The pace within the cavern was quick at first but slowed as the light began to disperse within the confines of the cavern walls. It did not take any in the party long to figure out that that they could soon be walking in total darkness.
Not long after Kyjus had this rationalization he heard a voice from the front of the party say "Producius Lumiere". This was promptly followed by a cone of light, which made sense to Kyjus as he knew these words to be for the spell 'summoning of light'.
This light was produced from Syrus staff. Kyjus smiled as he was grateful for the light and in truth everyone was even Skarnum was happy to be able to see because if you can't see a given target then it's hard to kill it and if there was one thing that made the young prince happy it was fighting things.
Syrus halted the party as he noticed the fork in the cave trail up ahead. The left trail was a larger trail that appeared to have an upward incline to it compared to the right trail that was a bit smaller and continued to descend downward.
Kyjus had assumed that the rational route would be to head left and up but as Syrus was quick to point out they were near the top of the mountain when they entered so unless there wanted to come out at the top on the other side, they would have to descend some distance as they traversed their pathway through the cavern.
This theory made sense to Kyjus, so he left the decision to take the right path alone. Of course, if that alone did not convince him there was also the fact that Syrus had traversed the caverns depths on more than one occasion and he was fully aware of the most direct route through its maze.
While the party stopped briefly Syrus motioned for Hawk and Skarnum to take the lead. The order in which they traversed the tunnel seemed to have been deliberate. Hawk and Skarnum now took the position of point in the party. They were followed by Syrus, Kelsee, Kyjus, Weemus, Deemus and then Magus Sheplin brought up the rear of the entourage.
With the gaps in the line, the back of the group, although they were far from walking in total darkness, had some difficulty in seeing many of the rocks that jutted from the ground. They also had some difficulty in seeing the slick spots on the rock that were the result of water leaking from the cracks from the ceiling of the cavern.
Kyjus' worry turned to concern when they entered a rough patch of walk on the cavern floor. After his third stumble and one full blown trip he decided to enact his own light source.
Concentrating very intently upon the spell that he wished to perform and the result he wanted to attain he said the magic words that would invoke his desire for light.
"Producius Lumiere", he said as he held out his staff. The staff was held pointing toward the ceiling which now Kyjus could see was nearly fifteen feet above his head.
The light from the spell was very bright. Far too bright as it reflected back off the blackened cavern walls. One could tell the walls glistened with dampness as moisture condensed upon them much the way an ice-cold glass of water will in a warmer environment.
"That is a bit much don't you think young master. I rather think you have the basic concepts down on the summoning of light spell. I am going to say you do not need to concentrate quite so hard in its delivery," the old mage said while chuckling.
Kyjus could hear the princess up ahead of him mumbling about being grateful for the light but mumbling too about the blinding glare of its brightness as she partially covered her eyes as she followed Syrus.
"Producius Lumiere", Magus Shepplin said in somewhat of a whisper as his staff now had a more circular aura versus that of a cone.
Kyjus thought this was perfect and wished he would have thought of spherical light versus direct cone light.
Syrus' voice pulled him from his contemplation. "I believe the word you are looking is ridurre", Syrus said as he pointed his staff towards the staff that Kyjus now held.
The light flickered briefly but remained strong.
"Interesting", Syrus commented to no one in particular. He was clearly either amused or perplexed by something. Or perhaps it was a bit of both Kyjus could not be sure.
"Ridurre", Syrus said again with a bit more tenacity and tone to his voice.
Again, the light flickered, a bit more than last time but again seconds later it returned to its full aura of brightness.
"Most astounding", Magus Sheplin said clearly impressed by something. Kyjus was very confused as he was not sure what they were trying to do but it was obvious it must be failing since nothing was really happening.
"Let me try", the Magus said rather excitedly. Holding out his staff and pointing it in Kyjus' directions he forcefully spoke, "Ridurre".
The outcome was not any different from the previously made attempts by Syrus.
"Most unusual", the Magus said clearly perplexed by the whole encounter.
"It would appear that you are going to have to handle this situation yourself young master. Simply think of the light and speak the incantation Ridurre. You should continue concentrating until the light reaches a brightness that satisfies your needs. The magic within the staff will take care of the rest", the magus said to the young mage. It was easy to see there was an underlying tone in his voice but what it was exactly Kyjus could not be sure.
Kyjus did was he was told and concentrated on the magic word. He was not entirely sure what was going to happen but he had faith in the magic and the staff, so he spoke the word with little hesitation.
"Ridurre" he said. He continued to think of the word and the magic despite being startled that the light was now getting dimmer. He now understood, the spell he was now casting was reducing the power of his light spell.
