Following the bright yellow lights that radiated from the round bodies of the fruits that rested on their warped stems, which grew out of the moss in irregular patterns, Midas, Gunvar, and the two water kingdom knights that accompanied them walked deeper into the cave, which expanded underneath the buildings of Baumfall.
The cavern the wooden platform descended into reached out far—a broad, circular room, its height much greater than its unevenly expanding radius. Being led by the glowing bodies in front of them, the group descended down a warping path, following the walls of the cave, easily wide enough for the four of them to fit on without having to worry about falling down the unlit dark beneath.
The moss on the floor reached up the wall they followed, covering the vibrant brown of the inner layer of wood with a thick carpet of different greens—flourishing in the damp air of the caverns, the moisture easily noticeable as Midas's fingers glided down the inner wood. Having reached what seemed to be the end of the cavern, their group was presented with different-sized holes, seemingly carved out by someone long ago.
„Look at that…"
Hearing the mutter Gunvar toned, Midas looked down at what lay in front of his feet. One of the glowing fruits fell from the stem it was resting on—the slim membrane holding the swollen shape of it together remained burst open on the ground, and some sort of fluid was escaping from it. Just a few steps away from the remains, the metal tip of a spear remained stuck in the thick carpet of moss.
„These must belong to the guards that stand around the wooden platform above; perhaps a fight must've broken out here… I'm sure whoever fought against them must've climbed through an opening at any of these pathways here."
„It seems reasonable to think there's no reason why one would leave their weapon behind like this. We might have a third party involved in this… given the mild destruction."
The holes surrounding them lead into five directions, all of them wide enough to allow three or more people to fit through at the same time. The tunnel-like pathways that seemed to connect multiple rooms in one line weren't as spacious as the cavern they came through—few more natural lamps followed through all of them.
"Look, someone who was involved in this stepped into that liquid and left footprints behind…"
Barely visible in the dimly lit space, Gunvar crouched in front of a sparsely glistening trail of liquid that led into the biggest opening right ahead of them. Once they entered, the four of them found themselves walking a pathway with warping walls—the elongated space much cooler than the outside due to the damp walls and elevation.
Their path curved left, taking them deeper into the ground—the age of the wood around them seemed to vary frequently; parts of younger bark lay over already cracking, older wood. The patchwork of greyish browns and vibrant reddish wood was disrupted by the occasional crystal vein that sprouted on the wall, the dim green illuminating the growing darkness in the pathway.
Passing by left-behind burrows, tiny rooms docking onto the warping path they took—filled with dusted pottery, either from braided plant fiber or clay, seemingly barely used—Midas and Gunvar halted before walking further, seeing a group of foreign figures standing at the end of the pathway.
With their backs glued onto the spongy wooden wall, Gunvar peeked at what lay ahead on the curling path and was met with the sight of five men who stood at the end of it, two of them looking down on a much tinier wooden platform held up by rope, crouching down to inspect it as it seemingly only fit three people at once from what Gunvar was able to see far away.
The other two men were busy swinging at one of the crystal nodes with a pickaxe, making the glassy stone hull with every swing as the old iron tool hit against its reflective surface. Unable to make a crack in the stone, one of the men wearing striped cloth around their faces groaned in frustration, making the remaining fifth man slap his head to remind him about the secrecy of their operation.
Returning towards the others, Gunvar was silent for a short while—the striped cloth was orange and white, their leader had aged silver around his neck, his frame was slim and lanky, and he was carrying the same bracelet from the first time he met him before. Midas knew it just as much as Gunvar; in front of them stood pirates, and their leader was able to create fire.
„I should've known… Every Trestempo they show up and try to get their hands on the trading goods. Even after changing the position of the festival to be held at the capital, they still show up—completely unfazed…"
"Where does that platform lead to…?"
"To the grounds of the elite… those on top of the plant kingdom hierarchy stay deep underground."
The guards they were searching for were rested against the wall on the other end of the path, unable to stand as the three of them were passing out—some having injuries on their heads as they bled from under their leaf helmets.
„We should've gotten one of these plant stones from one of their spears… It was a stupid idea to leave them behind without checking if they had a stone slotted in them."
„Well, why don't you go and get for us… I hate to be kept waiting. Use that big head of yours and fetch me this plant stone so we can finally use this cursed platform…"
Hearing their flat words, Midas gave Gunvar an almost nervous glare—combat would be impossible to prevent now that one of them was heading their way, even though only they themselves were the ones who were tired of mining the crystal, and they got up and headed directly towards Gunvar. Seeing the enemy's shadow, they waited for the perfect moment in which he would be close enough to them—eventually grabbing the foe by the face and choking him in silence.
Seeing the man clothed in orange striped cloth fall onto the ground, Midas found himself briefly frozen for a moment—the thought of using the same cloth to cover his face if he really had to steal the Nor'Luft powder eventually crossing his mind, since hiding his face might prevent Midas from having Gunvar as an enemy. Unsure if doing so right away in front of the others would be a good idea, the youth decided to do so later—not trying to seem suspicious to the other guards for picking up the cloth that was used to mask a criminal.
