Chapter 27: An Explosive Confrontation
The group continued back through the valley, headed in the direction of the field from which they had originally emerged. “Do you think my letter to Grandpa is still going to make it?” Lucas asked.
“It’s possible,” Iris replied. “I’m uncertain whether or not the post office was destroyed during the attack on Azure.”
“Even if it wasn’t,” Hagan added, “your letter might be a little late. Once the knights show up to pick up the mail and see the damage, they’ll probably want to stop to investigate the area. The good news is that they might be able to hold off the monsters and call for more Knowms to clean the place up a bit.”
“Of course!” Iris said cheerfully. “The knights! I had forgotten that they would be arriving to deliver and collect the mail!”
Hagan smiled. “See? Everything will be fine.” His grin quickly faded. “It’s just too bad that we’re forced to rely on those Knowms for ‘protection’ when they’re the ones behind this crap in the first place.”
Lucas looked up at the starry sky as they proceeded. I hope you’re alright, Grandpa... you must be worried sick by now. Hopefully my letter makes it to you. We’re going to put an end to this madness, one way or another. No more fighting to survive day after day. I promise you that.
“Hey, look over there,” Hagan said. He suddenly stopped walking, and turned his head toward the mountainside to the group’s left. Lucas and Iris turned to see a cave.
“Shall we investigate?” Iris suggested. Before she had even opened her mouth to speak, Hagan had already begun walking toward the discovery. She glanced at Lucas. “I presume that’s a ‘yes.’” They followed him into the cave.
The inside of the cavern was just as adequately lit as the rest of the dimension. Upon entering, they observed a broad and long passage ahead of them, decorated with colorless stalactites and stalagmites. “This thing’s pretty big,” Hagan commented.
“I wonder just how deep it goes,” Lucas added.
Hagan continued forward. “Let’s find out.”
They walked farther into the cave. After traveling for a good while and making their way through several twists and turns, Iris spoke. “While I find this cave to be rather fascinating, I’m beginning to believe that we’re not going to find anything relevant to our expedition’s aim.”
They stopped walking. “I think you’re right,” Lucas agreed, removing the backpack from his shoulders. “Let’s take a few minutes to rest here before we turn around. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m pretty hungry.”
“I could use a snack myself,” said Hagan as he sat against the stone wall. Iris seated herself beside him while Lucas rummaged through the contents of the backpack, removing some bread and a glass bottle containing water. Tearing the loaf into pieces, he distributed it to his colleagues and rested alongside them. Hagan took a bite. “So Lucas, I know you can’t remember exactly where you showed up in the In Between, but if we went back to the portal, do you think you’d be able to at least point out the general direction you and what’s-her-name came from?”
“Maybe,” Lucas answered. “I can try to remember, anyway.”
“I was thinking about it,” Hagan elaborated, “and we might want to check over there next. If the Spades had a portal in that area, it might be near their base.”
“Excellent suggestion,” Iris noted. “Our likelihood of encountering their members or otherwise gaining useful information will increase greatly.”
Hagan grabbed his flask, sarcastically remarking, “Yeah, that’s the idea.”
As Lucas started to take a drink of water from the bottle, he was suddenly distracted by the sound of footsteps echoing from farther down the cave’s passage. “Do you hear that?!” he whispered in a panic.
Iris and Hagan froze. Listening carefully, they too heard what sounded like the footsteps of multiple people walking toward them. The noise was accompanied by distant, incomprehensible voices.
“I hear it,” Hagan replied softly.
“As do I,” Iris whispered.
Lucas got to his feet, “What should we do?”
“Relax,” said Hagan, “let’s stay put. They’re probably Spades. This is just what we need.”
“It’s also feasible that they’re not,” Iris rebutted. She stood up and said, “I suggest that we prepare ourselves for the worst.”
She handed the half-eaten piece of bread to Lucas, who hastily returned it and his remaining food to the backpack. As he placed the bottle inside, he looked at Hagan and extended his other hand. “Give me the bread so I can put it away.” Hagan shook his head and hurriedly scarfed down what remained. He got to his feet and gripped his bow while Lucas closed the backpack, quickly slinging it over his shoulders and unsheathing his sword.
The three stood in silence, facing toward the distant winding passage. The footsteps were far more audible now, and the voices had grown much louder.
“Sounds like they’re right around the corner,” Hagan noted softly. “That’s a lot of footsteps.”
Lucas tightened his grip on the sword. They could now understand the mysterious group approaching.
“We have a ways to go before reaching our destination,” a deep male voice said.
“Should we wait until nightfall?” another masculine voice asked.
“We’ll make that decision after we arrive back in Aria,” the first voice responded.
A third stranger spoke. “It would probably be best to get into town as soon as possible. Kuraikaji said that he wanted–”
As the men emerged from around the corner, they immediately halted. There were six of them, all dressed in brown cloaks, similar to the men who had attacked Azure the day before. “Spades!” one of them barked. “Ignis orbis!” Without hesitation, all six men conjured fire orbs.