Once he had reduced the lights power by about sixty percent, he felt this was a more than sufficient reduction so he released his concentration of the magic.
In looking at the Princess she nodded her thanks, so he assumed the light provided now met with her approval.
After the light dimmed, they resumed their journey into the depths of the cavern. Syrus could be seen shaking his head and could be heard mumbling over the next ten minutes but to what this could be attributed Kyjus could not entirely be sure.
One thing that he was for certain of though is that he had hoped he did not make either of his teachers mad with what had transpired.
They had walked for nearly fifteen minutes when finally, Kyjus could take it no longer.
He was hoping that the princess might have a bit of insight into what had just transpired.
"Pst" he whispered to get her attention.
She casually looked back his way.
"I don't suppose there is any way that you can tell me what just happened back there. I didn't make Syrus or Magus Sheplin mad did I", Kyjus asked with a tone of concern in his voice.
The princess looked back toward Kyjus, there was something puzzling about the way she was looking at him, but he could not put his fingers upon it.
The princess whispered in a hushed tone "you have both mages confused as to how they could not spell check your light spell".
"Spell check", Kyjus said in a confused tone. "I don't believe I have ever heard that term used before.
"It's also called altering in some cultures but what it means regardless of what you call it is that one caster changes or alters the spell of another caster," the princess said still in a hushed voice.
"So, I made them mad when I was able to turn my light spell down," Kyjus replied more than a little confused.
"Not really, a caster has almost no chance to fail in reducing or amplifying the effects of a spell they casted. So, it was an almost absolute given that you would be able to reduce the intensity of your own light spell," the princess said in response to the question asked by the young mage.
"So, what is the problem then," Kyjus asked still more than a bit puzzled at the whole scene of events.
"The issue with the entire thing is that they could not alter the light spell you had enacted. You see when a mage casts a time duration spell he or she can typically very easily reduce or amplify it since they are the spells originator", the princess said to the young mage.
He nodded but then did something the princess had not expected as he rushed at her. With her attention drawn towards Kyjus and the conversation she was not watching were she was going.
Kyjus grabbed a hold of her gently pulled at her robes.
"Watch yourself," he said as he tugged her firmly towards his direction.
Kyjus had tugged her, and she was now dangerously close to him. She stood a few inches taller than he and smelled of roses and cinnamon. She was even more beautiful close up Kyjus thought to himself.
"Almost hit your head," he said as he pointed towards a rock that jutted out the side of the cave wall.
"Uh thanks," the princess said after a few moments of awkward silence.
"Ahem", a voice from behind said to either of the two.
When nothing happened the voice repeated itself, "Ahem".
Both Kyjus and Kelsee looked behind them to see Weemus looking up at them arms crossed with an inpatient look imprinted upon his face.
"Would you two mind going," he said as he gestured ahead of them. "Or perhaps you cannot see that we have lagged behind," he said smiling and standing on his tip toes gently swaying back and forth.
"Alright, there Weemus lets not be giving the young ones such a hard way to go of it," Deemus said with a snicker.
Kyjus and Kelsee both realized there were some thirty feet behind the rest of the party, so they quickly caught back up.
Once they caught up Kelsee turned to Kyjus "ok now where were we," she asked.
"You were talking about a mages ability to amplify or reduce their own spells and then you said the fact that I could reduce the light that was shown by my staff did not irritate Syrus and Magus Sheplin," Kyjus said in response to her question.
"Right then, as I said the issue is not that you could change or alter your spell it's more to the point that they could not," she said as if that would explain everything.
"I don't get it," Kyjus responded as sheepishly as he could.
The princess sighed. "They really didn't teach you anything about magic when you were on Earth did, they," she asked. It was more of a rhetorical question, but Kyjus still felt compelled to answer it.
"No, Sorry but the people on my planet do not believe in magic. At least not in the context that others do," he replied back. It was easy to see the anxiety this gave Kyjus.
"Yes, that's right. I remember thinking it odd that a chosen would be selected to perform grand feats of magic from a place that no longer or may never have believed in magic," Kelsee said as she shrugged the whole thing off and continued.
"At any rate I will try to explain this, the best I can. I have already said that a caster can typically amplify or reduce their own spells but when a caster tries to amplify or reduce another casters spell; well, that is where it can get a bit tricky," Kelsee stopped as she could just feel a question from the young mage.
"How so," he asked.
"I thought you might ask that question," she responded.
