i hit the lava with a great splash as the tentacle on top of me forced me to the bottom and soon slithered away. i started writhing and screaming in pain only to have magma forced down my throat and inside of me. so i screamed louder and louder... but then i stopped. i didn't stop because i wanted to, or because i was dead... but because there was no need to. and it's not that it was just a pointless effort but the lava wasn't burning me alive. there was no pain and agony. sure it was hot but it only felt like 100 degrees to me. this of course came as a shock to me. then i realized that i am one with the god of fire... i'm god of all the elements.
i looked at myself and saw that my scars and symbols were not just glowing anymore but it was like lava was running past them under my skin. i was somehow able to breathe despite there is absolutely no air in lava since its just melted rock. i stopped for a moment and just sank to the bottom of the lava pool. this was quite surprising to me at first but i figured since i'm capable of doing a lot of crazy things i don't even know about, this is just one more of those things. i touched the floor of the cave and looked around, somehow i could see. i don't try and understand these things i just live with them.
i spread my wings and used them to swim over to the great beast that was now focusing its attention on king sapphire. i could see the beast but there was still no possible way for me to cut through it's armor... but then i got an idea. this thing has nice tough skin on the outside to keep it safe in the lava and protect it. i find it hard to believe his insides are made of the same dense material, i'm sure they're all soft and squishy like everything else. i had an ingenious plan but i need to wait for the right moment.
so i swam around finding the right angle to perform my attack and made sure i had a clear shot. when i found the perfect spot i stood there and waited. i wanted to help king sapphire but he was doing fine on his own, he wouldn't be the king if he couldn't take care of himself. and just as i had hoped my perfect opportunity presented itself. the beast opened its gaping maw and prepared to fire a blast greater than it had before... too bad he doesn't know my plan.
without hesitation i blasted up into the air in a fierce shout with lava surrounding me. i spun and forced the lava right at the great beast. the lava shot out at the beast and flew right down its throat. i kept forcing down as much lava before the beast let out a cry and pulled away. i just floated there with lava dripping off of me and back into the pool while the huge beast thrashed around wildly and roared. a mixture of blood and lava spewed from every orifice of it's body as the lava melted away at its intestines and tissue from the inside. i couldn't help but let out a devious chuckle as the creature suffered.
the beast made one last wail of pain before crashing back into the lava gurgling blood and melted tissue. it slipped backwards into its own crevice and the lava started draining out of the room. once it was all gone the crevice of lava remained and there were still a few puddles of magma here and there but nothing too bad. i smiled and looked back at the king who was shocked to say the least. i flew down to the ground and landed in a deep puddle of lava which didn't seem to burn me still. it was like i had dragonhide instead of skin. the king flew down and landed next to the puddle.
"that was quite impressive... i didn't know you could do that." he said.
"i didn't either... i thought for sure i was dead."
"i didn't want to bring this up out of mutual respect and for the sake of keeping a safe distance from each other." said the king as i walked out of the puddle and we walked over to the door together. "but the high seer of oasis has told me about what you are... and so has celestia."
"have they now..." i said smiling.
"yes they have... and i did not expect that i would be going on a dangerous adventure with a god today..." he said.
"so they told you what i REALLY am not what most ponies think i am." i said. "well i wouldn't say that i fit the title of 'god' just yet... still need to work into it a bit."
"nonetheless you are a god, and i feel honored to be paired with you for this quest." he said bowing his head.
"it's a miracle when a king should bow to somepony else... the poor bow to the rich, the rich bow to the king, and who does the king bow to... the gods i guess..." i said speaking in some kind of riddle i didn't even know i knew. "don't bow to the title... bow to the pony." i said bowing back to the king.
"those are very wise words... i think you'll fit the title of 'god' just fine." he said as we approached the door and stood before it.
"i have strange moments of incredible wisdom sometimes..." i said. "now lets go get this weapon that we've almost died over already... i think there's only two more rooms left... hopefully" i said pushing open the door on my own with some kind of new strength. if he knew i was a god there's no point in hiding it now. my symbols stopped glowing magma red and shone white as did my armor and wings.
"i think after this i could use a rest..." said the king. i smiled back at him in agreement.
"when would you have us go to the dwarven ruins then?" i asked. as we walked down the long hallway.
" the day after tomorrow..." he said. "give the king a day to rest and the god a day to prepare" he said smiling.
"come to think of it, helping you with this war would be massively unfair... and not part of my title." i said.
"what part of the title god prevents you from helping oppressed ponies wage war..." asked the king.
