Chapter 4
Shadow Seekers
Part 1
As Spiros slept, he had his first dream in years. Although it was more of a flashback then a dream. He saw his mother telling him one of his favorite stories. It Involved a brave hero, forging a mighty weapon with the help of the Griffins. He would then set out on a quest to slay the dark lord who ruled over a mysterious land. He would then empower his sword with a mysterious song. His mother would sing this song:
"Let the old become new.
Allow the weak become strong.
Let the dull become sharp.
Allow the fearful to be brave.
Let the night flee,
and may the sun of a new day rise in its place."
However she would never finish the story. He would always ask what happened to the hero, had he rescued the fair maiden, did he ever see his family again, did he defeat the dark lord. No matter how much he wanted to know, she would always reply the same way.
"The ending is up to you."
So he would make up his own ending. The hero rescued the maiden, defeated the dark lord, and rejoined his family and soon after started his own. He then laid down his sword and lived a peaceful life.
Sadly, he was many things back then.
Naive was one of them.
He pried his eyes open as the memories faded away. The sky was dark and his stomach was growling like a lion. Was It was...nighttime? He must've slept for quite awhile. He slowly got up and looked around for any indication of what time it was. He could hear muffled chattering from the tent city. He even heard what sounded like Elder MacGuffin complaining about why they had to get up so early.
He yawned as he stretched his arms. The wounds he had received yesterday were still stinging a bit and he was a little sore but other than that he was ready to start the day. The sun was not even up yet but he still felt full of energy. He was ready to mop the floor with his fellow competitors. He quickly began packing supplies into his black leather backpack. He kept his two knives hanging from his belt, but realized that he lost his only spear. He would have to acquire a new one before departing tomorrow. He rugged through his supplies and manage to find more medical supplies and a small canteen filled with water.
He also decided it would be best to bring a lantern, since they we're going into catacombs. Finally he packed his grappling hook and some medicinal herbs used for counteracting various types of poison. He loved his backpack due to its thin design. He could wear his shield over the pack and no one would be able to notice. He looked around for his sword and shield but could not find either. Then he found his shield, propped up against a nearby wall.
It was charred beyond recognition. The surface was still warm from being bombarded by fire. The heat the shield had been placed under yesterday had ruined the metal. A child wielding a dagger could probably stab through it after a few well placed strikes. He sighed and shook his head. He had possessed this shield forever, it pained him to see it in such poor condition.
However, he figured that after all these years of protecting him from danger, it was time for this family heirloom to be retired from service. He strapped it to Visilis' back carefully, in order not to wake the Griffin up. Then he prepared to set off to find Merida. He found the family wide awake in the dining hall, eating breakfast.
"Oh good you're up, I was just about to come over and wake you." The Princess said upon seeing him.
"Would that have been with or without a bucket of water?" He asked.
She laughed.
"I hadn't really thought about it." She replied.
"Have you seen my sword?" He asked her.
"Yup, It's in that chest over there." She said flatly.
The Greco walked across the room to the wooden chest.
"Why is in here?" He grumbled, opening the chest.
"Well I decided it would only be fair to have the thing...cleaned up." She explained, walking over to him.
He pulled the sword, which was still in its leather sheath, out of the chest and drew it.
"After all, it is your birthday!" She exclaimed.
The sword looked brand new, the rust had been cleaned off the blade. It looked as if it had just been forged. The bronze blade shimmered like it was made of gold, the dusty hilt was now back to its original state: polished steel. The bronze handle was repaired and was wrapped in a new black leather grip. The hilt's six dull 'gems' had been pulled out. Turns out they had once been one sapphire, but over time chunks had fallen out, making look like there were six different gems in the hilt. Now a new gem was in its place, a rare sky blue gem. Finally, engraved in the blade was the word 'Dunbroch' in Greek. The clan emblem was also engraved into the center of the blade.
"How did you know?" He murmured.
"I hope you don't mind, I went through your journal while you were sleeping. I found another person who came here from Greece and they helped me and Lord Dingwall's blacksmith with the engravings. We did our best to keep everything the same, I remember what you said about it being the only thing you have left of your family." She explained shyly.
"No I don't mind, It looks great!" He told her, a smile appearing across his face.
