so the king and i shook and the deal was made. he saw me out of the castle personally and i started heading back to hrothars house. as i walked through the town everypony that saw me cheered and smiled at me. nice to know that i'm so easily celebrated already. i kept walking and took turn after turn as shadow tail followed close behind me. it wasn't long after we passed by a few more houses and rounded another corner that the wall came into view. i smiled and kept walking forward and eventually left through the gate to the outer city. the guards smiled and saluted me as i left. i just smiled back and kept walking.
i spread my wings and flew up into the air. shadow tail followed me and spread his wings and flew up as well. we tore through the sky together and soon i pinpointed hrothars house down below. it was a good thing too because it was starting to get late and i promised to be there before dinner. as i spotted the house i smiled and banked downward. i slowly spiraled down to the house and landed right in front of it. a few ponies on the street smiled and waved at me and i waved back. i looked up to the sky and saw it was darker than i thought, must be the height difference. oh well i'm sure i haven't missed much... hopefully
i walked to the door and opened it up. i let shadow tail in first and then walked in myself. everypony in the room looked over to me as i walked in. i saw miska and hrothgar at one end smiling at me. and my friends at the other end of the table too were also smiling at me, including twilight who was looking much better. and to a delightful surprise i saw kroger sitting at the table too. he wasn't sitting for much longer before he leapt up and hugged me. he started laughing and patting my back and i hugged him back.
"haha... crimson my boy..." he said. "it's been too long... " he said as we walked over to the table and sat down.
"it's good to see you kroger." i said.
"i didn't think you would be coming back." he said. "what made you change you're mind."
"well i'm not staying... just passing through on my way to oasis." i said. "so did i miss anything?"
"not really..." said twilight.
"we were just talking about how our days were." said hrothar. "me and kroger killed two deer today."
"i'm starting to feel much better." said twilight.
"me and nightflame helped around town." said derek.
"mostly just small stuff though." said nightflame. "we did have to slay a few wolves today for a farmer."
"speaking of slaying," said miska bringing out hot bowls of soup to everypony. "did you hear that a monstrous dreamfeeder escaped from the palace today and wrecked havoc on the rich part of the town..." she said making me feel guilty. " they said a knight in the brightest armor saved everypony. he killed the monster, fixed the town, even brought the dead back to life." i kept my head low and ate my soup quietly.
"hmm... sounds rather familiar." said twilight looking over to me... everypony turned their heads to me."
"...what?..." i asked after finishing up a small spoonful of soup.
"crimson..." said derek. "would you like to tell us what you did today."
"uhm... me and shadow tail played fetch..." i said. "and uh... yeah."
"crimson..." said nightflame.
"yeah..."
"you're still glowing." he said. i quickly made my armor dissipate. "still glowing." he said. i calmed down and released all my energy causing me to stop glowing entirely and my golden blonde hair stopped flowing and fell to my side. my symbols went from glowing white to an opaque black.
"so is it that obvious?" i asked.
"i figured it out after a while." said hrothar.
"i got it when i heard bringing the dead back to life." said twilight.
"i knew only you could kill something a thousand guards couldn't." said nightflame.
"are you kidding me... i saw the freaking explosion and knew that was you... dude you're freaking rained hell on that things head." said derek.
"i missed the days when i was just a nameless face." i said letting out a sigh. "those days were simple and easy... now i have to kill demons and reverse death itself." i said sitting back. "you guys don't know how stressful that is."
"you wanna tell us where that thing came from." said twilight.
"it's a long story." i said.
"we've got time. said kroger. i smiled and let out a sigh.
"well i was going around and i entered the inner city. i walked around and some cryer was saying the king was holding trials to find a group of adventurers that could aid him on a quest. so i went there and he tested us, one of the tests was to slay a dangerous beast."
"and that was you're beast wasn't it." said nightflame.
"well yes... it wasn't supposed to get out." i said. "there was a shield but it didn't hold up long... mistakes were made on all sides... so it got out and started killing everything."
