Mission 2 .:. The Maze

Darios hadn't been able to help it... He just -had- to come along. He was a Wyrm of Fortune, a creature bound as closely to Ether as possible. So if there was a new source of it, he just had to witness it!!

Hiding inside the King's bag in his dragon form, the small wyrm made sure he remained motionless to not alarm the other man. Seirian would never ever take him with him if he knew!

But what was supposed to happen? Seriously... it was an old and dusty labyrinth that hadn't been entered since at least thousand years. And seriously, if Seirian died, due to the Ether link, after not even a year, he'd follow, so really, why was the alpaca even bothering?

He wiggled deeper into the pocket when the King reached inside, getting one of his items, a piece of paper, maybe to mark a path of the labyrinth or something... Carefully peeking out for a second, the wyrm looked around. Seirian was indeed making notes, as usual too perfectionistic, not agreeing with the soldier that was drawing out a map probably, wanting it to be as detailed as possible.

Rolling his dual colored eyes, the wyrm disappeared back into the bag and yawned cutely, deciding to take a nap until they were finally there.

After about two hours, something started shaking all of a sudden. The knights shouted before their voices seemed to suddenly grow distant, followed by a sensation of falling.

“WAH!!!” Darios was shaken through the bag, suddenly being squeezed heavily, all air being pressed out of him. Flailing and squeaking helplessly, the little dragon tried to get out of the bag to not suffocate but the weight was simply too much.

Moments later, a hand reached into the bag, grasping at the wyrm and pulling him out, Darios looking into the angered face of his King, giving him a sheepish and innocent sweet smile. “H-Hi Seirian.”

Oh, how the alpaca -hated- it when the dragon gave him that fake smile...

“What part of 'Stay in Seirinmir' didn't you understand, Darios!?” Seirian growled, his eyes narrowed.

“I took a nap in your bag and when I woke up, I was here. I just didn't worry you, that's all. That's why I kept hiding.” The wyrm had a true gift for lying without even blinking, but Seirian knew better by now.

“I'm not sure what's more insulting... that you are lying to my face or the fact that you actually believe I'd buy such nonsense.” The alpaca huffed.

Now that Darios had a moment to actually look around, he frowned. Seirian was pressing against a stone slide, his long legs pressed against the narrow walls, right below them, sharp blades pointing toward them.

They were stuck in a trap... and if it wasn't for the alpaca's acrobatic skills, they would be dead now.

“Oh...” Darios gulped before winding out of the King's grip, using his smooth body to glide up the stone slide, finding an opening in the wall. Turning back human, the dragon let his tail hang out for the alpaca to grasp and climb back up.

Only once the other man was safe, Darios sighed deeply, scratching his cheek. “See? Good thing I'm here or you'd be stuck there for the next couple of hours.”

“Don't get too cocky. Otherwise I will just throw you back down there.” The alpaca murmured with an annoyed expression, straightening his jacket and looking up at where he had fallen... A wall had suddenly dropped between him and his men, separating him from the soldiers before the floor had flipped down, causing him to slide down the trap, almost getting pierced through by those blades if he hadn't managed to stop his fall.

"Well... There is no way I can climb back up -that-.. its too smooth." And far.. he added silently as he turned away from the opening to look down the passage of what Darios had pulled them into. "I suppose that is the only way to go for now." As he began to lead the way, he glanced down at the wyrm next to him.

"Don't worry. We'll find a way out." Darios nodded, expression looking determined which sort of annoyed Seirian. There was no way the wyrm had just happened to be napping in his bag.

"You -really- should have stayed in Serinmir like I had said." The king shook his head as they walked the stone corridor, keeping a keen eye out for any other traps..

"Yeah.. well I didn't. So there's no point in yelling at me now is there?" Darios asked a little too easily, definitely betraying the fact that this had been planned.

"If anything happens, I want you to shift and get back into the bag right away. Got it?" Seirian chose to ignore his argument and just issued the order.