"He's looks very handsome when he smiles, it's a shame that he almost never does though." The Princess thought, but quickly suppressed the thought.
"That's a gorgeous gemstone, what made you pick it for the hilt?" Queen Elinor asked.
The Princess blushed.
"Well when I was going through his journal, I found out the he thinks I've have: eyes as clear and breath taking as the Aegean sea." She replied shyly.
Spiros chuckled nervously, slowly turning red.
"Haha and to think, she gets her eyes from me." King Fergus said with a chuckle.
"Spiros, do my husband's eyes remind you of any ocean?" Elinor asked with a chuckle.
The Greco only turned redder.
"Mum, stop. You're embarrassing him, on his birthday!" Merida protested.
"It was a fair question!" Fergus replied, batting his eyelashes at Spiros.
Everyone laughed, including the birthday boy. Whose face was still as red as the Merida's hair. Then after the laughing subsided, the Princess turned her attention back to her friend.
"There's more in that chest." She told him.
The Birthday boy reached into the chest and pulled out his second gift. It was a heater shield, made of a light weight material. It was clear though that it was a strong shield. It had steel reinforcing the three edges. Engraved in each of the edges was the name of one of the three clans. These had been translated into Greek as well. The shield was colored navy blue and had an amazing design painted onto it. a white lightning bolt going to strike a red serpent with a grey eagle in a dive, parallel to the lightning bolt, talons poised to strike and beak open in a fierce display of power.
"My parents and I felt a little bad that your shield had been ruined. So my dad called in an old favor from one of Lord Dingwall's finest blacksmiths. They made you this shield. It's infused with special charms. Which makes it lighter and stronger." She explained.
Spiros' eyes were the size of apples, he seemed at a loss for words.
He reached into the chest and pulled out his final gift.
It consisted of a steel chest plate that would go under his new dark blue short sleeved tunic which had the Dunbroch clan emblem on the each of the sleeves . He also found a pair of brown leather gloves which were fingerless, a bronze colored chain mail that would protect his upper body, a new pair of brown boots , a single bronze shoulder guard with all the clam emblems engraved into its center ,and finally grey trousers and a grey long sleeved shirt that would go under his tunic and chain mail.
He glanced at Merida, who motioned to the stairs.
"The clan leaders are to thank for this one. Go put it on, and come back down so we can see." She told him.
He ran up the stairs, and came back down all dressed up. New shield strapped to his left arm, shoulder guard on his right arm. Refurbished sword strapped to his back underneath his dusty backpack.
Merida and The Triplets stood at the bottom of the stairs waiting for him.
"Wow, talk about a knight in shining armor." The Princess teased.
"Haha no, I'm not even worthy of such a title." He scoffed.
"Not with that attitude." She replied with a raised eyebrow.
She then pursed her lips before continuing.
"In all seriousness though, do you like it?"
He simply walked forward and gave her a big hug in reply. Now Merida was never was one of those girls who like hugs. Especially from people she didn't exactly plan on getting involved with romantically, but she decided to let this one slide. She slowly hugged him back, blushing just a little.
"I'll take that as a yes." She murmured.
"It's the first birthday present I've gotten in years, so...yeah. You would be right, it's a yes." He replied.
"Haha good to hear." She replied, suddenly finding herself enjoying that hug just a little more.
The duo then ate a perfectly sized breakfast. Big enough to fill them for the day, but light enough so that they wouldn't make them sick due to the strenuous physical activity they would be partaking in throughout the day.
While Merida went upstairs to pack her own supplies, Spiros made his way down to the arena in order to find out where the competition would be starting. As he walked through town he got complimented on his new attire and he got happy birthday wishes from pretty much everyone. In response he would just reply with a simple thanks or a friendly nod. He found it do strange that this community had accepted him so quickly. Perhaps it was because he was practically boarding with the Royal Family, or the fact that he had a giant feathery bodyguard. This was a key personality trait of his, he constantly overanalyzed things. Always thinking that people had ulterior motives to their actions. He was incapable of looking at things in a simplified manner. This has lead to him developing minor trust issues and a general lack of faith in someone's word.
He continues down the dirt path to the arena where the other teams were hanging out. He began checking out the competition. Young Macintosh and Jon were obviously a team. Macintosh was armed with a bow and a two handed sword, while Jon had a war hammer and a tall rectangular shield with his clan's emblem engraved onto the front.
