Fic Archive: Into the Light, 2
May. 28th, 2009 11:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
texchan(Written: 2004)
Warnings: Bad Language. Violence
Summary: Badly injured while protecting his companions from a magical creature the Heavenly Ones sealed away centuries ago, Orphen has no choice but to call on Childman for assistance and protection. Will the sorceror who was once his master come to his aid, or is Childman really bent on Orphen's destruction?
Legal Stuff: As always, this story is intended to express one fan's genuine appreciation of Sorcerous Stabber Orphen and its characters. It is just for fun and not for profit. If you have any rights in the anime described here and find the posting of this fanfiction offensive or harmful, please contact me, and I will be happy to remove it.
Into the Light
Chapter 2
They had been walking silently through the dark tunnel for about twenty minutes when Cleao finally called out, "Are we there yet?"
Majic heard Orphen's soft, humorless chuckle in the darkness behind him, as the young sorcerer replied, in a sarcastic, mocking tone, "I can't believe it took you this long, Cleao. Are you feeling OK?"
"Ha, ha!" Cleao snapped in the same, mocking tone employed by the sorcerer. "You're so funny in the dark, Orphen. Oh, by the way, did I forget to point out that it is DARK in here?" When neither Orphen nor Majic replied, she continued, "How long is it gonna take to get through here, anyhow?"
Majic stopped walking as he heard Orphen's footsteps slow and then halt. "Master?" he asked as he tried unsuccessfully to peer into the darkness behind him. He felt frustration wash over him as he realized it was useless trying to see more than a few inches in front of his face. It was just too dark. When Orphen didn't respond, Majic felt frustration quickly giving way to fear. He called again, panic edging into his voice, "Master? Are you OK? Is something wrong?"
Majic jumped when he felt Orphen's hand on his shoulder. "Sorry, Majic," he said, "didn't mean to startle you. Everything's fine. I was just thinking…"
Cleao's voice floated out of the darkness in front of them once again as she called, "So?"
"Well," Orphen replied hesitantly, "um, probably two … maybe … three … days."
"WHAT?!" Cleao screamed.
Majic was surprised to feel Orphen's hand, which still rested on his shoulder, involuntarily tense, and he heard the older boy duck, as if Orphen intended to escape Cleao's wrath. He chuckled to himself. Cleao was probably the only person he knew who could make his master tremble in fear. He knew that Orphen tried to hide things from the girl because he hated suffering the consequences when Cleao was unhappy or dissatisfied. And, there were always consequences.
"Two or three days … IN THE DARK?" Cleao screamed back. "You leather-wrapped magic toady! You'd better PRAY that I don't make it out of here, or you're gonna be SORRY! I mean it! Tricking me into coming in here…"
"L … look, Cleao," Orphen stammered as he involuntarily backed away from the girl's angry tirade. He grunted as he tripped and fell over a loose rock in the pathway. "Shit, that hurt! It'll probably leave a mark," he muttered. "Look, Cleao, it doesn't have to be that way, OK?" He could hear Cleao's angry muttering moving closer and closer to him in the dark, and, in a panic, he called out, "Light!"
A perfect ball of light formed over Orphen's open palm, illuminating a radius of several feet around the trio. Majic laughed when he saw his master. Orphen had tripped and fallen over a large rock in the middle of the path, and he was in a sitting position, with a slightly panicked look on his face. It was clear that the young sorcerer was afraid of making their female companion angry.
"Master, are you OK?" Majic asked as he tried unsuccessfully to stifle a giggle. He held out his hand, silently offering to help Orphen stand. The young sorcerer glared at him, but he took Majic's hand and pulled himself into a standing position while still balancing the light ball over his open palm.
"Well, isn't that just dandy?" Cleao snapped as she stepped forward to inspect the results of Orphen's light spell. "That's just great if we only want to see a few feet at a time. I thought you were the most powerful sorcerer from the Tower of Fang," she said sarcastically, "and that's the best you can do?" She stopped a few steps away from Orphen, with her hands on her hips, and looked at him angrily. "Well?"
Orphen leaned forward until his face was only inches from Cleao's. Even in the dim light, Majic could clearly see the blush that spread across her face, and she quickly stepped back to put a small space between herself and the young sorcerer.
"Don't get your panties in a wad, OK? Watch this," Orphen said quietly. He blew the light ball up off of his palm, and it floated in the air in front of him for a second as he whispered, "Illuminate." At his command, the ball traveled straight up, divided into three smaller balls, and shot into the ceiling and walls surrounding them. Immediately, the tunnel exploded into thousands of twinkling, sparkling lights, enabling the three companions to see clearly.
"It's … beautiful," Cleao sighed as she watched the lights sparkle and twinkle all around them. "It's so … beautiful."
Majic sighed and nodded in agreement. During the time he and Cleao had traveled with Orphen, the sorcerer had shown them a lot of amazing things, but this one had to be near the top of that list. "Master, it really is … beautiful. But, how…"
Orphen shrugged and moved toward the cave's wall. He gently plucked a glowing stone from the wall and held it up in front of his face. "Phosphorous," he replied. When Majic and Cleao just stared at him blankly, he shook his head, "Geez. Did you two even GO to school? I mean, I can understand the shopping queen over there, but, really, Majic, I have to admit I'm disappointed in you." When they still didn't reply, he said, "It glows."
Yeah, I know that, Master. But, how did you know?"
