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Lucas slowly got to his feet. Ugghh... my head... That’s the second time I’ve been knocked out in the same week. I need to be more careful. He was quickly reminded of what had taken place the moment he saw Iris and Hagan lying motionless on the cave floor.
“Iris! Hagan!”
He darted over to his fallen allies. Oh no! He grabbed Iris’s arm and shook her. “Iris! Wake up!” She didn’t move or reply. He ran to Hagan and did the same. “Hagan! Hagan! Get up!” There was no response. I’ve got to do something! I could try my healing spell... if I can manage to do it. For some reason, I was unable to conjure while we were fighting Fino.
Lucas placed his hand on Hagan’s body. I hope this works. Closing his eyes, he took a moment to concentrate. “Lumen sana.” A glow surrounded Hagan’s body, and soon enough the burn marks on his skin slowly disappeared. It wasn’t much longer before his eyes opened. Lucas took his hand off of Hagan. “Hagan! It worked!”
Hagan sat up. “Huh? What worked?”
“We were all knocked out by that explosion,” Lucas explained. “I woke up and saw you and Iris lying unconscious. I used the healing spell I learned yesterday to revive you. I’m going to heal Iris next.”
Hagan got to his feet and inspected the bodies scattered throughout the cave’s passage. “Damn, that was a hell of a battle, huh?”
“Yeah,” Lucas replied, picking his sword up off the ground and sheathing it. “Sorry I wasn’t much help. For some reason, I was unable to conjure light orbs after that first one. Maybe Iris will be able to explain after I revive her.”
“You might have just drained yourself,” Hagan informed as Lucas made his way over to Iris’s body.
“Drained myself?” Lucas queried.
Hagan proceeded to elaborate. “You can only conjure so much before your magic stops working. When that happens, you can’t do a damn thing until you get some sleep. Being knocked out must’ve done the trick, oddly enough.”
“Oh, that’s right,” said Lucas, placing his hand on Iris. “I think I saw something about a conjuring limit in one of the books I studied.” He closed his eyes. “Lumen sana!”
“Orbs don’t take much out of you,” Hagan went on, collecting his bow. “Spells like the one you’re doing now are what’ll drain you faster. The amount of conjuring you can do is low at first but the more you push your limit, the more you can cast without rest. If you ever plan to try the intermediate level stuff, you’ll have to crank your limit up a bit just to handle one spell.”
“Makes sense,” Lucas responded as Iris’s burns slowly vanished.
Hagan glanced at Fino’s body, his arrow still buried deep inside. He grinned, pointing his finger at the corpse, “Got you, you bastard.”
“Huh?” Lucas replied, his attention mostly focused on Iris.
“I was talking to Fino,” Hagan explained.
Iris’s eyes snapped open. Lucas smiled. “Hey.”
“Hello,” she replied with a dumbfounded look. “Am I alive?”
Lucas chuckled. “Of course. I just used my magic to revive you. We were all knocked out by that fireball’s explosion. Luckily, I woke up on my own and was able to heal you guys.”
Hagan walked over and looked down at Iris. He smiled. “Morning.”
Iris sat up. “Thank you, Lucas... perhaps you should consider using the spell to heal your own injuries, as you appear to have taken damage yourself.”
Lucas nodded and closed his eyes to concentrate. “Lumen sana!” He began to glow as Iris got to her feet.
She briefly scanned the area. “Did you happen to see where my satchel went, Hagan?”
“Behind you,” Hagan replied, pointing.
Iris collected the bag and quickly opened it. “Oh no!”
“What is it?” asked Lucas as he finished healing.
“The impact has destroyed my potions,” Iris said as she displayed the contents of the satchel to her companions. The bag was soaking wet and filled with broken glass.
“That sucks,” Hagan commented. “At least we have Lucas.”
“I suppose,” Iris responded. She looked at Lucas. “Considering the circumstances, you’ll have to refrain from using your magic to do anything other than the healing spell.”
“What about the backpack?” Hagan queried as Iris dumped the broken glass out of her soaking satchel.
Lucas’s eyes widened. “I forgot to check.” He quickly removed the backpack and examined the status of its cargo. “We got lucky,” he reported. “Everything seems to be in good shape.” He slung it over his shoulders.
“Good,” Hagan replied. “So, now what?”
Glancing farther down the corridor toward the entrance, Lucas gasped. “Bad news, guys. It looks like that explosion caused a cave-in.” Iris and Hagan ran over to see that the entire passage was blocked by a wall of crumbled colorless rocks.
