"Check this out," I said.
"What is it?" asked Muriel, looking at the map.
"This map has more detail than when we last checked it back at the Dhama Shrine."
"You're right, pal," said Hassan. "This must be some sort of magic map."
"Well, then, let us all go into the cave and get those Dream-Seeing Drops. Falshion, wait right here. We'll be back."
And so we entered the cave, which was a huge hole in the ground. I made sure to light my torch so I could see my way around.
However, that torch light attracted monsters like blooming flowers attract bees. Hassan and I had to brandish our weapons to fight off the monsters. The monsters that we did battle with included baby goyles, high mages, slimes, and babbles. Either they could see us because of the properties of the cave, or the ability was inherent.
Anyway, we soon made our way to the lower levels of the cave, where light was filtering in through cracks. There were stalactites hanging from the ceiling and stalagmites sticking up from the floor. Water dripped from the stalactites, often spilling onto the stalagmites.
"Hey!" Hassan yelled.
"What was that?" asked Muriel.
I looked and saw a slime. It was colored idfferently, not red or blue, but a silvery color.
I took my copper sword and swung at it. Amazingly,. the blade did not cut through. Hassan smahed the slime with his big mallet, but apparently the slime was not hurt.
"That thing must be made of metal," said Hassan.
The metal slime suddenly cast this spell, and I was greeted with this blaze of fire. Enraged, I started hacking away at the monster, but I could not even make a scratch. The creature then struck Hassan right in the face.
"Owww!" yelled the warrior. He put his hand to his face and saw blood on it, probably from his nose. "That does it!" He swung at the metal slime with all his might. He swung so hard I could even feel it. I then saw the metal slime dissolve into silvery creature. "Tough nut to crack. Shall we continue?"
And so we continued going further and further into the cave even as we battled monsters. It was a few minutes later that we reached this chamber. It was apparently a peninsula located in an underground lake.
Ahead we can see this metal jar. And there was this creature drinking from the jar.
"That must be the Dream-Seeing Drops," said Muriel.
"Maybe if we just ask for a sample, the creature will just let us be," I said.
"You have a good sense of humor, mate," said Hassan.
So we approached the basin. The creature turned around and looked at us.
"So you want my sweet nectar,"it said.
"You can see us?" I asked. "Well, sir, we just need to borrow about a pint of this stuff. There seems to be plenty for all of us."
The creature seemed to tense up. It was this green fiour-legged creature, with wings on its back. "I'm glad you brought me lunch. I have not had human in a long time."
The creature attacked, and I quickly parried. I then cast Sap on it while Hassan pounded away. When the creature's defense was down, I swung with by copper sword.
As the creature attacked with its tails and claws, it would often cast Upper to raise its defense, so I often had to cast Sap to counter it. Its shapr claws struck us quite a few times, so I had to administer the medical herb to myself or Hassan.
I then saw an opening, and stabbed the creature with my sword. Hassan then followed up with a few well-placed hits from his big mallet.
"ugggh," the creature moaned as it finally went down.
Muriel went to the basin and collected the Dream-Seeing Drops. "We'd better get out of here before sleeping beauty there wakes up," she said.
And so we did, climbing up back to the entrance. When we emerged, I cast Return and seconds later we were in front of Granmaz's.
"You're back before lunch,said Granmaz, standing in front of her humble home. "I see you bnrought the Dream-Seeing Drops."
"We almost became lunch," replied Hassan.
"Come inside."
And so we did. We stood in front of the orb on the desk.
"Now let us make you visible to the world," she said.
So we stood still, as Granmaz anointed us with the Dream-Seeing Drops and chanted. I could feel a tingling.
I saw Hassan glowing, and I looked at my arms and they were glowing.
And then the glowing stopped. Looking at Hassan, he appeared more solid.
"You're back to normal," he said.
"So are you," I replied.
"So that is what you guys look like," said Muriel.
"Thank you, madam," I said. "I appreciate this assistance you gave us."
"And I appreciate you getting some Dream-Seeing Drops for me," replied Granmaz. "Perhaps we will help each other in the future."
"I understand that these two men are on a quest," said Muriel. "I wish to accompany them. I know some useful magic which will surely aid them."
"Go ahead," said Granmaz. "You must follow your heart. There is something special about these two."
"I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to be here," said Muriel. "I'll make sure to come back and visit."
"Take care you three," said Granmaz.
And so Muriel joined us as we boarded the wagon.
"Where are we heading?" she asked.
"We're gonna go to San Marino to catch a ferry to Reidock," I said. I cast Return and we were in San Marino in less than a minute. We made our way to the ferry terminal next to the docks. I went to the ticket counter and bought three tickets for a total price of one hundred fifty gold.
"So why are you heading back to Reidock?" asked Muriel. "you have not gotten the Mirror of Ra yet."
"We're from another world," I said. "We got here by falling through a hole in the ground."
"Amazing," said Muriel.
"I thought he was crazy," said Hassan. "I would have stayed in our world if Falshion had not pulled the wagon into the hole."
"We don't know if the place this ferry will take us is the same place we came from, or simply has a different name," I said. "If the ferry does take us back to our world, then there's obviously more than we know. If the Reidock we're going to is completely different, maybe we can find out something about the Mirror of Ra."
"How do you intend to get back to your world?" asked Muriel. "Hop a ride on a dragon?"
"There's a well in the ruins of Dhama Shrine that can take us back," I said. "I've been to this world before and I got back home through a well with a strange glow similar to the one at Dhama Shrine."
Suddenly, we heard a bell ring.
"The ferry's about to leave," said Hassan. "We should board."
And so the three of us got onto the ferry. Our wagon was loaded into the cargo deck of the ferry. I stood on top of the boat, watching as passengers embarked on the ship.
Then the anchor was pulled up and the ship floated westward out of the port. Soon San Marino disappeared from the horizon, and we were sailing west on the open sea. I stayed on deck, wondering if the ferry would fly up into the sky to take us back to our world.
ooooooooooo
It was a few hours later that we spotted land. I could see a building next to the shoreline where some ships were docked; I figured that was where we were heading.
"Looks like we're almost there," said Muriel.
The ship pulled up to the docks and the anchor was weighed. A gangway was attached to the ship and we all disembarked. We went inside the ferry terminal.
A sign above a door read "Welcome to the Kingdom of Reidock". What I noticed was the flags were identical to the Reidock flags in the other world!
We all had to check in with some official before we could leave the ferry terminal. We then went to pick up our wagon and he headed out. I made sure to look again at the flag, which was definitely the flag for the Kingdom of Reidock in our world.
"Something wrong, mate?" asked Hassan, sitting in the driver's seat.
"I'm not sure," I replied. "I'll hold off on speculating until we get to Reidock." I saw a road sign as we headed west.
Reidock 11 miles