Briar could feel the air rushing as he plunged deep into the trap. He got slapped and scratched by a few roots and rocks which protruded on some of the fissures.
The flaxen haired prince tried to prevent himself from falling deeper by unsheathing his estoc and driving it through the walls.
The grinding of metal against stone produced sparks but the prince failed to halt his descent. Instead his sword had managed to hit a rather hard surface.
That incident made the weapon bounce back due to the force. Briar could feel the sword vibrating painfully due to the impact.
"Damn!" Briar had no choice but to let go of his estoc. The sword had fallen a bit ahead of him with a few clangs before it landed somewhere.
Without his weapon, Briar was getting anxious. In his desperation, he called out. "Kaempferi, materialize!"
The double bladed halberd, Kaempferi, heeded his call and manifested in front of him. He grabbed the pole and angled it slightly.
Since the halberd was a bit taller than Briar, it hit the walls of the trap. The friction had caused some dust and debris to fall, and at the same time, it slowed down the prince's eventual downfall.
Coughing, the prince hung while holding on the Kaempferi's pole. The pike and the other end of the pole had lodged themselves on crevices, which temporarily halted his descent for a bit.
As the dust settled, the prince tried to observe the surroundings. His heart beat like crazy when he noticed that the area below him was a huge gaping abyss.
If the halberd did not stop his fall, who knows what would have happened to him. Trying to calm himself, he focused his attention to the surrounding area.
Just a few paces away from him, several vine like roots dangled. Beyond that was a place akin to a huge cavern with several mineral deposits hanging on the ceiling.
"Just a bit more." He muttered while trying to grab one of the roots.
"Damn, so close." Briar cussed when his finger did not even touch his target.
Looking for another way he tried to focus on the other side and found that just a few feet away his estoc was hanging unstably on a protruding rock.
Since his attempt to reach the root failed, he decided to retrieve his estoc.
Briar made sure that the Kaempferi was stable first before hoisting himself up. He then used it as a foothold while he tried to take his other weapon back.
"To think I would be forced to use the heirloom halberd like this…"
When he was given the Kaempferi, his father had told him that he only needed to use it in life threatening situations.
The doubled bladed halberd was enchanted and had a will of its own. It can give buffs to amplify its master's attributes and created tremendous effects especially when one wields earth.
"This is counted as a life threatening situation anyway." he muttered as he balanced himself and managed to reach his sword.
He took his the estoc and used its hilt to bring one of the roots to him. He then sheathed his sword. After which, the prince resumed observing the area.
"This place is a bit dark, I couldn't see much." He noted.
The flaxen haired took his amulet and illuminated the area which really did not help that much. The light had only reached a few meters.
Despite that, the prince allowed his gaze to roam the vicinity. His initial assessment was proven correct. The entire area seemed hollow saved for a few large mineral deposits that hung above the ceiling.
"Those things look heavy and sharp." The prince mumbled.
Moving on to the next spot, just a few meters away, Briar could somehow see some sort of a ledge.
"That place seemed a bit more stable, I need to get there." Hence, the prince looked for ways in order to get there. The vine like root was brought to his attention.
"This seemed sturdy." He tested the strength of the vine like root. He then held on tight and tried to swing towards the other side.
Winds rushed and slapped his face as he swung to the ledge. But at his first few attempts, he failed to reach and touch it.
"So close." He cussed as he missed another chance into getting on the ledge.
Upon his umpteenth try, he made a gamble. He swung back and forth several times and managed to get close to the wall.
He kicked the wall hard which allowed him to gain momentum. He was able to swing a bit higher and farther than his previous attempts.
As he near the ledge, he let go. He felt himself fell for a bit before he managed to land with a huge thud on the ledge. "Ooof…"
Getting up, he dusted his clothes. Then he raised his hand towards the double bladed halberd and exclaimed. "Kaempferi, dematerialize."
In response to his command, the weapon disappeared and went back to him in a flash of light.
Now that he was somehow safe, he tried to find his companion.
"I wonder where Atropa had gone to." I hope she is not in any sort of trouble." He muttered while worrying about the girl.
But it wasn't the time for Briar to worry about the girl. He felt several presences just in time before he was attacked.
The prince was quite thankful for his reflexes. He was able to avoid an arrow which had zoom past just a few inches above his head.
He turned around and was greeted by half a dozen skeleton warriors. Four of them were armed with rusty swords and shields while two were armed with bows and arrows. They donned rusted scraps of armors.
"Skeletons… and by their looks… they are Marjoran knights from centuries ago." The prince mused as he took note of the faded eight leaf marjoram emblem.
"I hope they are easy to deal with." He muttered as he got ready to fight.
The prince had fought skeletons before and they were an inferior version of the ones he had to deal now.
Those were random remains of people but the enemies that he had to dealt with this time are former knights.
But knowing that his estoc would not do much damage to the skeletons, he had to use his halberd again. Drawing a huge breath, he summoned Kaempferi.