The next morning, after shovelling snow to clear out the entrance, the group said their goodbyes to Nelly and Gary, and gave a cool nod towards Everett. The steps down into the darkness beckoned them.

Francis was giddy with excitement. “hit me with that light spell Paul. I’m itching to explore.”

Paul announced the spell and pushed the rune ring at Francis’s chest. “[Light]. Take it slow and check the corners is all I can really offer as advice. Who knows what else is down there.”

Francis brushed the warning aside with a wave of his hand. “Sure thing Dad. Now lets get going.” As he nearly skipped down the steps into the illuminated dark.

The others had left their travel packs at the camp and were feeling light. Mark had his weapon gripped tight, Tim held their staff defensively, and Paul shook out their sleeves. They were ready.

The steps ended at a thick wooden door with an iron pull ring. There was some obvious rust on the outside. Francis was already tugging on it, but couldn’t get it to budge. “A little help here?”

Mark stepped up and gave it a tug, which didn’t immediately cause it to budge. So he rested his axe nearby and put both hands on the ring. Putting a leg up on the wall nearby he put his entire body into the pull.

The door gave a most satisfying creak and slowly ground open. Small flakes of metal pinged out from the hinges. Once the door was partly opened, Francis ducked inside.

“Oh my.” Francis called out. “You guys gotta see this.”

Mark grunted and heaved on the door a bit more. This final bit of effort made the opening wide enough for everyone to squeeze through.

The inside of the first room was warmer than the outside, but not by much. The dry dusty smell of ages greeted everyone’s nostrils first. The walls were roughly square cut stone blocks about the size of a toaster. Square blocks for a square room about ten feet to a side. There was an opening straight back that led further onward.

“I was kind of expecting an Orc guarding a treasure chest.” Paul glanced about the otherwise featureless room. “But nothing is a surprise all it’s own.”

“Any advice on those ‘traps’ you told us about?” Francis was looking down the hallway.

“I would think, if you can’t see anything obvious, that it’ll be loose stones and pressure plates.” Paul was being thoughtful. “So keep an eye out in general, and take it slow.”

“Can do!” Francis grinned back and took the lead walking down the hallway. Eyes wide and searching. “Keep up.”

Francis was up front. He was touching each stone in front of him with a hairy foot. Feeling for any amount of shift. The stones of the floor matched the walls, except in that there was a fairly large amount of dirt in the gaps to make things more or less level.

Next was Mark, who was staying within arms reach of Francis. The large man was attempting to peer into the darkness beyond, and wasn’t being overly successful.

Tim and Paul brought up the rear. The hallway being five feet wide meant it wasn’t impossible to walk side by side, but it wasn’t comfortable either. Tim’s shoulders were broad, so Paul gave way.

The only sounds to be heard for a while were the soft taps of Francis’s feet, Marks armour would clank against the axe he was carrying, and the wooden tap of Tim’s staff on stone. The silence otherwise stretched on for minutes.

“I think.” Paul said, which caused the other three to jump. “Sorry, I think we can relax a little bit now. I could hear a pin drop, if we had pins, in this place.”

“Don’t” Francis said while pointing at Paul. “I need the quiet to work.”

Francis’s admonishment in place, Paul kept quiet. The rest of the hallway passed without incident. Each stone was nudged and suspicious cracks were investigated. Eventually they came upon another wooden door.

This door looked much like the outside door. Thick wooden planks with an iron pull ring. There wasn’t as much rust this time though.

Francis inspected the hinges. They seemed clear of debris and probably wouldn’t creak. Looking at the pull ring brought his head close to the wood.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Francis paused and held up their palm which caused everyone to freeze. He pressed his ear tight up against the door, and held his breath to hear better.

From behind the door came the noise of movement. There were sounds of feet stepping back and forth. Quiet slaps as if someone was tapping their leg. And most worryingly, the sound of someone sharpening a blade.

Francis took a moment longer to consider before looking back at the others. He held up three fingers and pointed towards the door.

