Chapter 10: Luxury in the Caves
Savunt ran through the forest carrying the girl with him. He looked down at the girl in his arms. Her eyes were closed. It seemed she had fainted.
He kept on running. He could hear the shouting and yelling behind him. The demons and elves were after him.
He ran, leaving behind the burning village of Stekon.
Suddenly he stopped in tracks.
“Aw come on, not this psycho again. I just got rid of you.”
In front of him, a hooded figure stood waiting for him.
“[Follow my heed. Let the ground break. Swallow him up].” A strange chant. But obviously powerful.
The ground began to crumble at Savunt’s feet. The ground began to break and collapse. A great crack appeared in the ground. Savunt and the girl fell into the newly created hole. The earth closed as they fell, swallowing them up.
* * *
The boy woke up.
He looked down at himself. His left arm was still missing, but the wound had healed. He slowly got up and took a look around.
The bear was dead, sprawled on the ground. The boy walked over and debated whether to consume its flesh. Then, he shook its head. The poison had contaminated its flesh. It was too dangerous to eat the bear.
The boy’s stomach was hungry, so he pulled a dead rabbit from his bag. He quickly ate the rabbit before moving further into the caves.
As he walked, he began to hear a voice.
“How the hell did I get back here? I was so close to the end…now I’m back at the entrance?”
“I guess I have to go all the way back…”
As the boy walked closer, he saw the source of the voice. A man dressed in a cloak was standing in front of a pair of stone doors.
The boy was confused. What were the doors doing in the middle of the caves?
Suddenly, the man turned around and looked at the boy. The boy got a better look at the man. He had black skin with red eyes. A demon.
“Huh, what’s a human doing here?
Oh! My bad. You look just like a human, so I mistook you for one. Heh, my bad.
You’re just one of the mindless beasts wandering around. Well. I’ve no interest with your kind. Be gone with you.”
Before the boy could react, the demon pointed a finger at him.
Suddenly, the boy was sent flying backwards. He landed the floor, crumpled into a ball.
Meanwhile, the man was already turned back to the doors.
The doors began to move and open inwards.
“Well, let’s do this one more time.” The demon walked past the doors and left the room behind.
The boy was lying on the ground. He felt as if something had directly hit his stomach. Winded, he could barely breathe. After resting for a minute or two, he got back up.
He calmed himself down and looked at the open doors.
The demon had walked past the doors. He was obviously a threat the boy could not handle. Still, the doors seemed to be the only exit out of the caves.
Left with no other options, the boy walked towards the doors.
* * *
The girl woke up in an unfamiliar environment. Everything was completely dark. She couldn’t see a thing.
She tried to move around, but something was keeping her down. She struggle in vain.
“Oh, you’re awake! My bad. Just wait a second.” An unfamiliar voice sounded out in the darkness.
Whatever was keeping her down released her. She stood up, but she still couldn’t see a thing.
A flame suddenly came into existence. Senia saw that she was not alone. A man was sitting on the ground, smiling at her. She realized that she was sitting in a cave.
“Hey there, I’m Savunt. I found you in town and ran but…we kind of fell…” The man sadly trailed off.
Sudden realization flooded into her mind. Oh god. Her mom. She was…
Tears began to flow down the girl’s face.
Savunt stared in shock, at a loss as to what to do next.
“Hey there, don’t worry. It’s going to be all right.”
“No…my mom…she’s…” the girl stopped, choked back her own tears.
Savunt rubbed her back, trying to comfort the poor girl.
Eventually, the girl calmed down and reduced her sobbing to infrequent sniffling.
“I’m sorry. It’s just…I can’t believe…that this is happening.”
The girl looked up at Savunt.
“Thank you…Savunt. Thanks for saving me. I’m Senia.”
“Senia. That’s a wonderful name.” Savunt kindly smiled at Senia.
Senia was comforted with the presence of another person.
“I haven’t seen you around Stekon before. Are you a traveler, Savunt?” Senia asked.
“Yeah. I actually just came to Stekon. You could call me a wanderer. I sort of travel around the world, looking at the sights.”
“Really? Then what was your favorite place?” Senia began to cheer up. She started to become a little excited, listening to Savunt.
“My favorite place? That would have to be…Amesprit. The island of the spirits. The view from there is spectacular.”
