The Corin Chronicles Volume I: The Light and the Dark (45 page)

Ramon moved his hands away from the wall and approached Topenga. Mikael stood a few paces behind them. “What is it?” the prince asked. “What do you see?”

Topenga continued to squint, as he tried to better understand what lay behind the wall. “I see two large open spaces on either side of the path,” he said. Farther in, I see a number of doors, but they all seem welded shut.” He turned to face Ramon, who quickly took his place.

“I see them,” Ramon said. He noticed that vines covered almost every inch of the doors. The open spaces seemed large enough to fit at least five hundred men. “We must get through this wall.”

“Do you think the Philosophers are behind one of those doors?” asked Mikael, cautiously walking forward.

“Perhaps,” replied Ramon. “Or perhaps the Noboros are all that await us.” He looked at Mikael. “Only by separating this wall will we find out.”

Topenga walked around every corner of the cave, peering behind boulders and the shallow holes in the ground.

“What is it that you seek?” asked Ramon. He walked toward the Colonoy.

“Anything, my lord,” Topenga answered. “There must be some sort of clue here.”

Ramon spent a few seconds looking around, on the ground and high above. “You are right, Topenga,” he said. “We must search every inch of this cave. There must be a way to get through that wall.”

Nearly an hour of searching went by before all three men slumped to the ground, a few feet from the wall. Sucking down on his flask, Topenga did not feel a drop of water. He threw it to the ground and stood to his feet. “This cannot be it, my lord,” he shouted. “We could not have done everything we already have, only to die here of thirst.”

Ramon’s right hand remained on his head, as he focused his gaze above him. At first, the vines made it difficult to make out the details of the stone walls, but then he suddenly rose. “I see something,” he said. Topenga rushed to his side, and he pointed at three hexagon-shaped rocks with a very thin gap in the middle. “There are no other rocks like that inside here.”

“But what could it be, my lord?” asked Mikael.

Stepping away from Topenga and Mikael, Ramon climbed up a narrow outcropping in the wall toward the mysterious rocks above him. He reached a considerable height before suddenly stopping.

“Is anything the matter, my lord?” asked Topenga, looking up in bemusement.

“It looks like the resting place of a sword,” Ramon said. “But the gap is rigid, perhaps too rigid. Only an ancient blade can fit inside. The blade of Feliath, the blade of Auphora or…” He paused and looked at the two men on the ground, with his eyes widened.

“The Sword of Corin,” said the Colonoy. “Of course Auphora made sure that only the blade of a god could release the Philosophers, but he never considered that mere mortals would be able to acquire the sword wielded by Baran.”

“But how can we be sure that it is the Sword of Corin we possess?” asked Mikael. He received blank stares. “I am just thinking that Master Nitiri might have been mistaken.”

Topenga reached into his backpack and brought out the sword, which glowed in the natural light of the cave. Leaping up the outcropping of rocks, he handed it to Prince Ramon, who took hold of the blade with majestic grace and held it directly under the gap in the rocks. Following careful placement, a bright glow appeared behind the rocks, which seemed to suck the sword out of Ramon’s hand and into place. In that moment, a thunderous rumble filled the cavern, and Ramon looked in the direction of the wall. It was opening, revealing a new passage.

When the wall stopped moving, silence surrounded them. After a few moments, they cautiously made their way across the path. The deeper into the cave they walked, the bigger the two inner caverns seemed. A loud thud sounded from somewhere in the distance and echoed off the rock, halting them where they stood. Three similar noises followed in quick succession, prompting Topenga to draw his sword.

“That sounds like doors opening,” said Mikael.

No sooner were the words spoken than all three men temporarily lost their balance and covered their ears, as the sound of an incomprehensible growl shook the cave. Directly ahead, they saw a massive, fanged mouth emerging from the shadows, followed by two burning ruby eyes and a gigantic, gray, scaled head. The creature roared, shaking gravel from the walls and ceiling. It advanced slowly on all four legs, each as thick as a pillar. As it moved, its back scraped against the cave’s roof, some twenty feet above them. The three warriors backed up as the beast fully entered the light, revealing a mountain of muscle and thick, coarse scales, with a long, snake-like tail as thick as two men.

