Search and Rescue

Milena woke to complete and utter darkness. For a moment, her heart raced at the thought that the Crawler was already upon them, but then she remembered where she was.

They had ended up having to search the town for a suitable place to rest, though most of the buildings were crumbling from the fires that had probably torn through the buildings many years before, as the sun was too high to get any sleep on the beach. They had eventually found a building that still had a functioning cellar with enough room to spread out, though they had to remove a few barrels of what appeared to be some form of alcoholic beverage; something Ben had been all too happy to discover.

However, the captain had almost immediately fallen asleep after lying down. It reminded her that his dreams were being plagued by the very creature they were trying to fight, making it almost impossible for him to ever sleep in peace.

She would have to talk to Kalin about it at some point…

A slight tug on her arm brought Milena back to the present, and she found Tyson's jaw hanging onto her sleeve.

"Hello boy," she said, rubbing his fir, though she couldn't say where, "Is Ben up yet?"

A groan from the other side of the room told her she'd probably just woken him up.

Taking care not to hit her head, she made her way over towards the entrance which they had covered with a scrap piece of cloth they had found to keep the light out. Pulling it away, thin lines of light shot through the cracks, giving the room a taste of light before it was flooded as she opened the doors.

The sun was still up, though barely hovering over the horizon. It only gave them a few hours before night fell, but hopefully that was enough time to find the entrance to the Hall. She didn't regret spending the entire day resting though. It felt as though she had slept on a rock, and probably had, but she felt more awake than she had in weeks!

Well… maybe that wasn't exactly true…

Shaking her head, Milena stepped out into the remains of a street, strapping her hammer and rifle to her back and pushing the thoughts of that magical kiss behind her. She had to focus. Now was not the time to daydream.

"I'm sure the sun the other side of the sky when I last check," came the gruff voice of the captain.

Stretching, she turned to face him, "Have a nice nap?"

"You call that a nap?" he asked, grinning, "That was a damn miracle! I haven't slept like that since… before."

The mood darkened at the unmentioned reason, but the young Queen pushed it aside, "That's good then. We have to find the Hall of the Dead before dark, or we'll never find it!"

"Try and stop me!" Ben shouted to her as he took off for the beach at a dead run, laughing.

Smiling, Milena quickly followed suite, Tyson barking as he bounded along beside her.

It was almost in no time that she could feel sand slipping under her boots, and Ben had already started stripping his weapons and shoes, dumping them onto a rock.

"What took you so long?" he smirked as he pulled his socks off of his already de-shoed feet.

Giving him a warning glance, she grinned and started to pull her own boots off, hopping slightly so she could keep her balance. It probably made her look ridiculous.

Luckily though, the captain was too preoccupied with his pistol to take much notice.

After making sure all of her things were safely above the height of the high tide, she told her dog to make sure they were kept safe (though whether he fully understood her or not was in question) and started to make her way out into the sea.

Ben was surprised at how well Milena could swim.

Being a sailor, it had been a requirement what he had stumbled onto the Crusader – if not for the captain, then for himself – so he prided himself on being one of the best swimmers on the vessel. For the young Hero, however, it was something she only needed to do well enough to get her from A to B.

Of course, she defied his expectations and took to the water like a fish, being able to swim both faster and more efficiently than himself. It was like watching a piece of artwork unfolding before his eyes.

Not that he was staring or anything. Just… taking note of how her technique…

Oh who was he trying to fool. He was staring! He was practically eating her with his eyes! And who would blame him with such a fine looking…

Look for the entrance Ben! You don't have time to be fooling around!

Diving under the surface of the waves, Ben kept his eyes open for any signs of an opening, though the salt in the water made them sting and he had to make regular breaks to keep himself from going temporarily blind.

It was only when he noticed that the sun had sunk beneath the horizon that he realised that he hadn't seen the young woman for a while.

"Princess?" he cried over the sound of the waves, but there was no reply, "Princess?"

What if she'd gotten stuck on a rock or something? What if she'd drowned? Oh Avo… What if she'd been dragged out to sea by the currents that had always been tugging at him from the first moment he sank under the surface?

"Milena!"

"What?"

Spinning around, Ben found the monarch smiling curiously at him. Relief swept over him and he let it show on his face. If he could have, he would have held her in his arms, but he had to settle with a squeeze of the hand. "I thought I'd lost you!"

Her smile turned solemn, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you, but I had to check something."

He frowned.

"I've found it!" she exclaimed excitedly, her eyes sparkling in enthusiasm.

"Really?"

She nodded, "Follow me."

Taking a deep breath, she sunk beneath the water again.

The first time she'd found the cave, Milena had thought it was just that; a cave. But then she'd wondered why the room was so well lit, and then she'd noticed the grand archway behind her.

After bringing Ben along, they had both agreed that this must have been the place they were looking for, so fifteen minutes later, they ended up on the top of the stairs to a surprisingly well lit descent into the unknown, completely soaked to the bone, water spilling out of their boots and useless guns hanging on their backs.

A shower was definitely going to be needed after this.

As Tyson shook himself our, sending a spray flying in every direction, Milena started to study the walls for any signs of an opening, leaning down to see if she could to shift some of the stones.

"Uh, as wonderful as the view is… what are you doing?"

Grinning, she stood and put her hand on her hips, "View? What view? All I see are rocks and moss."

"You ain't standing where I am, love," she heard him murmur.