Orphen shrugged again and gestured toward the tunnel's walls and ceiling. "This isn't just a tunnel. It's a series of caverns, too, and a lot of them contain magical ruins and relics left behind by the Heavenly Ones. A lot of people believe that the Heavenly Ones actually built this passage through the mountain."
"Do you think that's true?" Majic asked.
"Who knows?" Orphen replied. "The tunnel sure is a lot more advanced than anyone around here could build, so I guess it's possible. At any rate, no one really knows that much about it, but I learned about the tunnel and its caverns at the Tower of Fang. There are some caverns that no one has ever been in, so no one knows what might be in them."
"So, why did you let me hang around at the entrance being scared if you already knew about the tunnel?" Majic asked. "You must have already known it was fairly safe and that we wouldn't have to stumble around in the dark the whole time."
Orphen ruffled Majic's hair as he walked past the boy. "You need to learn to have faith in your Master, Majic … and in yourself," he replied, "no matter what the situation."
As he moved past Cleao to continue onward into the glowing tunnel, the girl reached out and grabbed Orphen's leather jacket. "Wait just a darn minute! If you knew all about this phos-whatever glowing thing, why did you make us walk all that way in the dark?"
Orphen gently placed his hand against the girl's cheek, surprising her enough that she released her hold on his clothes. "Oh, that was just for fun," he said, laughing. As Cleao lunged forward to slug him, he whispered, "Away", and disappeared in the midst of several flickering, blue-green lights.
"Don't think you can just disappear like that, you weasely wizard!" Cleao screamed into the now-empty air. "You're gonna be sorry when I catch up to you!" At first, Majic felt sorry for his master, but, when he looked over at Cleao, he could see that the girl was smiling, indicating that Orphen really had very little to fear.
"Well?" Cleao snapped, turning her attention from Orphen's disappearance to Majic. She speared him with an angry look, and Majic involuntarily took a step away from her.
"Well, what?" he asked nervously.
Cleao gave him a disgusted sigh and rolled her eyes. "What are we going to do now that Orphen's taken a powder? Wait around for him to decide to reappear?"
Majic laughed and shook his head as he walked past Cleao and took her hand to pull her along behind him. "No," he replied, "if I know Master, he's not going to come back until you've had a chance to calm down a little. Let's just keep going forward. He'll show up again, eventually."
"I swear!" Cleao snapped as she fell into step behind Majic. "He is SO irresponsible! Why in the world do you insist on hanging around with him?"
Majic laughed again and responded, "Looks like you should ask yourself that same question. Just be happy he left the light for us."
************************************************************
After they had been walking through the glowing tunnel for about thirty minutes with no sign of Orphen, Cleao pulled Majic to a stop, and, stomping her foot, called out, "All right! Enough! I'm not mad anymore, so you can come out now! ORPHEN!"
She and Majic looked around expectantly, as if they expected Orphen to appear out of one of the walls near them. Well, anything was possible, considering that they were alone because their traveling companion had disappeared into thin air, in the first place. They stood there, waiting for the sorcerer's reappearance for about twenty minutes, with no sign of him. Majic shuffled his feet nervously. He didn't want to admit it, but his master's prolonged absence was beginning to make him a little nervous.
"Cleao, do you think we should go look for him? I mean, something could have happened."
Yeah, right," Cleao muttered under her breath, "we should be so lucky."
Majic glanced over at the girl. Cleao was trying to act as if she were angry, but he could see the worried look on her face and the nervous way she kept glancing around the tunnel. He knew that she was just as worried as he was. Just as he was about to again suggest that they should go look for Orphen, Majic heard his master's voice calling them. He looked in the direction of Orphen's voice and watched as the young sorcerer appeared farther down the tunnel in the middle of several shimmering balls of light.
"Come on, guys!" Orphen called as he waved Majic and Cleao forward. "What are you doing standing around like that?"
Cleao glared at him and stomped her foot as she yelled, "Where the hell have you been?"
Orphen gave her a blank look. "What did I do now?" he asked, looking at Majic.
Cleao cut Majic off before he could reply. "How can you stand there and look so innocent! You know darn good and well what you did!" she snapped as she stomped toward Orphen, grabbing Majic's hand and pulling him along behind her.
"I was just looking for a place to camp," Orphen protested as his two companions stopped beside him. He shrugged and pointed behind him and toward the right. "There's a cavern over there that looks pretty safe --- no wierded-out magical ruins or strange, scary sorcerer left-behinds, at least. I mean, I'm kinda tired, so I thought you guys might be ready to stop, too," he said as he gave Majic another puzzled look.
"We were calling you!" Cleao yelled.
"I wasn't even here, Cleao," Orphen responded. "I didn't hear you. I'm a sorcerer, not a psychic," he mumbled as Cleao brushed past him to enter the cavern he had indicated as a possible camping spot.
"She was just worried about you, Master," Majic said softly.
"Yeah, I can really tell," Orphen mumbled.
He turned as he heard Cleao call out, "OK! This will do! We can camp here tonight!"
Orphen rolled his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. "What a relief! Looks like Her Highness is satisfied, at least for now."
"I HEARD THAT!" Cleao screamed from inside the cavern.
Majic laughed as Orphen sighed heavily and shook his head. "Come on, Master," he said, grabbing Orphen's hand and leading him into the room.
