The Secondary Saga

[Yu Kanda]

Group 2

Above Klaud the older man was struggling to make it up the stairs. What was he thinking ? Carrying a torch and climbing a stairs with only one hand. Even though the general admired the warrior spirit of the man, there was no need for him to make it any more difficult. Zyra was following Klaud up the stairs, the hunter Clayton behind her. There still was no sign of Roger, who with all his honor provided cover for the rest of the group to escape. Her respect for both Isaac and Roger has grown within this short time span. One can only get to know another person in a time of crisis. That's when her thoughts brought her to Clayton, who impressed her at first when he set the bowl ablaze and provided with a well lit room. Unfortunately he did not think about what kind of reaction his actions could've caused. He basically set off the trap that may or may not have claimed the life of one of their comrades. Even Zyra was in a tight spot for a moment thanks to that trap, surrounded by snakes she would've been seriously hurt if Klaud did not assist her fending the reptiles off. She will have to keep a close eye on the hunter indeed. But even though the hunter might pose a threat she needs him and his skills if they want to make it out of this deathtrap.

Klaud's thoughts were all over the place but then snapped back in the moment, seeing Isaac was still struggling with the torch. With a whispering voice she spoke to him "Isaac, hand me the torch. We cannot afford to take ones pride into consideration when time is of an essence."

“Thanks, I appreciate it” he wheezed, passing the torch into his good hand.

"Klaud nodded and turned around “don’t mention it.”

Once the torch was passed on Isaac picked up speed. For an older fellow he wasn't as helpless as one might think at first glance. Klaud threw another glance below her, checking to see if Zyra and Clayton were still behind her. She saw both faces looking up as they were still climbing, yet still no word from Roger.

After a long climb upwards the quartet reached the end of the ladder. Isaac immediately sat down against one of the walls, the poor man was exhausted by the climb. Sweat drops were clearly visible even with the limited flickering light provided by the torch. Klaud got up the platform as well, although she tried not to let it show, the climb tired her out. Once the female general got some decent footing she turned to help Zyra get up safely. She extended her hand, which Zyra was glad to accept and got pulled up. After Zyra got up and sat down Klaud reached down for Clayton. The male hunter smiled in a way that made Klaud feel uncomfortable for a moment when he grabbed her hand. His grip on her hand was firm and was actually hurting Klaud. Even with her best attempt to hide it she still winced for a second.

"Thank you, my dear" He said with a specific tone and the same spooky smile on his face. " Lets not sit around too long and find the exit of this place".
Klaud did not like it but he was right. This place was dangerous, both Zyra and Isaac are tired. And even though the creature Zyra kept up a brave face she was struggling. " He is right, we cannot sit here too long. Roger is a fine soldier, i am sure he will catch up. Can you both walk ?"

Isaac provided words of comfort to her ears " Of course I can walk, it takes more than a little climb to stop me from completing this quest." The one armed man got up and dusted himself off a bit.

Zyra seemed inspired by the older man's words and got up as well " Yes I can go on, don't you worry about me." she said confident. Even though Layton did not seem to impressed he refrained from speaking as he looked down the dark hallway that was in front of them.

" Very well, I'll take point. Followed by Zyra and Isaac. Clayton i would like you to take the back and keep an eye out for any sign of Roger's return. Also, everyone keep an eye out for traps. Don't do anything rash."

None of her companions seemed to have anything against her plan and with that order they started to walk through the hallway. Their pace was slow and steady. Klaud did not intent to set up another trap, especially in a hallway like this. She felt a hand on her shoulder stopping her from walking, she turned her head to Zyra who's hand was stopping Klaud. "Careful, look at those stones" Zyra spoke as she nodded towards several stones that did not look like the others, another trap.

"That's a keen eye you got there, thanks. Everyone avoid these brownish stones, it's obviously a trap" Klaud said to the men of the group. Slowly and carefully everyone placed their feet in between the trapped stones. It was a moment of balance instead of speed. Luckily the trap ended after only three meters of those odd stones. They were able to follow the rest of the hallway without any difficulties.

