The Cave
Copyright 2008 Levi Garcia
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Otho had been guarding the same cave entrance for three years and was finally tired of it. There isn’t a lot of work for seven-foot brutes and farming just wasn’t in him. You either shakedown travelers in the forest or you guard caves for wizards. It was fine for the first year even though he spent day and night there; through the heat of summer and chill of winter. However, it all started to feel a bit pointless since no one had ever shown up wanting to get in.
During the second year, he began sneaking home at night. He reasoned that no one was going to try to explore a cave in the dark shy shouldn’t he get to sleep in his own bed at night? Of course, caves are typically dark on the inside regardless of the time of day, but Otho wasn’t very bright.
Otho used to be a thief. Not the sneaking around in the middle of the night kind, but the kind that punched the horse you were riding and held you upside down by the feet till all your belongings dropped to the ground. During this time in his life, someone found him to be suitable for marriage. Suitable may not be the right word as she didn’t actually approve of his occupation. It was then that he vowed to his new wife that he would take up honest work which then led him to his current employment.
As a former thief, he did know a lot about crime. He possessed enough street smarts to set up a system to let him know if someone went into the cave while he was away. This simple system consisted of stacking small stones within the shadows just inside the entrance that, if disturbed, it would indicate that someone had gone in. However, Otho really had no plan for what to do if he checked and found that someone had been through.
By the third year, with still no visitors, he would only make occasional checks throughout the day. Otho had never wondered what was even in the cave and had only ever ventured far enough in to set up his stones. Seeing as how his employer hadn’t seemed to notice his absence he figured that whatever was inside probably wasn’t that important, so it didn’t matter that he wasn’t always there. However, wizards are not really known for their lenience. There was a good chance that he could be, not just being fired, but cursed for his inattentiveness.
Otho was getting restless. His heart just wasn’t in cave guarding, it never really was, and he would fondly recall memories of bashing the heads of traveling minstrels. He was missing the good old days.
On this particular morning, as he was making a check on the cave, he made a decision. Today would be the day that he would leave a note on the wizard’s castle door. Although, he didn’t want to have to tell his wizard boss that he was quitting, he could handle himself in a fight with the non-magical, it’s usually best to avoid a face to face situation with a wizard. It was decided. Today would be his last day of guarding caves. It was time to get back to his thievery roots.
No sooner had he come to this conclusion that he noticed someone making their way up towards him. The cave was actually about halfway up the rocky side of a rather large hill. From the cave entrance, where he usually sat, he could see travelers making their way through the countryside long before they could see him. However, no one ever came up the path to the cave, so that really only meant that he had a good view of the land.
“You there! Is this the Cave of Whispering Sorrow?” asked the stranger.
Otho had never known if the cave had a name. Now that he thought about it, this might not even be the right one. When accepting the job, he was given rather vague directions and had never bothered to look for another one once he came across this one. How many caves could there possibly be in the area? Maybe that was why no one, till now, had ever shown up. However, the stranger didn’t seem to know if he was in the right place, so Otho decided to just play along. If this was going to be his last day, he may as well have some fun and play his part. It had been a while since he got his blood pumping with a good fight.
“It is, but you can’t come in here,” he replied.
The stranger bit his lip and sucked in his breath. “Yes, I kind of have to. I am Prince Landon and I am on a quest to recover the Emerald of Sleep that lies within the Cave of Whispering Sorrow.”
“Well, you’ll have to fight me before you can enter,” Otho said as he picked up his club and hoisted it up to his shoulder. He sensed that his final day was going to be fun.
“I would much rather not fight you. I fought a dragon two nights ago and I really hurt my sword arm,” Landon responded.
This was almost a good excuse. Prince Landon was actually a decent swordsman and it was true that he wasn’t able to lift his sword after an encounter with a dragon. However, this did not occur in the heroic fashion that he had hoped to present it in. He actually hurt himself falling down the side of a mountain while trying to run away from the dragon he had awoken while exploring another cave.
Truthfully, he really wasn’t that brave and he would not be the person you would want charged with the responsibility of rescuing you from peril. Likewise, if he had a choice, he would not be on this quest at all. However, his sleeping betrothed’s father had threatened war with his kingdom if he didn’t. Rather than face a needless war, his own father had commanded him to go.
He had started the quest three months ago with an ample company of soldiers, ships and supplies. During that time, all but one of his ships had been sunk and most of his soldiers were either dead or severely wounded. Even his trusty squire was temporarily incapacitated when he was blinded by an angry tree troll who threw feces in his face. Most of this could probably have been avoided had they had proper leadership. Unfortunately, they only had Prince Landon. In any case, his true strength was in talking others into doing things for him.
“Sorry, looks like I’m gonna have to beat you,” Otho said.
“Wait! What if I pay you? What would it take? I’m sure I can pay you well over the value of what’s in there. I am a prince. I can get you most anything you ask for,” Landon pleaded.
“I don’t own what’s in there. I’m just guarding it.”
“Really? You just stand around here all day guarding this cave and what’s in there isn’t even yours? That must get boring.”
Otho just shrugged.
“Did you even know what was in there?” Landon asked.
“Nope,” Otho replied.
“Have you ever wondered what was in there? Never thought of maybe taking a look and maybe estimating the value of what was inside and maybe selling it?” Landon asked hoping to catch some sign of greed in the brute.
“Oh, I couldn’t do that. Vax would kill me.” Otho replied. Although, what Landon was saying was starting to make him consider things he had previously avoided thinking about.
“Who’s Vax?”
“He’s a wizard.”
“There’s a wizard in there?” Landon was suddenly worried.
“Well, no, but he’s the one paying me to guard it. If what was in there turned up missing, he would probably blame me. I don’t think I stand a chance against a wizard. Although, I’ve never thought of the value of what was inside.”
“Yes, it must definitely be worth a lot if someone with your obvious strength and menacing presence is being paid to guard it. So, do you know where the wizard is now?”
“He’s probably in his castle. I’ve never seen him come out here before.”
“Sounds like he has better things to be doing with his time, but what about your time? What does he expect you to do while waiting around here? Surely, he must assume that yo
u’ve looked around in there.”
“No, I’ve only ever been just inside the opening when it’s rained.” Otho looked back over his shoulder into the darkness. His inner thief was getting curious. If today was going to be his last day then maybe he should check it out. What if there was something in there that the wizard wouldn’t miss.
“How about we make a deal?” Landon propositioned. “I have to go in there and if you have to kill me for going in there then what difference will it make if you kill me out here or in there? We can just fight once we’ve found whatever it is that we’re looking for. Look, I have a torch. I’ll even carry it.”
Otho thought on this for a moment. As he was a bit afraid of the dark, having company while exploring seemed like the best way to go. If something was found, he could even have Landon accompany him on the way out and then kill him. “Ok. You have a deal tiny prince.”
Landon smiled. “Excellent,” he said as he produced the necessary tools to start a fire. He had bought himself some time. He didn’t really plan to fight the brute at all. He would just use the darkness to his advantage. An unexpected knife to the back of the brute’s neck would do the trick. All he had to do was wait for the right moment to get behind him.
“Ok. You go in first and I’ll follow you tiny