********************************************************************
"Look, guys, I don't think it's such a good idea to be in here," Orphen said as he fidgeted nervously at the cavern's entrance. "Just hurry up, get the water you need to make dinner, and let's go, OK?"
Orphen couldn't figure out why this particular room made him so nervous. When Cleao had announced that they needed some water to cook dinner, the three of them had begun to look for a nearby water source. At first, Cleao had intended to go alone, but Orphen had insisted that they stay together, commenting that the caverns were like a maze, and it was a bad idea for them to separate. There were hundreds of caverns connected to the mountain tunnel, and the three companions had looked into or explored at least a dozen before Cleao announced that she heard the sound of running water coming from the cavern in whose entrance Orphen currently stood. The other caverns had been filled with varying kinds of ruins and relics, all covered with sorcerous runes, and he had been able to feel strong magical power emanating from each of them. This particular cavern, at first observation, seemed completely innocuous. There was a fairly large lake, which was fed by water that ran down the cavern's walls, in the middle of the cave-like room. The lake, which almost looked like a swimming pool, took up most of the floor space, and there was only a small bank of stone, about a foot wide, surrounding it. The cavern, apparently, contained no magical ruins or relics, and he couldn't really feel any power coming from it at all. But, where none of the other caverns had made him feel at all uneasy, this one --- this one made his skin crawl.
Cleao laughed as she dipped one of the cooking pots into the lake. She was enjoying Orphen's discomfort, and had decided to take her time gathering the water they needed so that she could watch him squirm and fidget a little longer. She looked over her shoulder at Orphen and said, "What's your problem, magic man? Getting impatient for your dinner?"
"Shut up, Cleao!" Orphen snapped. "If you're sitting there yapping, you can't be gathering water, and we need to get out of here."
Cleao jumped at the harshness in Orphen's voice. "Geez. Give me a break. I'm going as fast as I can, OK?" she replied.
Orphen took a step into the cavern and yelled, "NO YOU'RE NOT! YOU'RE GOING AS SLOWLY AS POSSIBLE JUST TO PISS ME OFF! I'm not kidding, Cleao. This cavern makes my skin crawl, and if there's something in here that can make me feel like that… well, you know it must be something really scary. So, hurry up so we can get the hell out of here!"
Majic and Cleao looked at each other in surprise. Neither of them had ever seen the young sorcerer behave this way. He appeared to be genuinely frightened, and that fact scared Majic more than anything else he had ever experienced. "Cleao," he whispered, "He's right, OK? I think he's really scared, and I don't really want to meet up with anything that can make him act like this. So, stop giving him such a hard time, and let's just hurry up and get the water. Here, I'll help you." He took one of the empty containers that were sitting on the ground between him and Cleao, and dipped it into the lake.
The moment Majic's hand broke the lake's surface, the placid water started to bubble. It bubbled faster and faster until it looked like it was boiling, and the surface broke up into hundreds of small waves covered with caps of white foam. Majic froze in shock, his hand just below the water's surface. He looked over at Cleao, and she also seemed frozen in place, transfixed by the water's sudden transformation. Even Orphen came into the cavern to stand just behind Majic and Cleao and stare at the water. An eerie silence fell over the cave, broken only by the sound of waves slapping against the lake's rock bank. Majic could see down into the water, and he saw a dark shape swiftly approaching the surface directly in front of him.
Orphen grabbed Majic's collar and Cleao's shoulder, and pulled both of them back, away from the pool's edge, as a sleek, dark head broke the water's surface, followed by another and then another. The three heads rose up from the water until they almost touched the cavern's ceiling, towering over Majic, Cleao, and Orphen. Orphen pulled Majic and Cleao back again, until he was standing between them and the huge creature regarding them from the lake.
"Master," Majic whispered, "what…?"
"I don't know, Majic," Orphen responded through clenched teeth, turning his head slightly to look back at his apprentice. "I don't know what to expect. Just be ready to move … both of you."
He quickly turned his attention back to the creature rising from the lake in front of him. He couldn't see the beast's body, but he knew it had to be huge. Judging from the size of the three heads he could see above the water, he figured the creature's body probably took up most of the lake. Despite the presence of multiple heads, he could tell that there was only one creature, because he could see, just below the water's surface, the point where the three necks joined into one body. He had never seen or heard of such a beast, and, as he stared up into three sets of cold, hard, reptilian eyes, Orphen felt his blood run cold. Although he couldn't feel any magical power emanating from this creature, he sensed something dark and evil about it. The middle head was the largest of the three, but even the two smaller heads flanking it were easily at least six feet long. The heads were covered with shiny black scales, and, in the glow from the shining phosphorous rocks on the cavern's walls, they seemed to sparkle and shimmer, changing from black, to iridescent green, to a glowing blue, and then back to black. Each head was fairly triangular in shape, and they rose above the water on graceful, slender necks. There was a ridge of spiky white bone on the top of each head, which ran halfway down each one of the creature's faces, between its eyes. The bone ridges looked vaguely like crowns, and accented the beast's huge eyes, which were definitely reptilian. They glowed red in the illumination given off from the cavern's walls, and the pupils looked like black slits. Orphen could see huge, white fangs hanging out of the mouth of each head, like ivory daggers. Slowly, the mouth on the creature's middle head opened in a lazy yawn, revealing three rows of razor-sharp teeth, and a long, black, forked tongue, which flopped out of the mouth as it closed. It almost looked like the beast was smiling as it tilted its middle head to one side and stared at them with unblinking eyes.
