The jungle was cool, and its mist hovered throughout the dense canopy. Any hope of spotting an ambush would be useless. They could very well walk straight into one without even knowing. That was, of course, if they weren't the ambush themselves.
Red ducked under a low-hanging branch, being careful not to allow his coat to catch. Derrin moved in front a dozen paces. It was just far enough that he remained in the line of sight. Behind him was Vizim.
They all wore Valencian uniforms as they marched confidently. Red had hidden his coat away when the three of them had been given the coats from the other soldiers. The coat he wore now didn't contain as many pockets as he would've liked, but it was manageable.
Red glanced back to where Vizim stumbled. His coat was far too big for his scrawny figure and kept catching on things or trying to trip him. They were lucky that he'd managed to stay upright for as long as he had without causing any noise.
Derrin suddenly froze, causing them to pause as well. He hesitated slightly before waving them forward. Red didn't bother to stop the quiet chuckle at the sight of the deserted pirate camp. Deserted was likely too strong a word. However, it was scraped mostly clean. He had no doubt that if they were here to truly start attacking, plenty of pirates would make themselves known.
But they weren't here for that…
Despite the fog hanging around everything, Red could still make out the distant towering plateau. It was their reason for coming. Derrin's shoulders seemed to slump slightly at the sight of no enemies. Red could understand why. If they weren't here, then it meant they were elsewhere, likely killing Silas.
However, that made their mission actually possible. Without any more waiting, Derrin stepped into the clearing. They followed, and together the three of them marched confidently towards the central plateau. It was nearly impossible to find the entrance, but after a few minutes, the catacombs lay before them.
It would have been smart for them to wait and slowly survey the area, but there wasn't time. Somewhere out there, Silas would be facing down the armada of pirates and hopefully, the Pirate King. That was actually the most crucial part of the entire plan. If the Pirate King didn't show his face, then it was all for nothing.
Red wasn't even sure why Silas had agreed at all. The chances of success relied so heavily on luck and guesswork that it didn't even seem feasible. However, Silas had insisted on making the plan possible.
Still, as the three of them began heading downwards, Red couldn't help but feel uneasy. If everything went to plan, then by day's end the war would be over, and they would have won. If even one thing failed, then they'd all be dead. But nothing would fail, because they wouldn't let it.
Red suddenly heard voices echoing down the tunnel. They froze, well, everyone except Derrin. Derrin marched forward as if he owned the place. Red could make out the silhouettes of distant pirates. He was certain they were pirates because they didn't speak with the familiar raspy accent so common amongst the gearborn.
"Hey, you lot! Out!" Derrin called, "We're here to replace you."
"Out?"
"Yes, out! Now! Unless you want the boss to see you dawdling!"
The pair seemed to quaver at that. But even so, their fear of the Pirate King went well beyond simple run and hide. They were scared of disobeying but also scared of being caught slacking.
"Are you certain? We were supposed to be here for a few more…"
The man died before he could finish the sentence. Derrin's blade plunged through his neck, and he collapsed in a pool of blood. Behind them, Red heard Vizim gasp and choke.
"What the fuck…"
The other pirate reached for a shockblaster at his belt and died a few seconds later. Red sighed and stepped past the pooling blood. Vizim seemed to be struggling to hold in his breakfast.
"Next time, could you try not to make such a big mess?" Red whispered, "Now we have to worry about leaving bloody footprints."
Derrin nodded. "That would be rather difficult, but I guess I could give it a shot…"
"That was a joke," Red murmured. "Anyway, we better hope that no one else comes across this."
"They're gonna find it for sure!" Vizim whispered, not at all quietly.
Red glanced at him, and his face seemed to be strangely green in the dim light of the cavern lights.
"Not before we're done and over with everything. You're confident in our success, right?"
"Uh," Vizim stepped past the bodies and gagged slightly, "Confident to fight what's down there? Absolutely not! I should have just stayed in hiding with the others."
"Oh, come on, Vizim. It's just an army of gearborn. What could possibly go wrong?"
"How could you say that?" He yelped.
Red scoffed, "Because at this point, everything that could have possibly gone wrong already has. We wouldn't be forced to do this; had everything gone according to plan, now would we?"
Derrin glanced back from his place in the front. "And we wouldn't be doing this if we thought it wouldn't work."
"Yeah, exactly," Red said confidently. "I mean, it's not like there are a million things that might screw us over. And it certainly isn't reliant at all on our guess of one bloody man's personality."
"I thought you were trying to make me feel better." Vizim shifted uncomfortably.
"What's there to feel better about? If we fail, then it will be an honorable end indeed." Both Red and Vizim stared at Derrin, who didn't seem to notice and continued on unperturbed.
The tunnels were long and winding things. However, Silas had given Derrin a detailed description of it all. Plus, he had been kind enough to give them a map. Red had been surprised by how much he had been in support of the mission, but that was a good thing.
Derrin froze again.
This time, Red spotted what he saw immediately. There was a glowing purple light whisking towards them from down the hall. The light hovered off the ground and seemed to strangely form the shape of an eye.
The glowing wisp rippled in front of them and cooked slightly as it studied them. Iris blinked slowly as if trying to register their arrival. However, Red knew that she was really sending them a message.
"What's she saying?" Red asked.