"so naturally you killed it back..." said twilight.
"well of course..." i said. "and after that the king said i was perfect to help him and the quest is a quest to find a lost artifact of great power that will help in the war effort and push back the scarlet alliance... so he wants me to help him push them back with him and get ahead of the war." i said. kroger, miska, and hrothar seemed confused.
"wait... we're winning this war." said miska.
"no actually you're not..." i said. "the scarlet alliance has pushed back you're armies to the abandoned dwarven ruins cutting through the mountain. so i agreed to help him so we could clear that path and get through there with ease." i said.
"my god..." said hrothar seeming outraged. "i can't believe they would feed such lies to us... they told us they where all the way back at the burgundy plains when they have been sitting in our back yard this whole time."
"yes but i plan on helping king sapphire to push the armies back so me and my friends can get through and to help you get ahead in this war."
" so... Sounds like you've had an interesting day." Said twilight smiling.
" more or less..." I said shrugging my shoulders.
" so when are you going on this huge quest thing with the king?" Asked Nightflame.
" tomorrow..." I replied. " first thing in the morning I'm going to head over to the castle."
" well it's good that you're doing this because I'm starting to get better and we should try and save as much time as possible." Said twilight.
" that's probably the best thing we can do..." Said Derek.
" alright then... I think we should all rest up and get ready for tomorrow." I said smiling. The others agreed and we finished our food. Once we ate I helped twilight back into the guest room and followed her. She was able to walk there perfectly fine on her own but she was still a bit weak and I was just making sure she didn't hurt herself. I watched her crawl into the bed and shadow tail walked in after me. He hopped up on the bed and laid down with twilight. I grabbed the covers and pulled them over twilight.
" thanks crimson."
" no problem twilight... Now you just get your sleep." I said.
" uhm crimson." Said twilight. I turned and faced her. " remember that night we stayed in the cave..."
" yes..."
" and I uh... Said some things." She said blushing deep red. I knelt down by the bed and put my hoofs on the bed.
" twilight you don't have to say anything to me about that." I said smiling, she looked at me curiously. " I understand that you might be feeling lonely... But you have great friends... Not just me, but applejack, pinkie. Fluttershy and rarity, rainbow dash, even the others, mystee, black hoof... And I know that the princess thinks of you as her friend more than her student." I said making her smile.
"Thank you... But that's not what I was going to ask." She said. " why did you say all that stuff to me back in the cave... Make me feel like you loved me." She said.
" because I do love you twilight... I don't love you like I would dash but I love you with a different kind of love... I honestly think of you as the closest thing to a sister... In fact you remind me of my sister... You're just like her."
" you mean your human sister...what was she like?"
" she was kind, courageous, smartest person I ever knew. And she always pushed me to do my best... And so I became the best I could be." I said. " sure when I was young we didn't always get along and we fought... But I loved her and she loved me back..." I said, and a certain memory made my smile fade.
" what?"
" we'll...*sigh*... I was remembering the day she had died... It was about twelve years ago and I was in my late twenties... She died of cancer. By that time I was already a dangerous killing machine... But I couldn't hide my feelings that day. It was the first time in fifteen years that I had actually cried."
" you must have felt so lonely..." She said.
" I did... But she would have wanted me to keep going... And you're just the same. You always try to push me into doing my best and always making sure I'm safe." I said.
" what... What happens when I die." Twilight said bringing a grim factor into the equation.
" well twilight..." I said. " I'll probably cry that day too... But I'll have a lot of time to get ready for that and a lot of time after to come to peace with it."
" being immortal means you must get very lonely."
" I'm sure I will get lonely a lot, but I'll always try to make friends like you. But I'll get through it... Don't you worry... Now go to sleep." I said rubbing her hair and smiling. She smiled too and laid her head down.
" good night crimson." She said.
" good night twilight." I replied laying down on the bedding lain down on the floor. I closed my eyes and faced the fire I front of me and started dreaming. Twilight had brought up a good point. I might know a lot about being immortal but I have a feeling there's still a lot more that only time can teach... And I'm sure celestia is all to familiar with those lessons from what I can tell. There's an incredible positive aura around her, but I know there's something inside of her, some kind of loneliness eating away at her.