Darios' eyes narrowed at that and he had to bite his tongue, only giving a small nod. He knew he was a liability in most situations as he wasn't a mage or fighter, and not even very good at running or jumping.. but still.. it sort of hurt to have to be told something like that even if it really was for the best.

Seirian could tell Darios understood without him having to spell it out, but this was the type of situation where pride was hardly anyone's first concern. Just getting in and out alive was first priority.

"This.. corridor is.. oddly long.." Seirian murmured after a while of simply walking straight. "I thought this was supposed to be a maze.."

"Yeah.. I was just thinking that." Darios replied, scuffing a toe along the rough stone bellow their feet. "Well that makes it easier doesn't it?" He asked, trying to sound cheerful. However his attempt instantly was nullified as Seirian froze on the spot for a moment, fuzzy golden ears swiveling this way and that.

"I hear.. a mechanism.." he started to say but was cut off there as the rumbling suddenly got much louder so that anyone would be able to hear it. Wildly the king and wyrm looked around for what sort of trap had sprung this time.

It took them both a moment before realizing that the motion they expected was coming from.. above. At the same time the two men realized what was happening.. The ceiling had been high enough that it had been out of range of their light and cast in deep shadow. As it descended now though, a full range of sharp spikes could be seen coming down at an alarmingly fast rate.

"RUN!" Shouted Seirian, picking Darios up in one arm and starting off at his fastest. He was alpaca, so his long legs and natural agility helped him to be much, much faster than most... but he was quickly wondering if it would be enough. The hallway was long, and even though he could see a doorway at the end of it now, it was still quite a ways off and the spikes were not pausing for a moment.
"Shift down, Darios!" Seirian instructed, probably hoping to get a bit more speed without having to worry about hauling a man along with him.

The wyrm instantly did as told and coiled himself around his king's arm as the alpaca picked up his pace to full.
Darios trusted Seirian.. they would make it!

However it seemed that Seirian wasn't so sure about that.. Without even thinking he yanked Darios from his arm, drew back and threw the wyrm as hard as he could down the hallway. Already he was having to duck halfway as he ran, slowing him some.. he wasn't going to make it.

"No!!" Darios cried as he went flying through the air, clearing the doorway and skidding across the room. He shifted back to human and jumped up, running back for the door. Just as he was a few paces from it though, he could see Seirain's face.. as it disappeared under the thick stone slab that housed the spikes. Seirian had tried to leap and slide the last few feet himself, yet it still wasn't enough. He had been forced too low and had not been able to get enough force behind his jump. Their eyes had met for a split second then a loud resounding sound of impact shook the labyrinth as the long row of spikes finally lowered to a stop. All was purely still and silent.

"n.. NO!! SEIRIAN !! NOO!!" Darios cried, launching himself at the now mostly blocked doorway. His small hands tried to pull at the stone but to absolutely no use.. Red faced and breathing hard, Darios staggered a few steps and fell to his knees. It couldn't just be over.. maybe he was still alive! He hadn't felt the bond break, so.. so he had to be alive right?! But all Darios could imagine was the tall, lean man laying there crushed and full of bloody holes.
Just as the wyrm's mind was really starting to go wild in panic, a muffled cough came from the doorway.

"Th.. this is incredibly uncomfortable..." Came Seirian's voice.

"Seirian!!" Darios launched himself back at the stone. "Are you alright!?!?"

"Relatively.. Just.. see if you can find some sort of lever or button to put this back up, would you?" It was obvious the king was straining but still trying to remain calm as best he could. "I'm not sure.. how much air I'll have left..."

"R-Right!!" Darios jumped up and tried to look around the room he was in, having to furiously wipe away the tears that blurred his vision. "H-here! There's something here!"

"Try it then. Just be careful." Seirian said, though it was followed by a bit of a hiss and a grunt.

Running over and without thinking what might happen to himself if this was some other sort of trap in this very room, Darios pushed the lever back with all his might.
Nothing seemed to happen for a moment in which Darios felt his heart straining near breaking...
But then the rumbled suddenly shook the area again and the wall began to rise!

