy is holding that down which is blocking your path, right?" Ivan asked, trying to ignore Garet's powerful 'friendly' back slap.
"Yes, that's right." Isaac told the small Wind Adept. "Pretty strong ivy too, doesn't break or burn, which I find unnatural."
"Maybe it was hit by a Psynergy Stone?" Ivan suggested, "Like you said, maybe Earth Psynergy has changed it just a bit, making it grow quickly and strongly. Hmm… you said Venus was weak against Jupiter… I know! I have a great idea. Leave it to me!"
"Uh... alright, Ivan." Garet murmured, unsure.
"Go for it." Isaac told the boy casually. Ivan looked to the Ivy and began to glow light blue with Psynergy. He raised his hand and a swirling vortex of air appeared around the boulder. The whirlwind began tearing apart the vines, flinging bits of it about haphazardly, until it was all gone, leaving only the boulder. Ivan turned to them, a big grin on his face.
"There you go! They're all gone!" he exclaimed.
"Alright, Ivan!" Garet cheered, slapping the younger boy on the back again, nearly knocking him over.
"You won't have much to cheer about in a second." A deep voice sneered behind them. They turned to see half a dozen rough looking men, holding various mismatched swords that looked like they were badly kept. Bandits.
"Hey, what do you want?" Garet folded his arms across his chest defiantly.
"These lands have been claimed under Dodonpa's lordship." The one who appeared to be the leader replied. "As foreigners, we're going to have to confiscate you're items and take you back with us to Lunpa."
"I thought I'd lost them!" Ivan whispered to Isaac. "When I left Lunpa, I was sure I wasn't being followed."
"Well, you can have our stuff over my dead body!" Garet drew his battle axe, and held it ready before him. Isaac drew his sword and Ivan held his Shaman's Rod ready.
It seemed Ivan hadn't whispered quietly enough, as the leader had heard him.
"We didn't follow you here, twerp! We've been here for ages, waiting for kids like you to come across our path! A couple of our boys already got Lord Hammet just a couple of days back, and now you're next."
"Get out of here, and no one gets hurt." Isaac warned them softly. He gripped his sword tightly. "You don't know what we're capable of."
"But I'd be more than happy to show you!" Garet grinned. The pack of bandits laughed.
"What, you three onto us? Are you joking?" one sneered.
"You and what army?"
"I'd like to see you try!"
"You took Master Hammet…" Ivan growled beneath his breath aggressively. He looked ready to battle.
"Enough chit chat." The leader declared. "They wanna play, then let's teach 'em a lesson boys!" The bandits advanced on them slowly, expecting to savour the fear of the three boys.
Garet raised a hand, and flames leapt out of the ground around the bandits. They stopped and stared in disbelief. They couldn't see Garet using Psynergy, but they could see the effects of the Psynergy. Adding to this, Isaac focused his Psynergy and the earth beneath them began to rumble.
"What the heck-?" the leader cried.
"What is this?"
"What are they?"
"They're freaks!"
Garet and Isaac let their Psynergy subside, expecting to see their foes run away. Instead, the leader charged viciously towards them with his sword, raw anger etched on his face.
Before anyone else could react, Ivan held out his rod, and threw the bandit back with a powerful gust of wind. He landed heavily amongst his comrades, who looked at the three Adepts in disbelief.
"That's impossible!" one of them said. Ivan wasted no time, lightning bolts arched down from the sky, striking the ground around them, but hitting nothing.
"Let's get out of here!" the group ran away, back to wherever it was they were headed, the leader struggling to follow them, winded as he was.
"Ha, that showed 'em!" Garet laughed. He and Isaac put their weapons away and turned to Ivan.
"Are you trying to get to Bilibin through this cave?" Ivan asked them, motioning towards the tunnel.
"Yeah, we heard that Saturos and Menardi went that way." Isaac replied, "But from Bilibin on I suppose we'll just have to find out as we go on."
"Then let's go!" Ivan replied.
And with that, they all jumped across and entered the dark shadows of Bilibin Cave.
After Isaac's eyes adjusted to the gloom, he could see that the cave stretched on deep into the mountain, twisting every which way. In the distance somewhere, he could hear the echoing sound of running water. Surprisingly, the floor was quite smooth and flat, and a path of cobbled stones wound along it, following the course of the tunnel.
