Lawrence, Domingo, and the oddly-clad stranger sat huddled with their backs against the door for quite some time, panting heavily and wiping ash from their grimy faces. At last they had been granted a short reprieve; the room they were in now was a perfect square, with a pair of platforms opposite one another and a lake of churning, bubbling lava between them, but this time it was not threatening to rise up and swallow them all. In the chamber they had just left they could hear the magma ghoul howling at the firmly-shut door, and the hissing of the lava-turned-rock from the water spell.
Presently the robed man sat up a little straighter. He seemed frail and his face was unnaturally white.
"I am weak," he murmured, brushing sweaty strands of hair from his face. "I wonder, do either of you possess a curia crystal or two that I might use? And I could use healing crystals, too. . . . "
Domingo wordlessly groped about in a pocket of his orange jacket, which was still knotted firmly around his waist, and produced several crystals; a pair green, and a pair grey. The spellcaster took them and started to heal himself; Domingo passed a sacres crystal to Lawrence, who seemed to get his temper back along with his strength. He rose and placed his hands on his hips, gazing down at their new accomplice with more than a little contempt.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?"
"I could ask the same questions of you, but as you two seemed acquainted it would be prudentfor me to answer first," said the mage, a little clearer now as the ensorcelled crystals took effect on his body. "My name is Ilchymis. And I am here because I - " He paused for a moment, obviously trying to find the proper words to complete his sentence, then looked up and finished lamely, " - Am looking for something."
Lawrence scoffed and looked more skeptical still, but Domingo had recovered his wit. The treasure hunter knelt down to shake the mage's hand and said, "Well, I'm sure glad we got to you before that lava did! Name's Domingo. I'm a treasure hunter of sorts; this is my - er - traveling companion, Lawrence. He's some sort of whacked-out mercenary. We were only just looking for this place, but decided we should poke about for a bit of treasure. We need compensation for our efforts, you know!" he finished with a grin, and Ilchymis mirrored the smile with sincerity.
"Don't go making friends just yet, Big-shot," Lawrence growled, now gazing about the chamber with a calculating gaze. "We don't know if that's the truth or not. He could be somebody from Valua's Armada, or a sodding Black Pirate."
Ilchymis chuckled to himself, but Lawrence and Domingo glanced down at him curiously. He decided that truth was the best medicine. "I am Valuan, but I was never part of the Armada. I was in high favor of the Empress for many years, while I studied history and ancient magic, but when she noticed my potential as a mage she attempted to enslave me to aid the Armada in its hostile take-over of Arcadia. Naturally I, like any decent human being, refused, and have since been on the run."
Domingo looked admiring, Lawrence nonplussed, but Ilchymis went on, "I don't know how much use to either of you I will be in my state. Though my body is healed my spirit is greatly depleted; it will be a considerable amount of time before I can use any powerful spells."
Even as he finished Lawrence tossed him a small, shimmering object; Ilchymis caught it and studied it with a practiced eye. It was a thick golden band set with a ruby-red firestone, and magical properties pulsed within the stone. Ilchymis looked up quizzically.
"It's a Warrior's Heart gem," explained the helmsman with a sigh. "As I don't use very much magic, it's no use to me. The stone regenerates spirit and protects against magical drain. Should help you, I assume."
Ilchymis looked delighted as he slid the precious ring onto his right middle finger; beside it, on his index finger, another ring glittered a curious shade of pale green. Domingo pointed and asked, "What does that do?"
"Oh! Of course! I had nearly forgotten!" The mage raised his hand and said, "Come out, Cupil, and greet our new companions." The green ring unwound from his finger and transformed into a small, soccer-ball-sized creature the likes of which neither Domingo nor Lawrence had ever seen; Cupil gave a chattering sound and nuzzled against the mage's hand until Ilchymis chuckled and stroked it. "This is Cupil, the former pet of a young girl from the Silvite civilization. The girl died shortly after I met her, and Cupil refused to leave my side - since then he has traveled with me, and provided me with his unusual talents."
Domingo's eyes lit up, and he called to the creature; Cupil floated up to the treasure hunter, sniffed his outstretched hand appraisingly, then allowed Domingo to pet him. Lawrence attempted to do the same, but the little Silvite pet snapped comically and even issued a tinny little growl, earning a laugh from both Domingo and Ilchymis. Cupil settled into Ilchymis's lap, where it cooed softly.
"Thank you very much for the Warrior's Heart gem," Ilchymis said to Lawrence. "It will be a great help to me, and I do appreciate it."
Lawrence waved a hand dismissively, still not thrilled about gaining yet another companion but slightly swayed by Ilchymis's politeness. Domingo seemed very taken already, and as the helmsman was already stuck with him, it looked as though he would further be burdened with any friends Domingo might make along the way. Not for the first time he cursed his rash decision to leave Sailor's Island with the rag-tag treasure hunter.
Ilchymis was at last able to clamber to his feet, and his voice was much stronger when he said, "Perhaps we should now turn our attentions upon how to cross this room."
For the first time all three of them gazed about the room; the lava several feet away was bubbling ominously, but showed no signs of rising up any time soon. There was only a single door aside from the one they had just barred shut behind them, and it was on the platform opposite them. There were no suspended walkways here, and no visible way to cross the chamber. Lawrence crossed his arms, surly as ever. "Another water spell would make the lava solid, I expect. You up to giving it a try?" This question was aimed at Ilchymis, who still looked a bit tired but firmed his jaw and stepped forward.
He had just begun to utter the beginning phrases to his chosen spell with the magma started to churn; slowly it formed a sort of vortex in the center, lashing angrily against the walls and ceiling, and more than once one of them had to dance to one side to avoid the steaming spray. Then something started to rise from the seething depths; Ilchymis dropped his arms and took a frightened step back.
A head emerged, followed by a long, powerful neck, and then the thing's curving back crested the waves of lava and it let loose an unearthly roar that shook the cavern and dislodged small rocks from the ceiling. Domingo clapped his hands over his ears; Lawrence drew out his sword and shouted to Ilchymis, "What is that thing?"
"I'm not sure!" the mage called back, robes billowing under the force of the creature's angry roar. "Some manner of fire-based dragon, perhaps!"
But it didn't matter what it was, because its malicious eyes had already settled upon them.
Author's Note: I like this chapter; you can tell because it's longer than all of its predecessors. Lawrence needs to be thwapped for his rude behavior, I think; Ilchymis turned out to be very kind, and Domingo is shaping up to be the leader of this little band! This is news to me - I half-expected Lawrence to be in charge, but he's molded himself into the begrudging, grumbling loner. I like this chapter because it shows character development rather nicely; do any of you have comments on their personalities? Always nice to hear from you!
Meowzy-chan: Wow, I'm flattered that you want to share this with SoA World! That's very kind of you to offer. . . will it be protected from story-stealers and such? Perhaps if you could explain it to me a little, I could understand things. Let me think it over a bit.
Boss battle next! Hold on to your seats!