The jaunt to the vault took a lot longer than Hunter or Mark had anticipated. The castle was a confusing labyrinth, and without Valin or Rudy, neither of them would have been able to find their way through the somber halls. Throughout the long-winded venture, Mark and Valin continued their conversation about their contrasting lives in the dignified castle and the obscure village. Hunter and Rudy however marched side by side awkwardly, as if the words that wanted to be said were trapped in a cage.

Hunter, trying to not eavesdrop on Mark’s conversation, continued to examine the baroque, colorful tapestries and paintings that embellished the wall, contrasting the entrances to seemingly random rooms. The works depicted events from millennia ago, including the implied demise of the demonized Soul Taker. One painting, in particular, caught Hunter’s very sporadic attention. It was a very dark and heavily shaded piece, with very thick strokes that encompassed an entirely different, grim vibe. The Soul Taker is portrayed as not the embodiment of death, but instead, a demon with large wings, grasping what was thought to be the Mysterious Crystal. In the background, dozens of crying souls reached out, frozen in the cold stone Hunter was familiar with.

Eventually, he rummaged through his satchel for a ragged journal and a fragmented piece of charcoal. The journal was made from handmade papyrus sheets sandwiched between two thin pieces of animal skin, with animal hide tightly binding the collection together. Hunter quickly opened the ever-so-precious sketchbook and flipped through the very intricate charcoal sketches he had spent countless hours creating. After passing through at least a third of the pages in the journal, he finally reached a blank page. With the chunk of charcoal in hand Hunter began to recreate the likeness of the Soul Taker that he had the privilege of viewing. Rudy glanced over and watched as Hunter started to sketch onto the papyrus with his piece of crumbling charcoal.

“Hey, Hunter was it?” Rudy started to say. “If it would be easier I have some pencils you can use.” He pulled a pencil out from a pocket in his pants and handed it to Hunter, who was incredibly confused.

“A pencil?” He questioned confusingly as took the pencil from Rudy. He glanced at Rudy as he took it, paying more attention to the outfit he was wearing.

Rudy, donned in an undershirt that was cut up to have no sleeves along with a pair of trousers with too many pockets to count, smiled as Hunter took the curious art utensil.

He began to draw with the foreign object and became enlightened with how easy it was to illustrate. The pencil glided so easily across the papyrus and was far more precise than a piece of charcoal could ever be. Impressed with the drastic improvement, he thanked Rudy, “Thank you, this works so much better!”

Rudy laughed and looked behind them to glance at Mark and Valin, whose conversation continued to linger, now on the topic of weapons. The look in their eyes showed no disdain, and Valin felt like a completely different person from just a short while ago. As their interest in each other continued to grow, their attention to Hunter and Rudy continued to disappear.

“They seem to be hitting it off,” Rudy kindly commented in a slightly surprised tone as he turned his head back forward.

“Yeah, Mark is definitely a social butterfly. When the village took me in he was the only one that would spend time with me. He would talk constantly about his bow, the deer he killed, or his family and I would just let him talk.” Hunter replied happily as he focused on drawing his new depiction of the Soul Taker.

“Valin usually isn’t this talkative, she keeps to herself and only sticks around the Mage of Darkness. I’m surprised that she is this excited about an outsider,” Rudy pointed out suspiciously, slightly watching Hunter sketch as he led them through the castle.

Behind them, Valin and Mark’s conversation continued to cultivate deeper as they learned more about each other. Valin became more and more comfortable around the duo, especially Mark. She had never grown to like anyone this quickly, and she immediately regretted acting harshly to the duo earlier. The look in Valin’s eyes explained it all, and Rudy was glad his peer was becoming more open to strangers.

Rudy attempted to perpetuate his conversation with Hunter, trying to sound sincere, “Speaking of which, I’m surprised they let both of you in, we usually never let outsiders in or insiders out.”

“Our village is the same way,” Hunter compared solemnly. “Around a year ago the village was raided and we haven’t been the same since. We aren’t too keen on outsiders, in fact, we haven’t encountered any since the raid. We were allowed outside of the village to hunt, but we weren’t allowed to cross the river. Yet… here we are.”