It wasn't long before their next challenge appeared. The hallway led the group into a larger cave. Slowly they entered one by one as the torch lit up the cave. The room was damp and round, moss could be seen on the right side of the room, below it several puddles near the wall. In front of them was the exit. Could it really be this easy ? Klaud slowly approached the other side of the room followed by Zyra. When the duo were halfway across the room Isaac yelled from behind them. "Wait ! Look over there, above the exit." And there it was, a shadow was floating above the exit. Slowly moving up and down against the wall. The creature had its claws out and it's white eyes made it even stranger. Yet, it did nothing, it was just floating there. Zyra slowly started to approach it, Klaud not far behind her. The shadow creature did not move. With only a couple more meters to go a loud noise echoed through the cave.

*BLAM*

Rocks moved in every direction as from the centre of the shadow. Klaud turned her head and saw Clayton with a smoking gun. "There, problem fixed". Clayton's words were quickly followed by a high pitch shriek that emerged from the shadow as it quickly moved across the walls over to the floor towards the group. Klaud prepared herself and took a defensive pose. When the shadow approached her with high speed she saw it's hand emerge from the floor aiming for her feet. The veteran warrior did not wait to see what would happen and dodged it. Zyra had her new ally's back and smashed into the back of the shadow, yet it only cracked the floor as the shadow continued towards Clayton and Isaac.

*BLAM*

Another shot fired , leaving a hole in the floor. The creature was still going strong, shrieked once more and came at them full speed. Both men jumped away as the shadow passed them and went up the wall, coming around for another attack.

"How the bloody hell are we suppose to kill a shadow?" Layton shouted as his eyes followed the shadow moving quickly over the walls. At that same moment the cave started to shake slightly. Klaud noticed a collapsing noise coming from the hallway they original came from. Was that Roger ? did he fell for the trap ? There was no time as the shadow creature turned around for his next approach, this time heading straight for Isaac. This time the man did not intent to run, a small yet sharp blade emerged as he sidestepped the attackers approach and stabbed it into the back of the shadow. It continued to move leaving Isaac with his sword stuck in the floor. He quickly pulled it out and took a fighting stance.

" It's a Shadow ! Kill the light kill the shadow!" A voice shouted from the hallway. There stood Roger, Covered in dust and with his gun in his hand. He survived ! " Don't look at me ! The light, kill the damn light" His words woke up Klaud from her thoughts. She aimed the torch at one of the puddles at the side of the room and threw it towards it. As the torch flew through the sky the creature shrieked once more as it followed the torch as it disappeared within the water, turning the room into total darkness.

Silence followed after the light went out. "That was a brilliant idea, I don't know about you people but I am no nocturnal creature. How do you suggest we get out of this hell?" Clayton's words broke the silence with his sarcasm.

"Everyone meet at me, follow my voice and and walk carefully towards my direction" Klaud said. She started a hum for them to follow. The first hand touched her hip. "Found you."Zyra said. It didn't take too long for everyone to gather at Klaud.

"Everyone take hold of a part of my whip, we will create a train so we won't lose each other. And Roger, glad to have you back Soldier" She rolled out her whip and made sure everyone was holding it with. "Roger, could you provide us with one of those blasts ? We need a flash of light to see the exit"

"I am running low on ammo, i can spare one shot so keep your eyes open."

A single shot was fired and lit up the cave once more but only for a second. That second was enough to see where the exit was. The general started to walk towards that direction with her right hand on the whip and the left hand in front of her. She finally touched the wall.

"Alright, here it is. let's stick close to the wall."


For a while there was nothing but darkness, everyone was silent and uneasy. They could walk right into a trap and not even see it coming. Klaud's left hand moved over the rocks on her left when suddenly the rocks slowly transitioned to more carved stones. She slowed down the pace and moved her hand over the much less rougher exterior. She felt a ditch within the wall and with her touch a dark blue light emerged within the ditch, it moved along the wall and it split into two, into four, into eight. The light was following the ditches that seemed to be going all over the walls. Within seconds an entire hall was lit. The group looked around in awe. It was beautiful, a room with white stones covered in ditches that emitted the light. Just a couple of steps forward there was some sort of mirror facing them. Yet, they did not see themselves. Within the reflection they saw some of their comrades they lost within the temple. Klaud recognized Crow amongst them. It seemed they were fine and alive.

" What do you think these symbols represent? " Roger said standing next to a pillar filled with strange symbols

"I don't know and I don't like it. Just don't touch anything before we search this room. And Clayton do not shoot anything"

What was this room, and why were they able to see the others ? The questions kept piling up.