Hikari and the Soul Edge
Chapter 14: Olcadan of the Abyss
Our heroes flew towards the location of the Halberd that was shown on the map.
"How much further, Mr. Navigator?!" Hikari shouted over the roar of the hovercraft.
Kenji examined the map.
"It's just over that hill!" Kenji answered.
"You got that, Eggman?!" Hikari asked.
"On it!" Dr. Eggman shouted.
The hovercraft flew over the hill. Just beyond the hill was a large desert.
"Whoa," Hikari said.
"This old feather can't give the exact location, but the ship is definitely somewhere in this desert," Kenji said.
"We have less than a week," Hikari said. "We have to find that ship."
They began to drive around the desert. After flying around till sunset, they were lost in the sands.
"We're lost!" Hikari screamed.
"We shouldn't worry too much," Kenji said. "If we lose our heads, it'll all be over."
"We won't have to worry," Maria said. "We brought camping gear with us."
"Let's set up camp for the night and search some more in the morning," Kenji said.
They then set up camp. That night, while everyone else was fast asleep, Hikari heard a noise. She immediately rose up and looked out at the desert. She saw sand rising in the distant.
"What's that?" Hikari thought.
After a while, she saw what was happening. Several men dressed in desert clothes were riding on Garchomps towards their camp. They were all wielding swords.
"Bandits!" Hikari thought.
She ran over to wake everyone up. By the time everyone was awake, the bandits had surrounded them.
"All right," the bandit leader said. "Hand over your loot, and we'll let you live."
"Not happening!" Maria shouted.
"Then you will die," the leader said. "Get them!"
The bandits slowly closed in on our heroes.
"I've got a spell I'd like to test out," Kenji said. "I practiced it while you were in the door."
"Then pull it out," Hikari said. "We'll finish off the ones you don't get."
Kenji held out his palm towards the enemy.
"Graviga!" Kenji shouted.
The gravity around the enemies increased greatly and crushed them. He managed to get all of them in one shot.
"Nice," Hikari said.
"Kupo!" Mog squeaked.
They then felt the ground shift below them.
"That can't be good," Maria said.
The ground below them then completely collapsed. Everyone, including the bandits, fell down a deep abyss that had appeared in the ground. Hikari felt like she was endlessly falling. Then…CRASH! Everything went black.
"Kupo?" Hikari heard in the darkness.
She opened her eyes and found Mog floating in front of her.
"Kupo!" Mog squeaked happily as he flew around Hikari.
Hikari groaned and rubbed her head.
"What happened?" Hikari groaned.
She then remembered everything.
"That idiot!" Hikari exclaimed. "His spell backfired! Hold on…if we're in an abyss…how can I see you, Mog?"
She then noticed that Mog was holding a small ball of light in his paws that illuminated the entire room.
"Can you use magic?!" Hikari asked.
"Kupo!" Mog answered.
"That's amazing!" Hikari exclaimed. "When did you learn to do that?! Never mind. We don't have time for that. We have to find the others and get out of here."
Hikari and Mog began to look around for the others. They spent hours searching around different corners of the maze-like abyss. Soon, after many dead-ends, the two of them began to rest.
"This place is a labyrinth!" Hikari exclaimed. "We'll never find them at this rate!"
Mog looked over to the side and squeaked loudly.
"What is it?" Hikari asked.
She then saw a bright light coming from down a hall.
"That light," Hikari said. "It could be Kenji using a spell! Let's move, Mog!"
Filled with new hope, Hikari and Mog rushed over towards the light they saw. When they reached the end, however, they realized that they were wrong about what they saw. The light came from a bunch of lit torches along the walls of a large room. In the room was a platform that was surrounded by water. Sitting in the middle of the platform was a strange man. He had an owl's head and feet, but the body of a man. The man had his eyes closed.
"Excuse me!" Hikari eventually called out.
The man's eyes opened. He stood up and looked towards her.
"Who are you?" the man said in a gruff voice.
"My name's Hikari," Hikari said. "Anyway, I was wondering if you had seen anyone else down here. One is a black mage…"
"I've seen nobody else in this labyrinth in a long time," the man said. "Though time is impossible to judge here."
"What do you mean?" Hikari asked.
The man then looked over at Hikari's sword.
"I will tell you…if you defeat me in combat," the man said as he picked up a sword.
"What?" Hikari asked.
"I have trained down here with nobody to fight against," the man said. "Hikari. If you defeat me, I will do anything I can to help you find these friends of yours."
"Get ready to lose, bird-guy," Hikari said.
"The name's Olcadan," the man said.
"Good to know," Hikari said.
The two of them charged towards each other. Their blades clashed against each other as they began their battle. Olcadan jumped back and threw his sword. Hikari dodged it.
"Now you're weaponless," Hikari said.
"Am I?" Olcadan said.