"When a caster tries to reduce another casters spell then the reducers spell power is checked up against the original spell casters power. The more power the reducer has over the caster the less likely the chance the spell will be blocked. Well, your spell blocked or checked against two of the most powerful mages of this era. While this is a good thing as it most definitely means that Magus Sheplin was right about you it does give them pause as to how your power has grown so fast. Normally a mage of Syrus or Magus power would have little problem reducing an Acolyte mages spell and regardless of all your power you are still an Acolyte as you are within your first year of spell casting. That is the reason for concern," she said with some finality.
"Oh", was all Kyjus could muster for an answer. "Thanks for your explanation," he said as an afterthought.
She nodded her head in reply letting him know that he was welcomed.
Minutes rolled by and the dank and musty smell of the cavern was at often times too much to bare. On many occasion Kyjus had to bury his nose deep within the folds of his robes to help reduce the odors that wafted by him. He really wished he had learned how to summon a Febreze of some sort as he could barely focus on the tasks at hand because of the smell.
They had gradually descended down the caves main passageway for more than an hour. Their descent, while inside the cavern, had been even less than their ascent was on the hill that led to the cave. So even though it felt like they were miles below where they started on the hillock outside, Kyjus figured that they had actually only traversed about half the distance down they needed to go in order for them not to have to climb down the rock-face of the mountain. He was of course an amateur in all of this but his best guess was still he best guess he figured with a scant smile on his face.
They continued to walk for what felt like about two hours to Kyjus. The sound of running water was becoming more evident with every step. They turned one final bend to the right. Kyjus could clearly see the cave wall falling away into an open expanse some fifty feet in the distance. There was very little light coming from that area, so Kyjus figured that unless it was dark outside, which was highly unlikely given the amount of time they had been traveling thus far today, then they most definitely were not about to exit the mountain's cave.
Still there was the sound of rushing water which was gaining in strength as they approaced. What could this mean for him and his friends, the young mage pondered. He was on heightened alert as if his body was manufacturing the adrenaline it needed to sustain his current state of awareness. One thing Kyjus felt certain about and that was nothing was going to catch him or his friends unawares.
The group of adventurers entered the open expanse of the cavern. With their light spells they could see that the ceiling was approximately fifty or so feet high.
Soon after entering the cavern the floor started sloping downward towards the water. Looking across the expanse of the cavern it would appear the other side also sloped toward the stream. In quick assessment of the scenario Kyjus put his scientific knowledge to work.
"Fascinating, it would appear that the water flowing through here was once much wider. It most likely came right up to where this floor starts to slope. However, either by some of it being used, pollution or some other acts of nature, the water line has slowly receded. This most likely has occurred over the past several thousand years. This in turn has caused the width of the river to decrease leaving the obviously eroded bed we see now," he said as if it was a matter of fact.
"That is ridiculous water cannot erode hard rock like this", Skarnum said again before he could think.
Hawk just shook his head and leaned back against the cave wall knowing what was forthcoming.
"Actually, the young master is absolutely correct in his assessment of how this cavern was formed," Syrus replied.
"Quite right", Magus Shepplin piped in.
"You see Skarnum water is in fact one of the most destructive forces in nature. Typically, water's destructive process is called erosion and although it takes thousands of years the devastation it can cause to any object is far more devastating than any other force of nature including wind. So, I imagine this cavern was formed just as master Kyjus said it was only I am guessing this took tens of thousands of years," Syrus finished and nodded his approval to the young mage.
"Good show I say," Magus Shepplin said to the young mage.
Kyjus smiled somewhat embarrassed.
The princess pondered thinking the human was starting to become more fascinating by the day given his ability to gravitate toward magic and his knowledge of science. He was full of surprises was this one.
Skarnum merely growled again frustrated of his behavior and of being made a fool of.
Hawk again shook his head and pushed himself off of the side of the cavern wall with his back.
"Well let's get started," he said more to the group than anyone in particular.
The old mage held up his finger as if to suggest a different course of action in the moment "I am proposing we take a quick break whilst I try catching some fish for us to eat. This water is very cold and has some delicious cold-water cod that swim through its pools. As the sun gets warmer outside during midday, like it is now, these fish swim deeper inside the mountain to the colder water. It will take a few minutes to rig up my pole with some bait and then hopefully ten or fifteen minutes to catch us some delicious fish. If all goes well, we will be dinning amongst the stars tonight with a wonderful meal indeed," Syrus said his voice sounded excited.
Hawk and Magus both nodded their agreement to the plan.
Syrus nodded toward Weemus who returned his nod and began to rummage through one of the smaller knapsacks stationed on the cart.
Kyjus took out the book that he received from Weemus and began to read.
