Ch.15: Entering the Strange World of the Magic Tunnel! Be Prepared for the Living Cave!
Rock and dirt crumbled from the ceiling after the cave in. The ringing echoing deeply in the Umbreon's ears was murder on his headache. Nothing but endless buzzing. He wanted to lay here and sleep off the pain. But he knew he couldn't stay here in one place. Especially since he had no idea where he was right.
"Okay…one, two…three!" He lifted his aching body off the ground, groaning from the sore, but dull numbness that surrounded him. It felt like he got massaged by mallets, then a rolling pin. He has felt aches like this before. Once again, not the first time he has fallen down a large hole in the ground. Happened to him about…five other times, if he could recall. Although, this is the first time he has fallen down one in a Magic Tunnel, so first time for that, he supposed.
He looked up and checked out his surroundings. It looked like the secluded cavern he was in earlier, the difference being it was secluded. There was multiple tunnels surrounding him. Different paths, one way to the key. Shouldn't be too hard to navigate. He still had the map.
He stood up and stretched. "Alright guys, get up! We need to get to the key before the Desert Beasts do!" He looked around for his traveling buddies, then frowned upon seeing only one unconscious body in his general vicinity: Arid.
He and Arid were the only ones present here. The others must have got scattered during the fall. With all the tunnels present in the cave system, it's likely the hole they fell in dropped them into a cluster of caves, separating the treasure hunters and the pirates from each other.
There were two problems with that. One, his friends were going to get horribly lost. And two, he had no way of tracking the other pirates, making this even worse for him. With no way of knowing where someone is, he won't be able keep track of them and incapacitate them so he can get to his treasure.
He rubbed his face. "Ugh, this is a nightmare…"
Fortunately, his friends were perfectly capable of surviving on their own, so he shouldn't be too worried. What really had him concerned was what triggered the cave in. He had to agree with Drake's earlier comment. Something about this cave didn't seem right. He could have sworn he heard a growl. Not like a sound similar to a growl with two lands masses sliding against each other or something like that. He definitely heard a loud, unnatural growl from a monster.
It couldn't be the shadows. They were nowhere to be seen. Meaning, there was something else in this cave they had to watch out for. The issue with that was he had no idea what to look out for or what the possible dangers he could be in are. All he did know was it caused the cave in that separated him from his friends.
Even if he found the key, he would need to handle whatever was protecting in on his own. Then there's the issue with finding everyone IF he gets the key, which could take hours.
He narrowed his eyes as he heard the pirate captain behind him wake up. He supported himself on his massive glove and stood up. "Ugh…haven't had a fall that bad since that time in Marine City…" He looked around. "Sound off, crew! Who is present?"
"Here, Captain Monkeybutt," Wes announced with a smirk.
The Darmanitan faced him and glared. "Ravenfield…" His glove glowed brightly. Dust particles constricted around the ground and crushed it up into sand. A giant sand cannon stood tall and aimed down at the Umbreon. "What have you done with my crew?"
He calmly raised his paws. "Cease fire, cap. I didn't do anything to your crew." He chuckled. "On the contrary, this whole mess is your fault."
He snorted smoke from his nostrils. "You dare make flimsy accusations towards me?"
"I told you to stop digging in the ground, you twat. You're the one who started the cave in."
He glared up at the ceiling. "Where did we fall from?"
The treasure hunter looked around. "Hard to say. There are so many paths here that it's hard to tell where to go."
"This is most troublesome. My crew could be anywhere in this blasphemous cave."
"Same with my friends." He glanced at him curiously.
Something about the cave didn't seem right to Wes. All he did know is that, if there was another cave in, he won't be prepared for it. Arid, however, could keep them both from getting killed. His plan? Work with a pirate.
Not an idea he was proud of, but it was their only option. Wes had the map and Arid had the glove. It was their only way of surviving and finding their way through the cave.
He sighed and turned to the captain. "Alright Arid, here's the deal. We're both in the same boat…well, metaphorically speaking. I mean, you drive a flying boat and I do most of my traveling by walking-"
"Get to the point, maggot," Arid deadpanned.
"Heh, right. Point is, I'm the only one who can get us through this cave. And you are the only one to keep us from dying. Plus, we both need to find our friends. So, the way I see it, we'll work together and find our way through here. Once we find them all or when we get to the treasure room, all bets are off."
"A temporary partnership, is it?" He closed his eyes to give it some thought. "…very well, Ravenfield." He extended his hand and shook his paw. He gripped it tightly. "But the moment we find the treasure room, you're dead."
He smiled happily and patted his back. "Wouldn't have it any other way."
"Don't touch me." He retracted his paw. The Darmanitan stepped forward. "Now then, which way should we go?"
He took the map out. "One of these tunnels has to lead us to the treasure room, so let's see…"
Out of nowhere, the cave shook again. They stood their ground and waited for the mini quake to end. Rubble from the ceiling rained down on their heads for a brief moment. The quake stopped, much to their relief.
"What in the name of Davy Jones' locker is going on here? Are we near some earthquake zone or something?"
Wes narrowed his eyes. "I heard something growling earlier. There might be something here triggering earthquakes."
"What could be doing that?"
"Well, some Pokémon live in magic tunnels. There could be locals who are frightened by our appearance."
He groaned. "Crazy locals…of course."
"Though, now that I'm getting a good look at this place, this doesn't seem like a suitable living location. I'm sensing a strong current of magic in the air." He narrowed his eyes at the energy surrounding them, but shook his head, feeling it wasn't too important…for now. "Forget it. We have to focus on the task at hand." He help up his map and revealed the path. "Alright, this way." He went into a tunnel, followed by Arid.
The captain kept a vigilant eye out for any unusual activities. His past with magic was already rough, so he had a hard time trusting anything with magic, the exception being his trusty gauntlet. Even so, he could tell there was something very wrong about their new setting. They were in a location that went against any form of logic. So far, it felt like a normal cave. That's the part that was making him suspicious.
Wes was more or less in the same boat as him. He was use to magic, of course, but the lack of magical activity, aside from the magic current flowing the air, was making him cautious. Everything was too normal for his tastes, especially for a magical dimension of all things. There was a presence nearby that he needed to keep his guard up for.
As the two enemies made their way through the tunnel, the rock and gravel of the floor rose up and took a humanoid shape. Red eyes peered from the face of the figure before it returned into the ground.
Flint laid dizzily on the ground. He couldn't feel his hat on his head. It must have rolled off after the fall. He didn't want to get up. He took a pretty big fall. Not enough to leave him completely unable to move, but enough to leave him feeling miserable. He wanted to rest his eyes for a bit before he got up.
Sadly, someone kept poking his side. It was irritating for the Flareon. Here he was, trying to rest, and there was some jerk poking him like he was dead. Did he look dead or something?
Feeling annoyed, he shot up and shouted at the people bugging him. "WHAT?!"
Jeffery squawked and jumped back, hiding behind Ray. "Ease up, bucko! We were just making sure you weren't dead!"
Ray deadpanned and looked up at the Chatot on his head. "I told you he was alive. You just want to make sure he was unconscious so we can steal his belongings."
He glared furiously. "If I were the captain, I would have kicked you off a long time ago!"
He smirked. "Please, like I'm afraid of a small fry like you."
"I'm older than you, brat!"