"i'm not just a god... i am the god of balance... i hold power over every aspect and element of existence... or something." i said. "the only reason i am helping you with this war is because you're fighting for freedom, and not over land or money." i said as we pushed onward through the hallway. soon enough the door to the next room came into view. this one was glowing yellow and if i remember it was aligned with the room covered in bee hives and honey combs. great... it's going to be some kind of giant fucking bee. and knowing my luck there are going to be millions of regular sized bee's so i can expect to go home with millions of bumps and stings on my body.
it wasn't too long before the tunnel we were in started taking a new shape and the walls broke down into a beehive like style. there were hexagonal patterns all over the walls and even small hives hanging from the ceiling. i remember when i was young i was deathly afraid of bees. i wasn't allergic but i just didn't like them. then my sister told me that they aren't going to hurt me if i just don't bother them. so i tried it out and i got out of my fear of bees in a day. hell i soon grew to love bees as a kid. most other kids would freak out when they saw a bee and run away but i would let my finger out and the bee would land on it and then fly away.
"hope you aren't allergic." i said as we looked around at the changing hallway and grew closer to the door.
"thankfully i'm not..." he said. "but if this room is anything like the last two rooms then i don't think it'll matter." he said as we walked right up to the door. i took a deep breath and pushed the doors to the next room open. suddenly a swarm of bees flew past us and i fanned my wings out in front of me as a kind of shield. when the swarm was done we looked into the room and started walking in. it was like a huge bee hive. we walked in and started slowly walking forward as the door slammed shut behind us. there were millions and millions of bees flying around and lining the walls. the whole room was alive with the subtle sound of their buzzing. we kept walking slowly and the ground was covered in sticky honey. suddenly i felt a sharp sting on the back on my neck and slapped my hoof down. i let out a little gasp of pain and the king looked over to me.
"did you get stung?" he asked.
"yeah but i don't get it..." i said. "bees don't sting unless you provoke them... and even if i provoked just one, the whole hive would be on me right now." i said. i looked around and i felt something crawling on my armor. i looked down not to see a bee but a mother fucking wasp. it was trying to sting me through my armor and eventually gave up and flew away. and at this not i soon began to notice more and more of them flying around. it was a mixture of bees and wasps. bees i can deal with, but wasps are the ones i have a problem with.
"what is it?" asked the king noticing i was looking around at the wasps flying around with intent. "is there something wrong?"
"not really..." i said. "but look... there are wasps in here too." i said. and as i pointed out that fact he started noticing the wasps flying around and looked around. "these are the ones that will sting without reason... so we're probably going to get stung... i'd keep a shield up." i said as i put up my own body tight shield. he did too and we kept walking. this hive was huge and there were large hexagonal combs in the ceiling and walls that looked like you could drive a truck through them... that was really setting me off. and as we kept walking forward i felt something change... like there was something off, so i stopped and so did the king.
"what's wrong now." he said stopping and looking back.
"something's off." i said as i slowly let tentacles of light rise from my back ready for an attack. i could hear something... a familiar but different sound. "listen." i said as we both grew quiet. the buzzing of the bees was the only thing in the room. but that subtle buzzing soon started to be drowned out by a different noise. it sounded rather like an echo... and it was a loud buzzing with a different frequency. it grew louder and louder and the echo faded. and to my displeasure a handful of large wasps started crawling and flying out of the large honeycombs in the wall. then more and more came out of ever hexagonal comb and they buzzed around. i knew there would be a catch.
they buzzed around frantically and i didn't even have time to bother to think about what they were doing i just got ready to attack. a bunch of them landed on the ground and started crawling towards us. the king drew his sword and got it ready to fight while i was already prepared. one of the wasps in the air dive bombed us but i stopped it with a quick burst of light. it broke apart and landed in front of the swarm of wasps which now charged at us. they stopped short of us and surrounded me and the king. they were in the air and all around us. and more and more just seemed to crawl out of the combs lying around.
"never thought i would go out this way." said the king backing up with his sword held straight... always figured i would die in the thrill of war... not stung to death by giant wasps."
