The False Hero

The False Hero: Chapter 4

Sparkling Trial

By Raymora Mayven

From a relaxing journey to his favorite place , to running for his life inside such a place, really wasn't how Raymora planned on spending the day. He knew it won't be long before they caught up to him, he wasn't exactly the fastest dragon in the world. He ran through the depths of the cavern, trying to remember where to find the exit. If he could just make it to the surface he could easily lose them in the woods. Yet something was off, the tunnels of the cave seemed out of order. Places where he normally turned left weren't there, and none of the rock formations looked familiar. It was as if the entire cave shifted into a whole new system. Raymora dismissed the thought, that was just impossible. He assumed that in his panic he must have ran past the correct path leading to the open world. Meaning, he was in an uncharted area of the cave.

That also seemed impossible, however, as Raymora has explored this cave thoroughly. He knew every single section of the cave, but everything here looked foregin to him. While he didn't want to believe that the cave had managed to change, he had to accept it as he entered the large circular opening.

He stood upon a ledge, one that wrapped around the edge of the cavern like a spiral staircase. There was no middle ground, only a gaping hole that lead to unknown depths. On the left side of the room, was a strange looking waterfall. Unlike other waterfalls, which poured strong currents of water, this one was gentle. It was calm and water fell peacefully, creating a transparent wall of water that ran down the left side of the cave. Whatever had happened, Raymora knew that he had never been here before. It looked like a dead end, only a void of darkness loomed below him. The opening was bright, sparkling crystals lined the walls similar to the one at the lake. They glowed vibrantly, shades of blue, white and sky-blue. At the very top of the cave, was a massive sky-blue crystal, that pointed downwards towards the void. It would have been a beautiful sight, if not for the howling of footsteps echoing from behind him.

He only heard two, that meant Team Storm was on his tail- it was safer to assume that Phares was with them, as she made no sound when running. Raymora evaluated his options: he had no idea where the depths lead to, or if he would even survive the fall. No, going down wasn't an option, nor was going forward. Which meant the only way was up. He glanced at his wings and started to tremble. Even though Raymora was a dragon, he hated flying. Today, he would rely on his own skill -as always. Making his decision, shaking in fear, he started to sprint across the ledge, it was just wide enough for him to run across without fear of falling. However, as soon as he touched the ledge, he felt it shift underneath his feet. It was not stable, but it was the best chance he had.

Raymora knew that he was in big trouble, he was terrified in every way but he couldn't allow it to take over. He gathered his courage and took a deep breath, and started to jog across the ledge, keeping his mind on the task at hand rather than his emotions. Now was not the time to be scared, he thought making his way across a narrow path. He tried to not look down, his fear of falling motivated him to keep moving. The second motivation was the crossbow bolt that struck three inches in front of him. His eyes widened as he gasped in shock, turning his head to find Lupin standing with his crossbow drawn, loading another bolt.

With the light of the crystals shining off his reddish fur, illuminated his face. He frowned, pointing his snout at Raymora with a cornered look. "Yo, you are lucky I don't want to hurt you, otherwise I wouldn't have missed. Why don't you come with me, and we can find another way out of here." he said sincerely, letting his pointed fennec ears drop and giving a small friendly smile and lowering his weapon. Raymora stood conflicted, the members of team storm did come to his aid when the raven had him. Yet, he also remembered seeing the bag of wealth the Raven offered, and the fox's earlier words about his morals. Most importantly he remembered that the raven wanted him alive.