Rudy looked at him in disbelief as he spoke, “You broke the rules and crossed the river anyways? If you did something like that here you wouldn’t be allowed back in.”

“Yeah, we’ve made a lot of mistakes, but we’ve stuck together,” Hunter paused and turned back to glance at Mark. “It’s nice seeing him happy talking to someone new.”

Both conversations slowly died out the closer they were to the vault. Hunter’s sketch continued to develop and grow more lifelike. His drawing of the Soul Taker resembled the grim painting he had found earlier, however, it included more true-to-life details, including the Soul Taker’s diseased robe. Once his drawing was finished he admired his work and put the journal back into his satchel. He gestured to Rudy with the pencil to ask him if he wanted it back.

“Keep it, I have way too many,” Rudy responded with a smile, presenting a handful of pencils he grabbed from one of his many pants pockets.

Hunter giggled and threw the pencil into his satchel, not entirely aware of where it ended up within.

Finally, after a ten-minute walk, they reached a staircase hidden seemingly in plain sight behind a large tapestry that functioned as a door. They walked down the narrow spiral staircase into the basement, which was much more dark and eerie than the halls above. They walked down a long corridor, with immense storage rooms on either side. These cellar-like domains stored many of the castle’s dry goods and weapons. However, after many years of tapping into this vast storage facility, many of the rooms remained eerily empty. At the end of the corridor was the vault, an enormous metal door that took up the length and height of the cryptic hallway.

“All right, stand back,” Rudy advised sternly, holding his hand out to stop. Hunter, Mark, and Valin stood back as Rudy used a spell to unlock and open the colossal door to the vault. The gears in the rectangular metal door shifted loudly and the door opened slightly, just enough for the four of them to pass through. The vault door itself was at least an arm’s length wide, with countless bolts and welds holding the complex locking mechanism inside. The vault, itself was an architectural beauty. In the shape of an octagon, the floor presented an intricate pattern with polished, gilded tiles. The walls of the vault towered high, giving the vault a resemblance to a place that would only be told in ancient folklore. Large crates of gold and jewels were dispersed in organized piles along the walls that towered around them. In the center of the vault, the Magic power tablet is laid upon an altar.

The Lightning Wizard then appeared behind a mountain of wood boxes and exclaimed, “Ah Rudy you’re back! And you brought the prisoners with you!”

“Prisoners?” Hunter and Mark replied worryingly in tandem. They were not expecting such a greeting, and in response they immediately put their guard up, readying themselves for any attack that may befall them.

“Oh… you’re not prisoners? I assumed because you’re outsiders Valin here was taking you to the dungeon.” The Lighting Wizard conveyed mistakenly, shaking his head. “Ah, no matter, now that you are here we can discuss some things that are on my mind.”

“Discuss what exactly?” Mark asked suspiciously with his hand still resting on his bow behind him.

“Well, for starters… How did you two come to possess the Elemental Gem?” The Lightning Wizard interrogated sternly, giving them a side-eye. “It is a sacred gem that only priests and vessels of the Elemental Spirit could wield. The last person in possession of it was the Elemental Wizard, and she wouldn’t just give it up willingly.”

“Well… she did,” Hunter responded honestly, taking the gem out of his pocket yet again, lowering his guard. “She had lost everything when her spell was reversed, not only her strength but the Tome of the Forest as well. She trusted us with it because she felt we were capable of protecting the power tablets.”

“I take it you two were responsible for the spell’s reversal.” The Lightning Wizard implied in a snarky manner, looking at them smugly.

Mark and Hunter stood there in shame, not wanting to give the obvious answer to the condescending question. Even though Hunter had let his guard down Mark still had a steady hand on his bow.

The Lightning Wizard had enough then broke the awkward silence, responding to an answer that was never said, “That’s what I thought.”

Quicker than either of them could anticipate, the Lightning Wizard abruptly shot lightning at the duo from his fingers, hitting both of them in the chest with separate bolts. Mark’s reaction time was just shy enough that he wasn’t able to react the way he had intended. The duo slammed to the ground unable to control their motor functions. Their bodies tingled with pain and twitched uncontrollably from the electric shock that continuously riddled them, making a counterattack near impossible.

“Mark!” Valin yelped suddenly, quickly starting to run to the electrocuted duo. However, the Lightning Wizard stopped her before she could reach them.

