I walked behind Alora. She was doing a lot better considering. Her arm was out of commission but her head wound wasn't as bad as I thought since she was able to walk. The cave seemed to go on forever. We walked the same straight path for what felt like hours. There was no grasp of time in the cave. We could have been in there for days and not even realized it. It was torture.
We didn't talk much while we walked. I can only remember one conversation we had when we were in Bezage, a mining town east of Vestige Caverns.
"Do you remember when we were in Bezage?" Alora said not stopping or turning her head to acknowledge me.
"I do. What about it?"
"When we first arrived and I saw you standing there beside Ziden, the first thought that came to mind was 'Great looks like I'm going to have to babysit' but I suppose I was wrong about that. I wanted to say sorry."
"There is no need to apologize about anything." Alora stopped and faced me.
"Yes there is. I've been rude to you and everyone else in our group. I was just angry and I didn't want to be here."
"Why didn't you want to be with us? I thought you came cause you wanted too." I caught the glimpse of a light down the cave passageway.
"I had a choice but I didn't really -- Wait do you see that?"
"Yea there is a light further on. It looks pretty close."
"We should check it out. Now."
"Good idea." I was bothered that we never finished that conversation. I still wonder what Alora meant by that.
We couldn't wait to figure out what the light was, a way out maybe, or Ziden's light spell. We were running when Alora stopped and held her arm out to motion me to stop.
"What is it?"
"Shh, be quiet. I hear something. Do you have my daggers?"
"Yea but you're in no position to fight."
"I still have one arm left. Give me one of them. You keep the other." I took one of the black daggers out of my pouch and threw it to Alora. I pulled out my bow and instead of an arrow readied Alora's other dagger. We slowly walked down the passage, the light becoming brighter and brighter as we approached it.
Each of us on another side of the cave wall we walked into the opening where the light was coming from. The room was small, with three other entrances too it. On the right wall was something I honestly never thought I would see. We walked over to it, letting down our guard.
There it was. The Ultamite was right in front of me. The ore was blue, light emitted from it and forced me to cover my eyes. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen in my life. I wanted to touch it. I felt the need to touch it. Like something was drawing me in, closer and closer. I reached out to touch it -- a loud roar caused me to turn around and aim my bow down one of the cave passages.
Alora and I stared down the dark path, fearing the unknown. It was like deja vu.
"Do you think it's the same monster as before?" Alora asked me nervously.
"I recognize the roar. He's coming." I didn't take my eyes off the pathway. As expected out of the darkness came the same beast as before. His left eye was scarred where the arrow had hit. He let out another fearsome roar. "Alora! Stay back!"
"No way, it's time for some revenge." She charged the monster at full speed, dagger held backwards as always. He reacted to her charge by sweeping his massive claws to the side. In an amazing acrobatic feat Alora dodged by doing a front flip over his claws and stabbing him in the forehead. He cried a painful roar and started to shake his head in an attempt to throw her off again.
"Hold on, Alora!" I pulled out an arrow and replaced it with the dagger. Aiming carefully I shot multiple arrows at the beast. One missed, another hit his leg, and the last hit his chest. He seemed to ignore the arrows on his body. He started ramming his head into the cave walls. Alora was holding on for dear life. My arrows weren't working so I had to think fast.
I took out Alora's dagger and looked at it in my hand. I have never used a melee weapon before. My whole life my farther was known as one of the greatest bowmen of our time. I trained secretly in the ways of the bow. Neither of my parents wanted that life for me so they forbade it, but now wasn't the time to be looking into the past for Alora's life was hanging by a thread.
I held the blade in the same way Alora did, copying how I had seen her fight thus far. Alora sunk the blade farther into his head and kicked him in the eye. The beast stopped moving if only for a second. It was my chance. I ran at the beast and aimed for it's weak spot, the stomach. I slide under the monster on my knee's slicing through his stomach as I did. I crawled out from under the beast just in time.
A few painful roar's later the beast lay on the ground, blood painting the floor. I ran around to Alora who was lying on the ground.
"Are you okay?" She sat up and looked at me.
"-cough- Better then last time thanks to you. That was quick thinking."
"I had to do something. He was going to kill you."
"You did pretty well with that blade. A natural."
"I'd prefer to stay away from those who wish to kill me. Not that I don't appreciate the compliment." Alora stood up and kicked the beast corpse.
"I hate beast. I suppose this is Ultamite then?" We both turned toward the glowing ore.
"The description given to us by the miners said the ore was glowing blue so I'd assume so. Should we find the others?"
