Esteria: The World of Life

Chapter 8 | Spring Cove's Stone Guard

After a long talk with Shellan, Skeet and Ylva finally made it out of the Pyriad Sanctuary. Wiping his sweat off, he realized how bright the sky is at this point. Using his palm, he measured the time, trying to count how far the light has already gone from sunrise, and surely enough, it’s already past half a year.

“You…” Hearing that, Skeet looked at Ylva, and just before he knew it, he was already been pinned to a nearby wall by her. Eyes wide open as he hyperventilated, he can’t seem to do anything in front of the Pyriad woman in front of him. Even his mouth, which is supposed to ask questions like “what is that for”, seem to have run dry as well.

“Don’t ever think I have already forgiven you from what you did earlier.” She was referring to that battle with her aunt. But what will she do to the human? With her muscular physique, she can crush Skeet’s bones in a moment or two. Or at least her hands can suffocate him until he turns violet, since humans are frail in the first place. Either way, the way she looked at him suggested him one thing, and it’s clear to him what it means.

One wrong word, and he’ll end up digging his own grave.

“…But I’ll let it slide.” Out of the blue, she released Skeet from being pinned as if nothing happened. He couldn’t help but just look at his companion, completely dumbstruck.

“What was that for?!” he asked, and yet he can’t seem to have the courage to ask her. His mouth betrayed him.

“We need to go to Undyra now and find Eliona. We don’t have all day to talk about earlier.” Wearing the brown cloak once more, Ylva led the way, leaving Skeet behind.

“Human! Hurry up, or I’m leaving you behind!” Those words ring into Skeet’s head, finally letting him return to his senses and follow Ylva obediently.

…

-Wave Path, Undyra, Fantacia-

Unlike the way to Isla de Fuego, the Wave Path seemed to be an easier walk, save for some slimy figures trying to get on their way. But apart from being soaked in slime mucus, it was much more peaceful than dealing with fireballs. At the same time, neither Skeet nor Ylva wanted to open up after the conversation earlier.

Finally arriving at Undyra, what greeted the two was the vast beauty of Sardine Sea from afar, enhanced by the gentle orange glow of the star above them, and two more to their left side. To the left of Sardine Sea was a pool where fairies in blue are having fun frolicking. They knew they just have to visit there for some time.

“Oh, hello!” one of these blue-attired fairies, called the Naiad, greeted with a smile only to be replaced with a disgusted look upon seeing Skeet. “Ew, you’re full of slime!”

Hearing that, Ylva distanced herself even further than they were earlier.

“Hey, what’s the distance for?!” Skeet complained with his companion’s sudden distance.

“You know, you should better take a bath. You stink, first and foremost.” she retaliated while covering her nose. This made him smell himself.

“Hey! I don’t stink that much!” he clarified, but Ylva already has walked off before he knew it. “Hey!”

“You can have a bath here, mister.” The same Naiad offered the pool, along with the other Naiad. “It’s fine by us!” she added with a giggle at the end.

Well, looks like he had no other choice but to clean himself up.

…

Sometime after, Ylva came back to Skeet, who is now naked while at the pool with the other Naiad who are washing him as they speak.

“What the—” She raised an eyebrow at the scene she has seen, “you let Naiad do the work for you?! Get off! Now!” Shooing the fairies away who seemed to have a good time with bathing him, Ylva then demanded, throwing a huge leaf at him. “Get up, lazybones. We have the Oracle to find.”

Skeet couldn’t help but look at her with utter confusion while he dried himself. Finally overcoming with the cowardice that stopped him in a long time now, he asked, “Seriously, what’s wrong with you?!” And just before he could finish asking, a certain man was sent flying to the pool he recently swam on, creating a splash that made him wet again.

“That’s what I want to discuss with you about. Now hurry up.” Ylva then handed over his armor and clothing so as he can finish quickly. When he was done, the said man who was thrown over got up to his feet too, only to be offered for some bath by the same fairies who offered Skeet earlier. He had no other choice but to hasten and leave them be.

…

-Spring Cove, Undyra, Fantacia–

“Eh?” The first thing Skeet noticed is how long the line was on the way to the Spring Cave. If the line was this long, it may probably take them hours before they could see Eliona… or if they still could at this point.

“Take a look.” Ylva pointed to the sky, where one can see the cave from the horizon. Just then, Skeet saw something flying from the direction which Ylva pointed out. However, Skeet realized that it’s not something on the moment it gets closer to their line of sight, but someone. And that particular someone ended up falling into the pool where he took a bath earlier, like the other Naiad.

“That’s where they all come from. On that specific cove. That’s where Lumminel lives.” she then added.

Hearing the name, it made him remember the conversation they had with the other Mother Nymph, Shellan. “Lumminel?” he asked, “You mean the other sassy Mother Nymph that Shellan talked about?” But his choice of words made the Naiad ahead and behind Skeet glare at him.

“Take it back, you idiot.” said Ylva, but Skeet only pouted. “Whatever. Past here is what they call as the Stone Guard. Basically, it’s just a monolithic human figure blocking the way from the entrance to Lumminel’s throne. But here’s the catch.”

“What catch?”

“Most apparently, this Stone Guard speaks.” Hearing this, his eyes widened. “Not only that, he’ll certainly ask you three questions. Failure to answer any of these…” Ylva then pointed to the sky, where another unlucky Naiad was sent flying away to the pool, “That’s what happens to you.”