Darios went back over to the door way, hopping from one foot to the other in terrible anxiety as the stone and spikes slowly re-ascended. As soon as they were high enough that Darios could crouch down and look in past the spikes he did so, and let out a relieved sob.

Seirian lay there in a very awkward position. His head was tilted back way too far, back arched painfully, arms in odd positions as well as legs in even more awkward angles.

As the spikes fully cleared, the alpaca gave a huge sigh and seemed to curl in on himself for a moment even as Darios leaped for him.

"There were pock marks all over the floor.. Those spikes have fallen there before. A few times at the very least." he said, slowly sitting up. "I was just lucky they didn't descend all the way or I would have been flattened even if not poked full of holes."

Darios clung to Seirian, shaking him slowly and trying to not sob anymore but his adrenaline was so high it was almost impossible.

"Whoever made this was expecting much.. wider of victims." Seirian glared up towards the ceiling as the spikes slowly slid back into their shadows. "I was quick enough to lay in a way that -just- fit between them.. most of them.." He hissed a little again as Darios touched one arm. A bright red gash had been torn open on his upper left arm as one of the spikes had been thicker than the others and he hadn't quite gotten out of its way in time.

After seeing the wound,Darios instantly began to dig through Seirain's bag.. which hadn't made it out of that hole free, but most things were in tact still. Yanking out a bandage, he began to move to wrap the king's arm. Seirian was already standing though.
"Lets move.. I really don't want that thing to trigger again while we are still under it."

Darios nodded and helped Seirian up and into the end room where he sat the alpaca down and began to bandage his arm tightly. It was a rather decent wound, however knowing Seirian he would continue on as if it were nothing.

"...You shouldn't have thrown me ahead." Darios said in a whisper with eyes downcast as he continued wrapping the bandage.

"Don't." Seirian said in a warning tone, though it was slightly more gentle than it should have been. "I am really not in the mood for that right now, Darios.. I just did it without thinking. Leave it at that."

Darios huffed a bit but had to nod.

It wasn't easy for the wyrm to admit that he was useless, but other than forming contracts he barely had any other qualities... He was neither strong, nor fast, nor in any way skilled with magic. Combined with his ability to run into trouble wherever he went, he was the type of person one would rather not have around when wandering through a maze packed with traps.

Satisfied with how the bandages looked eventually, the smaller man stood up, his long tail moving a little in aggitation behind him. “Do you want to rest? W-we can make a break.” The wyrm suggested in a murmur, looking a little worriedly over the other man. Seirian and Ayabelle had taken him in after he had left Yardenah Ran, so he felt as close to them as family. A real family, not that twisted brotherly love-hatred relation between him and Tyrant of course.

“No. Let's move on. Who knows how deep in we got already. We need to either find an exit or catch up with the others.” The alpaca replied in his usual, serious and business like tone, slowly getting back to his feet and rolling his shoulders carefully to not hurt his arm any more.

“Alright, but don't overdo it, okay?” Darios murmured with a deep sigh, shaking his head before starting to walk toward the next corridor.

“Darios.” Seirian instantly called out in a warning manner, reminding the wyrm he was supposed to stay -behind- the alpaca. Groaning a little annoyed, he obeyed the King though, stepping pointedly behind him with a pouty expression.


The deeper they got into the labyrinth, the darker it became. Fortunately though, Darios marks gleamed in a soft and golden hue. Grinning happily that he was useful after all, even if it was as human torch, the dragon looked around curiously, staring at the ancient walls, the strange plants growing from them which he had never seen before and feeling how the strangely high amount of ether seemed to enter him, raising his life spirits...

Seirian was tempted to grab the wyrm and stuff him into his bag either way... Just out of principle! And to keep him safe of course. But mainly just out of principle.

“Don't get too distracted. We might still end up activating traps, so stay focused.” The alpaca murmured, his amethyst eyes trying to spot any strange looking stone, possible switch or booby trap.

With every step they took however, it became harder to see and soon, the few marks that showed on Darios' tip of the tail and face weren't enough to see properly anymore.

