Remind Me To Burn This Map (Quark)

((Sorry it took me so to get the thread up, I've been buried by school crap lately, let's get this show on the road.))

The young shadowmancer yawned as he sauntered somewhat lazily down a beaten dirt road that lead into a nearby forest. He looked ahead as he approached the magnificent towers of nature, their branches hiding him and the forest floor from the sun's intruding rays, making it a lot cooler within the forest itself. Ralis smirked slightly, enjoying the chill, removing his jacket and stuffing half of it in the pack that hung around his shoulder on his hip.

Ralis continued his wandering path into the glade, letting another yawn escape his mouth, stretching his arms over his head, holding them in the air until he felt and heard several pops and cracks in his shoulders and back, then letting his arms flail back down to his sides. Then he gripped the right side of his head, pushing until more pops rang out from his neck, then repeating with the other side.

"Why was I going out here again..." he thought aloud, looking back and forth at the trees around him. He thought back to before he started traveling, remembering a small town, and a bar.

"Oh... that's right!" he cheered, remembering why he left. He asked the bartender where the nearest city was on his map and was rewarded with a rude push on the shoulder. Of course, that angered him, being touched. Ralis recalled replying with a backhand across the face and a blade to his forehead. Then, the patrons turned to see the riff-raff over at the counter, only seeing one half of the story, a man clad in black with a sword aimed at the head of their beer provider.

To make a long story short, he had to get out of there fast, grabbing a chair, chucking it through a window and booked it out of town. Then he started sauntering about, when he was good and lost. Ralis moved a few locks of shimmery white hair away from his eyes, cracking his knuckles and wrists, attempting to scare away boredom with the numerous pops and cracks.

"Well..." he said, looking down at the faded map, unable to make out most of the words, especially after beer landed all over it. He walked along with the parchment in front of his face. The next thing he knew, he was lying on it, face first hitting the ground.

"Son of a ...!" he muttered, rolling onto his side and looked over at what made him trip. He blinked, not able to recognize what it was. He stood off, brushing dirt and twigs off of his clothes and reached down, picking it up to examine it closely. It appeared to be a piece of an arch, or something. He shrugged, throwing it over his shoulder, walking away after hearing the loud thump on the ground it made.

Ralis continued into the forest, blinking again as he saw more pieces of rock and what was probably debris. Curiously piqued, he began to quicken his pace and jogged ahead, passing more trees and rubble.
After a few short minutes of jogging, he stopped dead in his tracks, staring up in slight awe. Before him was the walls of a large city. The outer walls appeared to be intact, though there were numerous breaches and cracks. Ralis slowly made his way toward a large opening, going inside the ruins.

He saw the wreckage of homes, splintered wooden planks and poles were scattered everywhere, glass shards littered the ground around them, an innumerable amount of stone fragments covered the ground as well. Something had happened here, but he was extremely interested to know what. There didn't seem to be any signs of battle. Nothing was burnt, there were no corpses, that familiar smell of decaying flesh was absent, nothing added up.

Ralis continued his path toward the center of the city, where a well used to be. Instead, there was an enormous, gaping hole.

"What the..." he mumbled, looking over the edge of the hole, seeing running water leading into a tunnel. He had no idea what that was or what it meant but he wanted to see. Without any precaution, he jumped down into the hole, holding out his arms, the thousands of shadows within sprung off the wall and netted and meshed together under him, catching him in the dark web when he was about to hit the bottom. With a snap of his gloved fingers, the shadows vanished and he landing into the water easily and unharmed with a small splash.

The young man made his way into the tunnel, the water only waist deep and very clear and cool. Suddenly, there was a flash of blue light glimmering at the end of the tunnel, where the water was flowing, down into somewhere. Ralis drew closer and closer until he stood next to the second opening in the ground, staring down, seeing nothing but pitch black darkness. He grinned, snapping his gloved fingers yet again, his eyes instantly absorbing the shadows around him, allowing his vision to be unchanged despite the blackness.