Turning around, she looked as confused as she could and frowned at him, "I'm sorry? What was that?"

Suddenly, Ben was all innocence and coughed, "What was what?"

Squinting her eyes at him, she turned back to the wall, "I was trying to find the entrance to the treasure trove," she explained, "I'm sure it wouldn't be somewhere obvious, so…"

"You know, if you knew anything about Briar Rose, you'd know she wouldn't have hidden the treasure right at the front of the beginning of the cave."

"… Yes. That's why… I was looking for traps!"

Smooth.

"Uh huh," Ben said as he made his way past her, purposely brushing into her, making her clothes stick to her skin just that little bit more.

Real smooth.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, they were faced with three options.

Straight in front of them was an opening in the floor where yet another pool of water waited some hundred feet below, probably leading off into some other chamber. To their left was a door that was stood wide open (probably from when Milena's mother had been there) leading to a staircase that headed down in the same direction as the opening.

On their right was another passageway, though it had been blocked off by a stone wall, plaster still clinging to parts of it. The bricks didn't look like they belonged there, but the mortar looked strong.

"Right, I take it," Ben said, following Milena's gaze, "Yeah, I'd go for that direction too." Putting an ear to the wall, he rapped it with his knuckles, "I'd say that's about two feet thick."

When he turned back to her, he tilted his head.

"What?" she asked.

"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to put that massive sledge hammer of yours to good use?"

Blinking, Milena touched the handle of her weapon. Scythe's Warhammer was more than just a sledge hammer, it was a piece of history! It was her trusted ally, not some tool to be used in the way she felt! It had to be respected and cared for.

"We're not using this!"

Puzzled, the captain took a step towards her, only to have her step back, "Why not?"

"This is Scythe's Warhammer!"

His eyes grew wide in awe for a moment, but then his face turned serious again, "It's also our only way through that wall."

They stood in silence for a few moments, staring at each other, but it was Milena who dropped her eyes first.

"I know you don't like this," Ben said quietly, "but what else can we do?"

Sighing, she pulled the ancient weapon off of her back and walked towards the barrier.

Here goes nothing!

The wall collapsed in a cloud of dust and plaster, revealing a small chamber.

The hammer was, luckily, unscathed, so Ben didn't have to worry about explaining to the Hero, when he returned, why there were scratches all over it. He was pretty sure that even if he was dead by the time Scythe came back to Albion, he'd personally drag him out to ask.

Looking around the room, he noticed a floating orb in the dead centre, nothing else in sight but the bare rock that surrounded them.

"What is that?" he asked, examining its blue glow.

"It's a flit switch," Milena explained, pulling him aside, "They unlock special areas, but only a Hero can use them."

"Well, that explains why the book said this place could only be found by someone like you."

Smiling, the Queen swung her hammer through the floating orb, sending it shooting past their heads and into the stairway opposite. This time, it was glowing red.

"You should probably stand back," Milena warned, summoning a fire ball in her hand.

As Ben moved out of the way, she flung it at the orb, exploding on impact, and once again sending it on its way, further into the depths of the Hall. They followed it as quickly as they could, the darkness surrounding them deepening.

He could feel it pressing in on him, constricting him, but luckily the next room was as well-lit as the last, fires burning in the braziers hanging on the walls.

The floor they were stood on didn't seem to be supported by anything, though it looked stable, and it was wide enough to let the both of them stand on it side my side. And sat right in the middle, was the orb, glowing blue once again.

Swinging the war hammer, Milena batted the globe away, though it ended up making a u-turn and travelled through another archway.

This time, it had landed almost fifty feet away from the edge of the platform, embedding itself in the pummel of a gigantic stone sword that was being held by an equally as big stone man, neither of which were mobile – thankfully. The statue itself was stood in front of what looked like an enormous time piece, though it appeared to have stopped working long ago.

The orb was now glowing yellow, giving the rock around it the appearance of sandstone.

Ben was just about to ask what the change in colour meant, Milena pulled the Shrieking Pilgrim off her shoulder and took aim.

No matter what kind of gun she held, it always looked like that was what she was made to use, and this rifle was no different. It seemed to fit snugly under her arm, just the right length for her to hold it with ease.

She fired her shot and it hit the target, dead centre.

Smiling, she hefted the rifle back onto her shoulder as the orb started to turn, spinning the statue with it… and the entire room.

The platform they were standing on started to move around the side of the wall, following the glare of the giant, shaking as stone scraped against stone.

Eventually, they were facing a door, a large spiralling design on it with an indentation in the middle of an 's' shaped design. Ben knew it to be the guild seal symbol. Didn't Milena have one of those?

As if she was reading his thoughts (though more likely she just saw the logic), she pulled her seal out of the bag she had at her belt and pressed it to the door. It fitted like a key in a lock, sending a shock wave of blue light throughout the cracks, pushing unseen blockages out of the way, forcing the entrance to swing open.

Behind which, was the most eye popping, jaw dropping collection of items and treasures.

AN - Ug! I absolutely hated writing this chapter!

Yes, I know I added the flit switch too... So sue me! :P

For those of you wondering why it was completely dark when Milena woke when she has 'glowing will lines', it's because, like my character in my game, she likes using her rifle more than any of her other weapons.

Also, those who are confused with the title choice... it just sounded right...

I'm actually looking forward to the next chapter! So that one should be a bit better.

And, as always, until next time!