Here's the next chapter, all! I hope you all had a good holiday season, and all went well. ^^ If you didn't, well, that's very sad, and I'm sorry for you.
But, at the same time, not relevant to the story.
Also, the story will be undergoing a title change, seeing as I finally found the perfect one. 3 The new title will be Zhi lao'hu. It's supposed to be Chinese for "Paper Tiger". If you'd like to know more about it, you can look it up. I think it fits the story pretty well. If it's somehow spelled wrong or whatnot, please let me know so I can change it. I put into English lettering as best I could, but I may have made a mistake or two. ^^
So, let's get to responding, hm?
eyelovefantasy: Thanks so much for reviewing again! ^^ And I'm pleased my story holds your interest, that's one of the things I was aiming to do with this. :3 And… yes. U/./U You do detect a similarity to Eragon in the way the magic is reached. Most of my other ideas about how the magic could be attained were a bit too science-fictiony and unrealistic (even for Dragonfable), so I decided to borrow an idea… ^^" Sue me if you will, but yes, the idea about reaching the magic is from Eragon.
And now, on to the chapter. We meet a rather interesting and HIGHLY relevant person to the fic in this chapter. ^^ Thank you for hanging with it this far, and let's get started.
"Shall I, or shall you?"
"I'm not helpless, Rolith," I told him testily, smiling slightly. "A sprained wrist does not an invalid make."
"If you say so," he said, gesturing at the Cave Hydra looming before us. I had contacted Rolith after my… adventures in the 100-Room-Dungeon, and asked him if he wanted to hunt Hydra with me. Of course, he agreed.
My eyes gleamed as I planted my staff in the ground with my good hand, and summoned a small ball of fire about three inches in diameter to come and hover over the top of my staff. It was a small feat, calling magic of any sort to the simple-looking wooden stick, but what truly required effort was keeping the magic above anything that wasn't a staff. I eyed the Cave Hydra, which was now beginning to weave side to side, both giant, pupil-less ice blue eyes on me. I grinned.
"Bye-bye."
Then, taking a good grip with my left hand on my pale green staff, my thoughts snapped into hyperdrive, and I willed the little ball of fire to shoot at the Cave Hydra with all the speed I could muster. My Mana was near drained, yes, but as I was currently proving to Rolith as I sent fire after fire at the Cave Hydra, I was nowhere near powerless. When the creature finally fell dead, covered in countless burns, I tied a strip of cloth around my wrist, using my teeth to tighten the knot. Hopefully, this would keep it somewhat motionless, and therefore less painful.
"What was that you were saying?" I asked as I jerked my chin in the direction we were going in the Hydra's Lair.
"Nothing, Magiya," he chuckled, and I threw an elbow his way. I got him in the slim gap in his armor near the side of the ribcage, and was rewarded with a low chuckle. In a lot of ways, Rolith was like my brother; the older brother I never had, I guess you could say. Not that I'm complaining. After all, who would? Rolith is an awesome older brother. I paused in walking as I saw the path fork up ahead.
"I'll take left, you take right?" Rolith suggested, and I nodded once. It was as good a plan as any. If one of us found Horidon, we could call for the other, and take him down as easily as we had the last four times.
"Let's go."
I took the right fork, casting a quick glance back towards Rolith as he disappeared down the tunnel to the left. Then I faced forward, squared my shoulders, and prepared myself to take down whatever idiot of a Cave Hydra should cross my path.
Twenty minutes later, I was absolutely soaked through, and my Mana was depleted, and my wrist was throbbing horribly, but still I pressed on. Suddenly, I turned a corner, and came face-to-face with Horidon. He recovered first, drawing back and whipping his tail around in an attempt to flatten me. I ducked just in time, and then was forced to retreat quickly as he snapped at me with fangs longer than my forearm. His teeth closed on empty air with a frightening snap that echoed through the chamber we were in, and I slipped to the side, my lip curling as I struggled to maintain my concentration long enough to summon some vestige of fire or energy and yet avoid getting crushed or bitten in half. I hurried backwards briefly, just out of range of his tail, teeth, and claws, and proceeded to attempt to focus.