Flint stood up and searched for his hat. He found it just a few meters away from him. He walked over and picked it up. "Jeffery, even I'm not afraid of you," he mentioned, dusting his hat off before neatly putting it on his head. "Also, I don't have anything to steal, so don't bother with me."
He groaned, then looked around worriedly. "I hope the captain is alright."
"Probably relieved to have you off his shoulder…" Ray muttered.
"I heard that, brat!" he squawked loudly.
Flint rubbed his ears in annoyance. "Look, I have no time to be bothering with you two. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to find the rest of my team." He started walking into the tunnels.
Ray rolled his eyes and followed behind, with Jeffery perched on his head. "You won't get through on your own."
He narrowed his eyes at them. "So you're just going to follow me until we meet up with either my friends or the other Desert Beasts?"
"That's the idea."
He sighed, then turned his attention forward. "Whatever. But the moment you try anything, you'll regret it."
"Like how you feel towards Jeffery, I don't hold you in the same regards, Ravenfield," the Shinx said. "We both know you're not a fighter. I, however, have been in plenty of fights to have an edge over you."
"And I'll have a counter for each and every one of them." He sighed and shook his head. "I can't believe I'm arguing with a kid about this."
Jeffery crossed his wings. "Hmph! Well, the way I see it, we need to stick together in order to survive. As second in command of the Desert Beasts, I nominate myself as leader!"
Ray narrowed his eyes. "With plenty of offense, I'd rather have Ravenfield here lead us. At least he can use magic and has the brains to survive."
He growled. "You dare question my ability to lead?!" He flew forward and face them. "I'll have you know my leadership skills are superior to the likes of you lowlifes! I'm also our top navigator! Captain Arid put me in charge as his second in command knowing how well my skills are!"
Ray rolled his eyes and decided to amuse him. "Very well, glorious leader. Where should we go?"
"Good question! We…" He turned around, then his beak dropped in shock. There were hundreds of tunnels to go down. Anyone of them could lead them to the others. His eyes twitched as he tried to pick one. "I…well…"
Ray smirked. "What's wrong? Weren't you boasting earlier about you AMAZING navigation skills?"
Flint smirked along with him. "I need to see this for myself."
The Chatot squawked wildly, flailing his wings. "Of course I can navigate through this place! I'm the lead navigator for a reason!" He scouted out the multiple entrances for one of interest. "Hmm…aha! This one looks most suitable!" He flew ahead. "Come along, we have much ground to cover."
Ray narrowed his eyes. "This should be good." He and Flint followed along.
The cave dripped with water, leading them to believe there was water running through it. Aside from their movement and the water droplets, it was oddly quiet. Sounds of their teams' echoes couldn't be heard. This cave must have been bigger than they thought. Their main concern was what they could encounter down here. Flint was especially concerned since he knew what they were looking for, since it'll likely be heavily guarded. How was he going to get through this cave unscathed? How was he going to get through at all? The entire system looked like it stretched on for miles.
He sighed and rubbed his head. What he wouldn't give for a soda or something. He needed some caffeine in him.
"What's on your mind?" He blinked back into reality and looked down at the young Shinx. "Well? What's up?"
He shook his head. "Nothing…I just want to get out of this cave as soon as possible. I have to find that treasure."
He raised a brow. "I'm quite surprised. I expected your brother to be the only one dead set on finding gold or something. Why are you interested in this treasure?"
"That's none of your concern. I can't have you or any of the Desert Beasts knowing about it."
"Ooh, a secret?" Jeffery chirped in. "That treasure must be REALLY important."
Flint glared at the bird. "I'd watch it if I were you. I'm not someone to be taken lightly."
"I'm merely curious, Ravenfield. You and your friends put us through quite the trouble to get this far. Whatever this treasure is has become our concern now. We'll be the ones to collect it once it is discovered."
He snarled. "I won't let you get your greedy talons on it."
He laughed out loud, his squawk echoing through the caves. Far away from their location, the earth shifted, then began moving towards them.
"Do you honestly think a mere supporter is any of my concern? The Desert Beasts are one of the most feared pirate gangs in the entire region. I will not be threatened by a lowly, lackluster treasure hunter such as you stand in my way."
He built up within Flint's mouth. He tried to keep himself from scorching the bird's feathers off. "If you've seen the things I had to fight along the way here, you'll know that you are a shrimp compared to them." He leaned close with his eyes narrowed. "So let me make this clear. You aren't getting that treasure without getting passed me."
He smirked. "You couldn't lead your way out of a box!"
Ray walked ahead and tapped the bird's back. "I'd keep my taunts at a minimum, Jeff."
"What are you blabbering about now?" His beak dropped in shock.
The pathway in front of them was completely gone. There was nothing but darkness at the bottom of the dark abyss below. A pathway can be seen in front of them, but it was too far away to jump across.
"I…but I…could have sworn…"
"Yeah, well you thought wrong. Congrats, glorious navigator. You led us to a dead end."
"What did I say about shutting up, brat?!"
"To keep talking until you turn red in the face?" he replied in boredom.
"ARG!" He banged his head against the wall in frustration.
He shook his head. "Well, getting to the treasure certainly won't be easy. We may have to turn around and try another path…which could take hours."
Jeffery grumbled. "Stupid cave…" He kicked the wall furiously. "I HOPE THIS ENTIRE PLACE IS DESTROYED!"
"Will you get a hold of yourself?!" Flint shouted. "We don't want to irritate whatever lives down here." He looked around cautiously. "Look, let's turn back and try another tunnel."
He scoffed and flew ahead. "Says you! I'm the only one who can fly here! See ya later, suckers!"
He came close to going through the path, but there was a little snag. A wall of rock rose out of the ground and stopped him in his tracks. He groaned in pain, then felt a sudden jab in his side. A rock column shot from the wall and launched him back to the other two. They jumped out of the way as he flew pass them, hitting the ground with a loud thud.
He groaned in pain. "My sides…oh the pain…"
Ray looked back at the wall in surprise. "The heck was that? Is someone using magic?"
Flint looked around carefully. Something wasn't right. He couldn't sense a magical disturbance when the rock wall and column formed. That meant they were dealing with a Ground-Type with a great control of the earth or…
The ground rumbled again. Their heads shot up in shock when a loud growl echoed through the caves. The growl was unnatural and raspy, sounding as if it came from a monster or beast.
"What is in this cave?" the Shinx mumbled.
They gasped as rock spires shot out of the walls, nearly impaling them. One grazed Flint's cheek, with a drop of blood sliding down his face. Like before, there wasn't any disturbances. What was causing all of this?
Jeffery shot up and roared angrily. "I have had it with this cockamamie, cracked cave causing catastrophic calamities! Whoever is causing this is going to walk the plank!"
The loud growl echoed again before a rock pillar shot down from above the angry parrot. He squawked in horror and dodged just inches of being squashed, grazing his back. He shivered in terror and flew behind Ray.
"What is going on?!"
Flint narrowed his eyes suspiciously. All those growls…sounded angry. Every time something happens to the cave, something bad happens. It's like it was reacting out of instinct. It was retaliating when provoked or injured, attacking the enemy when danger is inbound. That wouldn't make sense. A cave wouldn't randomly do that unless…
"This cave is a living creature."
The pirates looked at Flint with widened eyes. "Pardon me, but did you say it's alive?!"