So it wasn't long before night passed and the sun came over the horizon and flooded the room with light. I slowly opened my eyes to notice nopony else was up yet... But I need to get going if I want to meet the king and go on this quest of his. So I got up stretched and let out a deep yawn. I walked over and opened the door to the guest room and walked out keeping the door open. I walked over to the front door and turned the knob to leave. I heard a whimper behind me and saw shadow tail sitting there smiling at me.
" you stay here boy..." I said patting him on his head head. " I need you to keep twilight and the others safe..." I said. " I won't be long, I promise." He smiled and I opened the door all the way. I walked out and closed the door. I took a deep breath of the cold winter air and spread my wings while adorning myself with armor. I launched right up into the air and flew towards the kingdom. I flew over to the inner city wall and landed at the gate so I could pay the toll. the guards looked at me and smiled and stood at a strait guard. I reached into my pouch and pulled out open gold to hand to them.
" no need for that..." Said the guard. " the king has pardoned your toll." He said. I just shrugged and spread my wings. I flew past the gate entrance and back up into the air and rocketed towards the castle. I breezed past the clouds and the cold crisp air. I grew closer to the castle and soon I was right in front of it. I spiraled my way down to the bridge and touched down in front of the front door. The guards at the front stood at attention and I smiled at them and walked in. I walked into the hall of kings and looked around.
I kept walking and I got up to the doors to the throne room. I was about to open them up when. A magical white aura surrounded them and they just opened on their own. Behind the door was the court wizard standing there smiling with his horn glowing. Past him was the king in large black and sapphire encrusted armor with a large sword at his side... He looked like a king ready for war. I looked back from him and at the court wizard.
" good... You're here early." He said. " come on in." I followed the wizard down the long room to the throne where the king stood adjusting his armor and tightening the straps so they wouldn't come loose. I walked over and as he noticed me he smiled I smiled to. We walked over and stood in front of the throne. The court wizard bowed and I did too. The king smiled and saluted us. " I will leave the two of you to discuss the quest." He said turning and walking away. The king gestured me over and I walked up the steps to the throne.
" are you ready to journey forth with me?" Said the king.
" yes... But... Where are we going?" I asked.
" not far... In fact we don't even need to leave the castle." He said.
" what?" I said in confusion. The king smiled and walked over to his throne. There was a circle with spikes on it resting on the throne and a diamond shaped outline in the center. He walked over with a blue gem in his hand and placed it in the slot. It fit perfectly and the room began to glow. Blue glowing lines broke through the throne room and into the center of the room. They formed a circle like star in the center that borked open and slides back revealing a hole to an underground path.
" in my thousand years of ruling in this castle..." Said the king. " I cannot BELIEVE... That I never noticed this."
" what's down there?" I asked.
" I do not know... I have not gone down there yet... More to the fact that I cannot go down there." He said. " there's some kind of barrier keeping me out... No king can enter it."
" how do you know the weapon you're looking for is down there?" I asked as we walked over and looked down the hole. It was a dark spiraling staircase straight down into darkness.
" kingly tales and legends tell of this room but I knew it didn't exist... Well at least I thought it didn't... Apparently I was wrong." He said. " I've done my research."
" so that's why you need somepony else... To go in and get the item." I said.
" no... If my court wizard is correct in his theory there should be something down there generating this shield... I just need you to go and destroy it and then accompany me through the dungeon. "
" sounds easy enough." I said. " but I'm certain there are going to be deadly traps and probably a few ancient beasts that need to be slain." I said.
" without a doubt..." He said. " well... Take all the time you need and head down when you ready... Once you reach the bottom and destroy the generator signal me down somehow."