Iris quickly stepped forward, positioning herself between Lucas and Hagan. With her palms facing outward, she crossed her arms in front of her chest.
“Lumen orbis!” Lucas conjured a light orb in his free hand while Hagan prepared an arrow.
Much to the trio’s surprise, however, the men did not throw their orbs. One of the strangers took a step toward them. “I would like to avoid conflict if at all possible. As you can see, we have you outnumbered. I can only assume that you’d prefer the same.”
Lucas recognized that the deep voice the trio had heard previously belonged to this man. That must be their leader. These guys are dressed just like the group that attacked Azure.
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Hagan boasted. Iris’s eyes quickly darted in his direction, casting a cutting look, then back at the men.
The deep-voiced man chuckled, slowly taking a few more steps forward. “Don’t be so cocky. I’d suggest you listen to our offer before making any threats.” He paused.
A bead of sweat ran down Iris’s face as she stood motionless with her arms crossed, anticipating the moment the men would launch their fiery spheres. Hagan’s eyes were fixed on his target, planning to release his arrow as soon as the moment was right. Lucas attempted to keep perfectly still despite his fear, causing him to tremble slightly.
The man went on. “My name is Fino. We are members of the Cobras, an elite force under the command of Kuraikaji Kasabian. Considering that you are not dressed in green cloaks, I already know that you must be members of the Spades. According to our information, your organization currently holds one of the coveted fragments of Damiano’s Disk. I will now present you with two options, and I recommend that you choose wisely. The first, you lead us to your base and disclose the fragment’s location to us. You will then be allowed an opportunity to join our guild and assist us in securing the remaining fragment possessed by the Knowms. Or, you may select option two, in which you refuse to do so and we kill you now.”
“We’re not Spades!” Hagan blurted.
Fino’s eyebrows lowered. “I somehow doubt that.”
“Well, we’re not,” Hagan replied. “So go ahead and do your worst.”
“Very well,” Fino responded, turning back toward his associates. “Fire at will.” Instantaneously, the five other men hurled their orbs at the trio.
Iris promptly moved her arms to form a large circle, shouting, “Glacies scuto!” A thick wall of ice formed just in time to protect the group from the onslaught of flaming projectiles. Orb-sized holes formed in the frozen shield as a result of each fireball’s impact, simultaneously melting the ice as the flames were extinguished. With a flick of her wrist, the wall vanished. “Now!” she shouted.
Hagan released his arrow, aimed directly at Fino. Swiftly sidestepping, Fino dodged the attack as Lucas threw his orb. Iris outstretched both of her arms toward the enemies as Lucas’s orb smashed into one of the men, knocking him to the ground.
Fino, still holding the fire orb he had conjured when the encounter began, hastily launched the fireball toward Iris as four of his allies conjured another round of fiery spheres. Iris ducked to dodge the fire orb and quickly repositioned herself.
Lucas attempted to conjure another light orb. “Lumen orbis!” but much to his surprise, nothing happened. What did I do wrong?! I didn’t do anything differently!
Hagan took another shot, burying an arrow into one of Fino’s comrades.
“Glacies gelidus zephyrus!” Iris shouted, conjuring two icy wind tunnels which moved quickly toward the enemies.
Noticing the oncoming threat, Fino immediately countered by yelling, “Ignis sphaera scuto!” surrounding himself in a barrier of fire as Iris’s attack swept over his allies. Their orbs vanished as they became encased in ice, falling to the ground. Fino, unaffected due to his fiery defensive spell, raised his hands above his head. “Ignis inmanis sphaera!” A small fireball formed above him, which quickly expanded to three feet in diameter.
Meanwhile, Lucas tried again to conjure a light orb. “Lumen orbis!” but with no success. What’s going on?! Why isn’t it working?!
Iris became frustrated. “I’m unable to harm him while he’s enclosed in the flame barrier!”
“I’ve got it,” Hagan replied, launching an arrow at Fino, who simultaneously threw his massive fireball at the group.
“Look out!” Lucas shouted, running away from the fast-approaching threat. As the arrow plunged into Fino’s chest, Iris and Hagan dove out of the way of the giant flaming globe. Despite their efforts, the fireball smashed against the ground, causing a loud and extensive explosion. Iris and Hagan were thrown against the cave walls and knocked unconscious. Lucas was thrown several feet and smashed against the ground, greatly injured by the impact and searing flames as a deep rumble resonated throughout the passage.
Fino fell to his knees in agony, his fiery barrier disappearing instantaneously. Clenching the blood-drenched arrow, he managed to utter, “D-damn... S-Spades...!” He then slowly collapsed to his side. As he lay motionless on the cave floor, Lucas synchronously slipped into unconsciousness.