Young MacGuffin, armed with a huge two handed axe, had been paired with a lean blonde haired boy armed with two short swords and a crossbow. He looked pretty nervous and was probably the youngest of them all. It seemed as if Young MacGuffin was trying to give his partner a pep talk, but it was clear that the boy didn't understand a word his partner was saying.
Finally, Wee Dingwall carried a spiked mace and was paired with a muscular girl in full body armor, brown pig tailed hair and carried a sword and a battle axe. She was far taller than Dingwall and looked way stronger as well. It was no wonder he had chosen her as his partner. He was pretty smart for doing so.
In summary, Spiros and Merida would be going against Team Macintosh, who were set on winning and probably planned to be fast and aggressive right from the get go. Then there was Team MacGuffin. They probably had speed and power on their side and would crush anything the Elders set before them using teamwork. Finally, there was brains and brawn. Team Dingwall would avoid unnecessary fights and fight only if they had to. If they did encounter a monster or two, it wouldn't slow them down much.
Spiros knew he and Merida would have to be quick, smart and aggressive if they even hoped to have a shot at beating the others to the catacombs. While the Greco pondered this fact, his partner took her place beside him. She still had her hair down and had her bow slung over her shoulder and a huge quiver along with a backpack. She wore a black cloak over her dark purple dress which had silver embroidery along the waist, elbows, chest, and neckline. She also wore a black leather bracer on her left arm. Which would keep loose clothing from catching the bow string and protect her arm from injury, caused by either the bow string of the fletching of the arrow.
"You gonna be able to run in that dress, Princess?" He asked her.
"Are you going to be able to keep up, birthday boy?" She replied.
"Hey Spiros!" a voice called out.
The Greco turned to see Jon walking up to him.
"How's your birthday going?"
"It was going fine until you came over here." He thought.
Then he pushed away those thoughts and replied out loud.
"Great, I got some new stuff. Courtesy of Merida and her family, as well as the other clans."
"That's good to hear, and it appears your bow is all spruced up now." Jon replied before turning his attention to the Princess.
"Yeah, Mum had my old bow that she burned remade. It's the exact same as it was before. It's not the same, but its close enough for me." She explained.
"It shouldn't have been burned in the first place, your Mom seems kinda of uptight, not to mention a little mean." He told her.
"No she's not, we were in the heat of an argument. Things were said and done that should have never been done or said. Regardless, it's over now and we're both stronger because of it." She replied sharply.
"Now you're starting to sound like her." He grumbled.
"There's nothing wrong with that. It's called growing up, a concept you have yet to grasp." Spiros grumbled.
"My partner wants a word with you." Jon said through clenched teeth before walking off.
Merida sighed before speaking.
"He can be very immature at times, and it greatly annoys me."
"He'll learn eventually, although walking off like that doesn't help his case." Spiros told her.
"He doesn't handle pressure very well, not to mention that there are days when he just aggravates me to no end." She grumbled.
"That seems apparent." He replied.
"You should go talk to Young Macintosh, I need some time to talk to Jon." She told him.
"Ok, I'll catch up with you when they call for us to assemble." He replied.
"Sounds good." She said.
The duo went their separate ways.
Spiros walked up to Young Macintosh, who was sharpening one of his swords.
"Morning." He said.
"You wanted to talk to me?" The Greco asked.
"Yup, about the little love triangle you've started." He replied.
...
"Jon, why are you acting like this?" Merida asked.
"I'm not acting any differently then I normally do!" He snarled.
"Yes you are! We're fighting like this, you get annoyed when I tell you about how I just want to be friends with Macintosh, and above all there are days when you just act like a big jerk!" She exclaimed.
"I thought you hated Macintosh!" He grumbled.
"No, I don't. I never said that! I thought he hates me!" She shouted.
He simply rolled his eyes.
"Look I'm sick of all this drama between you and him, move on. You deserved better anyways!"
"I'm trying to move on, why do you think I want you." She murmured.
"Well to me, it seems like you're interested in your new buddy!" He shot back.
...
"Love triangle, what do you mean?" Spiros asked.
"Jon thinks you have feelings for Merida." Young Macintosh replied.