"no... i won't let it end this way." i said thinking of something. i dwelled on every manner of energy i had, every aspect of my power until i found something i had not seen before... some kind of power i didn't know i had. as the wasps grew closer and closer i taped into the well of unknown power and i saw it's secrets.
suddenly i was filled with untold elemental energy and i started shining brightly the purest of white. i let out a deep roar and soon large spikes of ice fired up from the ground underneath the wasps and covered the whole hive around us skewering every wasp on the ground. the next thing i did after that i can only describe as physically impossible. i let out a deep growl as my pure white armor faded to a magma red and i focused my energy. the spikes of ice melted down into magma and flooded the ground. i pulled the magam towards us and shot it up in a tornado of lava. the tornado of lava widened and covered the whole room before fading away and covering everything in magma.
more and more wasps crawled out of their holes and some of them were foolish enough to walk onto the lava not knowing what it is. i turned my attention and gave an angry gaze to the wasps around us. my armor went from red now to a sort of light blue and started sparking. i felt energy build up in me and i let out a battle roar as sparks flew off of my body and soon a large bolt of lightning fired from my chest into the swarm of wasps. the bolt hit one wasp and jumped to every other one after it and so on. with one shot i managed to take down at least 30 wasps.
i kept up my onslaught of elemental rage as i fired spikes of ice from the ground, summoned tornados of fire, shot lightning, froze enemies in their tracks, cause quakes and rifts, even shot up geysers of lava into the air. the king stood behind me in the safety zone i had technically created and he watched in awe as i performed impossible feats of both magic and nature. i kept on my onslaught and kept on killing wasp after wasp for what felt like only minutes to me but what must have been half an hour. and soon there were just no more wasps. there was a lack of corpses because of my use of lava which melted away at them.
when i stopped i finally settled down and went back to glowing just a regular white and using light attacks now. with that burst of elemental energy also came with the knowledge to use it and now i know how to use those attacks i just did. i looked around at the wasteland of death i had created. puddles of magma, torched frozen and skewered corpses, rifts and spikes of earth jetted from the ground, and there were countless corpses laying dead on the ground whether they be froze, burnt, shocked, or mutilated. i started to calm down further and regained my original composure and started breathing more lightly. i let out a deep sigh and took in an equally deep breath of air.
"that was quite the show... there really aren't any words to describe what you just did except impossible." said the king.
"thank you..." i said. "but i don't like taking pride in showing off... i never had." i said standing back up as me and the king made our way past the hollow of corpses and dead wasps. "once again i didn't know i could do any of that... i sort of snapped, and unlocked that new kind of power."
"does that happen often?" asked the king as we made our way closer and closer to the door.
"there is a point of battle that i usually call 'the breaking point' and that was it." i said. "when i fight i don't go all in because i don't want to do more harm than i need too... and usually when the enemy is stronger than me i can't build back up my maximum energy because of the damage i've already taken in battle so i'm still not as strong... but at the one point before i know i might die i somehow manage to tap into my full power and usually it shows me something new... like what i just did."
"hmm... alright then." he said as we stood in front of the door leaving the hive. i pushed the two huge, iron, double doors open and we started making our way into the hallway to the next room and the next challenge. the ground was made of square, stone bricks and was covered in moss and plants sprouting up from the ground. there were vines hanging from the cave walls and ferns tucked away and sprouting in the cracks of the stone bricks. it was so nice and calming now instead of creepy and foreboding like the last three. the only lights left where the two large blue lines running straight through the floor and the green ones carving through the walls.
"so what could be in this next one... it was some kind of nature habitat." i said.
"it could be anything..." he said. "but i wouldn't be too sure it's as easy as the last ones... it's probably only going to grow harder from here." he said making a good point. i kept my guard up even though we weren't in the cave yet. the path to this one was rather short and we found ourselves standing before the green lit door in no time at all. i looked over the door and we both stood before it. i took a deep breath like with the other doors and got ready to open the door. "are you ready?" asked king sapphire.
"yeah..." i said putting my hooves against each door of the next challenge. i leaned forward and put my weight and strength into the doors. the huge double doors flew open to reveal the next room. and it wasn't what i was expecting at all. there were no empty spaces, no monsters or sharp objects. it was simply... beautiful. those might be the only words i can think of to describe the next room. me and the king walked in and we were greeted by bright, almost sun like, light and fresh air. to say the least even i was taken back by this.
the ground was soft and warm. there was no stone or rock, but it was dirt and grass. large looming trees sprouted up all around us. there was just a small patch of grass where we were standing. there was a large waterfall spilling out from the top of the room far away to out right. it broke off into several smaller waterfalls as the walls took on an almost cliff like structure. the whole place was huge too. at least two miles long all around. everything was so green. there were birds, and bugs, and even small animals. it was like paradise but underground. the bright sun like light was coming from a large bright crystal glowing past the waterfall to our right. the air was somehow fresh and not thick like the rest of the cave air.
for the first time the doors didn't slam shut behind us but instead slowly and quietly swung closed. we both just looked around and seemed awestruck. the ceiling was so high you almost couldn't even see it. there were trees everywhere and huge mushrooms, ferns, flowers, and all kinds of other plants. in front of us there were two paths. they were just grass paths where trees and plants don't grow so thickly. i looked over and saw a few humming bird's swarmed around a bushel of bell shaped flowers and sucking out the pollen. the chirping of birds filled the air and it was complemented with the soft crashing of the waterfall. how does a place like this even exist... there has to be some kind of catch.