The next thing I knew, I was flying through the air, a dull pain blossoming near my sternum. I registered little else before I slammed into the slimy wall of the Hydra's Cave, my entire right side going numb from the impact, and black-and-white stars seemed to swirl before my eyes. My brain wasn't functioning; my limbs refused to obey my commands, and I internally berated myself.
You fool, you didn't even call Rolith first! I scolded myself pointlessly. You know that was what you two agreed to do! And now, he's not going to find you until after you're—
I stopped myself. I could vaguely feel Horidon coming closer, with great, ground-shaking steps that rattled my teeth where I lay against the wall. A high-pitched sort of ringing filled my ears, preventing me from hearing anything at all. Then the heavy, bone-crushing steps stopped. Knowing him, Horidon planned on appreciating the moment before crushing me (monsters like him were so vain). My eyes were open, but a field of white covered my vision. I had no idea which direction I was facing, and at this point, no longer cared.
I'm going to die, I realized with no small amount of shock, and strangely enough, a feeling of irony swirled over my brain. I had survived Sepulchure, Xan, and dragons. I had fought and defeated Sek-Duat , Sir Koffagus, the Doomkitten, and Gananana (with some help, of course). I had made it past all of that, only to die here when I didn't pay attention to where I was going. How pathetic.
I guess I should have expected it, though, I reflected, as the stars still swirled before my eyes. There were still no vibrations going through the floor up to me, which gave me reason to believe that Horidon was still gloating. Vain, selfish, sunofa…
Suddenly, there were more vibrations; lighter ones than Horidon's steps, and more… erratic. They seemed to come from all over the slimy, wet floor of the caves, like whatever was making them was bouncing around like an arrow from a bow. My heart gave an impromptu leap as I came to the conclusion that Rolith must have found me, and was proceeding to try and defeat Horidon. My brain was still quite muddled however, and while the stars had stopped swirling, my vision was still a plane of white. Determined to not appear helpless, I mentally gritted my teeth and screamed at my rebellious limbs to respond to my commands. My fingers twitched.
Well, at least that's some reaction… I thought dryly, trying again with the same results. The smaller, uneven vibrations suddenly paused, and an instant later the entire cave shook mightily, and I took this as my evidence that Horidon had fallen. Good job, Rolith. Now GET ME OUT OF HERE.
Almost as though he were reading my thoughts, I felt cold, armor-covered fingers and then hands slip under me, and lift me up as though it were almost no effort. And while the show of strength irked me, because I wasn't quite that strong, I most certainly did not want him to drop me. I felt him begin to walk, feeling the slight jolts as he held me carefully that signified walking. With any luck he remembers the way out…
Once again, I tried to move my hands. This time, I got a little more response than last time. My whole hand twitched, not just my fingers. Some improvement… As I felt Rolith walking, still carrying me somewhat gingerly, my vision gradually faded from white to gray, and from gray to basic, vague dark shapes that I couldn't really make out. I blinked blankly, seeing no difference in my vision. Only time would bring it back to its normal state. Well, at least my mouth must be working… I hope…
With that thought, I turned my head to the right about ninety degrees, rolling it on the armored shoulder, and stared dully up at where Rolith's head had to be. I opened my mouth twice before managing to emit a croak.
Dammit. Not what I wanted to say.
A voice fell upon my ears, but it was soft and incomprehensible, like it was being heard through water, or like my ears were blocked. Rolith must have been injured badly in one form or another (which didn't seem likely, given that he was walking normally) or something, because it didn't sound like his normal tone. An aftereffect of the hit, no doubt, but it was still more than a little unsettling to not be able to hear correctly. That didn't stop me from trying to speak, though. My second attempt came out little better than my first, a sort of garbled attempt at his name.
"R… Rol… Rolith…"
The steps stopped, and my head rolled forward with the sudden cease of motion. I may have limited control over my body, but for the time being, coherent speech and significant movements of my arms or legs were beyond me, to my almost unending frustration. His voice came again, but once more it sounded muted, like there was something blocking it. Again, it sounded off.
Okay, it's official. I am never. Getting whacked. In the head. Again. Ever. I thought irritably, more than a little annoyed by my lack of ability to hear properly.
