Chapter 18: Underground Challenges

The next morning began bright and early for our heroes, but they were not so happy about it. “Great, morning already, I should just go back to sleep,” Lisa said as she was staring as the sun was coming up.

“I assume it is going to be a slow morning for you?” Silva teases entering the room.

“What!? Silva you are awake. I thought you hate mornings,” Lisa said in shock.

“Yeah…well…I do, but ever since Bri told me about the underground monster down below, I am simply excited to defeat it. Since I could not sleep, I went for a run with Bri and I thought I would come over to check up on you,” Silva explained kindly.

“Yes, an over confident annoyance,” Lisa complained after half a sleep.

“I forgot you can be a bitch in the morning. There is no time for complaining. Hurry and get dressed, we are leaving in one hour to the underground,” Silva said before leaving the room.

“Yeah, yeah, see you later,” Lisa said, yawning as she was getting ready.

As Silva was walking towards the boy’s room, she ran into Rufus and Terrance.

“Oh, hey, Silva, I did not know you were awake,” Rufus said shyly.

“Oh, really, were you trying to get a sneak peek on us girls,” Silva slyly comments.

“No, I was not thinking about that,” Rufus said, trying to brush it off.

“Nice try. Don’t forget, I know you are a peeping tom,” Silva continued to mock.

“I forgot you know me so well,” Rufus said, turning away.

“Was there something you wanted from me?” Silva asks.

“Oh, yes, Bri sent us to get you,” Terrance said.

“What does she want?” Silva asked, wondering about this.

“She is gathering everyone in the dining hall,” Terrance went on further explaining.

“Yes, thank you. I will head over there now. Do me a favor, gather the others and supplies, and meet up at the underground entrance,” Silva orders.

“Yes, we can take care of that,” Rufus said, agreeing to Silva’s orders.

“And Rufus if I find any of my clothes missing, I will personally kill you,” Silva warned.

“Right, I will have Lisa take care of it,” Rufus agrees, a little freaked out.

“I will come check up on that later,” Silva warns.

Silva walks with Terrance, but he seems a bit off.

“Terrance, are you ok?”

“I am fine. It’s just…It’s just…,” Terrance begins to stutter.

“Spill it out,” Silva said, annoyed.

“I just wanted to tell you, be careful when you talk to Bri, she seems to be in a bad mood,” Terrance said blushing.

“Don’t worry about me. I know how Bri gets when she does not get her booze early in the morning,” Silva said lightly, kissing Terrance’s cheek before leaving.

“Yeah, no problem,” Terrance whispered to himself as he was touching the spot where Silva kissed him.

Silva made her way to the dining area where she spotted Bri in a not so cheery mood.

“I told you, I wanted a beer, so get me one,” Bri shouted.

“Hey Bri, I heard you were looking for me!” Silva shouts, heading to the table.

“Oh, yes, Silva, did you bring me booze?” Bri asks.

“No, but you will be able to get some after we complete our job, so stop with the attitude,” Silva remarks.

“Fine, where is the rest of your team? Maybe they have booze,” Bri said.

“Bri, cut the booze act and can we hurry and deal with this monster of yours,” Silva said, sounding annoyed.

“Fine, whatever. I called you here to tell you that I am not going with you,” Bri confesses.

“What?! Why?” Silva asks, pissed off.

“Well, since I am going to be the new guild leader, I do not feel like going, so I will have you be accompanied by my friends Rachel, Roxie, Spencer, and Wallace,” Bri offers.

“Seriously, I think my friends and I can handle this without your help,” Silva said, a bit annoyed.

“Sorry, but I will not allow you to go alone,” Bri protests.

“Fine, where do I meet them,” Silva asks, still annoyed.

“Good. You will meet them at the old temple entrance south from here. I wish you the best and hope to meet you again soon,” Bri wishing them luck.

“Thank you Bri for everything. See you when I see you,” Silva thanked her.

