Rogue Adventures - A Tale from Neverbeen Universe

13

The loss of the Ruby Shard of Celia did not mean his nightmare wouldn't come true. Indeed, in his dream he had foreseen this outcome. And this also meant he was one step closer to seeing his horror vision become reality. But Raphael only put a grim mien on his face, took Gene's hand and teleported.

He needed to be faster. The encounter with his father's henchmen only showed Raphael that he had to quicken their pace. If Rhagkal was this close to attaining the Shards, this would be disastrous. Raphael knew the continued existence of whole Neverbeen Universe hinged on whether he succeeded or failed his self-assigned mission. The first artifact was destroyed, it's vile power released into the world. Raphael could feel it as he had been exposed to it at the closest range of them all.

The darkness within him hummed, ready to be used, ready to be released, but not quite yet. Raphael needed to continue his mission and get all the remaining artifacts before anyone else could. Besides, he would need to conserve his powers if push came to shove and the worst case scenario happened. He would need the darkness then, as much as it needed him.

If his nightmare came true, this could be the end of everything.

As much as he was aware of this, he needed to keep his cool. For Gene's sake. To Gene this was but an adventure, a treasure hunt, a means to kill time and explore this world, a dream come true. And Raphael wanted to keep it this way. He didn't want Gene to worry, neither for him nor for whole Neverbeen Universe.

So Raphael had decided this be a solo mission and he the one-man-army to face whatever enemy was thrown at him. It was reckless, it was careless about himself, and it certainly wasn't the best idea he ever had. Far from it. But this was what he had decided to do in the face of that one dream which had changed his mind, and he was determined to see it through to the very end.

There was no time to ponder the consequences of the destruction of the Ruby Shard of Celia. It had happened and couldn't be undone. Maybe with the Timechrystal, but the Timechrystal was lost in the past, as far as Raphael knew. The Timechrystal could have been another option, another way out of this nightmare, but Raphael didn't wield it anymore. So there was only one course of action left for him to take.

One at a time Raphael was determined to attain the artifacts before his father could. And the next step would be a bold one. Rhagkal already had the Emerald Shard of Erebos in his possession, so Raphael assumed, the older Daemon would deem himself on the inside track. As soon as Sendrith and that shadow devil boy reported home, Rhagkal would set about getting the remaining three Shards. Therefore Raphael had to be faster than Sendrith and take that advantage from his father.

Sendrith was injured, and the shadow devil couldn't teleport as long as he didn't transform into a creature which could — such as himself. So the one really at an advantage was actually Raphael. At least if everything went according to plan. Thus his teleportation wasn't actually aimed at the location of the Sapphire Shard of Fiducia or the Amethyst Shard of Gislin or even the Obsidian Shard of Kaye; instead he transported Gene and himself to where they were at now.

'We have to be very careful now,' Raphael told Gene telepathically, 'If we get caught here, this whole adventure is over. Remember my father?'

'Yeah. I hope I'll never see him again,' Gene grumbled.

'Well, this is his main fortress,' Raphael grinned somberly.

Gene groaned. 'Oh God. Why?!'

Raphael motioned for him to stay quiet, then slunk through the corridors and beckoned Gene to follow. 'The next treasure on our list, the Emerald Shard of Erebos, is situated right in his treasure vault.'

'So we're gonna what? Steal it?' Gene didn't sound enthused at the prospect of sneaking into the Lord Rhagkal's vault and take their prize.

'Exactly,' Raphael affirmed as he peered around a corner and when he didn't perceive any guards in vicinity he tiptoed forward, knowing Gene would follow him regardless of how he felt. 'But don't mind. This sounds only half as hard as it probably is.'

Besides, Raphael knew exactly where the vault was, he knew the combination which would unlock it and he knew the fastest way out also. So he told Gene and calmed him down with a few reassuring mental kisses. But while he was doing this, they actually ran into one of the guards pounding the beat. Inwardly Raphael cursed, then walked towards the soldier as if he was supposed to be here. 'Just follow me and act normal. Do nothing unless I tell you to,' he instructed Gene as they approached the guard casually.

Inwardly Raphael calmed his heart and counted to three as he waited.

One... The guard noticed them and looked at them suspiciously. ...Two... Gene raised a hand, smiled lazily and said: "Hi." ...Three. Raphael teleported right behind the guard, drew his sword and silenced him. The body fell in a heap with a dull thud.

'Now run!' They beelined for the next corner, bolted into the corridor and ran through a maze, dodging guards left and right. If they couldn't be avoided Raphael didn't hesitate to silence them before they could sound the alarm. But there was so little time before somebody would notice the bodies of the severely wounded and unconscious soldiers and call reinforcements — or worse, Rhagkal himself. And Gene looked a few shades paler when they actually reached the vault. Hurriedly Raphael punched the combination into the runed display. Impatiently he waited for the bolts to click open and unlock the door, and when they finally did, Raphael pushed Gene into the vault and shut the door behind them. He sighed.

"Wow," Gene exclaimed as he marveled at the many different and undoubtedly valuable treasures Rhagkal had hoarded during all those centuries. Raphael, however, didn't waste a single glance at the artifacts, gems, weaponry and whatever else was here. He was only interested in the pyramid-shaped emerald sitting in a vitrine. And he didn't stand there and admired it long, but smashed the vitrine with one fell swoop of his sword, then took the Emerald Shard of Erebos and slipped it into his pouch.

One down, three more to go.

"We have what we came for. Let's get out of here, Gene," he said and held out his hand to Gene just when he heard the alarm sound and watched as guards filed into the vault.