" alright... Here I go." I said taking a step forward to the first step. I put my foot down and as it passed down onto the first step a blue barrier of light appeared across the hold down to the darkness. It didn't stop me but I pt was bound to keep the king out. I just swallowed my anxiousness and continued down the steps. I couldn't fly down because the hole was too small and there was no space, so I had to take the stairs... Great. I checked each step quickly before proceeding and walked down the stairs.
" are there any traps that you can see." Said the king yelling down, I had made quite some progress, at least one circulation around and I was hiding out of view from him under the stairs above me.
" no... If I find any I'll be sure to spring them for you." I said making a joke. I couldn't tell if he smiled or not, but I'd like to think he did. I continued down the stairs and soon it grew darker and darker. Luckily I glow so I shone brightly and managed to light the way around me... Lucky, lucky. I kept walking down and checked every step. I took one step and as I put my hoof down I felt the ground press downward under my hoof and by instinct I froze as a large and sharp set of three spears shot out from the wall and jetted out in front of me. My heart stopped as the spears set back into the wall. I lifted my hoof up form the step.
I stepped on the step again and the spears jetted out once more... It's a resettable trap. I used my magic to carve a blue and glowing message on the wall pointing down to the step that fired off the trap and left a message that just read "trap". I left the note and kept going down the stairs skipping over the trap. I carefully made my way down the steps and they seemed to go down forever. I ran into multiple other traps including arrows that shot out of the wall. For the ones that reset and could be used again I labeled with trap. But ones like the arrows or darts shooting from the wall I tested them and they only worked once.
I couldn't tell if I was even close to the bottom at this point. It was still pitch black below me and only a small speck of light remained above me from the light of the castle. I just kept walking and walking. The traps I would run into which had become quite regular occurrences a while ago have now thinned out. I haven't set off a trap in a few minutes and I'm making sure to step on every step to check. But soon to my pleasure I saw a small sparkle at the end of the stairs below me. I smiled and started to pick up the pace. I was still careful and checked every step but Picked up the pace.
I made my way down two more rotations of the stairs and the small sparkle turned out to be a glowing sphere at the bottom of the stairs. I didn't meet anymore traps and I took my first steps off the stairs and onto the ground. The ground under me was completely flat with no groves or designs in it. It was just a plain stone floor. I looked over to the small glowing sphere being lit up on a sort of pillar. I walked over and immediately thought this to be the source of the shield... But it could be booby trapped.
I reached over and grabbed the sphere. I could feel the power radiating off of it and I knew this was generating the shield. I didn't lift it off the pedestal yet... There might be a trap. I glowed brighter than before and lit up the whole bottom of the cave and looked around. The walls were plain and so were the floors. I couldn't see any sign of a trap... But you can't be too sure. I slowly lifted the sphere off the pedestal and kept my guard up in case of a trap. I held the ball in my hands but it was still giving off the energy it was before so the shield was still up... Only one way to fix that.
I lifted the ball up and smashed it on the ground. It exploded and forced me against the wall. It broke up into large glowing dust shards which I tried my best not to breathe in. The explosion echoed up the cave and even filled it with light. I felt the energy leave and I stopped glowing for a while. I whited out a little as I found it impossible to breathe and passed out. I must have been out for a while cuz I was woken up by the sound of a familiar voice. I soon opened my eyes to see the cave that lit up and was glowing now since the last time.
" adventurer... Are you alright?" Asked a familiar voice. It was the king. I watched him curl down the stairs and touch down on the floor of the pit. " what happened?... Are you Hurt?"
" no I'm fine..." I said. " there was a crystal ball creating the force field... I smashed it and it exploded... I must have hit my head and blacked out for a little bit... But I'm fine."
" good... Are you still willing to aid me?" The king asked lending a hoof to help me up. It was a strange gesture especially from a king but I accepted it and he pulled me up.
" yes... Lets continue." I said. I looked around the room but noticed there were no other paths, just a complete cylinder. " wait... Where do we go?" I asked.
" that's what was troubling me too... There must be something. Check the walls for any hints." He said going and looking at the walls. I did the same and checked the other part of the pit. I looked as hard as I could up and down for anything but I couldn't find much... The walls were completely solid. " I can't spot anything... Have you found something?"
