“So one down, three to go. Think we made a difference?” Trig grunted as I forced the leg to straighten so I could set it properly.
“I believe we did,” I mumbled.
“And uh, what ahhhhh!’ Trig gasped and tried to writhe out of my grasp, but I could hold him in place easily enough, putting the right amount of pressure to get the bones to line back up. “What leads you to believe thaaaat?”
“Because,” I said as I held the bones in place with one hand and giving him a healing potion with the other. “I can sense my arrows stuck in the core. And they happen to be moving quite fast.”
“For real?”
“I think it’s running. But the question is, where to?”
Chapter 40
Trig was healing up just fine. His fractured leg hadn’t been that bad and the accelerated healing potion was able to fix it up in no time. By the next morning, he was walking around without a problem, chasing Little Hig all around the hut to kill time while we waited for the Titan to stop moving.
While the shadows outside remained fixed, I could sense that my two arrows stuck in the core were still moving somewhere further to the southwest, nearly two miles away by now. Why exactly the creature was moving in that direction was a mystery. It was slowing down now, considerably, and I got the feeling my arrows would be stationary once more soon enough.
In the meantime, I readied another True Arrow and went over some ideas with Trig. Rather than just rush in blindly and take a shot, we needed to scout the locale first, to see if there was a significant reason as to why the Titan had run in that direction.
Trig’s theory was that there was a heavier concentration of monsters living in that area. Perhaps another nursery, belonging to even bigger monsters. Not a bad idea. My own guess was that the Shadow Titan was merely trying to relocate itself, unaware that we could track its exact location at all times. I guess we would find out soon enough.
With as little downtime as we could spare, we readied for our next attack and headed out into the shadows once more, the green flames as our guide. What waited for us deeper in the southwest? An ambush? An unaware Titan ready for another surprise attack? Or perhaps nothing at all, just a mere distraction crafted by the beast, moving my arrows someplace else. Too many unknowns.
We paid far more attention to the ground this time, ensuring that we weren’t standing on any kinds of inert monsters as we drew closer and closer to the Titan core’s location. The sounds of rushing water nearby caught my interest and I motioned for Trig to follow me.
A few hundred feet away from the path we were walking down was a large lagoon, filled with beautiful water! A massive waterfall was above, so tall that we couldn’t see the tops of it, pouring down hundreds of gallons into the lake. This was an excellent find, because the water would protect us from the shadows. A perfect place to retreat if things went really bad and we lost our light sources. Providing that the water was clear, of course.
Without a word, I dove into the lake and swam around, looking for any signs of a L’Gara or some other aquatic nightmare. But fortunately, the lake water was perfectly safe, devoid of any life except for a few bored-looking fish who were quite unimpressed with me. They swam around, ignoring this intrusion into their daily lives, as if no one was there.
The clarity of this water was just like the other river I had been in. The light from above shined into the lake, giving me the ability to see just about everything, clear as day. Before I could swim back to the shore, I felt a strong impression from Josiah’s Storm. Tactical advantages can be found anywhere, it urged. Are you satisfied with your search of this place?
Good question. My Arrowfinder senses told me that the core wasn’t too far from here, not even half a mile. Turning underwater to face the direction of the core, I swam forward, scouring the lake area, searching for signs of anything of interest. The further I swam, the deeper the water became, until I realized that there was a long slope leading even deeper. I resurfaced for a moment, motioned for Trig to standby, then took a deep breath, diving back into that slope.
There was a wide opening at the end of the slope, leading through an underwater cavern of sorts. I wasn’t worried about my breath giving out, as I could just switch out my charms. So I swam forward, enjoying the refreshing, cool water and the fact that I wasn’t fighting for my life while underwater for once.
The further through the cave I swam, the stronger the water current behind me became, pushing me forward faster and faster. This must mean I was going down, right? Water didn’t flow up, did it?
Halfway through this trip, I had to switch to my L’Gara charm, slapping it on and enjoying the immediate burst of air that rushed through my lungs. The cavern was growing more claustrophobic as the walls closed in, and more than a few times, I found my supplies getting snagged on an outstretched rock.
“Will this ever end?” I burbled as I swam. The novelty of the underwater cavern had worn off and now I was trying to hurry as quickly as I could, the tightness of the rocky walls around me growing closer and closer with each passing moment. Finally, and much to my surprise, I found the exit to this long tunnel leading upwards. I swam up and next thing I knew, I was in a large cavern.
Carefully lighting another torch (I had