"This path is the main trading route between the towns east of Goma range, and those to the west." Ivan explained to them, "So the road has been built and well maintained in here, through the years. Although in recent times, trade between Bilibin and Vault has dropped, so it may not be in as good a condition as it used to be, the last time I came through here with Master Hammet." He sure seemed to know a fair bit about trade, but then, he was a merchant's servant.
"But that won't be a problem, will it?" Garet asked him, "I mean, we can still get through here without a problem, can't we?"
Ivan looked ahead, peering into the gloom, his purple eyes glinting concern.
"Actually, it's not the possibility of broken down paths that concerns me." he told them cautiously, "It's the possibility of what we might meet on these paths. It used to be busier along here, so creatures of the cave usually stayed well out of the way. But now, having become more secluded, some of them may have started inhabiting this tunnel again."
"So we might run into a few bats or cave rats," Garet scoffed, "We can handle them, no problem!"
Ivan sighed, "But what if we meet some of the ones that have been infused with Psynergy? Altered by Alchemy? They might be a bit more of a problem."
"He's got a point, Garet." Isaac added.
"Big deal, I can handle them!" Garet boasted proudly, "I'll just blast them away with my powers!"
Ivan shook his head, exasperated, "Is he always like this, proud and reckless, Isaac?"
"Yes, but don't worry, you'll get used to it," was Isaac's reply, "I believe the two of us together might be able to teach him the meaning of the phrase 'being careful'!"
"Hey! I'm careful!" Garet told them, turning around to face them and walking backwards ahead of them, "I always try to not get into trouble! It's just that trouble sometimes comes after me!" Then he tripped on something in the darkness and fell on his backside.
"Garet, please try to focus ahead of yourself." Isaac sighed.
"And try to find something to burn," Ivan added, "I think we'll need some light in here."
Something flickered beyond his eyesight, and Isaac looked up, seeing what he thought to be some green figure run off. Probably just his imagination. Garet grumbled something to himself, but quickly produced a torch from his backpack and promptly lit it with his Psynergy.
They continued down the tunnel path in silence. Garet kept his axe out in one hand, ready for anything that they might come across. Even Ivan walked along with his Shaman's Rod in one hand. Isaac didn't draw his blade, but kept fingering the hilt uneasily, ready to draw it out in an instant.
They quickly found the underground river, as the tunnel met joining it and ran along side of it. The path continued alongside this underground river into the darkness.
They continued through the dark passages in silence, keeping a wary eye out for potential enemies. For a few minutes they walked through the gloomy cave. It didn't take long for them to disturb some bats.
Not regular bats, Psynergy infuse ones. When the light from Garet's torch hit them, they swarmed at them, unnaturally large black beasts with blood red eyes and large yellow fangs. Unanimously, they let out an ear piercing shriek and dived for them, fangs bared for the kill.
Ivan quickly summoned a whirlwind, scattering many of them, while Garet unleashed a wave of fireballs from his hands, all at once and they seemed to each seek an individual bat each. Isaac didn't even know that Garet could do that. Each fireball that hit a bat scorched it in mid-air, killing it, but he only managed to hit a dozen of the things.
Isaac tried to kill a few by launching stone spires from his hand, but failed to achieve much as the small creatures nimbly dodged his attacks. As they started to reach them, Isaac started swinging his sword, bringing down many around him. He hoped desperately none of them managed to bite him, those fangs looked venomous. His blade sliced many of the bats as they reached him, but others simply avoided his blows, trying to find other ways to attack him.
Ivan started emitting bolts of lightning from his rod, the streaks of electricity aiming for the bats, leaving many blackened fuzzy shapes around the powerful young Wind Adept.
He even started hitting them with his rod if they got to close. Garet was now carving up many bats around him with his axe, and whenever he got the chance, unleashing glowing red hot Fire Psynergy. There were dozens off chopped up creatures around him, many of which were also burned.
The three of them together, with their powers quickly killed most of them. Within no time at all, all their enemies had been vanquished, leaving Garet and Ivan with just a few minor scratches and Isaac surprisingly enough without any wounds at all.
"How did you do that?" Garet asked.
"You had a golden dome of Psynergy around you, protecting you from those bats while you hacked at them with your sword." Ivan added.