"I…I think so. There's no other explanation."
"I can think of several explanations! Locals causing mischief, natural disasters, wild creatures roaming the caves…but not a cave being a living creature!" he yelled, his voice booming across the tunnels.
Spikes formed out of the walls and fired. They ducked their heads as they zoomed overhead, hearing grazing their scalps. Rock pillars could be seen rising from the ground. They jumped away before the pillars below them shot out.
"This is insane!" Ray shouted.
"Okay, I'm starting to believe in this whole 'living cave' nonsense!" Jeffery screamed.
Flint jumped back and grabbed them. "Blockade Reflector!" The crystal shield wrapped around them and blocked the spires, shattering them upon impact. A series of spires rained down on the shield. Cracks slowly formed around it from the increasing strikes. "I don't know how long I can keep this up!"
Jeffery squawked. "We're going to be killed!"
Ray narrowed his eyes and reached into his jacket. "Ravenfield! When I give the signal, drop the barrier!"
"Are you crazy?!" the parrot shouted.
Flint flinched as a spire breached the top. It wasn't like he had a choice. "Alright!"
The spires kept stabbing at the barrier, leading the frightened parrot to hide behind Ray, using him as a meat shield. The Shinx waited for all the spires to be fully extended. He needed all of them out in order to destroy them. He could tell they will from the uneven pattern of their strikes. It was only a matter of patience…
The spires retracted back and fired. Ray smirked. "Cover your ears, now!"
Flint dropped the barrier and did as ordered, same with Jeffery. The Shinx pulled out a black sphere with four blue rings wrapped around it. He twisted it and pulled it open, releasing a sonic wave that washed over them. Despite covering their ears, Jeffery and Flint cringed at the earsplitting sound. It made nails scratching along a chalkboard sound soothing.
The spires came close to hitting them, but, upon being bombarded with the horrible soundwaves, they came to a dead stop, vibrating from the intense sound. The spires crumbled as the soundwave tore the rock apart, turning it into pebbles and rubble.
Ray closed the sphere and twisted it shut. "Done and done." He stored it away and looked at the other two, who were seething in pain.
"You just HAD to use that stupid thing, did ya?" Jeffery muttered.
He shrugged. "Hey, I got the job done. A little appreciation would be accepted."
He flapped up. "Appreciate my talons!" He chased after the laughing Shinx.
Flint rose to his feet, holding his head in pain. "Ugh…that's going to leave a nasty headache…" The cave groaned again, wailing angrily. "Oh no, now what?"
Ray and Jeffery stopped and looked around. "Now what? More spires?"
They jumped as the ground under them began to shift. They crowded near each other and prepared themselves for the worse. They've pretty much concluded this cave was not naturally made, so what else could they expect? Perhaps more rock pillars to try and smash them or something.
If only that was the case because something rose out of the ground. Flint narrowed his eyes at it, then gasped as it became more recognizable to him. His breathing cut short as his heart raced in panic.
Jeffery blinked in shock. "What…is that?"
Rising out of the ground was a humanoid figure, standing at seven feet tall, at least. Its entire body was made up of compacted dirt, with rock armor around the arms, legs, body, and head. Solid red eyes flashed from the nonexistent face and glared down at the three trespassers.
It walked up to them and clenched its fist. The Flareon could see a pool of magic aura swimming through it. He sweated badly as he, in a terrified state, tried to run around it. "I have to get out of here!"
"Huh?!" Ray and Jeffery sounded confused.
Flint successfully ran pass the creature, thinking he was going to get out of this alive. The eyes of the creature narrowed before its body flickered and vanished, appearing right in front of the escaping Eeveelution. He gasped and dug his paws into the dirt, trying to turn and run the other way. The creature pulled its fist back and struck him across the face.
He flew over the pirates nearly fell over the edge of the abyss. Their eyes were widened in surprise, then they turned to face the earth humanoid, who slowly advanced towards them.
"I repeat…WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Jeffery squawked.
Flint picked himself up and rubbed the wound on his face, his fearful expression still present. "A Guardian…"
Sounds echoed through Ella's mind. Everything was too distorted to make out. Her grasped on reality seemed distant. How long has she been out? More importantly, what was going on? Why did she feel like she was being carried? Actually, why did she feel like she was flying around to?
Once her senses were reorganized, she'll realize that she was being held over Drake's shoulder while he and Rico fought off an Earth Guardian.
The two pirates recovered and found the unconscious Eeveelution with them. They weren't sure what to do with her. They considered taking her prisoner, but there were some problems with that, namely she wasn't a weakling and they didn't have anything to keep her unconscious for long periods of time. They could have just left her.
Though, their time to think came to a close when the earth under them exploded, leading up to the present where they had to deal with an Earth Guardian, a creature they've only heard about it textbooks.
Rico did a handstand and spun, kicking the Guardian in the side. He dropped to his back and sweep kicked it, then used the falling momentum to axe kick down in its face.
He spun on his hand and flipped to his feet. "Sorry Guardian, but I'm just too slick for you!"
Like a dead man rising from the grave, the Earth Guardian rose from the ground, perfectly straight. Rico blinked in surprise before dodging a series of fast punches. For a creature made up of dirt, it left deep, fist shaped impressions in the ground. He jumped over it and spun, kicking successfully down its back. A hand of dirt formed out of its back and grabbed him by the neck. He grabbed his neck and tried to rip the hand off as it slowly choked him.
Drake narrowed his eye at it. He kept an arm around Ella and dashed towards the fight. In one swift movement, he slashed through the arm with his katana. The hand lost its grip. Rico fell on his back and panted heavily. "Oh man…thanks dude…"
The Earth Guardian jumped up and slammed its fists down on the ground. The two pirates wobbled unsteadily from the earthquake. Earth pillars rose from the ground and levitated in the air. They spun like drills as the Guardian threw them at the two. They dodged them and tried to get to the exit, but the earth humanoid appeared within it, blocking the exit.
Drake spun his katana and sliced through it, but its body regenerated just as quickly as he slashed. It grabbed his wrist and flung him across the cavern. Rico backflipped and struck it in the chin, then caught himself on his hands and slammed his legs against its knees, taking its legs out. He got back to his feet and ran over to the Grovyle as the Guardian regenerated.
He helped him up. "We need to leave, now!"
The Grovyle glared at the Guardian. "Hard to fight while holding the deadweight here…" he explained, referring to Ella.
"Here, give her to me," he said as he grabbed Ella and held her over his shoulder.
The Guardian got back up and glared. It appeared in front of them and threw a quick kick. Drake took out his second katana and diced the leg. He flipped over the Guardian and sliced through the neck, then kicked its head off.
He landed and nodded at Rico to follow. They raced through the tunnel. They could hear the Guardian chasing after them. "Got a plan?" Rico asked.
Drake looked around the tunnel. "Slow him down. Follow my lead." He jumped and sliced through the ceiling. It gave out and started crumbling, threatening to collapse.
Rico spun and slammed his knee against the wall, sending a shockwave that forced the wall to give out. He dodged the collapsing ceiling just in time as it blocked off their path between them and the Guardian.
He met up with the Grovyle in an intersection in the cave. "We need to rest for a moment." He set Ella down and shook her. "Hey, wake up!" Rico shouted.