" there must be a catch..." I said walking forward and feeling the cool damp grass under my hooves, being on the road for so long and in a winter mountain has made me forget how nice the grass feels on my bare hooves. I stopped glowing and relaxed as my armor faded and I was exposed now. " but I can't think of one."
" maybe it's like a maze or something?" Said king sapphire.
" yeah that might be it..." I said. " I think we should take this path here..." I said pointing to the path to our right. The king nodded and we started walking down the grassy path. There was a fallen tree in the way but we just walked over it. This whole place was beautiful, simply beautiful. We walked around and soon enough a low flowing creek cut through the path. It was moving pretty fast but it didn't matter since it was so shallow. We trotted right through it and continued down the path.
We saw birds and squirrels and even a few deer walking around the place. I saw trees and bushes growing rare and exotic fruit that I had only heard of before. I walked over to one tree that was growing a fruit I knew as passion fruit and picked one off the brach. I looked at it and it seemed just fine. I took a bite and it tasted even better. There weren't just passion fruit but dragon fruit, grape fruit, star fruit... And there were straw berry bushes and raspberries. All finds of fruit everywhere. I could live down here with absolutely nothing and be pretty well off.
" are you sure you should be eating that?" Asked king sapphire. " it could be poisoned or something."
" if it was poisoned I would know, and it isn't." I said. " and even if it was and I ate it... It would have to be pretty tough poison to make my stomach even churn just a little... It's fine, try some." I said. He shrugged and reached up to one of the trees and plucked off a star fruit and bit into it. He smiled and at the rest of the fruit. I did the same and we kept walking along and enjoying whatever fruit we came by.
We walked down the path and the next thing we came by was a huge lake that the waterfalls drained into. It wasn't much of a lake rather than a really big pond. There was seaweed at the bottom and some pretty large fish. We stood there and the air soon filled with the sound of singing. It was beautiful and almost mesmerizing. We looked around and followed the singing and to me and king sapphires surprise the next thing we saw was a field of rocky terrain near the waterfall that was crawling with mermaids. Yes... Mermaids.
" my god..." Said the king. " actual mermaids... I never... Never thought I would see them with my own eyes." He said.
" I've had dealing with mermaids before... A while back."
" you have!" He said very surprised looking over to me. " what are they like?" He asked as I looked past him at the mermaids and saw we had grabbed their attention. There must have been at least 15 of them.
" they're interesting creatures..." I said. " they can be tricky and devious, but loving and kind... Just watch yourself around them." I said as I noticed them diving into the water. I followed their shadows and they were swimming right over to us. But they turned to the left and swam over to a group of large rocks over near the shore of the lake. They swam up and climbed rot onto the rocks laying down like how most people or ponies would imagine they would lay down. We both looked over and watched as one of the, with a bluish purple tail and silky black hair beckoned us over. Even though they were just underwater, the mermaids hair looked dry and shiny. They must have some kind of oil that keeps water off... Like a duck or something.
" should we go over?" Asked sapphire.
" sure... They might be able to help us." I said taking a few steps over. We started walking over to the group of mermaids and as we grew closer they started smiling seductively which was throwing me off. I'm not sure it that's just how all mermaids smiled or if they were planning something. We walked over and stood by the jetty of rocks and water and one of the mermaids sort of slithered over using her tail like a snake and crawling along.
" well what do we have here?" She asked looking over the two of us.
" I think they're pony folk." Said one of the mermaids behind the one in front of us. She had a green tail and red hair. She smiled directly at me.
" ah yes... Then pony folk... Land dwellers." She said. " what brings you down into the twilight caverns." She said.
" so the twilight caverns is what you're calling them." I said. " never the less we need to get passed here."
" I am king sapphire... And this is my aid crimson blast... We are here seeking the sword of kings." He said taking charge and stepping forward.
" my apologies your highness." Said the mermaid in a sarcastic sounding tone but still somewhat sinister and sincere at the same time. " whatever can we do off you." She said smiling and bowing a little bit.
" there should be a door at the end of this cavern..." He said. " we need to know how to get to it." He said.
" the door is just down this path... It's a long journey... But I'm sure you can handle it." She said. The king nodded and turned to leave and I did as well. " oh but my king if your going to get through that door you'll need the seasons staff..." She said grabbing our attention.
" and where is that?" I asked turning around and facing them.