" no I haven't." I said but I paused when I spotted something. " wait... There's something over here." I said as the king immediately rushed over. It was just a perfectly circular hole in the wall at around my height. The king walked over and Pointed it out. He looked at it strangely and raised and eyebrow.
" what is it?" He asked.
"I feel like I've seen this..." I said. I looked around and passed over the king. As I grazed over him my eyes stopped on one of his features... His horn. " oh I know this now... Your horn." I said.
" my horn?" He said looking at the hole and his horn. He looked back between them a few more times and then his eyes lit up with realization. " oh, my horn." He said. I stepped to the side and he aligned his horn with the hole. He slid it in and it fit perfectly. The hole lit up and soon small blue lines carved through the solid wall and formed the shape of a door. And soon enough the lines faded as the wall slid open in the shape of the door revealing a tunnel. There were lit torches lining the walls of the tunnel. Once the doors parted there was a rumbling sound and a huge thud as if a hundred ton object just fell from the sky and hit the ground around us.
" I don't like the looks of this." I said.
" me neither." Said the king. " but I'm sure with our skills and power combined we can face whatever challenges are in this cave." I took a deep breath and started walking in and the king looked at me.
" let me go first..." I said. " I'm the most expendable pony here so if there are any traps it's better that I get caught in them rather than you." I said.
" expendable?" The king said with a smirk.
" you saw my fight... I took a spike to the head and got back up..." He smiled and gestured me to continue. I smiled back and turned forward. I started walking slowly down the tunnel. The tunnel was tall but too thin for me to spread my wings and fly... Damn these big wings of mine. I kept walking and walking and we had made good distance from the entrance now and It was just a small blue light from behind now. So far there haven't been any traps.
We kept walking and walking until we reached a large iron door at the end of the tunnel. Beside it was a lever I went to grab it when I noticed something disturbing. On the other side of the door, was another lever. I pulled back from that lever and stood back up straight and kept darting between the two levers. The king had already noticed as well. It was obvious one was to open the door and the other was a trap. I looked around the door and noticed small holed above the frame and all along the walls far behind us... I would guess there would be small poisonous darts or arrows behind those holes.
" which on do you think it is?" Asked the king.
" I'm not sure... It's hard to tell." I said looking between the two.
" what if we pulled them both?" Asked the king. I looked back to him with a curious face.
" both?" I said.
" we'll if one fires the darts and the other opens the door and we pull both we might be able to run inside of the door before the darts fire... If not at least the doors open." He said.
" alright I guess..." I said. " I'll take the left one." I said. He nodded and I grabbed the left lever and he took the right one. We nodded and pulled the levers together. We quickly bolted to the door and pressed. Up against it as the room filled with the sounds of gears churning and crashing together. We anticipated the darts to fire off at us but they never did. Instead the door we leaned against slowly started to slide open and reveal the next part of the dungeon. " huh... I guess we had to pull both." I said.
" lucky us... Now lets keep moving forward." Said the king. We moved forward into the new chamber. The new part of the dungeon was much more interesting than the first part. It was much larger and the walls were decorated with pictures and designs much like hieroglyphics but a little more fancier and not so organized. There were doors on the sides of each wall and there was another large iron door at the end of the hall which was considerably smaller. We walked over to the iron door and it seemed sealed shut.
" is there a switch or lever here?" I asked.
" no... There must be one in these rooms here... You check the left ones and I'll check the right." He said.
" alright." I replied as we went to our separate sides. There were eight doors in all and four on each side. They were just regular wooden doors. I walked over to the first one and slowly opened it up. There was nothing but blackness inside and as I slowly opened the door I could feel a presence in there. I took one step in and the room lit up as torches along the sides flickered and sparked to life. I noticed the room was filled with cobwebs and a shit ton of spiders crawled away from the light and disappeared in cracks in the wall.