Ralis saw a cavern, numerous crystalline stalagmites were covering the ground, making a fall inside dangerous. He also noticed several stalactites that hung overhead with could also prove to be deadly. Using the same spelunking technique as before, he jumped through into the cavern, the shadows catching him in a net and releasing him onto a safe patch of rock.

Ralis grinned as he heard another splash up from where he was from. Someone had been following him.

Tree Shade appeared right when and where he intended to. Unfortunately, his exact position was directly over a gaping hole in the middle of the ground. Falling unintentionally, he slammed into the watery floor below. He was used to sloppy landings like these, but it was still annoying whenever it happened. “Criminy.”

After floating motionless in the water for a little while, he finally decided to get off his back and continue with what he set off to do. Standing to his feet, he shook the water from his clothes. This place was dark, no doubts there. The torches the natives set up here all those years ago were obviously now burnt out. He could barely see anything, apart from the light the hole above let in. If he really intended on retrieving that treasure, he'd better first find a way to see in the dark.

He chuckled at a random dirty thought floating through his head before he flipped off the darkness, middle finger igniting with fire. He'd just have to hold his finger out like this all the way to the end. It'd be funny if he'd met up with someone in here who'd get really offended over it, but the odds of that happening were next to none. Then again... he could just use one of the burnt out torches that already lined the edges of this place. Yeah, he'd do that.

Snatching a cold torch from the wall, he swished a wad of bile in his mouth. He spat a little oil onto the tip of the rod, igniting it with his middle finger. Soon, the stick was aflame and prepped to light the way.

The tunnel only appeared to go one direction. Tree followed it carefully, only for a short while until a mysterious flash of blue up ahead piqued his interest. Since it was really the only way to go, he continued without hesitation.

A waterfall, straight down into darkness. He couldn't quite see anything, his torch being extremely limited. There was no sign of what generated the blue flash, either. It could have been the reflection of his torch off of something. Still, he was curious as to where this drop lead before he leaped off the edge. Surely it was somewhere of importance, otherwise there wouldn't have been torches covering the walls.

Again holding out his middle finger for a small jet of flame, he bent over the edge of the falls. Forcing his stomach bile to build up, he vomited oil through his finger-flame and down the chasm, the bright ball of fire lighting the entire trip down. The burning liquid scattered amongst some stalagmites, lighting a small portion of the floor. He could probably make it down there, though not entirely safely, considering his control over his own gravity wasn't the best in the world. He tried not to dwell on these useless thoughts.

Straight down into the barely-lit abyss he plummeted. The air pulled through his hair, unable to free his hat from his head. He slowed the push of gravity as he neared the bottom, causing one of his arms to only be slightly impaled by the chunk of rock jutting up from the ground. He pulled it free instantly, rather pissed he didn't make it all the way down as safely as he hoped for. Regardless, the wound wasn't deep and he would heal. He burn the cut shut with his torch.

The young shadow-wielder let out a yawn as he wandered aimlessly through the darkness, feeling water constantly sloshing around his feet. He let out a sigh, partly out of frustration, partly out of boredom. "Maybe I shouldn't have jumped into a void," he thought aloud, reaching his gloved right hand up to his head, moving some of the snow-hued hair out of his eyes.

"La de da..." he chanted softly as he trotted against what felt like the ground of the cavern which was submerged with about a foot of water. It was rather relaxing, hearing the water move to his whim under and around his feet, bringing a smile to Ralis' face. Taking his left hand, he snapped his fingers, directing the hand gesture to the water beneath him. Globes of the liquid plopped away from their source, floating in midair, at his sides as he walked. Ralis conjured more water that connected to each globe, making "bodies" of water that walked along with him.

"Well, what shall we be doing, anyone have a suggestion as where to go and what to do here or there?" he asked, happily smiling. The people he "created" gave no response.

"There must be something..?" he asked, a bit perplexed as to why his posse was ignoring him. "Your all from here and there's nothing to do?!" Ralis asked again, his happy mood beginning to deteriorate. With a quick snap of his fingers again, numerous shadows from all around him fished into his pack, pulling out several metal blades, parts, and pieces, assembling them into a wicked and skeletal two handed sword.

