COOL COOL CAVERN

The roar of geysers rolled over the chasm’s edge. Parading down the bridge’s battered stonework, four Guards of Eyngard met our approach. Ligmas, well intentioned as ever, stepped toward them.

“Excuse me good sir-”

I flicked a golden coin at one of the Guards and continued forward. Ligmas jogged to catch up.

“Miss Marina, what was that?”

“A monetary donation.”

“I thought you said-”

“Those guys aren’t ones you wanna get chatty with. Ah- we should probably get moving before what I gave them changes back.”

Beatrice swore under her breath and grabbed hold of Evie’s and Sugma’s arms. She yanked them into a sprint down the bridge alongside us.

The chasm’s dark depths narrowed beneath us before ballooning out, encircling the old city like the top half of a figure eight from above. The mound it rested on paled in comparison to its successor, but could still captivate us with its awe. Could, at least, if it weren’t for the predicament we found ourselves in.

Halfway across the bridge, a forty meter gap funneled to the abyss. Beatrice kicked a stone over the bridge’s collapsed edge.

“Great. They’re gonna be all over us after whatever trick you pulled on them wears off you know.”

“Thinking~.”

My staff sprung out from my hand while Ligmas gathered the others in a huddle.

“Perhaps if we use some rope-”

“Evie, blue potions please.”

“Oa? These are the only two I have left. They’re expensive-”

I snatched the bubbling, blue vial from Evie and drank.

“Release~”

With my eyes blue, the other end of the bridge became twice as close. Air rushed around me as I fell toward the chasm. My yells of adrenaline-caked excitement bounced up toward the others. They rushed to the edge and looked down at me. My voice rang out from the other side.

“Waa~ That’s tough to get in one go~”

Evie cupped her hands around her mouth.

“What? You scared me to death!”

“WHAT?”

“WHAT?”

I flew back across the gap.

“Okie, let’s go.”

One by one I lifted the others across the gap. Through free-falls and some stalls, the spacing between each teleport was irregular and jagged. Once everyone was across, the world pulsed black through my throbbing vision. My eyes fell gray when I finally blinked. Evie tugged at my cloak.

“What’s up?”

“Ah.. nothing.”

“Ok, let’s keep moving.”

Gravel and specks of glass crunched under our feet. The grass around our path lay dead with an ashen hue. Buildings, what used to be buildings, looked like cookies crumbled and crunched by the strike of a fist.

Illuminated by torchlight, a tunnel burrowed into the ground along our path. The light of the torches flickered against a stamp of the lion crest of Alindra pressed into its side.

We walked down the sloped tunnel, kicking our heels into the dirt and sliding every so often. When it straightened out, the air coldened and a coat of ice crystals crept up the walls. No longer kicking dirt, our toes crunched against a thin layer of icy slush.

Ringing strikes of metal picks resonated against the tunnel’s walls.

At the tunnel’s end, we ventured into a cavernous dome encased in ice. Scattered pillars of glass with skirts of snow rose to a rocky ceiling. A hole punched by daylight peered through its center. Between us and a lit grotto carved into the opposite end of the cavern, dwarves with their mouths agape and eyes shut stuck struck at clusters of brownish-red rocks.

The world became enveloped in darkness aside from a small, red blotch moving toward where the dwarves were.

“Hey uh. Buddy? You-”

“Don’t touch them!”

Think- this doesn’t make sense. What could-

“Mm.. Marina.”

Beatrice rested her hand on Evie’s shoulder before glaring in my direction. A pressure pushed against my purple eyes.

“Alaphan?”

…

“Captain?”

…

“Lieutenant?”

…

Anyone?

A voice buzzed in my head.

“Marina? Didn’t we just have a chat about magic yesterday? Don’t tell me that’s the best you can do kiddo.”

“I’m not- we’ve got trouble. There’s a bunch of people in the old city. They look possessed, but they’re not giving off any ether. - … - Lieutenant?-”

A shattering roar echoed toward us. We rushed past the dwarves and crouched around the edges of the entrance to the grotto. Inside, two rough shards of ore rested on top of a dilapidated table. In the center of the room, a bear-like creature covered in white fur stood on its hind legs.