The Eeveelution mumbled and turned in her hazy state. Her eyes slowly opened in confusion. Her vision was blurry, mostly making out yellow and green hovering over her face. She narrowed her eyes curiously as her vision tried to make out the faces. Once she did, her narrowed eyes went wide. "You two?!"
"Yeah, us. Are you-AGH!" Her hind leg struck him in the stomach. Drake dodged a kick from her foreleg and kept his distance. Rico held his gut with a twisted expression. "Agh, geez woman! Watch where you're aiming!"
Ella rolled to her feet and got into an attack stance. "Alright, both of you, come at me! I can take all of you on!"
Drake sighed. This is why he was worried about taking her along. "Save your energy, Cipher…"
"Huh?" she sounded in confusion.
Rico wheezed out the last of his pain and sighed. "If it weren't for us, you would have been that Guardian's punching bag."
She raised a brow. "There's a Guardian here?" She held her head. "Oh no, Flint is not going to be happy about that…" She blinked and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Wait, you saved me?"
"Don't think too much into it. If one of your friends were to find out we left you to die, this cave would be the least of our issues."
She raised a brow and huffed. "How gentlemanly of you…" she complimented sarcastically, a smirk crossing her features.
He groaned. "Why couldn't we have gotten stuck with one of the Ravenfields? In any case, we need to get moving. That wall of dirt won't keep the Guardian blocked off forever."
She nodded. "Good call. So, where should we start heading?"
"How am I supposed to know? You're the one with the map."
"Wes has the map, not me."
"Oh, splendid, we're all lost."
The tunnels shook and growled. They looked up and saw spires forming out of the ceiling. They jumped out of the way just in the nick of time. Spikes formed and fired from the ceiling, raining down like…well, rain.
They ran down the hall as the shower of spikes followed them. "This cave is crazy!"
Drake narrowed his eye. I knew there was something off about this cave.
Ella stopped and turned, firing a psychic wave that shredded the tunnel behind them, ending the rain of spikes. "Ha! I can't believe that worked!"
A dark figure appeared in front of her. She gasped as a strong punch nailed her in the face. Rico caught her, skidding back from the force. She groaned, rubbing her chin in annoyance. "So…that the Earth Guardian you two were dealing with?"
"Yep," he said.
"Good to know."
The Earth Guardian lunged forward and fired pebbles at them. Sounded harmless, except these pebbles exploded upon impact. The group dodged the storm of explosive rocks. The tunnel was being riddled with holes.
Ella psychically stopped them from hitting them. "You bozos have a plan of escape?!"
"We've been trying to escape that thing ever since we got down here!" Rico shouted.
The Guardian stopped firing pebbles to change up its tactics. It raised its hands and summoned a landslide of dirt. The group ran down the tunnel to find an exit of some kind.
They came up to a cavern with more tunnels leading to more directions. Drake pointed to one high in the air. "That will be our escape tunnel."
The landslide poured through and took the shape of a dragon. It roared and fired glowing rocks at them. Like the pebbles, they exploded on impact, but these were far more volatile than tiny pebbles. They emitted powerful shockwaves that sent them soaring across the cavern.
The Guardian walked out of the tunnel and spied each of them laying separately in a tunnel. It raised its hand and snapped its fingers. Two more Earth Guardians formed at its side. They nodded and each went to take care one of the intruders.
Ella picked herself up and narrowly dodged a pounce from a Guardian. She flipped to her feet and blasted its leg off with Shadow Ball. Earth surged up its other leg and grew back the destroyed one. It tightened its fist and slammed it down. A circle of orange energy appeared under Ella's feet. She screamed as it erupted into a pillar of pure earth essence.
The attack ended and she was grabbed by the tail. The Guardian slammed her against the ground. Shackles of earth wrapped around her body and restrained her.
She struggled in their tight hold. "Ugh…let me go!"
Drake and the second Earth Guardian clashed weapons with each other. The earth humanoid wielded a sword of black stone. It seemed to be holding up well against Drake's katanas.
The Grovyle ran around the Guardian and sliced through its legs and arms as quickly as possible. The humanoid regenerated and swung its sword into his gut. He stopped in his tracks and doubled over in pain. He glared up as the Guardian raised its blade and brought it down with a mighty swing.
He crossed his blades and blocked it. The sword pushed hard against his weapons, forcibly pushing them towards his face.
Rico stood on his hands and spun, kicking away the Guardian's punches and kicks. Being a master of capoeira, he was good at effectively using it to keep distance between him and his opponent. However, this wasn't an ordinary opponent.
The Guardian narrowed its eyes and ducked under a kick before sweep kicking the Scrafty. He gasped, having lost his balance. The humanoid threw a punch at his gut. The fist transformed into an arm cannon of some kind and fired earth essence into a concentrated form.
Rico smashed against the wall and groaned in pain. He held his gut, which was blackened from the blast. "This is the power of a Guardian…I can see why they're used to protect valuable items."
Drake continuously pushed against the Guardian's blade. There really is something of interest down here.
Ella ceased her struggling after a moment and looked up at the Guardian with an innocent look. "Oh, Mr. Guardian~!" she called out in a sing-song voice. "Would you do this poor, innocent Espeon a favor and let me go?"
The Guardian was unmoved by her cute act.
She sighed. "Well, so much for the simple way out." She clenched her eyes shut and concentrated a mass of psychic energy around her. With a mighty shout, psychic energy blasted from her body, shattering her shackles and pressing the Guardian against a wall.
She pushed herself up and fired a volley of Shadow balls at it. The Guardian reacted far quicker than she expected as its hand moved at lightning like speeds, punching through the attacks with enough force to disperse them. It pushed itself out of the wall and rushed over to her. She narrowly dodged a punch as she used her Psychic to unearth rock from the ground and smash the humanoid in-between them.
She ran away as the rocks propelled away from each other, with the Guardian standing as tall as ever.
Drake found himself on his back as the Guardian pushed against his blades with far more force. With its free hand, it formed a second blade and held it in a stabbing position. It struck it down. The Grovyle grabbed it with his feet. Using the strength in his legs, he flung it out of its hand and sent it flying in the air. It looked up at it, but it let its guard down enough for Drake to push the blade away and roll away before it could slam on top of him. He brandished his katanas and sliced through its hand, then torso, then legs before kicked the pieces apart.
Rico blocked a punch with his knee, then spun on his heel and delivered a sharp kick against its side. It skidded to the side, but didn't feel pain. Both hands turned to arm cannons and repeatedly fired at the Scrafty, who dodged with smooth movements and speed.
He spun and kicked one of the shots back into the Guardian. The resulting explosion sent dirt and rock flying across the wall. He did a cocky dance in celebration. "Oh yeah! That's what I'm talking about!"
The earth sank into the ground and shot out as the Earth Guardian once more. Two more arms formed from its body and all turned into arm cannons, all specifically aimed at him.
"Oh come on!"
The group backed away from their opponents, who were ready to put an end to them.
"Gonna need a miracle to get out of this one!" Rico shouted.
Ella looked up at a tunnel above them and smirked. "Hold on tight, boys!" Psychic energy poured out of her and cut through the rock below them. Drake gripped the ground tightly.
"Uh, what are you doing?!"
"Just hold on!"
