"Man! This cave is daaaarrrrk!" Jace said in awe. "We've only been walking into
this cave for two minutes and I can't even see my hand in front of my face anymore! All I
can hear is the faint rushing of the waterfall!"
"Ignite!" Flamett's voice echoed loudly and some faint sparks started to fizzle in
her right hand, then with a flash of a bright and blinding light, a poof of fire instantly
appeared in her hand that looked like an inviting campfire. It lit up everything around
Jace, Casie, Flamett, and Thrasher and filled them with warmth.
"Hey guys! Look!" Jace exclaimed.
"What's up?" Jace's crew asked.
"Look at my tattoo!" Jace lifted up his tattoo for everyone to see and their eyes
went wide. Jace's health bar was slowly going up after his near death experience.
"I guess Flamett's fire has some sort of regeneration ability to it, that's awesome!"
Jace yelled as his cheerful voice echoed throughout the cave. The cave was a lot bigger
than Jace and his crew originally thought when they first entered. After Flamett
summoned some light, everyone noticed that the inside of the cave was way bigger
than the entrance. It was more like a cavern than a cave. There were big, tall, and sharp
stalagmites and stalactites on the ground and ceiling of the cavern. Each of Jace and
his crew's footsteps echoed all throughout the cavern and made reverberations that
were mesmerizing.
"So where is this treasure? This place just seems like an empty cavern." Casie
said out loud.
"Did someone say treasure?" A deep and ominous voice could be heard all
around Jace and his crew. Jace, Casie, Thrasher, and Flamett all put on their guard and
got ready for an attack."If ye be lookin' for the Legendary Treasure, ye won't make it to
the treasure alive! Neither of ye will!" The deep voice bellowed.
"Who's there?!" Thrasher yelled out.
"Yeah! Show yourself!" Flamett also called out.
"Me name's Bartholl." Bartholl replied intimidatingly. Loud and heavy, ground
shaking footsteps could be heard approaching along with many other light and smaller
footsteps. "And I'm here to make sure no sailor or pirate gets their hands on the
treasure I be guardin'!" A large and heavily armored, ghostly white skeleton came into
view out of the shadows of the cavern. He faced Jace and his crew while holding a
massive and jagged cutlass. Along with Bartholl were many other regular sized, non
armored skeletons that all held cutlasses as well and were ready to fight. They
outnumbered Jace, Casie, Flamett, and Thrasher by lots, and their numbers were just
about smaller than the pirate camp Jace and his crew defeated a while ago.
"That is a lot of skeletons." Jace pointed out. "But we can take them!"
"If ye are so sure, then go ahead! Charge me soldiers!" Bartholl belted out.
Bartholl's skeleton army started to charge towards Jace and his crew with fury and loud
and disturbing rattling.
"Here we go guys! Let's do this!" Jace yelled out confidently. Jace, Thrasher,
Casie, and Flamett got into battle stances and were ready to receive the enemy.
"Hey Flamett. Get ready with some explosive fireballs okay? I have a plan, just
be ready to shoot into the air on my command." Casie explained to Flamett with a grin
on her face.
"Okay! I'm ready Casie!" Flamett replied.
"Four corners of the Earth, grant me your power and lift these leaves in front of
me in a flurry of blasting wind!" Casie shouted out an incantation and her words echoed
everywhere. Out of nowhere, a loud and powerful wind rushed into the cavern and filled
every crevice and crack then accumulated on the ground under the skeletons that were
charging Jace and his crew. And with a huge updraft of wind that was filled with sheer
force lifted a large number of skeletons into the air along with many stalagmites and
stalactites.
"This isn't good..." Bartholl muttered to himself.
"Now Flamett! Fire!" Casie yelled. Flamett poured every explosive thought into
her mind and conjured two massive sun like balls of fire in her hands.
"FIRE!!!" Flamett shouted with purpose. And the two massive star-like fireballs in
Flamett's hands went flying straight into the big group of skeletons that were flung into
the air. Both the fireballs made contact and created a cataclysmic explosion that
disintegrated the skeletons and sent a soul shaking vibration through everyone in the
cavern. The rest of the skeleton army just looked up in fear as the dust of their
comrades filled the air, all while stalactites throughout the entire cavern were falling
down from the shockwaves.
"Whoa! That was insane Flamett and Casie! I'm glad there wasn't a cave in. That
explosion was absolutely massive! And that wind was so powerful!" Jace exclaimed
proudly.
