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Chapter Eighteen:
The Battle With the Cahlot
Marium entered the cave
first, sword unsheathed. She noted that the cahlot was busily fussing over
something in the back of the dark dwelling. Quickly, she motioned to Cadillac,
who was clutching his beads in prayer. He joined her behind a massive boulder.
LW was wrapped around
Marium’s neck, obviously scared paralyzed. She took a deep breath and peered
over the rock. The cahlot was wrapping itself up around something, getting
ready to take a nap.
Marium nodded, once, then
stepped out into the open. Nothing happened. It was apparent that the bird
didn’t think of her as an enemy. It’s because I’m the embodiment of Yin!
That’s the answer, then!
“Cad!” she whispered,
hurriedly. “It doesn’t think that I’ll hurt it! What if I…”
While she was explaining
the idea to Cadillac, LW slipped down and snuck over to the cahlot. What
Cadillac and Marium didn’t know was that, this cahlot, was a mother. It was
curled up around its large egg, protecting it. And LW was invading the mother’s
space.
A bone rattling squawk
vibrated in Marium’s ears, and she saw the cahlot rise, now infuriated at the
intrusion. LW ran passed Marium, and hid behind the giant rock.
But Marium wasn’t so
lucky. “AH!” The bird launched an open, sharp talon at the priestess, who moved
just in time to miss the brunt of the blow. She hadn’t gotten out of the way
entirely, which showed by the slash on her side. It dripped with blood and
stung with mind numbing pain.
While the cahlot was
regaining its footing from the attack, Cadillac cast a spell. “Laeh!”
Marium felt the wound
seal and her blood stop running. “Thanks, Cad!”
She gripped her sword,
and waited for the cahlot to attack again. It did. This time, with its beak.
Marium was ready, she leapt out of the way, and brought the blade down with a
deadly sweep. Now the cahlot bore a gaping wound on its face.
“Now to subdue it so we
can get some of its blood!” Marium sent Cadillac a glance. He shook his head.
“I don’t have that kind
of spell!” he yelled, but immediately went into chant position again. Marium
growled, and turned her attention to the cahlot again. She was too late again,
and was thrown into the wall of the cave by the bird’s beating wings.
“Ung…” she tried to get
up, but her legs hurt so much. Her mind was blurry, she couldn’t think clearly
enough to do more than sit up. “Cad, hurry, it’s right in front of you! Run!”
In her desperation,
Marium had unlocked a part of her she’d never known before. “I’ve lost too many
friends! Not Cadillac! I won’t let you hurt him! SUMMON BLUE!!!”
As if erupting from her
very soul, a giant, blue dragon crashed out of the deep blue crystal on her
breast plate. Its roar shook everything, even the cahlot.
Blue struck out with its
huge maw, and ripped the cahlot apart instantly. Marium watched, half dead, as
Blue returned to its crystal, leaving a bewildered Cadillac.
“Cad, I’m sorry. I almost
got you killed… uh.” She fell back against the rocks, emptily. A hacking cough
brought a trickle of blood from her lips. Cadillac’s eyes filled with tears and
his voice was drenched with love and admiration.
“I’ll heal you right
away, Marium. I can’t let you go. You’re the hope of this world.” He said,
laying a hand on her forehead, and chanting a powerful healing spell.
Then he plopped down
beside her. They glanced at each other, and then burst out laughing. Wrapping
each other up in a giant bear hug, they let the tears of joy and happiness
spill out.
“Oh, hurry, let’s get
some cahlot’s blood in the bottle.” Marium slowly stood and hobbled over to the
remains of the giant bird. Cadillac followed, fishing a crystal bottle out of
the big pouch he was carrying.
Again he cast a spell,
making a tiny funnel appear in one of the puddles of blood, and motioning for
it to jump into the bottle. He then placed the cork stopper in the mouth of the
bottle and held it up. Marium squealed in delight and jumped in the air,
raising her arms high. “YEAH! We did it!!!”
Then, out of no where, a
cracking noise split the air. Cadillac looked around to spot the egg. “Oh no.”
“What’s that matter, Cad?
What’re you looking at?” she turned and stared in the direction her pointed in.
“Whoa. You’re kidding me.”
LW made a weird noise and
ran over to the egg. “No! Stop that feerpt! They are natural predators to baby
cahlots!”
Marium dove for the
little feerpt, snatching him in his quest for the baby bird being born. “Oh my
god, it’s so little compared to its mother. What have we done, Cad?”
The baby cahlot was wet,
and barely managed to sit up. It opened its eyes and squawked, hungrily. “I can
get it some food. I’ll summon some meat here.”
A piece of raw meat
shimmered to existence in front of the little cahlot. Marium knelt down to the
cahlot, and placed one hand on its head, which produced a purring sound from
the little bird. “Cad, we can’t just leave it here.”
“Marium… we already have
to take care of that demon.” Cadillac motioned in the direction LW sat,
brooding. “We don’t have enough provisions for this.”
Marium sent him a look.
“Cadillac, if that’s the case then… I’ll give up my food for it. It’s not fair.
We killed its mother, how else is it going to protect itself? It needs us.”
Surprised at her
selflessness, Cadillac nodded in agreement. “Alright. But we’ll let it loose
once we get to the temple.”
Out of no where, a bright
flame burst into life. A huge, red dragon took shape from the inferno.
“Priestess of Yin. I see that you already have my comrade in your arsenal. You
have shown me your great power to fight for what you believe is right.”
“The compassion you have
shown makes you worthy to bear my crystal and harness my spirit. Use my power
as your own.” The fire dragon bowed its massive head in submission, and
dissipated into a red mist that swirled around Marium’s chest plate and sword.
When it disappeared, a
new, bright red crystal shone on her armor, and her sword looked different.
“It’s evolved! Haha, Marium, you’ve gotten stronger!”
The High Priestess smiled
at Cadillac, noticing the baby cahlot had gone at the same time the dragon had.
“It was testing me. Now…”
Cadillac knew what she
was going to say. “Yes, let’s go to Riano to get the herbs and other
ingredients!”
“Right!” Marium exclaimed, happily,
stroking LW, who was perched on her shoulder.