She stomped her foot and dislodged the rock under them into a large chunk. They flew up to an open tunnel above them. The Guardians stared up at them before following them on earth pillars, rising quickly after them. Ella glared down at them and increased the power in her Psychic, flying faster to the exit.
The Guardians fired earth essence at them. Drake leaped under the earth chunk and gripped to the bottom. Using his katanas, he deflected or dispersed the attacks as they came.
They made it into the tunnel entrance. Rico jumped towards the ceiling and gave a mighty kick, collapsing the ceiling down on the entrance. The Guardians were close to getting through, but were cut off by the falling rock. They piled up on the tunnel and bunched together, tightly sealing off the exit.
Ella collapsed on her back and panted. "Phew…alright, good job, team…"
Drake rubbed his head. "That went well…"
Rico dusted himself off. "Yeah, well, we don't have much time to give ourselves a pat on the back."
"Says you," the Espeon scoffed, giving herself a pat on the back. "See? Plenty of time."
He deadpanned at her. "I mean, we need to get moving before they blast their way through the barrier." They nodded and ran down the tunnel.
It should have been expected that these two would be on bad terms with each other after their short time of interaction with each other.
Gwyn leaned closely towards Indigo with a glare. "Great going! You got us lost!"
The Sneasel sneered. "Me? We were following you!"
"No, we were following YOU!"
They pressed their foreheads against each other as they growled viciously. Julius watched from the sidelines, rubbing his forehead. What he wouldn't give for a drink right now. They've been at it for what felt like hours. Why couldn't there be another landslide where they could all get separated a second time? He was loud, he can admit it, but he wasn't THIS loud and annoying.
They ended up getting lost after being chased by Earth Guardians. They evaded them for a bit, but their frantic running left them even more lost than they were before.
"You want to fight, Gwyneth?!" Indigo challenged, raising her claws.
"Oho, you bet!" she accepted, pulling out her whip.
They flinched from a loud cannon going off. They turned to Julius, who adjusted his claw cannon, which smoked from the barrel. The ceiling had a neat, smoking hole in it, along with a ring of ash. "Now that I got yer attention, listen up, lassies. We're not going to cover much ground if ye both keep arguing' like wee children. We have no idea when those Earth Guardians will return, so it's essential that we keep a cool head and see this journey through. After all, we are all adventurers! The life of the journey courses through our veins!"
They narrowed their eyes in confusion. "Uh…is he okay?" Gwyn whispered.
"I wish I could give you an honest answer…" Indigo muttered.
"As of now, we are in this together! I expect each of ye to show me what ye got! If we are to find the treasure, we need to act as a team! We need to join together and tackle these Earth Guardians head on! We will find the treasure and…" He blinked as the girls began walking through a tunnel. "Oi! It's rude to leave while someone's talkin'!"
"We got bored!" Indigo shouted back.
Julius pouted and followed them, slowly catching up. "Ye know what I mean. We won't get far if ye two keep fightin'."
Gwyn sighed. "Fine, we'll play nice…" She flashed a mischievous smirk. "For now…"
Indigo flashed her own evil smirk. "Agreed…"
Julius sweatdropped. He walked himself into a warzone for later.
They walked through the tunnel aimlessly. With no real direction to go in, they decided to take guesses with where they should go. Whether or not that will get them somewhere is beyond them. They were more concerned with encountering those Earth Guardians again. Although, Gwyn felt she needed to ask something…
"So…what is a Guardian?"
Indigo raised a brow. "Seriously? You never heard of them?"
"It's…complicated."
Julius laughed. "Well, a fine question, lass! Ye see, a Guardian is an elemental humanoid constructed from magic. While they are commanded by the one who conjured them, they can act independently. They're usually given a command they must follow. They're made up of pure magic, so they're quite strong. Ye have to be pretty skilled to summon one. Takes years, in fact."
"I see…so, whoever made them is trying to protect the treasure? I can see why it would be well protected."
"Ye have no idea. Those Guardians are relentless. Once they have their eyes set on a target, they won't stop chasin' them until they're taken out…or dead. Whichever comes first."
"That doesn't make me feel comfortable."
"Oh relax, we're long gone. They won't be able to find us."
The ground around them exploded. Three Earth Guardians jumped out of the ground and landed in attack stances.
Indigo glared furiously. "…never say we lost them…ever!"
The Guardians' hands morphed into cannons and fired concentrated earth essence at them. Gwyn got in front of the pirates and spun her whip erratically. It sliced through the shots precisely. One Guardian ceased its attack and raced over to her. It thrusted its hand through the whip, being teared up, and grabbed her by the neck. She gasped as earth spread over her body, trapping her and leaving her head exposed.
She tried to move, but could only move her head. "I'm stuck!"
Julius twisted his claw cannon and pointed it at the Earth Guardian. "Perish, spirit!" He blasted its head off.
Indigo pressed a button on her claw. It extended out and stretched apart. A compartment opened, pulling back a thin wire. Her claw doubled as a makeshift crossbow. "Let's see if they can handle this!" She pulled an arrow out of her jacket and loaded it in. It had a red glowing tip. She closed one eye and aimed, firing the deadly arrow into another Guardian. It exploded the humanoid into pieces.
Gwyn struggled in her trap. "Stupid ground trap!" She looked at her whip, which was petrified in rock, too. She smiled before closing her eyes. A glow seeped out of her vine, through the rock, and exploded. Her vine took on the shape of a dragon. It flew around her and constricted her frozen body. It tightened and cracked the rock, freeing her. "Ha! Good girl!"
Indigo blocked a sword swipe from the Guardian she was facing. "Your whip can do that?!"
She smiled brazenly. "I experiment with a lot of plants, so I gave my whip a little personality. I call it the Forest Dragon Whip."
The Earth Guardian's fist turned into a mace and it lunged at her. She pointed at the humanoid, commanding her dragon to wrap around its head. The Guardian's body became loose and shifted out of the grasp. It lunged at Gwyn, turning into a spiky spear.
She quickly reached into her bag and pulled out a seed. "Accelerated Growth! Nutrient Transvoro!" It grew into the flash freeze flower before being absorbed. She jumped over the spear and aimed her left hand. "Flash Burn!" A sphere of icy blue flame formed in her hand.
The spear turned back into the Guardian and made a quick turn, aiming its hand cannon. The sphere shot into the cannon, stopping the attack. Its hand exploded into an icy chandelier of spikes. It staggered back as it tried to break it, only to be tripped up by Gwyn's Forest Dragon Whip.
Indigo flipped over a Guardian and kicked it in the back of the head. She leaped into the air. Suspended in the air, she loaded an arrow in her crossbow. Smirking, she fired it into the humanoid's chest. It flashed, resulting in an explosion. Dirt and rock splattered across the tunnel. She landed and gave a cocky bow.
The dirt and rock swirled together and retook the shape of the earth elemental creature. It formed a bow of rock, with the drawstring made up of earth energy. It pulled back as rock formed with it, creating an arrow of obsidian.
Indigo's eyes widened. "Oh snap!" She jumped away from the arrow as it grazed pass her cheek. She felt it and observed the blood dripping down her claw. She clenched it and growled. "Oh, you are so dead!" She loaded three arrows and fired.
The Guardian dodged two, but got struck in the leg. It exploded the leg into pieces. She loaded a black tipped arrow and fired. The tip shattered on impact and created a cloud of smoke.