"What are ye standin' around for!" Bartholl shouted at the rest of his skeleton
army. "Keep charging!" The rest of the skeleton army started to resume their charge, but
there weren't many of them left.
"So what do you say, Thrasher? I take the ones on the right and you take the
ones on the left?" Jace asked.
"Let's do it." Thrasher said confidently. In an instant, Jace and Thrasher dashed
from where they were standing towards the rest of the skeleton army, and just as quickly
returned back to where they were standing before. The rest of the skeleton army
stopped in their tracks.
"Again! Why did ye stop this time!" Bartholl yelled angrily. But after Bartholl raised
his voice. The skeleton's heads on the right shattered. And the rest of the skeletons on
the left were sliced into pieces all at once.
"Uhh… What just happened…" Bartholl said blankly and paused. He then burst
out in a fit of rage. "How could this happen! I was so sure that we would be able to
defeat any intruders that would wander into this bloody cave! Looks like I'll be fightin'
next!" Bartholl readied his big cutlass and pointed it towards Jace and his crew.
"Hey Casie. Give me a boost with a blast of wind." Jace looked behind himself
towards Casie with a smile.
"Sure thing Jace! Get ready!" Casie said as she recited an incantation. A pool of
air all of a sudden formed at Jace's feet and shot Jace with explosive force towards
Bartholl. Jace flew like an arrow, cutting through the air so fast that Bartholl couldn't
even see him. And once he made it to Bartholl, Jace threw a devastating punch at
Bartholl's chest. He shattered into a million pieces as Jace flew right through him.
"This… Just… Isn't… Possible…" Bartholl said as he took his last breaths.
Bartholl's body fell apart and crumbled to the ground with a rumble and Jace landed on
the ground behind where Bartholl was standing.
"Woohoo!!! Casie! That was so freaking cool! That air burst was perfect!" Jace
cheered as he jumped up and down in celebration. Casie blushed and shouted back.
"Thanks Jace! That punch was super epic too!"
"Thanks Casie!" Jace called back and smiled. "Hey guys! Now that Bartholl and
his army is defeated, let's find the treasure they were guarding!" Jace, Casie, Flamett,
and Thrasher all walked deeper into the cavern together while still keeping their guard
up, just in case there happened to be more enemies in the cavern while Flamett still lit
their way with warm and flickering fires in her palms. After they walked for a while longer
from where they defeated Bartholl and his skeleton army, they ran into a wall blocking
their path to travel any deeper into the cavern.
"Is this the end of the cavern? Oh, wait. I think I see something, everyone." Jace
explained as he pointed at the cavern wall. "It looks like another inscription engraved
into the wall. It says." Jace started to read the inscription. "To find the treasure, one
must move a rock to move another. To make a veil of stone fall, one must move another
stone." "So… What?! We just find a rock and move it? How do we do that?! This place
is filled with rocks!" Jace shouted out in frustration and exaggeration.
"I think you're right though, Jace." Thrasher started to talk. "I'm pretty sure we
just move rocks until we find one that triggers what this inscription is saying. It's gonna
take forever, but we'll find it!"
"You've got a good point, Thrasher. We won't find the rock we need to move until
we actually look for it. Let's get to work!" Jace stated to his crew.
"Ugh! We've been looking for forever! Where is this bloody rock!" Jace shouted
angrily as he moved and threw more and more rocks behind him.
"We'll find it eventually. We've been looking for too long to stop now." Casie
stated. "But I do agree. We have been looking for a while, I'm exhausted."
"Same here." Flamett said with a tired sigh as she laid on a pile of rocks she was
digging through.
"I'm going to sit down. I'm pretty tired myself." Thrasher said as he sat down next
to a stalagmite."
"Good idea Thrasher. I'm gonna just rest on this beautiful stalagmite behind me."
Casie explained as she started to lean on a stalagmite that was about her size. But as
she put her weight into the stalagmite, it gave way slightly and moved backwards with a
loud and stiff thunk. Casie jumped up and yelped in startelement because she thought
the stalagmite broke and she was going to fall. But after the stalagmite moved, it stayed
in place, just slightly crooked, and the ground started to rumble.
"Don't tell me..." Jace said flatly. "That was the rock we needed to look for…" The
wall that had the inscription on it cracked all throughout itself like a shattering mirror.