“Amesprit? Where’s that?” Senia eagerly asked, her worries already forgotten. Savunt smiled.
“In the middle of Heaven’s Mirror. When you stand on the island, the lake is absolutely beautiful. When you look at the waters of Heaven’s Mirror, the reflection of the sky is crystal clear.”
“Wow! That sounds amazing!”
“How about you tell me about yourself, Senia?” Senia excitedly nodded.
“Well, I’ve lived in Stekon my whole life. My mom is super nice. And she’s a great cook! My dad…isn’t around anymore. When I was four, the elves from the Adovian forest had attacked our village. My dad went to go fight with all the other men. My dad won! But…he didn’t come back…” Senia trailed off as she remembered faint memories of her father.
Savunt had a look of confusion on his face. He has seen the village of Stekon. They were a peaceful town. He doubted they had any military power. Yet, they had forced back the elves? It didn’t make any sense. The elves could have easily defeated the weak town of Stekon.
As Savunt pondered, a quiet growling could be heard. He instantly stood up and was alert.
“Don’t worry. Stay close to me, Senia.” He looked down at the girl. Her face was completely red.
In a very quiet voice, she whispered, “Um, Savunt. That was my stomach…”
Savunt grinned.
“Well, let’s get you some food, all right?”
* * *
The boy walked past the doors. As he stepped through, he realized something strange. He had left the caves behind.
The walls were flat and made out of stone bricks. He was walking in a stone hallway.
Eventually, the hallway ended and the boy entered a large, circular room.
Within this new room, there were four doors in total. One which he had just come out of. One in front of him and two to the left and right.
In the middle of the room, there was a glowing circle on the floor. Within that circle, there a rune that pulsed rhythmically. The boy didn’t understand what it meant, so he left it alone.
He looked around the room to see if there was anyone around. It seemed that demon had already passed through.
The boy looked at each door. He didn’t know which door to pick. He arbitrarily chose the one on the left. As he walked up to it, he saw a rune on the door.
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Two lines, one horizontal and the other vertical, crossed each other perpendicularly. He didn’t understand what the symbol meant.
He pushed the door open and walked through another long hallway.
As he walked further down the hall, it started becoming dimmer.
His enhanced eyes could easily see through the darkness, but it seemed no light at all reached the end of this hallway.
The boy kept on walking towards the end.
He finally reached the next room.
Within this room, there was complete darkness. The boy couldn’t see the walls, the ceiling, or the ground. However, he did see one thing.
In front of him, a gigantic crystal was in the ground. The crystal glowed, but the light did not shine on anything else. Within the crystal, the boy could see a body. There seemed to be a child with long, flowing hair inside the crystal. Pierced into the crystal was a small dagger. It did not enter very far. There was a tiny crack in the crystal where the dagger was stuck.
As he walked closer, the child suddenly opened her eyes.
“You there. The human.
Come closer.
And set me free.”
The boy stopped walking. Then he turned his back on the girl and walked away.
“Huh? Hey! Where are you going? Stop! Come back!” the girl shouted with confusion.
The boy kept on walking towards the exit.
“Hey! Why aren’t you freeing me? Don’t you have a conscience?” the girl yelled with desperation.
The boy finally turned around.
“Why would I free you? What’s in it for me?” the boy asked, cocking his head to the side.
“Are you an idiot? Why do you think I was sealed in here? Because I’m strong! Much stronger than you pathetic humans! So free me already! I promise I’ll lend you my strength.” The girl begged pathetically.
“Fine. How do I free you?” the boy began walking back towards the crystal.
“Just pull that dagger out of this crystal. Then you’ll free me.”
The boy gripped the dagger’s hilt with his right hand. He tried to grab it with his left hand, but he couldn’t. Then he remembered his left arm was gone. He tried to pull the dagger out with just his right arm but it would not budge.
Then, he placed his feet on the crystal. He began to use his entire body to pull the dagger out.
Little by little, the dagger began to come out.
“There you go! Keep it up!” the girl cheered the boy on.
The dagger finally came loose. As the boy fell to the ground, the crystal shattered into pieces.
When the boy looked at the crystal’s remains, the girl was gone.