A the end of the room was a lever... Well that was easy. I walked over still being careful of traps and cutting through webs. I walked up to the lever and pulled it. The sound of machinery filled the air and I bolted back outside as so did the king at the new sound to check the door. But instead of the door opening a small circle at the upper left of the door rotated and locked into place. It seemed to fix whatever picture is on the door. I now noticed three more parts of the picture set out of place on my side and four more on his side.
" do you see the pattern?" He asked.
" yeah... There must be a lever in each room." I said.
" that explains why there's one in my room too... Except there was more than just that." He said. " there were shit tons of spiders too."
" same with mine... I guess they must be old or something... Lets just keep going and pull the levers... Be careful." I said. He nodded and bolted back to his room and pulled the lever. The sound of turning gears filled the room and the door changed I ran to the next room and opened the door. I took one step in and the room lit up with torch lights. Instead of spiders this time the ground was all wet and slimy and there were a few piles of bones sitting around... It was like a cave or something. I just walked over and pulled the lever and left the room.
I walked to the next room and the same thing when I walked it. Except now it was like a giant be hive. There were combs all over the place and individual hives hanging from the walls. How can bees even survive down here. Well I guess they can't since there wasn't even a single bee buzzing around down here. I just shrugged it off and walked to the lever. I guess whoever made these traps must have had individual animals in each room to scare off the guest... Guess they didn't plan on the animals not surviving this long, that explains the bones in the last room. I walked over and pulled the lever. That's my third and shortly after I heard the king pull his lever.
I dashed over to the last room and opened up the door. It lit up and presented a whole new biome. There was small plants and a huge log across the room fitting in diagonally running from the ground close to the ceiling. There was even grass on the floor. It was one of the more stranger biomes but I just climbed over the log and pulled the lever on the other side and the king did as well. The air filled with the sound of gears turning and we ran over to the door as all the pictures set in place. Soon an off picture in the middle began turning and set in place as well.
" that wasn't so hard... I feel like whoever planned this didn't do a good job." I said.
" mmm, I agree." He said. The small pictures started glowing bristly and sent along a trail of glowing light. Each one a different color, red, yellow, green, and purple. Then the center picture glowed blue and the door opened up and revealed a large tunnel with the glowing trails turning down the path. The other colors ran along the walls while the thick blue line ran right down the center of the corridor. We s,lied and started walking.
" we have to be getting close by now." Said the king.
" I can't sense any immense power nearby but I'm sure it isn't active or anything... So we might still be close." I said. " see look, a door." I said pointing out a door at the end of the tunnel we ran over to it and it was another large iron door, but this one looked like it could just be pushed open. I also noticed the purple light covering the door and carving around it.
We both shrugged at the light and pressed up against the door. We slowly pushed each side open and the two heavy double doors swung open. On the other side was what I could only refer to as our first real test. There were spider webs everywhere. Covering the walls floor and ceiling. The room was huge though, easily enough space to fly around. But at the top was a large spider web, almost like a funnel. We took a few steps in and the large doors slowly creaked behind us before shutting with great force... Crap.
" I have a dealing this is where it gets interesting." Said the king.
" I've got the same feeling." I said. Then there was a strange roar from up above. We looked up to see a large spider slowly crawling out of the large funnel shaped web and slowly coming down to the ground. It was easily the biggest spider I've seen and was dark brown and hairy. It had thick legs and a large abdominal area... It must be like a brown recluse or something. I landed on the ground and hissed at us... Or whatever a spider sounds like.
I got my armor and my weapons ready for battle and so did the king. The spider reared back and spit something at us. We were both smart enough to get out of the way. The goo hit the wall and floor around us and started steaming and sizzling. I shot off a few spikes and cut off one of the spiders legs and pierced its side. It made a screech of pain. The king spread his wings and flew over to the beast and attacked. I drew my godly sword as well and flew over. I held my sword in one hoof and slashed at the spiders face. It tried to grab me with its pincers but I flew back and dodged. The king flew down to the spiders legs as I four its head.
