Chapter 23: Deja Vu
With the sun now high in the sky, and Isabel grumbling and moaning about being tired, I found a flat-ish place to sit and plopped down. Feeling the noon day sun beating down on me, spread starfish and exhausted from not only the Ettin encounter, but also coming down from the stamina potion fueled manic training, I could only sigh heavily as I debated whether whether getting a sunburn was worth a quick nap.
Being absolutely done, I mentally summoned the shop window and even smiled briefly when looking at my balance that was pushing almost three hundred, thanks to me and Zarra's formally secret escapades.
I purchased a water bottle and, after casting a basic ice spell, unscrewed the lid, allowing the cool water to flow over me. It felt refreshing, but a tiny yelp caught my attention. Isabel had been splashed. She jumped up and asked, "What are you doing?"
"Cooling off," I replied.
"Wait, where did you get that water?" Isabel asked, finally realizing that a strange clear vessel filled with water apparated out of thin air.
"Magic," I said lazily waving my hand, in a monotone voice. Before long, having cooled down I sat up and grabbing my stuff, and I began continuing to walk. After another two hours we finally approach the area Greyroot had mentioned.
We came across a somewhat narrow gorge made of mainly sandstone and slate. Its near-vertical rock face appeared insurmountable, and the uncertainty in Isabel's voice was unmistakable. "How do you plan on getting down there?" she asked, her wings buzzing with concern.
Thinking for a moment, I approached the edge with an odd mix of confidence and nonchalance, channeling my mana into a spell I stepped off into the abyss, free-falling toward the rough rocks below. The heart-pounding descent was only halted by a deft spell, whispered under my breath, that rapidly expanding the air beneath me, cushioning my landing. Isabel couldn't contain her shriek of panic as she watched me fall. Racing to the edge, she was nearly blown away by the explosion of air displaced from the ravine, tousling my hair, and kicking up a huge cloud of dust. Slowing to almost a complete stop a few feet above the ground, I landed, having to take a few hurried steps forward to avoid falling over.
Isabel having regained her balance, flew towards me angrily and scolded me with a mixture of reproach and relief, "You nearly gave me a heart attack! What's wrong with you?"
"I was reasonably sure I would be able to pull it off, that granny might have been crazy, but because of her I am sure I could still squeeze off a spell even if I was on fire. I should know because she actually tried it." I said, with a shiver recalling the old sadistic fairy women's twisted smile as she 'trained' me.
I looked at Isabel whose mouth was agape, before turning to study the wall face. It was a beautiful red and black sedimentary mix of sandstone and shale that was peppered with teal-ish green spots along its face. Isabel's brain finally rebooted and deciding to move on took a moment to appreciate the awe-inspiring sight around us before asking, "why are the rocks blue and green in spots?"
"They are the reason I came all of this way; they have a metal in them called copper that I have been looking for that turns them green green." I replied casually as I approached a cave opening a bit further along the ravine.
Wasting no time, I swished my hand in an arc and a small ball of light appeared floating in it and I entered the small opening. Though she hesitated, the fairy quickly fallowed after me, sticking close in the somewhat cramped, unfamiliar space.
Together, we entered the cave, maneuvering down narrow crevasses and squeezing through claustrophobic tunnels. Some points so tight I had to push my basket ahead of me, barely squeezing my shoulders through behind it, it was arduous.
Finally, we reached a cavern, and seeing my minor spell struggling to illuminated the open space, Isabel took charge of lighting it. Isabel raised her slender hands to her mouth, a shimmering enchantment swirling around her. With her arms extending, she blew releasing the spell, conjuring vibrant, multicolored wisps of light that scattered across the space, illuminating every crevice.
Eager to seize the opportunity, I moved around the cavern, collecting the precious minerals I sought, particularly the dark green malachite and teal turquoise. With my basket full, I again drew on the ground employing alchemy to magically separate the metals I desired, inorganic arsenic and copper.
Having several shiny fist sized bars, and a few folished stones, I stowed them away. We set up a small camp within the cavern, and the excitement from taking my first steps into the bronze age faded leaving only exhaustion from the repeated use of magic and the last couple of days' events caught up with us. Isabel and I soon found rest in the depths of this subterranean chamber.
Awakening in the unfamiliar cave, I was disoriented and unsure of the time. Determined to explore further, I tried nudging Isabel awake, but she simply crawled into the leather flap of my pack and started sleeping again. So I ventured deeper into the rocky passages under the mountain. As I continued, the once-cool, damp environment began to heat up slightly, and the walls shifted from sandstone and shale to igneous rock and granite. The tunnel opened into a massive underground tunnel with a central magma stream that trickled through a central channel, disappearing out of sight.
Dropping down from the slit in the wall I had emerged from, I walked along the channel. The heat radiating from the lava in waves, leaving me wondering if this is how a rotisserie felt as I ventured deeper still. Eventually the tunnel widened into an oblong room with the lava stream bisecting it long ways.
On the walls, clear signs of being carved out were present, with several small tunnel openings present, and even somewhat intricate pictographs and blocky but clear scenes showing dragons fighting or sleeping on hoards. Some of them depicting dragons morphing from mighty flying creatures into small reptilian humanoids. When I took a step deeper into the open space, I heard the snapping of a stick and a whirring sound as I was dragged by my foot up into the air.
Felling a sense of deja vu, I couldn't help but sigh as a cacophony of yipping sounds started echoing around the cavern coming from the multitude of carved openings around the room.
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CountZemi What do you think captured the MC this time? Everyone who had been interacting with this story and voting, it honestly means alot, so thanks.
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