"All's clear," Rubic and Lucius announced as soon as they returned.
The way being clear in this place famous as a hunting ground for beasts and monsters however was not really good news as it should be.
"Clear?" Horgall was suspicious.
"Don't look at me like that. It was really clear," Lucius said in defense. When they went out to scout the perimeters, they didn't encounter nor see a single creature. Even the skies were missing birds.
"But isn't that strange? There should be at least some beasts."
"That's right," Sven agreed.
"It means there's something strong that's keeping the lesser monsters at bay," Alinea said, her eyes turning into slits. "Be alert."
"Yes!"
All six of them walked in formation towards the rocky mountain with their weapons drawn. As they were trained to do, they remained vigilant to any sound, smell, and movement. Soon, they reached their destination without a hiccup, and their anxiety and bewilderment increased.
"This… This is the Devil's Cavern?" Midas was unsure.
According to the accounts left behind by the previous expeditions, the cave gave off an oppressing aura a mile wide. Yet, here they were, reaching the spot without feeling anything. Also, there should be a great beast or two guarding the entrance, but none were in sight.
"That's strange. When we were at the end of the forest, I swore there was malice in the air," Horgall surmised they couldn't be wrong. They had been soldiers long enough to detect these things.
"But why did it vanish?" Sven wondered out loud.
"That, we don't know," Alinea said as she scanned the entrance.
The cavern's mouth was three meters in height and width – neither too big nor too small. It was infamous for being a very dangerous hollow – a place where countless powerful soldiers before them perished. But looking at it now…
"It's really strange. Are you sure this is the Devil's Cavern?"
"It should be. The map stated it clearly," Rubic answered as they all looked at the cave.
"Let's go," Alinea commanded.
But as soon as they started to mobilize, the sound of strong wind echoed around the place, and they all looked up in terror as a strong murderous intent shot at them.
Above was a giant harpy, a creature that's half-bird-half-woman, preparing to land, with its huge clawed feet ready to step on them.
"Dodge!"Alinea yelled and they all cleared the place right before the harpy arrived with a bang.
"Urgh!"
The impact made the ground tremble, and they all fought to keep their footing and wits about them.
A harpy!
No wonder there wasn't any beast or creature in sight! Standing at fifteen feet in height with wings spanning twice as that, this terrifying creature must've scared everything away.
SQUAAAAAWK!
The harpy let out a shrill shriek as it pivoted, its arm stretching as it slammed its clawed hand on the ground, trying to squish them underneath.
SLAM! SLAM!
For the giant beast, they were nothing more than ants it could trample on. But of course, they weren't just ordinary ants. They were first-class soldiers.
"Rubic! Lucius!"Alinea called out, and there was no need for further instructions. They'd been fighting together for a long time not to know what the general wanted.
Rubic, and Lucius, the archers in the team immediately ran away towards some boulder of rocks as they equipped their bows. The harpy was a wind-type beast, and so they used stone arrows. Wind-type monsters were weak against weapons imbued by the power of the earth.
THWIP! THWIP!
They shot the monster continuously which was busy fending off Midas and Alinea who were attacking it with their swords, and Horgall who struck it continuously with his huge battle-ax. Sven, the druid in the group hid behind another boulder as he simultaneously hit the harpy with ground snakes, an earth-based magic attack while making sure to heal his comrades whenever they got struck.
"SQUAAAAAAAAAAAWK!"
The harpy screamed its rage as it pivoted its huge body as it slapped them with its clawed hand once again.
Midas and Alinea stepped back as fast as they could to dodge the attack, but Horgall who was a huge warrior wasn't fast enough and got slammed on the ground like a fly.
"Horgall!"
Alinea hurried to his side and grabbed the edge of his armor. With strength uncommon for a slender girl like her, she managed to throw Horgall singlehandedly behind, at Sven's direction and then swiveled immediately to her left in time to clash swords against the harpy's claws.
Sven caught Horgall as he completed a chant, and light appeared in his hand as he touched his comrade's injury, and they began to heal.
Seeing as it was not doing enough damage, the harpy was incensed and increased its speed of attacks. But Alinea was prepared. She had fought countless monsters to know they go berserk when they're agitated when battle dragged on.
SQUAAAAAAWK!
It screamed once more as Alinea stepped far back while several stone arrows shot towards the harpy, hitting it hard it stumbled backwards. Midas and Horgall who had recovered followed suit in attacks, hitting its legs with their heavy sword and ax.
Alinea took this time to summon her ultimate weapon. A magic circle appeared beneath the monster as dark clouds built up above it. Thunder roared as the tumultuous rain-clouds hovered it.
"Now!" Alinea yelled, and both Horgall and Midas quickly ran away from the monster as the young general raised her hand and brought it down. As she did, lightning struck from the clouds, hitting the harpy solidly who shrieked in pain.
SQUAAAAWK!
The harpy screamed as it tried to fend off the electricity, but Alinea did not stop commanding the lightning to strike it consequently, continuously until it fell unconscious on the ground, the impact making the dust fly as the ground vibrated.
"Is it gone?"Rubic asked, and Lucius halted from hitting it with arrows as he peeked from his hiding place.
"I hope so," Alinea muttered as she collapsed on her back, totally exhausted, her head hit the ground with a poof!
As soon as she lay down, however, her eyes widened in terror as she spied the line of archers yards away, behind Rubic and Lucius. While fighting the harpy, they hadn't realized they had other company, and that they were surrounded.
She immediately scrambled to her feet as she called the scouts to come closer to them. By now, all six of them had seen the soldiers who didn't bother hiding their presence anymore.
"What's this?"
All of them stepped back as they watched the archers aimed their arrows at them.
"What are you doing? Aren't you soldiers of Ritz?" Rubic demanded, but the soldiers didn't respond albeit continued to aim at them.
The newcomers wore the colors of Ritz. They were their own comrades. What were they thinking doing this insolent thing? Didn't they see Alinea? Did they dare point their weapons at their own princess? This was treachery!
Alinea who had realized what was happening let out a cynical laugh, making Midas and Sven look at her with worry.
"It seems my brother knew we would survive the harpy," she said bitterly as she scanned the archers.
Alistair knew with Alinea's power, it was not impossible for her team to defeat the gatekeeper of the Devil's Cavern. Of course, no one knew if there were more terrifying things within the cave as everyone who came inside never returned. But it seemed Alistair didn't want to take the chance of letting them enter the cave at all in case they got lucky to find the artifact.
The Ritz king had sent an army to finish them off after they had used up all their energy in fighting the monster.
"Brother…you hate me this much?"
Alinea's heart felt like bursting in anger. She had resigned herself to die in this quest. But she never expected her brother to have her killed by their own people. She heaved in exhaustion, but her spirit's raging with anguish.
"Alinea…"
Hearing her name, Alinea stood tall and proud. She turned to her soldiers with a smile which they answered back with their own. In their minds, they recited their vows. Together until the end – and this was the end.
"I'm sorry, and thank you…" she said just as a huge magic circle covering the entire army appeared on the ground and several bolts of lightning showered from the sky, striking the enemy indiscriminately, just as the archers released their arrows on them, and chaos ensued.