The Return of Scarblade: Part Two

     They were too late. Isca was gone. Garin hoisted himself over the cliff. He had only suffered a loss as horrible as this when Jacques had been kidnapped by the Drenched. The Usul feared Caylis's reaction. It's all my fault, he thought miserably. I should have swung her onto the landing while I had time. Caylis was facing in the opposite direction, keeping her gaze off of Garin. Her beautiful long hair flowed in the wind. He noticed it was longer than Isca's.

     "Caylis...it's all my fault-"

     "I knew this would happen," the Aisha cut in softly, turning around.

     Garin shot her a quizzical look. "Then why didn't you try to keep it from happening?"

     "Garin, you do not understand. Everything changes the future, but my visions always come true. If you try to stop it, it only causes the event. If you don't try, my nightmares happen anyway. It is because of our actions that make and cause the future to happen. Anything could change if you could go back in time. The future can hurt, Garin, and that is why there are few who are cursed to see it."

      She closed her eyes in anguish and turned her back on Garin and Jacques. The Kyrii finally spoke.

     "Isca saved my life numerous times. For that I vow never to forget her." He removed his smallest dagger from his belt and planted it in the ground.

     "I second that," Caylis said quietly. She held a small bracelet made of maractite. It was placed around the handle of the dagger.

     Nobody spoke as Garin fished a totem of a Maraquan Aisha from his pocket, propping it up on the dagger. "It's time to move on," he said after a minute. "She would have wanted it."

     The group of three, having said their goodbyes, began heading into the distance.

     Garin had never cried in his life. Not when he fell through the deck of a ruined ship and broken his arm, nor the time he and Jacques were lost in the palm tree woods during their childhood. Now, for the first time, he wept. As a pirate he did not shed tears, nor would he ever do so. Garin cried in his heart.

     Isca climbed wearily from the ocean. The fall had been breathtaking and emotional, but the landing had only knocked her unconscious. She had awaken to find herself resting peacefully in a bed of seaweed, a Maraquan Aisha once again. I guess that in the water I'm myself, but I'll have legs on land for awhile, thought Isca. She glanced at a small cave about halfway up the cliff. It wasn't far from where she had fallen earlier. Benny was listening to Scarblade intently.

     "I've easily cut their rope, and one of the Aisha sisters are gone. Only three to go, and Nathan and Fred have set traps on the path. Now, I want you to keep watch on Garin. That pesky little Usul will be saved so I can finish him off."

     "Yes, sir," replied Benny.

     He and Scarblade quickly disappeared into the cave. Aha! It was Scarblade who tried to kill me! she thought. I have to catch up to warn Garin! That cave should lead me to them quickest. Isca quickly clambered out of hiding and onto the landing. She, too, disappeared into the darkness.

     Quite awhile later, Garin, Jacques, and Caylis came upon a strange statue of a pirate Kougra. When they tried to pass it, the stone figure simply moved to block them. It spoke suddenly.

     "You must answer the riddle to proceed."

     "Tell us the riddle," Garin said.

     The riddle began:

     "First think of a creature, once pretty and vain

     Who lost her beauty to unspeakable pain

     Next, find the one who haunts in the night

     And gives all Neopians a terrible fright

     Last, but not least, is the one we all know

     He searches the galaxy to and fro

     For a way to take over our wonderful home

     But he'll never prevail, as we're not alone

     So give me the answer right from your mind

     If you visit this place, those fiends you would find."

     Caylis snapped her fingers. "Of course! It's logic! Half the decent pirates on the sea haven't got an ounce of logic! Er...I didn't mean you two," she added hastily, seeing Garin cross his arms and Jacques tapping his foot impatiently.

     "Let's see...a creature once pretty and vain..." the Kyrii muttered to himself. "That would mean...uh...Vira!"

     Garin was pacing back and forth while muttering to himself as well.

     "I've got it!" Caylis exclaimed. "The 'one who haunts in the night' is the Shadow Usul, and-"

     "'He searches the galaxy to and fro,' that's Sloth!" cut in Garin. "But what place are they all located?"

     Silence followed his last words. The trio was deep in thought.

     "Aha!" yelled the Aisha. "The Gallery of Evil!"

     The statue considered her answer for a moment. It blinked, then said, "You may proceed." Without further ado they crossed the small wooden bridge, knowing that more surprises awaited them at the other end.