"Did I?" Isaac replied, "I didn't realize, I was so worried about getting poisoned, I must have learned a new trick without realizing it."
He remembered now doing... something subconsciously. Some sort of defensive technique. They hadn't progressed nearly far enough in their training back home to learn everything. Maybe if he thought about it, he could remember it. But there was no time now. Isaac put it down to some sort of involuntary Psynergy.
"Come on," he told them, "We can't hang around all day, let's get going."
They both nodded and hoisted up their packs. Before they left though, Isaac decided he should do something to help Ivan's wounds. Garet could handle his, he'd reject help unless he absolutely needed it anyway, but Ivan was smaller and physically weaker, even though in terms of Psynergy, the three of them appeared to be more or less equal. Isaac rested his hand on Ivan's forehead, filled his body with Psynergy and started using the only healing skill taught to him, Cure.
Ivan's' cuts started to heal up quickly, almost instantly as the sinews in his skin began to link together, to bond anew.
"I didn't know you could heal with your Psynergy!" Ivan exclaimed.
"It's an old Venus ability some of the Earth Adepts use in Vale to fix wounds and broken bones." Isaac replied, "I don't think that you could learn it though, I've never heard of any Jupiter healing abilities, and Garet can't heal either. Fire Adepts are better at fighting than anything else."
Garet laughed. "If you're a good enough warrior, then you don't need any healing!"
"Well, you look like you took as much of a beating as I did." Ivan replied wittily.
"Hey, I'm still learning, alright?" was Garet's smug reply.
"Come on, let's get going." Isaac told them, before they got involved in some sort of silly argument.
Sometimes it's necessary to take the lead and tell others what to do. Isaac thought silently to himself. They continued through the cave tunnels silently, hoping not to arouse the attention of any other beasts. The road remained clear, venturing off from the river going deeper into the mountain gut rock. Isaac still had a pretty good sense of direction, and following his lead, they weaved their way through the confusing, weaving tunnel.
Occasionally, they'd encounter a lone bat, or a large unnatural rat, which one of them would promptly kill before any others came. Isaac had a nagging feeling that something was following them, but every time he turned his head back, he saw nothing, although he thought he heard things like footsteps or the sound of shifting pebbles, but the others noticed nothing.
Garet just said it was his imagination, and Ivan thought that it was probably nothing worth worrying about. After a few of hours of continuous walking and searching through the dark dreary caverns, killing the odd creature, the path rejoined the subterranean river. They decided to sit down here for a brief rest and quick lunch. As they sat around chewing their apples, Isaac decided to ask Ivan a bit about the town they would arrive in after leaving this tunnel, Bilibin.
"It's a good sized town just not far east of the Goma Ranges," He replied between mouthfuls, "Ruled over by Lord McCoy, near Kolima Forest. Good trading partner of Kalay, though the last time I went there was with Master Hammet a couple of years ago, but I don't think that it's changed much since then." Then he turned his head as though he heard something. "Something's coming." he said gravely.
"I don't hear anything." Garet shrugged.
Isaac strained his ears. After a moment he heard it faintly, the sound of flapping wings and running feet. Isaac and Garet immediately drew their weapons. A dozen or so large bats appeared out of the gloom, followed by some large rat-like creatures that stood on their hind legs.
"What the heck are these things?" Garet exclaimed. "More monsters?" He immediately incinerated the two bats that dived for him with a well aimed fireball. Ivan immediately jumped to his feet and blasted a couple of bats with a bolt of lightning. He then summoned a whirlwind from his hand that scattered the rest around the room as they dived for them.
Isaac sliced through two more bats with his blade. Several others dove for him and he wounded them when they got too close, successfully defending himself. Then the rat-soldiers things that wielded sharpened sticks like spears, attacked.
Garet blasted one back with a blast of fire, and hewed another with his axe. Ivan again managed to keep one away with a gust of wind, but Isaac realised that it would be necessary to protect him, because he wore no armour.
Diving in the way of a spear aimed for Ivan's heart, and at the same time swiping it with his sword, Isaac blocked a blow with his breastplate.
The rat fell to the ground headless. Ivan took the chance to charge a lightning bolt which paralysed another one of them racing to attack. Then he summoned a whirlwind to spin it around and slam in into the wall, breaking its neck.
