The Hydra's Lair

The trip to the suspected lair hardly took any time at all, and while Patricia didn't wear herself out, she was noticeably fatigued from the effort.

Though, Elmo wasn't sure if that meant they'd have to rest there or not for the day and maybe night again. He considered it possible, but wasn't sure if he should expect anything from that.

Although, he figured that Sonya could turn into a wolf again or something and carry Patricia if necessary. It was a possibility that came to his mind, but he didn't share it with the others. He had a feeling that it might not either come across the way he'd like or it would be offensive in some way to someone.

At this moment, he wasn't sure what to expect from those around him. Even Jonas sometimes seemed more of an enigma now that they were an item. Which Elmo hoped wasn't going to turn out to be a passing whim for Jonas.

"So, this is it, huh?" Kim asked dryly, clearly not impressed with the cave that they easily found on the rocky island in the bog. "Though, I admit, it is larger than the island we'd camped on for the past two nights. Almost makes me wish we'd decided to head over here last night, just so we wouldn't have to deal with the lack of personal space again."

"You guys were the ones who voted to stay there last night," Elwin reminded Kim. "I was ready to come and take a look."

"Then you should have found it sooner," Bart commented, sounding like he was enjoying going on with that subject. "That way we could have come over that much quicker."

"Well, we still don't know if it's the hydra's lair," Owen remarked. "We still have to verify it and determine how likely it is, regardless of what we find in it and judging from the cave size, it could very well be the hydra's lair."

Elmo found it amusing that Elwin didn't seem to know how to respond to the comments that were both biting and supportive of him. Though, Elmo did make sure to do his best to keep that amusement from showing. He certainly didn't want Elwin's ire directed at him.

As they ventured into the cave, it almost felt like they were descending into an open mouth that was ready to swallow them whole. At least from what features Elmo's imagination was picking out from the stone that made up the outside of the cave. Which he tried to push out of his mind, but couldn't.

So, as he walked into the cave, he couldn't help but to start getting nervous about their chances of being able to leave the cave once they were done in it. He knew those fears were just in his head, but that didn't help him out any. Not when even the inside of the cave seemed like the inside of a mouth, with stalagmites and stalactites as teeth, another stalactites for the back of the mouth before it started to descend quickly downward.

Patrick used his system to make his hand into a torch, though Elmo wondered if maybe there was something that he'd be able to get that would allow him to do at least something similar. His system hadn't provided anything, but that didn't meant there wasn't anything out there that would work for that. Even though he doubted that he'd be able to find anything like that.

Pushing that thought out of his mind, Elmo looked around as the cave opened up into a chamber maybe twenty feet underground, where they could see a hole in the ground that had part of the bog showing through, much to Elmo's discomfort.

"I guess if the hydra burrows through the bog, that would be useful for it," Jonas remarked as he studied it. "Though, it doesn't exactly prove anything at this point."

"What about that over there?" Owen asked, pointing towards a darker part of the chamber.

"Let's take a look," Jonas replied, already moving away from the hole that let the bog into the room.

"You know, I think I see something metal over there," Elwin remarked.

"Yeah, that's what I saw too," Owen replied. "That's why I thought we should take a look. Might be the evidence you were looking for."

"Please no," Patricia moaned tiredly. "We don't need him to be proven right."

"You'd rather me proven wrong?" Elwin asked, sounding like he wanted to know the answer.

Patricia shook her head. "If you're proven right, I doubt we'll hear the end of it for at least a week. I'd rather not have to deal with that headache at all."

"I don't do that!" Elwin protested.

"Actually, you do," Bart chimed in. "Even Leon said that's something you always do. Even when it's something everyone else agreed on. Although, usually in those cases, you're a little more toned down than when you were the only one who thought it was whatever way and turned out to be right. Yet, if you're found out to be wrong, you're quick to move on from the subject and even get defensive when it gets brought up."

"Don't bring up Leon," Elwin ordered.

Bart merely shrugged. "I'm just saying what he told me once. Nothing more than that."

Elwin sighed, looking more agitated than Elmo had seen him before. Elmo at least hoped that Elwin wasn't about to lose it and go off on everyone, but he was pretty sure the danger of that was low at the moment. Though, if they continued on this subject, he had a feeling that things might turn out differently than he'd like.

When they reached where the 'metal' had been seen, Elmo felt stunned. Not only was there a shiny breastplate, set of mostly rusted daggers, a large longsword, an intricately carved longbow, a wooden staff with a metal top that looked like a starburst, and a bag of books scattered among a several sets of bones that were mostly broken, and some even ground away to dust.

Looking at them, Elmo could see several different animals, including a few bones that probably belonged to whoever had owned the cloth that was rotting, mildewed rags now, the armor, the weapons, and the bag of books that were miraculously still in very good condition. Aside from a few tears and soiling.

However long they'd been here, Elmo would bet that the longsword, breastplate, bag, and staff were magical in some way. Maybe even the books. Otherwise he was confident that they'd have either rusted or decayed to the point where they might not be able to even see what they were, let alone get any use out of it.

"You know, the breastplate has an emblem that matches the staff," Elwin remarked as he lifted it up.

"Well, if you want it, take it," Kim commented offhandedly. "I already have my armor and if the sword is good, you probably should change out the sword you've been using."

"Hey, I couldn't get rid of my sword," Elwin protested.

"I didn't say get rid of it," Kim snapped. "I just said 'change it out.' You can keep your older sword as a backup in case you need it."

Elwin looked like he was about to say something that would keep the argument going, but Owen chimed in. "If you really don't want it, I'll take it," he said. "that way if I run out of arrows, or we encounter another hydra, I can join in on the front line."

Elwin closed his mouth, apparently thinking better of whatever it was he was going to say. "I'll take it," he said, sounding like he'd rather eat glass than say that. "This new sword can be my backup."

Kim merely shrugged, which made Elmo feel like they'd dodged a bullet there with Owen's intervention. Although, Elmo wasn't sure for how long that'd last. Not when it was clear to him that Elwin was itching for something to argue about.

However, Elmo didn't want to be the one who was the spark to set him off, so he kept his mouth shut about his thoughts. Instead, he walked over and picked up the staff. He wasn't sure why, but he felt rather drawn to it. Holding it, he felt like it was increasing his power to a level he hadn't expected to see, but at the same time, he wondered if maybe the staff had magical attributes itself.

"What're these books about?" Bart asked. "I mean, they don't look that useful. Why would they carry them with them?"

"Hard to say, but if I remember correctly, in games a mage would likely have a few books with them, so maybe that's what it's about?" Elmo offered, taking his attention away from his new staff.

"This isn't a game," Elwin snapped.

"Maybe not to us, but to the people running this competition, it might as well be," Jonas remarked. "So, it would make sense if they made it so that it's like a game in here."

Elwin sighed, looking more annoyed than before.

"Elmo, why don't you use your identify spell to see what magical properties each of these items has?" Elin suggested, and Elmo was pretty sure she only said that to try and reduce the tension in the room. Not that he couldn't say it didn't work. As even Elwin seemed rather interested and the hostility he'd been radiating since they got there had dissipated completely.