Derrin frowned. "She asked what we're doing here."
"Simple, right? We're here to save Zara and kill the Pirate King."
Iris blinked for a few moments. "The Pirate King is not here."
The whole group let out a sigh of relief.
"Yes," Red threw a fist into the air, "At least now we know that the plan actually has a chance of working."
"You're saying it didn't before?" Vizim grumbled.
"I mean…well, best to say, there was a distinct possibility that the Pirate King was too much of a coward to go out and help his men fight."
"I am confused? If your goal is to kill the Pirate King, then why are you happy that he is not here?" Derrin translated.
"I'm glad you asked," Red grinned. "It really is a simple, if still remarkably stupidly risky plan. We have already been forced to fight the Pirate King before. During those encounters, it became very clear that the man is an overconfident, cocky bastard. He is also really smart, but he can't plan for things he never anticipated."
"I am not following," Iris cocked slightly, as if confused.
Red sighed, "Our hidden location was discovered. That left the pirates with two options. Send the army after us or send the Pirate King. We hoped that it was the Pirate King. Now with him out of the way for certain, we know that we can move on to the next step of the plan. That, of course, is to defeat the Gearborn and rescue Zara."
The Pirate King must have a way to teleport in and out of the caverns because he is too lazy to walk. So there must be a pirate down there right now, waiting for him to swap back. We are going to trap that pirate. When the Pirate King inevitably teleports back, he'll be teleporting straight into the trap, with all of us ready to finish him off…plus Zara."
"You have thought of how to deal with the pirates well enough, but I can't help but notice that you glossed over the gearborn entirely. They will not just fall dead. There are some very strong ones on the island and many more aboard their ship," the purple wisp seemed to quiver with worry.
"We're going to figure that out as we go," Red said confidently.
If the eye could breathe, Red was certain that it let out a long breath. The edges seemed to slump slightly in submission, but the pupil remained as radiant as ever. Red was still trying to grapple with the fact that he was talking to an eye at all. How strange his life had become.
Iris closed her eye for a long moment before she finally spoke, "I will help in whatever way I can. I want to rescue Zara and free the island as much as you all. However, I can be of assistance, I shall."
Red opened his mouth to speak, but at that moment a strange sensation overcame him. He had felt it a few times now, and each time it was as if a radiant voice was vibrating in his skull.
"We all do what a Guardian must, even if it is dangerous."
His mouth hung open as he tried to register what the hell was going on. With all the craziness that had been going on around him, he hadn't had the chance to really consider what this strange voice in his head was.
It was certainly possible that he was being influenced by an extremely powerful gearborn or person. However, that didn't make much sense because he was the only one who had been affected. Unless, of course, everyone else had neglected to admit it as well, but that didn't sound right.
So, that meant whatever the voice was, it was something else.
A hand waved in front of him, and he quickly closed his mouth.
Vizim was speaking to him, "Red, are you okay?"
"Uh, yeah, I'm fine."
Derrin was still speaking to Iris, "If you can give us callouts on their numbers and weaponry, that would be helpful."
"It will be hard to gauge all the robots in the cave. In total on the island there are a few dozen of them, and while most are the basic foot soldiers, there are a number of powerful ones and their leader. All of them are currently in the central grotto except for a trio that guards the tunnel here against any wandering pirates."
"Weapons?"
"I have to be careful not to be seen, but they all have some sort of melee weapon and a shock weapon. Perhaps there are more weapons they possess, but I could not investigate that thoroughly."
Vizim shuddered slightly. "How are we supposed to defeat dozens of the gearborn? They're gonna tear us to pieces."
Red frowned. "We've fought them before, Vizim. In that fight, we killed how many, do you reckon, Derrin? A dozen plus a big guy?"
Derrin nodded, "Yes, but that bomb strategy of yours will not be viable in the central cavern. I can not be certain what exactly is down there. However, I can guarantee that it is necessary to complete the Heart of Valencia. Damaging it may be impossible, but even so…"
"I know you guys are confident, but I'm not a fighter. I'm just not really meant to do stuff like this…"
"You asked to come with us?" Red countered, "That means you want to be a part of this just as much as you don't. However, you are here, so you might as well help even if you don't jump in completely."
Derrin turned back to Iris. "Can you lead us to the gearborn?"
"Of course!"
The eye whisked away, and they were prevented from continuing their discussion as they struggled to keep up. The tunnel seemed to head downhill, and the air grew stale as they went. After a time, though, the air began to grow somewhat moist. Red knew this was because of their proximity to the sea.
As they went, he couldn't help but be pulled back to thoughts about the voice. He hadn't experienced anything like it before, well, that had become his norm. Red clearly didn't understand what was going on. He hadn't been off the island enough to properly learn about the way the world truly operated.
It was highly possible, even if unlikely, that this voice was not really weird and just normal. However, he had no way of knowing himself. The only way he could get answers was by asking someone.
He glanced at Derrin, but before he could get a chance to speak…his friend's gaze turned hard. It was the look he always got when he prepared to kill things. Red turned away and spotted the silhouettes in the distance. Iris had held herself back so as not to be seen with her purple glow.
However, the figures were unmistakable.
They were the gearborn.
The robots he had once escaped from would now be trying to escape from him.