Chapter 2: Dungeons and Mazes

"Where is Eora?" I asked Andrew when we left Bora.

"It's just east of Fora," he replied. "If you don't feel like walking all the way, we could use the Gem to warp to Fora."

"Why can't we just use the Gem to warp to Eora?" Jennifer asked.

"Well... Um... There could be more than one Eora?" Andrew was at a loss for words.

"You boys always take the hard way, don't ya'?"

"Let's use the Gem and get back to Fora," I said. "I'm sure grandpa would like to know what we're up to." I held the Gem up in the air and, in an instant; we arrived in the town of Fora. We saw my grandpa looking down the well close to his house. As we were running to him, I yelled out and he looked up.

"Stephan? It is you!" He ran back to us, too. Well, as fast as a thousand year old man could run, anyway. "How's your adventure going so far?"

"It's going great!" I said to him.

"Andrew, you doing all right as well?"

"Of course, Fora,"

"Excellent!" Then he turned to Jennifer. "And... who are you?"

"I'm Jennifer, from Bora. I met Stephan when he was looking through my stuff at home."

"Um, Stephan?"

"Hey, her parents said I could have whatever I found that could help me on my quest."

"Uh-huh..." Grandpa didn't sound too happy, so I decided to change the subject.

"Grandpa, did you know Exitilus had a grandson?"

"Grandson?" he yelled. "He was never married. How could he have a grandson?"

"A mysterious man told us..."

"Mysterious Man?" grandpa interrupted. "Did he have red straps across his face? Disappears into thin air?"

"Have you met him?" Andrew asked.

"I ran into him a couple of times during my younger years. He claims he's a time-space traveler." Grandpa remained silent for a while before speaking again. "Anyways, where is this grandson of Exitilus's?"

"In Eora," I answered.

"Eora, huh? If you are heading over there, you'd best be careful. Eora is known for its Everlasting maze. People become lost in that thing easily."

"Well, if we ever get lost, we can just use the Gem to warp back here," Jennifer stated.

"No, the only Gem that'll work in that place is Eora's," grandpa said. "Be careful, all right?"

"We will!" we all said together. We decided to stay at grandpa's for that night. Jennifer told us about what goes on around Bora and occasionally tells us about her sister, Nichole. Grandpa told her not to worry and assured her that she will find her one day. Andrew and I trained with each other early the next morning. I managed to get a few good hits in and Andrew could tell I was getting better. Later that day, we said goodbye to grandpa Fora and headed east toward Eora. On our way there, I kept wondering what Exitilus's grandson would look like and wondered how he came to be if Exitilus never married.

When we arrived in Eora, we looked for the purple roof of Eora's house. I knocked and I heard someone shout to come in. I opened the door and I saw Eora dangling from his attic entrance.

"Eora!" I yelled as we ran over to help him down.

"Oh, thank you," he said nearly out of breath. "I don't know how much longer I could stay up there like that."

"What were you doing?" Andrew asked him.

"I was putting my Gem up there so it'd be harder for someone to get to,"

"But it's harder for you to get up there as well," Jennifer noticed.

"...I know," Eora looked down. "But I figured if I can't get to it, it'd be easier for me to avoid telling others where it is." Eora then had a more concerned look on his face. "Who... who are you, anyway?"

"I'm Stephan; this is Andrew and Jennifer,"

"Oh, you're the ones Fora told me about," Eora looked up at the attic. "I suppose you guys want the Gem, don't you?" He said with a sigh.

"Don't worry, Eora, I'll get it," Andrew said as he climbed up to the attic. "You have a lot of stuff up here, Eora. Hey, some armor!" Andrew came down holding a small piece of armor along with the Gem. "Mind if Stephan has this?"

"N-no, not at all!" Andrew turned to me.

"This piece of Iron Armor is a bit too small for me, but it should fit you perfectly," He helped me put on the armor. It felt cold, but I guess that was because it's been in the attic for some time. "There. That should protect you better than the shirt you were wearing." He turned back to Eora. "We need to get through this maze Fora said you have. Is there a secret shortcut or something we can use?"

"Spread throughout Everlasting are special panels," Eora started. "These panels will send you back and forth between two different mazes. This was intended to keep prisoners from escaping."

"Prisoners?" I repeated.

"Yes, prisoners. At the end of Eora Everlasting is Eora Dungeon, where the criminals from Moneo and its neighboring lands are held. The person you're looking for should be there."

"Alright," Jennifer said. We said goodbye to Eora and, as we left, we ran into a man. Literally.

"Oof, you alright there, kid?" he said.

"Y-yeah," I muttered, holding my head.

"You should watch where you're going, kid. ...Where are you going?"

"We're heading into..."

"Stephan, hold on," Andrew interrupted. "You sure we can trust him? He could be with Exitilus."

"Stephan, right?" the man said. "My name's Stan and I can assure you, I don't know anyone by the name of Exitilus."

"Where... are your pants," Jennifer muttered.

"Oy, when you're a mercenary, you take what you can afford. A kilt and boots are all I could afford in terms of clothing."

"You're a mercenary?" Andrew asked.

"Yeah," Stan said. "That's why I asked where you were going, to see if I could join."

"I don't know," Andrew said. "Mercenaries cost quite a bit."

"How much you got?" Stan asked.

"Um... 3, 4, 50 Sers."

"Just 50, huh?" Stan said, disappointed.

"We've been traveling ourselves, Stan," Andrew said. "The money we have, we picked up by defeating monsters." Stan thought for a moment, and then shrugged.

"Eh, it'll help me get something to eat." Stan took the money.