Mark stepped up and gently picked up the door ring. Paul reached to Francis and plucked at the [Light] spell attached to their Chest.

A final nod between them and the light went out. The darkness was total in the absence of the spell. Mark pulled on the ring and the door swung open slowly and silently.

From the crack in the doorway, torch light poured into the hallway. Inside the room were three dog like humanoids wearing leather armour and holding swords. Their glowing red eyes were focused into the middle distance within the small room.

Mark was about to fling the door wide open and charge in when they heard words.

“You ever wonder why we’re here?” The pacing one said.

“That’s one of life’s biggest mysteries.” Said the one sharpening their sword. “You’d have to take in all the little bits and pieces of random chance that started with the universe, or perhaps even beyond that. Did we ever consider how lucky our...”

“What? No, I mean why are we here in this room?” it stopped pacing to stare at the philosophical one.

“Oh that.” Looking up from their sword. “We were told to guard the entrance.” They pointed at the cracked open doorway and the red light of their eyes flashed.

Time froze.

“Oh, the thing happened.” Francis gripped their knife. “What should we do?”

“I was thinking we pull the door open quickly and fight.” Mark said. “But them talking like that, makes it feel weird.”

“Every other time this has happened, we were fighting.” Paul flexed their fingers. “I say we leave the talking to moments out side of times like this.”

“Those red eyes imply something that the others knew.” Tim leaned on their staff. “Something about spawning or being summoned?”

“Make a choice Mark.” Francis bounced on the balls of their feet. “I’m feeling a bit rushed.”

Mark hauled on the door. Francis dashed inside and sunk their knife deep into the glowing gut of the standing humanoid to the left.

Mark moved inside to the right and took the head of the pacing dog faced thing to the right.

Paul pointed and intoned. “[Frost Ray]” at the sitting one staring at the doorway. The cold beam striking it directly in the chest.

Tim followed suit with Paul and shouted. “[Sacred Flame]” causing the bright flames to descend upon the sitting one.

Time unfroze.

“Huh.” Francis let the dog like being fall to the ground. “That was easier than I thought it would be.”

They all stood over the small bodies for a moment. The fur was surprisingly orange and their doggy eyes were wide but no longer glowed red. The guilt was eating at all of them when the bodies began to fade into nothingness. Little motes of magical energy floating upwards into the air were the last bits they could see. The only objects left behind were the crude swords the things had been holding.

“I wonder why this didn’t happen to the skeletons outside?” Tim mused and poked one of the fallen weapons with their staff.

“Maybe it did, but the bits were beneath the snow at the time.” Paul took a guess. “I didn’t question why those bones weren’t around in the morning. I figured one of you guys set them aside or something.”

“What were those dog people?” Mark looked to Paul.

“I honestly have no idea. Dog people is as good a name as any for the moment.” Paul shrugged. “But I think I’ll take a bit to check out the swords. Use that [Identify] spell and see what’s what.”

Paul looked around at the others and took in the room they were in. There was the open door they came in and a similar, yet closed, door leading deeper in.

“You guys keep it quiet and keep searching more. [Light]” Paul touched Francis again with a wince. “ngnngn. I’ll be casting the ritual version of [Identify] for a bit on these swords. Come back here if anything goes wrong. I think the two closed doors will keep just fine for a while.”

Francis and Mark looked at each other. “If you say so.”

“Yell if anything goes bad.” Tim patted the elf on the arm.

The three peeked through the deeper door and were quickly out of sight closing it behind them.

Paul gathered up the swords and began their ritual.

The ritual itself for [Identify] was nothing more than sitting cross legged on the floor with the item held. Paul was closely inspecting the blade in their hands as well. As they stared, a blue box started to form in their mind with a headache to match.

Kobold’s Sword

Kill God

This dull blade was more often used to skewer meat than attack enemies.

“What?” Paul looked perplexed. “These things couldn’t be kobolds, they didn’t have scales.”