Gwyn sliced off her Guardian's arm with her whip when she witnesses it. "Are those filled with potions?"
She smirked and shook an arrow. She could hear the liquid sloshing around in the tip. "I dabble." She loaded it and fired another explosive tip.
It flew through the smoke and exploded, parting the dark cloud. The Guardian laid spread out across the ground, assumed down for the count. Sadly, this creature didn't fear death nor could it die. It rose to its feet and fired earth shots at her. She rolled away from them and hid behind some cover.
"These guys just won't quit!"
The Guardian bent down on one knee and stuck its hand through the ground, rippling through the ground like water being disturbed by a pebble. The hand traveled over to Indigo and stretched out of the wall. It grabbed her and pulled her against the wall.
"Hey!" The hand wrapped around her and turned into a stone covering, sticking her tightly to the wall. She struggled greatly. "Get me out of this thing!" She gasped as the Guardian charged at her with a lance of rock.
Julius blasted the third Guardian before turning towards his crewmate. He growled. "It's not wise to be messin' with me crewmates, elemental!" He aimed his claw cannon and fired, obliterating the humanoid. He twisted the cannon and smirked at Indigo. "Ye can thank me later." He returned his attention to the other one.
"Uh, hello, still stuck!" She groaned. She shifted her prosthetic claw and transformed it into another weapon. A blade cut through the rock, breaking her arm out. The claw had transformed into a makeshift buzz saw. It spun and sawed through the remaining rock.
Julius bashed his claw down on the Guardian, then slammed the barrel of his cannon against its face. He blew its head off before clamping down on its arm and throwing it over his shoulder. He aimed and fired once more, reducing it into a rain of dust.
"Ye can't stop me, Guardian!" he shouted vigorously.
The dust swirled and reclaimed the shape of a humanoid. It punched its fists together before flying down. Julius smirked. He figured he should meet it halfway. He charged towards the Guardian with his claw raised high.
Fist and claw collided with each other, pushing up dust around them. Both physical attack pushed against each other, one with determination, the other filled with vigor.
"Ye're quite the tough guy, Guardian! However, ye don't know the true might of me power!" He whacked it across the face with his cannon, taking a chip of its face off. He grappled the creature and bashed his head against it, furthering the damage. "Come on, give me a challenge!"
The Guardian rubbed its head before spinning in place. A sandstorm started building up around it, picking up dust, dirt, stone, and rock around them as it increased in mass and ferocity. The rocks that would fly out of the dust storm would leave deep impressions in the wall, demonstrating a great deal of its raw power.
Julius smirked. "I see! That's what I'm talkin' about!" He aimed his claw cannon and fired consecutive shots. They passed through the storm undamaged, breaking apart the wall behind it. "Come out and face me like a man!"
The ground under him gave out and a fist came careening from the ground into his gut. The wind flew right out of him. The Guardian grabbed him by the arm and threw him into the storm, thrashing him around like a kite in a storm.
Gwyn ran over and threw her whip into the storm. It wrapped around one of his legs before she pulled him out, flinging him to the ground. "You okay?"
He wheezed and pounded his chest, pushing dust out of his lungs. "Thanks lass, I'll be fine. It'll take more than dust to keep me down."
Their Guardians rushed over to them with swords. They were cut short, quite literally, when Indigo's claw came spinning by and sliced through their torsos, sending them across the ground.
She dashed over as her claw returned comfortably to her arm. "Take out the ceiling! We need to bury them!"
"Will that even work?! These thing practically swim through earth!" Gwyn shouted.
"Not like we have a choice, lass!" Julius aimed at the ceiling. "Tell me when ready!"
Indigo pointed at Gwyn. "Got anything that can get us out of here quickly?"
She pulled out a potion. "Potion of Speed."
"Nice!"
The Earth Guardians pulled themselves together and stood tall. All three of them lined up and aimed their hand cannons. The barrels charged up with orange light.
Gwyn drank a bit of the potion, gave some to Julius, then Indigo downed the rest. She smashed the bottle on the ground. "Now!"
Julius twisted his cannon and fired one last shot at the ceiling. Gwyn pulled out her explosive berries and threw them across the tunnel, setting them off too. Indigo sealed the deal with multiple rounds of arrows. The ceiling rumbled and collapsed down on them.
Using their temporary speed, they ran down the tunnel. The Guardians chased after them, keeping up nicely. Julius aimed back and blasted at them aimlessly, trying to keep his attention on the path in front of him. He did get a couple good shots off, blasting two of the Guardians and knocking them down. They got buried under the collapsing ceiling.
The last one kept up with them and reached out for Gwyn. She saw this movement from her peripherals. She gripped her whip and threw it in the air. It turned back into its dragon state. It snaked around her master and reached into her bag, grabbing a vial of bubbly green liquid. It took the cork off and downed the entire concoction.
The Guardian narrowed its eyes when the whip wrapped around its arm. The dragon spat the concoction, in a mist state, into its face. The humanoid's face and, subsequently, its body bubbled from the mist and began melting into a puddle of rock. It tripped over itself and fell down. The dragon flew back to Gwyn before it got caught in the collapse.
Gwyn grabbed it as it transformed back into its whip form. She holstered it and continued running.
They saw a light at the end of the tunnel and jumped out just before the tunnel came down on them. They slammed hard on the ground and came to a skidding stop. They groaned from the impact.
"G…Good job, team…" Julius muttered, raising his claw in exhausted victory. "Woo…"
Indigo picked herself up. "All in favor of never doing that again, say 'I'."
"I," they all mumbled.
"Notion carried." She collapsed on the ground with a long sigh. "I need a nap…"
"That's something we can both agree on," Gwyn mumbled.
While everyone else was fairly capable of defending themselves, the same can't be said for Ray, Jeffery, and Flint. Flint, of course, was a fairly capable fighter and can surely defend himself. Sadly, his fears were holding him back.
Like how he feared the Idol of Origin, the Guardians were something that terrified him as a child. They were dangerous sentinels that'll do anything to defeat their opponent. He loved hearing his father defeating them, but he would never want to face one himself. And now, he still doesn't.
He jumped behind a rock as earth energy attacks fired at him. He didn't know how to deal with them. His spells were meant to work on a living creature, not a Guardian.
Jeffery kept his distance, too, as he wasn't a fighter at all. Ray, despite having a weapon that could beat them, wasn't doing any better.
The Guardians fired at them nonstop as they all took cover behind rocks. Ray glared over the barrier. "Well, this is certainly an issue!"
Flint cowered with his paws over his head. "You think?!"
Jeffery huffed angrily. "Quit acting like a scared chicken! You can use magic!"
"And those things can snap my neck! What is your point?!" he shouted back.
The child of the small group groaned before pulling out his sound orb. "This ought to do the trick." He leaned over the rock and twisted it opened, sending a concentrated sound wave into their general direction.
The Guardians ceased their attack, but didn't dodge. The sound wave was in close proximity when a wall of rock rose from the ground and blocked it. Ray gasped at the sudden intrusion. The earth elementals jumped over, with the lead one snapping its fingers and pointed at the group. The cave growled and fired spires at the motley group.