"So," the creature hissed slowly. Its voice sounded like metal being dragged over jagged rocks, and shook the cavern's walls. "The little one. He was the one who broke my seal, yes?" It lowered its middle head slightly and appeared to smile again, as it looked past Orphen at Majic, and said, "Yes. I can tell. I can feel power from him, power he hasn't touched yet, power … he doesn't even realize. Yes. He broke the seal. My thanks to you, little one. Yes. Thanks."
The creature's steady, unblinking gaze lingered on Majic for a moment, and the boy felt the little hairs on his arms and the back of his neck stand up at the unwanted attention. Slowly, though, it turned its head toward Orphen, and Majic could see its eyes start to glow greedily as the middle head drifted downward until the creature and Orphen were almost eye-to-eye. Majic was shocked to see that his master was trembling, and Orphen's fists were clenched so tightly that Majic could see the network of blue veins just beneath the skin peering out from the sorcerer's gloves. As the head drifted closer to him, Orphen stepped backward, almost tripping over Majic, before he realized that he couldn't back any farther away from the creature.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Orphen demanded. He was trying to control the shaking in his voice and to sound angry and demanding, but Majic could hear the undertone of fear. It was something he couldn't ever remember hearing, no matter what kind of enemies they had faced, and that sound ---- that little tremble in Orphen's voice ---- scared Majic a lot more than the creature in the middle of this lake.
The creature laughed softly, a bone-chilling sound that sounded like rattling chains or a dungeon door slamming, and replied, "Morph. I am … Morph. I was … sealed here. Yes. They … stole my power and … sealed me … here. For a hundred years. Yes. I slept here. Until the little one broke the seal with his … power." The middle head dipped even closer to Orphen, and the creature inhaled deeply. "I need power. Yes. Lots … of … power … to escape … this … place. The little one … his … power … enough to break the seal. But you … yes … you are a sorcerer. Your power. Yes. It would take me … away … from … here. Yes. If I take you … your power … would feed me … for … years." The creature lowered its head until it was looking directly into Orphen's eyes. Its long, forked tongue drifted out of its mouth and leisurely traveled from Orphen's feet, up his body, and over his face in a slow, possessive, almost loving, caress. "Yes. The little one … I'll leave him, but you … I'll take you … instead. Yes. You … are mine … now."
Orphen tried to back away as the creature's tongue licked him, but he discovered he couldn't move. His body was paralyzed, held in place like stone by some unknown force. He knew he was powerless, helpless, and that he would be unable to prevent the creature from doing as it wanted with him. He quickly decided that his only option was to salvage what he could from the situation and at least save Majic and Cleao. "Will you let them go?" he asked the creature.
Morph dipped his middle head in an elegant, graceful motion that appeared to be something between a nod and a bow. "Yes," he replied. "As my gift to … you. I will not … touch … them."
Majic felt his blood run cold as Orphen snapped, "Majic, Cleao, go now. Get the hell out of here right now."
Majic scrambled to his feet and grabbed Orphen's arm, which was as cold as ice. "Master! No! Not this time! We're not leaving without you!"
Orphen, without ever looking away from Morph, replied, "I'll catch up to you, Majic. I promise."
Cleao, who was still sitting in the same position she had landed in when Orphen had jerked her away from the lake, jumped to her feet and yelled, "Stop lying, Orphen! What does it mean, what that thing said? He said he would take you, didn't he? You're trading yourself for us. Well, no deal! We're not leaving until you come with us!"
Orphen slowly turned his head to look at Majic and Cleao. They were both shocked and terrified when they saw the haunted, defeated look in his eyes and heard the hollowness of his voice. "I'm sorry, Cleao," he said, "I can't go with you … now. I can't … even move, and just … talking … is taking all the strength … I have. At least … I'll know … you're … safe." He cast a pleading look toward Majic, and said, "Please, Majic. Please."
Majic could hear the fear and exhaustion in his master's voice, and he felt tears come into his eyes as he nodded and replied, "O … OK, Master." He looked at Cleao, and softly said, "Cleao, let's go."
Cleao looked from Orphen to Majic. Majic could see tears shining in her eyes, mirroring those that he felt spilling down his own face. She shook her head. "No. I'm not going. I'm not leaving you, Orphen."
Morph laughed softly, and the noise managed to tear Cleao and Majic's attention from Orphen and back to the lake. Involuntarily, they stepped backward as the creature's long, black, forked tongue snaked out of its mouth, wrapped around Orphen, and lifted him off of the ground. Almost instantly, the young sorcerer began to scream in pain, and, over the sound of his screams echoing off of the cavern's stone walls and floor, they heard Morph's silky laughter.
Majic felt rage building up inside of him, and he clenched his fists tightly at his sides. He could feel his magical power building along with his rage, and he knew that, if he tried, he could unleash a magical blast that would be strong enough to make the beast release Orphen. He began to concentrate so that he could focus his power. Just as he was about to release his attack against the beast, he heard Orphen's words from earlier that day echoing in his mind, "You need to learn to have faith in your Master, Majic". He looked up to see Orphen watching him with pain-filled eyes, and he nodded to show that he understood.
He took Cleao's hand and said, his voice firm, "No, Cleao. We're leaving. We have to trust him." He looked at Orphen once more and then turned to leave the cavern, dragging a sobbing Cleao behind him.
