17

Part 5

Jax entered the first room, it was dusk and he decided after he cleared the floor he'd make camp for the night and rest up for the next day. He hears a loud roar from the back of the room where the light couldn't quite reach, he squints his eyes to try and see what it was but he saw nothing, he only heard the sounds from the shadows. He unsheathes his swords and looks into the shadows and whistles, trying to draw the creature out of its nest, he sees glowing red eyes from the darkness and he lunges, slashing downward.
    The creature breathes hot air on Jax and he is thrown off his feet, he quickly stands up and readies himself for another attack, he was already sweating and panting. The beast emerges from the shadows and Jax sees the heads, all 6 of them, the glowing red eyes, the scaly skin, the horrid breath that burned his nostrils, and the long, jagged claws that could easily tear him to shreds.
    He hesitates and prepares to fight for his life, he raises his swords and charges the creature. He screams as he brings down his swords on one of the heads, he blindly slashes at the beast and feels the blood on his arms and face. He looks up and sees the heads have nearly tripled, he steps back and tries to think about what he's going to do about this issue, he looks around and sees his lantern across the room, his bag had more oil to burn inside and he sprints and rips his bag open and opens the oil and sees the beast behind him charging.  Jax screams in fear as he sprays the beast with oil and strikes a match and throws it on the oil, the beast bursts into flames, the screech from the beast makes Jax falls to his knees and hold his head. He yells in pain as the beast crumbles and the final breath of the monster is loud, high pitched, and painful. Jax passes out.

    Jax wakes up and looks around at the dimly lit chamber and sees a pile of ashes near him which he assumed was the beast, he sees a staircase at the end of the hall and he attempts to stand up but falls to his knees, "Shit.. my leg isn't working, I'm out of oil for my lantern, and I'm only on the first floor.."
    Jax lays down and stares at the ceiling, he feels the cold stone floor below him and the heat from the small lantern by his head. He looks down at his hands and sees oil and dust, he smells an awful smell, one like rotting eggs but slimey and sticky. His mouth tasted like dirt and old food, his leg burned with pain but felt wet, like it was soaked in a lava bath and set out to dry.
    He reaches for his bag and cries out in pain, he grabs it and drags it closer to him, he unzips it and pulls out the med kit inside, a needle and thread, a wrap, a bandage, and a cloth to bite on. He rolls his pants up and looks at the wound on his leg, so deep he can see his bone, he passes out from the sight of all the blood.
   
    Three hours later he woke up with a feeling of warmth on his back and a feeling as if he was being watched, he sat up only to be pushed back down, "Stay down, you're weak."
    Jax thrashes around and stands up and reaches for his swords to find they weren't on his body and they were by a fire. "Who the hell are you and why are you here?"
    The cloaked boy takes off his hood, he looked like a kid, not more than ten or eleven years old. "My name is Leon, I followed you from the train and I saw you on the ground and wanted to help.."
    "You have to leave. Now." Jax says with a cold tone. "It's not safe and you're only a kid."
    "I can't leave... the door locks when people enter, you either beat the tower or die trying. I have nowhere to go anyways.. My family is dead." Leon says quietly.
    Jax sat in silence and thought for a moment, "What equipment do you have kid?"
    Leon looks up at Jax, "First I have a name. It's Leon. Second, I have a buster sword, a cloak of darkness, and armor from the tower top."
    Jax looks at him with awe and takes a breath, "Okay, you can come. You seem to be prepared for battle and you remind me of myself. Let's go."
    Leon stops Jax, "You need rest, you're still hurt."
    "Fine, but in the morning we leave okay?" Jax says.
"Just as long as you're okay in the morning.." Leon thinks for a minute then speaks again, "Also I made some stew, eat some and get better okay?" He hands Jax a bowl of stew that smelt heavenly.
Jax ate in silence and had multiple bowls of the stew.
"I'm gonna go to sleep okay?" Leon says.
"Alright, stay close okay?" Jax says with hints of concern in his voice.
Leon gets up and takes his sword and cloak and sits on a ledge overlooking the whole room and rests his head against the wall. After about fifteen minutes he was drifting off to sleep with his sword in his hands and his cloak around his shoulders.
Jax looks over at Leon and talks softly, "Sleep well kid.. I'll get us out of this." He drifts off to sleep. He has dreams of how he'd be a hero after he won.

I was falling from the tower but it was peaceful and warm, I had no fear of dying when I hit the ground. Leon was on the ground and he was laughing and running away from the tower, "We did it Jax!" He cheered so loud and he was so happy that we won.
My parents were waiting when we got back to Dalmasca and they told me how proud they were that I beat the tower, Kai was there and he smiled so big, he hugged me so tight, and he made his special pastries for me.
Kai looked into my eyes and rested his forehead on mine, I forgot how beautiful his eyes were, the way he always smelled so sweet. He cried and told me how happy he was when he heard I was coming home, I realized he was my home.

"Jax wake up!" Leon was shaking Jax awake and he looked scared.
"Leon.. what's wrong?" He said sleepily.
"I....I had a nightmare.." Leon looks down, he looked so embarrassed, "I shouldn't have woken you up.. I'm sorry."
Jax hugged Leon tightly, "Don't be sorry, I'm here."
When Jax looked down at Leon he saw him asleep, he reminded Jax of his younger brother and he missed him so much.