Rumerra - The Journey Begins

Chapter 5 - The Final Task (Part II)

As the first beams of the sun peeked out from behind the horizon, the two girls had already packed up their tents and continued up the mountain. They encountered some mountain trolls, which they skilfully avoided by veering off the path and climbing up a steep wall. They spent about half the day climbing the mountain before they reached their final destination — a large cave which the wyverns apparently made their home.

"This is it!" Velvet exclaimed when they stood in front of the gaping hole in the wall. 

Arianna felt her heart starting to beat faster. They were both quite exhausted from the climb already and the thought of now having to face off with these vicious and deadly creatures made her legs feel like jelly. Arianna fell down, sitting on the ground. "Give me a few minutes," she said with a labored breath. "I need to prepare myself..."

"Are you nervous?" her friend asked her.

"What do you think?" she chuckled.

"It's going to be alright," Velvet crouched down and placed her hand on Arianna's shoulder. "This is going to be easy! In and out! Just make sure you have your teleportation tablet ready for when we grab the egg!"

"Right," Arianna nodded, taking a few more deep breaths, before pushing herself back to her feet. "I'm never going to be truly ready anyways. So let's just get this over with."

Velvet extended her hand toward Arianna. "Take my hand. We should stick close for this one. I promise I will be with you every step of the way. No running off."

"Thanks," Arianna smiled, taking hold of Velvet's hand. "That's reassuring."

She was glad that Velvet was taking this seriously. Wyverns were no joke. Unlike goblins, where they could make some mistakes and still come out alright, just one moment of carelessness here would result in a possibly fatal injury. It could mean their end.

Arianna clenched her new staff tightly, checking her pocket for the teleportation tab before the two entered the cave carefully. It was much, much bigger than the one where they fought the cave goblins. No cobwebs or narrow tunnels were to be found here. The air inside was dry and carried a subtle aroma of rotting flesh, no doubt coming from what was left of the wyvern's last meal. Arianna shivered. If they messed up, they could well become the next one.

Soon, the cave widened into a large platform area, a seemingly endless pit opening up in front of them. A narrow bridge led across it, formed of natural stone.

"This place is enormous," Velvet whispered, remembering this time to keep her voice down.

"Do we have to cross this pit?" Arianna asked, clenching Velvet's hand tightly.

"Well, there's nothing here. The wyvern nest must be on the other side of this pit." Velvet observed casually. Arianna gulped as they walked up to it and Velvet let go of her hand.

"It's going to be hard to hold our balance if we hold hands. You should just fly over anyway." Velvet explained.

"No. I don't want to alert the wyverns," she whispered.

"Yeah, probably a good idea," Velvet nodded and started walking across the bridge of stone. She glanced down and saw an eerily black abyss staring back at her. How deep was this pit?

Reluctantly, Arianna followed her, holding her staff close and making tiny steps, placing one foot in front of the other. Her eyes looked straight forward, focused on her friend, who was almost at the other side already. Velvet jumped on the platform and turned around to see how her friend was doing. At that moment, Arianna slipped and shrieked, falling into the pit.

"Arianna!" Velvet yelled out, leaning over the edge. There was no sign of her anymore.

Moments later, an eagle soared up from the darkness below and landed on the platform. It turned back into Arianna, who was breathing quick, shallow breaths in panic.

"That was so scary," Arianna managed to say, falling to her knees. "I almost couldn't cast my transformation. I thought I might hit the ground and be flattened."

Velvet ran up to her and patted her on the back. "It's alright...you're safe now."

A distant growl made them immediately fall silent and look at each other with wide eyes.

"Oh no...that must have woken them up..." Velvet said.

"I'm so sorry I screamed," Arianna whispered, her face draining of blood.

"No, no, it's alright. Anyone would scream if they fell. It's a natural reaction. Not your fault. We do need to keep moving, though. Let's quickly find their nest and get what we need!" Velvet said cheerfully, encouraging Arianna.

Picking themselves up, they continued deeper into the huge cavern. The ceiling was high and full of stalactites that looked like they could crush the girls at any second. All the while, the feeling of being watched accompanied them, bringing with it an uncomfortable tingle in the girls' nerves.