“Well... you could strip down so we get some extra light from your marks on your body too.” The King suggested seriously, receiving a smack against his shin by the wyrm's tail in reply though.

“No freaking way in hell!” The dragon huffed but then tilted his head. “Hmm? Can you hear that?” He murmured with a frown.

“Hear what?” The alpaca cocked an eyebrow, his fluffy ears turning a little to all directions... and indeed! There was the sound of running water coming from ahead.

“Water!!” Darios cheered, starting to run, of course without any care for where he was stepping.

“DARIOS!!” Seirian half yelled while sprinting after the smaller man, stepping on the wyrm's tail with all force to stop him. Falling forward, the dragon whined, rubbing his hurting face. “Traps! Switches! Danger! Now get into my bag!!”

“Spoil Sports...” Pouting, the smaller man changed into his little wyrm form and crawled back up the King's pants to get into his pocket. Now though, Seirian found himself in the situation that he had no light at all anymore. Great... just great...

The further the alpaca walked, his hand moving along the walls to orientate himself, the more he had the feeling as if this part of the maze was located somewhere beneath the sea after all. It dripped from the roof, causing chills to run down his spine every time it his his curly golden hair or even neck. The stones on the side were also rather moist by now, giving the King a feeling of unease. But this was the only way they could go. Everything else had been dead ends so far. He just hoped that there was no hidden switch somewhere that was going to cause the roof to open or something... He was a good swimmer but not even he would be able to get out of that.

Nervously letting his fingers glide along the walls he sighed eventually. “Darios. Get around my shoulders.” He murmured, looking down at his pocket, the tiny wyrm instantly perking out, his glowing marks spreading a bit of light through the darkness instantly.

Squeaking happily, the dragon slid back up the King's shoulders, sitting there as if it was his personal little throne.

“Seirian, look!” Darios turned his gaze upward in awe. Now that his light enabled the alpaca to see at least some, he turned his gaze up. The water wasn't coming from the ceiling directly, so they weren't beneath a large water tank, lake or even sea, but there were aqueducts running from one side of the ceiling to the next. That was where the sound of water was coming from... they also led into different tunnels above their heads it seemed, though even Seirian wouldn't be able to jump that high. “Maybe we find a way to get up the-” The wyrm was stopped mid sentence when suddenly the alpaca sank a little into the ground, a clicking sound of a switch following. “T-that wasn't my fault!!” Darios shouted instantly, though, basically it was as he had asked for the King to look up...

Seirian only hissed in an annoyed manner, looking around to find out what was happening... soon finding the answer.

The ground behind them shook heavily as a large boulder came rolling toward them, leaving Seirian no other choice but to start sprinting as quickly as he could.

The corridor seemed endless, more and more aqueducts running over their heads, dropping a bit of water on them here and there as they ran for their life. The boulder wasn't faster than the King, but it was only a matter of time until the alpaca would become tired and start slowing down...

Darios tried to think of something while Seirian ran... suddenly having an idea!

“Throw me!!”

“What?!” The King replied already a little breathlessly.

“If I can get on one of the aqueducts, in human form, my tail should be long enough so that you can reach it from down here!!” Darios shouted, already sliding down the other man's arm so he could throw him.

“If this doesn't work, make sure you get out on your--”

“We are not going to go -there- now!!” The wyrm interrupted, huffing angrily.

Shaking his head, Seirian shut up... before, with all his strength left in his healthy arm, he threw the wyrm up toward one of the water channels above.

Darios switched back into his human form instantly once he had landed, holding himself as tightly as he could on them, his long tail hanging down. The glow was impossible to miss in the darkness.

Pulling himself together, Seirian took one last glance behind his back, the boulder being only a few meters away from him... but he jumped as high as he could his healthy and even hurt arm grabbing onto the tail, using the momentum to push himself up further.

His legs felt the hit of the boulder, but since he was high enough, he simply got shoved out of the way, the rolling stone disappearing in the darkness ahead of them until, after a couple more moments, a loud bang followed by shaking of the entire corridor, indicated that the boulder had reached the end of the tunnel.

