Chapter 7

Green stream

If there was one thing Golbez could grant Leah, it was that she indeed knew the fastest way to cross the desert between Kaipo and the Water-Way and thus enabled the group to reach the entrance of the caves even before the merciless desert sun had reached its highest point.

However, despite the prospect of escaping the burning heat at least for a while, none of the travel companions were particularly eager to enter the torch-lit maw opening before them… Even Golbez, who never cared much for his surroundings, raised an eyebrow as they entered the tunnel, which gave them a foretaste of the whole cave system and could be easily described with two words:

Green and slimy.

The damp walls were coated with green slimy plants, the floor was coated with green slimy moss and the streams of water running through the cave system were filled with green slimy algae. The sultry and humid air and the musty smell lying in it did not exactly made the Water-Way any more pleasant… In contrast to the "normal" landscape, which was pretty much safe by now, the caves of the Blue Planet were still a breeding ground for several kinds of monsters and this cave was no exception.

However, most of the creatures seemed to fear the group more than the group feared them. Upon entering the first main hall of the Water-Way, a group of knee high lizards went hissing into attack stance, but as Golbez approached them fearlessly, they changed their mind and scuttled quickly off into the water.

"Did you see that!? But you're probably used to every living being running awayupon seeing you, right, Golbez?" Tristan jested, but considered following the lizards into safety as the black clad wizard shot him a totally humourless warning glance.

"Sorry… That was a bad joke…" For some reason Leah took it upon herself to apologize in Tristan's stead, though she couldn't keep her face straight and winked towards the flaxen haired swindler.

Golbez wrung his face up in a sour smile, wondering why he couldn't come up with a good, ironic answer as he usually did. It seemed as if Tristan's unbelievable disrespect and Leah's carefree attitude were confusing him to no end. Despite the harsh words they had exchanged before, Leah's former anger had disappeared as fast at it had come and she was back to her usual calm and friendly, nearly cheerful, self. Golbez wondered why. Was she really such a strong person or was she only pretending to feel well? Maybe it was only desperation that was keeping her going…

While Golbez eyed Leah with a mixture of amused acknowledgment for her unwavering inner-strength, but also a great deal of bewilderment and incomprehension, Tristan and Leah on the other hand seemed to get along very well. Golbez wondered if the woman had already fallen for Tristan's compliments and jokes, though he couldn't quite believe this. Surely a woman like her wasn't interested in doubling her problems by getting involved with a lady-killer of the cheapest sort…

"Lady-killer?"Golbez frowned upon trying to recall since when he was using vocabulary he normally only heard from the likes of Edge, Palom and Cecil's mother-in-law…

xOx

At the Northern Water Pass they finally decided to rest for the remainder of the day. Leah informed them that the exit to Damcyan was not far away and that the mayor had even taught her a way around the big waterfall.

"This isgreat news, my dear Miss Coven! My clothes are already wet enough with the high humidity here and I'm worried for your health, as well. I'm going to find something to make a fire with…" Tristan exclaimed and disappeared fearlessly into another tunnel.

"Is he always that helpful?" Leah slumped down on a patch of ground that looked dry and looked expectantly up to Golbez.

"He is probably trying to impress you. Normally he is only moving for money." Golbez sat down on a stony ledge in the wall and while crossing his arms, fell silent once more.

"You don't like to talk much, do you?" Leah's big blue eyes were watching him curiously.

"Well, there is not much to talk about, is there?" Golbez raised an eyebrow. "You know who I am, you have heard the stories about what I did and except for the resemblance you have with a woman I once knew, there's nothing I'd have to say to you. And we talked about Dawn enough, I think." Golbez's words were not intended to sound hostile, but Leah seemed to have heard reproach in them.

"Maybe I sounded a bit hard before when I talked about this Dawn…" Nearly sheepishly, she started to draw figures into the muddy ground with a finger. "I'm sorry that you lost your love…" She realized the words that had slipped out of her mouth and she added quickly, "Tristan told me so."

"Did he…" Mentally, Golbez made a note to have a few serious words with his "omniscient" travel companion. "Well, then now I will tell you that there was no love involved." He tried to sound emotionless, but didn't succeed completely. "You just resemble her very much, so I thought of her. That's all… Or do I look like someone who has fallen in love?" He wasn't sure what had brought him to pose such a question…

Leah leaned back on her elbows and studied him calmly. "No… You... you seem like a very cold person," she stated and smiled apologizing. "I'm sorry, I don't want to annoy you as I'd like to come out of here alive…"

Ah--such carefulness. It was this that Golbez was used to hearing or seeing, but for some reason this time, the words and her fear hurt… Maybe the way he had treated Leah earlier had frightened her more than she showed.

"You don't have to apologize for your words. I asked a question and you answered it. Although it is always good to be cautious in my company, I normally do not hurt people needlessly any more. What I mean is…" To Golbez's surprise the words left him. 

