The smell of coffee grounds greeted his nose, bringing him to blink as he found himself sitting at a table. It was a cafe he was familiar with; while it wasn't empty, it was just busy enough to provide a comfortable atmosphere.
"You sure like this place, don't you? I'm not much of a coffee guy myself."
The remark came from the man seated across from him, who sipped from his cup of fresh, warmly-brewed coffee before sticking out his tongue in playful disgust.
"Damian," Finn quietly said, feeling as though he had just woken up, lightly rubbing his head. "Yeah, I like this place just fine. I came here a lot during my time in university. It was never very busy, so I could focus here–the coffee isn't bad either."
Damian laughed softly, "Here I would've thought the first thing you'd judge a cafe on would be its coffee. Guess I'm not really the expert here, though."
"Yeah, you're right," Finn said with a small laugh of his own.
Though there were others in the cafe, he could hardly even make them out; they were just blurs, their conversations nothing more than white noise–though he didn't mind it.
"How've you been holding up, man? Don't take it the wrong way, but you look like you've seen better days," Damian asked genuinely, setting his mug down on the table.
"I've been...I'm not sure, really," Finn answered, looking at the table as if that'd somehow help him find a definitive answer.
"Oh, come on. Would it kill you to give me a straight answer?" Damian pressed.
"Lay off, man. I don't want to think. It kind of hurts to think right now," Finn tiredly said, rubbing his face.
Sitting there in silence for a moment, a feverish feeling overcame him, exuding sweat and breathing heavily.
"Hey, you're bleeding from your nose," Damian pointed out.
Finn raised his hand, touching just above his lip as the warmth of the liquid was felt. As he checked his fingers, the black blood met his sight.
"--Ah."
His eyes shot open as the ambience of the relaxing cafe vanished, finding himself instead laying on the grass. Above him, those hanging mountains peered back down at him, reminding him of where he truly was.
'Right...a dream,' he tiredly thought.
He picked himself up with a quiet yawn, finding it to already be a new day as the inexplicable sunlight from an unseen sun provided a tranquil dawn. There was a light fog in the vale, with a sprinkle coming down.
"Morning."
Finn looked across the campsite to find that he wasn't the only one awake, seeing Magnus sitting boredly by a tree.
"Morning," Finn responded. "Have you been up all night?"
A light tap to the shoulder brought him to look to his right, seeing Jasper catching up to match his pace.
"Rest is king, mate. In times like these, good sleep is golden," Jasper said chipperly as rain pattered against his silver helmet.
"Don't take it from him," Magnus added from behind, hiking over the jutting-out roots of the soil. "When it was time to switch turns watching, it took half an hour to finally wake up this snoring buffoon."
"Hey, mate–I'm a heavy sleeper, what can I say?" Jasper played off with a laugh.
"That's not something to be proud of. It'll get you killed if you were alone," Magnus remarked.
Jasper stepped through a muddy puddle, shrugging his shoulders, "If a monster came at me while I'm asleep, I'll jump up and turn it into dinner in the blink of an eye. I've just got honed instincts like that, mate."
"Are you some kind of ninja now?" Finn jokingly asked.
"Ha-ha! It's the truth, mate! I normally sleep like a log, but If there's danger near me, I hop up like spring chicken," Jasper assured.
The explanation that was hard to discern if it was purely a joke or mixed with some truth by the knight stirred a laugh from Charlotte, though Magnus was not so quick to entertain it.
"Well, I'll try smacking you with a stick next time you're asleep then to confirm that," Magnus said.
"Try it, mate, and I'll stick my sword right up your arse," Jasper retorted.
The bickering between the cannoneer and knight was cut short as the woodsy vale led to a peculiar way forward; an entire mountain blocked the path, only with a passage going straight through it welcoming them in.
A pair of lanterns were stationed on the thresholds of the entrance into the mountain tunnel, with fireflies swaying in the leaf-shaded front.
"Looks like this is the way forward," Finn said, staring into the lightless passage.
"It looks...unwelcoming," Charlotte observed with some hesitation.
Admittedly, the cobwebs that clung to the wooden frame set around the rocky entrance didn't help either. It didn't help any more that the skulls of what looked to be deer and cattle were strung up by the webs.
"Doesn't look like this place gets regular maintenance," Magnus sarcastically remarked.
Entering the mountain tunnel led into a rather sprawling cave that expanded to a vast scope. It was filled with light, though not through the presence of lanterns or torches.
Growths of cerulean crystals lined the walls, providing an ethereal glow to the cavern. Finn walked forward, finding that it led directly onto a natural bridge of slick stone, with either side leading to a drop into a cavern lake.
"Watch your step," Finn warned, peering over the edge.
"No kidding. Not trying to take a bath down there," Jasper said, standing beside him while gazing down as well.