"What do you think about it?" The Greco replied.
"Personally, I'm angry just because Jon even wants to go out with her. I specifically asked him not to do that. Besides, I think you're a better match for her anyway." He explained.
Spiros felt his eyes get bigger and his brain go numb.
This was crazy, this had never happened before. It had always been the opposite. When he and another guy had eyes on the same girl. Almost everyone was rooting for the other guy. However, now not only was there someone rooting for him, it was the other guy's best friend.
"You really think so?" He asked.
"Um yeah. Jon is kinda of self centered. It may seem like he cares, but he doesn't. Whenever he talks about her theses days, it's usually a complaint. He may seem like a big tough guy, but underneath he's pretty insecure." Macintosh replied.
"Anything else I should know?" The Greco asked.
"Well there is one more thing. They ate supposed to be going out officially in about three weeks, but it's not gonna happen. Jon says she's already promised to date him. He however isn't interested anymore, but he doesn't plan on telling her." He sighed before continuing.
" Now, I know your gonna want to rush over and warn her about this. I don't blame you, but I would wait. If you tell her now, Jon is going to deny it all. Then you'll look like the bad guy. When you feel it's time to let her know, do it."
"Why are you telling me this?" Spiros asked.
"You seem like a good guy and like I said before, you would probably be a better match for Merida then Jon. In all honesty though, I could care less who she ends up with." He explained.
Then a horn sounded, and the teams began walking off to a tent that was located by the tree line.
"The competition is about to start, good luck...with everything." Macintosh said before walking off.
"Thanks." Spiros replied.
He had to admit, it all seemed a little fishy. Jon's best friend telling him all that info in the interest of helping a guy he barely knew. Yet, he didn't care about the outcome of it all. Regardless, until he knew better. He would wait on letting Merida know Jon wasn't interested in her anymore. He pushed the thoughts of romance aside, right now he had a competition to win.
...
"Spiros is just a friend, nothing more!" The Princess exclaimed.
"You seem to talk to him a lot more then you talk to me!" Jon replied.
"It's kind of because you live in a different clan, while he stays here in the stables. Not to mention that when I do write you in my letters, you hardly ever reply. Even when you do, it seems like your being short with me." She grumbled.
In the distance, a horn sounded.
"I have to go." She murmured, turning around and walking away.
Jon simply rolled his eyes. In a month, none of this would matter. He would never have to talk to her again. To him, this Princess wasn't worth winning.
...
Spiros stood behind the line that had been drawn in the dirt. The competition was about to get underway. Then, Merida took her place next to him. She looked agitated.
"You alright?" He asked her.
"I'm fine, it's just...ugh...the way Jon is acting. It infuriates me." She grumbled.
"Save that anger for the monsters." He told her.
"I plan to." She hissed.
Then another horn sounded and King Fergus called for quiet.
"Good morning everyone!" He bellowed.
"Today we compete to see which clan has the best Shadow Seekers. Now, before we begin. My wife, Elinor , will remind you all of the rules. Then, I will introduce the teams. After that, we will start the competition." He explained, before gesturing to his wife.
"Alright, competitors. Listen up!" She instructed after yawning.
"The rules for this competition are very basic ones. At the sound of your clan horn, you will go down the paths that are directly in front of you. You are not to use another team's path. All these paths lead to the Sacred Grounds. They are also littered with monsters and traps."
She looked a Merida nervously before continuing.
"If you are incapacitated at any point during the competition, you will be warped to the Castle medicine room. Where you will awake at the end of the competition. Another thing, you are not to interfere with any other team you encounter, except on the final stretch. Please avoid severely injuring each other with your weapons during that time. Finally, when you retrieve your banners you must get them back here, and there must not be a thread out of place. Anyone who violates these rules will be disqualified."
The competitors all nodded in understanding.
King Fergus then introduced the teams.
"Competing for Clan MacGuffin, Young MacGuffin and Lennon!"
Lord MacGuffin and his followers began cheering.
"Competing for Clan Macintosh, Young Macintosh and his brother in arms: Jon!"
Lord Macintosh and his clan stood up and hollered out war cries in a language Spiros didn't understand. There were also girls screeching at the top of their lungs.
