64 A Small Sprout

Garrett felt his way through the darkness and finally came across the lid of the coffin. He pushed it to the ground and breathed in the stale cavern air. The dampness of the cave enveloped him as he looked around, listening closely for any sounds that might indicate any of the details of the timeline he was in. All he was met with was the echo of water dripping from the ceiling.

"Alright Asuria, let's see what you have to offer," Garrett said as he walked towards the exit of the room. The pathway split between three this time; one forward, one left, and one right. Garrett looked down each hallway, seeing only the illumination of the crystals in the ceiling. Nothing else stood out. "Time for the tried and true method," Garrett said as he pulled out three coins and flipped them into the air. They clattered to the ground, heads, tails, heads. Garrett bent down and scooped up the coins and began to walk down the center pathway.

It was all too quiet right now. Garrett kept his grip on his sword and his shield up, preparing himself. The hallway led into a room, barren except for mining equipment. As Garrett got closer, he noticed scorch marks on the ground. Large ones that looked like fireworks had gone off in the room. He looked around in the minecarts that were nearby. They were filled with rubble or broken tools. Nothing too useful at all. On the other side of the room was a metal door, slightly ajar with scratch marks on the ground around it.

Garrett drew his sword and moved close to the door, listening carefully. As he was about to peer between the cracks, the door suddenly slammed on him. He tried to budge the handle, but it wouldn't open. Then, a low growl came from the other side of the door. It didn't sound like any monster that Garrett had encountered before, but it shook him to his core. He stumbled backwards onto his hands as he felt his chest tighten up in fear. The growl grew louder and he could hear something pacing. As he began to get up, he noticed faint bloodstains on the ground around him. A chill ran through his spine as he slowly got to his feet.

Carefully, Garrett backed away from the room, making sure to face the metal door until he was on the other side. Then, he turned and ran back until he came across the intersection where the coffin room used to be. Once again, the room was sealed back up with no signs of cracks or anything. Garrett looked down the left hallway, then the right. He pulled out a copper coin and flipped it. It landed on heads. Garrett picked up the coin and headed down the left hallway, making a mental note of the room with the metal door.

After taking a few sighs of relief, Garrett's nerves began to settle. As he began to approach the next room, Garrett could hear people talking. He hid himself up against the wall and leaned in to listen. Except, that he couldn't understand anything that was being said. Cautiously, he peered around the corner to see five robed figures standing in a huddle, talking with each other.

Their outfit was purple with gold trim. They all had hoods that covered over their faces with five small holes in the front of them, like a knight's visor. He didn't recognize the symbol on their clothes, so they at least weren't associated directly with the Sunrir Brigade. But, without being able to understand what they were saying, there wasn't any way to tell if they were friend or foe.

Then, the robed figures all moved to the next room. After waiting a few seconds, Garrett emerged from hiding to look around the room. As he expected, there wasn't anything of note that he could find other than the usual mining equipment long abandoned. Garrett turned his head in the direction that the hooded figures went. Part of him wanted to follow them to see what they were up to, but another part of him felt a need to avoid people, especially since he didn't have any Helioxene.

As Garrett turned to head in the opposite direction, something stopped him in his tracks. He heard a faint buzzing sounds, like the crackling of air when electricity is passing through. It was coming from the direction that the hooded figures went. So, Garrett drew his sword and slowly made his way down the path they took.

Closer and closer, the crackling got more intense. Even more, Garrett could hear the sounds of wailing and crying. He hurried up his pace to see what was going on. What Garrett found was the hooded figures all standing facing a wall. On the wall, chained up by his wrists, was none other than the large cat man himself, Min-Tul.

"Come on. That the best you got?" He coughed up blood, which stained his fur slightly. He had clear lacerations all over his body and he was breathing heavily. "I'll never tell you anything, you kiz'n!" The robed figures looked at each other then back to Min-Tul. One of them held up their hands and purple energy shot from their fingers, causing Min-Tul to writhe in pain.

"Well, that settles it," Garrett said as he charged into the room, sword out. With the element of surprise on his side, he managed to cleave through the back of two of the hooded figures, causing them to collapse onto the ground. The other three, now noticing Garrett, raised their hands and began to channel the same purple energy as the one before.

Quickly, Garrett rolled back as the energy blasts struck the ground, narrowly missing him. Running out of options quickly, Garrett looked at the bindings that were holding Min-Tul up. They were the same chains as the ones that held Jerten and Iadre's cage before.

"Flariseo!" Garrett launched a fireball at the chains, causing them to break upon contact. Like an uncaged feral animal, Min-Tul lept at one of the hooded figures and began to claw its face. The two remaining figures looked at Min-Tul, then to Garrett, then to each other. They nodded and before Garrett could reach either of them with his sword, the figures enveloped themselves in shadows and disappeared into the ground.