“Noboro!” shouted Ramon, as all three of them quickly retreated toward the big cavern to their left.

“What are we going to do? How are we going to even get close to that?” asked Mikael, trembling.

Prince Ramon quickly pulled out the bow and arrow and took aim at the creature. He let off a single shot, aimed straight at the beast’s right eye, but it repelled, like similar sides of a magnet coming together. In his shock, the prince let off a flurry of shots targeting multiple areas of the beast’s body, but each attempt had no effect.

“Topenga! Mikael! We have to separate and attack this thing from all angles until we find a weak spot.” Ramon dropped the bow and arrows to the ground and drew his spear, as Mikael grasped his axe.

The creature continued walking toward them at a slow pace, biding its time.

“What about the second one, my lord? How can we fight them both?” Topenga also had his spear drawn.

“One at a time, Topenga,” replied the prince. He suddenly ran toward the opposite side of the cave, directly past the beast.

Upon seeing this, the Noboro reared its head backward for a massive inhale. With its exhale, it breathed a blanket of fire at the prince. Ramon jumped, barely escaping the flames. The Noboro quickly changed direction and ran straight for him, breathing fire at every opportunity. Ramon found a boulder in the corner of the cave, just barely large enough to hide behind, and crouched low to avoid the enormous flames.

With the prince under heavy attack from the legendary creature, Topenga and Mikael ran behind the animal and rammed their weapons into its back. They noticed no visible damage, but the Noboro let out agonizing screams, encouraging them to attack it further. The Noboro whipped its tail in all directions, trying to knock them off their feet, but they dodged and ducked.

With the Noboro’s attention split between Mikael and Topenga, Ramon emerged from his hiding place and charged directly for the animal, trying to approach from its blind spot. He thrust his spear into multiple points in the beast’s body, but its thick scales repelled all his efforts. Caught up in the battle, the prince did not see a vicious swing of the animal’s tail, which caught him directly on the head and knocked him to the ground, nearly unconscious.

“The prince has fallen!” Mikael shouted to Topenga. The Colonoy quickly lunged upon a small ledge and attacked the creature from above, in an effort to distract it from Ramon, who lay on the floor drifting in and out of consciousness.

The Noboro turned from Ramon, and Mikael and Topenga continued to attack the beast. Sweat poured from the two warriors as they thrust and jabbed, but their weapons could not pierce its skin.

Slowly, Ramon regained control of his body. But as he found his feet, something in the air felt very wrong. The ground trembled with a new pressure, something different from the tremors of the battle unfolding before him. The vibrations increased, and his fears were realized when he felt the heat from another blanket of fire come from behind, nearly scorching his body. At the last second, he rolled out of the flames and toward the boulder, ducking behind it as the second Noboro charged toward him.

On his hands and knees, Ramon tried frantically to hide his entire body behind the slab of rock. He gave up any hope of reaching his spear, which lay a few feet ahead of him. The Noboro charged toward the boulder, exhaling fire in steady streams. It crouched low, trying to get at the prince, but lost its balance. It tumbled on to the ground with a roar, as it struggled to gain its composure, its tail slashing in every direction.

Seeing the predicament of his prince, Mikael broke away from the battle with the first Noboro and slammed the blade of his axe into the second animal. The beast turned toward the new threat, giving Ramon just enough time to move for the spear. But as the Noboro turned to face Mikael, its huge claws swiped at the prince, catching his arm.

Writhing in agony, Ramon again tried crawling toward the spear, but it was too far. The Noboro continued swiping at him, while lashing at Mikael with its tail. Ramon drew his sword and drilled it directly into the front claw of the creature. As with the previous Noboro, the weapon seemed to cause no damage. But he continued to stab and slash, until finally a swipe at the creature’s ankle drew some of its pale, blue blood. The beast screamed in pain and began to thrash against the stone walls.

Mikael came alongside Ramon, leaning over to retrieve his fallen spear on the way. “Your highness, we have to get you out of here,” said Mikael, handing over the spear.

Ramon pressed his hands against Mikael’s shoulder and rose from the ground. “No, Mikael. We fight till the very end.”