My eyes shifted to a purple hue once more. I clenched through the pain pulsing in my head. Ligmas clasped his claw over my shoulder.

“Fear not Miss Marina, leave this to-”

I leapt in front of the opening.

“Hey ugly! Hand over the ore and nobody gets hurt, but boy do I wanna make you- oop.”

I fell backwards into Evie’s lap. My eyes fell gray. Her trembling hands wrapped around me while she bit into her bottom lip.

A voice I recognized came from inside the grotto.

“Adventurers, I am just about to start dinner. You will make fine ingredients.”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Evie’s arms relaxed and we both laid back. She sighed and flicked the top of my head.

The adventurers funneled through the opening. After picking ourselves back up, Evie and I followed and sat up against the inside wall. A ball of blue light above Evie’s hand morphed into a bag of popcorn. An empty bottle lay by her side.

Sugma tightened his grip on his ax and glanced at Beatrice and Ligmas.

“Let’s show Marble and Elky what we can do at full strength.”

Evie nudged my arm with the warm bag.

“Oo~ Don’t mind if I do.”

I took a handful and popped one into my mouth. It was loaded with so much salt that it overpowered the buttery taste.

“Perfect~ Ah- it’s kinda chilly in here.”

I shoved the handful of popcorn into my mouth and dusted the salt off of my hands. Two scarves dropped out of the sky. One red, one pink. I wrapped the red scarf around Evie’s neck and threw the pink one over my shoulders. As if it were a clean sheet thrown over a bed, I draped and tucked my cloak around our legs.

A storm of icy wind spiraled out from the monster’s feet. The top of my cloak flapped against our legs when the chill blew over us. Evie and I traded looks of annoyance while the adventurers resumed their strikes after bracing the brunt of the wind.

“Ah- I know what we need.”

A white portal opened in the wall next to me. I skipped inside and grabbed a kettle that sloshed with the low, metallic ring while I swirled the water inside.

Two cups levitated through the air and plonked against the wooden counter. The kettle rose from my hand and poured a steaming, chocolatey mixture into each glass. I bowed at the end of my performance to go along with Evie’s applause.

“Marshmallows?”

“Marshmallows. Little tiny ones please~”

I snapped my fingers. Pink and white drops of pillowy sugar plopped into the drinks. Outside the portal I slid my back down the freezing wall and handed Evie her toasty cup.

Our cups clinked in cheers. A splash landed on my hand that I licked dry before the burn had a chance to linger.

Slashes and clashes circled around the monster. An uppercut from its claw sent Sugma’s ax sailing, lodging itself into the ceiling above.

A trail of steam blew away from my cup. I winced as it singed the tip of my tongue. It was silky and milky and despite the heat compelled me to have another taste right away. The marshmallows that weren’t already a sugary froth were squishy, gooey, and oh so sweet.

I dipped a piece of popcorn into my hot chocolate and shook the excess over the cup. Evie’s face scrunched up.

“Try it.”

“Nu-uh-”

As she opened her mouth, I plopped in a piece. She sat straight up and dunked one into her own cocoa.

“I am sorry for doubting you, oh master of sweets. Please indulge me with the secrets of more forbidden concoctions.”

The boys braced themselves against the cave wall, arms raised in front of them. Their hands wrapped the soles of Beatrice’s feet. Guttural, escalating cries boomed before Beatrice soared skyward. Her grip clenched the ax wedged into the ceiling. A kick. A dive. Her own cries came from her unrelenting eyes.

My eyes burned purple. The room was blurred. My arm slapped the slushy ground as my shroud fell from Beatrice’s body and my eyes blinked closed.

“Heh, how was that Millennia?”

Evie brought her hands together in short, bursty claps.

“Sounds like perfect scores.”

Ligmas stepped away from the table at the far end of the grotto. A chunk of raw ore in hand.

“We should check on the wellbeing of those fellows out there. They are our next priority. After that we can inquire about the ore needed for our other quest.”

The three adventurers took their leave. Evie and I pulled ourselves up from the snow and hopped up on the monster’s torso. Evie tapped her middle knuckles against its chest. It made hollow clinks.

“Ooya? Metal?”