Kelsee took out a journal and appeared to write in it. Not the first time that Kyjus had noticed her doing this.
Hawk then took up point just off to the left of where Syrus was going to fish. Skarnum was off just to the right. The Magus would keep an eye open across the expanse of the river and Weemus and Deemus would keep their eyes on the passage they had just traversed.
As Syrus was fishing, Weemus passed out a small sack to each of the members of the party except for Syrus. Since he needed both of his hands for his current endeavor Weemus placed the small sack within the old mages front left pocket.
"Thanks", the old mage said with a smile.
Weemus smiled and went about passing out the rest of the small sacks.
As Kyjus received his he paused and looked toward Weemus. "Shall I open it," he asked of the diminutive figure.
The little Gnome nodded his consent.
Kyjus opened the sack. In it was a piece of bread, some cheese, something that resembled a piece of fruit in the orange family and a small narrow flask that most likely contained an elixir.
It was stopped with a cork that Kyjus did not bother to remove. He figured he would be instructed to do so when the need arose and until then he would keep the strange brown elixir bottled.
He did however, enjoy the food that Weemus provided along with the book he was all too eager to finish.
True to his word it was not even ten minutes and Syrus had caught three large, beautiful silver and blue fish. Each weighed near fifteen pounds according to the old mage. He strapped a steel pin through each of their mouths. Attached to the pin was some twine, once each fish was pinned, they were placed in a burlap sack that was placed upon the cart.
These actions gave Kyjus some pause, how were they going to get the mules and the cart across the river as their appeared to be no bridge.
Unfortunately, the answer for that question was going to have to wait as the group heard a scuffle that came from across the river. In looking across the river Kyjus noticed there were two passageways on the other side. One was almost straight across from where the entered the cavern. The second had a much larger entrance which was off to the left of the first entrance.
From the larger entrance to the left, a large bipedal creature emerged into the cavern. It looked much like Kyjus imagined a Komodo dragon would look only this thing had to be about three times the size of one.
It had a massive head with a long tail. The end of the tail ended with a large ball that Kyjus could only guess was a mass of bone. Much the way the Stegosaurus would have had back in prehistoric times on earth.
On each foot or paw this creature had four massive claws that could no doubt shred a human or any other creatures it desired. Lastly and probably the most foreboding characteristic of this creature was its large head and maw.
Kyjus was convinced that this monster could easily bite him in two should it be provided the opportunity. He vowed not to provide it with such an attempt.
Too make things worse this creature appeared to show no fear in the fact that it was severely outnumbered. It did not move after it was out a distance from the cave entrance but was rather inclined to stand there sniffing the air as it sensed the intruders.
Syrus held up the flask to both Hawk and Skarnum and indicated to them that he wanted them to consume it. He then quickly walked over to both Kelsee and Kyjus and requested they do the same.
Kyjus did not hesitate to pop the cork, drinking the warm bitter liquid. The taste made Kyjus' look sour some, but he managed to hold the liquid down. Immediately his body began to tingle and feel lighter as his feet began to feel different somehow.
It was not levitation as Kyjus had that feeling before and this was not the same. What he felt this time was a more in tune bonding with his surroundings, predominantly with the water. The way the river flowed it appeared to be talking to him as its surface appeared to solidify as he edged closer to the water's edge.
Syrus indicated that the elixir they just imbibed would allow them passage over the water's surface but that they needed to act quickly as the potion would only last a few minutes.
It was Syrus' hope that they could get across the river and into the tunnel straight across from them before the Basilisk, which Syrus indicated to Kyjus was the creature's true name, decided whether it would attack the party. These were very territorial creatures so if they could get out of its lair quickly as long as the creature was not too hungry it would leave them be.
Kyjus nodded towards the mule's and the cart and Syrus simply pointed too himself not having time for an explanation.
Kyjus turned to make sure he had picked everything up he then felt in his pockets for both his spell book and the book from Weemus. Feeling both of the books he fell in behind the Magus and proceeded across the river.
From behind he heard Syrus start the beginnings of a spell and then the words "Objekt Levitere". Kyjus looked around and saw puffs of smoke coming from the old mages enclosed fist. He noted this spell took a reagent, but what did the spell do he wondered.
Then he noticed the cart and its carriers floating a few feet above the ground. Syrus had enacted a levitation spell upon the animals. They did not seem spooked by the spell at all so this could only mean that Syrus had practiced this spell on them many times.
Kyjus simply shook his head and chuckled at how prepared the old mage always seemed to be. I guess that is how one becomes an old mage he mused to himself.