To clarify things up, Skeet then asked Ylva, “Okay, so… a rock asks you three questions, answer them all and you’ll get passage to the next Mother Nymph?” And in every point Skeet tried to clarify, Ylva nodded. “Hah! Easy!”

“Not that easy, actually…” a certain Naiad butted in, “The questions from the Stone Guard are close to impossible to answer. It is only by stroke of luck that the Stone Guard lowers its guard to let someone enter.”

“Oh…” And within a single rebuttal from a Naiad, all of Skeet’s plans and assumptions seem to have shattered.

…

“AAAAAAAAAAAA!!”

Sometime after, they’re getting close to the entrance of Spring Cove, and the closer they are to it, the louder the screams are that come from the cove, all because of getting wrong answers from the Stone Guard. Man or woman, child or elderly, none seem to have ever made it past the Stone Guard’s tough questions. This continued until the very person in front of both Ylva and Skeet went in, only to be sent flying seconds after as well.

“Well, looks like it’s our turn. More like your turn.” Ylva stated, pushing Skeet in to the entrance as she led him in.

The interiors of the Spring Cove is a literal cave, with formations of stalactites that drip water from above, as well as some parts of it being wet. Nonetheless, the two Mother Nymphs on conflict share one thing in common: not even making the huge effort of changing their lairs. A few more walks after, the cave’s landscape changed drastically— as the ceiling of the said cave begin to lighten. Looking up, there was no ceiling to begin with. Just a few puddles of water and stalagmites. Right in front of Skeet and Ylva was a life-sized face shaped monolithic rock that doesn’t look like it’ll budge when moved by force.

“That must be it,” Ylva stated out of  the blue, “The Stone Guard.”

“I see.” Skeet replied, “Thank you, Captain Obvious.” The end remark made Ylva stare at him instead of the monolith guard.

Just then, a loud yet gentlemanly voice was heard across the cave. “Visitors…! Again!” it said, “Hast thou come for mine questions? Should thine answer is a firm yes, then step forward into thine puddle!”

Just as when Skeet took a step forward, another loud voice coming from the same guard echoed through the cave. “HOWEVER!”

“Should thou hesitate, come back here in a later time. For I, the Stone Guard, forbid nincompoops with hesitant souls to partake mine own challenge!” The words made the two gulp in terror. Unknown to Skeet, he already was on the puddle before he could even step forward. As for Ylva, she already had hid into one of the stalagmites. Looks like Skeet had no other choice but to give it a try.

“So, thou art here for my challenge indeed? If so, I, the Stone Guard, shall explain you thine mechanics!” it said, “One, answer mine three questions truthfully! That is all!”

“Wait, that’s it?” Skeet questioned.

“Yes. However, should thou answer mine questions dishonestly, or should thou not know the answer to mine question…” it suddenly paused, “THEN THOU SHALL BE DISMISSED BY THE GEYSERS BELOW YOU! Thou can try as much as thou wish, but should thou fail by a lot of chances, I, the Stone Guard, suggest you to just give up your dreams and—”

“No, let’s do it!” Enthusiastically, Skeet cut off the Stone Guard’s speech, desperately wanting to get past him.

“Very well.” it replied, full of confidence, “One, what is your name?”

“Skeet! Skeet Caldurn of Mainland Esteria!”

“Two, what is your purpose of your visit?”

“I seek for the Oracle of the Dryads, who is currently speaking to your Mother Nymph, Lumminel!”

“I see.” the Stone Guard confirmed that Skeet managed to answer both questions as quick and truthful as possible, he found no difficulty on the challenge ahead of him— or if there’s any to begin with. A moment of silence enveloped the two as the Stone Guard thinks of a question to throw at Skeet for the last time.

“Heh, I’m one question down and I can finally get over this. I can’t see any difficulty on this at all!” he thought in the middle of the silence, smirking at the stone in front of him.

“What is the best dish served in all of Esteria?”

Did he just… hear it right?! A Stone Guard, asking him what dish is considered as Esteria’s best dish ? He ended up laughing at the question.

“Human, what’s so funny about the question?!” Ylva butted in, yet Skeet didn’t mind such a remark.

“First off, do we have a bias here? And second, which realm’s dishes are we talking about?” Skeet asked for a clarification. “Well, it would be hard if I talk about some other realm’s bestseller.” he thought as well.

Panicked at the fact that a challenger questioned it back, it blurted, “N-no, of course not! There is no bias, first and foremost! And second… I….”

Another moment of silence was suddenly replaced with a change of the Stone Guard’s expression. For the first time, Skeet and Ylva saw its eyes wide open. “I…I…!” it blurted out again, now realizing the mistake on its part.

This human defeated his opponent… by reversing its question! The sudden change of expression was the fact that it dishonestly responded to his question, which caught the Stone Guard off-guard!

“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” And the loud yet gentlemanly scream faded into the cove as the geyser below it released a powerful gush of  water, rocketing the said Stone Guard out of its post. Meanwhile, the sight which Ylva saw on Skeet’s back made her jaw drop.

“Accursed Panora…” she cursed. “What in Miyadrongar have you done!?”

“What? I only answered its questions.” Skeet mindlessly replied.

“With a question? Really?” Ylva raised an eyebrow. “You just have sent that Stone Guard flying!”

“Oh, so it was of this human’s work?” A womanly voice echoed through the cave in the middle of their conversation, followed by two womanly figures. These ones were…!

TO BE CONTINUED