“Are you trying to help them? They’re the reason the Soul Taker escaped in the first place! I don’t want to have to tell the Mage of Darkness that you’re a traitor.” The Lightning Wizard threatened grimly, aiming to intimidate her by pointing with his other hand and sending small electric bolts around it.

Valin stayed quiet and backed away as the duo continued to have copious amounts of electricity enter their bodies from the Lightning Wizards’ hand. Hunter managed to shift his body over so he could make eye contact with his aggressor.

“It… was an accident…” Hunter mustered out painfully, still twitching from the shock. “Do you… think we would come here to help… if we were… on the Soul Taker’s… side?”

“Even so, why would you want to help?” The Lightning Wizard asked irrationally, flailing his unoccupied arm as he spoke. “The Soul Taker is unstoppable, even with the Elemental Gem you have a slim chance at winning.”

“Because… we started… this mess and we… will do anything… to fix it…” Mark stuttered in pain, unable to roll himself over.

“We know what… these things… are capable of… why would we… want to… let them… roam free?” Hunter said achingly, trying to move his body through the pain.

The Lightning Wizard sighed and released the duo from the electric shock, lowering his hand in the process. The duo laid on the floor for a second, trying to catch their breath. The shock left their bodies momentarily weak, and even afterward their muscles still twitched.

Valin and Rudy ran over to the struggling duo and helped them to stand back up. Mark then took the Life power tablet out of his bag and handed it to the peeved Lightning Wizard.

“We already have this one, it was given to me by my father,” Mark explained as the Lightning Wizard took and examined the power tablet thoroughly. After flicking it a few times and even licking the stone, he handed it back to Mark, who rubbed it against his woven animal hide shirt in disgust before putting it back into his satchel.

“I may have underestimated you, I apologize for the electric shock. Despite that, I’m still not going to give you the Magic power tablet that easily.” The Lightning Wizard responded solemnly, turning away from them smugly. “I still don’t entirely trust you. You’re going to need to prove yourselves.”

“And how exactly do you plan on testing us?” Hunter asked in an irritated tone, stepping forward towards him.

The Lightning Wizard turned back around and stood in front of them thinking for a couple of seconds. He then walked over to a bookcase located against a wall surrounded by crates of gold. He pulled an aged book from the shelf, flipped through the pages, made a noise of dissatisfaction, then put it back. He repeated this two more times before he found the book he was looking for. He flipped to the right page then walked back over to the duo and handed them the open book. Depicted on the page were detailed illustrations and descriptions of rare crystals. The Lighting Wizard pointed to the largest of the crystals depicted on the page.

“There’s a certain type of amethyst called ‘Blood Amethyst’ that can be very useful to us who resonate with Magic,” The Lighting Wizard explained knowingly as he started to pace around the room. “Blood Amethyst can be used to heal a wizard’s magic. Often times when we battle, certain spells or injuries can harm one’s magical ability. This is called ‘Mana Fatigue,’ and it usually takes months to fully recover from it. With Blood Amethyst, however, we can heal Mana Fatigue nearly instantly. We haven’t been able to get some in many decades, because we aren’t normally allowed to leave the Magical Kingdom.”

Mark handed the book back to the Lightning Wizard and he continued as he shut the book, “Since you two are outsiders, there won’t be much issue with you going out of the kingdom to retrieve some.”

He walked back over to the bookshelf and put the book back. He then grabbed a scroll from one of the lower shelves, opened it, checked to see if it was the correct one, then walked back over and gave it to Hunter.

“There are a collection of caves nearby called the Blood Caves at which a profuse amount can be found,” the Lightning Wizard stated as the duo examined the map they were given. “However, it is also the home of many monsters that resonate with the Dark element. They will do anything to protect the amethyst, but if you can get a decent amount of the crystal, I will give you the Magic power tablet.”

“Great, so we just have to kill a few small spiders and get some crystals, that shouldn’t be that hard,” Mark commented nonchalantly, rolling his eyes.

