Dual Wielding

Corrin bit into the fresh peach, the flavor bursting onto his tongue as he made a sound quite unbefitting of an aspiring knight.

“What the hell did I just hear?” Wyn asked, a look of disgust and confusion plastered on his face.

“Wyn your mom’s the best, it’s so ripe,” He was starting to tear up, “So juicy and succulent, it’s… hey wait what are you–?” Wyn’s fist connected with his face, sending him spiraling across the room, at least it certainly felt like it.

He’d dropped the peach, so Wyn picked it off the ground and took a bite, “Hey you’re right! This is a good one.” He chewed thoughtfully as Corrin watched in horror.

A few minutes later, Corrin was eating his consolation grapes as they continued their lunch break. Wyn’s mother–blessed woman that she was–had started packing them lunches at night, which Wyn would bring to the cave each day. They weren’t culinary feats by any means, in fact, Miss Reyna’s cooking was something most would consider an… acquired taste. But for Corrin, who was used to mostly eating “everything stews” at the orphanage, they were fantastic.

“I’m telling you; we need to find a way to stay here overnight, we’ve been stuck on the second floor for a month already, our current pace just isn’t going to cut it.” Corrin tried.

Wyn nodded, looking at the map they’d stretched out over the floor, “I get it, I do. We waste way too much time retracing our steps every day. But we’d need a damn good explanation, one that doesn’t put the town into a panic thinking the next flood is coming. Plus, if we do it over multiple days, that would leave the first floor uncleared. We can’t just ditch our job.” He popped a piece of cheese into his mouth.

“There will be an equinox in a little over a month, right? What about then? The dungeon won’t spawn new monsters then. That’s our window, we’ll clear as much as we can then, map the rest by the winter solstice, and make our final run then. I’d be able to leave just in time. If we miss the solstice, we may not be able to clear the dungeon until the spring when the next equinox rolls around. If that happens…”

“I know,” Wyn said seriously, “You’ll leave without clearing it. People won’t be happy about it, but you won’t really have a choice.”

“I don’t—” Corrin paused, “You’re right. But anyways, what do you think about the solstice plan?”

“It’s not a bad plan,” Wyn mused, “I suppose we can stick to it for now, but then we really need to find the third floor by the equinox, we can’t afford to waste that time finding it then.”

Wyn finished his sandwich and stretched out, “I did some research at the library the other day, and from what I gathered, most dungeons this size are around five floors. That means we’d need to at least map the third on the equinox, and then hopefully the fourth by the solstice so we can finish the fifth then. If there’s more than that, then we’re screwed at our current pace.”

“Well, sounds like we’re just wasting time sitting here then.” Corrin shoved the rest of his sandwich down and stood up. “Let’s get going.”

In the end, he couldn’t bring himself to say it. He didn’t care if other people hated him for leaving, if that was the only reason to clear the dungeon, he wouldn’t bother. Maybe there wasn’t a real reason. But he just wanted to do something special, to make one last memory, go on one final adventure.

Before he had to leave Wyn behind.

***

They’d walked through several more caverns when Corrin noticed something. “Wyn, do you feel that? The air is less stuffy here.”

Wyn sniffed the air, his eyes brightening, “You’re right, we’re still on the second floor though, so it can’t be the entrance. I think the air is moving too.”

Wordlessly, they began to search in the direction of the phenomenon, their footsteps picking up. Next, they heard the quiet sound of cascading water from deeper in the caves. They started going even faster, almost running.

A stalker jumped from the wall in front of them, but Corrin cut it down with hardly a thought as they turned the corner, the water getting louder and louder, he broke into a sprint, unable to hold himself back as he felt the air getting colder ahead of him. The sound was much louder now, a veritable roar of water. Whatever it was must be just around the corner.

He turned the corner and stumbled to a stop as the pathway opened up into an enormous room, larger than any he’d ever seen, larger than should have even been possible. Up ahead, the ground disappeared, forming a wide cliff. He walked over to the edge, still unsure of what was causing the sound of water. Carefully, he looked down to see a drop off which went down further than he could’ve imagined. And across from it…

Wyn rounded the corner behind him quickly, albeit at a much safer pace, “Don’t just go running off you—” He trailed off as he took in the sight across the cavern from them.

