Chapter 62

It took a full day for the Elemental to bring Wil to the water source. By the time it had dropped him off next to a large crack in the ground, Wil was exhausted.

The drain of the continue summoning had left him with little energy. It was only the assurance from the Elemental that there was mana below that kept Wil from banishing it back to its emerald to conserve his strength.

Wearily, he leapt down into the small cleft in the hard packed salt flat. It had been barely visible in the distance, a small fracture in an otherwise unbroken, flat plain.

What he found left him stunned for a moment.

The water, the plants and the thick mana was a paradise after the sweltering desert above. With the Elemental guarding him, and now drawing its own mana from the abundant energy in the cavern, he had approached the water’s edge, drawn by the Black Rose that grew in the shaft of light from overhead.

He was just about to touch the water’s edge, when the Elemental had laid its black sand hand over his shoulder, halting him.

“Master. Danger.” It rumbled, its head turning towards a deeper, shadowed part of the pool.

“What is it?” Wil asked, his eyes narrowing as he tried to pierce the darkness, but his vision wasn’t capable of discerning what lurked within.

“Dragon. Almost.” The elemental responded, its grip on his shoulder tightening as it pulled him backwards.

“Almost a Dragon?” Wil thought a moment, before looking at his companion.

“You mean, it has dragon blood? Like a Drake?” Wil asked. The elemental responded with a shrugged shoulder, not understanding the question. He let out a deep sigh, turning away from the protected rose.

He should have known that the exotic flower would be well guarded. It was not just valuable to humans, even beasts and monsters recognized it usefulness. It could heal their wounds, true, but it could also fuel their progress to higher ranks, allowing them to become bigger and stronger.

“Whatever is guarding it. I’ll snatch it once we’re ready to leave this place. Better to rest for now, while we can, before pissing that thing off.” Wil whispered, settling next to a rock to rest. With the elemental guarding him, he was sure that it would wake him if threatened.

Wil’s rest was interrupted only a few hours later by the Elemental’s rumbled warning, someone was approaching the cavern, in the company of a large beast.

Hidden from view by where he was settled, Wil watched as a beautiful young woman walked through the cavern entrance, her long, silver hair and white clothes covered in black sand and dust. Behind her was a massive swan, looming over her protectively.

It was the young woman he had seen riding a swan at the start of the test, and he was split on how to approach her. On one hand, working together was encouraged in order to pass, but on the other, he had no idea if she would be useful or dead weight.

Letting out a sigh as he watched her, he stepped forward to warn her away from the water when she made a beeline for it.

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“Jerk.”

Wil heard the mumbled insult from the woman as she walked away. Hiding a grin, he turned his face from her, closing his eyes to rest some more. His first impression of her was that she was inexperienced and naïve. It was clear that she hadn’t been in many dangerous situations before, and that she relied heavily on whatever items she was carrying to carry her through.

Wil doubted she would make the crossing, not if she was stymied after only a few days. Better for them to part ways after resting than pair up to cross together.

“Wyrms and bandits. What shit luck does this girl have?” Wil whispered to himself, looking over to where the young woman was passed out, the swan curled protectively around her. Feeling his gaze, the beast looked at him with a fierce expression, before settling again after ensuring he was staying put.

Chuckling, Wil turned his thoughts towards the mysterious creature protecting the Midnight Rose.

“An almost Dragon…and Wyrms inhabiting the desert…could it be one of them?” Wil wondered, opening his eyes to stare at the distant, shadowy portion of the cavern. If it was, then he doubted it was very big. The area it protected was small, only a few meters wide.

“Maybe a hatchling?” Wil mused, as he sketched a plan in his head.

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Wil was on the surface of the desert again, tucked away under a stone outcropping, his eyes on the cleft that led to the cavern. In his hand he held a black stone, taken from the cave below. Carving a simple rune into the rock with a conjured knife, he went through the plan again in his head.