And all the cracked pieces of the wall started to shake with the rumbling of the cavern.
The rumbling continued and started to get more intense. Jace, Casie, Flamett, and
Thrasher all started to get surprised and worried looks on their faces as the cavern
started to shake more and more. And as the cavern shook, the rock wall blocking Jace
and his crew started to fall apart piece by piece until it finally crumbled away and
revealed a hidden area. After the wall fell, the rumbling stopped. The wall made a lot of
dust as it fell, but when it settled. Jace, Casie, Thrasher, and Flamett's eyes lit up and
grew huge in awe. They all saw a heap of golden and shimmering treasure. It was filled
with gold coins, doubloons, and jewels of sparkling rubies and diamonds, and chalices
of riches. There were also many treasure chests filled to the brim with treasure. And to
top it all off, in the middle of all the treasure, there was a glimmering and beautiful
cutlass sticking out of a rock with yet another inscription on the rock it was sticking out
of.
"Whoah, whoah, whoah!!!" Jace, Casie, Flamett and Thrasher awed together as
they all entered the treasure room slowly and carefully with wide open mouths of awe.
"This is so awesome!" Flamett belted out as she started to sprint towards the
treasure piles. She dove head first into the coins and jewels and swam in them like she
was at the beach enjoying the ocean.
"Hey! Let me join you!" Casie said joyfully as she ran and dove into the gold
beside Flamett and splashed around with her.
"Wow! Would you look at this? I haven't seen this much treasure in one place
before in my life. And I've seen lots of treasure hoards." Thrasher explained to Jace as
he and Jace both gazed at the treasure while they walked through it all.
"Yeah." Jace started to reply to Thrasher. "With this much treasure, we could buy
everything we need to fully equip all of us with the best gear, pay off the damage to the
Starter Ship, and then buy our own fully loaded ship! But there's one thing in all of this
treasure that catches my eye. And you've probably noticed it too." Jace said to Thrasher
as they both stopped and stood at the base of the cutlass that was embedded into a
rock.
"I did notice this, yes. It is really interesting. And look. There's writing in the rock
the cutlass is in. Did you notice that too?" Thrasher asked Jace.
"Yeah, I did. Call the girls over here and we can read the inscription together. I
have a feeling that this will be important." Jace explained.
"Hey guys, come on over here! We found something interesting!" Thrasher called
for Casie and Flamett.
"Coming! Just a second!" Flamett and Casie said together in perfect timing.
"Uhhh, what are you guys wearing?" Jace asked Casie and Flamett in confusion
as they approached. They both almost glowed in a shimmering golden hue.
"Oh, you know. Just some jewelry we found!" Casie chortled happily.
"Does it look good on us?" Flamett asked as she flashed her bling. Casie and
Flamett were both wearing jewel encrusted crowns that they found and were also
wearing solid gold and shiny chains around their necks along with peerless silver
bracelets that were lined with shimmering rubies of the highest quality.
"It does actually. You both look royal!" Jace complimented.
"It suits you well!" Thrasher also complimented.
"So what did you guys find?" Caise inquired. "Is it that awesome looking cutlass
in the rock with an inscription on the rock?"
"Actually. Yes! That's exactly what we called you guys over here for. I thought we
could read the inscription together." Jace explained.
"Ok, sounds good! Let's read it. Go ahead Jace!" Casie commanded cheerfully.
"It says here." Jace started to read the inscription. "At points in life, we all come
to crossroads. Where we have to make a choice that will alter the trajectory of our entire
future. Make a choice. Take the cutlass, or the treasure. But you can't have both." Jace,
after finishing reading the inscription, turned to his crew. "So what do you guys think?
What should we do? This is an insanely big decision to make. I mean, there's enough
treasure here to keep us happy for life! But this cutlass has me curious. If we can only
take one or the other. It must be something special."
"I don't know." Thrasher started saying. "Honestly, I would pick the treasure.
Powerful and unique weapons are my life. And that cutlass has me curious as well. But I
think it would be smarter to take the treasure. Like you said, there's enough here to set
us for life!"
"Thrasher does have a point." Flamett piped up. "The treasure is probably the
safer and smarter choice in the long run."
"They do all have good points." Casie started to share her thoughts as well. "All
this money would be awesome to have. And we wouldn't have to worry about so many
things in the future. But in the end." Casie pointed at Jace. "You are the captain after all.
You get to have the final say. So what is it, captain? What should we do?"