Ralis glared at his friends, taking the sword by the hilt with both hands and slicing through each one of their necks, splashes of water went everywhere as his homicides left them scattered, back to where they came. He did feel better though, which made it perfectly fine. Deciding to carry the weapon with him, Ralis continued his wandering until he felt the ground get lower in the water, sloping downwards.

The young adult sighed a bit, walking where the slope led him until the same flash of brilliant blue light shined throughout the water, coming from where he was heading. This time however, it really blinded poor Ralis, he was much closer to it and his eyes had become so use to the darkness, making them tear up slightly. "Damn it all!" he glared, thrashing about. Now he REALLY wanted to find out what this was.

Something was amiss! The light didn't disappear, it stayed a constant source of illumination, shining off of the water and the spikes on the ground and ceiling, lighting up most of the underground cavern. He could now see that it came from yet another tunnel, but this too, was carved out by human hand. Something was down there, using that light as a beacon. He was about to investigate when something else happened.

Ralis blinked as he heard the ignition of fire, followed by a splash that echoed in the cavern, the shadowmancer turned around to see who this newcomer would be, expecting a lost little girl, or an explorer, or treasure-hunters, but was actually, for the first time in months... surprised at what he saw. A man, well he thought it was a man, loomed by the where he too had fallen in from. The newcomer seemed to be taller than Ralis, he was garbed in very eccentric and mismatching clothing, a hat atop his head, something was gleaming over one of his eyes but Ralis was too far to tell.

"Hello there!" he yelled happily. A new person to talk to, or to kill, fun! The thought made him so happy, he smiled and walked in the newcomers direction, wondering what mysterious this man might hold, wanting to find out. After no response, he continued to walk toward him, slightly quickening his pace. "What are you here for?" he asked with a smile, resting the deadly blade in the ground, leaning on it as if it were a cane.

"Hello there!" A peculiar voice met him, somewhere from... well... directly in front of him. How odd. Certainly no native inhabitants were still alive after all these years. Who was this, then? The man approached him, eagerly desiring to meet someone new. He threw his weapon into the ground, using it to hold his weight. "What are you here for?" He asked, an awkwardly normal smile forming on his face.

Something was a bit off about this man, that much was certain. Although he was human, he seemed to have quite a bit of dark energy emanating from him, more so than the average human being. This man could either have the ability to manipulate it on command, or just be an exceptionally evil person. Then again, it could have been both for all he knew. He wouldn't know until he engaged in conversation, or battle.

"Well hello there, stranger. To answer your question, I'm here merely for the sake of being here." He answered vaguely. He removed his hat, bowing deeply before the despicable human. "Regardless, my name is Tree Shade: Self Proclaimed Master of Insanity." He identified himself. He righted his posture, leaning on his own cane. "I am not at your service." He said with a misplaced cheery tone, ending with a friendly chuckle. "And who might I have the displeasure of making the acquaintance of this fine day?"

Ralis cast the man known as 'Tree Shade' a strange, yet curious glance, watching his mannerisms and how he spoke and moved closely. Other than the spiked cane he was leaning on, Tree Shade seemed to be unarmed and it appeared that he wasn't wearing much armor. Still, the shadow wielder had no real idea about what kind of abilities this newcomer could perform. Ralis strained his eyes to see him better, thinking to himself.

"Self Proclaimed Master of Insanity... hmm, that is peculiar," he remarked, again glancing at Tree Shade's clothing. Ralis then shrugged, leaning more upon his sword that was impaling the ground of the cavern still, brushing some of his hair out of the way of his eyes. "Some people have the nerve to say that I'M insane too, hopefully there's no correlation between you and I, yeah?" he asked, pretty much having a conversation with himself at this point.

"So you're here for the sake of being here too? That's pretty much how I came to be here," Ralis nodded, continuing his borderline schizophrenic conversation. He then went silent and blinked once as he had then realized that Tree Shade had said some unfriendly things about even meeting him. He said it was a displeasure to meet me... once I remember what that means, he better apologize...

