Chapter 8
As the trio exited the cave, wide open fields and hills
expanded almost as far as the eye could see. A faint outline of blue could be
seen in the distance, and there were some mountains far off to the east, and
even more closer by on the west. They traveled south again, towards South
Figaro.
"You guys want something to eat?" Locke said after they'd
walked a few yards from the mouth of the cave. "I don't know agout you, but I'm
kinda hungry." He rummaged through his satchel for a few seconds, and pulled out
a small leather pouch. He tossed it to Edgar, who reached inside and pulled out
a piece of brown meat, which he then ate. He passed the pouch to Terra, who
looked at the pieces of meat.
She asked, "What is it?"
"It's called Jerky. I always like to have some on hand for a
snack. It tastes good. Eat some." Locke explained.
So Terra picked up a small piece of the meat, and put it in
her mouth. It was chewy, and tasted good. She took another piece, ate it, then
handed the pouch back to Locke, who put it back into his satchel.
They walked on for a few minutes, chewing the meat. When they
reached the top of the next hill, they could see that standing on the next hill
was a creature of some sort. Locke had very keen eyes, and noted, "It's a
Rinotaur. Hope we don't have much trouble." As soon as he'd finished the
sentence, the monster turned towards them and charged.
It was a hideous beast. The biped had sharp, pearl-white
teeth, two horns protruding from its muzzle, and natural armor plating. It also
was very muscular, and very fast. It raced towards them with incredible speed.
Locke drew his sword, and Terra pulled her sword from its scabbard. Both stood
in ready positions. Egdar stepped forward from between them, his AutoCrossbow
raised, and pointed directly at the approaching monster. He let loose a flying
squadron of bolts, but since he was still a few dozen feet away, most of the
bolts stuck in the hillside, or flew off into the air. Two of the bolts hit the
the beast. One hit his spiked right side shoulder armor and bounced away, but
the other one hit under his left armpit, which slowed him down for about a
second. But, he was back and charging at them again. Edgar stepped back in line
with Terra and Locke, who were still in their positions, lightly tossed his tool
a few feet away, and drew his sword from his scabbard belt. He, too, took up a
ready position.
Terra, with a new look of determination, resheathed her
weapon. Locke and Edgar looked at each other, then turned to look at her. She
moved her mouth up and down, mumbling in a low voice. She took a few steps
forward, still mumbling. Terra quickly gave off a flash of red light, then fire
appeared out of nowhere. Right on the monster.
The flame flared quickly, and then died out just as quickly,
but it was a heat so intense that the trio felt the intense, split-second heat.
The monster roared out in pain, and fell to the ground with a loud thud. Terra
fell down, too, but out of sheer exhaustion. She sat on the ground, breathing
heavily. Edgar's eyes widened with sheer amazement at what he'd just beheld. He
started acting somewhat crazy at what he'd just seen.
Locke walked over to Edgar, for, in his crazed state, Edgar
had made a single, long, jump, and was now a few feet away. Locke asked his
comrade, "Edgar, what's the matter? You look positively spooked!"
Edgar regained part of his composure, and asked, stuttering,
"D-d-d-d-d you just see what I saw...?"
Locke turned around and glanced at Terra, then replied back
to his friend, "Yeah... this kid seems loaded for bear."
"That was amazing! That was magic! MAGIC!"
Now it was Locke's turn to lose composure. His eyes widened
so wide, you could see the entire front part of his eyeball.
"M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-MAGIC!? She used magic?" Edgar and Locke walked a few steps
away and whispered a bit. Terra stood up. She was waiting, embarassed that she
was causing so much confusion. Edgar walked away from the conference, and asked,
"Terra, where on earth did you learn that?"
Terra looked down with even more embarassment. "Sorry... I...
um..."
Locke regained composure and walked softly over to her left
side, "Look, I didn't mean to make such a big deal of this."
Edgar walked over to her right, "Me either... it's just that
I've never actually seen magic before. Where did you...?" But she said
nothing.
"Edgar, Terra can use magic, and we can't. That's the only
difference between us. The fact is, we could use her help!"
All the chagrin left her. She turned her head to the left,
"Thank you, Locke." She turned it to the right, "Thank you, Edgar." She turned
her back to them and started walking. She felt a bit of her femenine side
returning to her, so she turned around and winked at them. The two grown men
hung their mouths open with smiles of youthful bashfulness. "Stop swooning...!"
she commanded, and they walked towards her, both grinning slightly. Edgar
scolded himself by snapping his fingers. He turned around and started a brisk
walk in the other direction.
Terra turned around, and asked, "What are you doing?"
"Just retrieving my crossbow, milady," he replied without
turning. Now it was her turn to grin, for they had almost left it laying there.
