Traversing The Depths And Darkness

The air, despite being deep underground, is not stale in these old dungeons. Even the ancient ones have ventilation shafts. This place is so old and writing is from the Age of the Empire, but most of it has degraded to the point of being readable or even understandable. It is disappointing, as I wanted to read it; but I have to get down to a better level. Not that I can read this language well as no one uses it anymore. Though I learnt how at my adopted parent’s guild; but not even they have put this all together and know what every symbol means.

Lost language, lost history, the greatest tragedy of all. I just hope the scraps of parchment I found in another region were right and it is down here. If it’s not, it will be another wasted trip, just like my last time here. I found nothing in the other old dungeon far to the west of the region. These old dungeons used to be under the huge villa homes during the old empire, though they weren’t prisons. They were for making potions and leaning magic in safety, as early spell crafting was dangerous and accidents happened a lot.

The wall used to have special flat stones to absorb magic blasts. It’s still used today in the guilds for training. Here though, it’s all been pillaged and torn off. Only the decorative walls remain, but the air and humidity have pealed the paint off leaving, only the old carvings. The others’ glow stones light up the way, so it’s very bright as we make our way past the old open rooms. Most don’t have doors; they have long since rotted away.

The only thing moving around us is boot-sized insects but they have no interest in us. What was the combination my parents said? Elysande was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts sharply as Keira’s hand suddenly moved her to one side. Keira’s other hand grabbed something in the dark that started screeching. She turned, seeing that the warrior was holding a huge red and black worm with horrible teeth.

Keira eyed the large worm before speaking. “Ribbon Worms. These are highly poisonous. They will bite you, they strike from the walls and they have a long, ribbon-like tongue that latches on to your body and digs in.” She turned, dropping it on the floor, watching as it sped off. “You need to be more careful.” Elysande watched as it crawled away past Bastian, vanishing. “You didn’t kill it. Why?”

Keira moved forward. “I don’t kill things that are just surviving. At the end of the day, the worm is just looking for food, and I don’t kill things unless I’m hunting them to eat, or they attack me or someone like you wants some parts.” Bastian moved forward. “Killing that does not serve a need it is very wasteful.”

Elysande watched them both move forward, drawing their weapons again. That was deeply refreshing. Her other guides, on other trips, had not been so thoughtful. They just wanted to kill everything to impress her, hoping she’d pay them more, but the reality was the land of the dead didn’t want slaughtered or forced deaths. They wanted the cycle to complete naturally, for beings to have lived long, fulfilled lives before they became undead, not brutal and short ones.

She took in a deep slow breath she had become what she was nine years ago, though her adopted parents love her deeply. Though a part of her couldn’t help but feel that her parents felt deeply sorry for her. Because she I had not lived a full long life, before becoming what she was unlike them as they had both lived long lives. It made her sad at times that this happened to her when she had been young but such was the will of all things, which you were powerless to change.

She moved slowly forward, seeing another empty room as she watched her sword’s hilt’s stone glow, which was to give the others way more light as they all carried on moving in the darkness. Bastian turned slightly. “The secret passage to the next level is down there is that not far; we just have to carry on walking this way. The off corridors don’t lead anywhere, it’s like they were building them but then stopped suddenly.”

Keira looked at the old dungeons stone walls. “These corridors just have small wild life nothing really dangerous or threatening. The centipedes tend to hang around in the level below, since they feed off the things at this level.” Elysande looked at them both. “I need one that spews ice and acid, as I need its parts for my magic mostly as I’ve heard they are the best for mixing potions as they grow big around here.”

Bastian licked his lips. “You know, their meat is really good. You can sell some of it at the next tavern, along with the parts you don’t need. They pay good money for that and it cooks up well.” Keira breathed in deeply. Why did Bastian always love weird food? Granted, he didn’t eat live food like some of his race; but he really did love eating cooked insects. She preferred to eat sea food like crabs and fish, or meats like hog and chicken. Plus, whenever she ate those creatures in her other form she would find herself vomiting afterwards for hours.

8

Agomais watched as Ramstad came in to view. It was nothing like Dawn Star; it was a smaller, quieter village, mostly for farming as it had vast hills of corn, wheat and rye. There were mills for grinding grain all over the place, as they mostly made grain to sell for bread and other meals. It had the normal set of Paladin and Warrior guards and a few Mages, but nothing of note that he needed to be remotely concerned about.