"Hmm." Jace caressed his chin with his right hand and frowned as he thought.
"You guys all make good points. It would be a lot smarter to take the treasure." Jace
glanced back at the cutlass and felt a convicting and instinctive pull on his heart and
gut. "But… that cutlass…"
"Don't worry Jace." Casie said. "Whatever choice you make, we will be right
behind you. Just do what you think is right."
"That's right Jace! You're the captain! Make the call and we will follow!" Thrasher
encouraged.
"I'll be with you all the way Jace! Along with everyone!" Flamett said happily.
"Thanks guys. That means a lot to me." Jace smiled in content. "Alright. I think
I'm going to go with the cutlass!" Jace approached the cutlass. It glimmered and shone
in a golden hue. Jace crouched down and inspected the glorious looking cutlass as it
stood proudly, sheath and all embedded into the rock. It had a gold and black sheath
and a gold handle. On the hand guard of the sword was an image of a ship that was
sailing proud and free. The handle and pommel were braided and golden. On the base
of the sheath was a golden skull and two cutlasses. Just like the Jolly Roger flag. They
were on both sides of the sheath. And on the tip on the sheath were two golden flintlock
pistols crossed over each other, and again on both sides of the sheath. Jace reached
out for the handle of the cutlass and stopped suddenly.
"Hey guys. There's more writing on the sheath here." Jace explained to his crew.
"What does it say, Jace?" Casie and Flamett asked at the same time.
"Yeah, what's on the sheath?" Thrasher also wondered.
"It says. "The only person who can take this sword is the One that was meant to
come. The One who is in the world of his own. The One who can defeat The Shadow
and set this world free, or destroy it."
"Well." Flamett started to talk sarcastically. "I guess if Jace isn't the One then at
least we can take all this treasure!"
"Wait!" Thrasher interjected with a serious tone. "Think for a second Flamett. It
says the One who will defeat The Shadow. Don't you know what kind of plague The
Shadow has been for everyone! The Shadow's been tormenting our world for years and
years without end! If Jace is the One this inscription is talking about. Then we might
actually have a chance to make things right and make this world a better place!"
"Whoa Thrasher!" Flamett put her arms up in defense and backed up sheepishly.
"Calm down, I was just joking. But you do make a good point.
"Or." Casie interjected. "It also says the One could also destroy this world. So
should we take the cutlass?"
"What in the world!" Jace thought to himself in shock as he lost all the color in his
face. "The One who was meant to come?! The One who is in the world of his own?! And
the bloody One who can defeat The Shadow?! This is scary! I know these words on the
sword are talking about me. But it's just so dead on. I was sent here to defeat The
Shadow. That's what God told me to do. I guess all I can do now is take this cutlass and
start my journey to free this world. But it also says that the One could also bring
destruction to this world as well… So do I take the cutlass or not?" Casie noticed Jace's
reaction and asked.
"Hey Jace! Are you alright? You're looking a little pale." Jace snapped back to his
senses and replied.
"Oh yeah! I'm fine, just lost in thought is all, nothing important." Jace looked back
at the cutlass as he thought more about what the inscription said.
"Wait, Jace!" Thrasher exclaimed. Jace stopped going around in his head about
the engraved words on the cutlass.
"What is it, Thrasher?" Jace asked curiously.
"You probably didn't hear Casie, but she made a good point. What if you do get
the cutlass free? It says on it that the One who wields it could destroy the world!"
"I was actually thinking about that Thrasher. So what do you guys think we
should do?" Jace wondered to his crew.
"Well, let's think about this logically." Casie started to talk. "The Shadow has been
a plague on this world for years and it doesn't seem like The Shadow is going to end
anytime soon." As Casie was talking, Jace, Thrasher, and Flamett listened intently and
grew understanding looks on their faces as they thought about the scenario logically
along with Casie. "So, in my opinion. It's worth the risk of possibly destroying the world if
we take the cutlass. To be honest, if you think about it more, The Shadow will probably
destroy this world eventually if we don't even try to beat him."
"Wow!" Jace, Thrasher, and Flamett said together with impressed voices. Then
Jace started to talk.
"That makes a lot of sense, Casie. I say we risk it, how will we beat The Shadow
if we don't try?!"
"I couldn't agree more! Let's do it!" Thrasher exclaimed valiantly.
"I'm with you guys! I won't stop until we beat The Shadow!" Flamett said with
excitement.
