Dragons are Forever (Open, PM if need for story)

“This dragon Aleister’s got us chasing after, it’s a black one?”

Even before the Siang Tien Tang had taken off from Aleister’s estate he had spoken with Wahkan and Zheng about the trip. The Mage had stopped by that morning and left John with the location, or close proximity, to where the next Dragon would be. He told them he was bound to help his friend out of his loyalty and friendship. He needed to keep an eye on him even though the Mage wanted no such observation. He gave them the option of staying behind. They were not honor bound to make the trip, yet neither took the opportunity to miss the trip. Zheng had said they were just as honor biund to help him as he was to keep an eye on Aleister. Wahkan just shook his head to John’s offer and asked where the ship was going.

They would be travelling to Archades, specifically the Sochen Cave Palaces John told them. The look his friends gave him was a mix of incredulity and concern, neither wanted to travel to Archades and they especially wanted nothing to do with the caves. “Yes, the one we must retrieve for Aleister next is the Onyx one.”

“Makes sense, put a dark statute in an even darker cave to make sure no one can see it.”

“I do not envy you for having to travel into the Sochen Caves. I met many in the Upper World who had fallen in their cold dank tunnels.” Zheng Hui said with a shake of his head.

Wahkan spat almost immediately. “Well thanks for that vote of confidence, don’t need to know where you stand.”

John almost laughed as the two shot each other an angry glance. Life was never dull on the Siang Tien Tang he thought as his friend who still walked this realm alive asked a quick question. “Is Keiko coming along?” Wahkan snorted.

“I assume she made a deal with Aleister last night to retrieve the Dragons. She and Nafeesa were getting ready to go when I woke.” John replied.

“Yeah, I don’t see her going along without having some kind of a payment waiting for her when she gets back. I just hate to think what it costs Aleister.”

The navigator and first mate of the Siang Tien Tang look to Wahkan and replied quickly. “I hope its for clothes. I hate seeing them run naked on the deck at night when I’m steering the ship.”

Now the look Wahkan’s face went straight to shock as he turned to John. “How the hell do I miss stuff like that?”

“You’re a very heavy sleeper.” John offered knowing the answer would do little to console him.

Zheng only nodded as Wahkan turned to him then spat at both of his friends. “You’d both let me sleep through a fight I bet.”

“It depends on if we’re outnumbered and how bad. I’d hate to wake you if was just five to one or six to one.” John said with a poking jest.

“You better make that eight to one, lord knows I need my beauty sleep!” Wahkan slipped in with a pointed finger.

This time the Shaman did laugh at his friend’s joke.

I wandered in the small market of the town just outside of Aleister’s estate buying the small number of stores we would need for the trip. After I found we were heading to the Sochen Cave Palaces I knew we would need a bit of few different items. John had the healing down with his magic and Wahkan had the ship loaded with weapons and ammo and that really needed no replenishing. I decided to do the shopping then and take care of the basic stores including a few cask of some very nice rum. I know John does not drink but I tend to revel in the occasional libation every now and then. I was sort of in my own little world this morning what with my mind all caught up in the Cave Palaces.

“These look nice.” I heard Nafeesa say breaking me out of my trance. I looked down to see a fine pair of long knives on the table in front of us. We had wondered right into a stall of weapons in the market and I had not even noticed. That was very much out of my character. I also love a nice pistol or knife myself.

I looked over the pair of wicked blades, each with a wicked curved blade and a full tang for hand protection. I also noticed both were black as night, from blade to handle, and that said to me they were meant for dark work. “I am still not happy with the thought of you getting this close to something or someone who wishes you harm. Maybe a nice pistol would be better suited for you my love.”

Nafeesa’s face went all scrunched at the mention of a gun, again. She had been doing it all night and by now I was very familiar with it. “I hate guns, and I’d probably just end up shooting myself or one of you using the thing. I’d rather have a nice dagger.”

“Well then, a dagger it is.” I agreed thinking it would not be nice to have John have to heal me again. I did miss his touch though and I had hoped that maybe one night Nafeesa and I could slide into his room for some fun. I know the chances are slim but a girl can hope can she not. We haggled with the merchant for the price of the daggers and then finally our parley was done, and not a minute too soon. A very discernible smell started to waft among us. As we started back toward the ship and the adventure before us I felt my kitten take my hand and talk.

“Are you okay? You seem distracted.”

“I was just thinking of the Sochen Cave Palaces is all, thinking and musing.” I responded smiling at her. “The Caves have a very nasty reputation Nafeesa, this will not be as easy as getting the Jade Dragon I am afraid.”

She just smiled back at me and squeezed my hand with a reassuring grip. “Don’t worry, I have my daggers now so as long as stay far enough away I won’t cut you while I protect you.”

I could not help but giggle just a little. “I will have to keep that in mind.”