"I know what you mean, but don't worry too much about that incident." Leah helped him out. "I was angry then, but I know that you are sorry despite your coldness. I guess it can't be helped that you sometimes do things you don't want to. It's… how do you call it? The heritage of your past. I wish I had such a thing, too… A past, I mean." She stood up all of a sudden and turned to go. "I'm going to look for Tristan. He's been away too long for my taste. He has the gift of gab, but this won't help him if gets into trouble here, I think. Unless alligators can talk."

Golbez's bitter smile followed her. "It's the heritage of your past that lets you do the things you do." If it was just that simple… But to Leah most things seemed to be that easy. Life had been that way for Dawn as well, though in the end it had turned out that she had only pretended all the easiness... Was Leah the same? The girl was a mystery to him; one second he was sure that she didn't haveanything to do with Dawn, then, in the next…

"Why can't I let go? And even if she was alive, it wouldn't make any difference because… because there never was anything between us besides fighting alongside... And like Leah said, I'm too cold to fall in love."

Before he could sink into the deep pit of guilt and self-contempt once more, loud metallic noises and Leah's cry caught his attention:

"Golbez, someone could use your help here!"

"Someone? As if our group didn't consist of enough destitute people already…" With a sigh and without any haste Golbez rose to his feet and followed the way Leah had taken just some minutes ago.

The tunnel lead into another damp cave, which was much too small for the fight that had ensued in it, mainly because the rats Leah and Tristan were trying to fight off were rather big for their species…

"Poison rats…" And the most aggressive ones Golbez had ever seen at that.

"Be careful. A bite from these animals is dangerous," he noted while watching with amusement how Tristan was trying to stab one of the overgrown rodents with a knife.

"Thanks for this highly helpful information! How about some action as well?" Tristan was grinning despite the fight.

"Yes, that would be nice! I just remembered something. I hate rats!" Leah shouted and picked up a rather big stone from the floor, throwing it at one of the animals with an expression of anger and determination Golbez had not seen in her eyes before… 

"The expression of a person used to fighting… Used to fighting for one's life…"

The stone hit the rodent on the head with astonishing force, killing it instantly. Just then Golbez finally was able to tear his gaze away from Leah and let a rain of fire and lighting spells pour down on the rats, until most of them were either dead or had flown in shrieking terror.

"Thanks, Golbez. For a moment I thought you would just watch." Tristan was breathing fast. "Although Leah killed one of those things…" Both he and Golbez looked at the silver haired woman.

Leah blushed. "It must have been the shock… Besides, I couldn't leave a person in need." She pointed towards the corner of the cave. For the first time Golbez became aware that someone was lying there, a person with blonde hair, face turned towards the wall, moaning now and then in pain.

"Seems like somebody got bitten…" Golbez approached the figure and seized it at the shoulder to turn it around--just a moment later he wished that he had not done so, as the feverish features of the slender man before him belonged to someone he knew very well.

"Edward…" he murmured, stunned.

The bard gave him a misty look and opened his mouth to say something, but fell unconscious again before he could utter one sound.

"Is this a friend of yours?" Tristan asked while Golbez shouldered the lifeless person rather roughly, and ordered Leah to pick up Edward's belongings, which consisted of a lyre and a short sword.

"It's a friend of my brother's you should know as well. It's the King of Damcyan, Edward von Muir."

Tristan's eyes seemed to become little coins. "Right. I thought I knew him from somewhere. Is he hurt badly? I hope we can do something for him. Royalty is always very generous when it comes to--" He caught Leah's reproachful gaze and shrugged. "Hey, I'm only saying we have to help him!"

While Leah ran ahead to build a fire with the little wood and dry grass Tristan had found before the rat attack, the flaxen haired swindler started to circle around Golbez excitedly, eyes glued to the royal load on the other's shoulders like a squirrel spotting a giant nut in the treetop.

"He's suffering from the poison of the rats that bit him, but a healthy person can easily survive a bite of these if they get enough rest, I believe," Golbez explained while carrying Edward to their camp. However, the young King was known not to have the most robust health and the black haired wizard secretly doubted that a good night's sleep would be enough to help Edward…

"What shall I do? If something would happen to him, Cecil would be heartbroken…" he mused as he put the shallow breathing figure down near the fire.

Tristan was still occupied with the financial aspects of Edward's "rescue". "Hey, why didn't you say that you are a friend of the King of Damcyan!? This means that we will have no problems getting the hovercraft when he wakes up! And maybe also some travel money and--"

"I said that he was a friend of my brother," Golbez interrupted him coldly. "I'm sure that Edward would hardly call me a friend, as I'm the one who is responsible for the death of his parents and his beloved fiancée."

This statement silenced Tristan and even Leah seemed to show signs of nervousness as she watched how the dark wizard was trying to force some water in-betweenEdward's dry lips. With the first drops, his eyes opened weakly.

"Golbez…" The bard's voice was barely audible. "Why did you save me?"

"Because you needed help…" was involuntarily Golbez's first thought. "Because Cecil wouldn’t be too happy to hear about your death, I presume," he said instead.