Abruptly, I could feel my back resting against a wall, and then my legs get gingerly set down in front of me as he set me down. I felt armored fingers gently grasp my chin, turning my face from side to side, presumably looking for further injuries. C'mon, Rolith, just do something already. I knew for a fact that my trusted friend and ally had at least one healing potion on him; he never gave the monsters a chance to do him much damage. As expected, within moments I felt the hard rim of a glass vial press softly against my lips, and the soothing contents of a health potion were tipped down my throat. The tingling left behind by the red liquid seemed to accelerate, racing through my system faster than any healing magic I'd felt yet; as always. It gathered near my sternum and wrist first, and then went straight to my head before spreading out more and fading.
When the strange tingling that always accompanied a health potion faded, my head was clear, and I had full control over every part of my body. The ringing in my ears was gone, but there was almost complete silence, except for the breathing of my best friend. I could feel an armor-covered arm going behind me, supporting me enough to stay sitting upright while not resting against the slimy wall of the serpents' cave. My eyes remained closed as I shifted first my left arm, then my right, and then my lower legs. Then I opened my eyes, ready with a thank you and some playful comment for Rolith—
Then I stopped, because…
The man crouched down in front of me, still supporting me against the wall, wasn't Rolith.
This man was very broad-shouldered, almost more so than Rolith, and his armor was a sort of pewter silver color embossed with gold. He had a long torso (which was almost all I could see of him), and it was clear that when he stood he would be almost frighteningly tall. A slightly ruffled mess of copper-colored hair fell lightly into warm chocolate eyes with chestnut highlights and speckles of darker brown, and he had a strongly built face that was young and innocent—to a degree. A long, straight, steel sword hung from his left hip, while a well-worn but well-kept burgundy cape draped loosely from the huge hinged shoulder guards covering the top of each arm. In short, he had the look of a rather experienced warrior about him, despite the fact that he couldn't have been much older than I was.
No sooner had his appearance registered than I was beginning to scramble backwards on the slick floor of the cave, my hands braced slightly behind me to assist me in sliding back, away from the stranger.
I've mentioned before that I have serious trust issues. Trusting strangers, no matter what they had done, is one of those issues. This man was no exception.
"W-Who are you?" I gasped, freezing when my back hit the wall about a foot behind me. The man's face (though more than a little stare-worthy) was unfamiliar, and as such I didn't put much faith in the fact that he wasn't going to do anything negative, as I strove to put as much distance as I could between he and I. But as soon as I had begun to move, he had withdrawn his arm (the one supporting me), and held them both up at about face-height, as though in a sort of 'calm down' or 'I surrender' gesture.
"First off, are you okay?" he responded, his sparkling brown eyes searching my face. It was unfamiliar, and I shied away from his gaze, shrinking against the wall of the cave. After he spoke, I noticed that his voice was deep and gravelly, despite the tone of what seemed to be caution and concern. As I had learned all too often, it was fake.
"Fine," I said curtly, not taking my eyes off him. It wasn't that I didn't like him—I knew I very easily could if I let myself—it was that I didn't know him, and… he was just strange and unfamiliar. "Who are you? Where's Rolith? What are you doing here? Why did you help me? How—"
"One at a time, one at a time!" the man protested with a quick grin. I was sure that if I had blinked, I would have missed it. As it was, I wasn't sure I had really seen it at all, but he seemed like the type of man who smiled a lot, so it wouldn't have surprised me if he had. He stood easily, causing me to involuntarily flinch, but he seemed to pretend not to notice. The man bowed at the waist with a flourish, accompanying the gesture with the words, "Artix von Krieger at your service, Paladin extraordinaire." I eyed him distrustfully, dark brown brows drawn low over my eyes. Without taking my gaze off of Krieger, I began to get to my feet, only to have my knees buckle once I got there. He snatched forward, catching my left forearm, keeping me from hitting the ground. Our eyes met as he pulled me back up to where I had my balance again, then I lightly tugged my hand out of his gentle metal grip, crossing my arms loosely over my stomach uncomfortably.