Warnings: Bad Language. Violence
Summary: Badly injured while protecting his companions from a magical creature the Heavenly Ones sealed away centuries ago, Orphen has no choice but to call on Childman for assistance and protection. Will the sorceror who was once his master come to his aid, or is Childman really bent on Orphen's destruction?
Legal Stuff: As always, this story is intended to express one fan's genuine appreciation of Sorcerous Stabber Orphen and its characters. It is just for fun and not for profit. If you have any rights in the anime described here and find the posting of this fanfiction offensive or harmful, please contact me, and I will be happy to remove it.
Chapter 2
They had been walking silently through the dark tunnel for about twenty minutes when Cleao finally called out, "Are we there yet?"
Majic heard Orphen's soft, humorless chuckle in the darkness behind him, as the young sorcerer replied, in a sarcastic, mocking tone, "I can't believe it took you this long, Cleao. Are you feeling OK?"
"Ha, ha!" Cleao snapped in the same, mocking tone employed by the sorcerer. "You're so funny in the dark, Orphen. Oh, by the way, did I forget to point out that it is DARK in here?" When neither Orphen nor Majic replied, she continued, "How long is it gonna take to get through here, anyhow?"
Majic stopped walking as he heard Orphen's footsteps slow and then halt. "Master?" he asked as he tried unsuccessfully to peer into the darkness behind him. He felt frustration wash over him as he realized it was useless trying to see more than a few inches in front of his face. It was just too dark. When Orphen didn't respond, Majic felt frustration quickly giving way to fear. He called again, panic edging into his voice, "Master? Are you OK? Is something wrong?"
Majic jumped when he felt Orphen's hand on his shoulder. "Sorry, Majic," he said, "didn't mean to startle you. Everything's fine. I was just thinking…"
Cleao's voice floated out of the darkness in front of them once again as she called, "So?"
"Well," Orphen replied hesitantly, "um, probably two … maybe … three … days."
"WHAT?!" Cleao screamed.
Majic was surprised to feel Orphen's hand, which still rested on his shoulder, involuntarily tense, and he heard the older boy duck, as if Orphen intended to escape Cleao's wrath. He chuckled to himself. Cleao was probably the only person he knew who could make his master tremble in fear. He knew that Orphen tried to hide things from the girl because he hated suffering the consequences when Cleao was unhappy or dissatisfied. And, there were always consequences.
"Two or three days … IN THE DARK?" Cleao screamed back. "You leather-wrapped magic toady! You'd better PRAY that I don't make it out of here, or you're gonna be SORRY! I mean it! Tricking me into coming in here…"
"L … look, Cleao," Orphen stammered as he involuntarily backed away from the girl's angry tirade. He grunted as he tripped and fell over a loose rock in the pathway. "Shit, that hurt! It'll probably leave a mark," he muttered. "Look, Cleao, it doesn't have to be that way, OK?" He could hear Cleao's angry muttering moving closer and closer to him in the dark, and, in a panic, he called out, "Light!"
A perfect ball of light formed over Orphen's open palm, illuminating a radius of several feet around the trio. Majic laughed when he saw his master. Orphen had tripped and fallen over a large rock in the middle of the path, and he was in a sitting position, with a slightly panicked look on his face. It was clear that the young sorcerer was afraid of making their female companion angry.
"Master, are you OK?" Majic asked as he tried unsuccessfully to stifle a giggle. He held out his hand, silently offering to help Orphen stand. The young sorcerer glared at him, but he took Majic's hand and pulled himself into a standing position while still balancing the light ball over his open palm.
"Well, isn't that just dandy?" Cleao snapped as she stepped forward to inspect the results of Orphen's light spell. "That's just great if we only want to see a few feet at a time. I thought you were the most powerful sorcerer from the Tower of Fang," she said sarcastically, "and that's the best you can do?" She stopped a few steps away from Orphen, with her hands on her hips, and looked at him angrily. "Well?"
Orphen leaned forward until his face was only inches from Cleao's. Even in the dim light, Majic could clearly see the blush that spread across her face, and she quickly stepped back to put a small space between herself and the young sorcerer.
"Don't get your panties in a wad, OK? Watch this," Orphen said quietly. He blew the light ball up off of his palm, and it floated in the air in front of him for a second as he whispered, "Illuminate." At his command, the ball traveled straight up, divided into three smaller balls, and shot into the ceiling and walls surrounding them. Immediately, the tunnel exploded into thousands of twinkling, sparkling lights, enabling the three companions to see clearly.
"It's … beautiful," Cleao sighed as she watched the lights sparkle and twinkle all around them. "It's so … beautiful."
Majic sighed and nodded in agreement. During the time he and Cleao had traveled with Orphen, the sorcerer had shown them a lot of amazing things, but this one had to be near the top of that list. "Master, it really is … beautiful. But, how…"
Orphen shrugged and moved toward the cave's wall. He gently plucked a glowing stone from the wall and held it up in front of his face. "Phosphorous," he replied. When Majic and Cleao just stared at him blankly, he shook his head, "Geez. Did you two even GO to school? I mean, I can understand the shopping queen over there, but, really, Majic, I have to admit I'm disappointed in you." When they still didn't reply, he said, "It glows."
Yeah, I know that, Master. But, how did you know?"