" in the center of the twilight caverns... In the garden of eternity... But you'll have to get past the forest guardians to get it." She said. So that's the catch huh.
" where is the garden of eternity?" Asked king sapphire.
"you sure do ask a lot of questions for an all knowing king." She said making the mermaids behind her giggle. " don't you listen... It's in the center of the garden."
" we can just fly up and seek it out." I said spreading my wings.
" won't work." Said the mermaid turning around and bending backwards to look at us.
" what do you mean it won't work?" It asked.
" you can fly up... But the garden is hidden by powerful magic, you won't be able to fly to it or see it from the sky." She said. I didn't believe her. I flapped my wings and flew high up into the air. I started spinning around and looked over the whole landscape for this garden place. There was no sign of some kind of garden of eternity. Just trees and grassy plains. A growled a bit at the inconvenience and flew right back down. I hit the found with force and looked over to the mermaids. The king could easily tell that I had not found anything and that the mermaids were right. " enjoy the view?" She asked making the others giggle.
" where is the way to the garden?" Asked the king.
" we don't know." She said smiling. I just glared at her.
" fine then..." I said. " I think we should head back and try that other path we saw in the start." I said. The king nodded and we walked away as the mermaids dived back down into the walked back past the trees and out of the view of the large lake. We passed by all the familiar fruit trees and I grabbed a fruit from the tree and ate it trying to release some of this stress. It worked pretty well actually and I had forgotten all about the mermaids. We kept walking and I started glowing again and my armor reformed on my body. I kept my guard up knowing there are guardians in this forest.
Soon enough we found ourselves back at the first door we passed through and we looked over to see the other path cutting through the forest and walked over to it. We started walking down the path and into the forest. This area was much thicker than the last one and the trees grew taller here. Other than that it was pretty much the same. Lots of animals and fruit throughout the whole forest and the path was just a clear grass path. The trees cast a cooling shadow and the air was crisp and cool, it was the perfect temperature... Somewhere around 70.
We wandered through the path and it was mostly a straight shot. There were no other paths that branched off from it and not much else around to distract us or pull us off into a different direction. We kept going forward and I noticed that the trees above us started arching over and soon I don't of us there was almost a complete tunnel of trees leading towards a new place. We both noticed this and thought it was strange but continued anyway. We walked up to the brim of the arch and started passing under it. It soon turned out to be longer than I expected as we soon got a better look from inside. It almost seemed to grow once we passed under it.
We kept walking and looked up as the branches above curved over our heads and slid together in place. This didn't look like any kind of creation, but it was natural... The trees decided to grow this way. We kept walking forward and the grass would press down and coil under our hooves as we walked. Soon the light of the other side grew brighter and brighter as we made our way out of the tunnel of trees. I smiled and was about to speak but there was a pound bang. Soon a large beast seemed to fall from out of nowhere and landed right in front of us. It was a huge hulking monster with hatred in its eyes.
It was a Minotaur. A huge bull like monster with a ring through its nose and large horns sticking form the side of its head. It was wearing torn chainmail armor with some kind of torn cloth clothing under it. It was holding a large double edged battle axe that looked like it was made from stone, but just as sharp as steel. It took a deep breath and steam shot from its nostrils. It's flayed tail waved calmly back and forth behind it and its huge hooves left deep imprints in the ground. It had three gold rings pierced through its right ear and its fur was a dark brown... Almost black even.
You have no business here... Leave." He said in a deep booming voice gripping the handle of his axe tightly with both hands.
" I am king sapphire..." Said the king. " we demand to retrieve the seasons staff."
" the minotauren bow to no king..." He said stepping forward a bit trying to ward us back. " you must leave this place... There is nothing here for you."
" we must use the staff to get through the door and retrieve the sapphire sword from the tomb of kings." Said king sapphire. I sat back and watched them argue and bicker. I still had my guard up just in case this got ugly.
" who told you this lie..." Said the Minotaur. " it was the mermaids wasn't it... Those vile wretches." Said the Minotaur putting his ale down and dragging it on the ground. He let out a deep breath. " come... I will explain." He said turning and going down the path. King sapphire looked at me and I just shrugged. I didn't sense any danger but I still didn't put my guard down. We followed the large beast that towered several feet above the both of us. He started leading us down a beautiful garden path with bushes and shrubs and exotic plants instead of a forest.
" is this the garden of eternity?" Asked king sapphire.
" yes... This is the garden of eternity, and the home of the minotauren." He said as we waved through the hedges and plants. As we kept walking I soon started to notice that the garden was instead a maze.