A waterfall. An enormous cascade, hundreds, maybe thousands of feet across, pouring endless amounts of water, more than Corrin had ever seen in his life, into the cave below. A series of caves and pathways ringed the enormous room, spiraling down from their position at the top all the way to the base of the falls. Hundreds of feet below, the water crashed into a large pool, though perhaps it’d be more accurate to call it a small lake, before trickling out into a number of small streams and rivers which flowed into other caverns and passageways out of sight.

Deep within the water, a vague hazy shape, impossibly large, could be seen moving around, even from the top of the cliff. The sight of it caused Corrin’s breath to catch in his throat before the form vanished, going even deeper than they could see.

What felt like an eternity passed, the only sound was the falling water, blocking out almost all others, until finally Corrin heard laughter from behind him, he turned to see Wyn doubled over, laughing uncontrollably. After a moment, Corrin’s partner stabilized himself before letting out a loud whoop, which echoed off the walls of the room before slowly fading out.

Corrin couldn’t help but grin widely at the sight. Regardless of what this meant for their plans; however it would delay them, adventure was what they’d wanted, and they’d finally found it. He pumped his fist in the air, and Wyn responded in kind.

Wyn walked closer, his eyes wide. “How is this even possible? Are we still in the mountains?”

“I don’t know,” was all Corrin could say.

Their moment of revelry was interrupted by a loud screech, which echoed ominously off of the cavern walls. And Corrin was reminded, this was still the dungeon, and if this was the third floor, that meant new and even stronger monsters would be trying to kill them.

Corrin drew his sword, looking around for the source of the scream. It was hard to tell where it was coming from in such a large cavern, but—

“Wyn! It’s above us!” Corrin managed, just before a giant, bat-like creature covered in feathers came swooping down towards him. Since becoming a guard, Corrin had become used to killing all sorts of monsters in the dungeon, but there was something primally terrifying about a flying creature half again his size coming at him with outstretched talons. None of the other monsters in the dungeon could fly!

Shaking off his momentary panic, he dove to the side to avoid its first dive. It cut into his pack, and the force of the strike sent him rolling across the stone ground. Harvested materials spilled out of the pack and scattered across the cliff. Some fell off and clattered helplessly against the side of the chasm as they fell out of earshot.

In that moment, Corrin realized something. The bat was fast. Frighteningly fast, easily more so than any other creature he’d come across. He quickly used the momentum of the roll to launch himself to his feet, sword in front of him in one motion. Soon, another screech filled the room, then another, and another, until the cavern was filled with a cacophony of high-pitched screeches. To his side, Wyn was looking up, horrified. Corrin followed his eyes to see a nightmare, as half a dozen red-eyed, winged monstrosities awoke on the ceiling above. They dropped off their perches, free falling a brief way before mangled wings stretched out and caught the air.

Corrin glanced over to Wyn, communicating wordlessly, and they started to back off the way they’d come, trying to funnel the bats into the narrower space for what was bound to be a brutal, but manageable fight. Until a roar echoed out from behind them, and Corrin’s heart skipped a beat. Wyn turned to see, but even before he looked, Corrin knew what was there.

Despite being on four legs, the stone-backed tiger easily stood at almost 5 feet, with a large, muscled body. Its fur was a dark, filthy gray, and absorbed force, which meant they were hard to kill, even without accounting for the stone plating which covered its upper body, giving it a natural armor which was difficult, if not impossible to cut. They’d encountered one before, and though it was a pain to kill, between the two of them it hadn’t been too much of a threat, this one must’ve been tracking them for some time to have come from a cleared room like that.

Corrin’s grip on his sword tightened to combat the sweating of his palms.

“Wyn… think you can deal with the tiger?” he asked, his voice low.

“Just keep those bats off me. Once it’s dead we’ll retreat back into the tunnels.”

“Why do I feel like I got the harder job?” Corrin chuckled nervously, setting his pack down on the ground. He needed full mobility for this.