"No. It could take days for us to find them and who knows if we'd ever find our way back. We should stay here and wait for them to arrive. It's not like they're dead. They'll find us soon." I nodded and walked over to the ore. It was truly amazing. We set up camp and waited for our comrades to find us.
What seemed like hours past when we saw a yellow light start to appear from one of the cave paths.
"Do you think that's them?" I was anxious but nervous about who could be coming.
"Ziden's light is yellow so it must be them." We waiting and in within a few minutes Ziden and the rest of the group came around the corner.
"Hey guys it's us!" I waved at them as they approached.
"Where have you guys been." Melinda stomped over to me and waved her finger in my face.
"Um, waiting for you guys where have you been?"
"Hey! Don't give me an attitude. You are the ones who ran off and -- found the Ultamite?" Melinda turned and looked at the ore, astonished at what she saw.
"So you guys found it before us? Seems for whatever reason you separated from us, you were right." Tetra walked over to ore and looked it over. "This is definitely the Ultamite. I had no idea such a thing was here. It's amazing."
"It's so beautiful." Belinda smiled and then turned toward Alora. "Oh my, did you guys get into a fight? You're bloody and injured."
Alora simply pointed toward the corpse of the beast.
"You guys fought that?" I sensed shock in Ziden's voice.
"Yea, it was tough but we managed to kill it thanks to Riley."
"Aw, you give me too much credit Alora."
"Well come over here and let me heal your wounds. Quickly." Belinda tied her long white hair into a ponytail and positioned us in front of her. "This might tingle a bit." She held her hands out in front of her and closed her eyes. A white light emerged from her hands and forced me to shut my eyes. In seconds our wounds were healed.
"That was amazing Belinda. I've never been healed by magic before."
"You'll get used to it." She smiled at us. "I'm just happy we're all back together again."
It was nice to reunited with everyone. I walked over to Rizor who was standing next to the Ultamite.
"Hey."
"Oh hey. Are you okay? I mean you were alone with Alora for a while."
"Yea, I'm fine."
"What was it like?"
"What do you mean?"
"Being in an actual battle. Any monsters we faced Tetra and Ziden handled. It was pretty boring actually."
"I don't know. It was a rush. You have to think quick and act quick. It's not something I'd care to get used too."
"Ha, well good luck since you're a treasure hunter. With this Ultamite you'll have the best bow in the world. We'll be legends. That's just a recipe for battles."
"Yea, you're right. This Ultamite. It will change everything." I put my hand out to touch it, allowing my hand to hover over it for just a moment. "I wonder how it feels."
The second I touched the Ultamite my life would never be the same. A force I couldn't explain wouldn't allow me to release my hand. A light even brighter then the Ultamite itself escaped from around my hand.
"I can't let go!"
"What is happening?" Tetra and the others ran over to where I was.
"I don't know, I can't explain what I am feeling." The light started to grow even brighter, and a unknown wind began to blow through the caves. It was powerful causing everyone but myself to fall to the ground. Not even the wind could release my hand from the ore. Brighter and brighter, I had to close my eyes to keep from going blind.
Rizor jumped up from the ground, along with everyone else as they desperately tried to pull me from the wall. The wind picked up again, blowing them all to the ground. A mysterious voice appeared in my mind. The world seemed to stop as I was given the instructions that led me to this moment.
"You have been chosen. You are the one who will tell everyone the truth. This power I grant to you shall help you in the coming battles. Take this wisdom and choose your path. I have faith in your victory. Go to the Grand Temple in Shalandra and seek out a man named Leroy. He will guide you. The lies, they end now." An explosive force blew me back away from the wall. My head hit the ground hard enough to knock me unconscious.
I had a dream while I was unconscious. To be honest I still don't know what really happened. In the dream, a black smoke came out of a hole in the wall where my hand had been stuck. It consumed everyone. Rizor, Tetra, Ziden, Melinda, Belinda, and Alora. It overtook them, and when it left they remained, dead. The dream ended after that, and when I awoke my true story would begin.
Now I am here writing this but there is still more to tell. This battle, this revolution will shape the worlds forever. Whether it's something good or not is yet to be decided. I am unsure as to what choice I will make but I know the truth, and to be honest it would be a lot easier to just continue the lies.
The end seems so close now. I know that I still have a lot to learn and after what happened at Vestige Caverns I know that things will never be the same. The only way to end this and finally be free is to do something no one had ever been able to do, I have to kill a god.
Chapter 5
The Choice in Destiny
