Chapter 8

Joining the Quest of Five

Sparrow

I had been running for a long time. I had been running away from the destructed ruins that was Loch Ness City. The Fangpyres had destroyed the only place I could call home. Before the war, I was a successful young business owner. When I saw Marlene, I was little more than a lost refugee.

But there she was. Marlene's electric blue eyes had seen just as much destruction as mine. She lost her boyfriend, I lost my home. At least the things I had lost could be replaced. Marlene would never find another Rico

I noticed that Marlene had two companions. One was a human boy. I suspected that he was Ethan, Marlene's human friend. Marlene's other friend was Cara, the Amispire King's advisor.

"Hello Marlene," I said to Marlene.

"Sparrow!" she exclaimed. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

"How have you been?" I asked, although I already knew the answer.

"Terrible, but you already knew that. What about you?" Marlene replied.

"I'm still alive and that's an achievement these day," I said. Marlene nodded. "What are you doing here anyways?" I asked.

"We're going to see Scàth," Cara said

"What do you need your fortune told for?" I asked.

"We're going on a quest to get rid of the Blood Seekers once and for all," Cara explained.

"I see," I said, despite the fact that I didn't really understand what she meant by that. The Blood Seekers had taken over Loch Ness City, and there was no way to kill all of them.

"Abyss' forces will crumble if she's gone, so we're going to throw her into the Pit of Eternal Doom," Marlene added. "Maybe you'd like to come with us."

"No!" Cara exclaimed. "It's too dangerous!!!"

"Dangerous actually seems like a good thing right now," I told Cara. "I'd love to come with you!"

"If you insist..." Cara said.

And so I joined the quest. I was glad to see Marlene again. I hadn't seen her in years, and we were happy to spend time together once again. We traveled all the way to Scàth's cave, which was far from the small village they had found me in.

When we arrived, Marlene knocked on Scàth's door. We waited for several minutes. Suddenly, a huge dragon opened the door. His scales were jet black, which was unusual for dragons in this area. Long, pointy horns adorned his head, and two long fangs grew from his jaw. His eyes were bright yellow, and he rarely blinked. In short, this dragon creeped me out a little.

"You must be Scàth," Cara said.

"Yes, that's me. Come in, Cara," Scàth said in a rasping voice.

I looked around Scàth's cave. It was painted black, with a few slightly creepy paintings on the wall. I was a little doubtful that Scàth would give us a good prophecy, but it was worth a shot.

"So you want a prophecy for your quest?" Scàth asked. I wondered how he knew that we were going on a quest, but decided to ignore it.

"Yes, please," Cara said.

Scàth paused for a moment and began reciting a prophecy:

Five will travel to the Pit as friends

Until one meets an untimely end

Two to replace the fallen one

One to face the Master's gun

One to read of warriors and doom

One to escape the peasant's tomb

North they will wander in fear

Only death the five will near

Five will travel to the Pit as friends

Until one meets an untimely end

"I hope this prophecy will not play out as expected," Scàth said.

Cara nodded. "There seems to be no other choice though," she said.

"Two to replace the fallen one... that's clearly Ethan and I," Marlene said.

"So we have to go on the quest. The thing about the Master's gun implies that at least one, if not two, of us won't make it back alive," Ethan said. "That's not good."

"I suspect that I am the one to read of warriors and doom," Scàth said. "And I am happy to join your quest."

"What about the peasant's tomb?" Ethan asked.

"Maybe we have to raise someone from the dead?" Cara said.

"No," I said. "The tomb is like a curse. Obviously this is a metaphor for extreme poverty. I think that I need to go on the quest," I said.

"I suppose that I am the last member of the quest, then," Cara said.

"We cannot waste any more time," Scàth said. "I already see the Blood Seekers near the Pit."

"Then we shall go north as the Prophecy says," Cara said.

We left Scàth's cave. Marlene used her magic to determine the location of the Pit of Eternal Doom. We traveled northward, each of us hoping we weren't the one to meet our untimely end. The Quest of Five had begun, and only four of us would come out alive.