The Lightning Wizard laughed at Mark’s insensitivity, “It’s not just ‘a few spiders.’ These deadly creatures live and thrive in these caves, which means they have the upper hand. You will need the proper equipment to be able to traverse the caves safely.” He paused, stared off into the distance then spoke in a more serious tone, “When I was an apprentice to my predecessor we took a trip to these caves in the hopes of getting some crystals. We ended up leaving empty-handed and my predecessor… didn’t come back.”

The silence that followed that statement was thick and left the duo looking at each other with concern.

Mark spoke up quickly yet nervously, “We’re… going to need a moment to think about it,” He then grabbed Hunter’s arm and dragged him out of the vault to talk. After they were outside of the Vault and outside of earshot Mark spoke to Hunter in a concerned tone, “Are you sure about this? We could get killed while we are down there.”

“There’s no other way Mark, we need to get that Magic power tablet. Besides, we have the Elemental Gem,” Hunter tried to reassure Mark, leaning against the vault door in the process.

“We don’t even know how to use the gem, let alone how to fight a horde of monsters protecting a crystal,” Mark argued, starting to increase his volume.

“Mark, we will be fine, we’ve gotten this far, haven’t we? What’s one more adventure?” Hunter replied in an uplifting tone.

“And you won’t be alone either.” The duo was caught off guard and turned towards the gap in the vault door. Valin and Rudy were standing in the doorway, smiling. “We convinced the Lightning Wizard into letting us go with you,” Valin said cheerfully.

The Lightning Wizard strutted up behind them and matter-of-factly contradicted Valin, “Less ‘convinced’ and more ‘blackmail,’ but as long as the Mage of Darkness doesn’t know what happened to his cat Carmicheal we all can live peacefully… Anyways, amidst all the chaos happening in the war room, I don’t think they will notice two apprentices slip outside the walls. However, I would be quick about this. If the Mage of Darkness found out I let you four beyond the walls I will have my ass handed to me.”

“Right, we should get going then. We can stop at the armory for the gear we need to explore the cave,” Rudy stated with determination, starting to walk forward.

“You know where I’ll be,” the Lightning Wizard told them. He turned around and shut the vault door behind him using an electric bolt to pull it closed.

“Follow me,” Rudy told the group cheerfully. He led the way down the corridor and walked into one of the rooms they passed on the way to the vault. The room was lined with dusty exploration equipment, that clearly hasn’t been used in many years. Rudy and Valin rummaged through the antique accessories as Mark and Hunter stood near the entranceway awkwardly, not knowing what to grab. Eventually, Rudy and Valin, both with their own large bags of gear strung around their backs were ready to venture off.

•

The four of them snuck out of the Magical Kingdom while almost everyone was preoccupied in the war room. There was a small blindspot near the back of the wall, where the inattentive mage keeping guard had fallen into a deep slumber. Mark, Rudy, Valin, and Hunter quietly climbed up the spiral staircase in the tower with the sleeping guard, until they reached a window that overlooked the forest. Rudy handed Hunter a rope and a hook, with which he looped around the end before throwing the long end of the rope through the window.

Hunter was the first to propel down the wall, taking the other end of the rope with him, and fastening the hook to the stone windowsill so he wouldn’t plummet to the ground. Once he was on the ground, he pulled his end of the string so it was the same length as the long end he threw down originally. Hunter gestured to Rudy, who was peering out the window watching him propel downward, that it was safe to come down. The whole group managed to propel down swiftly and safely, reaching the ground before the mage could wake back up. Hunter took the rope and bound it back up around his arm and elbow, so the rope fell out of the loop in the hook, causing the hook to rest on the windowsill motionless.

As soon as the rope was bound back up the group sprinted into the depths of the forest until they were well out of sight from the Magical Kingdom. Once they were a safe distance away, Hunter took the map out of his satchel and tried to give the map over to Mark to navigate. However, Mark wasn’t paying the slightest bit of attention to him. Rather, his attention was turned to Valin.

“I’m really excited Mark! I’ve never gone beyond the castle walls!” Valin told him enthusiastically, glancing around at the forest with a look of awe in her eyes.

“It’s quite peaceful out here in the forest. I think you’ll enjoy it!” Mark replied excitedly, thrilled to be traveling with her.

As Mark and Valin continued to chat as they did back in the castle. Hunter and Rudy ended up taking on the responsibility of navigating. Hunter, not as comfortable with using maps as Mark, struggled to understand the directions the map was blatantly screaming at him.

