Dawn- An age of Darkness
Chapter 77 - The Mystic Blade

However, I couldn't just ponder about the betrayal forever. If I didn't put it down, for the time being, I probably won't make out alive. But the question now was, is it even possible to get out?

It was awkward, so I changed the subject. Besides, it interested me a little before. "Say old man what'll you do, when you get that sword?" Of course, I knew nothing about the sword, so I just pretended. I was never much of a liar, but I hoped everything would work out. It had to.

"I'll slice this damn snake up and head to Alfeim and shove the damn sword inside the damn crown prince's ass," he said with a solid grin. The guy didn't even stutter for a second.

How many times do you have to say damn? When the name of an elven prince came up I was- to my surprise- a little intrigued. It probably wasn't the same prince but I didn't care.

"The prince? And isn't that too much for an old man?" I giggled. I hadn't laughed in a while.

"You won't believe how long that brat has ridiculed me about the legends and my search. And for the last time, MY NAME IS DENKABORKARERE!"

Don't tell me you're doing this for the prince. And I don't give a damn about your name! I didn't know if the old man got the hint or not but he continued. "He insulted my family and my entire bloodline, as for generations we've been searching for the mystic weapons." He was a little down.

Well, at least you're doing it for your reasons. Mystic? Meaning that sword is a mystic weapon? At least now I had a solid lead. I didn't know where I was going to search these things anyway.

"I see."

The old man gave me the last piece of the puzzle. The sword here was the mystic blade. Meaning my luck was definitely extreme. I couldn't decide if it was extremely good or extremely terrible.

I didn't say anything else. My eyes were slowly shutting down. It must have been night. I couldn't really focus either.

He said something and came closer to me but before I knew it, my eyes had shut down. I was too tired. I fell asleep in the eeky-sticky floor resting on the equally sticky wall.

"Why couldn't you be like Alicia? Sitting all day in your room! She died because of you, so at least try to get yourself straightened! Even looking at you fills me up with disgust!" My mother was saying whatever that came to her mind. She always shut me out after Alicia's death. But for the last couple of days, all she did was complain. I couldn't blame her but it wasn't all my fault. Not to me. And yet… I felt guilty.

"Kid wake up!" the old man's voice woke me up. I felt a little dazed, but my drowsiness vanished in an instant.

The serpent's insides were swaying. The ground or rather its mouth was tilting form side to side and it was also moving forward and backward: The serpent was moving.

"I thought you said he doesn't move!" I couldn't keep my balance.

"I never said that. Did you forget how you got here?"

I grabbed hold of one of the fangs. I didn't give a damn if it had poison. "Damn it old man!!"

Screaming around wasn't doing us any good but the swaying was getting even rowdier. The direction of gravity shifted a little and the insides of the serpent was calling me. The old man was shrewd; he already latched himself with the tongue of the serpent. I was yet again answering the call of gravity as gallons of water came from above and pulled me down. The fang was wet and I slipped. My fingers were fuming but I had better things to worry about.

"Don't stay inside the gastric juice for too long, and IF YOU FIND THE SWORD TRY TO MAKE IT BACK IN ONE PIECE!" He was more worried about the stupid sword than my life.

If I come back alive, this old geezer's getting a beat down! "I'm gonna haunt you OLD MAN!"

I fell with full conscience. The water was warm and I was unharmed, miraculously. I was floating. I didn't want to, but was still glad to the geezer for whatever reasons.

There was nothing to grab on to. This snake isn't making anything easy for me! The mouth was straight up, so I couldn't even climb. What was it doing anyway?

The warm water gradually started to hurt my skin. So this is the gastric juice he was talking about? I was scared and my heart was racing. All this time I was relatively calm for a man who was swallowed by a monster. If I stayed like that I was a goner and that was evident. Should I try to climb up using my sword? But wouldn't it melt? It was a risk I had to take. I couldn't just stay afloat around and be liquefied. I had to make a choice.

I was about to unsheathe my sword when all of a sudden another round of salt water fell from the havens or rather the serpent's mouth. I was shoved even further down the serpent's intestines. For once, I was glad about my regenerative powers, even if it came at the cost of being summoned by the demons or whatever.

I was fully submerged and my skin was falling off from my body. It was very painful, like your skin literally being torn from your living body. Even a thousand stings (Of cactus needles) at once couldn't compare. I could feel the pain more than the lack of oxygen. I tried to float back up but the downstream was too powerful.

I kept my eyes closed. If my skin burned then I could only wonder what it'd do to my eyes. But there wasn't any time to waste. So I had to choose. Either die keeping both of my eyes intact or open one and bet everything on it; that I'd survive while keeping one of them intact. My options didn't look too hot. But I chose the latter.

Looking around didn't really help. My right eye burned much more than when Alicia had dumped a can of paper spray on my face (Don't ask me why). My conscience was about to fade when I saw a glimmering light down. The slight shimmer came from even further down. My eye screamed. I couldn't understand why it didn't melt immediately though.

I didn't have the energy or time to think, so I used the downstream to reach the light. It took some fiddling through the strange translucent fluid but there it was; a magnificent sword, and it glowed!

But it was too heavy even under water. How would I take it out when I couldn't even fight back the stream without the sword? I picked it up regardless: my body glowed and the light enveloped me. Suddenly my body became light and I found new strength. Was it a miracle or just dumb luck? Just by touching the sword, I felt power surging within. As if my body was fully healed and I was swimming in a pool. A pool of acid to be exact. The bleeding in various places stopped but none of it healed. I was still missing oxygen. The sword wasn't as heavy and I could move much more freely despite suffocating.

I used the side walls as my footing and launched myself straight up. With my newfound strength, I got out of the predicament and rose to the top, only after a lot of struggle. I breathed in the rancid air and my lungs burned. The water had stopped.

But my situation was not over. My skin had already started to burn and liquefy. The sword had only slowed the progress but didn't stop it. The only way to survive was to climb up. But even if I could climb up, will I survive through these wounds? My regenerative powers were keeping these at bay too, but for how long? What was my limit? Come to think of it, I didn't know much about my own curse.

Thinking was not something I was supposed to do at this time. The sword didn't have a scabbard. So I pulled mine from baldric and plunged both of the swords inside the serpent. The walls shook: it must have felt this. But I continued.. With two swords I kept stabbing the serpent- back and forth and moved upwards. What the hell was the serpent doing anyway? Did it suddenly feel the urge to stand up on its tail?