Champions of Light: Gaëtano's Sword [Book One]

Chapter Seventeen

The Glowing City

Three mounds of recently upturned dirt were aligned against the stone walls. A small bonfire was lit, and small cave flowers and mushrooms were arranged on the mounds. There were wooden pikes that marked the graves.

Sean had finished driving the last pike into the ground and looked up at those around him. Kim, Alice, Chris, Skylar, Gregory, Vikki and Charlotte looked upon the graves with sorrow.

It had been a few days after their experience with the Wrangler, which was spent with a mixture of happiness to see their friends again and sorrow for the friends who had been lost.

They had woken up next to a mass of flesh attached to the wall with a massive mouth directly in the center, its four mandibles with rows of thousands of teeth had shriveled back. The Wrangler's long, sticky tongue lolled out limply with blood still pooled. Above the mass of meat, a man's torso erupted, who's heart had been pierced by Kim's arrow. Its stomach was grossly enlarged directly below, and they could see the forms of their friends inside. Remembering what Freddy had said about how the Wrangler would slowly consume his prey, they cut open his gut with hope that Alice could save them. She tried and tried to heal them, but eventually, they all agreed it was too late.

They had spent the next day digging the graves and finding what respectful items they could to place on them. The next day, they had placed the bodies into the holes and had covered them in soil and brought out the head markers and other items for a makeshift funeral, which they were now ready for.

One by one, they placed flowers, mushrooms, stones, or other such memorabilia on each of the graves. No one quite knew what to say but looked to Chris for a farewell speech.

"It's a strange moment for us all, I believe. We met these three not too long ago, and yet we've all been through more than most. I wish we had more time to get to know them, that way I could know what to say," Chris struggled, scoffing through his emotions. "I will always remember Freddy as the one who solved all of our problems. If there was something he hadn't read from a book, I dare say it didn't exist." They all chuckled softly, and Skylar grasped Freddy's journal he had been writing during their travels against her chest.

"I will always remember how serious Richard seemed to be no matter how hard I tried to make him crack a smile," Skylar added, trying to be light-hearted.

"He was a serious type, but he was a good man," Chris agreed.

"I will remember John as the man who changed my life forever," Charlotte said, "if not for him, I wouldn't have survived alone."

Chris ended, saying, "We never had the chance to say farewell to Lany or Liona or give them a proper burial, but I hope they are at rest like our friends here. You will all be missed."

They nodded their heads in agreement. After a moment of silence and some personal words to their friends, they all walked back to their camp.

They had small scraps left of the food they had brought with them from the White Citadel along with some mystery meat from the fauna they had found within the cave and were finishing eating when four paws scampered up to them, ringing Vikki's alarm. They all sprang to attention, ready to face their next foe, but what approached gave them a suitable relief.

Fang ran up to Sean and Alice and nuzzled his nose in their faces. They laughed and ruffled his fur as Argon calmly joined them. They welcomed him warmly, glad to see another friendly face.

"You lot took a bad turn. I wasn't expecting you'd ever get this far off track." Argon looked around the cavern room and saw the graves along the side. "I see the Wrangler met his match, but I am sorry for your friends. I only wish I had gotten here sooner. I had some business to deal with."

"It's not your fault," Chris said, "we ran into the Wrangler just after we had sent Fang to find you. But you are right, we're lost."

"Indeed, you are. Thankfully for you, I have been down here before and know my way around rather well. I know exactly where we are going to go. To Tijia."

Ready to leave the forsaken room which held so many negative emotions, the group gathered their things and followed Argon through the maze of rocks.

Argon had told them about the Tijians while they walked, explaining how an old friend of his was from Tijia and had brought him there many years ago. The Tijians were the peaceful tribe of people who dwelled in the Mountains, protected from the darkness by Syrrith's shrine.

There was some surprise that a shrine would have any power, but Argon insisted that it did. He explained that while his friend had been there, she had become part of the council that oversaw the city and its people. It was his hope that he could ask for their help in the name of his friend. He hoped that the group could do their part in persuading the council to offer aid in the fight against Mehnkahei. If the Tijians accepted, and a plan was devised, their odds of success would be exponentially better.

At the end of the second day, they came to the widest opening within the Cavern Expanse they had seen yet. The path they were walking on turned sharply to the right and wound down the cliff side, but directly in front of them, at the bottom of a basin, was a large glowing river, surrounding an island of rock where a magnificent city lay. It was surreal how beautiful it was. Buildings were carved from the massive stalagmites and pillars that surrounded the area. Lines of lit windows rose against the stone of the stalagmites, glowing with a lovely cyan hue. There were bioluminescent mushrooms that were being used as lanterns lining the streets, and fireflies drifted softly throughout. Tijia glowed with warmth and Light, seeming to welcome them home.

Ready for some real food and some rest, the group eagerly walked down the path and over the bridge that gaped the river.