“Hey, I’m down here!” A sudden voice came from the boy’s hands. He looked down at the dagger. The blade glowed with a strange light.
“Even though I had to convince you, I’m still grateful for the help. And since I am a great and benevolent angel, I’m willing to grant you my power. The name’s Luxury.” A cheerful voice sounded from the dagger.
The boy nodded and began walking towards the room’s exit.
“Hey stop! At least tell me your name!” the dagger shouted in frustration.
“…I don’t have one.”
“…Great. Well, that’s not going to work. How about this? I’ll call you…
Cerien. Yeah. I like that.” The dagger named the boy with a satisfied tone.
“Very well. Let us go Luxury.”
The newly named boy walked towards the door.
Cerien tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Oh. That’s right. I forgot.” The dagger said with disappointment. Cerien looked at the blade with confusion.
Suddenly, the room began to tremble. Cerien could sense something moving within the darkness.
A deep voice could be heard.
“Boy. Return the blade. If you take it out of here, you will unleash a havoc on this world.”
“Hey! Don’t listen to him. Just pry open the door and let’s get out of here!”
Suddenly, the rumbling grew larger. A shape emerged from the darkness.
Cerien now clearly saw the source of the deep voice.
A gigantic ape emerged from the darkness. Unlike the rest of the animals, its fur was not black. It was pure white. Its eyes were pale blue. It was not a magical beast.
“I have guarded that demon for over a hundred years. I was surprised that a human could even pull the dagger out of the crystal. But you shall continue no further. My only purpose is to stop that demon from ever unleashing her wrath on this world again.”
Cerien looked down at the blade in shock.
“Hey Luxury. You said you were an angel.” He accused with growing suspicion.
“…Oh did I? Well…that was just a figure of speech, you know? I mean…I guess you could call me a demon. But I prefer the term, morally challenged individual.”
The ape laughed, but there was no amusement in his laughter.
“Morally challenged? Don’t lie. You don’t have any morals.
Boy. Drop the dagger. Do so and I will let you free.”
“Hey! Don’t listen to him! Didn’t you hear me? I will grant you immeasurable power. Just get me out of here!” Luxury interjected.
“Do not listen to the demon’s lies. Luxuria is not to be trusted.” The ape gravely warned.
“Hey don’t go telling people my real name! It’s embarrassing!” the dagger whined.
Cerien looked down at the dagger, then back up at the ape.
Without hesitation, he tossed the dagger back to the ape.
“Much appreciated, boy. I prefer not to kill anyone without just cause.”
“HEY! ARE YOU AN IDIOT! DIDN’T I PROMISE YOU POWER? YOU BASTARD! WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE, I’M GOING TO FIND YOU, CERIEN!
HEY! WAIT! WHERE ARE YOU GOING? STOP! COME BACK!”
Cerien turned his back on the ape and the slightly upset dagger and left the room behind.
The ape turned to look at the blade in its hands.
“Luxuria. That boy…he wasn’t…human was he?”
“Oh, you just realized, you fat ape? I thought so at first too, but I realized quite soon. Unlike you, you goddamn filthy primate.”
“He reminded me of the magical beasts lurking the caves. How on earth did a human become…so…unhuman?”
* * *
Senia and Savunt were sitting next to a fire.
They had found a rabbit hopping around the caves. Savunt grabbed it and snapped its neck. Savunt instantly noticed that the rabbit was tainted by raw mana. Senia couldn’t eat the rabbit as it was, so Savunt began draining the raw mana from the beast.
Senia waited patiently by the fire as raw mana flowed out the rabbit. Senia didn’t realize it, but Savunt was collecting the raw mana and storing it.
“All right. Now it’s time to cook it.” Savunt then began cooking the rabbit over the fire.
Senia stared at the dead rabbit with mixed emotions. She was starving and desperately wanted to eat, but…
“The bunny…it’s so CUTE!”
Savunt looked at Senia with a dry grin. She looked right back pleading with her eyes.
“Couldn’t you have…killed something else? Other than this cute little bunny?”
Savunt shook his head and smiled.
“Don’t be picky. Rabbit tastes great anyways.”
The two sat waiting for their meal to cook.
The two sat in comfort, knowing that they were not alone.
Senia smiled, even though her world had been ruined.
Savunt was by her side, making everything all right.