"Next we have Clan Dingwall, its competitors are Wee Dingwall and his terrifying cousin: Helga!"
Helga picked up Wee Dingwall like he was torch and waved him wildly through the air. Lord Dingwall and his people practically started a riot.
"Finally, competing for Clan Dunbroch: my lovely daughter and renowned sharpshooter Merida and her friend, slayer of the Lindworm and rider of the Griffin: Spiros!"
The whole crowd went crazy, and the Elders even began pounding their staffs in approval. It appeared that they were the fan favorite this year.
"We need a battle cry." Merida told her partner.
"For what?" He asked.
"When your clan horn sounds, you're expected to shout something." She explained.
Just then a horn went off and Young MacGuffin screeched out some gibberish as he charged into the woods.
"Well said, boy!" Elder MacGuffin shouted as the crowd cheered.
"Cant you think of anything!" Spiros asked the Princess.
Another horn sounded, Jon and Young Macintosh raised their weapons and shouted:
"For glory!"
They charged into the thick brush, and presumably encountered trouble instantly. The sound of metal clanging against metal echoed across the starting area.
"No I can't, my heart is pounding right now!" The Princess shouted.
Another horn. Wee Dingwall surged forward, with Helga crying out like an angry bear while he shouted:
"For honor and love!"
He then looked back at Merida and winked before disappearing into the brush.
Suddenly Spiros had an idea, it was bold and crazy. However, it would definitely leave a mark.
The horn sounded as he drew his sword, the sun was peaking over the horizon. The rays of light lit up his polished blade, making it look like his sword was ablaze.
"For Seona!" He shouted surging forward. Immediately a skeleton warrior jumped out. Its eye sockets glowed green and it had an axe in one hand and a shield strapped to its other arm. He charged right at the monster, slicing its legs out from under it. He then spun around as it fell and stabbed it in the back of the head. The skeleton dissolved into a pile of ash.
He looked at Merida, who was staring at him. Her eyes as big as apples, it was clear she was in shock. Part of the crowd was cheering louder than before, while some muttered in confusion. Elder Dunbroch appeared to be on the verge of tears, while Queen Elinor already was wiping her eyes, King Fergus looked amazed and yet a little somber.
The Greco then looked at his partner again.
"Come on!" He shouted.
The Princess snapped out of her trance and raced off to meet up with her partner. Then the duo disappeared into the trees.
...
Spiros sprinted down the path with Merida in tow, he had sheathed his sword and was now focused on getting to the Sacred Grounds before the other team.
"Spiros, slow down!" The Princess shouted.
"We can't, the other three teams have a huge head start!" He told her.
"No they don't, we have the advantage! If they sent us out last, then we have the shortest trail out of everyone. That's the balancing factor, everyone will probably get there at the same time." She explained.
The Greco slowed his sprint to a fast walk, within seconds the Princess was at his side. Then she grabbed him by his shirt collar and shoved him against the nearest tree.
"I can't believe the stunt you pulled back there." She whispered.
"You said think of a battle cry, so I did." He protested.
"I know, but that was not really what I had in mind." She replied.
"I'm sorry, it just popped into my head. I hope you're not too angry with me." He murmured.
"Angry with you? Actually, I'm very touched that you did it. You practically made me break down in front of the whole kingdom." She grumbled.
"Sorry, that wasn't my intention." He replied.
"It's alright, besides it was very sweet. However I don't think a thank you is a proper reward." She said with a grin, leaning a little closer to him.
He felt himself turning red, was she going to kiss him?
She started leaning in even closer. He saw her eyes flutter. His heart was pounding, was this really happening? Their faces we're just inches apart. She had pressed herself up against him, her heart was racing as well. The butterflies in his stomach were rising as she closed in, then her eyes darted upward and she slowly backed away.
"Aw Hades, of all the days for there to be garlic in my breakfast. Why today?" He thought.
She quickly drew her bow and fired an arrow.
Then a skeleton warrior with a scythe in hand and an arrow in his eye fell from the branches above. He landed with a thud before turning into ash.
"Nice save." Spiros told her.
"Thanks...we should get moving." She replied, continuing down the path.
Spiros cursed under his breath. The moment they were having had been ruined. The mood had changed from romantic to slightly awkward in less than a fraction of a second. The Greco kicked the pile of ash before setting out to follow his partner.