Flint clapped his paws together. "Blockade Reflector!" The spires bounced off the barrier in separate directions. He rolled to his feet and tried to find more cover. "I can't deal with these things!" He skidded to a halt as a figure appeared in front of him. He looked up with terror flooding his eyes, face to face with the earth elemental who had him at gun point. "Heh…please don't hurt me…"
The Guardian's eyes narrowed before firing. The Flareon vanished in a flash of light and appeared instantly behind it. He engulfed the creature with Flamethrower.
Arms of rock stretched out of the wall and grabbed Flint. He panicked while being lifted into the air. The Guardian spun to disperse the flames, then turned its attention to Flint. He gulped. "Please…I didn't do anything wrong!" It ignored his words as it took aim. "Oh no!" He clenched his eyes shut.
The elemental fired at blank point, definitely hitting Flint. The blast echoed across the cavern, bouncing off the walls. It stepped back to see, what it assumed, a fatally injured Flareon as the smoke parted.
Instead, its eyes widened upon seeing him unharmed. He had a scorch mark on him, yes, but he didn't seem to take heavy damage. All of this was apparent by the thick orange magic aura surrounding his body. It seemed to have protected him. The Guardian was curious as to what kind of spell this was, but didn't press on the matter further as he prepared for another blast.
Jeffery swooped in and clawed at its face. "Feel the might of Jeffery the Navigator!"
The Guardian was more or less annoyed, not taking any damage that it couldn't regenerate from. It raised its hand and swatted him like a fly, smashing him against the wall.
"…welp…that's all I got…" He slid to the floor in pain.
The earth elemental turned its attention back to Flint, only to see three Magnification Rings floating in front of his face. Flint glared at it, swallowing his fears just enough to fight back. "Flamethrower!" He fired them into the rings, double its strength with each passing. The flames completely engulfed the elemental and fell over from the immense heat.
Ray saw it was down and fired his device at it. The sound waves tore apart the Guardian and left it in burning pieces of smoldering rock.
Jeffery picked himself up and cheered. "Woohoo! That's right, Guardians! Now come and get a taste of my true power!"
One Guardian appeared in front of him and delivered a chain of rapid punches at him, beating down on his tiny body.
"AGH! BRAT! RAVENFIELD! HELP ME!"
Ray stared with mischief reflecting off his eyes. "Ooh…tough call. Not sure if I want to."
"QUIT ACTING SMUG AND HELP ME!"
He shrugged. "If you insist." He twisted his sound orb and blasted it at the Guardian. Its body shook from the vibrations and crumbled into dust.
Jeffery fell on the ground and panted. "You couldn't have done that sooner?!"
The last Guardian rushed in and slammed its fist into the ground. A fissure formed and spewed earth energy from the ground like a volcanic eruption. Ray took his sound orb and blasted at it, keeping it from washing over them. The Guardian took this opportunity to dash towards them.
Jeffery screeched. "We're going to die! I'm too young and good-looking to die here!"
Flint panicked, running his paws through his fur. What could he do? This one was probably prepared to counter the Magnification Rings. That was his most offensive spell. What else could he throw at him? He rapped on his head for an idea, desperate for survival.
His eyes widened as a thought came to mind. There was one thing he could try.
The Guardian jumped high into the air and spun down like a drill, feet transformed into a drill. Flint used the Magnification Ring spell, then activated Flame Charge. He crouched down and used as much force in his legs as he could muster, leaping through the rings and magnifying the power of his attack.
The two collided with each other. Sparks and flame flickered off them. They seemed evenly matched, but the Guardian was overpowering Flint slowly. Flint saw his opportunity to strike.
With a flash of his eyes, time froze around him. He jumped out of his Flame Charge and onto the Guardian. He moved its body away from the Flame Charge and into the direction of Ray's sonic blast. He jumped off and restarted time.
With nothing to push against, the Guardian's momentum sent it flying towards the sonic blast. It went right through, but the brief period of exposure to it weakened its body. It crashed into the wall and smashed into pieces.
Flint panted and collapsed onto the ground. "Oh man, I thought I was going to die…"
Ray closed up his weapon and pocketed it. "Got to say, that was some quick thinking you pulled off there."
"Thanks…you're not bad yourself…"
"Hey!" Jeffery shouted. "What about me?! I helped!"
They deadpanned at the Chatot before facing each other again, making him falter in annoyance. Flint pushed himself up. "We need to keep moving. I don't want to be in this place any longer than I have to."
The Shinx nodded. "Agreed." He glanced down a tunnel near them. "Let's try this way next. Might as well take a chance."
"Hold on a minute!" Jeffery intervened. "I'm the leader here! I call the shots!"
The child rolled his eyes. "Very well. Tell me, where should we go?"
He pointed at a tunnel…the exact one Ray called out. "This way!" He flapped down the path.
"How do you put up with him?" Flint whispered as they followed.
"Lots of daydreaming."
Three Earth Guardians smashed against the wall while wrapped up in sand, then became engulfed in the mass of loose earth before being crushed up into more sand. Two other Guardians tried to attack Wes, but were blown away by his Mystic Beam, which ripped apart their bodies.
There was a reason everyone else had to deal with at least three Guardians. The rest were being focused specifically on Wes and Arid. They were barreling their way through the tunnels as a two man army. They quickly realized the Umbreon possessed a map that would lead them to the main room. They were trying to slow them down or, at best, destroy them. It wasn't going too well.
Wes jumped between two Guardians and kicked them. He landed and spun on his back, sweep kicking them from below. He flipped to his feet and fired Shadow Ball into them as they fell, multiplying the damage. Four of them tried to jump him, but he used Lumios Storm to riddle their bodies with light arrows.
Arid didn't even have to move. As the Guardians got close, a wall of sand would surround him and stop their attacks dead in their tracks, then he would engulfed them into it to add to his arsenal. The Earth Guardians were powerful, but they were still rock.
They've been fighting swarms of these guys since the start of the tunnel. One tried to jump them, but Arid's quick thinking allowed him to stop the ambush, alerting them of the presence of the other elementals.
It has been nonstop fighting for…well, Wes believes a half hour. And yet, somehow, they weren't the least bit exhausted, which completely baffled the Guardians. Arid was understandable since he was barely moving. Wes, however, was moving his body in spontaneous movements, which should be exhausting him. What did he have early? Twenty cups of coffee?
He jumped onto the shoulders of one of them and laughed. "Sorry everyone, I'm just too fast for ya!"
It tried to grab him, but he jumped off into the air, then came down with a spinning axe kick, slamming his leg down, hard enough to stagger it. He spun off and ricocheted off its chest, while also knocking it down.
Arid tightened his gloved fist and punched on the ground, sending a wave of sand through the tunnel. The Earth Guardians fired at the wave, but it became too much for them and buried them. He raised his hand and pressed it against the sand, sending a wave through it that compacted the sand to crush the Guardians.
One Guardian reached out to grab Wes. He turned around in time to see it grab him by the tail and slammed him on the ground. It didn't give him the chance to counterattack and punched him with a chain of blows.
Wes endured the hits and smirked up at the earth elemental. It took a moment of patience, but the Umbreon wrapped his forelegs around the Guardian's arms and stopped the series of attacks. He raised his hind legs and kicked it in the chest, hard enough to rip its arms off and sending it flying back.
It landed on its feet and dashed back at him before he could get up. It threw fast kick across his jaw. He stood his ground against the hit. His eyes gleamed briefly before grappling the leg and flipping it over his shoulder. He jumped back and charged Mystic Beam.