There was a moment of tension, neither the bats nor the tiger knew what to make of the situation, but the confusion wouldn’t last much longer.

Corrin wouldn’t let it go to waste.

Without warning, he launched himself towards the nearest bat, streaking through the air as his steel flashed, cutting off its head before it even knew what was happening.

Like the bursting of a dam, the plateau was immediately engulfed in combat. The remaining five bats screeched in dissonance as they attacked.

Corrin caught one on the flat of his sword, twisting out of the way of another. He parried the third and knocked the fourth aside with his hand, but the fifth raked its claws across his shoulder, pain flooding his nervous system. He grimaced and swung his blade in a wide arc, catching its leg as it flew away.

He had to stay on the offensive, but they could fly out of his reach, so he settled for the next best thing. As the first swooped down to attack him again, he met it, charging underneath it and slashing vertically above his head. The blade bit into flesh and he grinned, spinning around just in time to block a retaliating strike from another bat.

Vaguely, he was aware of the fight between Wyn and the tiger. The beast would lose no doubt, but without both of them, it would take time. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the creature’s blood splattered across the stones, and Wyn seemed to be in control, hopefully it wouldn’t be long now.

The bats kept coming, and Corrin was pushed onto the back foot, the damn things were so fast. For each strike he blocked, two more came almost immediately after, and he’d only managed to kill one of them, besides the first, none of his attacks had been lethal.

Once they made it out of here, they’d need to find some way to train against flying opponents, he felt entirely unprepared.

Claws raked across his back, and his sword slashed off a bat’s wing, leaving it to tumble down into the darkness below.

One of them bit into his left arm and another knocked him to the ground. He rolled with the blow, skidding to a stop just before he went off the edge. His head had hit a rock during the slide, and he felt blood trickle down his face, blurring his vision slightly.

Before he had time to wipe it off, or even to stand, they were on him again. He rolled forward, dodging an attack while moving away from the cliff.

In the heat of the battle, a real life and death battle, as he was pushed to his limits for the first time, Corrin felt something stirring inside him. Maybe it was just the adrenaline, but his body was crackling with energy. His movements grew even quicker as his thoughts sharpened; a crazed grin broke out on his face.

This was… so much fun!

He laughed as his sword beheaded another bat, only three to go now. He kept going, following some instinct he didn’t even know he had. Without even knowing why, he spun around, his sword flashing as it lopped off the legs of a bat, like cutting through paper.

Each breath brought in more energy to his body, filling it with power as another claw cut a gash down the side of his arm. He almost dropped his sword.

“Corrin!” Wyn’s voice called out from the entrance, why was he calling him again? “We have to go!”

They didn’t have to go at all, if Wyn joined him, they’d easily wipe out the rest of these bats and then keep going deeper.

Wyn kept shouting something, but Corrin couldn’t hear him through the sound of his own heartbeat. Another bat fell, and another, he cut down a third. His shoulder was slashed again, so he chopped off the wing of the attacker before dodging the strike of a different one.

How many had there been again?

A thunderous boom rang out in the cave as fire engulfed the air above him, bats fell from the sky all around him. As though the explosion had blown away clouds in his head, all at once his mind cleared. A whole score of the monsters had shown up. The sound of the protracted battle and the howl must’ve brought them.

He looked towards Wyn, who was looking his way with his arm outstretched. That had been a firestone. They’d bought several of the explosive spell stones in case of emergencies. Corrin’s breath caught, and the power fled him as he came to his senses.

He felt the cuts across his whole body, gashes on his back, arms, shoulders, he must be covered in blood.

He turned to run towards Wyn, just as his body screamed at him to duck. He was a second too late, and claws dug into his shoulders as one of the remaining bats hit him from the front. He fell backwards towards the edge of the cliff, desperately trying to regain his balance. Reaching out blindly, his hand seized onto the leg of the beast, and he held onto it tightly even as the ground disappeared beneath his feet. Gravity took over, and he tumbled off the cliff.

Wyn’s voice echoed out through the cavern, but Corrin could no longer hear what he was saying as he hurtled towards the water below.

Shit.