He pulled his heavy worn pack over his shoulder. All he had to do was mix all those herbs for those who wanted spice and sell it to them. Once the trades were done he could leave. He had done that plenty of times before without a hitch. The others worried too much, Ramstad was too laid back to care about anything let alone spice. All they liked was having fun at night with festivals. They weren’t a danger.

He carried on walking, not seeing the two shadows in the far distance, near the old dungeon stone door that had not opened in many seasons. There was another opening a mile away, which was where his friends would leave by. The first shadow spoke, its rat teeth grinding. “That bastard has been stealing our spice sales for months… I think it’s time to end him.” The other nodded calmly, raising his human hand. “I’ve told the Paladins and Mages. They are just pretending to not care… but once he makes the trade, it will be all over.”

He paused. “It will be retribution for Merrygot, after all.” He raised his sword. “That whole group is trouble. Him, the dumb over-sexed warrior human and that dumb white rat.” He eyed his friend, whose red eyes were glowing under the dark hood. “No offence intended to you, old friend.” The rat man shook his head. “None taken. That maggot-eater is not from my region. I don’t give two shits about him….”

He eyed his human friend. “White furred rat people are always idiots. It’s their breeding; they’re less pure magic-wise than those of us who were born with black or brown fur. They don’t channel as well as we do.” He raised his clawed hand. “My whiskers tell me there is nothing true in that group. The warrior woman lies, the maggot eater lies, and the Minotaur is an idiot who thinks with his dick.” He raised his short magical cleric staff. “I sense the magic in all of them… it is the greatest tragedy that none of them are true to themselves. They will never reach their true potential as it’s so untrained and weak.”

He breathed in deeply. “There is no sadder thing than living a half-life and never being true to yourself even if it’s your best and worst self.” The human smirked. “Yes, well let’s be true to ourselves and get rid of this dumb fucker. I’m tired of him stealing our monthly wages for spice.” He folded his arms, watching as the Minotaur vanished though the multi-coloured trees, going down the big hill that led to the village. “I want my monthly silver and copper wage back…”

8

Bastian watched as the end of the corridor came in to view, although it looked like a wall. He watched as Keira put her weapons away, moving to the side. “The door is hidden here.” He moved, pushing the middle inwards with Keira’s help, watching as the circle of stone clicked. They both turned it clock wise slowly, hearing it click again as the whole wall pulled back, revealing a long tunnel downwards and stone stairs. “This will close behind us, but its fine. Like the other level, it’s still ventilated.”

They all slowly made their way down in to the darkness, hearing a grinding on the other side as the stone door grinded back at the bottom, letting them through. He watched as it closed behind them. “Hate to think what it would be like to be stuck between those two doors and the steps.” Elysande eased her skull shield free from its holder, raising her sword higher as the others did the same with their weapons, moving much more slowly through the long corridor which was not well preserved like the upper level.

Again there were insects scurrying around, but less. They moved checking the empty rooms. Bastian’s whiskers moved forward as he lowered his voice. “I can sense two huge ones here, but we need to ignore one of them. It’s breathes fire.” He moved his tail. “It’s sleeping in the room, close by.” Keira moved slowly seeing it as she shone the light of her glove down but not on it. She caught sight of the creature which was bigger than all three of them, circled up in a huge ball. “Keep it asleep… give it Aspen.”

Stolen story; please report.

Bastian pulled a small, yellow glowing pot from his armour, opening it slowly as he pulled another dagger free from his back. He locked the dagger on to his tail guard then dipped the razor sharp tip in the thick, sticky liquid before closing the cap. Keira guarded him as he moved forward, over to the huge red and yellow centipede. He moved the dagger’s tip near its neck, jammed it in quickly. He watched as the whole thing squirmed for a second and then carried on sleeping. “It will only last two turns of the sun dial, but it will stop it attacking us while we get the other one.”

They both moved away from, it slowly and quietly. “Shame the other one’s ice and acid, as this stuff won’t work on it, at all.” He eased out his axe, readying it. “Plus, I’m no good at potion mixing. I had to buy this back at the mines at one of the stores and they ripped me off and overcharged.” He sneered slightly. “It’s not even good grade.” Elysande looked at them as they walked slowly up the long wide corridor. “Why not get your friend Agomais to make it?”