The Siang Tien Tang took off from Aleister’s estate heading toward Archades and the Sochen Cave Palaces where the next Dragon statue was to be according to Aleister’s information. The Mage said his research told him of a passage marked with a symbol of a dragon on a stone arch, the fourth stone from the left to be exact. This tunnel would lead them down through to junction, like a fork in the road, and when there they should look for another symbol of a dragon. This would tell them which tunnel to take to find the Dragon. Unfortunately there was nothing else Aleister had passed on to them, all useful information had disappeared. John wasn’t sure to trust the Mage’s findings or not. It wasn’t because he suddenly felt distrustful of the Mage, only where Aleister got his information and who gave it to him. The Mage was willing to pay any amount of Gil and to anyone who had information about the Wise One Zhao Feng. That combination did not bode well for anyone helping Aleister. They had to take the Jade Dragon with force from a pair of men in the Royal City of Rabanastre who attached a bomb to the neck of Nafeesa. Now they were about to descend into the Cave Palaces, a massive lair for who knows what denizen of the dark, to retrieve the Onyx Dragon.

Of course getting there was just the start. After just a half day out from the Mage’s estate on the last trip the air ship was followed and attacked. John was intent on not letting it happen again so he had Ohitika fly a silent and ever observant recon around them. He also kept an eye out while standing on the deck looking out into the clouds and blue sky from the bow. Behind him Zheng flew the shop on a planned course while Keiko and Nafeesa did something. John was bust scanning the horizon when he heard Wahkan approach.

“I guess you’ve heard the stories about the Sochen Cave Palaces, how their a breeding ground for all sorts of nasty what-nots.”

“Yes, it just means we’ll need to be vigilant when we land and start down into the Caves.” John said still looking out into the sky.

“You believe there’s really undead zombies walking around down in those Caves?” Wahkan asked turning to look out into the skies with John.

The Shaman shook his head causing his long white pony tail to shake. “I’ve seen the undead before my friend, shambling mounds of rotting clothes and flesh walking towards me. If the undead were anywhere it would be in those Caves, though you’re not the one I worry for I have to admit. ”

“Yeah, I got that feeling for her too. I’ll keep an eye on Nafeesa, just make sure we get to that Dragon and get out as fast as our feet can go.” Wahkan stated with the voice of a man giving a blood oath. John had heard this before from his friend and his friend always kept his word.

“I’ll make sure we don’t stay any longer than we have to Wahkan.”

The giant only nodded and went back to watching the sky.

The fresh air flowing across the deck felt good on my skin and when I breathed it in. I knew training Nafeesa on the main deck would be for the best, both physical and for my soul. I was just starting to get back to my old self, back to being the Queen of the skies, and my laughter showed it while watching Nafeesa dance with her new daggers, or ‘claws’ as we called them. It made me giddy. The girl was fast as the wind that flowed over the decks of the Junk, but being fast is not always being good. I would rather have one man with moderate speed but the instinct of using a blade than ten with lightning reflexes and no idea how to use a dagger. The first mistake most people make in a knife fight is trying to cut and dance away before getting hurt. They do not realize that fighting with blades is a dirty up close exchange. It’s the last refuge of a man or woman’s fight to stay alive and you rarely walk away unscathed or unhurt.

Something my dear kitten was learning as we sparred.

As an example her last dive in was telegraphed like a signalman standing on the Quarterdeck. She jerked forward half in trying to swipe at me and instead I blocked the blow and hit her shoulder hard enough to send her to the deck with a loud thud. I saw John and Wahkan turn to look at us and most would have tried to console Nafeesa. I did not. She had to learn how to fight because where we were going there would be no consoling a sore rump.

“I saw that one coming from a fathom away Nafeesa. Remember, you have to decide to fight and to come at your opponent like a devil if you want win.” I offered holding out my hand to help her up.

Nafeesa though shook her head and gathered herself up on her own not willing to take a hand at the moment. You had to respect her tenacity because it was all she had the moment. “I know, it’s just…hard trying to convince myself to attack.”

“A knife fight is a scary thing my love, it’s not like shooting someone with a gun where they are a long ways away from you. Your opponent is right there next to you, so close you can hear their damn heartbeat racing. It’s at that point you have to rise and strike.”

She only nodded and then looked at me whispering with her voice full of fear. “Have you seen one before, what John called ‘undead’?”

“No, heard plenty of tall tales from all likes of sailors, but it was just a bunch of bunk. This will be my first time if we run across any kitten so I need to make sure you and I both can defend ourselves.” I explained getting myself ready for another go.

My kitten nodded and then launched into another attack and this time she came at me with more than just a dance. I felt a little better as it took some effort to defend myself this time.

Just to the northeast of Tchita the Siang Tien Tang reached its destination after two days travel through the Multiplex. Zheng brought the flying Junk in slow and easy hovering the ship to within a foot of the ground in a s small clearing as the late afternoon sun fading from the land. To the east about 20 meters from the Siang Tien Tang was the cave that served as the entrance to the Sochen Cave Palaces and even at this distance one could feel the ominous atmosphere that seemed to exude from the mouth of the cavern. John knew most of the oppressiveness of this place was due to the local stores and tales of the monsters that lurked in the dark depths. Those legends served a dual purpose, a somewhat devious dichotomy between keeping people away while attracting thrill seekers. The fearful stayed away while the treasure hunter crashed the underground halls.