Ralis then stood up straight, gripping the hilt of his weapon and freeing it from the ground of the cavern. "Well I never asked you to be of my service, Mr. Shade," he said, his "happy" mood boiling away to anger, the water around him had begun to steam. "Allow me to introduce myself... I am Ralis, the Master of Darkness... ok, sometimes fire and water too. And sword fighting. Nevermind, I'm just a master," he glared, more angry with himself now than at Tree Shade, having an arguement with his own logic.

"Still, despite the urge I'm getting to inflict serious harm if not death upon you, I suggest that we do not kill each, well, yet anyway. You could be useful since I don't even know where I am or how to get back out," he shrugged, snapping his fingers and dozens of shadows grabbed his sword and ripped it into the pieces that form it, quickly throwing them back in his pack that hung at Ralis's hip.

He then walked even closer to the man known as Tree Shade until he was merely a few feet away, still respecting the idea of personal space. However, Ralis held out his right hand in an amiable fashion, smiling again, the water that was around him and had cooled and simmered. "How about it?"

Tree gazed down at the stranger's hand, a wave of conflicting ideas rapidly washing over him. This man was clearly bipolar, and clearly insane. He was constantly switching from a state of happiness to a state of anger and back again. It was actually a little funny, but Tree felt a bit uneasy of allying himself with such an unstable individual. Still, he could at least further explore this man's strange personality by allying himself with him.

Donning his character again, Tree let out a deep laugh, hands proudly placed on his hips. “Ah, sorry about that boy. I just find your offer amusing.” He smirked a grin that was supposed to look friendly, but it came out looking more like a questionable scowl. His voice forced itself into seriousness again. “Ally with me if you wish, good sir, but my hands are dirty so I won't shake your hand.”

Tree shouldered past the fellow without awaiting an answer. He knew where they were keeping... whatever it was they kept here. He'd seen the natives and how they traveled this place, though they forced him out with their superior numbers. He never understood their language, so he had no way of knowing what was down here, but he was sure it would be good.

Then there was the fact that he ran into this stranger. Tree could have teleported to any other time, but why had fate placed him here at the exact moment this crazy guy ventured into these caverns? There was a definite sense of destiny about this whole thing. He was sure this man would have a part to play in this before it was over.

Ralis couldn't help but laugh at the stranger's reaction to his plea of allegiance. "Your hands are dirty? Ha, so are mine. I'm sure every man has done things they aren't proud of, and I'm proud to admit that," he said with a sickeningly honest smile on his face.

The young man turned around as Tree walked passed him, and began following him, very curious about this newcomer, wondering why he had randomly dropped down into the cavern as well. "Certainly you've come here for a reason, yes?" he asked, smiling still. Without awaiting for any type of response either, he kept on talking. "I've come here merely out of curiously, with the slightest bit of boredom."

Ralis sighed happily as he trotted behind Tree, looking back and forth, thinking to himself, his mind processing a multitude of things at once, wondering just who exactly Tree Shade was as well as why he dropped down to accompany him, and of course, just what precisely was down in this chamber? He had no answers to any of these questions that boiled in his head, but he didn't feel like asking each one out loud. At least not yet.

Now he did, but decided to switch his order of questioning backwards. "Well, do you have any idea what's down here, then? Besides lots of water and shadows? That's pretty self-explanatory," he stated, nodding as he continued walking, now ahead of Tree, into a random direction. Several orbs of water began levitating on both of Ralis' sides, floating there until they started to swirl in a circle around the caster, orbiting him. "I hope something happens or someone else pops up soon... I'm getting a little bored right about now, dunno about you, Sir Shade."

Suddenly, Ralis blinked and stood completely still, no longer walking, hardly breathing. "...Something is moving the water, and it isn't me.." he whispered, just audible enough for the fellow spelunker accompanying him to hear.