“Yes, right, you better get going before my team leaves you behind,” Bri warns.

“Ok, thank you again,” Silva said walking away.

Once Bri and Silva said their good-byes, Silva walked to the south entrance where Bri’s group was already there.

“You must be Silva of the Desert. Hi I am Roxie, nice to meet you,” Roxie introduced herself.

“Yes, nice to meet you too,” Silva said kindly.

“So, you are the one Bri could not stop talking about, hi I am Rachel,” Rachel joined the conversation.

“Yeah, it is nice to meet you too, so should we get going,” Silva asked.

“Sure, please follow us,” Roxie said kindly,

“Hey, don’t forget us,” Rufus said as the others soon followed him closely.

“Right, since everyone is here, let’s hurry up,” Silva said.

“Great, another pair of shoes ruined,” Lisa complained.

“Already with the complaining Lisa. I promise I will treat you to new shoes later,” Silva said, making a deal.

“Alright, let’s do this,” Lisa said in a cheery mood again.

Since Bri’s group knows this place so well, they escorted Silva and her friends to the entrance to the temple underground. One look at this place made them realize with one wrong move, they will die. Making sure everyone is safe, they stayed in a single file line with magical fire orbs lighting up the way.

Silva with her new magical abilities can sense something is off.

“Wow Rachel, I can see why you want to live here, this place is amazing and the magical energy here is outstanding,” Silva said, impressed with the area.

“Yes, it sure is. It helps us to maintain our livelihood” Rachel pointed out.

“Wow, Silva, how did you know this place had so much magic energy?” Lisa asked.

“I am not sure, but it feels like the goddess magic within me can sense the magical energy here. Rachel, what was this place before all of you arrived here,” Silva asks.

“I am not too sure, but what we gather is that this used to be an old goddess temple hidden from the world many years ago before this monster made it his home,” Rachel explains.

“That is a great history lesson and everything, but is it me or are we being watched,” Rufus said, cutting in.

“Yeah, I feel it too,” Lisa agreed.

“Oh, don’t worry about it, it is just the creatures living here love to watch us exploring the caves, but don’t worry they are harmless, so let’s move,” Wallace explains.

“Rachel, I know we agreed to help you to take care of this monster down here, but can you please tell us more about it?” Terrance kindly asked.

“Um...Sure, I guess it should be ok. Anyways when we first came here a few years ago, we scouted the area to see if it was stable enough to house everyone. Then after checking around the area, we came upon this strange dragon statue in the middle of the room and as soon as we approached it, the dragon came alive and started attacking us. We counterattacked, but the dragon was too strong for us. Many of us did not survive and we have not been down there since we managed to trap it in the room,” Rachel explains.

“A Dragon! Are you kidding me, Silva I did not sign up for this? Why do we always get into these strange and dangerous situations,” Lisa shouted.

“It’s not my fault, things just happen,” Silva confessed.

“I never thought a dragon would be down here, I thought it would be living with the others at Dragon Mountain,” Rufus pointed out.

“This was a temple, maybe he is one of its guardians,” Silva pointed out.

“Maybe, you are right and that is what this whole journey is about, but seriously how much further, this place is seriously ruining my shoes,” Lisa begins to complain.

“We are not far, so I suggest you make ready your weapons and continue to follow my lead,” Rachel pointed out.

“Yeah, sure, can you guys go ahead and I will catch up later,” Silva said, running the other direction from her friends and following a light that apparently she can only see.

“Silva, wait!” Lisa shouted, going after Silva.

“Lisa, let her go, she will meet up with us later,” Terrance said, holding Lisa back.

“I guess, let’s go,” Lisa said, walking on ahead depressed.

“Please be safe,” Terrance whispered to himself as he walked away with the others.

The others follow Rachel’s lead to the door to the dragon’s room. “Alright guys, follow my lead and we will get out of this alive,” Rachel pointed out.

