Next Chapter Away!
Chapter II
The Darkness
“Hello? Hello? Are you alive? Did the big puppy bite you to death?” Maryn quietly said while hovering over him. He was asleep in a room of his house that had been used as the infirmary.
“Shh. Leave him alone Maryn,” her mom said, “He needs his rest.” Drath’s parents, Novis, Maryn and her mom were sitting around Drath. He slowly sat up.
“Hey, you should rest. You’re hurt.” His mom said.
“I hate when people do that,” he said in a quite whisper. “I’m okay,” and then the pain came. The pain coursing through his arm felt like fire, burning all of his nerves.
“Ah!” he shouted as he grasped his arm, “What happened!”
“You were bit, son. The giant thing almost crushed the life out of you. It’s a good thing you can yell loud or Novis wouldn’t have been able to save you.” His dad said.
“Thanks man,” he said in an exhausted voice, “I owe you one.”
“Hey, you can pay me back by getting your strength back. We’re going to need you for the game.” Novis said laughing.
“Oh man. I hope this won’t be a problem.” Drath said.
“Hey, just rest for now. The boat doesn’t come until tomorrow. You’ll heal quick enough.” Maryn said.
Maryn’s mom had experience as a doctor, so she was the one treating Drath. “Drath, I’m going to check the bite. It seems to have stopped bleeding.” She said. She slowly unwrapped the cloth covering the wound. “Oh my.”
“What is it,” Drath’s mom said.
“The wound. It’s completely gone. There’s no indication that it had ever been there. That’s very odd.” She said.
“Maybe it has to do with the Lycanthrope biting me. Well, if it makes you feel better I can still feel the fire burning apart my arm.” Drath responded.
“Yah, very funny, tough guy.” Maryn said. Drath swung his feet off the side of the bed. He sat down on the bed waiting.
“Well what are you waiting for?” his dad said. Drath still didn’t move. He just sat there with his feet on the floor sitting there in silence.
“Come on,” Novis said, “What’s wrong?”
“…I’m hungry.” Drath said. Everyone laughed and all but Maryn and Novis left the room. They helped him to his feet and they walked out the door.
“I cleaned your weapons for you. That dirty wolf won’t bother us anymore.” Novis said.
“Nice job with the energy blast. Good thing you didn’t hit me or there would be one less person to talk to on the island.” Drath laughed.
“We should explore the cave to see what’s in it. Maybe we will find something to clue us in on the monster increase in the forest.” Maryn said.
The three friends walked out the door heading toward camp. At camp they picked up their weapons. They headed off to the cliff where the cave sat. Far below they saw crushing water and fins of tremendous sized sharks.
They slowly climbed down the cliff watching every step so as not to fall to their deaths. Drath climbed down as easy as the rest while the pain of being bit continuously surged through him.
A large amount of rocks slipped beneath Maryn’s feet and she fell. Novis quickly grabbed his lance and extended it to her hand before she fell. “Careful! Those aren’t friendly sharks!” Novis yelled over the roaring water.
Novis reached the cave floor first. Maryn and Drath followed in after. It was dark. Not a single light but from the cave entrance. Drath pulled out a lighter from his pocket.
“Oh my…”Maryn whispered as she held her hand up to her mouth. The ground was covered in skeletons of animals.
“I guess we found where that thing came from. Look over there.” She said as pointed toward a pile of bones.
“Those are human bones. Everyone keep your guard up, there may be another.” Drath said. They walked ahead slowly through the dimly lit cavern. They heard small feet scampering across the ground. Drath spun around to see rocks falling behind the crew. He turned back forward.
“Draw your swords! Those aren’t friendly!” Drath commanded. Six Deru Liene Dragons ran at them. They snarled and bit at the wanderers. Two of the dragons ganged up on Drath. One spit out a human bone and attacked.
Drath jumped back making the two dragons hit heads. He jumped on one of the dragon’s back and pulled it backwards. It fell down on top of him. He rolled over it and stabbed it.
The second was enraged when it died. “Careful guys! We have to kill them all at the same time. They get stronger when their partners die!” Novis explained.
“Great!” Drath said as he dodged another attack. Drath took out a rope from his bag. “Hold them away for a second!” Novis and Maryn jumped between the dragons and tried to hold them back with their weapons.
“Alright. Move!” Drath shouted. The two jumped out of the way. The dragons flew at Drath. He jumped to the other side of the cave and stretched out the tripwire he had tied to a big rock on the ground. The dragons tripped and fell out of the cave entrance off the cliff to the sea below.
“Good plan.” Novis said as he looked over the cliff to see the dragons getting ripped apart by the sharks. The group headed deeper into the cave. The cave went on for over a mile of nothing. They finally reached a large cavern.
“Whoa, it’s beautiful!” Maryn said. The light from the lighter reflected off millions of diamonds in the walls illuminating the room.
“So, did any one bring a pickaxe?” Drath said.
“Those folks over there won’t mind if we borrow that from them.” Novis said as he pointed to a group of skeletons that were holding the picks.
Novis walked over of one of the skeletons and shook the pickaxe out of his hand. He waited to see if anything would happen. He then picked up two other picks and handed them out.
The three friends spent almost an hour hitting at the cave walls. They bundled up most of the diamonds and brought them back to the cave entrance. They later continued down the path.
“That’s a lot of money sitting in those bags!” Novis said as he laughed down the hall.
“Yeah. When we get topside we’ll need to go to the main land and trade it for gold.” Drath said as he laughed. The neared the cave of diamonds. The wind in the tunnel increased drastically. They stepped into the glistening cavern.
“Um, guys? Were those red Dots there when we came in?” Maryn said as she pointed to the other side of the cavern. The nose of a large beast emerged from the hole. Then came the entire head. The beast crawled out of the darkness. Its massive legs caused tremors when it stepped.