" wait..." I said. " this is a labyrinth." The Minotaur looked back to me and seemed to nod his head in agreement.
" yes... It is the only way to get to the garden of eternity. All minotauren must memorize the paths of the labyrinth and guard it from intruders... Especially those wicked mermaids."
" how can mermaids get to this place?" Asked the king.
" they have some sort of magic about them." Replied the Minotaur. " they have fins but can grow legs when they slither onto land... We call them shore serpents." He said leading us around the maze making turns and twists every here and there. The place was much like a garden though with wide open spaces. But suddenly there was another sound of thundering footsteps as around one of the corners another large Minotaur appeared. It was different than the one we were following however.
This one was more slim and lean than our muscular and hulking guide. It didn't take long to realize this one was a female. She had on striped cloth and chain armor like our guide but of different colors and style. She had full plate shoulder guards that were spiked and curved. She didn't have any horns on her head but a flock of fur that could be taken as hair. She had three gold piercings on one ear and two emerald piercing on the other ear. Her fur was light brown and more silky than the other Minotaur's fur. She held a large plain spear in her hand. On her wrists were golden cuff like bracelets. Her tail swayed gently back and forth behind her and she didn't seem very happy, rather disappointed actually.
" grokk..." She said in a deep but very feminine voice as she seemed to address our guide. I guess his name was grokk. " what are you doing leading these two outsiders through our maze... You aren't planning on bringing them to the garden are you?" She said holding her spear up to grokk ,our guide.
" I am..." He said. " I believe that they can help us get our revenge on the mermaids." He said.
" we must destroy all intruders..." Said the other Minotaur. " now destroy them before I do."
" enough of this Mirra." He said. " they are worthy... Let me pass with them."
" they only want the staff... We cannot trust them."
" let them pass..." Said grokk. He snorted steam from his nostrils and dropped his axe. Mirra the female Minotaur dropped her spear and propped her arms up and snorted out stem too and scraped her hoof on the ground. I don't think I like where this is going. They both had an angry look in their eyes and they stared relentlessly at each other. It was a pretty pointless thing to start a fight over, but for the sake of making a bad pun, they are pretty bull headed. And soon enough they charged at each other.
They clashed and both stopped at an equal force and locked hands. They pushed and pulled on each other and soon our guide grokk threw Mirra to the ground. Mirra swept his legs and he fell. She moved on top of them and they went at it like two bulls... Literally. They back up only to charge again. They wrestled and wrestled on the ground as me and the king backed up so we didn't get squashed in case they decided to roll over onto us. This had escalated pretty quickly and they went at it like enemies even though they are the same race.
Grokk sat behind Mirra keeping her in a choke hold but she reached back and grabbed his horns. She rolled forward and pulled grokk with her. She was laying on top of him now and they locked hands again. They both pushed back and charged again. They both met with equal force and met in a stalemate. They both gripped each others hands and pushed trying to knock the other one back. They kept this up for a while breathing deeply and snorting out steam. This was obviously a waste of time and did not help us in any way. King sapphire looked back at me with a bit of a bored face and he glanced at me.
" you wouldn't mind stopping this, would you?" He asked. I smiled and started to take a few steps forward.
" I was just about to." I said. I took a few steps forward and stood before the two large beasts as they fought to prove some kind of superiority. I looked over at them and spoke up. " HEY!" I said in a loud voice. It obviously wasn't loud enough for them to hear over their own hearts beating and their heavy breathing and thrashing. " HEY," I said again but louder this time. Still no response. "STOP NOW!" I said in a deep demonic voice that boomed over the whole cave and frightened every single creature in the forest. It even blew the trees back and might have deafened a few small animals in the process. This of course grabbed their attention as the force of my shout actually pushed them back away from each other.
" do not intervene pony..." Said grokk.
" you have some nerve, intruder." Said Mirra. " once I'm done with this pitiful fool I'll take care of you and the other one." She said. She ran back at grokk and he did the same.
" NO YOU WON'T." I said in a loud voice again. Chains of black shadows fired up from the ground and my armor turned a deep black and my eyes glowed a soulless black. It had been a while since I decided to use my dark side. The chains shot up from the ground and broke through and wrapped around each of them. They stopped them in their tracks and pulled them down to their knees. I spread my wings which were covered in black shadow like smoke and floated up to the two of them who were only feet apart. " I am going to take care of this... And I'm doing it my way..." I said.
" what demon are you." Said Mirra.
" demon is the wrong title..." I said. " now... You two are going to stop fighting, NOW. and bring me and king sapphire to the garden of eternity... I do not wish to hurt anypony... But I will not stand by as things fly out of control." I said. The female Minotaur struggled to get free of the chains but it was no use. Grokk accepted his restraints and just watched knowing this wasn't a trap. Eventually after a bit of struggling pointlessly Mirra let out a deep sigh of defeat.