“I think it’s… this way maybe? This would be so much easier if Mark was navigating us,” Hunter said to Rudy in a frustrated manner, as he tried to understand what looked like random lines to him.

“Probably, but look at them. I’ve never seen Valin this happy before. Also, I’m pretty sure it’s right not left, you’re holding the map upside down.” Rudy commented in an uplifting tone, watching Hunter put entirely way too much thought into navigating.

Hunter looked at the map again and flipped it around, moving his head in tandem with how he flipped it. He groaned then gave Rudy the map as he spoke, “You should probably have this then, I’ve never been that good when it comes to navigating.”

They both laughed and continued leading the way through the forest while Mark and Valin’s conversation lingered. Hunter and Rudy stayed silent listening to the conversation because they had nothing to talk about themselves. After a while of hiking through the complicated maze of vegetation that was the forest, they reached the colossal entrance to the cave. The large opening of the earth had vines and roots growing into and out of the crevice, with it slowly thinning out the deeper it went. As opposed to the dense forest surrounding it, the black hole stood out against all the different complex shades of green. The group stopped in awe at the gaping crevice in the flora, peering into the endless darkness that stood in front of them.

Valin and Rudy set their large bags they had tediously packed next to a robust tree close to the cave’s entrance and started to rummage through them. Rudy pulled out four identical leather harnesses, each with metal loops attached to the center. Valin on the other hand pulled four decently sized empty lanterns from her bag as Rudy started to distribute the harnesses.

“Alright, we brought rope for a reason. Let’s tie one end to a tree up here and attach our harnesses to the rope so we are able to find our way back out,” Rudy instructed boldly after handing everyone their harness, except Valin who he sat next to her.

The group attached the harness belts around their wastes and tied the rope to the tree where their belongings were. After testing the rope to make sure it was secure, the group attached their harness belts to the rope. While they were attaching the belts, Hunter looked down at the empty lanterns, and a look of confusion sprawled across his face.

“Do we have a fuel source for those? How good would those be down there?” Hunter asked curiously, pointing at the lanterns sitting next to Valin.

“Relax, I’ve got it,” Valin responded optimistically as she turned back towards her bag. She reached back into her bag and pulled out a few, then put one in each of the lanterns. Valin then arranged the lanterns in a semi-circle around her and began to chant a spell. After she finished citing the spell, the crystals within the lanterns began to shake violently. Cracks formed all along the facades of the gems, which then caused the shell to dissolve. After the walls of the crystal dissipated, brightly colored wisps appeared inside the lanterns. The wisps themselves resembled skulls, but oddly enough they still seemed adorable. The wisps started to fly and spin around the inside of the lanterns, hitting the sides of them a few times accidentally.

Valin chuckled, then enthusiastically stated, “See! These cute little guys will help light the way in the caves, and they don’t need a fuel source so they will stay illuminated. Unless of course the lantern breaks and they escape.”

“That’s so cool! Where did you learn a spell like that?” Mark asked Valin with peaked interest as he crouched down to examine one of the wisps.

“Well actually I-“ Valin started to say before she was cut off by Rudy.

“Hey lovebirds, we need to get going if we want to make it back before we get caught, let’s go,” Rudy said sternly. Mark immediately stood back up, blushing along with Valin. The two of them remained silent as they started the trek into the cave.

Everyone grabbed one of the lanterns and started their journey into the cave, with Hunter leading the way, Rudy behind him, then Mark and Valin in the back. They slowly started to walk deeper into the depths of the endless darkness, being incredibly careful. As they hiked deeper the natural sunlight disappeared, but the light from the lanterns shined bright. The wisps lit up the slick and rocky surface of the cave, showing any immediate dangers. The floor of the cave was damp but not steep. Hunter held the rope and was tasked with releasing more and more as they traveled through the increasingly treacherous cave. After walking for a while the cave grew more damp and more steep. To no one’s surprise, it was becoming more difficult to climb through the weary caves.

Eventually, the group reached a massive drop in the cave, with a thin inclined strip of stone on the left leading downwards. The group was tasked with either continuing left or propelling down the colossal endless abyss of the cave.

