Castlevania Nocturne: A Guardian's Tale (Part 1)

Cave of Forgotten Dreams

edited 5/6/24

Emma's footsteps padded softly against the earth as she led the way through the caves. A light orb levitating at her palm. Tera walked next to her, illuminating the path with a flame of her own. Amalie guarded the rear, letting her own staff glow while watching Richter and Maria walk cautiously in front of them.

They had traveled the tunnel for quite some time, venturing deep into the caves in hopes of finding the lost boy. No evidence of him could be found, and the deeper they went, most of the company began to lose hope of the boy's recovery.

Not Emma, she persevered, leading the deeper underground. Light burning in her palm as it did in her heart. She knew he was down here, the receding smell of a human youngster told her enough (and Vance scented the same).  She followed her nose and the winding passage down into the depths. She was determined to find the child, no matter how long it took searching the caves, no matter how many vampires may be lurking in the shadows.

It wasn't as if there was a risk of getting lost, Amalie left a trail of light with her staff as they passed through the caves. Should they need to turn back, they only had to follow the light.

The family passed through silently, ever alert for the presence of vampires. This was prime roosting territory.

Emma halted, signaling them to stop. Wingbeats stirred the still air and a bat landed on her shoulder. Vance took his bat shape to scope out ahead, using the form's echolocation to map out the caverns. It keeps going for twenty feet, then branches out into three caverns.

Thanks Vance. What about those caverns? Did you find out where they lead?

Bigger caves as far as my sonar goes, and no sign of a human child. Vance chattered, nuzzling her cheek. I think we should consider turning back. No telling how far any of those passages go and we've already spent quite a lot of time underground.

No. Emma rejected. We keep going until we find him.

Emma....Vance hissed. If there's indeed a roost here, the vampires will wake and crawl out the tunnels looking to hunt under the night, your brood does not want to get caught.

Then we get to  him before the sun goes down. Emma thought undeterred.

That might not be possible.

I'm not giving up!!

Vance fluttered off at Emma's mental yell. "Em, what's he saying?" Asked her mother. Emma recounted Vance's words to the group.

"Those paths could go on for miles." Richter warned. "We could be searching for days."

"We won't." Emma said. "We'll find him."

"You can't be too sure." Said Richter.

"I'm sure in my bones." Emma responded confidently. "We will. Let's just look a little further. Maybe he's hiding further up. Who knows, we can't give up."

Emma led them onward twenty more feet into a vast chamber. She felt the air change, they were deep underground. Three openings stood before them. Vance flew around the chamber, chirping his echolocation into the caverns before wheeling low and shifting into vampire form.

"No point in splitting up to see where they go." His eyes flickered in the firelight. "That one hits a dead end." He pointed to the opening on the left. "That one loops around." He pointed to the middle. "And the one on the right keeps going, how far I cannot determine."

"Then that's the one we take." Emma nodded. "Thanks Bud, you saved us the time of figuring out where each one goes and the trouble of splitting up."

"Emma." Amalie touched her shoulder. "There's no telling how long and deep that path goes, we could  search for days."