Orphen shrugged again and gestured toward the tunnel's walls and ceiling. "This isn't just a tunnel. It's a series of caverns, too, and a lot of them contain magical ruins and relics left behind by the Heavenly Ones. A lot of people believe that the Heavenly Ones actually built this passage through the mountain."
"Do you think that's true?" Majic asked.
"Who knows?" Orphen replied. "The tunnel sure is a lot more advanced than anyone around here could build, so I guess it's possible. At any rate, no one really knows that much about it, but I learned about the tunnel and its caverns at the Tower of Fang. There are some caverns that no one has ever been in, so no one knows what might be in them."
"So, why did you let me hang around at the entrance being scared if you already knew about the tunnel?" Majic asked. "You must have already known it was fairly safe and that we wouldn't have to stumble around in the dark the whole time."
Orphen ruffled Majic's hair as he walked past the boy. "You need to learn to have faith in your Master, Majic … and in yourself," he replied, "no matter what the situation."
As he moved past Cleao to continue onward into the glowing tunnel, the girl reached out and grabbed Orphen's leather jacket. "Wait just a darn minute! If you knew all about this phos-whatever glowing thing, why did you make us walk all that way in the dark?"
Orphen gently placed his hand against the girl's cheek, surprising her enough that she released her hold on his clothes. "Oh, that was just for fun," he said, laughing. As Cleao lunged forward to slug him, he whispered, "Away", and disappeared in the midst of several flickering, blue-green lights.
"Don't think you can just disappear like that, you weasely wizard!" Cleao screamed into the now-empty air. "You're gonna be sorry when I catch up to you!" At first, Majic felt sorry for his master, but, when he looked over at Cleao, he could see that the girl was smiling, indicating that Orphen really had very little to fear.
"Well?" Cleao snapped, turning her attention from Orphen's disappearance to Majic. She speared him with an angry look, and Majic involuntarily took a step away from her.
"Well, what?" he asked nervously.
Cleao gave him a disgusted sigh and rolled her eyes. "What are we going to do now that Orphen's taken a powder? Wait around for him to decide to reappear?"
Majic laughed and shook his head as he walked past Cleao and took her hand to pull her along behind him. "No," he replied, "if I know Master, he's not going to come back until you've had a chance to calm down a little. Let's just keep going forward. He'll show up again, eventually."
"I swear!" Cleao snapped as she fell into step behind Majic. "He is SO irresponsible! Why in the world do you insist on hanging around with him?"
Majic laughed again and responded, "Looks like you should ask yourself that same question. Just be happy he left the light for us."
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After they had been walking through the glowing tunnel for about thirty minutes with no sign of Orphen, Cleao pulled Majic to a stop, and, stomping her foot, called out, "All right! Enough! I'm not mad anymore, so you can come out now! ORPHEN!"
She and Majic looked around expectantly, as if they expected Orphen to appear out of one of the walls near them. Well, anything was possible, considering that they were alone because their traveling companion had disappeared into thin air, in the first place. They stood there, waiting for the sorcerer's reappearance for about twenty minutes, with no sign of him. Majic shuffled his feet nervously. He didn't want to admit it, but his master's prolonged absence was beginning to make him a little nervous.
"Cleao, do you think we should go look for him? I mean, something could have happened."
Yeah, right," Cleao muttered under her breath, "we should be so lucky."
Majic glanced over at the girl. Cleao was trying to act as if she were angry, but he could see the worried look on her face and the nervous way she kept glancing around the tunnel. He knew that she was just as worried as he was. Just as he was about to again suggest that they should go look for Orphen, Majic heard his master's voice calling them. He looked in the direction of Orphen's voice and watched as the young sorcerer appeared farther down the tunnel in the middle of several shimmering balls of light.
"Come on, guys!" Orphen called as he waved Majic and Cleao forward. "What are you doing standing around like that?"
Cleao glared at him and stomped her foot as she yelled, "Where the hell have you been?"
Orphen gave her a blank look. "What did I do now?" he asked, looking at Majic.
Cleao cut Majic off before he could reply. "How can you stand there and look so innocent! You know darn good and well what you did!" she snapped as she stomped toward Orphen, grabbing Majic's hand and pulling him along behind her.
"I was just looking for a place to camp," Orphen protested as his two companions stopped beside him. He shrugged and pointed behind him and toward the right. "There's a cavern over there that looks pretty safe --- no wierded-out magical ruins or strange, scary sorcerer left-behinds, at least. I mean, I'm kinda tired, so I thought you guys might be ready to stop, too," he said as he gave Majic another puzzled look.
"We were calling you!" Cleao yelled.
"I wasn't even here, Cleao," Orphen responded. "I didn't hear you. I'm a sorcerer, not a psychic," he mumbled as Cleao brushed past him to enter the cavern he had indicated as a possible camping spot.
"She was just worried about you, Master," Majic said softly.
"Yeah, I can really tell," Orphen mumbled.
He turned as he heard Cleao call out, "OK! This will do! We can camp here tonight!"
Orphen rolled his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. "What a relief! Looks like Her Highness is satisfied, at least for now."
"I HEARD THAT!" Cleao screamed from inside the cavern.
Majic laughed as Orphen sighed heavily and shook his head. "Come on, Master," he said, grabbing Orphen's hand and leading him into the room.
