Chapter 8: Questions

Teus whipped his body around to see where the mysterious voice was coming from.

“Who’s there!?”

He indignantly asked, only to find no one behind him. Sweat fell from rolling down his chin as he let out a nervous chuckle and continued to survey the area.

“Oh…wow, I must have imagined that. I guess I’m still a little worked up, huh?”

He said to himself as he continued to look around. Still blinking groggily, his eyes soon adjusted to the surroundings. A soft glow filled the air around Teus. The statues with blue markings on them were pulsating with a soft, glimmering light and energy. The sound of cascading water seemed to echo gently throughout the cave. 

He pat himself down again just to make sure, he felt surprisingly refreshed, despite everything that he had already endured. His hand instinctively brushed over his battle suit. 

Though where he expected to feel his recent dents and tears, instead he realized the armor was in good condition, all of his injuries were gone too.

He began to chuckle in disbelief.

“Nanobots working underwater? Alberion, you must have seriously outdone yourself with this new update.”

But there was silence.

“Alberion?”

Still no sound.

Teus let out a nervous laugh.

“Oh I get it, you’re probably still mad at me for dragging us through that whole mess, huh? I get it, I think I could have done some things better too, but at least we’re alive to have that: much needed discussion about my decision-making, right?.”

…

“...right?”

He said with his voice more soft and doubtful.

“...right, Alberion…?”

Though before he could finish his sentence, a loud, bellowing and commanding voice echoed throughout the cave.

“Are you done with your yapping to this Alberion you speak of, or have you officially gone insane…?”

Teus completely froze, his eyes darting around the soft glowing cave. He tried figuring out just who was talking to him. The statues that remained static in front of him. The source of the voice was still unseen, yet it seemed to resonate from every corner of the cave.

“W- what’s going on? Who are you!”

Teus asked as he impulsively went to grab his sword.

Though there was a pause, as if the very landscape considered his question.

“Where?...Where is my blade!?”

He thought to himself, realizing that it was nowhere to be found.

“Do you intend to sit there ignorantly all day…? Look above you…!”

The voice growled.

Teus cautiously faced upward, his heart almost skipping a beat as he located the source of this voice:

A massive lion-like being that stood majestically atop a ledge, its glowing blue eyes locked onto him. The creature’s body was adorned with the same intricate blue engravings that shimmered in the statues that surrounded them. Their mane was enormous, thick and dastardly imposing, it transitioned from a deep blue at its base to a lighter almost ethereal blue at its tips. The creature’s front teeth jutted out much like sabers, they were sharp and ridiculously menacing.

“A talking monster…?”

Clearly startled, Teus stumbled back, as he tried to comprehend what exactly he was seeing. The giant beast watched his every move intently but kept the same calm demand in his voice.

“I have seen many slouches like you before…”

The lion rumbled, his deep voice causing the walls to vibrate throughout the cave.

 “You type of fools do not have the strength necessary to survive in the domain of the beasts. Especially now, not with this current war upon us…”

With furrowed eyebrows, he desperately wanted to make sense of the words coming from the monster’s mouth.

“What the hell!? War between beasts?”

His thoughts still speeding through his head as he again attempted to reach for his sword. Only to remember that it wasn’t there. The panic quickly set in. He turned to the monster and demanded a response.

“What did you do to my blade?”

His mind, still fighting back the confusion and frustration. The lion’s eyes squinted with overflowing disdain, a nasty snarl escaping his throat.

“Answer me this, squishy mammal: Do you earnestly believe that I would have use for a weakling’s sword, such as your own..?”

His eyes glimmered in the dark with an intense blue tint. His growl grew even more menacing than before paralyzing Teus in his stance, his voice sharp and filled with resentment. His anger was practically palpable. He sneered at him before continuing. 

“Such audacity, to assume that I would desire such a minute thing...”

Teus’ mind was spinning, he wasn’t exactly scared in this moment—more so, utterly confused. The beast’s towering presence was astronomically intimidating, though not like any monster he had fought before, this being was far from typical.

“Your sword was not with you when you washed ashore in this cave, hence it is not with you now.”

The lion continued, his deep growl fading away into a meer huff of impatience.

“...As for where it is now, I do not care.”

Teus blinked in unshakeable doubt, trying his best to process the creature's words.

“Wasn’t I sinking before? How did I wash ashore?”

The lion stretched around briefly before sighing again, he did it with such power it almost sent Teus flying back. In an odd mix of frustration and irritation, he reluctantly decided to concede in his next statement.

“...I at least commend you for one thing: you are not a coward. That wimpiness, that unreasonable timidity is the thing I hate most about you damn humans.”

His eyes still piercing through Teus, they seemed to be evaluating him. His momentary reprieve from scorning now passed as his judging eyes promptly returned. He watched his every movement.

“But nevertheless, I loathe your kind deeply, regardless. So, hear this not as what you would call a kindness. Not as a warning, but as a mere fact.”

The creature’s bellowing growl only worsened, his tone was heavy and filled with a sense of finality. 

“You are weak. I can smell it from here. I know not of what you intend to accomplish here, or why you set your foul stench onto this island, but I will tell you now. You will lose everything that is important to you. Every sacrifice you’ve made will be in vain as a result of you coming onto this island.”

Though still utterly confused, Teus tightly clamped his fists out of frustration.

“Why is he so mad at me? What is he even talking about? It’s not like I came here by choice or anything so why’s he so infuriated with who I am?...What even is this war he’s talking about?”

The ground beneath the two began to suddenly rumble. The cave was shaking vehemently and rubble began to fall from the ceiling, clattering and bashing into everything around them as the tremors intensified. The lion’s ears flattened in his annoyance, his eyes narrowed as danger approached.

“So they’ve found me…”

The monster muttered in irritation as his large body began to tense.

Before Teus could even react, a massive explosion tore a gigantic hole through one of the cave’s walls. Teus instinctively dove for shelter, narrowly avoiding the oncoming shower of debris.

When the dust finally settled, he caught a glimpse of the beast that had broken in.

It was another gargantuan monster, with a large frame much like the lion he was speaking to. Though this one seemed to be far more terrifying. They had two massive heads with wolf-like faces and many large thick horns which were protruding grotesquely from their serpentine-like tail.

The monstrous entity proceeded to let out a bone-chilling howl, its twin heads snapping in opposing directions.

As he peeked through the fallen rocks, Teus’ heart raced as he witnessed this destruction.

“Shoot! I have no weapon, I’m stuck between these two giants, and Alberion’s not responding. To worsen things these guys look like they can tear me apart in a instant. I’ll just have to wait for my opportunity to cut loose.”

He thought to himself whilst trying to find an exit. The lion growled once again, his eyes never leaving his current intruder.

“You’re only going to make things more difficult. If you want to live, now’s your chance… We will meet again though, human. And if things go the way that I think that they’ll go. I’m going to tear you limb from limb!”

“What’s with this guy!?”

Teus muttered to himself, his eyes widened with horror as he realized that this lion alerted the newcomer on his exact location.

He quickly returned his focus to an exit route, but couldn’t find any avenue insight, except for the way this new beast came in. The gigantic lion glared at him in frustration, which was clearly mounting from his glowing eyes and yelled.

“Stop thinking of a path and get out of here!”

Teus snapped out of his daze and began running, he didn’t know where to, but he was running. The familiar blue plasma began to whirl around him as he shot off in the dark, still bolting away in the cave.

“Come on, come on, There’s gotta be an escape somewhere here, right?”

He frantically thought to himself as he heard the roar of the giant lion. This shook the cave even more, and in that moment the two headed wolf monster turned their attention towards Teus.

“Are you…Protecting a human…?”