Dawn- An age of Darkness

The pace was slow, my body shivered, quivered, and screamed in agony. One of my eyes went dark: it was the same one I'd opened down below. I didn't know if it lost its light forever but I had to keep moving. Losing an eye was the least of my concerns.

Climbing was tough. Climbing a slimy surface straight up, with nothing but swords was tougher. Did someone flip the switch from nightmare to hell mode? Just how hard was this going to get from here on out? Honestly, I did not want to think about that.

Extracting one sword, punching a hole with the other. It really was slow. Too slow perhaps. My body was screaming in pain and I couldn't really do anything about it. Why does it always have to be like this?

Almost when I reached the top, my sword fully melted and I was left hanging with only the shining sword instead. I threw the melted sword and it dropped in the pool of juice below: It was Dune's sword but I had better things to worry about. I was about to fall to my death again, literally. If I could just climb one more step I will be able to climb up!

I was that close to the mouth. But the pull of gravity was no joke. Gravity, the weakest force of the four known forces, seemed very strong.

The mystic sword or whatever was holding pretty well, but there was a problem. Everything was covered in mucus. Which meant, the sword was slipping. Oh boy! My skin was almost all gone. I looked like a red undead (I certainly didn't want to look at myself), dripping blood all the way.

Suddenly a voice shouted and a hand appeared before my head. "HANG IN THERE BOY, AND DON'T YOU DARE DROP THAT SWORD. I'M SAVING THE SWORD, NOT YOU, JUST SO YOU KNOW!"

Trust me, I know. I wanted to laugh but I couldn't.

I wondered what he was holding on to, but didn't really care. What I cared was definitely how I'd make it out alive.

I grabbed the old man's hand and he pulled me up. He almost ripped my hand off: was he trying to do that on purpose? Once up I saw the old man's gaze.

I couldn't breathe. My lungs must have suffered more than I'd thought. But at this point my survival didn't really seem all that plausible.

The old man was literally dripping saliva as he saw the sword in my hand, while holding down a ripped vein. The serpent must have really felt that one. Poor snake. I on the other hand was writhing in intense pain. That's right! The last high potion!

I had completely forgotten about the third potion. My memory must have still been funny. If I made it out alive, I just had to thank the princess and the rest of them. My pouch was still here. Most of my things were gone but thankfully, the pouch was still here. I say here, but it was barely clinging and was about to fall off any moment. It was a miracle it was still clinging to my waist anyway.

Without a doubt I gulped down the high potion and my skin mostly healed: as I remembered, the taste of wine wasn't bad. I didn't bleed or drip blood anymore. For once it wasn't a total waste. I wondered how damn expensive such a thing might have been. In my world people would kill for such a thing. In fact that might have been true for this world as well. However, the light didn't come back to my left eye. It was probably lost. But I didn't have time to worry about it.

The old man wasn't shocked. He was staring at me with intent and I had the sinking feeling that we might end up enemies. I have the sword and he wanted it for all this time, but now what? He isn't going to turn on me, is he? "Old man, why do I get the feeling you are about to do something stupid." My voice had a tinge of hostility. I wasn't totally healed but I still had enough strength to take on an old man like him, I most certainly hoped so.

But come to think of it, he had wind magic. Meaning he could cut me from a distance. If decided to kill me, then I won't have an escape. Was escape even possible from this damn place?

"Don't worry, I won't pull something at least not while we are still in here. Besides, you came out from there and look like you can survive another round, plus you have that sword in your hand. I wouldn't be stupid enough to do anything now. I don't even know the depth of your skills yet," he said grinning widely. His chuckles weren't pleasant either. The guy was sizing me up this whole time. He was much shrewder than I'd thought.

Talk about a long speech. This guy talks a lot when he wants to.

I wasn't convinced. I couldn't trust him. I didn't want to trust anyone ever again. Coming to this world had changed me, but coming here inside the serpent morphed me. I was fed up with the thing called trust. But I needed his help. So I didn't have any problems, using him. "Anyway, how do we get out?" I still thought he might be hiding something. So I tried to act my part. "But man, this sword was so heavy even moments ago." I was swinging the sword like it was a yardstick or something. It was really light.

He looked at me and smiled. "Maybe it chose you? I dunno." He knew more than he claimed and even I could understand as much. He thought for a moment and then smiled again. Was he really alright? "This way," he pointed and then added," I've been digging here for all this time. I tell you, using magic is quite taxing." Glad to finally see that I was right about at least something. There really was a wound near a fang of the serpent. Blade marks were very clear. "Try swinging that sword through this. If you can't then no worries. I still have enough strength to pierce through. So mind giving me the sword?"

Could he have been any more obvious? Maybe staying in isolation for so long made a few screws go loose in his head. "Not in a million years old man. But maybe I might change my mind if you were shoving it down the prince's ass."

He laughed. I grinned. We had a common goal. And they do say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. So just for the time being, I was willing to put my faith in the guy. I still didn't trust him though.

The remnants of my pants were still there along with my belt. It probably wouldn't survive for much longer though.

I took a stance and shoved the sword through the serpent's wound. The skin was thick but I got through. The sword was too damn powerful. I'd never wielded something this light, powerful, and yet wholesome.

But the hole was too narrow. Water came out through that tiny hole, which not only granted us hope but also gave us courage.. Because to us this was more or less like a godsend.