“Oh my gosh…” Maryn took a few steps back. “Do we risk are lives?”
“We should fight it.” Drath said, “It’s what’s likely to be the one causing trouble in the forest.”
“I don’t think fighting that monster would be intelligent. Especially in your state.” Maryn said trembling.
“I don’t think we could get away even if we tried,” Novis said, “if we run, it will roast us alive.” Drath unsheathed his sword. His arm started throbbing at that point. The others took out their weapons and stood waiting.
The temperature in the room rose very high. The three friends started sweating from the heat. One after another they took turns attacking and dodging the beast. They couldn’t scratch it. Its scales were too tough.
“Guys! Its too tough!” Drath said panting. The dragon’s large claw smashed into Drath sending him to the other side of the room. He hit the wall and fell to the floor.
“Drath!” Novis and Maryn said in unison. They dodged over the dragon’s attacks as they ran to Drath. He lay unconscious.
“We have to fight! Drath will be alright.” Novis said. They turned around and searched for a weak point. Novi s ran up its claw and jumped onto its back. The heat was unbearable near the ceiling. He slid down its back and stabbed deep between thin layers of scales.
The dragon roared and threw Novis off towards the cavern entrance. Novis slid across the ground. Maryn ran over to him. He lay unconscious too. She turned to see the dragon’s massive tail flying threw the air. The dragon intended to crush her and Novis.
The room turned too shadows. All was dark. Maryn heard a ripping noise. The dragons crying roar echoed throughout the underground cave. Light slowly crept towards the center of the room. Maryn noticed off to the side the dragon’s tail sitting in a pool of its own blood.
The light, showing bright again stopped in the center where a dark figure stood. It bolted past and out the cave. The dragon lay dead; a deep gash in the throat was the end of the dragon.
“Drath!” Maryn shouted as she looked around the cave. He was not where he once lay. She looked back at Novis to see if he was okay. His breathing was slow but he was alive.
Maryn lay down his head and stood. She ran across the room looking for Drath but he was unseen. She ran around calling his name to find nothing. She fell to her hands and knees. “No,” she whispered, “he can’t be…”
Maryn got back to her feet and walked towards Novis. She lifted him to his feet. “Come on Novis, not you too.” She whispered distressed.
After waking Novis, the two climbed back up the cliff. They slowly traveled through the forest both depressed from losing their friend. They reached home.
“Hey, your back!” Drath’s mom said as she saw the two of them return. She saw the look on their face. “What’s wrong guys?” she noticed Drath was gone. “Where’s Drath?”
Everyone met in Drath’s house and sat down. Maryn told the story of what happened. …After the dark figure left I looked for Drath. He was gone.” She said.
“Don’t worry kids, Drath’s probably alright. He’s a good kid. He’s probably on his way back right now.” Maryn’s dad said. “And from your story, you’re all probably tired. So let’s all get some rest. We may here from Drath tomorrow. And you also have a big game coming up.
They all dispersed and went to their own rooms. The sun fell and the moon took its place. Drath had still not returned.
Maryn did not sleep well. She dreamed about the dragon squishing Drath against the wall. Then hundreds of little spike balls with sharp teeth and feet jumped on Drath and started chewing on him. She saw Novis get squished onto the floor by the dragon. Then a dark horned figure crept closer to her and screamed a terrible call. Hundreds of dark shadows encircled her. A pool of shadows formed beneath her and she started sinking. The fiend pulled out a large axe and swung it at her.
She screamed as she woke up; sweat dripped down her face. It was dark. The only light came from the moon. She heard footsteps. Her dad came up stairs to check on her.
“Is everything all right?” he asked, “I heard a scream.”
“I’m okay. It was just a dream.” Maryn whispered in a soft, exhausted voice. Her dad left and shut the door. She gasped as she saw a dark figure standing where the door was once open.
“Shh.” A rasping voice whispered, “Don’t be afraid, its me.” The figure drifted towards her and got down close to her. It was wearing a black cloak. It lifted its hand to its mouth and held up a finger to tell her to be quiet. Its hand was covered in fur. It had sharp nails extending from its fingertips.
“What are you!” she whispered scooting back.
“Its me, Drath.”
“That’s not possible. Drath’s…”
“Dead?” he interrupted.
“No. No that’s not what I was going to say.” The shadow took off its hood to show its face. It was furry. Short ears came out of the fur. The eyes were dark with a slight hint of red near the center. The nose was short like a humans nose. Large fangs protruded from the mouth. There was a scar beneath the right eye. He wore a headband and had short hair. The skin was dark black.
“Do you notice me now Maryn?” he said.
“How do you know my name!” she said.
“Are you blind! What have I been telling you! I’m Drath!” he loudly whispered.
“Drath would never yell at me like that! You can’t be him!” Maryn sternly, but softly shouted.
“I’m sorry. Something happened to me. It seems to have been from the wolf’s bite. I’ve… changed. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled like that.” He replied.
“Well, that is Drath’s hair style. And that’s his headband. Wait. How’d you get that scar?”
“I turned into this when the dragon knocked me against the wall in the cave. And I got this scar when I was four and I jumped off a boulder into a stream. I cut my cheek on a rock in the river.” He explained.
“Drath… its really you…” she smiled as she hugged him. “You’re alive!”
“Shh, you still have to be quiet. Can I stay here tonight? I can’t go to my house cause my dad will probably not believe me. It wouldn’t be safe. I could stay in the corner,” he asked.
“Sure.” She said as she gave him a pillow and a blanket.
“Thanks… Good night.” Drath whispered.
“Sleep tight.” She said back. Those reassuring words helped both friends rest well that night.