"Maybe you could invest in a pair of pants?" Jennifer asked.

"Watch it, girlie. If you have to pick between clothes and food, which would you choose?"

"You have an axe and a fire wand," she said. "Those must've cost a bit."

"Nope," Stan said. "Got ‘em from my dad. So, anyway, where are we going? What's our goal?"

"We're going to stop an evil wizard from taking over the world," Andrew said, somewhat jokingly.

"Oh... I'm gonna need a lot more than 50 Sers," Stan said. We headed toward Eora Everlasting as Andrew patted Stan on his shoulder. Stan came along somewhat reluctantly.

Eora Everlasting was very confusing. Turns going every direction and, to make matters worse, everything was black. And dark. Black and dark, so it was very hard to travel through. The fact that there were two mazes to do only made it harder. The walls were cramped, as well, so we constantly ran into each other. "This isn't worth 50 Sers," Stan said. "My feet are killing me," Jennifer whined. "Where's the end?" I asked. Andrew was the only one that didn't talk; he was focused on the maze. Occasionally, we run into a Wondering Soul, but we quickly took care of those enemies, though they made us lose our way every now and then. We were in Everlasting for hours until finally,

"Here we are!" Andrew exclaimed. He looked at me and, behind him, I saw a ladder. It must be the ladder into Eora Dungeon. The Dungeon was not very well kept: many doors were missing and cells were empty. There weren't even any guards. Apparently, they must think that, if the prisoners escape, they will just become lost in Everlasting. The lost prisoners must've been what the Wondering Souls were.

"So," Stan spoke up. "Where's this grandson you told me about on the way here?"

"He must be on one of the lower levels," Andrew said.

"Stephan?" Jennifer turned to me. "Do you think this grandson is as strong as Exitilus? What if he's not friendly?"

"You scared of him?" I teased.

"Of course not!" she said. "But do you think we can take him if he tries to attack?"

"Andrew and Stan, maybe, but you and me, it'd probably be best if we stay out of the way,"

"R-right," she said, shaking. She's either scared of the dark or how powerful the grandson must be.

"Oy, you two," Stan yelled from down the hall. "We're heading down. You coming or staying?" Jennifer and I ran to catch up. There were many floors to this place, and being the grandson of Exitilus, he'd have to be powerful, so it makes sense to keep him on the bottom-most floor. When we were one floor away from the bottom, we heard a lot of thumping and banging from the floor below. We quickly went downstairs to see a man punching the wall. There were many dent marks, but his hands weren't bleeding one bit. He must've heard our footsteps, because, when we entered the room, he turned toward us. He looked very strong from the back, but nearly intimidating from the front.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Um..." I couldn't get any words out. To see a man's hand not bleed after punching a stone wall, he must be very powerful.

"I'm Hunter," he said. "Hopefully that'll get you started."

"I'm Andrew," Andrew said. "This is Stephan, Jennifer, and Stan," he said pointing to each of us. "Are you Exitilus's grandson?"

"Yes and no,"

"Wha... What do you mean?" I managed to get out.

"I am Exitilus's grandson, but when we first met, he stuck me down here. He said he didn't want anyone to bother him."

"When was this?" Andrew asked.

"What day is it?" Hunter asked.

"June 9th," Andrew said.

"A little over a month ago," Hunter answered.

"You've been here for a month?" Stan asked. "Must've been borin' here."

"Very much so. Now tell me: why are you here?"

"We're here to find a way to stop Exitilus," I answered. "We were hoping you could help us."

"Hmm..." He turned and punched the wall one more time, causing it to shatter. Everyone's eyes were large after he did that. "I'll tell you if you can make it to Kora."

"No one can get to Cora," I said. "It's blocked by mountains."

"Kora with a ‘K' isn't. It's blocked by a magical wall and is in the northeastern most part in Moneo. The only way in is to get the Jewels from dragons spread out over Moneo."

"Do you know where exactly?" Jennifer asked.

"So you can speak," Hunter said to her. Jennifer just looked away. "And no, I don't. I've been here for a month. Haven't seen anything."

"But you must've seen them before being locked up in here," Andrew said. Hunter just remained silent. "How are you going to get to Kora, anyway?" Hunter walked behind the wall.

"Dig," he replied and he forced the wall shut.

"Hunter must know stone magic," Andrew said. "But he wasn't carrying a wand."

"Maybe he had a Gem?" I asked.

"He's been down here for a month," Jennifer said. "I doubt he would have anything on him."

"So, what are we gonna do now?" Stan asked. "Fight some dragons?"

"No, let's focus on the Gems for right now." Andrew answered. "That way, we are strong enough to fight the dragons later and so we can prevent Exitilus from getting the other Gems. We have three, that's twenty three more to go."

"Then we'd better get going!" I yelled. "The sooner we get them all, the sooner Exitilus is defeated." Everyone nodded and I used the Gem to get us out of Eora Dungeon.

When Hunter arrived in Kora, he found the Mysterious Man waiting for him.

"Hello, Hunter," he said.

"Wha- How did you get in here?" Hunter yelled.

"The same way you did, though not through a wall," he said. "Listen, it'll take a while for Stephan and his friends to get here, so I need you to do something for me."

"What?"

"Do you know who you really are?"

"Of course I do," Hunter said.

"Think about it," the Mysterious Man said. "If Exitilus did have a grandson, you'd be much older." Hunter was about to say something, but couldn't find anything to say. "I have something to tell you, something you will tell Stephan when he gets here, and something for you to realize yourself..."

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Trivia

• The chapter's title is a reference to the game Dungeons and Dragons.