“I hate this place...” The King murmured in an almost whisper like whine while trying his best to just climb up Darios' tail, being able to tell from the squirming sounds above, that the wyrm had a very hard time holding himself up there with the weight of the alpaca still hanging on him.

Once up on the aqueduct, the alpaca straightened his jacket while sighing deeply. “Well... guess at least we can follow these tunnels now and hope they lead outside.”

“Mhmm...” Darios nodded in agreement before starting to walk, not caring that there was water running between his feet... the walls soon being lightened by torches again fortunately.

As usual, Sieiran made sure Darios was kept close as they walked along the flooded tunnels. Though he kept glancing up once in a while himself. Even though he had made it out of that ceiling spike trap well enough, it had been damned close and more than claustrophobic even for a normal person. It would be too soon if he never encountered anything like that again.

Luckily it seemed that they would not have to worry about that any longer though, as the water flowing down the tunnel eventually emptied out into a large room... way -down- into a large room. They were standing a good fifty feet above and bellow was a seemingly bottomless pool of water, a few other tunnels around the walls feeding into it.
"Look." Seirian said, sounding a little relieved. Darios followed where he pointed and saw the group of guards they had been separated from on the very far end opposite them. They were all grouped on a platform at water level and they could see a few doors down there as well. At the same time, the guards seemed to notice their king and the wyrm and all of them began to shout things at them. However it was just too far. Their voices echoed and overlapped one another so neither Seirian or Darios could make out what they were saying. The king figured it was shouts of relief though as they saw their king.
"We can take those pillars down." The alpaca then said, gesturing to a row of broken columns that lead in a slight downward slope to the far end platform. "Shift again. I will carry us."

Darios nodded and did so, crawling into the bag once more. Without wasting anymore time, Seirian leapt for the nearest column, landing perfectly of course. Though even if they fell, chances were they wouldn't -die-, at least not Darios. If Seirian hit the water wrong he could be knocked unconscious and drown or at the very least injured more.

Again he leaped, landing like a crane on the next column top.
Silently, Darios cheered Seirian on, keeping quiet as he could so as to not distract the other.
As they progressed forward and down, the men's shouting started to straighten out..And Seirian had to admit he was wondering why they were still shouting honestly. Though that was made a bit more clear as their intentions were made more clear..
No words were discernible yet, but their tone went from just shouts to those of warning.

Frowning, Seirian looked around as he came to another column... then looked down. The water bellow them had gone from simply dark and ominous to roiling and ominous. Numerous large forms were moving about in an upset manner.. Perhaps this was why the guards were so far back from the edge of the platform, the king thought.
"Well.. Damn.. Guess we can't fall at all now. Not that I had planned to." Seirian said, Darios making a little squeak as he poked his head out and saw what was going on. "Quickly then." He nodded to himself and began to take the columns at long legged leaps.

He was halfway across and perhaps twenty feet above the surface when the guard's shouts took on a much more desperate tone.
Just as Seirian was about to leap for the next one, one of the creatures bellow came shooting up out of the water right at Seirian, obviously hoping to catch him mid air.
Darios thought he heard Seirian grunt a rough 'Nope!', and jerked a bit as he canceled his jump, swaying a bit on the column.

For a flash, the two were treated to a perfect view of whatever these creatures were. They looked like a breed of carnivorous fish that could be found in a few of Valendi's more jungle like areas. Half their body were hugely fanged jaws. Large buggy eyes looked wildly out from both sides and their stout fins propelled them faster than one would expect. These though.. were larger than three cows put together.

Without hesitating a second more, Seirian unsheathed his golden sword and leapt to the next spot, seriously wanting to get out of this room as soon as possible.

Doing his best to keep up the pace, the alpaca pushed onward. However when he was still a decent distance from the platform.. and getting closer to the water all the while.. the fish began to not only leap at him, but throw themselves against the columns in their frenzy.

"Hurry Seirian!" Darios whined, head still poking out of the bag.
Seirian ignored the other though and just focused on the fish as best he could while still making progress. A few times he slashed at any that tried to leap up too close. Though the spilled blood just seemed to make them go even more wild.

