“This is starting to really slow us down!” Sang said as she tapped against her empty canteen. “My stats are dropping like crazy.”
“The end of the desert isn’t too far!” Van replied as he gasped for air. The heat was beginning to make the very act of talking difficult, as well. He could feel his lungs filling up with the hot, desert air, and the burning pain was beginning to be too much.
“Man, everything about this sucks!” Capello said. “Why don’t we just turn around?”
“We’re at the point where it’ll take just as long to go back as it will to go forward!” Bidane said. “We must soldier through!”
“What is wrong with all of you?” Sahara asked. She was strolling around comfortably, while the rest of the team was staggering to keep up with her pace. “This heat is great.”
“Maybe f-for a fire wizard,” Kylian said. “But it’s going to kill the rest of us.”
“Hah, so I guess my class is pretty useful after all!” Sahara said.
“If only you could fight as well as you could survive deserts,” Bidane shot back.
“Dolly’s unconscious!” Sang reported as she stooped down to pick up her compatriot.
“My stamina’s not looking so good either,” Van wheezed as he watched his green bar continue to drop down. Once his stamina was gone, any effects from the heat would begin to affect his health.
“Over there!” Bidane shouted as she pointed at a large rock formation in the distance. “I see a cave!”
“Hurry!” Capello said. “Get to the shade!”
The group hurried toward the cavern. As he moved, Van glanced over to see that Kenwar was quietly striding alongside the rest of the group. He hadn’t spoken a word since they’d taken off on their adventure, and Van could tell that the heat wasn’t much affecting the manhunter. Perhaps he had some kind of skill that protected him from weather effects.
“Whew! It’s so nice in here!” Bidane announced as she collapsed on the ground in the mouth of the cave. The rest of the team came to a halt and sat down, sprawling in various areas and panting for breath. The only real exception was Sahara, who still didn’t seem phased in the slightest.
“Nice cave,” she mused as she walked around. “It’s pretty big.”
“Big indeed!” came a voice echoing through the cavern. The cave was deep and, in the distance, Van could see a pair of glowing, yellow lights.
“Who’s there?” Kenwar shouted as he leapt to his feet and pulled out his crossbow. The rest of the adventuring party slowly stood up and drew their weapons. Van groaned as he felt his legs buckle a little when he tried to get up. The heat had done a real number on his stats, and he was struck with the Exhausted status, meaning that until he was able to sleep for 8 hours, he’d have a negative -4 attached to all of his physical stats.
“Who indeed?” the voice replied.
“I don’t like this,” Kenwar said. “Dark cave, and a deep tunnel to reach that voice. Who knows how many people are lying in wait for us?”
“Relax,” Sahara said. “It’s probably some kind of desert quest.”
“Whatever it is,” Capello said as he began to walk into the darkness. “I’m gonna go kill it.”
“Slow down!” Van ordered. Capello ignored Van and continued walking. “Capello, I said come back!” Van shouted. His voiced echoed through the space, but Capello did no such thing.
“Are you kidding me?” Bidane said. “That jackass is going to get us killed!”
“Let’s leave him then,” Kenwar said. “No reason for the rest of us to run into a trap.”
“We don’t leave anyone behind, no matter how dumb a decision they make,” Van replied. “Kylian. He’s your grandson, so go grab him!”
“I’m going, I’m going,” Kylian said as he began to follow after him.
“Whoa!” Capello shouted. “Guys, come check this out! It’s a Sphinx!”
Bidane immediately took off running into the darkness. Van looked at Sang, who merely shrugged and followed after the priestess. The rest of the team followed, as well, with the exception of Kenwar, who merely stayed behind and muttered something about keeping an eye on the entrance.
Van ran a few yards with the rest of the group, only to stop suddenly upon seeing the creature before Capello. The fighter’s head was staring straight up, his mouth agape.
“Greetings, adventurers!” said the beast. It had the head of a human and the body of a lion. Above it hovered the words Great Sphinx Level 50. “I see you have come into my lair! What do you seek? Treasure? Power? Gems?”
Bidane, for some reason, had knelt on the ground and was mumbling, in some kind of a trance. The rest of the party stared at the gigantic creature in wonder. It was nearly 60 feet tall and sat comfortably within the cave. Van could see what looked to be large claw marks on the ground, indicating that the Sphinx must have long ago tunneled this cave itself.
“Greetings,” Van said, stepping forward and making eye contact with the enormous being. Its eyes glowed a bright yellow in the darkness. A few torches had been lit around the creature, creating enough light for them all to see the enormous Sphinx, but not enough light to see what was behind it.
“I am the Great Sphinx of the Desert! Many travel through this accursed land in the hopes of finding my wisdom,” he said with a booming voice. “But be warned, for dealing with a Sphinx is far trickier than dealing with anything you’ve ever met! Say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing, and GULP!” It shouted, snapping its massive jaws at the party in emphasis. “I swallow you whole!”
“Bidane, what are you doing?” Van asked as he looked over at his companion. She was still kneeling before the creature and praying incessantly.
“I’m trying to access the Quest of Saint Alberta,” Bidane replied. “Praying is how I can get special quests from the White Fox! Rumor has it that the Tears of Saint Alberta are located within a cave containing the Great Sphinx! I didn’t know it was around here.”
“I’ll do any side quest as long as they don’t involve going back out in that heat,” a now recovered Dolly said.
“I agree,” replied Sang as she helped stabilize Dolly, who had begun to wobble a bit once more.
“Alright, sounds good!” Van said. “What does the quest involve?”
“Well,” Bidane replied as she slowly stood to her feet, dusting the dirt and rocks off of her robe. “We need to figure out a way to get past the Sphinx’s riddle and into the deeper parts of the underground network of caverns. There, it is said that the Tears of Saint Alberta have been preserved in a vial, for those who are worthy.”
“What do the tears do?” Capello asked.
“They have the power to immediately heal any amount of damage, and cure all statuses and wounds,” Bidane replied. “But the real value isn’t in drinking them; it’s in selling them. The quest cave randomly moves around from area to area, making the tears incredibly rare to find. There’s a much bigger quest where you have to collect five artifacts owned by Saint Alberta, and this one is always the hardest to accomplish.”
“So, if we get our hands on this…” Van said, “we’re going to be making a fortune?”
Bidane emphatically nodded. “Like you wouldn’t believe! There is so much money to be made off of these tears. Let’s do it! Sphinx! We request passage through this area!”
The Sphinx looked at her with a wry grin. “In order to receive passage,” it giggled, “you must be willing to travel through the darkest places and fight the hideous underground-dwelling monsters! But most importantly of all, you must be able to solve a riddle with speed and skill!”
“Argh, more talking!” Capello groaned. “Why can’t we just get a quest that involves pure violence for once?”
“Easy, Capello,” Kylian said. “Let’s hear the riddle, Sphinx.”