“Right, let’s get this over with,” Lisa said annoyed.

“Ok, now let’s go,” Roxie said as she pushed the door open and the dragon appeared ready to attack them, but they were ready to fight back.

Meanwhile, Silva continues to follow the glowing light into a mysterious room which seems to be unreachable to anyone who did not have this magical gift. The light continues leading her to the middle of the room before it disappears. She soon wakes up and wanders around trying to find a way out. “I know you brought me here, but please I must be returning to my friends now, so if you have something to show me, please do it now,” Silva demanded.

The light soon reappears and teleports her to a different time and moment in history. Silva was shocked by what she was seeing. It seems she was teleported back in time, but perhaps in the wrong time. Silva notices the people of the temple were running for their lives as it was being overrun by outsiders. She wants to help, but her magic is not working. Then she runs to hide, but it seems someone was looking right at her. Silva has no choice, but to present herself.

“It seems we have an unexpected visitor. I am surprised you found your way here. I can also see you are the new goddess,” the woman said, staring at Silva up on the stairs.

“Who are you and what is this place?” Silva asked her.

“Now it is not the time for that, we must hurry, we do not have a lot of time left,” the woman said, grabbing Silva’s hand and dragging her away.

“Please tell me what this place is and who are you? I am not taking a step further until you tell me,” Silva demands.

“Yes, very well, my name is Sarafine and this is the Marina temple. Now tell me why you are here?” Sarafine asked.

“In my time my friends and I are travelling the world to take on the Goddess Trails at the temples in order to fully master this magic. I have been chosen by our goddess to wield this magic, I do not understand. At first, I did not accept this magic for ruining my family, but now as I am learning to connect with its magic, I still do not approve of using it. Currently in my world, we are in the middle of battling the dragon that took refuge here and I need to get home and defeat it,” Silva explains.

“I see…, so you were destined to come here?” Sarafine said, putting the pieces together.

“So, can you please tell me what is going on here?” Silva asked.

“So impatient…Very well this temple was once the home of a great goddess that lived here over a thousand years ago. It was a time of peace and everyone was living together in harmony. Many goddesses existed back then, but they remained hidden from the people who wanted to use their powers to fight wars. Many who followed the goddess beliefs began living among the goddesses and became goddess protectors. Once we refuse to help these empires to grow their power, they begin hunting and killing us. Whoever survived this massacre went into hiding or returned to the home land of the goddess. This is what you are seeing now.”

“That is so cruel. I did not know the goddesses suffered so much and I have been acting like a brat about it all of this. I want to know why I am here,” Silva wanted to cry.

“I believe you are here to know the truth.You see goddesses are not born to this higher power, they were once humans chosen to wield these magical abilities,” Sarafine explains.

“Humans, but that does not make any sense. I never heard about this before,” Silva pointed out.

“Yes. Take this ancient text. It is written in the old goddess language and in time you will be ready to read it. Now you must go before you are trapped here forever.”

“Thank you Sarafine, I wish I can do more for you,” Silva said, taking the text and feeling sorry for her new friend.

“Our fate has already been sealed, but I am glad I could meet you, Goddess Silva,” Sarafine said with a smile before she disappeared.

“Sarafine!” Silva shouts as she was transported back to her time, but was crying for Sarafine.

“Sarafine, I am sorry, I will always remember you.” Silva said putting the book in her pack and started running to find her friends

Silva began running through the crazy maze of the temple and it was not easy. As she turned corners there were dead ends, monsters attacking her, and many other things keeping her away from her friends. She was not going to give up and will do anything she can to find her friends.

With one friend away for a bit, Lisa and the others continued fighting off the dragon, but it seems it was not going so well.

“Seriously this is getting old this dragon is going to ruin my outfit, how much longer?” Lisa said, blocking the dragon’s attacks.

“Yes, just hang out a little longer,” Terrance yelled. “Then we can find Silva.”