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"Look, guys, I don't think it's such a good idea to be in here," Orphen said as he fidgeted nervously at the cavern's entrance. "Just hurry up, get the water you need to make dinner, and let's go, OK?"
Orphen couldn't figure out why this particular room made him so nervous. When Cleao had announced that they needed some water to cook dinner, the three of them had begun to look for a nearby water source. At first, Cleao had intended to go alone, but Orphen had insisted that they stay together, commenting that the caverns were like a maze, and it was a bad idea for them to separate. There were hundreds of caverns connected to the mountain tunnel, and the three companions had looked into or explored at least a dozen before Cleao announced that she heard the sound of running water coming from the cavern in whose entrance Orphen currently stood. The other caverns had been filled with varying kinds of ruins and relics, all covered with sorcerous runes, and he had been able to feel strong magical power emanating from each of them. This particular cavern, at first observation, seemed completely innocuous. There was a fairly large lake, which was fed by water that ran down the cavern's walls, in the middle of the cave-like room. The lake, which almost looked like a swimming pool, took up most of the floor space, and there was only a small bank of stone, about a foot wide, surrounding it. The cavern, apparently, contained no magical ruins or relics, and he couldn't really feel any power coming from it at all. But, where none of the other caverns had made him feel at all uneasy, this one --- this one made his skin crawl.
Cleao laughed as she dipped one of the cooking pots into the lake. She was enjoying Orphen's discomfort, and had decided to take her time gathering the water they needed so that she could watch him squirm and fidget a little longer. She looked over her shoulder at Orphen and said, "What's your problem, magic man? Getting impatient for your dinner?"
"Shut up, Cleao!" Orphen snapped. "If you're sitting there yapping, you can't be gathering water, and we need to get out of here."
Cleao jumped at the harshness in Orphen's voice. "Geez. Give me a break. I'm going as fast as I can, OK?" she replied.
Orphen took a step into the cavern and yelled, "NO YOU'RE NOT! YOU'RE GOING AS SLOWLY AS POSSIBLE JUST TO PISS ME OFF! I'm not kidding, Cleao. This cavern makes my skin crawl, and if there's something in here that can make me feel like that… well, you know it must be something really scary. So, hurry up so we can get the hell out of here!"
Majic and Cleao looked at each other in surprise. Neither of them had ever seen the young sorcerer behave this way. He appeared to be genuinely frightened, and that fact scared Majic more than anything else he had ever experienced. "Cleao," he whispered, "He's right, OK? I think he's really scared, and I don't really want to meet up with anything that can make him act like this. So, stop giving him such a hard time, and let's just hurry up and get the water. Here, I'll help you." He took one of the empty containers that were sitting on the ground between him and Cleao, and dipped it into the lake.
The moment Majic's hand broke the lake's surface, the placid water started to bubble. It bubbled faster and faster until it looked like it was boiling, and the surface broke up into hundreds of small waves covered with caps of white foam. Majic froze in shock, his hand just below the water's surface. He looked over at Cleao, and she also seemed frozen in place, transfixed by the water's sudden transformation. Even Orphen came into the cavern to stand just behind Majic and Cleao and stare at the water. An eerie silence fell over the cave, broken only by the sound of waves slapping against the lake's rock bank. Majic could see down into the water, and he saw a dark shape swiftly approaching the surface directly in front of him.
Orphen grabbed Majic's collar and Cleao's shoulder, and pulled both of them back, away from the pool's edge, as a sleek, dark head broke the water's surface, followed by another and then another. The three heads rose up from the water until they almost touched the cavern's ceiling, towering over Majic, Cleao, and Orphen. Orphen pulled Majic and Cleao back again, until he was standing between them and the huge creature regarding them from the lake.
"Master," Majic whispered, "what…?"
"I don't know, Majic," Orphen responded through clenched teeth, turning his head slightly to look back at his apprentice. "I don't know what to expect. Just be ready to move … both of you."
He quickly turned his attention back to the creature rising from the lake in front of him. He couldn't see the beast's body, but he knew it had to be huge. Judging from the size of the three heads he could see above the water, he figured the creature's body probably took up most of the lake. Despite the presence of multiple heads, he could tell that there was only one creature, because he could see, just below the water's surface, the point where the three necks joined into one body. He had never seen or heard of such a beast, and, as he stared up into three sets of cold, hard, reptilian eyes, Orphen felt his blood run cold. Although he couldn't feel any magical power emanating from this creature, he sensed something dark and evil about it. The middle head was the largest of the three, but even the two smaller heads flanking it were easily at least six feet long. The heads were covered with shiny black scales, and, in the glow from the shining phosphorous rocks on the cavern's walls, they seemed to sparkle and shimmer, changing from black, to iridescent green, to a glowing blue, and then back to black. Each head was fairly triangular in shape, and they rose above the water on graceful, slender necks. There was a ridge of spiky white bone on the top of each head, which ran halfway down each one of the creature's faces, between its eyes. The bone ridges looked vaguely like crowns, and accented the beast's huge eyes, which were definitely reptilian. They glowed red in the illumination given off from the cavern's walls, and the pupils looked like black slits. Orphen could see huge, white fangs hanging out of the mouth of each head, like ivory daggers. Slowly, the mouth on the creature's middle head opened in a lazy yawn, revealing three rows of razor-sharp teeth, and a long, black, forked tongue, which flopped out of the mouth as it closed. It almost looked like the beast was smiling as it tilted its middle head to one side and stared at them with unblinking eyes.
