The whisperdales gave us directions for about three miles before telling us that it was too dangerous to help us further.
"Too dangerous; what do you mean?!" I exclaimed. None of us had time to ask them what a gloom bug was or why they feared it.
"They're afraid of a little bug?" Jethro scoffed.
"Who said they were little?" Zaxl joked dryly.
"I've dealt enough with giant beasts. Can't we get something tiny like a bee?" Jethro whined.
"No, because bees are actually useful," Zaxl jested before venturing into the cave. We followed his lead and walked inside the cavern.
We quickly noticed the murky knee-deep water around the cave and braced ourselves for the unexpected.
"Gloom bugs? Quite an odd name, don't you think?" I joked, attempting to lighten the mood.
"I don't think anything; I just do," Zaxl replied without any sense of humor.
As we walked through the muddy water, I noticed strange glowing dots on the cave's walls.
"Hey, what are those?" I asked out of curiosity.
"Err, it looks like some strange moss," Jethro replied, scratching his head.
"I'll find out for you," Zaxl apprehensively spoke, giving me his giant scythe.
I poked one of the dots and was horrified when it hissed.
"That was odd!" I shouted.
"Who or what could cause that?" Is it a bug?" Jethro asked, cautiously.
"Not that I know of," I replied anxiously.
"No matter, let's continue our journey. Oh, and I need my scythe back; it's worth a pretty penny considering it's made of olivarium and all."
"Hey, I know about olivarium! It can cut through stone, right?" Jethro asked excitedly.
"Correct," he quickly replied.
The further we went into the cave, the more I felt that something was seriously wrong. It's difficult to put into words, but I felt like I was about to die along with Zaxl and Jethro. My heart rate increased drastically, and sweat poured down my forehead like a waterfall.
"I-I need to sit for a bit," I stuttered.
"Arthur, I feel it too; something is very wrong here," Jethro replied with wide eyes before sitting down.
"What are you two morons doing?" Zaxl hissed.
"Resting. I mean, do we really need this quest? Who cares about Jokam anyway? Maelfor won't harm anyone," Jethro spoke as if in a trance.
"BRO, WHAT?!" I shouted.
"Huh, what happened?" he asked in a drowsy tone, snapping out of his trance.
"You said that Maelfor would never harm anyone," Zaxl spoke shakily.
"WHAT?! I would never say such nonsense!" he replied offendedly.
"Well, you did. We need to get moving. We can't afford to stay here a second longer!" I panicked.
We lost all semblance of rational thought and ran further down the cave. The deeper we went, the more glowing dots we saw. Upon closer inspection, I noticed human skulls on them. They weren't there before, I just know it!
"Oh, why bother? None of it matters anymore," Zaxl muttered.
"Zaxl, don't let the cave get to you!" I begged.
"It's no use; I'll just lie down and drift off to a permanent sleep," he yawned.
"Don't you dare!" Jethro commanded.
As he began to lie down, the melancholia of the cave consumed us fifty times more than before. I felt my willpower and motivation rapidly draining and, in a desperate attempt to wake Zaxl up, kicked him in the shin. He awoke and reached into his pockets with a shaky hand.
"What are yo-" Jethro began asking before being interrupted.
"A spell that I've never gotten around to using," he replied hoarsely.
"Please cast it; I can feel myself slipping away," I begged.
"Totalio Inferno Magnifico!" Zaxl choked out. The entire cave, excluding where we stood, became engulfed in white flames, and shrieks of agony emanated from them. When the fire was extinguished, the dots were all gone. They were never plants.
They were gloom bugs.
YOU ARE READING
The Amethyst Flame
FantasyThe village of Colmer is devastated by a plague. Its only hope is two brothers divided by their beliefs in magic. When Jethro ventures into the depths of the forest to find a wizard who can heal the village, Arthur is forced to find his brother befo...