" fine..." She said. I smiled and released the chains and they burst into smoke and vanished. I floated back down to the ground and my original bright white glow returned and covered the darkness. " I will let you pass to the garden of eternity... Maybe grokk will be right this time... But I'm watching you." She said getting up with grokk and me and king sapphire returned behind grokk as he took the lead through the maze. We passed by Mirra who glared at us and followed from behind. We continued winding down the maze. And soon enough we came through an opening to what I had to guess was the garden of eternity.
It was a large open circle surrounded in a circle of tall green hedges. There was a small pond in the middle of the whole thing and in the pond was a small island with a large rock on it. In the rock was a staff. It had a rose stem shaft with a etched out snowflake inside an outline on the sun. That must be the seasons staff. Around the lake were beds of flowers and trees and all kinds of exotic plants and trees. It was probably the most impressive feat of nature I've ever seen in my life. We stepped inside and looked around. Grokk and Mirra stood on the sides of us.
" now that you have seen the garden of eternity it's time for you to leave." Said Mirra.
" but we need the seasons staff to unlock the doors to the tomb of kings." Said king sapphire.
" you never said anything about taking the staff." She said getting defensive and leaping out in front and pulling her spear up on guard. " you cannot take the staff... I won't let you." She said rearing her spear up and snorting steam from her nostrils.
" calm down Mirra..." Said grokk. " they aren't going to take the staff... It would be useless to them." He said. I seemed confused but he turned around and faced us. " the mermaids told you that..."
" the mermaids..." Said Mirra alertly as she cut off grokk. " they're working with the mermaids."
" no were not." I said. She seemed to take reason to my voice possibly fearing I would start shouting again.
" the mermaids have tricked them." Said grokk. " they sent them here to take the staff and destroy the garden."
" we weren't going to destroy the garden... We just wanted the staff." Said king sapphire.
" and in taking the staff you would destroy the garden of eternity... The staffs power is what's keeping this place alive." Said grokk. " the minotauren and the mermaids have been at war since the beginning. They tricked you into thinking the staff would open the door to the outer world, but it doesn't."
" so can we just go through the door." Asked the king.
" no... It is true that you do require a key to the door but it is not the staff." He said. " each of our sides has a power that fuels us. The staff keeps the garden alive and thriving. And the mermaids have their own weakness, the rivers pride. It's what keeps water flowing through the twilight caverns. Unfortunately we need water too, but the mermaids wouldn't be affected if all the plant life and animals on the surface withered and died... And that's what they are trying to do."
" so where is this key you spoke of." Asked the king
" the mermaids have it... It used to lie in the circle of growth, outside of the garden... But they stole it in hopes it would give them an edge in our war... It hasn't done much... I can see now how they could trick adventurers like yourselves into doing their work in exchange for the key." Said grokk
" I hate to ask..." Said Mirra. " but it would be a grand effort in this war if you would assist us."
" we'll as long as they have the key I don't see a reason not to." Said the king.
" so you will do this for us?" Asked grokk. Me and king sapphire both looked at each other with an equal expression of understanding, we both knew it was the only way forward.
" yes we will." Said king sapphire. " we won't ask for anything in return except the use of the key so that we can unlock the door... You can have it back afterwards." He said. The two Minotaur's smiled.
" it's a deal." Said Mirra. We both smiled. We agreed to head out to the lake again and Mirra and grokk lead us out of the maze and back down through the tunnel of tree limbs and branches. This whole thing is taking far too long and it must be well past noon already. We kept walking and we all left the garden and the tunnel of trees to enter the rest of the cave. We started walking down the path and found the door to the entrance again. We wade down the other path to the lake and the mermaids. Soon enough we grew close to the lake but still out of view. I stopped and so did the others... I had a plan.
" what is it." Asked king sapphire.
" I have a plan." I said.
" well... Lets hear it sorcerer." Said Mirra.
" first, you and grokk should stay back and and keep out of sight so they don't get thrown off when they see you." I said the two Minotaur's nodded in agreement. " and I think I should go alone." I said.
" why... I can help you." Said king sapphire.
" but can you breathe underwater?" I asked him. He stopped.
" that's true...," he said. " you're the only one who can go through with this really."
" so what is you're plan once you go." Asked grokk.
" first I'm going to earn their trust and seem like I'm still on their side. I'll criminalize you as the enemy and lie about being overpowered by the minotauren... I'll ask for help and hopefully they'll bring me to their palace or whatever they have. Once their trust is earned I will destroy them."