"So," the creature hissed slowly. Its voice sounded like metal being dragged over jagged rocks, and shook the cavern's walls. "The little one. He was the one who broke my seal, yes?" It lowered its middle head slightly and appeared to smile again, as it looked past Orphen at Majic, and said, "Yes. I can tell. I can feel power from him, power he hasn't touched yet, power … he doesn't even realize. Yes. He broke the seal. My thanks to you, little one. Yes. Thanks."
The creature's steady, unblinking gaze lingered on Majic for a moment, and the boy felt the little hairs on his arms and the back of his neck stand up at the unwanted attention. Slowly, though, it turned its head toward Orphen, and Majic could see its eyes start to glow greedily as the middle head drifted downward until the creature and Orphen were almost eye-to-eye. Majic was shocked to see that his master was trembling, and Orphen's fists were clenched so tightly that Majic could see the network of blue veins just beneath the skin peering out from the sorcerer's gloves. As the head drifted closer to him, Orphen stepped backward, almost tripping over Majic, before he realized that he couldn't back any farther away from the creature.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Orphen demanded. He was trying to control the shaking in his voice and to sound angry and demanding, but Majic could hear the undertone of fear. It was something he couldn't ever remember hearing, no matter what kind of enemies they had faced, and that sound ---- that little tremble in Orphen's voice ---- scared Majic a lot more than the creature in the middle of this lake.
The creature laughed softly, a bone-chilling sound that sounded like rattling chains or a dungeon door slamming, and replied, "Morph. I am … Morph. I was … sealed here. Yes. They … stole my power and … sealed me … here. For a hundred years. Yes. I slept here. Until the little one broke the seal with his … power." The middle head dipped even closer to Orphen, and the creature inhaled deeply. "I need power. Yes. Lots … of … power … to escape … this … place. The little one … his … power … enough to break the seal. But you … yes … you are a sorcerer. Your power. Yes. It would take me … away … from … here. Yes. If I take you … your power … would feed me … for … years." The creature lowered its head until it was looking directly into Orphen's eyes. Its long, forked tongue drifted out of its mouth and leisurely traveled from Orphen's feet, up his body, and over his face in a slow, possessive, almost loving, caress. "Yes. The little one … I'll leave him, but you … I'll take you … instead. Yes. You … are mine … now."
Orphen tried to back away as the creature's tongue licked him, but he discovered he couldn't move. His body was paralyzed, held in place like stone by some unknown force. He knew he was powerless, helpless, and that he would be unable to prevent the creature from doing as it wanted with him. He quickly decided that his only option was to salvage what he could from the situation and at least save Majic and Cleao. "Will you let them go?" he asked the creature.
Morph dipped his middle head in an elegant, graceful motion that appeared to be something between a nod and a bow. "Yes," he replied. "As my gift to … you. I will not … touch … them."
Majic felt his blood run cold as Orphen snapped, "Majic, Cleao, go now. Get the hell out of here right now."
Majic scrambled to his feet and grabbed Orphen's arm, which was as cold as ice. "Master! No! Not this time! We're not leaving without you!"
Orphen, without ever looking away from Morph, replied, "I'll catch up to you, Majic. I promise."
Cleao, who was still sitting in the same position she had landed in when Orphen had jerked her away from the lake, jumped to her feet and yelled, "Stop lying, Orphen! What does it mean, what that thing said? He said he would take you, didn't he? You're trading yourself for us. Well, no deal! We're not leaving until you come with us!"
Orphen slowly turned his head to look at Majic and Cleao. They were both shocked and terrified when they saw the haunted, defeated look in his eyes and heard the hollowness of his voice. "I'm sorry, Cleao," he said, "I can't go with you … now. I can't … even move, and just … talking … is taking all the strength … I have. At least … I'll know … you're … safe." He cast a pleading look toward Majic, and said, "Please, Majic. Please."
Majic could hear the fear and exhaustion in his master's voice, and he felt tears come into his eyes as he nodded and replied, "O … OK, Master." He looked at Cleao, and softly said, "Cleao, let's go."
Cleao looked from Orphen to Majic. Majic could see tears shining in her eyes, mirroring those that he felt spilling down his own face. She shook her head. "No. I'm not going. I'm not leaving you, Orphen."
Morph laughed softly, and the noise managed to tear Cleao and Majic's attention from Orphen and back to the lake. Involuntarily, they stepped backward as the creature's long, black, forked tongue snaked out of its mouth, wrapped around Orphen, and lifted him off of the ground. Almost instantly, the young sorcerer began to scream in pain, and, over the sound of his screams echoing off of the cavern's stone walls and floor, they heard Morph's silky laughter.
Majic felt rage building up inside of him, and he clenched his fists tightly at his sides. He could feel his magical power building along with his rage, and he knew that, if he tried, he could unleash a magical blast that would be strong enough to make the beast release Orphen. He began to concentrate so that he could focus his power. Just as he was about to release his attack against the beast, he heard Orphen's words from earlier that day echoing in his mind, "You need to learn to have faith in your Master, Majic". He looked up to see Orphen watching him with pain-filled eyes, and he nodded to show that he understood.
He took Cleao's hand and said, his voice firm, "No, Cleao. We're leaving. We have to trust him." He looked at Orphen once more and then turned to leave the cavern, dragging a sobbing Cleao behind him.