The Shaman contemplated it all as he dropped down from the main deck to the ground below. Wahkan followed then turned back to help Nafeesa. As usual Keiko hopped down without the need or want of help. “We’ll be back soon Zheng, till you hear from me though take the ship up and into the clouds.” John ordered.

The ghost nodded and disappeared from sight. Soon the Siang Tien Tang was airborne again leaving the four friends at the ready to enter the caves. They all made one last check of their gear then in a single file they started the approach to the mouth of the entrance. As they walked up slowly John wondered if the crew who had tried to map the labyrinth of halls and passageways had finally given up. He had heard the team had troubles due to attacks from all manners of beast, bats and imps and of course the walking dead. Those were the denizens he worried about the most. His group could handle an imp or two but a zombie was something else entirely. He was still thinking about how he had to handle the undead when he stopped just short of entering the Sochen Cave Palaces.

Something had caught his attention, inside the mouth of the cave just in the shadows. As he stopped the ones behind did too and all four stood quietly as John eyed the dark carefully. A minute slipped by that felt more like an hour and that was all Wahkan would take “What is it?” He asked in a whisper wanting details.

If the Shaman was going to answer his companions question he never had a chance to. All at once a colony of bats flew from the cave heading out in the darkening night in search of food. John heard a squeal from someone but kept his eyes on the cave. After a second the colony was gone, close to a hundred bats John guessed, and the area around them was quiet. He turned back to looks at his three friends and smiled a little.

“Here we go, stay close and be ready for anything.”

When those damnable bats came flying out of the cave I nearly shot one and sliced another. I looked down to see my right hand holding tightly to the grip of Revenge my sword while my left held Mayhem in a death grip. I looked at John, saw him smile, and felt my insides quell just a little. I have faced enemies of all kinds, from soldier to pirate to villain and I have done it without the touch of fear in my heart, but now I was facing something that outmatched them all. I had heard stories of zombies and the undead from my beloved Captain after he took me to his bed. I still remember the tales he told me in the flickering candle light, of men and women long dead limping and wavering along in their rotting skins and putrid flesh. After the lights had long faded I would lay in his arms curled up as close as I could to his side while trying in vain to watch every corner of the room. I knew, oh did I know, that in those dark shadowy corners they would come for me. I knew and I have never been so scared in my all my life till this point right here.

I could hear them down in those caves. I swear I could hear them dragging their feet along the cavern floor and moaning with a low death rattle. Suddenly I had trouble making my legs work. I gave them the command to move and to walk and damn if the pair of appendages refused. Here at the very mouth of the cave I found myself unable to enter no matter how hard I forced my legs to walk.

“Are you all right Keiko?” I heard a sweet voice ask me from my right. I looked up in to the eyes of my sweet companion and saw her fear, the terror staring back at me. It was at that moment I summoned the courage to make those fateful steps. I did it in part because my kitten needed to see her captain strong and unafraid. In battle when death is ready to strike is when all look to their leaders for the strength to carry on and it was no different for Nafeesa.

“I am fine Nafeesa, stay close to John and I will follow. Keep you claws at the ready kitten.”

She only nodded to me then turned to follow the shaman. I looked behind to see Wahkan and felt a relieved sense of security. I have never been so happy to see that large walking rock of a man in my life and to know he was guarding our trail only made me more secure. So I readied my Revenge and Mayhem and started into the caves following behind Nafeesa. I barely heard the quiet steps of Wahkan but I knew he was there as the dark of the caves fell on us and then a moment later John held up a light beaming brightly from a round ball in his hand. I recognized the device as what some called a ‘Mage’ light, it ran off a set of internal batteries and gave off enough precious light to show us the way. I immediately noticed the floor was paved like that of a sidewalk you would find in a city and I wondered why someone would do such a thing in a cave.

The dark of the caves was pushed back by the light John held over his head in his hand like a flaming torch of old, only the dark would give so much. The farther from John’s hand the light went the weaker it got till the point the dark won out again and closed off any further sight. He moved along the paved walkway carefully and slowly making sure he wasn’t surprised by anything coming out of murky black around them. Behind he knew Wahkan was using a similar device to illuminate the rear flank of the group and his friend was assuredly keeping a close eye on the dark as he was.

Aleister had given a set of instructions to follow when they entered the caves. A map of sorts which would, should, lead them to the Onyx Dragon only he could not confirm if the path was correct or not. It was all guess really he had told John before they left the Mage’s estate. He had contacted all the scholars he knew of and they had complied the best information money could buy. Then he went a step further and used his considerable resources to reach out to a more unsavory lot to gather what they knew about the caves. Neither the scholar nor the thief could provide them with a guaranteed path of retrieving the Dragon so Aleister only smiled and offered a piece of advice.