"Where's Rolith?" I repeated, inadvertently glancing around the stretch of the cave where we were in the hopes of seeing my friend. Or looking for an escape route, of which there was none.
"I'm afraid I don't know," he told me, lifting his chin just a little. I fought to keep my lip from curling as I realized he was striking a 'noble pose' that he was just another one of them—one of the battle-crazed, egotistic warriors that went around, trying to save DIDs (Damsels In Distress) and showing off every chance they got.
This was exactly why I never trusted new people.
And this was also the way I protected myself from them; by putting up walls. And only those I trusted at this particular point in time were the ones who had made it past my wall of their own volition.
"Thanks for the rescue, Paladin," I said, somewhat bitterly, "But I've got to find him. For all I know, Rolith could be bleeding to death somewhere in a corner and I'd never know—"
"You mean much like you were," Krieger put in smoothly, and I shot him a glare over my left shoulder as I started walking. No, I didn't have any idea which direction I was heading. No, I didn't have my staff. Yes, I was alone with a stranger. Yes, I was almost powerless, much as I hated to admit it, but… well, what other choice did I have? Travel with him?
…
… Not just no, but hell no.
"I was not!" I snipped, whirling back around to face him. My hair, which I had left down today, fanned out behind me when I spun to face Krieger, and I fixed him with an icy glare. More often than not, people took a step back upon seeing it. Not this time. "Just… just leave me be so I can find him! I can't leave him down here."
He shrugged, the huge shoulder guards shifting with the slight movement. "I can't just leave you. Not all of the Cave Hydras are eliminated, and if my eyesight serves, you have no staff, Mage."
"I don't care," I retorted, turning once more to stalk down the hallway, occasionally shooting glances over my shoulder. He followed me, of course. "Quit following me!"
"And leave you undefended? That would just be against anything I've been taught."
"Do I look like I care what you were taught?"
"You want an honest answer?"
"…"
"Honest answer it is. No, you don't look like you care." Krieger matched his pace to mine, and studied me intently. It was an uncomfortable feeling, and I flushed, walking faster. I had absolutely no clue where I was heading, I just wanted to get away from this… this… jerk!
"You're completely right. I don't," I shot back evenly, casting my gaze around the somewhat dark cave, searching for something—anything—out of place. The glint of his dark pewter armor, the dull shine of his dark blonde hair, the gleam of the giant hammer he wielded that caused monsters to fall every time he hit. I saw nothing. I stopped abruptly, and Krieger went a step further before stopping also to look back at me curiously. "Where is my staff?" I suddenly demanded, running a slim hand through my hair. Krieger shrugged.
"You didn't have it when I picked you up," he commented.
"Sunuvabitch," I muttered under my breath, turning back around. I had to have my staff. Through it, it was easier to channel magic; and this skill would be incredibly helpful should we run into any Cave Hydras. At the moment though, I was damn near helpless. It was a feeling that I really wasn't fond of, and would have been more than happy to dispel such a feeling as soon as was possible. Grumbling a little further, I lifted my chin a little, and called out loudly and clearly, "Rolith!"
The call reverberated down the hallways, ringing. After several moments, there was still no answer. Cursing again, I realized exactly how difficult it was for me to use magic without my staff, and focused. A snarl curved my upper lip as I lifted my palm, struggling to collect all of the magic. A whirling vortex appeared above my hand, just a spinning bit of air going so fast that it whistled. A faint white glow emanated from it, and a few loose strands of dark brown hair were drawn in. "Find Rolith," I breathed to it, then fisted my hand and hurled it down the tunnel, where it abruptly changed direction and spun back past myself and Krieger, back the way we had come. I went to run after it, but this proved to be too much for my newly healed body; I stumbled. I pitched forward, towards the stone floor, and flinched, already bracing myself for the landing.
But I didn't fall.
Instead, I felt the unyielding metal of armor under my torso. I cautiously opened my eyes, and saw that Krieger was supporting me, one foot forward and both arms out. The metal on his arms, warmed by the skin beneath, was digging lightly into my side, and I just helplessly stared at him, blinking once or twice in surprise. He did not move, and neither did I. After a minute or two, I cleared my throat uncomfortably, looking away from his sparkling dark brown eyes. Hoping that he could keep his arms still for another moment, I placed my hands lightly on his forearms, using them to push myself back up onto my feet.