“We’re trapped!” said Iris.
“Great,” Hagan remarked, “this is just what we need.”
Lucas walked back toward where Fino had emerged. “Well, those guys came from over here. Maybe there’s another opening?”
The trio walked farther down the corridor. Lucas looked at Iris. “Is it just me, or did those Cobra guys look a lot like the men who attacked Azure?”
Iris nodded. “I thought the same. I’m interested to know more about this Kuraikaji character and his motivations.”
“I wonder what they were doing in Azure, anyway,” Lucas added. “If Lord Quinn is in charge of the Knowms, wouldn’t he have the fragment at his place?”
“You’d think,” Hagan said. “But Quinn seems like a pretty smart guy. He probably has it hidden somewhere secret. It sounded to me like those Cobras were on their way to carry out another attack on a different town when they ran into us. Kuraikaji must be sending them all over Aria to find it.”
“We can only speculate without further investigation,” Iris replied, “though your hypothesis is very plausible.”
“Thanks for the seal of approval,” Hagan muttered.
After walking a good distance, the group found themselves in front of a portal just before a dead end. “A gateway,” said Lucas. “So that’s where they came from.”
“This should take us right to them,” Hagan noted.
Lucas turned to him. “You think we should go inside?”
“Considering that the main passage is blocked,” Iris answered, “I don’t think we have any other option.”
“Pretty solid logic,” said Hagan. “Let’s do it.”
Lucas approached the portal. “I guess I’ll go first again.”
“You mustn’t,” Iris argued. “We have no way of knowing exactly where we will emerge in Aria. Now that we no longer possess healing potions, your magic is essential to our survival. I’ll go first.”
Lucas stepped aside. “Alright. We’ll be right behind you.”
Hagan looked at Iris and grinned. “Ready? I know how much you enjoyed the last one.”
Iris sighed. “I suppose I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.” She jumped into the vortex. Hagan and Lucas followed closely behind.
* * * *
The group found themselves in yet another cave, lit only by the luminosity of the colorful vortex. The air was dry, and the temperature was sweltering. Lucas removed his scarf and gloves as Iris fanned herself with her hand. “Quite a dramatic shift in climate,” she said.
“What’s with all of these portals being in caves?!” Hagan pointed out, taking off his coat to reveal a white shirt.
Lucas put the scarf and gloves in the backpack and extended his hand to Hagan. “I can put your coat in here,” he offered.
Hagan handed Lucas the coat. “Take it.”
After putting it in the backpack, Lucas took out the lantern and lit it. “I don’t know where we are, but it mustn’t be anywhere near Azure.” He slung the backpack over his shoulders and proceeded down the cave’s passage. The group followed.
“This heat is unbearable,” Iris griped.
“Well, get used to it,” Hagan responded. “We could be stuck here for a while.”
Without warning, the cave was flooded with the sound of hundreds of flapping wings as a colony of bats flew overhead. Iris shrieked in terror, quickly dropping to her knees and covering her head with her arms.
Hagan rolled his eyes. “Relax, they’re just bats.”
“I despise rodents!” she snapped, quivering in fear.
After the last of the bats had flown off, the trio proceeded through the cave, eventually reaching its mouth. As they emerged, they found themselves in the middle of a vast desert.
“Oh no...” Iris groaned.
Hagan observed the surrounding landscape. “Well if we weren’t lost before, we definitely are now.”
Putting out the lantern, Lucas returned it to the backpack. “We need to keep moving. Our rations are pretty limited. There has to be a town or something nearby.”
They walked through the desert for quite some time, sweating profusely from the immense heat. As evening approached and the sun began setting, Iris started to worry. “I’m beginning to think we’re not going to find civilization. Perhaps we should consider heading back?”
“It’s too late,” Hagan replied. “Besides, if we do that we’ll just be stuck in that cave. We’re no worse off here.”
Lucas stopped walking. “Alright, let’s take a water break.” Digging through the backpack, he removed the bottle of water. After taking a small drink, he handed it to Iris. “Only drink a small amount, we have to make it last as long as possible.”
As Iris raised the bottle to her lips, Hagan suddenly grabbed an arrow. “Keep still Lucas,” he said, aiming it in his direction. Lucas froze as Iris turned to see a scorpion the size of a large dog approaching rapidly. Hagan released the arrow, killing the creature with little effort.
Lucas turned around and viewed the lifeless beast. “That would’ve hurt,” he said, turning back to Hagan. “I owe you one.”
Hagan put away his bow. “Just keep an eye out. I can’t always be there to save you.”