Tree froze in place. The water was rippling up ahead; there was definitely something alive in there. "Hold on, Malice, I've got it." Tree took a cautious step forward, absently handing his torch over to his temporary ally. His right hand clenched tighter around his cane. A slimy, long muscle slithered its way out of the water for a brief moment before disappearing beneath it once more.

"Bah, it's just a big squid." Tree lazily pointed his cane at the unseen creature and fired a blast of anti-mater directly at the source of the disturbance. The beam hit hard, sending fragments of rock in every direction. A shrill hissing suddenly filled the cavern. The whole cave began to shake, the water turning ripples into waves. The thin tentacle showed itself again, whipping clean out of the water. It spun through the air, aiming to lasso around Tree's neck.

Shade ducked low, taking a quick swipe through the air with his cane. Blood splattered across the cavern walls as the severed fleshy limb splashed down into the water. Tree quickly straightened his posture, pretending to fix his hat as if it had actually gotten ruffled somehow.

"There, problem solved."

A deep, thunderous roar seemed to shake the very earth. What was left of the tentacle snapped back into the deeper waters. The ground began to shake again, this time more violently than before. From the darkness a hundred more tentacles snaked their way toward the two strangers.

Truly these belonged to a much larger beast.

((OoC: Sorry again for the long delay, I'm finally got a better shift at work so this should be much easier. I also wanted to finish Ralis' extended biography/short story before continuing any RPs with him so it'd be easier for everyone ^^; Again, sorry. ))

The young shadow master was honestly startled, reeling backwards away from whatever the tentacles were sprouting from. He quickly backpedaled through the foot of water he was standing him, now a few yards besides the illustrious and possibly more-insane-than-Ralis Tree Shade.

After Tree Shade's first attack, the blood of whatever big beastie was floating ever-so carelessly on the surface of the water. Ralis made a face of slight disgust. Only his blood wasn't revolting to him. Everyone else's blood was sickening, not in the gut-wrenching or vomit-inducing fashion, but the sort of sickening as watching two beggars fight themselves to the death over a scrap of stale bread or bad cheese.

Painful to watch and be apart of, yet you couldn't help but grin. And that was just what Ralis was doing right now. Grinning. That, and of course reaching over his left shoulder and grabbed the black and silver folded hilt of his cruel blade, pulling it down off of his back, pointing it towards the hundreds of tentacles.

His free hand then reached into his coat and grabbed his revolver, freeing it from its leathery holster. "Let's make the water a bit more red, I don't like all this blue," Ralis smiled and sighed with content as a few of the plethora of tentacles whipped at his direction. Ralis spun the gun around his index finger and finally straightened it, pointing at one of the tentacles and firing twice, sending two miniature meteoric bullets. At least one hit its mark as a tentacle soon retracted back down into the depths, spurting blood.

Three more retaliated, bearing down upon Ralis. His dark and yet playful grin never vanished as he held his longsword high in the air and slashed away to his heart's contents. Chunks of flesh and pools of blood were forming in his vicinity as he cut away any of the beast's appendages that dare come near him. "This is too easy..." he groaned, shaking his head in disappointment.

Ralis decided to take a quick gander over at Tree Shade. This was a good opportunity to see his moves and abilities in action, on an opponent that wasn't himself. That was just a little bonus. Something was... off. Tree Shade stood completely still as a large tentacle swept across the water, smacking him dead center in the chest. The even stranger stranger was sent hurtling across the water.

"What the..?" he asked to nobody in particular, until of course, the same tentacle that smacked Tree continued its arc and hit Ralis as well, sending him flying a few yards away into the water. He landed in a splash, his back making contact with the rocky ground underneath the shallow end of the water. He winced, biting his teeth together and quickly sprung up to his feet, his expression of pain now contorted itself into another grin.

He turned his head to see if Tree Shade was dead or not. Of course not, what was he thinking? The man simply rose to his feet, standing tall and triumphant. As if nothing had even happened to him at all. Not even that weird top hat of his was knocked off from the impact of that massive hit. Pretending to dust himself off, Tree Shade sauntered forward and so did Ralis.

