Dariea continued to fuss over the final details of the dressing. Robin’s arm had been treated and crudely bandaged so that it was pressed tightly to her chest. Her weapon was left in the middle of the opening, where she had left it after dropping to crudely knees. “That will have to do until we can return to Goshnia. I’m sorry I can’t do more.” Dariea spoke.

Robin shrugged, then grimaced in pain. Then she started to giggle and pushed the palm of her good arm to her forehead. “It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt so much anyway. At least Jano didn’t cause some sort of collapse and get us stuck in here.” She replied.

“Yeah again, I’m sorry about that.” Jano flustered.

Robin smiled and Dariea waved his concerns away. They were clearly trying to let bygones be bygones. Jano was thankful, but then again it was because of Dariea that they were in this mess. Actually, it wasn’t. Robin was here because of him. The realisation hit him hard in the gut, it was his fault that she was injured. He had followed Dariea and she had followed him. She was probably doing so to look after him. Not trusting him to survive by himself.

“No lasting harm done anyway. Robin, I assume your route was little more than a distraction as well? That you didn’t just come running up here at the sound of Jano’s rather loud shrieks?”

Robin smiled a little more. “Yeah. I didn’t hear the screaming until I had already made my way a little towards him. Though you’d have thought it was a young princess besieged by a dragon or foul mage or something.”

Jano wanted to pick that point and address it. There were a considerable amount of enemies for a start, he wanted to say. Robin was overwhelmed just as much as he was. However, Dariea interrupted and took charge of the conversation once more.

“Excellent. Mine too, though I Jumped back as soon as I realised my error. I was also led on a wild goose chase. However, let us suppose that this means we are on the right path once more. And handily, you both have defeated one of the defenders of the relics no doubt.”

One of? Jano thought as his master continued to speak.

“I shouldn’t imagine there’s much further to go. Though I anticipate more trouble ahead. Can you both go on? I should be able to Jump you back if you like.”

“How dangerous is it likely to be?” Jano asked, thinking of Robin and her injuries.

“We’ll be fine. Let’s go. The sooner this is over the sooner I can get real medical attention. I don’t want to lose this arm or anything.” Robin said and her words drew a wry smile from Dariea. “Though I think it’s about time you start really pulling your weight.”

Jano felt his jaw drop as he stared at Robin. That was bold, even for her. Dariea was a seasoned veteran, an incarnate. In his short time understanding what that was he had never seen anyone, even royalty, treat her with anything but respect. Dariea’s smile disappeared. She looked at the young princess for a time, letting her eyes size her up. Then she burst into laughter. Robin tried very hard to keep her expression hard and fixed, but Jano was sure he could see a brief wave of relief wash over her.

“Fair enough.” Dariea responded simply. “But Jano you still need to back me up. You have your training to consider.”

“Of course.” He put his hands together and bowed a little as a gesture of respect. Then as Dariea turned he looked at Robin. He couldn’t hide the grin for much longer.

“I saw that.” Dariea said as she walked away. A small black tendril whipped around Jano’s leg and tripped him over face first. Much to Robin’s further delight.

“And you, I assume you can still use that other arm? I felt your spirit as I approached, you are not the pampered princess I’d been told you were.” Dariea had a wry smile.

“Who told you that? Of course I can.” She snarled.

Dariea just laughed. They both walked toward the opposite end of the opening, where the large creature had stood guard and they disappeared into the darkness of the caverns once more. Jano chuckled a little to himself as he dusted himself down, swallowed his pride and headed in afterwards.

——

One thing that Jano realised after another few hours in the caves was that once he had been inside one dark, dank cave: they all start to seem the same. The gray walls reminded him of home, though at least the moss which still glowed in the darkness added a pop of colour. The familiar orange glow faded in and out. There was no rhyme or reason to its strength but he was glad for the light even so.

They walked down several dead ends, fought with a few other deformed beasts which can only be found in the dark. Including one kind of animal which had a snakes head, a bird's body and could breath a short burst of fire. Dariea had indeed begun to take the lead in a very literal kind of way, but Jano was cleaning up after with his scythes and a positive can-do attitude. Robin stood at the back looking quite pleased with herself for having to do nothing.

It had been hours. Or it seemed it at least. They walked through a narrow corridor, with the roof scraping his head as he walked and the faintest smell of sulfur and burning hanging in the air. “So do we think we’re nearly where we need to be?” Jano asked after a long silent period.

“Yes.” Both women replied and Jano looked between the two of them for an explanation.

“Can’t you feel that we’re walking towards something powerful? Can’t you sense it in your spirit?” Robin followed on.

He looked at his chest confused. He started to really concentrate and focussed his will there, as if he was about to draw in essence or begin to process it. He concentrated harder and then he made a small noise of exhaustion which sounded a little too close to a whimper in the cavern for his liking. “No not really. I just sort of sense it all around us.” He said.

“Don’t worry. It comes with time and lots of practice. But yes, I think we’re heading close. It’s either the relics or a horribly strong enemy. Possibly both.” Dariea said.

“Perfect.” Jano swallowed.

The corridor let out into something which Jano wasn’t expecting. It was a monstrously large room with a ceiling which could have doubled as the night sky and walls so far apart that a whole town could have been settled in it with room for a workhouse or two. Their footsteps echoed around the hollow cave until they all collectively came to a stop.

A small trickling of water could be heard somewhere in the distance. Jano surveyed the cavernous room but it seemed entirely empty. Just a huge void space. Dariea seemed to smile and something tugged on Jano’s spirit. He focussed his will and found that chaos essence was abundant. Strength was everywhere. His senses were almost overwhelmed. He tried not to focus and let it all drift into background noise again. Wherever they were, he would find it much easier to draw on chaos than he had only a few hours ago. He looked at Dariea to confirm his suspicions and she returned his questioning gaze with a nod.

“So where are these relics then? Shouldn’t be too hard to find in this great empty space..” Jano said as he took a step forward. The chaos essence emboldened him for some reason, in a way he hadn’t felt or noticed before.

He took approximately ten steps forward, his neck craning in every direction at any opportunity. He wanted to take it all in. Then something sprung up from the floor. Jano took a step backwards horrified. He took another then another just to be safe. A dark violet mass erupted from the space where he had just been standing. He readied his scythes and looked about him as Robin rushed to his side. He felt a brief flickering of warmth as he realised she was beside him, but it left as quickly as it had come.

Dariea walked forward confidently. More shapes began to spring up. She didn’t seem to be ready to fight. Though Jano knew that she could be very deceptive where she chose to be. On closer inspection, Jano realised that it wasn’t a creature ready to attack. Instead, he looked at Robin to make sure he wasn’t going briefly mad.

It was a garden.