Just as Seirian was about to leap to the next foothold, one of the fish threw themselves at the column he was still on, causing it to sway and begin to snap. "Whoa!" he cried out, almost falling straight forward. He managed to pull back a little and land more on his stomach, hugging the column for all he was worth even as the fish threw its self at it again. With that next impact, his bag around his shoulder was forced to slip almost all the way off. The alpaca tried to yank it back upright... but his heart stopped for a second as he saw half its contents begin spilled out into the water bellow.. a small white wyrm along with it.
"Darios!" He shouted as if it would somehow help...
Witha small splash Darios disappeared into the roiling water even as the fish impacted yet again, the column beginning to give way right beneath the alpaca. Mind blank in part shock and part survival mode, Seirian pulled himself up and made a fierce jump to the next column, instantly having to jam his blade through a fish eye as one tried to leap right at him. The next he slashed along its side before jumping for the next and next... His eyes kept going back to the water though..

Just as the column in front of him was knocked out of place completely, Seirian saw a flash of white among the huge dark bodies. Darios! The wyrm was incredibly fast and agile in the water so seeing him flit around between the huge beasts shouldn't have been that much of a surprise.. but still.. Seirian felt relief.

Though that feeling quickly faded as he realized the column that had just been knocked over was the last one.. the one that would have -just- covered the distance from where he was to the platform. Now all there was between him and it was water.. water filled with viscous, blood craving fish.

The men on the platform had gotten more brave, seeing their king so close, and some were right up at the edge trying to kill off fish as if that would somehow help. All it was really doing was making them even -more- worked up.. The water between him and the platform was quickly becoming a mess of solid bodies and violent splashes of now bloody water.
Wait.. that might work. Or rather, it was his only option as he was close enough to the surface that more and more of them were taking their chances jumping at him.

"Stand down!!" He shouted at the men. "Move back!!" The men hesitantly did so, eyes on their lord then.

Taking a deep breath, the alpaca steadied his mind and body.. then jumped.


Bellow the surface, Darios was darting and ducking at full speed, never pausing and always turning. There were teeth everywhere! The whole water seemed to be made of teeth!! The only thing that kept him determined though was the fact that he hadn't seen any alpaca parts floating around yet.. then again, with as crazed as these fish were, he wasn't sure anything would be left at all after a few seconds, if Seirian was to fall in... Mentally shaking his head, Darios turned his focus back to his desired direction.. the platform.

Above, Sierian was doing about the same, though in his own way. The guards watched in a bit of shock as the king jumped from roiling body to flopping back. The water really was now a solid mass of angry fish scales. They were moving and thrashing, but it was still somewhat solid at least.
Each movement was a slipping flail, yet somehow he still kept himself up and going forward even if it was a headlong and frantic rush. Right at the end, he just barely missed stepping right into a set of jaws, tripping and falling forward onto the stone.
Immediately his men rushed forth and stabbed at any fish like thing that dared to flop up after their king while simultaneously pulling him back away from the edge.
"Your majesty!" They all shouted, relived and worn by the sounds of it.

"Darios." Seirian said instantly, looking up at their faces before standing and almost heading right back to the water if they hadn't stopped him by force. "I saw him in there still! He should be alright, we just have to cut him a path-"

Seirian was stopped mid sentence as a blur of white suddenly shot out of the water and up onto the platform, immediately slithering at top speed away from the edge and right for Seirian.
Just as he reached the alpaca, Darios shifted to human form and threw himself at the other, clinging tightly while panting wildly. Seirian had to hold him back, surprised and a bit astounded that he had made it through that completely untouched from the looks of it.

"Its alright.." Seirian murmured as Darios still clung to him a bit wide eyed. "Lets get out of here." he said to the others, who all nodded enthusiastically.

"We actually found something this way, your majesty." One man said, gesturing to a nearby door. "We came to find you though, first."

With an arm around Darios as he didn't seem to have much choice the way the other clung on, he lead them out of the horrid room and into a much more quiet ... and dry corridor.