Tree Shade didn't even show any sign of fear as the same large tentacle rose high towards the ceiling of the cavern and began to motion of swinging straight down at him. With a mere tip of his head, he tilted his magnificent top hat of his. What really surprised Ralis was why he was doing that?! Then, it was soon made obvious as about a dozen bullets burst from out of... the top of the top hat? It didn't where the came from, but where they ended up sure did. The large tentacle that was bent on crushing Tree was now bent in all directions, spewing more tiny fountains of blood before reeling back down into the waters.

Soon, the rest of the tentacles retreated back into the waters, blood trickled up from its depths towards the surface. "Well... is that it? I don't think we killed it," he said, yawning a bit.

“No.” Tree replied, a smirk forming on his face. “This creature is a Moluk, distant cousin of the feared Molaska. Fabled to hold treasures within its bowels, but a treasure far less valuable than the one likely hiding at the center of these underground ruins.”

Tree's explanation seemed unfinished. Ralis waited a couple more seconds before Tree realized he didn't properly explain why the monster wasn't quite dead yet. “Oh, I forgot you're not me.” He cleared his throat, the monster growling from somewhere deep in the caves. “Moluks have extraordinary healing powers and a very bad temper. It's likely already readying another attack. They often don't eat for years, yet can survive on the smallest of morsels. It's probably extremely hungry. Don't be surprised if its next strike is twice as fierce.” He said all this with a smile, almost as if it were a good thing. The creature grew louder as it crawled closer. “Isn't it exciting, Raditz?”

A pair of glowing yellow orbs lit up the distant back of the cave: the Moluk's angry eyes. It hissed a hungry growl; it was moving in once again. Countless of the thin tentacles snapped out from the darkness again, this time attempting to surround them. The sinewy limbs slithered through the air like flying snakes, moving in hard-to-follow erratic patterns. Every second, the monster inched closer, its swirling tentacles steadily forming a circle around them. Regardless, they both stood their ground, looking for an opening to strike. The two giant eyes of the creature remained at a distance, but were getting closer. The monster's sharp teeth could just barely be seen, gnashing in gnawing anticipation.

In one movement, the tentacles swooped in from all directions. Tree crouched his legs, face beaming in excitement. Ralis seemed to do the same, but Tree wasn't paying much attention to him. He needed to focus solely on the battle, as Moluks weren't pushovers by any means.

His monocle lit up with a red light, a beam of energy tearing through the fleshy ropes. He spun around 360 degrees, Sizzlin' Glory blasting through the Moluk's attack. Bloodied tentacles fell all around him, the creature crying out in pain. Its attack still got through. A powerful tug from the monster lassoed one of its tentacles around Tree's neck. It yanked hard, lifting him off the ground and toward its awaiting mouth. Now the beast could be seen in its entirety, its enormous egg-shaped body held up by its tentacles. Its two, fearsome eyes bore into Tree's own. Though he couldn't breath with the monster gripping him by the through, Tree was still smiling.

The cave was lit up by a flash from Tree's face. A long sword made of glass sang from his eyes, piercing the Moluk in the forehead. In an epic scream, the behemoth recoiled, slamming Tree down into the cave floor with a splash. It whimpered as it backed into the darkness, temporarily trying to recover, but Ralis was in hot pursuit. Tree was underwater with a bashed up head, blood pouring freely from his skull. Ralis could dish out the next attack.

Ralis couldn't help but to feel a strange sensation of admiration for the illustrious Tree Shade. There was never a sign of fear upon his countenance, despite the frenzy of tentacles whipping towards him. He was gripped around the neck by one of the sinewy appendages and lifted high up into the cavern. Ralis blinked, aiming the heavy revolver up towards Tree Shade, preparing an attempt to shoot him loose. He lowered his firearm however, watching a... transparent and shimmering blade suddenly fly free from the man's eyes, striking the creature suspending straight between the eyes.

The beast bellowed in pain and cast Tree Shade recklessly down into the cave floor. Water shot forth around him at the impact and Ralis winced at the sight, averting his eyes. His eyes then focused back upon the monster that had seemingly made the Shade no more. The young shadow master glared into the darkness where the Moluk was licking its wounds and he charged forward. The pair of glowing yellow eyes centered on the incoming assailant.

