The Winds of the Past [Rune Factory 4]

Chapter 14

As I'd hoped, Avani was completely recovered the next morning. She rose first, and by the time I woke up, she was in the midst of her exercise routine, Dylas still sound asleep on his bed roll. I greeted her sleepily and went to start a pot of coffee brewing over the embers of the fire. The scent of the coffee woke Dylas, and soon after we prepared and ate a quick breakfast. Avani was ready and raring to go, so we suited up, set Baldur on guard duty, and headed out. This time when we reached the fork in the southern road, we turned west.

Soon we passed a hermit's cot set back from the road, surrounded by young trees and overgrown with brambles. Just beyond, we spotted the mouth of a cave opening into the hillside, boulders and trees obscuring it from view. We heard voices approaching, so we quickly and quietly ducked into the shrubs alongside the road. Before long, a pair of soldiers in Sechson uniforms came up the road, speaking together in low voices. I couldn't make out all that they said despite my keen ears, but I definitely discerned "Lord Ethelberd," "research," "rune spheres," and "final hurdle" in their conversation. They turned and entered the mouth of the cave, and after a few minutes, we cautiously followed, our weapons drawn.

Inside the cave we found a labyrinthine series of caverns, connected by tunnels and hidden passages, and occupied by hobgoblins, goblins, and other monsters. After an exhausting search and numerous skirmishes, we at last reached a chamber with a staircase leading down. We paused for a short break to eat and drink, heal our injuries, and rest a little. No monsters occupied this chamber, and I found myself wondering what lay in wait in the caverns below that kept them away. With that thought in mind, we proceeded cautiously down the dimly lit stairs.

When we neared the bottom of the stairway, we again heard voices-the same pair as before, I was almost certain. They seemed to be discussing what kinds of monsters they'd most like to be turned into-a peculiar topic of conversation, I thought. Soon we heard the sound of a heavy barrier being lowered, then raised again with a heavy thud followed by silence.

We stepped out of the stairwell and entered a chamber that contained only a blockaded passage to the north and warp points to both the east and the west. We looked at each other, then Avani shrugged and ran towards the eastern warp point, vanishing in a burst of light. Dylas gave a shout and ran after her, looking pissed off, and I followed close behind.

I found myself transported to another cavern, where Avani was already engaged in heavy combat with a small, vile-looking, sorcerous monster. Dylas was a few paces ahead of me, running to her aid, so I quickly cast Water Laser and hit the monster with the high-energy stream. Soon he was defeated, and we continued on our way-after Dylas scolded Avani for her reckless haste.

Again, there was a maze of passages and caverns, filled with tougher monsters than on the previous level-mages and undead monsters as well as more hobgoblins. Finally we reached a room that contained a switch and a warp point. The switch was color coded to match a portion of the barrier in the first chamber, so Dylas threw it and we stepped into the warp point. We reappeared back in the first room, between the stairs and the barrier, and sure enough, one of the two monoliths that blocked our path was down. By now we were nearing exhaustion, though, so we decided to return to camp and continue tomorrow. Avani cast Escape, which deposited us just outside the mouth of the cave, and we returned to camp, ignoring any monsters that didn't actually impede our progress.

We shed our gear and headed to the spring to fish for our evening meal and to wash the sweat and grime from our day's efforts away. Upon reaching the lake, we discovered that Dylas had caught a few decent-sized lobsters in his trap, so we quickly bathed and returned to camp to cook them. Dylas prepared the lobsters for grilling, and I gathered some more greens for a salad. Meanwhile, Avani said she felt obligated to report our discovery of the cave to Arthur, so she returned to town using Escape, reappearing just as Dylas was finishing cooking the lobsters. He tossed the meat of the two smallest lobsters to Baldur for his supper, and we sat down to our meal. The lobsters were delicious, and afterwards we sat around the fire chatting and drinking coffee while we cleaned our weapons and armor before turning in for the night.