As the prince spoke, he noticed Topenga at the highest platform of the cave, thrusting his spear at the first Noboro, trying every possible angle to find a weakness, while also trying to avoid the bursts of flames from the beast.

“Mikael,” Ramon shouted. “Help Topenga!” The prince looked back at the second Noboro, now firmly on its feet, with fire right on the tip of its engulfed nostrils.

“Now, Mikael, run!” Ramon picked up his spear in one hand, with his sword in the other. He stood facing the approaching beast, breathing frantically. The Noboro let out a mighty roar and charged straight at the prince, with flames spewing from its nostrils. Ramon dashed toward the other Noboro. The speed of his human legs was no match for the pursuing creature, which rapidly closed the distance. But the deep rumbling caused by its charge made the first Noboro turn, as if meeting a new threat. With a collision imminent, the first Noboro tried to shift its body, but before it could step in either direction, the second beast crashed into it, and they both fell in a tangle to the ground.

As the two Noboros struggled to get back to their feet, the three warriors regrouped. They attacked again in force, but they had no success in keeping the creatures down. The battle resumed, and as the minutes passed, they could feel the hope of victory fading. Fatigue took over their bodies. Despite numerous blows to both Noboros, they had not yet inflicted any telling damage on either one. They retreated to the uppermost ledges, where they fought desperately just to fend off the colossal beasts.

“We are not causing any damage, your highness,” said Topenga. “We simply cannot hurt them.” He panted.

The prince paused at the words of his trusted ally, realizing that if the battle carried on in the same fashion, they would not survive.

“We need the Sword of Corin,” Ramon said suddenly. He glanced toward the entrance chamber, where they had left the ancient sword.

Mikael rushed toward Ramon. “We need a distraction, my lord,” he said. “That is the only way you can get to the sword without a Noboro giving chase.”

“What kind of distraction?”

Without responding, Mikael leapt on to the body of the first Noboro and slid down its back onto the ground.

“No!” Ramon screamed.

The beast immediately focused its attention on Mikael, who ran with every ounce of energy to the opposite cavern. Ramon stood motionless for a few seconds, trying to absorb what had just happened.

“Go, my lord,” shouted Topenga, fending off the second Noboro on his own. “We might not get a better chance.”

Ramon immediately leapt off the ledge and ran toward the three hexagonal rocks that held the Sword of Corin. Halfway there, he heard a frail scream behind him and turned around to see Mikael covered in flames.

The frantic footsteps of the prince alerted the first Noboro to his presence. It turned for him and gave chase. In a frenzy, Ramon leapt onto the rigid wall and climbed toward the great sword.

Reaching out to grab it, he noticed the beast directly beneath him, ready to attack with its lethal shower of flames. As the creature exhaled from its fiery red nostrils, he leapt to the ground, and within seconds, the Sword of Corin clattered onto the ground next to him. Glancing above him, he noticed that the fire from the beast had destroyed the resting place of the blade. Without a moment’s hesitation, he grabbed the sword and ran directly toward the Noboro, thrusting it into its midsection.

A deafening shriek filled the cavern, as the creature reared its head back against the ceiling. With the blade still in its body, the Noboro shook and slashed its tail in all directions. Ramon withdrew to a nearby corner to escape being crushed by the creature’s thrashing. Slowly, the Noboro fell to the ground, its slashing turning to spasms, then stillness. With its eyes, its body lay motionless.

Ramon had barely begun to comprehend his victory when he heard the loud shouts from Topenga calling out to him. Returning to reality, he ran straight to the downed beast, removing the sword. Blue blood poured out of the wound. With sword in hand, he ran to the next cavern to see that Topenga had been thrown from the ledge. He crawled agonizingly on the floor, his own blood across his face and chest.

The Noboro reared, preparing to blanket the Colonoy in fire. Ramon gripped the Sword of Corin and raised it high in the air. With a resounding shout, he threw the blade straight into the back of the creature, which writhed in agony, emitting flames in every direction. As the previous beast, the Noboro charged around the cave in a fit of spasms, before falling to its death with its face down on the ground. Ramon ran directly toward Topenga, who was badly injured and exhausted.