Onward To Adventure: Chapter 15

“Well well well, we have a lively one don’t we”

With that, footsteps shook the entire volcano and even the Guardians seemed to be nervous as the footsteps became louder.  Suddenly, at the top of the volcano stood a being so mind-bendingly large that it covered the entire mouth of the volcano, its voice, or voices spoke in a weird harmony that sounded both terrifying and mesmerizing.

“Yes master, it seems as though she wasn’t killed at all, but knocked out” the Swamp Monger gurgled out.

“You know the rules, the ritual will not work if live animals are put in, cave her skull in and be done with her” the “Master” said

“Well, I’ve always like playing with my catches and you’ve been fun, but this is how it ends” the Baolab turned to Brinvok and scooped him up with its inner arms and began squeezing his skull.  Brinvok felt the increasing pressure on his skull and was now experiencing a whole new world of pain, he had no idea what to do and began panicing that his life is now over.  Suddenly, he had an idea, he forgot about the knife he kept in his boot, he unsheathed the knife and dug it deep into the chest of the Baolab and it immediately let go of Brinvok who then rolled under the Baolab and grabbed his axe that was clutched in the beast’s tail.  He then bolted up the wall of the volcano to where the Swamp Monger stood with the girl.  

The beast had her underneath one of its heavy feet and began to squeeze her between it and the ground.  Brinvok felt that same fear he felt when he lost his brother and mother, that fear of inaction that in the end made him do nothing, that guilt then he realized, he carried with him since those days.  That is why the Baolab used those memories to immobilize him, eventhough he pushed those memories and feelings down, they still were left unresolved in his brain that made him into the hardened man he is today.  Now when faced with a similar dilemma, he finally realized this.

“I will no longer, be a slave to my past!” Brinvok yelled in such a voice that startled the Swamp Monger. As Brinvok unsheathed his axe and charged towards the monster catching it off guard, he landed a blow in the monster’s leg which made it move it from the woman who was now unconscious.  The Monger swung its big meaty hand at Brinvok who dodged the swipe.  The beast limped towards Brinvok, it snapped its beak and roared in a frenzy, Brinvok saw his chance and lodged his axe deep in the side of the Swamp Monger.  The heathen fell to the ground and breathed its last.

Brinvok then ran to the now unconscious woman, he began to try to wake her up but suddenly a chorus of roars, squawks and moans echoed in the volcano.  He knew that he needed to get him and this woman out of here and fast, so he did his best to pick her up in his arms and began running down into the darkness of the cavern.

Onward to Adventure: Chapter 14

The cave was dark and smelled like rotting flesh.  What Brinvok found astounding is that despite the ungodly smell in the cave, it was spotless, there was not even cobwebs on the corners of the tunnel.  The Baolab seemed transfixed by an unknown force deep within the volcano.  The smell began to grow stronger and stronger as they ventured farther into the lair.  

Brinvok looked forward down the passage and flickering in the distance was a purple flame that while faint seemed like a beacon in the darkness of the cave.  He then looked up into the eyes of the Baolab and saw that its eyes were radiating the same purple as the light.  As the beast marched onward the flame grew in size and intensity until it appeared to be the size of the tunnel.  

Is this some weird suicide pact? Or perhaps I will just be thrown into the fire as some sort of sacrifice.  Brinvok thought these questions and many more as all of a sudden they were answered.  I was not that the fire was as big as the tunnel, the fire was bigger than the tunnel and was at the end of the tunnel in a big central chamber.  There was thick purple lava at the bottom of the chamber that erupted purple plumes of purple fire up into the air and back down again.  

“It is as if the volcano wants to erupt again” Brinvok said aloud.

“More like, we want it to erupt again, and we are doing everything we can to get the volcano to erupt again”  the Baolab said to Brinvok in such a way that sounded like he had just snapped out of his trance.  

‘How many of you are there…?” Brinvok began asking but trailed off as he saw hundreds of other Guardians lining the walls of the chamber throwing things into the fire.  At first Brinvok could not make out what they were throwing in, but as he strained to see he saw that they were throwing rocks mostly into the lava, as if they thought that they were raising the level of the lava which could be true, Brinvok pondered.  He also saw them throwing animals, livestock mostly into the lava.  

Suddenly, Brinvok’s concentration broke as he heard the scream of a young maiden.  He looked into the direction of the scream and saw that a Guardian, a Swamp Monger had a woman by her leg and was about to plop her into the lava when suddenly a deep booming voice that seemed to resonate within the volcano saying.

“Well well well, we have a lively one don’t we”