The Sketch: The Vengeance of Articulus

A Diamond in the Rough

"What-"

"Shh!" the voice said, frantically. Soal, hopeful to see an old acquaintance, was disappointed (yet relieved) to see his friend Anter, the young archer, holding her wing to her beak, signaling silence. She was still in her nightgown. This greatly reminded Soal of the times he had met the criminal Swift in the Scright ruins, who only ever wanted to avenge his family's death. Tragically, he was killed by Articulus- the first one to die in the long, hard Battle of the Scright Gardens. Soal stretched and looked down at the eleven-inch kiwi as he sat in his mattress.

"Retna's found something," Anter murmured, "And she wants you to see it. Come on, follow me."

Soal was automatically apprehensive. He had been shown things by kiwis in the past, suspiciously, and alone. His memory quickly wandered to the time when Kiwi had tried to show him what he thought was the Pure Light Sword, just as the Second Invasion began.

Soal, who was not yet wearing his clanking armor, nodded and silently followed behind Anter as they left the room and entered the giant, spiral center of the Haven. The girl tiptoed down the ramp, and Soal did just the same, as the two descended the area, and it became darker... and darker... and darker. It was already dim in the area (it was the middle of the night, and underground, after all), but now a fog was gathering, which obscured their vision more. Thankfully, Anter seemed to have been down here countless times, so her steps were muscle memory. Soal did the best he could to stay close behind.

Finally, Anter stopped suddenly, causing Soal to wobble on his feet not to fall. The ramp had suddenly cut off as the fog became extremely thick.

"We need to jump," Anter whispered, as though she knew something Soal did not.

"Jump?!" Soal exclaimed.

"Shh!" Anter quieted him down. "Just do what I do."

So, she hopped off of the ledge, and a splash was audible. Soal could now tell there was water below, but he was still quite worried, for he knew that Anter could not swim well, and that she had drowned trying to escape from the Great Flood thousands of years before. Thankfully, he could hear more splashing, and some muttering beneath the fog. Hesitatingly, Soal leaped off the edge.

He splashed down into water, just as Anter did, and it was fairly deep. He could hardly see where he was going, but Anter's distant whispers led Soal back to the land. After climbing up some stairs, onto a stony platform high above the water, he was confronted with Anter, and, in fact, Retna, also in her nightgown and holding a lantern. She smiled as Soal approached.

"Twit," she said. "You're here! We've been waiting for you. There's something quite interesting down here. I thought you would've liked to see it."

As she lifted the lantern higher, most of the dark fog cleared, and a gigantic cavern entered the trio's vision. The whole cave was a giant pit of liquid, separated by a ridge in the center. On the right side, a waterfall crashed down into a large pool of freshwater, and on the left side, a lava-fall did the same, filling the room with light.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Anter looked up and read Soal's thoughts.

"Quite so," he responded, still staring at the cave in wonder.

"It would be even more beautiful if it were carved in the shape of my face," Retna interrupted. "Anyway, we call it Twin Falls Cavern. Found it the other day when we were exploring, I guess you could say that. There was a cave exactly like this in Lubreigha, only better. You should've seen it if you could."

"I should've," Soal said, finally looking back at the sisters. "But people will be wondering where I am, or why my clothes are all wet. I'll have to dry off before I leave, and besides, how will I return to the main room?"

"There's a wall covered with vines right next to us," Anter said, pointing at the ivy-covered corner of the room, which had been right next to the platform. "We need to climb it back to the main area."

So after Soal's nightclothes dried, they all cautiously climbed the ivy a short way back to the ledge they had jumped off of. Retna turned off her lantern, and they all walked silently back to their rooms.

The next morning, Porter stood beside Soal's sleeping bag. He was nearly scared awake, but soon the Voltale noticed something. "Wherever have you been, Soal?" he asked, concerned. "You appear awfully drowsy. Not only that, but your clothes are damp. Have you been going anywhere last night?"

"Going anywhere?" Soal responded. "No, no, I haven't been going anywhere. Especially in the nights. It just seems like my mind is the only thing going somewhere, wandering..."

"Just be careful, Soal," Porter said as he turned his front head away, his back head swerving around to take its place. "You can't be like Mervis all the time."

So it had seemed to Soal that Porter had finally realized Mervis's secret plot, but now that he had read the Armorillion, who knows what that Governor could be doing.

"And you'll have to be even more careful today, Soal," Porter's back head, with a slightly higher voice, continued for his main head.

"Why do I? It's just like any other day, from what I can tell."

Porter's front head turned to Soal again. "Because," he sighed, "Today beholds the Congress of Kiwis."