“Left or down, what’s the decision?” Hunter asked the group without missing a beat, turning around to the group as he spoke, his voice echoing throughout the large opening of the cave.

“Left probably, it would be easier to go through than climbing down into the abyss,” Rudy suggested in a slightly joking manner. Mark and Valin nodded in agreement.

“Alright then, left it is. But be careful, stay close to the wall of the cave, we don’t know how far that drop is,” Hunter warned, taking the first delicate steps.

They slowly started walking on the path to the left, keeping close to the walls of the cave. After a few meters, Valin slipped on a damp rock and started to fall toward the endless darkness of the cave.

“Valin!” Mark yelled instantaneously, snatching her arm before she fell further. In doing so, Mark and Valin locked eyes accidentally and started blushing again.

“Are you two okay?” Hunter shouted to Mark and Valin in distress, with his voice louder due to the echo. They quickly, yet carefully, stood back up and nodded to Hunter. He sighed and spoke calmly, “Alright, please be more careful.”

They straightened themselves out and continued to hug the moist cave wall as they trekked further on the protracted narrow path. The ledge walkway went on for what seemed like forever, or at least it seemed that way with the lethargic speed they were traversing in. After a few minutes, Rudy stopped abruptly and let out an almost interminable wince while clutching his chest.

“Rudy, are you alright?” Hunter shouted quickly with concern. He spun around and shuffled over to Rudy as he spoke.

“Yeah… I’m good. I just have a few bruises on my ribs that like to send sharp pains every once in a while,” Rudy responded achingly, slowly standing back up and acting as if nothing had happened.

“That seems pretty serious, how did you get those bruises?” Hunter continued to pry with a look of consternation. He reached over and put his hand on Rudy’s shoulder as to try to bring him comfort.

Rudy politely pushed him away and looked down at the abyss that lay beside him. He then spoke softly after hesitating for a few seconds, “It’s nothing, just an injury from training.”

“Oh, alright… I hope it gets better soon,” Hunter affirmed, trying to make Rudy feel better. He then turned back around and continued to shuffle forward on the thin strip of rock they had to work with.

After a few paces, Valin sped up a bit and approached Rudy. She softly whispered to him, so as to not let Mark or Hunter hear, “Why did you lie to him? What’s the harm in them knowing?”

“I don’t know. I hesitated. Not everyone in the castle is okay with it,” Rudy whispered back solemnly, continuing to stare back into the drop next to them.

“But they aren’t from the castle,” Valin mentioned reassuringly, slowly starting to back away from Rudy as they walked.

Rudy however didn’t respond. He continued to walk in Hunter’s footsteps and focused on not slipping on the rocks. As he walked, however, his thoughts were clouded about how he wasn’t ready to tell his new friends about the binding around his chest that made him who he was.

The thin strip of stone that they had been traversing on had finally started to widen, and it became easier to walk. They still had yet to encounter any of the Dark creatures that the Lightning Wizard warned them about. The surface of the cave started to become drier and less steep the further they traversed. The walls of the cave also started to grow immensely in size as well as the path they were walking on.

From a distance, they noticed a light that they knew for sure wasn’t coming from their wisps. A faint purple glow shined ahead of them, and the need for the lanterns became less and less. They turned a corner of the cave and walked into an immense opening. Almost the entire surface of the cave was covered in various vibrant gemstones and crystals. The group stood at the entrance of the opening in awe of all the colors that were sprawled out in front of them. They set their lanterns down by the entrance of the cave as the shimmering gems were catching their gaze.

“It’s so beautiful, and we don’t even need the lanterns in here!” Valin stated gleefully as she slowly stepped forward into the opening. She then started to rush over to a group of crystals but was snagged by the rope that everyone was attached to.

“Oops, sorry, my bad, I’ll give it a lot more slack,” Hunter apologized sincerely and released the rope. The group then unhooked themselves from the rope, allowing them to wander around the opening freely. After being loose, Hunter added, “I would still be careful, we don’t know what could be lurking around in here.”

“Right,” the rest of them said in unison, starting to go their own direction in the opening.

“We’re looking for a bright red crystal, the formation should be similar to amethyst… Aha!” Rudy exclaimed, walking towards a specific crystal structure. He pulled a small rock pick from one of his pockets and chipped a crystal off the wall next to him. He presented it to the group, “We are looking for crystals like this.”