Keira shook her head. “He is excellent at mixing spice and magic dust, but he’s really not very good at potion craft outside the very basic stuff. But that’s how he makes a living and gets extra money for his parents’ tavern.” Elysande looked at her as Bastian pointed his whiskers forward again. “You don’t know any advanced potion craft?” Keira shook her head. “No I’m not that smart.” Bastian turned, eyeing her. “You know, just because Magnus thinks you’re not clever you shouldn’t believe what he says. He’s a greedy self-centred asshole; I’ve met way better and kinder demons than him.”

Keira breathed in deeply. “It’s okay; he can think what he wants.” Bastian stopped suddenly, causing the others to do so, raising his head higher as he checked with his whiskers. “I’ve got the other one. It’s big, though… bigger that the last one.” He raised his axe. “It’s in the last room from the bottom. It just crawled in though a huge crack in the floor from the level above.” Keira raised her weapons, moving slowly forward. “Is it eating?”

Bastian moved his whiskers. “No. Hunting.” Keira breathed in deeply. “Great, then it’s going to be very aggressive.” She twirled her sword. “This is going to be as fun as the one in the mine.” Bastian smirked. “Well, you did save my life that day.” Keira gave him a slight smile. “Well, I did owe you one for the spider when we met.” She breathed in as they got closer to the room, hearing the tapping and moving of the huge legs. The thing was clearly on the ceiling. “Here goes nothing. You take the left; I’ll take the right.”

They moved closer as the other woman raised her shield, her sword lighting up with green flames as the hilt glowed with its gem stone. Keira looked up, seeing the huge centipede come in to view, its white and blue body showing in the low glow as it opened its huge forked mandibles, hissing in their direction. It was bigger than the other one, so much so that half its body was on the wall as well as the ceiling. Its huge antenna moved, clearly sensing them as the hissing got louder and even more threatening.

Its whole body suddenly lit up, pure blue on the back as its head rose higher. Keira found herself moving fast as the huge head came down within inches of all of them, snapping hard only to come out again, faster as it started to screech, moving its mandibles as ice crystals started to form in them. Elysande raised her shield, which pulsed as green fire come out of it, as the ice stream flew out hitting the floor causing her to stumble back slightly.

The centipede moved fast, crawling down from the ceiling as it rose up half way, getting ready to strike again. Keira watched as its head came down as she smashed the sword in its face. Sadly, it didn’t land as the centipede pulled its head back, only to be struck by Bastian at the side, causing it to turn violently, blowing out ice which struck the wall close to him. Bastian went down on all fours, running out of the way as he smashed his axe in to the tail end of the monster but didn’t get a clean cut.

The huge head came down again, smashing the tiles as the vampire’s green flaming sword stuck its face, though still didn’t break the shell, it just forced its head back slightly. Keira watched as its head snapped forward, spraying acid webbing which stuck to the floor, causing her to pull back as the webbing started to eat at the floor, sizzling and burning as a foul smoky smell filled the air. The next moments turned to pain as the tail section flew around, striking her hard in the chest, hard enough to send her flying backwards, hitting the floor hard.

The huge head came down fast, its mandibles wide as Keira moved, missing them as they slammed in to the floor where her head had been. She rolled out of the way, getting to her feet. The tail moved, narrowly missing Bastian as he tried to slice the horned tip ends, only for it to turn, spitting acid webbing directly at the vampire’s shield, only for intense green fire to come out of her shield as it fell off hitting the floor causing more smoke to fill the air.

Keira slammed the axe in its face as it came at her again, only this time it hit, getting stuck in the side of its face, causing it to pull back, throwing its head from side to side. The monster screeched, smashing the walls hard as it tried to get it out, only for Bastian to run up its back, right up to its, head slamming his axe in the other side. At the same time, he pulled out up his tail dagger, using it to pierce holes in between the neck segments as blue blood spattered all over the floor.

Bastian grabbed his axe, which was still attached, forcing the centipede’s head down. He watched as Keira grabbed her side as they both forced its head further down, as he kept on stabbing it. He eyed the vampire. “Break this thing’s head right between the antenna! The shell is soft there! Do it now, we can’t hold it for long!” Elysande’s sword flew forward, hitting the target, causing blue blood to fly everywhere as the huge insect screeched long and loud. Its back end trashed one last time before it suddenly twisted over, death taking over as it became still.