“You better stay and carry out your promise to us, if not we will kill you ourselves,” Rachel shouted back, fighting off the dragon.

“Come on guys, this isn’t that bad…so let’s stick together,” Rufus said, trying to throw out some words of encouragement.

“Always the idiot bringing us together,” Lisa said as she was fighting off the minions.

“Let’s win this fight and make Silva proud,” Seth said, helping out Roxie.

“Yes, obey the idiot and fight on,” Rajah said as he was taking down another victim.

The gang continued to fight off the dragon, but others were having problems keeping up.

“I don’t think I can take much more of this,” Lisa said, trying to stand up.

“Hang in there we are almost done with this dragon, so try to stay strong and hold on,” Terrance said trying to help Lisa up.

“I swear if Silva makes us do something dangerous again, I will kill her,” Lisa shouted.

“Yes, I am in agreement, why are we doing this?” Simon said annoyed.

“Because Simon we are part of the Guild League and we help others in need,” Silva shouted as she was making her grand entrance.

“Silva!” Everyone shouted in relief.

“Yeah, there is no time for small talk, we have to get out of here, so go through the hole in the wall and get out. While Seth, Roxie, Rachel, Rajah, Rufus, and I will defeat this dragon,” Silva giving orders to her friends and blasting a hole in the wall.

“That is Silva of the Desert for you, always giving orders,” Rufus teased.

“I suggest you all get a move on before I blast you out of here myself,” Silva threatened.

“You heard her, let’s move,” Simon said as he was trying to get everyone out.

“Please be careful Silva,” Terrance shouted to her, making his escape.

“Alright, I want all of you to distract this beast while Rajah stays with me,” Silva ordered.

“Right,” everyone shouted.

Then everyone went to their positions to take on the dragon while Silva was preparing to trap it.

“Ok guys stand back and get ready to run, I want to try something, ok Rajah get ready,” Silva ordered.

“Right!” everyone shouted.

“Ok, so let’s do this,” Silva said as she was raising her hand and closing her eyes to find the spell she needed. Once she found the spell, a glowing chain appeared and she got to work. She starts running and jumping around to tie the chains around the dragon to slow it down. The chain continued shrinking into the dragon’s skin and finally trapped him in his cage. Since the dragon is now trapped, the team did not waste any time to defeat him and trap him in his resting state forever.

“Wow Silva, that is amazing, where did you learn to do that?” Rufus asked, impressed.

“It came from a friend,” Silva plainly said. “Thank you Sarafine,” Silva whispers.

“Whatever, let’s get out of here,” Roxie said, running through the tunnel first.

“Right, let’s go,” Silva said soon after.

The gang started running, but rocks began to fall all over the place. As they are running, they create magical shields to block the rocks from hitting them and avoid being trapped here forever. They continue to run through the tunnels aimlessly until a light appears guiding them out. Luckily, they arrived where the others were waiting for them.

“Silva, are you ok,” Terrance said, running to Silva as she looked faint.

“Hold it right there pretty…pretty…boy,” Silva said as she fainted into his arms.

“It seems the spell took too much out of her, she needs to rest,” Rachel pointed out.

“Rajah, please take care of her for me,” Terrance said as he placed her on Rajah’s back.

“Yes, of course,” Rajah answered.

“All of you deserve our thanks and our gratitude. We will contact Bri and give her our report. Thanks again,” Rachel said kindly.

“Thank you for everything and we hope to see you again soon,” Terrance said kindly.

“Now care to tell us, how do we get to Intel-City?” Lisa asks.

“Right, so to get to Intel- City, go through the forest and you should be there by tomorrow,” Roxie explained.

“Yes, thank you, let’s head to the forest before it gets dark,” Rufus said, taking the lead.

“Right, let’s go into a different forest where my shoes will be ruined again,” Lisa complains as she walks ahead.

Saying good-bye to their new friends, Rufus guides the gang to the forest to continue the next part of their journey.