He pulled another weapon off of the wall. This time, he had a bo-staff. He charged forward and began to lunge towards Hikari. Hikari dodged each attack, but she realized something.
"His fighting style's like Kilik's," Hikari said. "Has he mastered both weapons?"
Hikari dodged a powerful thrust. She then sliced the staff in half. She took a swing at Olcadan, but he ducked and kicked Hikari's feet from under her. He then took this chance to grab an axe and shield from the walls. He charged and swung his axe. Hikari blocked with her sword, but she didn't expect that Olcadan would bash her with the shield.
Hikari fell onto her back. She then saw that Olcadan had jumped into the air and prepared to strike down. Hikari rolled to the side to dodge the attack. She got up and swung her sword, which was blocked by Olcadan's shield. They both jumped back. The two of them were breathing heavily.
"You're good," Olcadan eventually said.
"As are you," Hikari said.
"Who is your teacher?" Olcadan said as he withdrew his axe.
"My father," Hikari said. "Kai Kamai."
One of Olcadan's eyebrows rose into the air.
"That name is familiar," Olcadan said.
"What?!" Hikari exclaimed.
"He and I once fought," Olcadan said. "I should've recognized the fighting style."
"You fought my dad?!" Hikari asked.
"He and I were evenly matched," Olcadan said. "I challenged him when he and a sword-wielding sphere came down here to hide something large."
"Sword-wielding…" Hikari said. "You must mean Metaknight! What did they hide here?!"
"It looked like a large boat with wings," Olcadan said. "They asked if they could keep it in this labyrinth. I agreed if he would fight against me. It was one of the greatest fights I've ever had."
"You must mean an airship!" Hikari exclaimed. "Can you take me to it?"
"For the kin of such a great warrior, why not?" Olcadan said. "Follow me."
Olcadan began to walk to the opposite side of the platform. Mog and Hikari began to follow him.
"This is great!" Hikari thought.
Olcadan eventually stopped in a large room. Hikari and Mog stopped right behind him.
"There it is," Olcadan said.
Hikari and Mog looked at the airship. It was much larger than any ship she had ever seen in her life. On the bow of the ship was the image of Metaknight's mask. Hikari soon began to examine the ship thoroughly.
"This thing's in pretty bad shape," Hikari said.
"Time doesn't pass in here," Olcadan said. "That thing's been like that ever since it came in here."
"Hikari!" a familiar voice called out.
Hikari looked and saw Kenji with the rest of the group.
"Kenji!" Hikari exclaimed. "Everyone! You're alright!"
"I can't believe you found it first," Maria said. "Hold on, who's the owl-guy?"
"This is Olcadan," Hikari said. "He's the one who led me here."
"Do you know a way out, Mr. Olcadan?" Maria asked.
"The way your father went out…" Olcadan said.
He pointed straight up. Hikari and her friends looked up and saw an opening extremely far up.
"How can anyone get out through there?!" Kenji exclaimed. "They'd have to fly!"
"Exactly," Olcadan said. "Your father sprouted white wings and flew upwards. That friend of his did as well."
Hikari, Kenji, and Maria looked at him oddly.
"I think you've gone crazy living down here," Kenji said.
"He's telling the truth," Dr. Eggman said.
Everyone looked towards him.
"Your father had a special ability," Dr. Eggman said. "By activating a blood-line trait of your family, he could grow wings made of pure magic and fly through the air."
"That's nuts," Kenji said.
"Not if your ancestor was an Avian," Dr. Eggman said. "You have that ability too. You just have to find out how to use it."
"That might take too long!" Hikari shouted. "We don't have that kind of time!"
Isabella then looked at the Halberd.
"Maybe we can shoot ourselves out of the cannon," Isabella said. "We can then grab the hovercraft and levitate the ship out of the hole."
"You want us to fly out of a cannon?!" Kenji asked.
"Do you have a better idea?" Dr. Eggman said.
Kenji didn't look too happy with this. Eventually, above ground, all was silent until…BOOM!
"Ahhhhhh!" Kenji screamed as he shot through the ground. He landed right next to the hole.
"Are you ok, Kenji?!" Hikari called from down the hole.
"I'm ok!" Kenji shouted.
Eventually, everyone got outside. After an hour, they drove the hovercraft to the hole. Isabella pressed a button, and a strange field shot out of the cannon on the craft. The field surrounded the aircraft and lifted it up into the air. It was eventually outside.
"Thank you, Olcadan!" Hikari called out. "We'll never forget you!"
"Good luck," Olcadan said. "Keep that spirit of yours!"
The heroes then drove away. Olcadan then sat down in meditation. A few seconds later, the bandits appeared in the room. Olcadan opened his eyes and saw them.
"I guess I won't be bored down here," Olcadan said. "Let the training begin, you lightweights!"