“Use this information only as a guide, be not afraid of using your own judgment to stray from what I have given you to find the Dragon my friend.”

John wasn’t sure how he was going to find any new information or leads down here in this pitch black, yet he kept his mind and sight open. He was sure the Dragon wouldn’t have a sign hanging over it flashing and pointing out its position even though he kind of hoped it would. No, the sign pointing to the Dragon would be just as hidden as the statuette itself. So the Shaman kept his eyes open as he walked the lead looking for denizen and sign alike and as he did the other followed. The group kept moving along carefully seeing nothing save for the exception of a creature or two here and there. They looked like rats, only with red eyes and stark white fur devoid of any color. It made sense to John, why would an animal need black or brown fur in the pitch black. Sight was useless down here which made the other senses stronger. Hearing and smell would become the way to travel these tunnels, the way to hunt and to survive, which is what John was doing at the moment. His hat raised his hearing to above normal and he was busy keeping track of all that went on around them in the dark.

After what felt like an hour the group ran into the first decision they would need to make. Out of the dark the cave split in two. One tunnel went what John guessed was West and the other East. Aleister’s map made no mention of a fork in the road and the Shaman stared at the separation trying to determine which route to take. Yet he had no information which to base a decision on and came to the conclusion either tunnel had a 50% chance of being the right one. So John picked East and started off into the cave leaving the fork behind them.

((OOC: Hope I got it right John?))

At that moment we started down the east tunnel deeper into the Caves and the dark I wished like no other time to be the bearer of John’s black hat. I wanted nothing more than to have it placed on my head so I could hear and see like the shaman himself. I had the sinking and suspicious feeling that just on the edge of the dark someone, or something, was trailing along side of our position as it were. My own eyes could not make out a single object or living thing following us, but my instincts told me different and I have always trusted my instincts. It also helped when my kitten walking in front of me froze for just a heartbeat and turned her head to the right.

“What is it?” I asked with a low whisper. John up front came to a stop but did not look back at us. I had the feeling Wahkan had stopped but was still keeping an eye on our rear flank.

A moment passed as Nafeesa remained quiet staring off into the dark at her side. I had a vision of her stalking some prey out on the open plain of her home world and I must admit I felt a tingle at the picture, her bent low and looking feral. Then she looked back to me and whispered “I heard something…I think.”

“ Your unsure is enough to make me sure we are not alone at this precise time.” I remarked while scanning every microscopic inch of the are we had stopped in.

“It’s more like a feeling, like eyes everywhere watching us. It’s not bats either…it’s something larger and more in number…something stalking us.” My kitten replied looking scared and squeezing the handle of her knife.

I could only agree for my own feelings mimicked hers perfectly and now that there was confirmation I felt those ‘eyes’ even more. I licked my lips and squeezed the handle of my Revenge a little tighter as my palms began to sweat. My heart thumped a little harder in my chest then my ears picked up the small sound of something behind us, the sound of a bare foot fall on the stone. I raised Mayhem in the direction of the approaching whatever and set my finger on the trigger. For a long moment, enough time to take three breaths, nothing else sounded and it was so quiet I began to think we had dreamt it all like some nightmare. Wahkan stood between us and whatever we thought was coming and I felt just a little better for that, but then something literally crawled out of the dark at us. Nafeesa gasped next to me as I muttered a curse from the chock of seeing the thing.

It was a Hume, at one time, but now it was something else entirely. Gone were the usual brightly colored eyes replaced by a milky white orb with no discernible pupil, which matched the colorless dirty white skin that stretched tightly on the thing’s face and body. There was no hair on it anywhere and it was dressed in a loin cloth and nothing else, but at the ends of its hands were long blackened nails and its teeth, those were chipped black fangs hanging from white gums.

“What is that, is it hume?” I heard Nafeesa whisper with disgust.

I had no answer for her which is why I did not answer her question.

((OOC. You got it perfectly. Now hang on, the fun begins!))


When John saw the animal standing just in the light hissing at the group he knew instantly the rumors of the undead were untrue. He watched as what was once Hume turned its white colorless eyes away from the light as if caused pain while the thing’s broken teeth gnashed in its mouth. No, something else entirely lived down here and had adapted among the dark and dank of the caves, something misshaped and so far from what was once Hume it might be another race entirely. Then the Shaman’s ears picked up the sound of others, more like this pitiful creature John wasn’t sure and he needed to know.

So with a quick flick of his hand he tossed the small white globe in his hand that produced the light in high arc meant to just fly below the ceiling of the cavern. This lit the entire tunnel enough to allow John and the rest to see what was making the sound and as the light poured down the Shaman was shocked at the sight. As far as the illumination would allow them to see, as far down the tunnel they had come was now visible, were the creatures. Line after line after line of white skinned things crouched in the once dark, more than John could have counted in the time the globe was aloft. As the light fell back to the floor of the cave the creatures moved out of its way screaming and hissing at the globe loudly like the animals that had become. Their screeches echoed in the cave as they stomped on the globe until it finally shattered and the dark took its rightful place their home.