...
The duo had been walking for quite some time now. They would occasionally jog or sprint for a few minutes if they thought they needed to make up some ground. They were fairly silent for most of the walk.
Then out of the blue, a horn sounded off. It was the MacGuffin clan horn.
"That's surprising." Merida murmured.
"What is?" Spiros asked.
"When a horn sounds off like that mid competition, someone was warped back to the medicine room at the Castle. It sounds like it was someone from the MacGuffin team." She explained.
"Why is that surprising?" He asked.
"Usually Team Dingwall is the first to lose someone, which explains why Helga is competing this year." She replied.
"Yeah...makes sense." He murmured as they continued walking.
"You know what else is weird?" She asked him.
"What?" He replied, scanning the trees for monsters.
"The fact that we haven't run into very many traps or monsters." She explained.
"Isn't that a good thing?" He asked as they began pushing through a bush.
"Yeah, but I was just hoping this would of been a lot harder." She explained.
Then they both slipped on the ledge of a steep rock face. They were sent rolling and siding down the gravel covered hill. At the bottom of the hill was a steep drop into a dark gorge.
Merida grunted as she tried to stop her uncontrolled roll to the edge. In the process she lost half a dozen arrows, which fell out of her quiver and into the darkness of the gorge. Spiros grunted as he got onto his belly and drew his sword. He drove the blade into the hill with a grunt. The action slowed his descent, but Merida was very close to the edge of the hill. He reached out and grabbed her hand as she fell off the cliff. Then he did his best to drive his sword a little deeper into the earth. This managed to stop them, however his partner was still dangling above the gorge.
"Did you have to say that?" He asked once he caught his breath.
"Oh don't worry about me, I'm just a little cut up, but I appreciate your concern." She replied sharply with a bit of sarcasm in her voice.
"Sorry." He grumbled.
They were now stuck. Spiros couldn't pull himself up, let alone her. They couldn't drop down because there was no telling what was at the bottom of the gorge. If they did nothing, they would end up finding out one way or another.
Then Merida heard something...water...running water. It was close. She looked to her left. At the far end of the gorge was a waterfall that went cascading down into the gorge. She knew the Elders wouldn't have their trail end at a cliff. There was probably an underground spring below them.
All they had to do was take a leap of faith.
"Spiros, we need to drop down into the gorge!" She exclaimed.
"Are you crazy, then we'll be warped to the medicine room! We'll lose!" He protested.
"The Elders wouldn't send us to a dead end. There has to be a body of water down there." She assured him.
"How do you know for sure?" He asked.
"There's a waterfall over there that empties into the gorge. It's all got to be flowing somewhere!" She told him.
"I don't know..." He murmured.
She squeezed his hand.
"Trust me!"
The Greco sighed heavily. It was there only real option.
"Alright, but for the record this was your idea!" He grumbled before dislodging his sword from the hillside.
He slid off the hill and let go of her hand. He then sheathed his sword, and angled himself downwards.
"Keep your legs straight when you hit the water, and make sure to point your toes!" He instructed.
She did as he said as they fell into darkness. Then they hit something with a loud SLAP-SPLOSH! It was a small but deep pool of water. It didn't take long for Spiros to lose his orientation in the dimly lit water. He looked around, realizing he was quickly running out of air. Then he blew a few bubbles and followed them by watching which way they floated. He ran out of air and passed out just as he surfaced.
Merida clambered out of the lake slowly, dragging her partner ashore as well. She was coughing up water and her scratches and scrapes from her fall down the gravel hill stung a bit ,other than that she felt pretty good.
She laid her friend on his back and sat down next to him. While waiting for him to wake up, she checked her supplies. She had lost several more arrows during her unplanned swim. That left her with eleven arrows. She cursed under her breath. She would have to stick to her backup weapons and use her remaining arrows wisely. Then she noticed that two of her three bolases were gone. They had been strapped to her backpack, but her impact with the water must have shaken them loose. Finally she noticed a set of tracks leading from a nearby tunnel and into the darkness of the catacombs.
It was Macintosh and Jon no doubt, the tracks appeared to be fresh though. They couldn't have been too far ahead. She suddenly felt alone, sure Spiros was there but he wasn't exactly all there. After all, he was unconscious.