Mark, Valin, and Hunter, who were on opposite sides of the opening, glanced over to see the crystal that Rudy had chipped from the wall. After recognizing what they were searching for, they scoured the sides of the cave. Each one found many vibrant crystals and extracted them from the cave. They gathered quite a lot of the Blood Amethyst and put the crystals into small cloth pouches.

Towards the end of their crystal gathering, Hunter walked over to a larger crystal cluster and noticed an immense Blood Amethyst crystal. The large compound was far larger than any other structure in the cave, and incredibly enormous compared to the other ones he had already collected. He started to use his small rock pick to try to remove it from the cave, but it wasn’t enough.

He put the rock pick down, then took a step back. He then kicked the crystal with an exuberant amount of force. The crystal became loose, then fell to the ground of the cave with a loud thud. It started to crack, smoke pouring out of the cracks and the bright red color quickly faded to a dull, dark purple. Curious, Hunter reached over to pick the suspicious crystal back up but was interrupted by a loud screech that echoed throughout the cave.

The group paused for a second in shock, not sure if they should run or fight. Then, after that moment of slight hesitation, they quickly gathered up what crystals they collected and scrambled to get out of the cave. As they tried to swiftly get out of the opening, the increasing sound of footsteps loomed in the distance. They had gathered everything back together and gathered in the center of the opening, ready to dash out of the crystal cavern.

However, before they could exit the large clearing they were abruptly stopped. The sound of echoing footsteps and crawling became too apparent, and it only continued to grow louder. The group then took a few steps back and armed themselves, facing the fact that there was no way to escape. Not that long after, an enormous spider emerged into the clearing, followed by a dark snake-like monster and a shadowy knight. The black hairy spider towered over the group, easily being half the height of the cavern itself. The snake-like creature seemed incredibly otherworldly, morphing in between sizes as if it was gelatinous. The shadowy knight, with his various limbs and weapons, had a very dark appearance even in the light of the cavern.

The spider reared its head into the air and let out a horrific screech, resembling the one they had heard earlier. It crouched down menacingly, then lunged towards the group with incredible speed. Mark, Rudy, and Valin managed to jump out of the way in time, while Hunter used his spear to jab the spider in the head. His attack was all for nothing, as the spider swept Hunter from under his feet, causing him to slam to the ground and release his grip on the spear. His spear, however, still stayed stuck in the spider’s head but only slightly penetrated its skin.

Mark aimed his bow at the towering arachnid but was interrupted before he could release his arrow. The snake-like creature took this as an opportunity to attack, bending its slithering form and wrapping itself around his bow. Mark, not paying attention, was thrown to the ground as the serpent flung his bow off to the side.

“Mark!” Valin shouted as she ran to him and the serpent. As she ran she pulled a small wand out of her jacket pockets and readied herself.

Valin quickly chanted and cast a spell that sprayed ice from the small wand at the creature, stunning it. The ice blast spread throughout the serpent as it struggled to break free, eventually succumbing to the ice. Rudy then ran up and blasted the creature with a bolt of lightning from his hands, much like the one the Lightning Wizard used on Hunter and Mark. The snake-like creature shattered into many tiny pieces, with no chance of it ever attacking anyone again.

“Wow, you really are the Lightning Wizard’s apprentice,” Valin told Rudy, enthusiastically, patting him on the back in congratulations.

Rudy smiled and responded in valor, “You learn a thing or two when you’re stuck in a vault all day.”

As his guard was down, the shadowy knight sprung up and went for an attack, lunging at Rudy with a large sword of what looked to be pure darkness. Rudy only narrowly avoided the attack by falling backward, rolling onto the stone floor of the cave. The knight went to swing his sword once again but was blocked by Valin using a spell on the sword, to pull it towards her and away from the knight.

Meanwhile, Hunter was still attempting to fight off the spider. His spear still stuck out from the spider’s head at an odd angle, but it wasn’t deep enough to kill the spider. Hunter tried crawling away from the spider, but it kicked him in the opposite direction with one of his many legs, causing him to be pushed in the opposite direction. It continued to do this as if it was playing with its prey before killing it. However, Hunter noticed a pattern in how the spider was toying with him.