Only with the return of the nebulous environment the creatures did not calm. They continued to screech and now they growled and hissed like spitting snakes. John watched as his group backed a step away from the wall of impending doom as he stood still and spoke. “Wahkan, keep your light out.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not dropping this globe for anything or anyone.” The large man replied holding the globe aloft in his hand.

“That’ll work for me,””

John slowly turned and pulled the only other light source he carried on him out of his cargo pants pocket. A second and final globe came to life as the Shaman looked down the tunnel in the direction they were heading. Mercifully it was empty at the moment but he was sure that wouldn’t last that long. These creatures knew these tunnels and John was sure if they started to run that the beasts would have them surrounded ion no time.

“We’ll keep moving this way. Wahkan, keep them back as far as you can.” John ordered before slowly walking again down the tunnel.

“I don’t even want the damn things in here with us right now so don’t worry about keeping them back.”

The Shaman smiled and started off down the tunnel with the others sticking close. At first it seemed a mutual agreement had been struck between them and the creatures. John and his group slowly walked and made no move to attack while the creatures just shuffled along staying just out of the arc of the light Wahkan carried. They slowly trekked along hoping to find the dragon and maybe even a way out of this mess, but luck was not on John’s side. One of the creatures had waited long enough to deal with the intruders, and possible meal, and decided to rush the tall man with the hated glow thing.

As it did Wahkan drew his gun and fired a single shot hitting the creature right between its sightless eyes and dropping it dead on the floor. For a moment no one moved as the tunnel echoed from the boom of the six guns, no one even breathed, not the creatures or John’s group. Then the Shaman yelled out breaking the silence and that mutual agreement.

“FOLLOW ME!”

The creatures all screamed at once, a single wave of an anger filled howl, and then they were coming in one massive rush.

The fact we were heading in a dead run down the tunnel not knowing where we were going was not lost on me at that very moment, and yet it was not the top priority that very second either. John led our full out retreat while Nafeesa and I stayed on his heels and Wahkan brought up the rear just feet from the howling riotous crowd of something vaguely human chasing us. The shaman had no clue where we going though I told myself differently with every step. I knew my kitten wished John had some plan for getting us out of this ugly mess we were in now. Yet even as I told my conscious mind that John had an idea of what to do I knew in my heart he was as blind as one of those things chasing us. All we had were the few directions that Aleister gave us which were probably wrong and a host of tales that would not help us now. Our only chance was to just run like the wind and hope something good happened.

Which it suddenly did.

As we sprinted along the corner of my eye caught sight of an opening up ahead to our left in that direction, a new tunnel, but was it the right way? At the time it was the best option we could have hoped for because up ahead in the tunnel we were running down a new howl broke the dark. The mutated humans were boxing us in, closing us off from two directions, and we almost were caught.

“Where are we going?” I heard Nafeesa yell as we started down the new tunnel.

“Follow me, there is a new tunnel!” I yelled back turning left with John. I also kept an eye on Wahkan and he was not about to lose us in this place.

We ran on down this new path while behind the mutated humans kept up the pursuit. The floor beneath us never changed from the tiled stone of the main tunnel but the walls did. What was smooth and shaped turned into a pitted and decayed structure. Time and these mu-humans had taken a toll on this piece of the complex I noticed. Then in front of us we spotted another fortuitous occurrence, a break we needed in the form of a pair of large doors, a break in the tunnel. I never slowed running straight up and through into the dark beyond. I only stopped long enough to grab the door on the right and push it closed with only a moment to spare. Thank fully my kitten and John followed my lead on the other door shutting it with mine setting up a closed barrier to the mutated humans. I felt them crash into the metal portals and both gave an inch from the force, but both held with a little help from out combined strength and that was good enough for me. Nafeesa luckily found a switch and with a loud pop the lock clicked home and the doors were barred for lack of a better term.

It was then I had the chance to see where we had landed. I had a fear of being boxed in again, of being cut off, but that was lost quickly as a new fear came to me. I looked around and realized we were not in some hall way break like I had thought, but a room, and with a whisper my kitten came to sudden realization I did…and she was feeling the same about it.

“Did we just make a bigger mistake?”

As he held the light and scanned the room the group found themselves trapped in by the massive crush of subterranean dwellers, John wasn’t really thinking of a way to get past them. No, he was actually surmising on how the large group of mu-humans had come to exist and maintain a semblance of a society down here in the dark of the caves. It may have looked like a mob scene out there but in truth; it was more like a tribal response of someone crossing into their territory. The mu-humans had not only adapted to this constant nighttime environment by losing their unnecessary sight while gaining magnificent hearing, but they also learned how best to hunt and track in this world. Everything just point-

“How we getting out here boss? I’d vote for shooting but I brought along my small gun this trip.” Wahkan yelled out while standing next to the doors. He had barred them with a large chunk of scrap metal he found lying nearby. There were stains all along it and Wahkan wondered if someone else had been trapped in here by the strange humanoids at one time. He didn’t wonder how long they had held out.