Ralis grabbed his pack that hanged from his hip and quickly lifted it up over and off of his shoulder, pulling it back with his arm and launching it high into the cavern, above the creature. The beast's eyes followed the pack, thinking it to be some sort of projectile. Meanwhile, the new attacker conjured a tendril of shadow that pulled back and stretched to its limit, just as Ralis stepped on it. The tendril whipped upwards, sending him airborne to rendezvous with his pack.

The Moluk didn't like what it was seeing and it reacted, sending a flurry of tentacles upwards to swipe or slash at Ralis. He snapped his fingers in response and what seemed like an explosion of shadow erupted from around him. Each tendril burrowed into the pack and grabbed a hold of a seperate blade which he used to form his weapons and swords. They freed themselves and the tendrils spun around their master in a furious whirlwind. Any of the monster's appendages that drew near were instantly severed, blood spurted from each gash and slash, a spine-chilling bellow followed every incision.

The arc Ralis was flung in began to fall downward, towards the Moluk's oddly-shaped head. Every tendril he had summoned twisted around each other, forming one bladed-makeshift harpoon. With a thrust of his arm, the projectile flew towards the wound on the Moluk's head. Another deluge of blood was let loose, some spraying upon the shadow user as he fell towards the cavern floor. The water underneath him rose up to form a solid pillar of liquid, a good twelve feet tall.

Ralis fell into the watery pillar, his momentum making him sink to the bottom quickly, but that was all he needed. The water then dropped back to the cavern floor, no longer serving as his safety cushion. Meanwhile, the Moluk roared in pain, the weapon lodged deep into the already wounded part of its forehead. The thrashing of its many tentacles became less violent, lethargic and lazy. Soon its bellows and shrieks stopped and the beast made its limp descent back into the depths of the cavern.

Every tendril he had summoned immediately dispersed and fetched his blades and parts. Ralis walked forward triumphantly, scooping his pack off the surface of the water, stuffing all of his possessions back inside. He just hoped the Moluk was actually dead this time. Speaking of dead, Ralis turned his head over his shoulder to look where Tree Shade was floating. He quirked a brow, seeing the strange man sauntering towards him, twirling his spiked cane in a hilariously nonchalant fashion. No sign of pain seemed to appear.

"Hmph. Just made me do all the work, huh?" Ralis asked, shaking his head slightly, though his tone was hardly serious. "It's quite all right. I probably wouldn't have survived that hit you took. You're a better man than I thought you were. Then again, I thought you were a lot of things when I first saw you... it's dead, right?"

Tree glanced back into the shadows where the monster had retreated, a series of ripples the only evidence that it was ever there. In response to Ralis' question, he spoke up. “Oh heavens, no. Moluks don't die so easily.” He turned back to Ralis with a smile on his face. “But I don't think he'll be bothering us for a while.”

Tree tossed his cane up in the air and caught it again, signaling the way. “Come, Radish, we move deeper into the cave. The temple should be nearby.” With a slight skip in his step, Tree moved onward, Ralis following alongside him.

As the duo moved forward, the dark cave steadily got lighter. It was odd for such a ancient and remote place to have any source of light, other than the sun, but they were so far below ground now that it was impossible for any daylight to reach them.

“Ah, here we are!” Tree ran forward toward the light, directly for the source. A large hole in the cave wall. It looked as if someone had blown it open with explosives or something. Tree jumped into the opening first, feet landing firmly on the dry, brick floor. Finally out of the water.

“See here, Chalice? These blue stones on the wall give off perpetual light, never dying out. The ancient settlers here used them to light their halls. Pretty wicked, if you ask me.” He cleared his throat and nodded down the newly discovered hallway. He wasn't exactly sure which directly they were supposed to go from here, but they had to at least guess until they hit a significant landmark. The truth was, although they were free from the caves, it was far more dangerous in the temple.