     Meanwhile, Isca was ahead of the trio. She had emerged from the cave long ago, but when she didn't find them at the statue, she had tampered with it so the statue would accept an answer to the riddle. Before she had made some quick adjustments, they would have gotten the answer wrong, as there hadn't been one in the first place. Isca was the one who could reason with logic, whereas Caylis was more talented in battle. The Aisha quickly crossed the bridge and came to a large stone wall.

     "What is it with stone?" she muttered to herself.

     She carefully examined the symbols engraved on the wall. They were unfamiliar at first, but when she stared hard enough at them, she recognized them as an ancient language the people of Maraqua had once used many years ago. The symbols leapt out their meaning plainly.

     "The Wall of Narad will only accept those with a worthy touch."

     On the right-most side of the wall was a place for a single handprint. There was also a small area of grass shaped like a square, and the Aisha guessed if someone didn't have 'a worthy touch,' they would fall through. Isca pondered for a moment. She had the perfect idea of how to improve it.

     The sun was beginning to set as Garin and company reached the Wall of Narad. The trio studied it carefully and discovered the trick to getting through.

     "I'll go first," offered Garin. He pressed his paw gently to the pad. Streams of light spread throughout the stone, lighting the symbols. A second and third pad appeared next to Garin's. Caylis and Jacques pressed their hand and paw to them as well. The light of the Kyrii's paw was a vibrant scarlet, and the Aisha's was an electric lavender, the same color as her magic. The next thing they knew, the ground beneath their feet had given way to them. Caylis, Jacques, and Garin were plunging down a slick underground tunnel like a slide.

     "AHHHHH!"

     Everything was pitch-black. Sharp turn left. Unexpected drop downward. Another sharp turn, but to the right. Finally they landed in a sticky substance.

     "Oof!"

     "Ouch, that was my tail!"

     "Where are we?"

     Garin righted himself and began taking in his surroundings. The trio had emerged into a large cavern, full of stalagmites and stalactites. The sticky substance they had landed in was...

     "Quicksand!" exclaimed Jacques in dismay.

     Caylis was already up to her waist. "It's alright. Relax," she coaxed. "Struggling only causes you to sink faster."

     This quicksand, however, proved to be much different. The Aisha sank beneath the surface with an odd slurping noise.

     "No!" cried Jacques. "I'm going in, Garin!" He followed her down by diving.

     The Usul groaned, for he was up to his neck and still sinking. "I know I'm going to regret this." Garin held his breath and felt the sand close over his head.

     Despite its thickness, he was slowly being dragged towards some invisible force. He sensed something whirring and making noise. I can't take this much longer, thought the Usul. I need air, and sometime soon! SLURP! The quicksand was gone, and he, along with Caylis and Jacques, were spinning uncontrollably inside a portal.

     Caylis was the first to wake. The three of them were sprawled on the ground. Dark grey clouds loomed menacingly overhead, and she spotted lightning somewhere in the distance. The Aisha glanced above and realized they were at the base of a cliff...until she looked down. It was about a two hundred-foot drop into the raging sea from where she stood.

     "Garin! Jacques! Wake up!"

     The wind began whipping up and the two rose to their feet. Out of nowhere appeared Scarblade!

     "You!" accused Garin.

     Jacques and Caylis backed up; they sensed an oncoming fight.

     "Correct, you foolish little nuisance," growled Scarblade.

     He and Garin were circling each other, their swords untouched in their sheaths, preparing to strike.

     "This time I'll finish you off," said the captain menacingly. He leapt! Garin dodged him, but realized with a jolt he was about to plunge off the face of the cliff. He grabbed hold of the edge in the nick of time.

     "Garin!" cried Caylis.

     "You know," Scarblade drawled, feigning a thoughtful look, "this looks a lot like your Aisha friend before she died."

     The Usul's heart stopped cold. Thunder rumbled in the background and he grabbed hold of Garin's paws. "And here's my little secret: I killed Isca..." Garin heard Isca's anguished scream as she fell, and his own cry of "NO!" Then he realized he was also shouting it in reality, and snapped back to his senses.

     "MURDERER!" he yelled and pounced on the Lupe, pointing his maractite sword mere centimeters from the villain's throat. "You killed her," Garin hissed. Scarblade, knowing what his fate would be if he didn't move, knocked the sword out of the Usul's paws. With lightning-quick reflexes, he flung Garin across the area towards Jacques and Caylis. The three of them were trapped helplessly inside a steel cage.

To be continued...