A bitter smile showed on Edward's cracked lips. "This… is just the answer I had expected from someone… like you."

Golbez raised an eyebrow. Edward's delirious state must have awakened the courage of the young man. "No matter what you did expect or not, would you rather have died?"

Edward wanted to retort something, but never came farther than a weak moan before a new poisonous wave running through his body made him fall unconscious once more.

"Golbez, would you please stop upsetting him! He's sick! Just leave him alone!" Leah begged him quietly.

"Yes, and he's royalty!" Tristan agreed and raised a reprimanding finger. "And royalty needs to get treated with respect. Better let us take care of him."

"As if you would ever treat someone with respect..." Golbez murmured. He uttered a disdainful snort, but moved away from Edward, giving his two travel companions room to check on the sleeping man.

"His fever is much too high," Golbez informed the others and he felt rage rising within; he had conquered Kingdoms, had conquered the minds of people, but had not even a clue how to overcome a simple raise in body temperature.

"I'm not sure if he will survive." Despite his anger, the words came emotionless.

"Then why don't you do something?" Tristan wondered. "Who's the mighty wizard here?"

Golbez's bitter laughter echoed through the cave. "My dear Sir Tristan, asyour skills are exclusively reserved for lying, deceiving and swindling, mine are reserved for killing, murdering and destroying."

The young man just shrugged, showing no sign of hurt. "Whatever. If you see yourself in such a way, have fun with it."

"Fun? You're not realizing in what a situation we are right now!" Golbez hissed. "We're sitting here in a rat infested cave with a dying King, guided by a woman who doesn't even know her last name, and accompanied by a thief who's only after money and who would probably kill his companions for two gold--"

He stopped, as he saw Tristan's expression change; for the first time he seemed to have triggered something in the other. Wordlessly, the normally eloquent young man turned around on the heels of his boots and walked away from the group.

"Tristan! Don't go too far away!" Leah called after him, then looked up at Golbez calmly, although her voice was filled with annoyance, "I wonder, as normally you are so self-analytical, why you didn't include yourself into the list of horrible things you just enumerated. From all of us here you certainly have the most faults--and problems."

Golbez just raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't finished talking, was I?"

Leah sighed and shook her head. "Please leave your cynical comments to yourselffor a moment. "We need to find a way to help your friend here."

Golbez wanted to protest hearing the word "friend" once more, but decided to keep silent as Leah began to look around the room.

"What's this?" She uttered, jumped to her feet, and made her way to the shore of the green river flowing through the cave. "Isn't this an ingredient of the antidotes they make?" She plucked out some unobtrusive piece of grass.

"How do you know? Only a healer could know this…"

"Dawn had known the art of healing very well…" There it was again, this nagging doubt that was not leaving him even after having traveled with the girl for some time now...

"I'm not sure..." Leah frowned. "It could be dangerous to give it to him… Maybe it works only together with other ingredients or it's poisonous and--"

"We have no choice," Golbez decided. In fact he was wishing that Edward would wake up again, if only to hear the King's opinion about Leah. "He has seen Dawn as well on an occasion or two..."

"If you say so…" With slightly trembling hands, Leah ground the grass with a stone and made a sod with some water over the fire.

"No we've got to get him awake…" She looked at Golbez expectantly.

Reluctantly, Golbez knelt next to the unconscious Edward and started to shake him roughly.

"Can't you please try to be a bit more sensible?! You'll shake away his brain if you continue like this!" Leah reprimanded him, and was about to get a hold of Golbez's arm, when the eyes of their "patient" opened in her direction.

"Anna?" Edward murmured weakly.

Leah gave a questioning look towards Golbez. "His fiancée…" he explained.

The young woman nodded and smiled. "Yes, it's me, Anna. Drink this…"

With much difficulty, they managed to get Edward to sipsome of the liquid.

"Anna, don't leave me…" The young King croaked before he fell into deep slumber once more.

"It seems like I'm a different person for everyone… For you Dawn, for him Anna…" A tired sigh escaped Leah's lips.

"He's only delirious…" Golbez's voice, too, sounded weary; no matter if Edward survived or not, it meant a delay in his plans to reach Mysidia as soon as possible. He stood up and glanced down once more atthe King of Damcyan. In Golbez's eyes, the young man with the golden curls looked even more vulnerable and pitiful in his feverish sleep than he usually did. "And even when he's awake he's constantly seeing this dead girl of his somewhere." He chuckled disparagingly and turned to go to another section of the cave to get some rest.

Leah's calm voice held him back. "But aren't you doing the same? The Dawn you constantly see in me is dead, too, right?" She did not look at him while speaking.

Golbez's eyebrow raised. The girl was beginning to be as tortuous in her arguments as Cecil. Still, it was proof of her naiveté that she saw any similarity between him and Edward…

"All I was trying to tell you was that we need to hear the King out when he's awake and when the fever has subsided. He did know Dawn, too, and I wonder what he will have to say about you." With satisfaction, Golbez noticed that his words had brought a new look on Leah's face...

For the first time during their travels, she looked afraid.