The spider then kicked him in the direction Hunter was looking for, where he was at the perfect angle to jump up from the ground and wrapped himself around one of the spider’s front legs. The spider was taken aback and tried to shake the Hunter off of its leg violently. However, the hair on the spider’s leg made for a great grip for Hunter to hold onto while the spider flailed around.

The spider walked back and forth while shaking his leg, eventually slamming it against the walls of the cavern, along with Hunter. The wind was knocked out of him, and he slipped a little but still clung onto the hairy leg. The spider’s attack caused a rumble throughout the large opening, which everyone was apparent of. Multiple crystals and stalagmites from the roof of the cave broke loose and fell onto Mark, Rudy, and Valin.

As the crystals fell, Valin’s spell broke as she dodged the falling projectiles, and the knight could finally attack Rudy. However, a large crystal cluster managed to hit one of the knight’s arms, causing him to stumble backward. In this moment of weakness, Mark sprinted over and tackled the knight to the ground he dropped his sword in the process. As Mark and the knight fell to the floor of the cave, Rudy stood back up and scooped up the knight’s sword, narrowly avoiding multiple falling stalagmites in the process. The knight pushed Mark off of him and Rudy hit him square in the helmet with the sword handle of the sword, knocking him out for a good while. Now with him out of their way, Mark, Rudy, and Valin turned their attention towards the spider, who was still trying to get Hunter off of its leg.

“Kill it! Please!” Hunter screamed as the spider flung him around in almost random intervals.

“On it!” Mark yelled back diligently. He quickly sprinted over to his bow, which was a good distance away due to the serpent’s initial attack.

He grabbed his bow and aimed an arrow at the spider’s head, but the spider wouldn’t stay still. Its movements were too random to get a good read on where to aim, especially because Hunter was also within the firing zone. He waited for a second, closed his eyes, then released the arrow. It hit the spider square in one of its many eyes, causing it to fall back into a large vein of crystals on the wall close next to it. Hunter let go of the spider’s leg and landed safely, dodging the crystals that fell subsequently from the ceiling above.

The spider lay still for a second after slamming against the cave wall, and Hunter took that as an opportunity. He sprinted back up to the spider and grabbed the spear, which was at the perfect angle for him to jam it the rest of the way through its head. The spider screeched, and its legs twitched heavily, locking Hunter against its body for a second before relaxing. The spider was finally dead. He pushed the spider’s legs out of the way and ripped his spear out from its head as a stream of spider goo spilled from its head. As he walked back to the group, he wiped the sludge off of the head of the spear using a part of his robe.

“Let’s get the hell out of here before more creatures show up.” Hunter insisted. They quickly grabbed their stuff that had been displaced by the fight and they quickly exited the crystal cavern. They each grabbed one of the lanterns that they had set down earlier, somehow being unaffected by the fight. Attached to the rope again, the group made their way back up the sloped incline they had trekked down originally, with the ominous sound of more creatures approaching.

•

After a hasty escape, they finally exited the treacherous cavern. As they stopped to catch their breath they looked above them and noticed the sun was starting to get low in the sky. They sat down to take a break and chat after the adventure they had just gone through.

“I can’t believe we made it out of there. That spider was huge!” Rudy stated, adrenaline still rushing through his body.

“You’re telling me! I thought I was going to be eaten alive by that thing! But thanks to Mark we were able to kill it. Nice shot by the way!” Hunter complimented enthusiastically, shoving him over in excitement.

“I was surprised it even hit the spider, it kept moving and I was afraid I would miss,” Mark added, mimicking shooting his bow.

“But you didn’t! And we collected quite a haul of crystals for the Lightning Wizard! I’m sure he will be thrilled to see all that we collected,” Valin exclaimed excitedly. She looked up at the sky and continued, “Speaking of which, we should probably be heading back to the Magical Kingdom before they notice we are missing.”

“Right, let’s go then,” Rudy declared, standing back up. The group grabbed the belongings they had left above as they were in the cave. They opted to leave the long strand of rope attached to the tree leading into the cave, in case anyone would have to come back. Eventually, with Mark navigating, they all began heading back to the Magical Kingdom.