Levishia: The Prophesied Quest

Chapter 12: Blinded

LEVISHIA QUINTESSENCE

"Pardon?!"

My eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets. Rock golems? As in giants made of large, boulders? And they're even fully armored? How is that even possible? How are those tamed?

My stiffness must've caught his attention because he glanced at me before I heard his low chuckle.

"Don't worry, they're herbivores."

My brows furrowed, they get hungry? Do they have intestines inside or are they just rock solid? This is all so new to me. It's so interesting. I've never read rock golems in my books inside the palace.

"Why do you know all these things?"

His boyish smirk once again crept onto his lips.

"I'm sorry for the quakes that rocked you earlier. That was me slaying golems and making the path easier for you to walk on," he leans in and whispers, "Your Highness."

I raised my brows at his arrogance. "Are you boasting?"

"I'm not," He chuckled, the melody sounding so sexy in my ears, "I'm just paving the way for you, like how it should be done."

I didn't reply and instead stared at him. I had mixed feelings about his statement. I was feeling underestimated; I felt like a princess again, and yet I still feel powerless.

I didn't need him to be paving the way for me. I do not need such a thing. I am a warrior.

I should go through hell and back to prove my heroism.

"Argh!" I was snapped out of my reverie when we heard Ard's painful grunt.

We turned to him and saw him a few feet above the ground, his neck being choked by a humongous rock hand, its metals covered with steel, the same pair of devious silver eyes glaring down at him.

I was stunned.

So, this was what it felt like being in battle.

This will be my first time being in a battle against a giant golem. This was it. This was the feeling.

The feeling of adrenaline pumping in your veins, your muscles thumping with excitement and the previous fear that froze your system was gone and replaced by a nerve-wracking thrill.

This was how a warrior feels right before clashing swords with his opponents.

This feels good.

"The golems' weak spots are the napes of their necks. Get through their armor and stab the nape of their neck, and they're dead," Zoren started sharing his knowledge.

I was silently nodding while preparing my bombs, to somehow distract the golem. I was half-heartedly thankful for Zoren as he was being considerate of how I'd feel if he'll leave me out and so him explaining things for me certainly made my image of him a little bit better.

He's not that bad after all.

"We'll attack simultaneously so the golem will be torn on who to pay attention to first—" I was about to share my plan when he, rudely, cut me off.

"No," his stoic gaze fell on me. "I will fight him. You find the trolls and convince them to give you the belladonna. We can't waste much more time."

My mouth was left agape when he sprinted towards the golem and Ard. Following his figure, my forehead slowly creased.

Just how did he know about our task? Who told him? And why— Alright, fine. He's right about the part that we need to find the trolls. But can't we do it after we defeat this golem?! I was feeling the rushing adrenaline and he turns it down and tells me I have to find the trolls instead!?

Seriously, he just crashed my expectations earlier of being in my first real battle.

Bummer. And, I hated how he made sound judgment because he was right. We've wasted days looking for the trolls already, and we cannot be delayed by the golems any further.

Gathering my thoughts and setting my emotions aside, I blindly grasped the walls of the cave.

I assume there's a hidden passage where the deep breaths and heaves I heard earlier went through. That couldn't be my ears playing tricks on me.

"Watch out!"

Instinctively, I ducked upon hearing Ard's warning. My eyes followed the broken fragments of the boulder as it slammed into the cave's wall, which would've been my head if I didn't avoid it just in time.

I stared at it, bewildered, before pulling myself together.

Breathing deeply, I continued searching for the passage in this dark void. It was like my eyes were temporarily blinded by the darkness, hindering me from seeing anything else but nothing.

Now I know how those sight-forsaken people feel when they see nothing. They don't see black, or gray—just nothing. Purely nothing, rendering me to feel empty as well, as if mirroring what I see. It was like I'm dead inside, but not literally.

Darkness is more frightening than death.

My ears perked up at the sound of a sniff. Even if my eyes are hindered from seeing, my other senses are wide awake and on full alert. My eyes wandered about until I saw a glimpse of light from what seemed like a tear behind the golem. That was when I noticed that the golem had never left his place. He never took a step and stayed rooted to his spot.

What if...

"Zoren, Ardal!" I called out to them. Zoren stopped midway on ripping the golem's armor while Ard retreated from the golem and went to me.

"What is it, Levi? Are you hurt?" He checked me for any bruises. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm not. Listen," I motioned Zoren to come over. Begrudgingly, he strode towards us. "I need both of you to move the Golem."

"Why?" Queried Ard.

"I think..." I'm still unsure but here goes nothing, "I think he's hiding the trolls behind him."

Surprisingly, they obeyed without any further ado.

They started trying various measures to move the golem out of the way but to no avail. Biting my lip, I pulled out a stun grenade and bit the safety off, throwing it toward the golem.

"Cover your ears!" I yelled to the boys. Following my own instruction, I also covered my ears with both of my palms and closed my eyes shut. After hearing the deafening bang, I opened my eyes and acted quickly.

I pulled out my rope from my backpack and swung it, gathering momentum, until I threw it towards the golem hoping to pull it out the way by encircling my rope to its legs. I grinned when I saw my rope successfully encircling the golem's right leg. Luckily, it's still stunned.

Zoren, who quickly recovered from the stun grenade, aided me and helped me pull the rope.

"You are so reckless," he whispered while we pulled the rope with utmost strength.

I smirked, making sure not to tear my gaze to the golem who was still stunned, "It works anyway."

Ard also helped after a few moments of furious blinking and after I saw the golem far enough from his previous spot, I left them there and took a peek. This better be worth it...

I pulled out my shortsword while carefully inching toward the dark spot in the cave.

"Anyone here?" I called to no one in particular.

Roaming my eyes mindlessly, I immediately stepped back when I heard a few rustles and felt a presence coming near. I readied my sword in case they were aggressive and went into a fighting stance.

"What do you want?"

A voice pulled out a bright object which made me instinctively shield my eyes and wince with the sudden light in the middle of the darkness. I had to blink for a few more times before my eyes adjusted to the blinding orb.

I sighed as I felt my eyes hurt but kept them open and saw the owner of the voice.

I didn't have to raise my chin to talk to him, though. He was just until my waist and had ragged clothing protecting his moss-green skin. His pointed ears caught my attention the most, even if they were half-hidden by his long white locks. A bag was strapped onto his small waist where I presume his blinding orb was kept.

They are indeed trolls who are minuscule in height but cunning in trading.