“You can’t.” The Fallen Knight Aoris bluntly said with a blank voice. “There is no way.”
Kyle scowled. “Try to theorise.” He suggested. He was well aware of how difficult such a task would be. He didn’t need her to tell him that. What he needed were solutions.
“I don’t think it is possible to convince any draconic being from parting with their treasures, no matter how little or worthless said treasure may be.” She folded her arms. “May I ask what this is about? I thought you wished to focus all our efforts to help with the upcoming war.”
Kyle let out a sigh. “One of the dwarven smiths wanted me to find the artifact.” He explained. “Apparently its on the western side of the area, below the plateau.” He pondered a moment. “Why don’t we go and check it out? Come on.”
The Fallen Knight Aoris was quick to protest, but Kyle reassured her that he had no intention of attacking the beast. He wanted to see the cave, since it was
The entrance to the wyvern’s lair was straight ahead, not even fifty meters away from where they were standing. “I don’t suppose we can just sneak inside and take the artifact.” Kyle muttered. The Fallen knight chuckled. “No, we can’t.” She folded her arms. “You already nearly died once – take that as a sign, and leave this be, Summoner.” She urged him. Kyle let out a sigh. It was a very tempting offer. Incredibly so, in fact. But on the other hand… The dwarven artifact was quite possibly a core. A fourth core for the fortress was even more tempting. “I don’t suppose you’re strong enough to defeat a wyvern on your own?” Kyle asked with half a smile. The Fallen Knight shook her head. “Perhaps if Ladies Igna and Caille were here…” She pondered for a moment, then shook her head again. “Even then, the risk would be too great.” She concluded after a few moments of thinking. Kyle let out a sigh. “Well, this isn’t particularly helpful.” He scratched his head
Kyle noticed that he was staring at her dumbfounded. He quickly shook his head and cleared his throat. “Uh, it’s nothing.” He said in a hurry. “Just a twisted ankle. Nothing to worry about.” The young woman’s eyes widened. “Oh, but it is something to worry about!” She exclaimed. She hopped over the few fallen rocks and approached him. Her nimble movements were like that of an elf, and she did have pointy ears, but she wasn’t an elf. At least Kyle didn’t think she was. “Wait just a moment.” She muttered as she reached for the little, white pouch on her belt. “I think I have something that will help. Hold this a second.” She handed the parasol to him. “The sunlight hurts me,” She explained cheerfully as she rummaged through the small pouch. “My skin is very sensitive to the sun, so I need to carry this with me at all times.” She pulled a vial out of her pouch. “Aha!” Her wide smile was contagious. “There you go! Drink it, it’s a healing potion I bought from the
Their return to the plateau was fairly eventless. A few rogue wolves attempted to attack, but the Fallen Knight was particularly alert, and she disposed of them in the blink of an eye. “I think you’re overreacting.” Kyle said with a shrug. She had been questioning him about every detail he could remember about Vis. “I’ll accept she was not a normal, ordinary person, but if she wanted to kill me, she would have tried that already.” The Fallen Knight shook her head. “Perhaps she was simply trying to see if you are a threat to her. Or perhaps she is not quite strong enough to kill you.” Kyle rolled his eyes. “She walked into a wyvern’s lair and came out unscathed. She’s definitely strong.” He sighed. “You know, next time we meet, you can try and ask her yourself. How does that sound?” The Fallen Knight nodded. They continued walking in silence for a while before she spoke up again. “You said she had crimson hair?” Kyle nodded. “Yeah, wavy crimson
“What?” Kyle stared at Caille and Igna blankly. “Let’s go!” They insisted again, each of them pulling at one of his arms. “You’ve got a fortress to rebuild, remember?” he reminded them, only to have them roll their eyes and shrug. “Harriet and The Architect can handle that. Besides, you’ve got nearly a hundred skeletons helping. They don’t need us!” Caille said with a grin. “Come on, it will be fun!” “What will be fun?” A cold, harsh voice startled both women. Luke, the tall, blonde paladin was standing behind them, towering over both of them. His armour was no longer shiny and new, it was dented and scarred. This new look made him look quite a bit more intimidating. “You do realise what shape the fortress is, don’t you?” The Paladin asked, narrowing his eyes, glaring at each of them. “Luke…” Caille let go of Kyle’s arm. “This is for the Guild’s-“ “Tell me exactly what it is you’re planning.” The Paladin
Walking on the side of the chasm’s cliff wall was… odd, to say the very least. The ground – their ground – was jagged. It was difficult to walk on. “This has to be one of the weirdest things I’ve ever done in my life.” Caille mumbled as she walked. Kyle nodded, this was beyond weird indeed. Not only was it extremely disorientating, but it was confusing as well. Seeing the world from an angle they’d never seen before, Kyle couldn’t help but feel amazement as well. … Just not enough amazement to quell the fear in his heart. “Let’s just hurry.” He mumbled. The Jellyfish was floating right next to the small group of three. If they strayed too far from it, the changed gravity would return to normal, and they’d fall to their deaths. “Yeah.” Caille gulped. Even her scholarly curiosity was being pushed aside by the threat of falling down the chasm. Despite both of their urges to speed up, the Jellyfish went at a normal and steady pace, and they had n
“Light of the Gods!” Luke’s voice echoed within the caverns, repeating itself over and over and over. Like a small sun, golden light exploded, momentarily dispersing the fog, and revealing what lay beneath. A snake slithered away too fast for them to see it properly. The hand gripping Kyle’s ankle let go of it. It was Caille’s. She lay on the ground, one hand gripping her throat, the other reaching for Kyle and Luke. Her eyes were wide open, and she opened and closed her mouth in terror, though no sound came out. “It must have bit her!” Luke said as Kyle helped her sit up. Caille nodded, then rummaged through her inventory. “We need an antidote, or a cure spell. Or something!” Luke exclaimed. “Caille, where is the wound? I can try to heal it!” Caille shook her head, then finally found what she was looking for. A pen and paper. Kyle narrowed his eyes as she scribbled something on it. ‘BE QUIET’ she had written. Once she m
The tunnels began to even out, no longer were they heading directly downwards. The tunnels also became narrower. A single person could fit with ease, but two people couldn’t walk side by side. Their steps were silent, the thick cover of moss and mushrooms made them so, but their very breathing still echoed around them. The silence was deafening, and it was most certainly unnatural. Were they nearing a powerful monster? Or was it finally the end of this musky tunnel? Soon, their questions were answered as they walked around a corner, only to come face to face with a cast metal door that blocked their path. It was a single, solid piece of metal that wasn’t too familiar to Kyle. It wasn’t iron or bronze, nor was it something as valuable as mithril, though it did have the same colour as it. He scowled, shot the confused Caille and Luke a quick glance, then pressed his palm against the door. A moment passed, and nothing happened. He pressed with all his st
He could barely hear the roars of the minotaur over the whispers of the snake that continued to echo in his mind. ‘Take me there’ ‘Surface… the sun…’ ‘Show me…’ The words began to mix as they repeated in his mind. The image of the distant sun as soon from the bottom of the chasm was fresh in his mind. Whenever he closed his eyes, he could see it. And that longing feeling accompanied it no matter how hard he tried to push it away. The snake’s thoughts and his began to mix. The voice he heard was no longer Caille’s. It was his own voice speaking in his mind. When he tried to speak, no sound came out. He tried to kick the snake, to pry it off of himself, but the more he struggled the more it coiled around him. The voices in his mind grew even louder. They were more prevalent than his own thoughts now. “Slug, go!” Caille’s voice sounded from the distance. “Wait – my voice is back!” She exclaimed imme