“Give me a minute, I’m looking.” John replied calmly as he carefully looked over each wall.

Howls of rage gained in number and volume as did the pounding on the door. Wahkan looked at the scrap metal holding the portals in place and he started to ask himself just how long they could hold out, if push came to shove you know. “You might want to hurry that search up. I have a feeling we’re about to have visitors.”

The added pressure meant little to John. He completed his examination of the first wall and was on the back one when he found what he was looking for. It was hidden well enough for a normal person, but the Shaman is far from ordinary and his eyes saw the hairline crack between the stones. He quickly ran his fingers over it feeling a small draft of air pulsating out, just enough pressure from the other side to suggest a nice sized room or a passage. John then began to try and figure out how to get the hidden door open. He pushed and got only resistance, a lot of resistance. There was nothing to grab so he couldn’t hope to pull the door open.

“No rush, but you might want to hurry this up. The locals are getting a little testy.”

“Almost there, another second and we’ll be out of here.” John replied calmly once again.

He figured if the door didn’t open manually than it had to have a way of opening by a mechanism so John moved on as quickly as he could to looking for a switch of some kind. Unfortunately there were no levers or buttons to throw or push…even hidden ones. John moved onto the last wall and was searching away when close to the floor just past the corner he spotted a weird thing. All the stones that made up the wall of the room were square, somewhat, and yet here along the floor was circular one. It was too much to assume the makers of this place ran out of square stones so John quickly reached down and pushed on its surface.

The doors to the hall began to shake and buckle. The scrap metal bar bending now at the increased pressure form the mu-humans attack outside. Wahkan looked away for just a second to see the Shaman had found something and felt a small bit of relief. At least he might not go with a grisly death, but then bar really bent and the large man started to second guess that thought.

As soon as pushed, which wasn’t gentle at all, the circular stone gave and sunk into the wall almost half a hand’s length. There was an audible click and then the door swung open on recessed hinges popping right out of the wall. John looked back with a smile just as his ears picked up another click…and then another…like a countdown timer. He recognized what was going on and screamed out an order to the others.

“RUN THROUGH THE DOOR NOW!

Everyone jumped through the portal and stood on the cusp of what looked like a long hallway. John and Wahkan turned back waiting for the door to close…and waited…and waited. The clicking the Shaman heard had stopped so if it was a countdown timer the door should have closed by now. The foursome stood waiting and watching for the door to close, only it was the other doors that moved first. The metal bar finally snapped and fell to the floor in two pieces and the mu-humans on the other side poured in like the flood gates of a dam that had been opened. Wahkan drew his gun ready to try and at least make something of a last stand, but then the hidden door suddenly swung shut with a vicious slam just as the first mu-human reached for them. Dust which hadn’t moved in some years went everywhere in a white cloud around the four obscuring the light of the Shaman’s small torch.

“Hmm, the hinges must have been rusty.” John surmised with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah…rusty hinges.” Wahkan sighed putting his gun back in its holster.

So, here we stood in the partial dark of some lost hall deep in the complex caverns of the Sochen Cave Palaces being pursued by a horde of mutated humans who probably would kill us and eat us as soon as their hands touched us. This might give one pause, a moment to think on the frailty of life which of course would bring back memories and sweet emotions and all those wonderful things you have done before that final day. For me, it was just a minute of wondering when we would get back to the Junk and a fresh shower. After all the running and being in this dank hole I probably smelled very badly.

My kitten held up her small light apparatus and illuminated the hall further down. I turned and looked while behind I could hear the wail of the mutated humans through the large stone door. I could hear their long finger nails scratching and clawing at the stones while they screamed for our blood.

“’Do you think we should try it?” Nafeesa asked quietly.

I looked over to John and Wahkan getting a somewhat approval of my next. “The only way out is through now my kitten, so I’ll take the lead and you follow closely.”

She nodded and I took the lead taking the light ball from her hand. I moved along slowly examining everything from every step I took on the floor to every niche on the walls and ceilings. I kept Mayhem at the ready because I was a hair pull away from shooting the first anything that stepped to me in any attitude other than nice. The howling of the mutated ones who gave us chase subsided for every step we took away from the stone door but I never let my guard waiver. This had become a mission to make it back to John’s air ship and to take that shower.

The hall ran in the dark for some length. I was never sure how far we had gone or how long we walked as time became the one aspect I cared nothing for. My ears strained to hear the mutated ones again as I was determined not to walk into another trap. I was not going to walk up on one of those again. Still, after an unknown amount of time the light started to ‘shrink’ inward. I realized the hall was actually getting smaller in breadth and not height. Soon we went from walking easily apart to crowding into a single file line. This new wrinkle both bad and good, an enemy could only come at us one a time which would be perfect in the case of the horde of mutated humans. Yet, I was the only one who could attack effectively and that was not good.

Still, there was no choice and I moved forward until I ran into the portal that would lead us out of this secret hall. The door looked to the same as the one we ducked into back at the other entrance. I touched it feeling he stone beneath my hand before turning back to John. “How do we get it to open?” I asked.