"Hey...wake up." She grumbled, knocking on his forehead like it was a door.
The Greco began coughing as he slowly opened his eyes. He drew his sword as he begun to stand up. He looked around, trying to regain his bearings. Then he noticed something scurrying in the darkness.
"Merida, we have company." He murmured.
She quickly got up and readied her short sword. Then Spiros took out his lantern and set it alight. What they saw made them panic. They were outnumbered by the pack of creatures. Their foes were giant spiders the size of Angus. They had dozens of glowing orange eyes, and a set of tree trunk sized fangs. They had 8 main legs that were probably used for walking, while they had two shorter appendages located towards the front of the body. These had sharp curved tips made of bone and were most likely used for stabbing prey or to act as ways to cut lines of silk during the web making process.
"Lurkers, they have a habit of hunting in packs." Merida whispered.
The Spiders appeared to have thick black hair that was matted with dust, dried up slime and the remains of old meals. The pack leader, who was a little bigger than the rest hissed at our heroes. He then went into striking position. He raised his fore legs and arms into the air and raised his fangs. In the process, he exposed his weak spot. It was a patch of yellow flesh on the inside of the mouth.
"So it's six against two, right?" Spiros asked.
"Yeah, something like that." The Princess replied with a chuckle.
"What's so funny?" He asked.
"Seona hated spiders." She replied.
Then a spider jumped from the shadows to their left. The dodged the creature as it landed with a thud and then stabbed the ground with its arms. It quickly realized its prey wasn't there and reorientated itself so that it was facing our heroes.
They quickly went on the attack. Spiros surged forward and sliced the creature's fangs in two with his sword. Merida jumped onto the spiders back and began stabbing out its eyes.
"Behind you!" She shouted as she saw another creepy crawly jumping at her partner.
The Greco spun around and drop to the floor. He landed on his back and pointed his sword at the incoming monster. Just as planned the creature unintentionally landed in the blade. Spiros then pulled his sword out of the creatures belly and drove it into the salivating mouth as he felt the Spider's fangs tickling his scalp, a few more seconds and his head would have been filled with venom.
The creature hissed in agony as amber colored goop began pouring out of the mouth and onto Spiros' face. He did his best to ignore this and rolled out from underneath the spider as it rolled onto its back and exploded with a loud POP, sending goop flying everywhere.
Merida was holding on for dear life as the arachnid thrashed and jumped , trying to throw her off it's back. When it stopped to rest, she would drive her sword into its head again and the ride of terror would start again. Eventually the spider made an error and jumped into the nearby spring.
It hissed and thrashed as Merida swam to shore. It was clear these things could not swim at all. The monster continued to thrash around in the water before sinking below the surface and presumably dying.
Spiros heard large amounts of scuffling and turned his attention to the walls. Dozens more Lurkers were pouring out from various holes.
There was no way they could take them all on.
"Merida, time to go. There's too many!" He shouted.
"Good idea, follow the tracks!" She replied, sheathing her sword.
The duo took off running deeper into the caves. They would occasionally encounter a pile of ash or a bunch of random embers floating in mid air. Then there was the occasional formation of emerald crystals or even diamonds.
They didn't care about any of that though, they just used the light of the lantern to keep Team Macintosh's tracks in view. Angry hissing and the sounds of many feet scurrying across the floor kept the adrenaline flowing.
Soon they were rushing down a narrow corridor...which was slowly get even narrower.
"The walls are closing in!" Merida shouted.
"Keep running!" Spiros told her.
"Thanks for the advice, Captain Obvious!" She grumbled.
Then something slammed into Spiros' back. He was quickly pulled to the floor and then dragged back towards the horde of insects.
"Help!" He shouted.
Merida drew her bow and spun around, firing a blind shot into the swarm. There was a hiss and seconds later Spiros had cut himself free and was racing to catch up to his partner. It was a tight fit through the corridor now, up ahead there was a large circular room that wasn't closing up. It must have been a safe room of sorts. The door however was closing fast. The duo's energy was practically spent. They were breathing heavily, their chests were on fire and their foreheads glistened with sweat. The light of the lantern was the only thing they could trust right now.
If they lost that precious source of light, they were doomed.