To get the rose, he needed to either kill whatever guarded it, or draw it away. Since he knew next to nothing about it, he would rather simply steal the rose when it left, rather than tangle with it.

But whether he fought it, or drew it away, he needed to know that he was dealing with. What he was doing now was a test to see how the creature would react. If it was a Wyrm, he could get it to leave if he had an object with enough mana to interest it.

Hence, the stone. Draw a rune, pump it full of mana, and throw it. The unstable rune, combined with a terrible container for mana, would explode, and hopefully draw whatever was down there to the surface for him to take a look at it. If it lingered long enough, he could always try to beat it back to the cavern and snatch the rose first.

“Shitty plan, Wil.” He said to himself as he scratched the rune for ‘Light” on the stone. It wouldn’t work of course, but that’s what he was counting on. He had picked up bits and pieces, dribs and drabs of rune work over his time on the Drake. Although he wasn’t very competent at it, he knew enough for this.

“Master.” The elemental rumbled. It had shrunk to the size of a housecat, its small body standing next to Wil as he worked.

“What is it?” Wil asked, distractedly.

“People.” It said, pointing.

Wil looked up, squinting against the bright light as a group of people, riding flying mounts, landed next to the cavern entrance. Not pausing, they dismounted and made their way inside. Wil had seen enough of the world to recognize people with poor intentions, and this group screamed ‘bad’.

“Shit.” Wil said, dropping the stone he was carving and running towards the cavern.

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The ugly man dodged his blade, stepping backwards as an older man slashed towards Wil with his sword. The mana coating the blade separated during the swing, slicing through the air before slamming into the barrier of mana that Wil had formed around him.

Frustrated by their coordinated attacks, Wil went on the offensive. With a thunderous ‘bang’ he disappeared, teleporting behind the group, before reappearing, his sword already piercing forward.

The mana enhanced magical weapon stabbed one of the bandits through the chest, piecing his leather armor as if it were made of cloth. Pulling his sword free, Wil disappeared in a white mist as a spray of sharp rocks pummeled the spot where he had just been standing.

The stabbed man was not quick enough to dodge and the rocks obliterated his body.

The ugly man let out an angry shout as his spell missed again. Spinning around in an attempt to find Wil, he had a view of a large, twelve-foot-tall Earth Elemental slam its closed fists on another of his companions, crushing him into paste.

The sword wielding older man leapt forward, his blade already swinging at the elemental when horrible screeching filled the air. The wailing scream echoed off the cavern walls, and the remaining bandits placed their hands over their ears in a vain attempt to drown out the noise.

A shadowy figure, bone thin and monstrous looking, stood next to the water. Its mouth was open unnaturally wide as it wailed.

Even Astrid, still trapped beneath the ground, felt a feeling of despair well up from deep inside her. Her mind was filled with terrible thoughts, and it was all she could do not to break down and cry.

The keening wail slowly faded away as the shadow closed its mouth. Before the group could enjoy the respite, Wil reappeared in the center of their formation, his blade a blur. He quickly cut down the remaining bandits, his movements simple and efficient.

Standing in the middle of the dying group of robbers, Wil dismissed the summoned Shadow Spawn. Astrid watched as the shadowy creature sank back into the ground, Wil’s shadow sliding across the ground to rejoin his body.

“Can you free them?” Wil asked, gesturing to Astrid and Marali as they lay trapped beneath the ground.

“Yes.” The elemental rumbled, and the ground around the pair fell away, freeing them.

“We need to get the hell out of here!” Wil shouted, sensing rising mana coming from the shadowed portion of the underground pond. Whatever was guarding the rose had been disturbed by the conflict.

Before Astrid could respond, Wil had disappeared again, flashing back into existence next to the rose. Scooping it up, he placed it in his bag and teleported back to the group.

“Now!” He screamed, turning and running for the entrance. Astrid started to follow on instinct when an angry roar erupted from the cavern behind them.