Keira eyed all the blue blood that had hit her, face wiping it off as she forced her axe out harshly. She saw Bastian doing the same as the vampire eased her sword free. “Which parts do you want?” Elysande looked at the dead insect. “The whole tail section, the ice and acid sack and the mandibles. The rest can be sold for meat and armour. I’ve heard the native frog men and women like wearing the shell on their armour, as it protects them from some water animals.”

Elysande watched as they both started to work methodically, cutting the huge dead centipede apart. She breathed in, moving to the other wall her fingers over it, trying to feel for a different kind of stone. It had to be here, the entrance to the third level. She was sure of it. She could see the long tunnel leading out some way down from them; but she had no intention of using it. She breathed in again, ignoring the cutting going on behind her and the blue blood as it ran in trails out of the room.

Bastian pulled the tail end off as he turned to Keira. “What do you think she’s doing?” Keira yanked a huge mandible free. She was glad this thing had mostly used acid and not its ice that much, as cold really hurt her even through the armour. It was way worse since she had been cursed. She put her axe away as she finished cutting the parts stacking them up. “Who cares? We all did the job. Let’s just get out of here before its firesome friend wakes up.”

Bastian eyed her using his axe to cut away huge solid plates. “She did help us, which was nice.” Keira started to strap the parts to their packs. “I guess.” She pulled up the ice sack, only to drop it painfully as she shook her hand. “I’ll just be happy to go home.” Bastian picked up both sacks, using a special magic binding cloth to keep them from causing problems. Magnus had packed two for them, so they could spare one. “What is she looking for?”

Keira shrugged. “It’s an old dungeon; she was reading the writing on the other levels.” She turned, throwing the remaining pieces all around, watching as all the smaller insects started to appear in the room as they wanted to eat the centipede’s flesh. They slowly made their way slowly over to them. It was only fair to give them the left overs, plus it was considered good practice that if you took from the land, you gave back to others things that were surviving.

Elysande pressed her fingers in deeper on the stone, suddenly feeling something shift in the wall. This was it! This was entrance to third level! Clearly, even when this place had been made for training, it had been hidden from the students back in the empire days. She breathed, in pushing down only to watch as the whole stone wall rose, creating a pattern of circles. She smiled. Her parents had been right, it was here. She turned, seeing that the others were coming towards her, holding all the insect parts and looking utterly shocked. “Come closer as you’re both good with puzzles; you can check if I’m doing this right.”

Keira eyed the other woman, her shock turning to annoyance. “What the fuck is this?” Elysande turned, smiling at her. “Something you’ll be very interested in when we get to the next level.” Bastian watched as she started to push in the stone sections with glee. “Wait, there is a third level?” Elysande eyed him. “Oh yes, we are about to find out what it’s like.” Keira moved forward, feeling a sneer form. “I was paid to get your insect! I was not paid for this shit!”

Elysande turned to look at her. “Oh, trust me Keira this is going to be worth it.” She slammed the last stone down hard, stepping away, watching the other sections glow with bright, pulsing blue Yetasine stones. Only for it to suddenly stop pulsing, as it faded away. “No! That’s not possible; I know I got this right!” Keira watched as the other woman slammed the last stone again in frustration. She laughed coldly. “Oh, well, that sucks. And here I was, worried you were actuality smart.”

Elysande turned, eyeing her disgust. “You know, you’re an asshole! At least I’m happy with myself, unlike you.” Keira watched as Bastian moved past them both, eyeing the wall with keen interest; she turned back glaring at the vampire. “What’s that supposed to mean!?” Elysande shook her head. “I think you know what it means.” Keira narrowed her gaze “You know, I trekked and got what you wanted for your stupid mission! No amount of gold is worth this kind of shit, of being down trodden by a privileged rich war Mage!”

Bastian turned seeing something that had risen out of the floor that neither of them had noticed: a decorative block near the puzzle. He eased his foot up, looking at it before bringing it down. “Oh, I see! It’s a press trigger. Clever!” Keira turned sharply. “Don’t press that!” Whatever she was about to say was cut off suddenly as the whole floor gave way. It slammed down wards like a slide, sending them tumbling painful along with the insect parts in the deep unlit darkness bellow.

End of part 6

Silvermoonlight