The two dove into the safe room as the door began to close, Merida fell in an odd way and cried out in pain as her ankle was twisted.
The door sealed with a distinctive THUD.
It was quiet again. Merida lay on her side, panting and gasping as if she couldn't get enough air in her chest. Spiros fell onto is back, wheezing.
"You wanted it to be harder." He grumbled.
"Sh-shut up." She replied, still panting.
The two lay in silence, with only the only source of light being Spiros' lantern. Even then, it was still very dark in that room and it was hard for either of them to let their guard down.
Finally, the Princess broke the tense silence.
"Spiros, about what happened earlier..."
"Merida, don't worry. It was in the heat of the moment, and I know you like Jon. I won't mistake what happened for more then what it actually was." He assured her.
"It's just that...I don't want you to feel like you were being led on." She told him.
"No, no, it's ok. I know you wouldn't do that." He replied.
"Ugh...but still...I just feel a little guilty about it." She murmured.
"Don't, it's perfectly fine." He told her.
"Tell you what, regardless if we win or lose, I think I owe you a dance." She told him, sitting up.
"Um...ok...do you think that would be...acceptable?" He asked.
"Of course, why wouldn't it be?" She replied.
"It's just that...you're a princess and all. I'm not any type of royalty or anything. Plus there's Jon...will he be ok with that?" He mumbled.
"Don't worry about that! Thanks to me, the whole royalty rule isn't as big as it used to be, and Jon better be ok with it. I may like him, but I answer to no one." She assured him.
"Haha ok, if you say so." He said with a sigh.
"We should get going, with any luck we can still win this." She told him.
"We will win this." He replied firmly.
The two stood up, although Merida winced as she did though.
"Great, I think I've sprained my ankle." She grumbled.
"It's alright, we'll just have to relax to pace a little." He told her.
"Guess so, grab that spear before we go. Something tells me we're close to the center of the catacombs." She Instructed.
Her partner spun around to see a spear impaled in the ground. He pulled it out and examined the weapon. The shaft was made of polished steel and the spear head was a strange shape. Instead of a stereotypical arrow type, it was serrated and curved at a slight downward angle. The spearhead was made of polished gold with a thick strip of silver running up the middle. The spear also had golden lightning bolts along the upper section of the shaft. In the middle was the last letter of the Greek alphabet.
The Omega.
Underneath this was an inscription that read:
Λόγχη του Καταιγίδες
Spiros had no time to admire the weapon, he strapped it to his back and then continued down the next corridor alongside his partner. They remained on alert until they arrived at a large stone door with a slot in the middle of it.
"The tracks make a u-turn here." Merida announced.
"That's odd, it's not exactly a dead end. See the slot, they probably went looking for a key." Spiros grumbled.
Then the Princess noticed something, there was a strange symbol on her partners spear. Underneath the slot on the door was the same symbol, only it was upside down.
She snatched the weapon from her friends back and drove the spear tip into the slot and rotated the spear so that the symbol was facing the ground. She then tried to push it up, but she wasn't strong enough. Spiros quickly saw what she was looking to accomplish and the two of them were able to push the spear upwards like it was a lever.
The two symbols glowed a bright blue before returning to normal. Spiros pulled the weapon from the slot and returned it to its place on his back. The door rumbled and then slowly opened.
The two teens stormed into the room. Merida rolled under the door as soon as it was open enough for her to do so. She finished her roll and transitioned to a crouch. She quickly drew her bow and notched two arrows. Her partner entered behind her, sword drawn and shield up.
The room was shaped like an octagon. Beams of light shot down from large cracks in the ceiling. Eliminating the need to keep the lantern lit. There were moss clusters scattered across the floor, along with several large pools of water, along with one big pool that was in the center of the room. These pools appeared to be incredibly deep as the water was almost black.
Planted in the ground were the clan banners.
All four were still there.
Then they heard something breathing. In the shadows, a creature began to emerge. It had for legs, faint traces of steam coming from its nostrils, and a thick mane of hair. The dreaded creature guarding the banners was none other than a...pony?
To be continued!
A.N- Don't you just love cliffhangers? Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I look forward to reading all your reviews as they begin to come in! Thanks for reading everyone and I'll see you next chapter!
P.S- To all my US readers, I hope you have a Happy Fourth of July!