Chapter 3 - Venturing In

Chapter 3

Venturing In



“This is the cave Lady Nel.” the soldier said, pointing to a huge hole in the side of a rather high mountain. There were soldiers stationed all the over the area and Nel saw that there was a doctor's tent off to the right of the cave entrance. The only thing that was missing was...



-“Where's Fayt and all the others?” Nel asked a nearby soldier that was standing beside the doctor's tent.



-”All the others have already ventured off into the cave. They said that they didn't want to wait all day for you to get here with Sir Albel.” he stated after quickly saluted her and Albel, who was eying some papers on a table a little too closely in the distance.



-“Well that was stupid! The whole reason I went to get Nox here is because we could use his expertise with dragons! So why the hell did they leave without us?!” Nel exclaimed, trying very hard not to loose her cool.



-“It's just that they said that there were forks in the road after the entrance, and that they were going to split up into groups to cover more ground faster....a-and I guess they thought you and Sir Albel would be able to take your own path...” the soldier said quickly, hoping that his superior wouldn't lash out at him.



-“That's even more stupid then their first idea! Haven't they ever heard of strength in numbers?!” Nel exclaimed and put both her hands flat down on the top of her head in frustration. She then turned and shakily walked over to Albel.



He turned away from the table of papers and strange looking gadgets when Nel came up behind him, hands still on her head and an unreadable look on her face.



-“What's wrong, maggot?” he asked and she sighed, putting her hands down, not even noticing the slightest bit of concern that had leaked out in Albel's voice.



-“Everyone else left without us.” she said and placed her hands on her hips.



-“So what? They would've just held me back.” Albel said and shrugged.



-“Maybe so, but now they've all slit up to cover more ground and Apris knows what'll happen if any of them run into a dragon.”



Albel turned walked around Nel and started for he cave entrance. “Then I guess we'll just have to find that little brat with the amulet so all those fools can get out of there.”



Nel stared at his back as he walked away from her. `Did he sound concerned just then? Sure it was really slight but still...'



Albel turned around and looked at her. “You've got two legs and heartbeat, so would you hurry up? Fool, I'll leave you behind!” he called to her and turned back around. Nel frowned.



`Nope. It must of been my imagination.' she thought as she quickly jogged to catch up with Albel, who had already made it to the entrance of the dark cave.



~X~



A soldier handed Nel an unlit torch as she followed Albel into the cave. They walked down the gravel path of the cave for a few meters before Albel stopped in front of her.



-“Light it now.” he ordered and waited with his back still to her. Nel frowned at his rudeness and quickly used her runology to cast a fire ball onto the torch, lighting it instantly. The minuscule light flooded over the cave walls and lit the ground in front of them as Nel moved to stand beside Albel.



-“So, it seems that this is why they slit up.” he said.



There were 3 passageways that were spread out over the cave walls, each leading in a different direction. Nel walked to the passage farthest to the right and kneeled down to read what was written in the dirt.



-“Fayt, Sophia, Maria...I guess that means those three went this way.”



Albel walked to the middle passageway and read the names on the ground. “Looks like that blonde gorilla and Mirage went this way aswell.”



Ignoring his choice of nicknames for Cliff, Nel stood up and walked around Albel and looked down the tunnel that had no names written on the soil in front of it.



“I guess this means we're going down this one.” she muttered and kneeled down again. Nel drew her dagger out of it's pouch and carved her name in the earth, then she wrote Albel's under hers. She stood up and placed her dagger back at her side. Albel walked up to her and made a move to take the torch from her hand, but Nel reacted quickly and pulled her hand out of his reach.



-“No way buddy, I'm gonna hold onto this.” she said and moved again as Albel made another grab for the torch..



-“Maggot, you'll probably drop it or set someone's clothes on fire. I don't trust you with that thing.” Albel growled and swiped at it again, but this time Nel caught his hand instead of moving.



-“Yeah, well I don't trust you at all.” Albel gave her a threatening look and bared a few teeth. “And don't try to intimidate me like some kind of dog, because it's never worked on me and it never will.” Nel said and let go of his hand.



-“I'll tear you to pieces for talking to me like that!” Albel said and cracked the knuckles in his right hand. Nel snorted.



-“No you won't. Without me around, you've got no fire power, and without that, you've got no light.” She then stepped over their earth drawn names and started to walk down the dark cave tunnel.



Albel glared at her back for a few long moments before sighing. “It looks as though I've lost my edge on her...” he muttered softly to himself and started following after her, picking up his pace to catch up to the light source.

Ahead of him, Nel smirked.



She had heard him.

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment