Shoram II

Cedric sprang back to his feet and out of the beast’s range as it screamed in pain, falling on its back and stamping its feet on the ground like a child.

Cedric took note of the bandit, slumped on the floor unconscious. Meters away from him lay the pitchfork. Cedric hurriedly made his way over and picked it up before turning back to the flailing cyclops.

“You win!” it shrieked, not bothering to look his way. “I don’t care anymore! Take whatever you want and get out!”

“You really are a softy, huh,” Cedric answered with a relieved chuckle.

“Just get out!” it cried, crawling onto its makeshift bed and curling into a ball.

“Well, I’d love to, once I get what I came here for,” Cedric replied, dragging the pitchfork over to where the bandit laid. His head was bleeding from the side, and his left leg looked to be in an unnatural position. Cedric shrugged and approached the spot in the wall where he had found three oddly placed holes.

“Say, uhh, what’s your name?”

“It’s Shoram!” the beast responded spitefully. “You have some nerve coming into my home and attacking me, not even knowing my name!”

“Well technically you did attack me first… but I do apologize for the rude entrance, I guess. Anyway, you wouldn’t happen to know if there’s anything in here, would you?” he said, pointing at the indentions.

“Why don’t you look for yourself!” Shoram answered angrily. “I should have known you were that human’s friend...”

“Huh?” Cedric inquired, but received no answer. Shrugging, he lifted the pitchfork even to the holes, and slowly guided its tips in.

As expected, they fit perfectly. A clicking sound emitted as the pitchfork seemed to lock into the wall. He tried pushing it in further, and then pulling it, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Hmm.”

Gripping the neck of the pitchfork with both hands and planting a foot against the wall, he gave a powerful heave. A slab of the rocky wall, cut into a square, slid out, and fell with a thud to the ground, the pitchfork still attached.
Letting the pitchfork fall, Cedric looked into the hole the slab had been covering. Inside it lay a short dagger whose blade was emerald green—like that of his vest, and a small black sphere, alongside a piece of old, rolled up parchment blotched with red stains.

Wearing a curious expression, he took the three objects out of the wall. Immediately placing the dagger in his utility belt, he observed the other two objects. The black marble ball fit in his fingers snugly yet bore an abnormal weight for its size. He looked closely at the small slivers of red and green swirling around within the pure black of the glassy sphere.

“What is this supposed to be?” he mumbled, placing the ball in his pocket. Taking a knee, he proceeded to unroll the slightly worn-down parchment on the ground.

Before him, a map unraveled. At the top of it, the title “Dirac” was proclaimed in bold letters.

“It’s a map of Molovar… of all the islands under the dome,” he whispered.

At the southern-most section of the map lay Takanova Island, bearing more detail in its geography than any of the other islands. He looked to where the Volcano of Disasters was drawn, a red smudge standing out among the inked illustrations.

Frowning, he set the sword down next to the map, its blade touching the corner of the parchment. At that moment, the sword glowed as the sound of dripping emanated from it. While he looked back and forth in confusion, another tiny red smudge appeared, seemingly from nothing. The small island it appeared on, at the end of the long “Jaded Sea Cavern,” was labeled “Sea Serpent Cove.” Its illustration consisted of a beach and a serpent as large as the cavern’s mouth.

Frantic, he turned the map over. Certainly, the smudged blotches of red covered most of the back of the map, but he was sure the spot hadn’t been there before he set the sword down.

“Just what the devil is going on here…” he muttered, dumbfounded. “Say, Shoram, you said something about me being some human’s friend. Did that human bring these things here, by chance? Can you tell me about him?”

“Agh, I don’t know anything about him either, so just get out already,” Shoram snarled in response, tossing several small rocks in his direction.

“Jeeze, fine, ya big baby,” Cedric mumbled in return, ducking under the small rocks. “I shouldn’t be wasting time here, anyway. Who knows what’s going on outside…” He rolled up the map and stuck it underneath his belt before approaching the bandit, who was still unconscious.

“Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to take him outside with me, at least. He did help out, like he said he would…” Cedric grumbled through curled lips as he lifted the man’s arms over his shoulders and began dragging him across the rock.

“One more thing, Shoram, can you point me to the closest way out of here?”

The beast shot its long arm up, pointing to the west side of the room.

“Hmm, I guess that means the passage farthest from the one I found the treasure in?”

Shoram nodded his large head, refusing to look up.

“Well then, it was good meeting you, I suppose. Maybe we can become friends someday?” He smirked and continued dragging the bandit through the passageway.

“Well, then, let’s get you out of this hot place so you can be dealt with properly… partner.”