"Well. Here goes nothing!" Jace slowly reached for the handle of the cutlass with
a shaky hand. He started pulling on the cutlass with all of his might. It shook along with
Jace's arm and body as he was giving it everything he had to try and pull the sword out
of the rock. But it was no use. The cutlass in its entirety was deeply thrust into the rock
and almost molded into the rock itself. Jace stopped pulling and stepped back to catch
his breath.
"Try again Jace! You got this!" Casie cheered.
"You can do it captain!" Thrasher also cheered along with Flamett. "You got this!"
Jace grabbed the cutlass again and pulled with every fiber of his being, but as Jace
pulled, the thought that he might destroy the world he was in flooded his mind, and he
didn't know whether to actually take the cutlass or not, and he was filled with fear,
doubt, and uncertainty. The cutlass shook and rattled but still wouldn't budge. Casie
grew a worried look on her face and thought to herself.
"What if Jace isn't the One the inscription on the cutlass was talking about? What
does that mean for Flamett and Thrasher? What does that mean for him? And for me?!"
Casie looked at Thrasher and Flamett as she thought and she could see they were
thinking more or less the same thing that Casie was thinking. Casie looked back at Jace
with a worried and concerned look.
"ARGH!!!" Jace yelled out as he let go of the cutlass. "NO!!! I can do this!!!" Jace
then quickly grabbed the cutlass one last time. But this time he grabbed the handle with
one hand, and with his other hand grabbed the base of the sheath and pulled with great
force and yelled out in grunts of effort and exhaustion. But when he pulled on the
cutlass this time, he made a leap of faith in his heart and mind and committed to taking
the cutlass, even if it meant the destruction of the world he was sent to save. The
cutlass started to glow bright and golden, and the rock the cutlass was in started to
crack. Casie noticed and heard the crack of the rock and her concerned look turned into
a hopeful one. Thrasher and Flamett's faces also grew bright with hope when they
heard the rock crack. The rock started to crack more and more until it finally gave way
and broke apart into bits and pieces. The cutlass flew out of the rock with a jolt and
made a loud and ominously powerful hum as it came free. Jace fell on his back as he
held the cutlass in his right hand. It was glowing golden even more while resonating with
power.
"Whoa! Are you okay Jace?!" Casie exclaimed as she made her way to Jace with
Thrasher and Flamett to help him up.
"That was impressive! That cutlass looked like it was staying in that rock for
good!" Thrasher said proudly as he reached for Jace's right hand and grabbed it firmly.
"Yeah! I didn't think you would actually be able to get that thing unstuck." Flamett
remarked while also being impressed. She then reached for Jace's left hand and
grasped it confidently, but also tenderly. They all helped Jace up to his feet while Casie
supported Jace's body and legs by ducking under his left arm, resting it on her shoulder,
and wrapping one of her arms around Jace's side and right shoulder comfortingly, while
squatting up with him at the same speed.
"Thanks guys! And I'm okay, just tired." Jace got to his feet and continued with
exhausted breaths. "Even with my super strength talent, that cutlass barely moved. But
we got it! I wonder what's so special about this bad boy that it was hidden in a cave like
this, and had all these inscriptions and prophecies linked to it?"
"I guess we will only find out with time." Thrasher stated.
"Well guys, should we get out of here and head back home to Port Savvy?"
Casie asked Jace and the rest of the crew.
"Whoah!" Flamett said out of the blue. "Look at the treasure guys! It's… turning
into dust?! What the heck?! Why?!"
"Well." Thrasher started to explain to Flamett. "It might be because we could only
choose one thing like that inscription said. Jace chose the cutlass, so I guess it would
make sense that the treasure would disappear. I'm assuming that if we took the treasure
instead. That the cutlass would disappear as well, or at least just stay stuck here."
"Oh yeah, I kinda forgot about that inscription with all the excitement of the
cutlass and all. And that does make sense." Flamett agreed with a smile. "But back to
you Casie." Flamett said. "I agree with you, let's all get out of here. I'm ready for some
rest. This was one big adventure."
"I couldn't agree more." Jace said in a cheerful tone.
"Same here. Let's go home guys!" Thrasher said happily. "We just need to find a
way home." A dead silence filled the cave.
"Oh yeah… How are we gonna get home?" Flamett asked with a tired voice.
"I have no bloody clue…" Jace said sarcastically with a sigh.