My answer was to have the shaman squeeze his way to me and begin to examine the door with me. At least it was nice to know he had to look for the way to get us out of this hall. A minute later I felt a small hole in the wall and when I reached in my fingers touched a lever, the way to open this damnable door.

“Get ready,” I said before throwing the lever and opening the door to the room beyond.

As the door swung open into the room John readied himself with his knife Wakina out and in his right hand. He realized if there were more of the mu-humans than any fight would only bring more of the creatures and the odds of surviving were almost nil. Still, John waited till the door had stopped moving before stepping out into the room followed by the others. His eyes scanned the small room they had entered and thankfully it was devoid of life. It was also missing anything that might tell the Shaman what the room was. There were no shelves, no articles, and nothing short of a bunch of dust on the floor which had the looks of not being disturbed until the group showed. The room was bare, a simple ten foot by ten foot room with no door in or out. There was a well, or what looked to be a well, in the center. When John looked in all he saw was the floor instead of some hole running down into the earth. Why would someone put up the retaining walls of a well when it wasn’t a well at all?

“I don’t see anything coming up from behind, I think we’re good.” Wahkan stated just as the door automatically closed behind him. It seemed who ever made the secret passage wanted to make sure the entrances stayed closed after being used.

“Good, now we find our way out of here.” John replied now noticing there was no visible exit to find.

The Shaman took to examining the walls again but this time he wasn’t expecting to find a door out of the room. No, his thinking was leaning more to the well in the center of the room, or what looked like a well but probably was not a well at all. He saw Wahkan and the other start to look around the room too obviously hoping to speed this process up. It worked as the large man stumbled onto a set of three small gems embedded into the west wall. The trio had been missed by John when he first entered the room because of a thick layer of dust. Once removed though John noticed the first gem was an amethyst and the second was amber while the third was onyx. He gave the onyx a small push and it sunk into the wall just like he thought it might. Since there were three gem s John assumed all three were needed to be used in a set sequence to open whatever secret door there was…which was probably in the well.

Only three, not too many possible combinations, but the problem was he was sure whoever made the secret entrance had a fails safe built in, too many wrong combo’s and the door would lock. He sat back thinking over the next steps, what might constitute a possible combination. He never saw Wahkan step up and barely saw the man push the three buttons one at a time in some random sequence. John was about to ask his friend just what he was doing and that they only had a certain number of attempts to put in the right sequence when a loud click broke the quiet. The sound of something falling away came from the well as John looked to the retaining walls then back to Wahkan.

The large man just shrugged his shoulders and spoke. “Lucky guess,”

The way Wahkan just walked up and started to push on gems I was sure he had either been struck by a sudden bolt of genius which made want to inquire just how the hell did I end up down in the dark depths of these caves being chased by creatures who wished to chew on my bones like they were cooked Chocobo. Or, I shuddered, he just guessed and by some stroke of luck he had pushed the proper code of gems and thus the path out of the room was ours.

Either way I looked over the wall of that well and sighed.

It was dark and descending into more darkness, going down, why could it not just go up? I would have paid handsomely for a set of stairs going up to the light above us. Instead I watched as John looked over next to me then leaped the wall and started down. Wahkan gave me a wave of his hand, a gesture obviously stating it was my time. I only nodded and smiled hiding my disdain and objection to having to go in the direction I had no taste for. I still did it following down the steps one shaman who held the light above his head illuminating the way for us. I pushed the cloying feeling of having the walls close in as we walked down. The walls were stone like above, only it looked more fitted now, as if someone cut each block square and fitted it in place by an exact layout. The stone was also old, much older than above, which made me wonder just what were dealing with here. I knew Nafeesa was behind me and Wahkan behind her but I still swallowed hard when I heard the door above close.

For better or worse we were set in our path now. How do I end up in so many dark tunnels with John? One would start to think it was a planned event to bring us together.

Still we headed down slowly and surely making safety a first concern. It did not matter as at the present time it was not like we could rush anywhere. The steps below our feet were dusty and as such were as slippery as a wet deck. After what seemed an eternity of walking we reached the bottom, of what I was not sure. The steps came to a gracious end is all I know by a large archway leading into, wait for it, and more darkness. I swear, had these ancient people never heard of a torch or something.

I looked out into the dark with John and his light scanning left, above and below, and then right before looking back in and speaking. “It looks to be a bridge, across to what I have no idea, only that going back up those stairs makes no sense. We go forward I say and damn whatever we run into.”

There only nods to my words, so we moved out onto the bridge in single file. I think we made it just a few steps out and away from the arch when I heard the crash. I turned back just in time to see the first part of the stone bridge beneath our feet break away and fall into the black below us.

He heard the first snap, the telltale sound of a rope being broken as a counterweight was breaking free and a trap we being set into motion. John’s hat gave him heightened hearing and the pop off the parting rope meant it was already too late to turn back, and even as he did though John watched as the first chunk of the stone bridge fell away from the wall into the dark oblivion below. He spun just as Keiko turned to see what was happening and yelled. “Run!”