Using the advantage they now had, Gunvar unsheathed his large blade, readying himself as the others watched the blue glimmer just above the handle of the sword grow, water seemingly accumulating from the dampened air around them as the large blade was quickly covered in a noticeably thick layer of water, a weapon Midas had to avoid at all costs, as the youth would be completely defenseless against it.
Unable to ask the tall man right next to him what his plan was, the youth watched as he quietly stepped out of it, making his way towards the oblivious pirate that remained behind next to the crystal, piercing through the back of him before he could completely face the knight. Having done so, the other two knights accompanying Gunvar made haste to dash forward with drawn blades—one of them instantly picked off by their leader, who wasted no time activating the red stone slotted in his bracelet, using his light bodyweight to leap forward and grab the visor of the knight, melting his face with a flash of fire, avoiding the swing of the second knight with a relaxed grin.
The pathway Gunvar found himself in limited his options—the space was barely wide enough to allow his blade to be swung at the pirates in front of him. Only briefly dilating his vision of the drawn dagger of their leader, the broadly built knight mustered the burnt face of his comrade—met with the sight of his deformed visor, fallen victim to the intense heat that is able to be created with the bracelet. Clutching his teeth as the second knight was able to pierce the hip of one of the pirates—barely able to block the blow of the other—Gunvar eventually decided to let his sword fly.
Feeding more mana into the water stone, Gunvar prepared himself to take a broad step forward—once his sole was on the ground, he used the momentum he had on the sword to throw it in the direction of the remaining pirates. As if the water that was pulling the blade in would be guiding it, Gunvar managed to barely avoid hitting his last companion beside Midas, gravely slicing through the chest of one pirate while cutting through the throat of the other that stood beside him in its circular spinning motion.
Seeing the blade come back to its owner, the leader of the pirate group smashed the blade against the wall, deflecting it with the back of his hand, rendering Gunvar momentarily defenseless as the sword was stuck into the spongy wood. Using the chance he has, the light figure dashed towards the thickly shielded knight, aiming for his neck, as he was just a moment faster than him at pulling his blade towards him again. Seeing this, Midas found himself extending his right arm out at Gunvar, his teeth gritted together, as he was torn between seeing him as a potential threat or friend.
Unable to use his sun shard since everything surrounding him was merely wood, Midas's lips contorted sharply in stress at the fact he couldn't do anything despite the activation of his stone. Seeing his commander at risk, the left-behind knight promptly rose up and followed the pirate commander, making him turn with widened eyes and a much wider grin, as he seemingly planned on eliminating the other knight first. Able to grasp onto the handle of his broadsword again, Gunvar wasn't quick enough to reach the enemy in time—forced to watch him duck beneath the swing of his partner, flashing his teeth at the sight of the enemy dagger rammed into the neck of another ally.
Using the greater agility he had over Gunvar, the pirate kneeled slightly, leaning back greatly to avoid the heavy slash of the incoming blade, and got up just as fast to dash forward towards Midas's direction, easily able to escape from the knight given his heavy armor. The youth now fully showed himself, already waiting for the pirate to come at him as he tensed his arm muscles up—planning to eliminate the enemy with one blow as the youth most likely matched his speed with the sickle in his hand.
The enemy's eyes widened at the sight of Midas's stern gaze, making him instantly use his bracelet—forming a bolt of fire at the youth, forcing him to dodge and free up the way. Sharpening his brows at the red blitz on his way, the youth let go of his mana-filled muscles, swinging his rusted weapon at the attack. Immediately losing his grip on the handle of his aged metal as it was ripped out of his hand to reflect the blow, all of them watched with narrowed eyes as the shot blew right against the green crystal, blowing up the bark of the dated trunk. The shock of the impact tore up the wood, dust flew up into the sky, and the remaining pirate was able to escape once again.
"We have to follow him...!"
Hearing the urgent tone of the youth, Gunvar held him off from going after the enemy, grasping his shoulder tightly as the dust settled. Able to see more, Midas was met with a grave hole that tore through the bark, the blow strong enough to tear through the already cracking wood, revealing to the both of them that they never even reached the underground to begin with, as the two of them stared at the sight of the surrounding grasslands and a setting sun with exhausted looks. Taking a breather, Midas kept his composure, widening his eyes as he saw the crystal being split into shards of different sizes, eventually picking one up.
"Well... we got the lost troop of guards. Let me take care of this, Midas, here... take these coins for taking part in this. Just let me sort this out with the guards; you staying would just make things more complicated for us..."
Holding a rough shard of green crystal and three silver coins in his hands for practically doing nothing, Midas simply stood there, unsure what to say, as he watched Gunvar crouch down to the injured guards, his mind seemingly completely unphased by the fighting that had just happened. Guilt didn't allow the youth to take one of the striped cloths that covered the men's faces—simply stuffing the money and crystal in his pocket, grabbing his sickle, and walking back the path they took with clutched teeth.
Having to help multiple people with their tasks began to tear at the youth—having to walk back by his own felt awful; the fact that he, too, might have to fight Gunvar for the medicine began to feel like a backstab, adding to the dread he already felt. Looking down onto the pirate that was choked to death by Gunvar, Midas halted once again, eventually ripping off the cloth of the pirate's face with flashed teeth.