Isaac launched a clay spire from his hands piercing the heart of yet another. These creatures were everywhere! He killed the last of the rat soldier things with a well placed sword stroke, and then focused again on the bats that were regrouping.
Garet unleashed another huge wave of fireballs, like before, only this time larger and more powerful, that incinerated half of the creatures in the air.
As Ivan summoned a powerful tornado to trap them spinning in one place, Isaac made several of the stalactites hanging from the roof fall down with Psynergy which killed a couple of bats and confused the others. As the tornado dissipated, as Ivan couldn't hold it forever, another powerful bolt of lightning blasted several of the creatures. While others came for them Isaac and Garet took to them with sword and axe, killing as many as they could.
As the last of them fell to the ground dead, Isaac thought that all the beasts were slain.
But then he saw a green, leathery skinned creature lunge for him. A humanoid ghoulish thing with green pointy ears, large eyes and no hair at all, Isaac couldn't fathom what it might be.
It collided with him from the side, pushed him to the ground preventing his sword arm from counter-attacking. It scratched at his chest, but his armour again saved his life. Without wasting time it leapt for Ivan's back, who was unaware of the creature's presence. As Isaac turned, he saw that Garet had already been knocked down by it, but he was just getting up, and launched a fireball of his own which blew the creature back a few feet just in time, before it got Ivan.
While the thing was down by the side, Isaac created a stronger stone, pointed spire and launched it from his hand. The sharp point pierced it's side and the spire crumbled into dust as it hit it.
Ivan, upon seeing it, hit it with a lightning bolt. Isaac stood to investigate the wounded creature, but found it still alive. With a single thrust of his blade, he pierced its heart and killed it.
"They're finally dead." he said, breathing a sigh of relief. All the monsters had been defeated.
"Took enough damage." Garet murmured to himself.
"You two saved my life!" Ivan exclaimed, "Those things would have killed me if it weren't for you! I don't have a single scratch!"
"I wish I could say the same!" Garet replied, looking very cut and bruised by the assault.
"When we get to Bilibin, I think we should get Ivan some armour." Isaac said, "And a weapon of some sort. That rod isn't much good up close."
"Well, let's not stand around all day." Ivan replied, "The normal path should be safer now, so let's hurry! It might be getting dark soon, I've no idea of the time around here, and we don't want to be in here then."
"Before we go, I'd better heal Garet with Cure." Isaac said. Garet groaned.
"Come on, you'll be too slow if you don't get it!"
Garet reluctantly agreed. He quickly used his healing ability on the red haired Fire Adept, his body glowing with Psynergy. Garet's wound healed together as though they had never been, leaving him looking quite refreshed, but still feeling worn from battle. Isaac himself had used a great deal of his Psynergy. Only by resting would he recover that power.
After that, they quickly headed down the path, weapons out, at a steady, speedy pace.
The path wound on alongside the river, at one point crossing it over a wooden bridge, eventually leaving the flowing water to travel through the mountain alone, again. They encountered nothing more before the first sign of daylight appeared ahead at the end of the tunnel.
"Finally, we're near the end!" Garet exclaimed, "We must have been in here for over half a day, now!" They quickly ran for it, eager to leave the dark, dank tunnel. They finally emerged on the other side of the mountain, with the sun low in the orange afternoon sky.
"It's great to be out of there!" Garet exclaimed, "I couldn't handle another minute of that place!"
"It's good to breath fresh air again!" Ivan exclaimed with a smile on his face, as the wind blew his mop of blonde hair. Isaac simply nodded with a smile, not saying anything. He understood.
Off in the distance, a couple of miles north-east, stood the city of Bilibin.
It was even bigger than Vault, which was only a small town. There were many houses with smoke exiting the chimneys, and a palisade wall encircled the city. At the north end of town stood a palace Isaac assumed belonged to Lord McCoy.
They would have to hurry to find an Inn to stay the night.
"Come on, guys," Isaac said with a start, "Let's get going!"
A/N: Okay, that's done. Hopefully, I can get another update done quickly, but we'll see in between my work on "Shadow Wars". Speaking of which, that will come VERY soon. Also my one-shot (still unnamed). I think that's all. Oh yeah, tell me if you think I should rename this "Golden Sun: The Broken Seal" or stick with the current title. Anyway, I think that's all. So, for now, adios amigos!
MoR