The Guardian stood tall and dashed at him at full speed. Its vision was blinded in purple light. Its body was worn down into dust as the mystical spell annihilated it.
Arid smashed more Guardians under his wave of sand. "Argh…how much longer, Ravenfield?!"
He pulled out his map, while also sidestepping some punches. "Well, according to this, we're actually getting close. Should be just down this tunnel."
"Good!" He raised his hand, picking up the Guardians with the sand and smashing them against the ceiling. "These things are a pain in the ass."
They started running down the tunnel. As they ran, an eye of stone formed in the ceiling and followed them down the path, spying on them.
The image was being transmitted through a spectral orb of orange energy in a small cavern. Candles lit the cavern, circled around a mat. A figure sat in the middle of the mat, meditating in a Zen like state. He wore a robe with earthly colors. The sleeves were a forest green while the body of the robe was orange. The edges of the hood and sleeve were gray like a smooth stone.
He breathed in and out in rhythmic intervals. He chuckled as he watched Wes and Arid were gaining distance towards the main treasure room. "He actually made it through…I'm impressed."
The ground behind him shifted. He didn't turn as he addressed the Guardian standing behind him. It didn't speak, yet he responded. "Yes, I'm aware the cave is in pain." He looked up at the ceiling. "Do not worry, old friend. It is almost over. This Umbreon has proven himself worthy of acquiring the Key of Earth." There was another pause. "Make sure the others are regrouped and meet with their friends." He rose off the ground.
The wall in front of him opened up. He stepped through. The cave grumbled lowly, making him chuckle. "You say you are in pain, but I know you had fun. You haven't had this kind of fun in years." He narrowed his eyes. "However, simply passing through the cave isn't good enough. Now we must see his resolve. Let's see how well he can handle me in a fight."
They made it to the end of the tunnel, where a light shined brightly at the end. It was almost like they were heading outside. While that wasn't the case, what they saw was truly spectacular.
A massive, sphere shaped cavern lit up in a golden glow by the glowing stones embedded into the sides. Stalagmites and stalactites were scattered around the cavern. Fighting in this area would be dangerous.
At the very end of the cavern was a wide pillar, stretching halfway to the ceiling, with a staircase. At the top of the pillar was a collection of gold and jewels. Arid's eyes lit up with greed as he stared at the bountiful treasure. Wes' eyes lit up too, but for a different reason.
Hovering on a small pedestal was an orange glowing key. It was displayed around the treasure. What really caught Wes' attention was the small pebbles orbiting around it. Apparently earth naturally gravitated towards earth, thus allowing it to attract it.
"The key…" He smiled widely and prepared to race over to it when, suddenly, sand wrapped around his ankle and smashed him against the wall. "Ugh…" His eyes weakly opened as Arid walked over to the pillar.
He glanced back with a smirk. "No hard feelings, Ravenfield, but I told you that I wasn't going to play nice once we got here."
He picked himself up and coughed. He chuckled a bit with a glare forming in his eyes. "Funny…I was thinking the same thing." He slapped the wall, forming a purple glyph on it.
A purple glyph appeared on Arid's back. "Huh?!" He suddenly fell himself moving backwards. He was being attracted to the other glyph. "What in tarnation?!" He was lifted off the ground and slammed into the wall. He tried to push himself off, but he was stuck. "What did you do?!"
Wes walked away, laughing. "I placed an attraction glyph on your back early."
"When did you…" He thought back to when the Umbreon seemingly gave him a 'friendly' pat on the back. That must have been when he attached it. "You conniving bilge rat!"
He shrugged innocently. "I don't play nice, Arid. You should have remembered that when you decided to tag along." He laughed heartily and raced to the pillar. "The key is mine!"
Arid narrowed his eyes. A key? He came here looking for a damn key? What's he up to?
Wes made it to the stairs, but that's as far as he'll get. A thin pillar struck from the ground and jabbed him hard in the gut. He gasped in pain and stumbled back. His eyes widened as a barrage of stone fists rocketed out of the ground, punching him across the cavern. A second pillar, this one much wider, fired out and smashed into Wes. He whizzed high into the air and slammed hard against the ceiling, fortunately avoiding impalement from the stalactites.
Gravity took affect and dropped him back down. He groaned in pain. His head was spinning like he just exited a tornado. He's lucky that he has taken worse hits, otherwise that would he put him out of commission.
He stood up and slapped his cheeks, getting his head back in the game. "Alright, I'm good!" He got into an attack position. "Alright, who's the jerk that attacked me?!"
He didn't expect a slow clap in response. He looked around to find the point of origin. He heard the ground above shift and looked up. A circular platform of rock floated down from the ceiling and slowly descended.
"Marvelous, Ravenfield. Simply marvelous. You truly are a worthy traveler. Very rarely can anyone pass through the cave and survive. You're certainly a challenging one to put down."
Wes was cautious. This must have been the guy protecting the key. "Uh…thanks." He shook his head. "Wait a minute, how do you know my name? Are you psychic? What number am I thinking of?!"
The cloaked figure sweatdropped. "I am not psychic, young one." He chuckled. "I know who you are from our brief interaction with each other."
"But we just met. Man, you must be good at reading faces."
"No, my dear Umbreon…I'm just good at listening." He pulled his hood back, giving a warm smile. "Welcome to the Trial of Earth."
Wes narrowed his eyes in confusion before gasping. It's the Flygon from earlier, Randolph. "Mr. Randolph?!"
"Randolph is just fine, Wes," he said, pulling his hat out of his robe and placing it on his head, giving it a light tip of acknowledgement.
"Wha…why are you guarding the Key of Earth?! I thought you were the head of the museum here!"
"I am." He crossed is arms. "I told you, Wes, I did some things before I became the head of this museum. I went into studying magic and became a mage. I used to be a teacher in the magical arts. Then the time came where everything changed."
"What do you mean?"
He chuckled. "I can't go into explaining everything for you, Ravenfield. Right now, you should be worried about what's to come." He snapped his fingers and pointed at him.
A stalactite detached from the ceiling and propelled down at Wes at high speeds. Thinking on his feet, he rolled out of the way, avoiding the large spire as it stabbed the ground, crushing the surrounding earth.
He glared at the Flygon. "What the heck?! You could have killed me!"
"I'm sorry Wes, but I was given the task of protecting this key at all costs. We may know each other, but I can't let that stop me from protecting it. I will defeat you by any means necessary, even if I must use lethal force."
"Why would you do something like that?!"
He sighed. "The gravity of its protection is above all else. If I let anyone get this key, it's only one step closer to the idol being unearthed."
Arid continuously tried to push himself off the wall. Keys? Idol? What are they talking about?
He raised his hand. Dirt swirled around him and created ten spiked balls of stone. "I regret having to harm anyone who would mistakenly find their way here. But in order to protect the world, I need to take the precautions necessary to survive. Only if you can defeat me in battle will you be able to claim this key."
Wes glared at the mage. His magic aura blazed brightly as he got into an attack stance. "Alright, fine. If it's the only way, then I gladly accept your challenge."
Randolph narrowed his eyes as the spiked stones spun. His intentions are pure. If he does beat me…at least I know the key will be in safe paws. Let's see if he has the strength to keep it safe.