“Nikolanium. Stuff ain’t cheap, but it sure does make using magic easier to keep up the charade. Tougher than steel too at half the weight.”

I slid the fur-covered bear helmet off the Lieutenant’s head.

“How was my acting?”

“Wonderful~ Oo- your voice acting could use a little work though~.”

“What was all this for though?”

“A few years back I convinced the city to set up a program to get new adventurers off their feet. I know what it’s like. Wander into a new place and can’t find work, so you bug the biggest group you can for word on anyone in trouble. You never know who’s going to need their help someday, so it’s better than them getting discouraged right away-”

We jumped off the Lieutenant as he shifted himself to sit up.

“-But they started walking away from the castle before anyone could tell them where they needed to go. Luckily the boys at the gate overheard them talking about Bolvar’s forge, so we reached out to him. Had him and his son put on a bit of a show to steer them in the right direction. Apparently it worked a little too well and one of them nearly got in a fist fight with him.”

Ehehe..~

“First impressions didn’t give me the highest hopes. I was more surprised to see you jump out before they did. - But after sparring with them I think they’ll do just fine for themselves. Adventuring might not be a grand profession of uncovering conspiracy and saving entire cities like it used to be, but they’ll be able to help a lot of people who need it.”

Evie looked past the Lieutenant to the table across the room.

“So I take it they’ll need both those ores for these quests to make sense?”

The Lieutenant turned his head and chuckled.

“You can’t make this stuff up.”

“We’ll give it to them. Ah- question. How were we supposed to get across the bridge?”

“Bridge? You didn’t come from the chasm?”

I explained all the events prior in brief detail.

“Oh, that’s a new one. Those weren’t guards. They’re new recruits dressed up so that we don’t give anything away. We have them stationed there for the exercise so they could redirect the adventurers to a service tunnel. It’s supposed to add depth and make it feel more grand.”

“I guess that makes more sense than hoping someone in the group knows teleportation magic.”

Evie and I grabbed the ore from the table before walking back into the dome-like cavern. Sugma jumped at the sight of us.

“I didn’t touch them.”

I placed my hand before my face and slid my leg across the crystalline ground.

“Tremble before the might of my spell mortals. For I, Marina Elysera, free you from the plague that clouds your mind. tɹˈe͡ɪ lˈɑːsˌiːkˈe͡ɪ jˈɛskˈiː. pɹˈɑːɡɹˈɑː kˈɛptˈa͡ɪvi.”

Eeeh- hope I didn’t butcher that. Dibil isn’t exactly the best teacher.

I waved my hand out. The warped and slack faces of the dwarves relaxed.

“Where are we?”

“The old city? What’re we doing here?”

“I gotta get home to see my kids.”

“Miss Marina, if I may ask-”

I handed the ore to Ligmas and gave him a wink.

AAAAAAAAAAH. I completely forgot he knows a lot of different languages.

Ligmas concealed the ore with a grin.

“The question still remains as to how we will escape to the city.”

One of the dwarves walked over to us, pick in hand.

“Hey, you all saved us right? Thanks. There’s an old service tunnel near here we can take you to.”

“Oh, why, thank you my good man. How very convenient this all is.”

Shut up. Shut up. If you’re gonna play along don’t wear it all over your face.

We followed the dwarves through the icy tunnel back into the sunlight. A few reflexive stretches were taken as the warmth reached our skin.

Evie tugged at my cloak.

“Hey. Promise me something. Don’t do anything like that again.”

“Mm? Do what?”

“You know what. Ever since you got back you haven’t been acting like you. Picking fights, taking other people's money, putting yourself in danger. You aren’t thinking things through and just -”

“She’s right.” Beatrice walked toward us. “I don’t know much of how you were before we met, but this goes beyond just warming up to us. You’re way too impulsive all of a sudden.”

“I’m- I can take care of myself. I’ll be fine.”

“Listen Magma, we get that. You’re more than capable. But you’re also more than capable of making your friends cry. And I ain’t just talking about just Eddie. Promise you won’t do anything I’d do.”

“Perhaps that is a bit much. You do have a good idea every now and again. Just promise us you will stay safe, Miss Marina.”

Evie hugged me from behind and buried her face in my cloak.

“Alright. I promise.”