He sliced through one leg after another with little effort. I slashed the idea across the face slicing across a few of its eyes and it shrieked in pain and fell. I flew down and shoved my sword through the spiders skull and it flipped over and curled up like all dead spiders do and it laid still. That was a fun little battle but not that hard. I hopped off the spiders corpse and circled around to meet the king who was sheathing his sword, as was I. I met up with him and he smiled.
" that was fun..." He said.
" yeah... Lets keep moving." I said.
" good idea." He said. We both turned and made our way to the door on the other side of the huge cave. I had to cut a bunch of spider webs out of the way to clear the door and when it was clear we pushed the door open. The doors swung open and revealed the next corridor. It was long and narrow like the last one but it looked more like a cave instead of a neat corridor. We walked in and the doors slammed closed behind us. We kept walking through the dimly lit cave and looked around. Once again the colorful stripes ran along the walls and the blue stripes ran through the ground, except now the purple ones were gone.
" I think I'm sensing a pattern." I said.
" me too... The lights and the rooms are connected." He said.
" so there were four different rooms and four different lights... I think they weren't traps but warning about what's to come." i said. "what was the second room?"
"it was some kind of cave..." he replied.
"and what could be in a cave?..."
"anything..." he said. it was true, i didn't know either. we just kept walking down the long hallway and the door soon came into view. the ground was moist and slimy and just plain disgusting to walk on. we pushed forward and soon got to the door. i took a deep breath and we looked at the door. the red light was now carving into this door and made symbols and pictures on it. we put out hooves to the door and pushed it open. it creaked open revealing the next room as we walked in. we stepped past the door and it slammed shut behind us. the ground was slim and gross. there were stalagmites and stalactites both. the spikes on the ceiling of the cave like habitat were dripping with whatever strange goo is coating the whole place. there wasn't any sign of a creature though.
we slowly started walking through the large cave habitat and looked around. there was no sign that there could be anything living in here or a sign that it could be hiding which was kind of scaring me. either it was in here and it was just hiding behind the stalactites or something or it's way i didn't have a good feeling about this and i could tell king sapphire was just as uneasy as i was. we just kept our heads down and our guard up and grew closer and closer to the door. i looked over to the king and he glanced over at me.
"i don't like this..." he said.
"yeah it's too quiet." i replied. we kept walking and looking around until we reached the doors. i looked around and went for the door and suddenly there was a rumbling and the ground began to shift. we stepped back and several large tentacles broke from the ground and shot into the air creating a wall between us and the door. the tentacle had fat ends where there were teeth and spikes. they waved around and i stepped back and brought my own tentacles out from my back as the king drew his sword.
one of the tentacles crashed down and we dodged out of the way. another came right for me but i cut it in half with my light and it fell to the ground dead. there was a fierce roar that shook the cave and suggested that these tentacles are attached to something much larger. it wasn't much longer before more of the tentacles lashed out at me and i had to cut those ones off as well. there was another roar and the ground began to shake again, but this time much more furiously. more tentacles would break out of the ground and take the place of the fallen ones. i had a feeling this wasn't going to be easy.
Another tentacle fell from the air and I dodged out of the way before it crashed on the ground I was standing on. I moved back and brought my guard back up only to have several more tentacles burst from the ground behind me. I looked over to king sapphire who was fighting on his own. One of the tentacles lashed at him but he cut it in half with one swing of his sword. I spread my wings and flew up into the air but the tentacles still lashed out at me. I focused my energy and fired a beam of concentrated light at the mass of tentacles squirming up on the ground.
The blast burnt through everything it touched and most of the tentacles were either gone or missing chunks of the,selves. The edges of where the blast had touched them were crisp black and glowing red around the edges from the heat. There was a fierce shout and a strange like roar as all the tentacles fell back into the ground. There was silence for a second but then the ground broke down below and a rift opened up across the whole cave. Lava and magma spewed up from the deep rift in the ground and a large worm like beast rose from the ground.