Krieger opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment, I became aware of the sound of dim footsteps. They were definitely footsteps, and not slithering. Also, they were going in a one-two-one-two pattern, indicating that the owner of the feet had two legs. Not to mention, it sounded like armored feet.
"Rolith?" I called out hopefully, and the little ball of light I had sent to find him came into view an instant before he did, dark blonde hair disheveled, and streaks of Hydra blood all over him, hammer in hand.
"Magiya," he growled, stalking up to me, "We are never. Splitting up. In a Hydra Cave. Again."
"Suits me," I said cheerfully, pushing lightly on the back of his left shoulder to spin him around. I studied him, making sure that he wasn't too badly injured, or that there was nothing that needed immediate attention.
"Also, next time, we're taking your Pridemaster."
"If you say so," I said distractedly. I saw many dents and scratches on his armor, and more than one nasty bite, but nothing life-threatening. I took a careful step around behind him, still giving him a thorough inspection. Rolith rolled his eyes, but I decided to disregard this. After another moment, I gave him a nod, and he faced me, a small, amused smile on his face.
"Satisfied?"
"Nearly," I shot back, crossing my arms. "I lost my staff."
"That's not good, is it?"
"The equivalent of you losing your hammer."
"Artix?" Rolith suddenly asked, turning halfway to inspect the brown-haired paladin. He waved cheerfully at my friend, and the two grasped forearms, a matching grin on each of their faces. I resisted the urge to give a long-suffering sigh and roll my eyes, much as Rolith had done moments ago.
"Rolith!" Artix said good-naturedly, then glanced at me curiously before muttering in an undertone, "What's her name again?"
"Don't—"
"Her name is Magiya."
I groaned audibly, slamming my forehead into my palm. Great. Just great. Now stalker-boy here knows my name. Awesome.
"Magiya," Krieger repeated in satisfaction, his chocolate-colored eyes dancing. I just glared at him, almost trying to bore holes through his skull.
No! Down, girl.
"I'll remember that," he chuckled before giving us a two-fingered salute and jogging off down the tunnel—presumably to slay more Cave Hydras, because it was the opposite direction of the entrance.
"Let's go," I muttered irritably, giving Rolith's cold armor a little push in the direction we had come in to get him moving.
"What, aren't we going to get the prize?"
"Not now. He's back there."
"So we're letting him take our hard-earned gold?"
"No, Rolith. There are plenty of other quests out there for us to do."
"You mean for you to do," he corrected, resting his hammer on his shoulder as we walked down the tunnel. "Despite what you may believe, I am a Captain, and while I got leave this time, I can't go AWOL."
"Awol?"
"Absent Without Leave," he explained briefly, shrugging. How he still managed to do that while his effing huge hammer rested on his shoulder, I have no idea. I could barely lift the thing with both hands; Rolith swung it around as if it were a toy.
"So… you understand the acronym terms, huh?"
"Yep," he confirmed, nodding. I could see the faint light of the stairway to the surface not far ahead of us now, and I took an extra step, ready to be outside again. Rolith (stupid long legs) kept at his normal pace.
"So then… what's Fubar?"
"FUBAR? Fucked-Up Beyond All Recognition."
"Snafu?"
"SNAFU, Situation is Normal; All Fucked Up."
"Wow, there's a lot of language in these things."
"Want me to tell you some more?"
"No, I think I'll pass."
My dad told me that these terms are still used in the military today. :) I decided to take his word for it.
I hope that all of you readers/reviewers/flamers/people inbetween enjoyed this chapter. ^^ I must confess, though, this is the best writing I've done in quite some time. :3 I'm enjoying this quite a lot, and I sincerely hope that all of you who read this are too. ^w^
Again, if any questions are asked through reviews, I would be happy to answer almost any of them, assuming that the answers do not spoil the story. :3
I hope you have a nice day.
Salad and deer jerky to all. ^^
My apologies to any vegetarians.