The Shaman grabbed and pulled the Pirate as he broke for the other side hoping to outrace the collapsing bridge. Everyone started running as the second piece of the span broke free and fell down to wherever and whatever lay below. John quickly put some distance on the trap but Keiko was not so lucky. He looked back to see her small stature all ready leaving her behind and the Shaman thought about stopping and taking a hold and pulling her to safety behind him. Only it was Wahkan who came to the rescue snatching up the Pirate with one arm and with a deft toss put her across his shoulder. The large man may have been three times the size of Keiko but he wasn’t about to die on this bridge and his long gait was making sure of it. John turned back then concentrating on getting across the connection when he heard another pop coming from above. He looked up in time to see a massive block, as big as a house, suspended in the air abruptly begin to fall. “Time To Run Faster! John yelled pushing his legs to another level.

Both Wahkan and Nafeesa needed no prodding or order to speed up as evident by the fact the large man almost passed John and the Mithra did. She bolted past the Shaman in a dead sprint as the group just made it past the falling block. When it crashed the span actually buckled and rippled from the block’s massive weight. The archway holding up the bridge gave way, an obvious design of the trap makers, and the stones fell in broken pieces and sheets of stone. The shockwave from the explosive blow of the block caused John and the others to stumble just as the Shaman’s ears picked up another rope snapping somewhere above. He didn’t need to look up to know another block was on its way down to squash them and finish breaking the bridge, but he did and this block was bigger than the other one.

“Don’t Slow Down, Keep Running For Your Lives!” John screamed regaining his footing.

The end of the bridge was just ahead, a single stone arch doorway leading into the unknown, but at the moment it was better than staying put. John threw his legs into over drive and blasted ahead of Wahkan almost catching the nimble Nafeesa. The block he knew was falling came into view just as the trio made the doorway. The Mithra actually cart wheeled through as the Shaman dove in just a two steps ahead of Wahkan who just skipped through the arch before the room went black as the block smashed a few feet away into the last part of bridge. In a repeat of just a few seconds ago the block finished off the last stone arch holding the last of the bridge destroying it in a shower of stone debris and dust that flew in and covered them from head to toe.

They all stood now on the other side in a room they had no idea about or where it even was in this cavern complex. They had been attacked and now almost killed by a sinister trap and yet John just smiled and looked out the doorway into the black of the cavern they had crossed so unceremoniously in a dead run.

“It could be worse….”

“Yeah, how do you figure? Having a house drop on us while the ground gave way wasn’t enough?” Wahkan gasped as he tried to catch his breath while holding Keiko.

“No,” John said with a small smile turning back to look at his group who were now a dusty grey color, ‘we could be on the other side trying to figure out how to cross.”

Wahkan didn’t even respond…he wasn’t sure how.

I have never been one who likes to be carried by a man. I make my own way in this world and I make it of my own accord and damn anyone who wants differently. I think that is why I am so enamored with John. He has never once tried to ‘help a lady in distress’ or offered to help me when I have come across trouble in my life. He has only quietly stood by my side offering a quiet kind of guidance and only when I have asked for his counsel. He has never been one to try and save me because I look very fine in my trousers or being chased by a horde of Pirates.

Yet when Wahkan threw me over his shoulder while running down that bridge for our lives I had no qualms at all. I even held my tongue as I felt his hand slide up my fanny to hold me in place as he ran like a bull for the other side. I just sat and watched as the stone bridge behind us fell away in chunks and chunks into the dark below. I watched as the line between life and what I assumed was an ugly death got so close I began to wonder if John could help me out on the other side when I crossed. I think when the time comes to be judged there will be more than a few pages in my book that I will need to explain in gruesome and gory detail. So, to forestall that unpleasant meeting I slapped my new best friend on his rump and screamed.

“RUN FASTER! WAHKAN”

I felt Wahkan respond as bolt just a little faster which is what saved us from the falling boulder that crushed the bridge in an ear shattering boom. After that I think I whipped my mount twice more but I cannot be sure. I just know we danced through that arch to safety as the last of the large boulders finished off the bridge. There I sat perched on the large man’s shoulder as dust covered us all, a mere after though it seemed. Then Wahkan set me down as we gathered our breath and I smiled up to him.

"Remind me to reward you later once we exit this fun house for the light of the world above.”

It was then I thought about the instructions Aleister had given us on the location of the Black Dragon. What he gave us was all ready at best what one would call ‘spotty’ and that was when he had some idea of where we were in the Caverns above. Now, after being chased for our very lives from the mutated humans and the trap doors and just plain traps of this place…those instructions were worthless. We had no clue what way was North or South or even up or down. I was sure we would spend the rest of our lives trying to extricate ourselves from this dark and damnable place.

And yet here was John just smiling like a boy on a make pretend treasure hunt in the yard outside. I just shook my head and waited for him to explain our next steps.