More tentacles shot up from the ground as the beast rose up splashing a wave of lava onto the cave floor. There was lava dripping off of it and splattering all over the ground below it. It let out its fierce roar and showed its teeth. It's teeth we're like hairs but further examination showed them to be a million razor sharp and tiny fangs riding along the brim of its mouth. It had several eyes resting on each side of its face which just looked like glowing yellow spheres. The worm like beast curled it lips up and growled a deep low hum as more tentacles rose beside it and lava shot up in large bursts from the ground. This thing looked like it was made out of stone or rocks or something.
It let out a fierce roar and grit its teeth. Large spikes ran along the beast and looked just as sharp as its teeth. They grew larger at the top and sides of its face but grew smaller near the back and spine. Large holes on its back opened up and four large spider like legs broke out and smashed on the ground and rooted themselves. This was probably the strangest and most interesting creature I've ever had the pleasure to fight. And without hesitation I kept into battle.
I let out a shout and fired another blast of concentrated light at the huge beast. The blast rocketed past and covered the large beast leaving it in a funnel of blinding light. When my attack was done the light faded and revealed an unscathed creature sitting there snarling. It opened its mouth and to my greater surprise a blast of energy escaped its jaw and fired at me. I was caught in the blast and let out a cry of pain as I felt it burn me and I fell. I tumbled down to the ground and landed on a large piece of the ground still not yet covered by lava. I got up and I was smoking now from the blast.
" adventurer, quickly over here." Said the king on a large high rise. I looked back to see the lava was rising quite quickly. I flew over and took my place on the platform. We both spread our wings and left the platform and faced the volcanic beast. The lava rose up and past the high rise we stood on and seemed to stop rising... Well that's good news enough. The monster let out a roar and without warning the spikes on its body shot off and flew at us. They grazed past me and king sapphire and before we could return fire a wall of tentacles shot up from the ground and headed right for us. We scrambled and flew around avoiding the tentacles.
We scrambled and I cut and slashed at as many tentacles as I could but more seemed to take its place... There has to be a limit to them at some point. The beast would often fire more spikes at us or fire off its laser every once in awhile. It fire its laser one more time and I banked right to dodge it but I flew too close to a tentacle and it grabbed me. Another one close by flew over and latched its teeth onto me and bit down. I yelled out in pain and fired a blast of light that disintegrated them both. I looked at the wound and it was just a gaping hole of missing skin and flesh. I brushed it off as it started to quickly close up and heal and kept fighting.
" it's going to fire his needles again." Said the king. And he was right, the beast let loose another burst of spikes and I was too distracted that on thin long needle shot right through my armor and pierced through my chest. I let out a gasp of pain and spurt out a bit of blood.
" hnng... I... Gha..." I said trying to speak but to no avail.
" adventurer look out." Said the king. I looked behind me to see a large tentacle rising up above me and falling down. It hit me and carried me down to the molten lava. "NOOO!" Said the king as I grew ever closer to the lava. And the moment I feared for was right I front of me. I knew this was going to hurt like a son of a bitch and that it would take me forever to heal back from this, so it's a real set back. I closed my eyes and said my prayers. I could feel the heat of the lava as I grew closer and closer and knew that there was nothing I could do at this point, I was hurt, confused, and scared.
And then... Splash.
-Authors Note: so today i learned that people on fimfiction... are cold and judgmental assholes. ive gotten plenty of review form different people and there is no positive feedback. and it'snot all directed towards me actually. one person had the audacity to slander not just my story but this whole site too. called it the dumping ground of fanfictions and that all of you people are " yes men and suck up's"... i got pissed at that, no lie.
so if you want to check it out its on there too. just do whatever you can to find it and give it a look over. i only have the first 12 chapters of dream machine posted up on it right now but that's liable to change and it will. and over all the slander ive been getting one of you guys told me not to let it bother me... and i want to thank you for that advice. i haven't let it bother me. ive decided to post all my stories to this site and that one too just because i fucking can, and honestly i dont care if people on fimfiction downvote my stories to hell... as long as you guys like reading them, ill keep writing.
thanks guys... you rock. and stay shady.