" I like that plan." Said Mirra smiling.
" alright... You go." Said king sapphire. " me and the Minotaur will stay up here and keep out of sight... Good luck." He said. I smiled and nodded. I turned around and started walking down the path again. There was still some path between being seen by the lake and where I just left. When I was out of the vow form everyone I decided to take things a step further and make it look convincing. What I did next I'm not too happy to have done but I was in hardcore mode now... Learned all of this stuff in advanced marine training.
I used my magic to summon a sharp knife and kept it at my side. I started tearing apart my armor like I had been battle worn. I stuck my hoof and rubbed it around in the ground and grabbed some dirt. I started rubbing it on myself making it seem like I had been thrown around. I also started hitting myself in certain places to create instant bruises. I took the knife... And started slashing myself... Nothing serious. A few cuts here and there. I had to grit my teeth to keep from gasping out In pain. After that I let the knife disappear and I was all battle wounded... It looked very convincing if I say so myself.
With that unfortunate scene done i kept going forward and faked a limp to make it seem even more convincing. So I faked a limp all the way down the rest of the path and to the clearing of the lake. I walked over and looked around. There were no signs of mermaids but I knew they were there and probably watching. I limped my way over to the jetty of rocks that we met at the first time and grew closer and closer. And to my luck the mermaids spouted up from the water and crawled up onto the large rocks and smiled at me. They didn't seem mad that I didn't have the staff. I walked over and stood before them as the mermaid from before with the black hair spoke up.
" look at you..." She said. " mr. Tough guy... I did forget to mention the slight detail of the maze..." She said.
" and the Minotaur's." I said glaring at her.
" I said there would be guardians." She said.
" you didn't mention a horde of them." I said.
" speaking of which... Where is his royal highness." Asked one of the mermaids behind the first one.
" we got separated in the maze... He's most likely dead." I said. " and as you can see I still don't have what I need."
" ah yes the staff..." Said the black haired mermaid. " well since we're so kind enough to help you as much as we did, I suppose we could help you further... Come, swim with us in the lake." She said as she and the other mermaids sliced back into the water and floated near the top beckoning me in. I limped across the jetty of rocks and slipped into the water.
I sunk down under the water and took a deep breath and let the water clean my self inflicted wounds and cuts. The mermaids surprisingly swam down to me and smiled. The lake was pretty deep near the edge but it didn't take me long to sink down to the bottom and brush my hooves against the sandy bottom of the lake. I took in another breath and let my lungs fill with water. I breathed out but instead of air coming out it was just water. I wasn't pulling oxygen from the water but I was breathing the water instead, just like the mermaids were. They swam over and circled around me smiling.
" breathing underwater are we." Said the black haired mermaid. " that's a nifty trick... Makes our job much easier to... Come with us, we can go to the city and find you some help... My father should be able to help you." She said as she started to swim away and her group of mermaids followed her. I did the same and swam with them using my wings. I could swim through the water and flap my wings so easily with was pretty much just like flying, but with less gravity. I swam with them and we came to a large tunnel just above us on the ground being hidden by the waterfall.
They swam up and crawled up onto the edge of the cave and their fins and tails glowed brightly and separated and changed into appendages. They were almost completely human now... Except for the gills. But this seemed to astound me but I knew i could easily change into a human as well, but I don't want to give that away yet. I crawled up onto the edge of the cave and climbed into the cave and coughed out water as air filled my lungs again. I looked over at the mermaids and they were now all completely naked and sitting down on rocks waiting for me to stop coughing up water.
" are you ready?" Asked the black haired mermaid.
" ready for what?" I asked in confusion. This cave didn't seem to go anywhere and had a visible end that I could see from here.
" well first we need to heal those wounds and fix you up... And me and my girls know just how to do that." She said with a sinister smiled as she got up with the others and they walked over to me. I backed up a bit and my ears fell to my side. I went to take another step back but my hoof slipped on the edge of the cave and I almost fell in again. Before I could move they grabbed me and pulled me into their cluster of naked bodies and laid me down on the somewhat warm and comfortable cave floor as they surrounded me.
Oh crap... Not this again.
-Authors Note: sorry to keep you guys waiting on some of this stuff, but i'm starting to burn myself out. i need to take a break... so i will. im going to take the next week off to relax and take a break. and i cant promise you guys an update every day now. i can try and do one every other day but its getting harder. i hope you guys saw my other new story and have checked it out. i'll be writing that one every now and then in my spare time. so stay safe, stay sober... and all that stuff, and stay shady.-End of Note-