Once we leave Kaipo, Cecil and I decide that we all should spend time in the surrounding desert fighting monsters. Creatures ranging from tiny imps to giant sandworms engage us in battle, but the three of us always prevail. We collect the spoils which mostly consist of gold pieces afterward. Meanwhile, Rydia and I learn some new spells. After a while, the blistering heat from both sand and sun hurts my eyes and skin enough to where I can't continue. I can hear Cecil gasp for breath under his helmet.
"Cecil? Are you okay?" I ask.
"Y-Yes, I'm... I'm all right."
"We should find some shade," Rydia suggests. Cecil and I nod. We all make our way to the nearest cave and immediately find relief in its cool damp atmosphere. Cecil removes his helmet and sighs. I can hear water rippling below us. He and Rydia wander over to the edge of the rocks while I open up the menu to check my stats. Curious as to which spells I've learned, I hover over each menu:
WHITE: Cure 1, Heal, Hold, Charm
BLACK: Fire 1, Ice 1, Lightning 1, Sleep, Venom
SUMMON: Chocobo
Vaguely, I hear Rydia and Cecil chatting about something. I am curious but choose not to listen in. I continue to scan over my other stats: health points, magic points, level—everything.
How interesting. I wonder if Rydia will show me how to summon monsters.
Shaking my head to clear my mind, I close the menu and walk over to the others.
"Oh, hello, Adrienne," Rydia says. She gives me a soft smile, then turns back to look into the cold clear water. I kneel next to her and peer into the water myself. Oddly enough, I can see my reflection despite the low light.
Wait a minute... is my hair... blue?
I raise a small clump of it to my face and, much to my astonishment, an electric blue color meets my gaze. I can't say I know how this happened, but one thing's for certain: I am a true video game character now.
Looking around at the stalactites dripping down into the water below, I breathe in the misty air. Now that Cecil, Rydia, and I have cooled off, we continue onward in search of the mysterious sage Tellah. Exploring the cave, we find some chests with potions inside. Just as we claim the contents, a group of massive cave toads leap out of the water and attack us. I start off the battle with a lightning spell, which kills one of the toads. Before Cecil can make his attack, one of the cave toads casts the Toad spell, transforming him into a tiny toad. He ribbits, which almost makes me laugh, but I refrain from it. Rydia summons Chocobo on her turn, ripping one of the cave toads apart. The remaining one cast Toad again, restoring Cecil's human form. He then slams the edge of his sword into the toad's head, killing it. We collect our reward and forge ahead, crossing bridges over the massive pool of cave water and fighting more monsters like giant pikes. After finding a tent in a nearby chest, we soon spot an old man at the end of another bridge. He has a white beard and is dressed in purple robes. His pale eyes stare at Cecil from behind his round-lens glasses.
"You wield the dark sword? Help me, I beg you!" he says.
"What is it?" Cecil asks.
"A wicked bard tricked my daughter into running away to Damcyan. What's worse, I sense great evil there! Something terrible could befall her!" he says. Suddenly, Cecil realizes who he's speaking to.
"You must be the sage, Tellah!" Cecil says. He must have remembered Tellah from the stories told in Kaipo. The old man nods.
"Yes, I am Tellah. I was on my way to Damcyan to retrieve my daughter who eloped, but I wound up lost here instead. Not only that, but a huge monster currently blocks the exit and my magic alone is not strong enough to defeat it. The dark sword you carry could help. What is your name?"
YOU ARE READING
A Paladin's Promise
Фанфикшн[BOOK 1 OF THE ADRIENNE RAYNE SERIES] Adrienne Rayne lives a perfectly ordinary life in Ashbourne. She attends Monarch High, hangs out with her friends, and pursues her hobbies. All the while, she secretly wishes to experience a magical quest of her...
