Isaiah

I don’t know how long I slept but I had the sense that Ann had let me sleep for much longer than she should have, judging by her red eyes and sleepy looks when I finally woke up. This led me to have her sleep for longer than was perhaps wise. I wondered what the others were doing and what time it was as I sat there, quietly, with only my thoughts to keep me occupied.

Ann finally woke up and, with both of our internal clocks well and truly discombobulated, we set off down the rightward tunnel. We followed it for some time, but I started to feel that something was wrong when it became clear that we were in a continuous downward slope. If we wanted to get back to the cavern at the entrance, we needed to go upwards, not down. I knew things were going very wrong when I started to feel the temperature increasing to levels that were uncomfortably hot but, at this point, I was driven by a kind of morbid curiosity and a desire to see this path through before retreating. Maybe we would find something useful down here.

A foolish risk.

Red light started to dance along the wall of the tunnel before we stumbled out of its’ exit and towards the edge of a cliff. The cliff was on one side of a large underground ravine that ran off to the left and to the right. I looked over the edge and saw a river of lava moving languidly along the bottom. Across from us was a wall of rock with a thin pathway along its’ length that mirrored the path along our side. That wall was peppered with smaller formations of Glasrock. Eagerly, I looked to my right and saw that similar formations dotted our own side of the ravine as well. It was only when I looked to my left that my elation shifted to horror.

Staring at me from further down the left-hand path was our impending death.

The fiend stood on two legs and carried wicked, obsidian blades in three fingered appendages that sprouted from its’ large torso. It was taller than me, with gleaming white scales and a long, reptilian neck. That neck was so long that it curved forward, such that it drooped nearly halfway down again, and it was tipped with a wide crocodilian head that sported angry yellow eyes and razor-sharp teeth. The Neidyr studied me with a mixture of surprise and predatory curiosity, before opening its’ mouth and letting out a loud and menacing call. “SE’SHETH!!” it screeched. I heard answering calls from behind it and I knew what they meant.

The Neidyr were the closest thing the Mist had to intelligent life besides us, and, while they mostly communicated in grunts and hisses, they were capable of more complex speech. This warrior, and his friends behind him, were screaming out the name of the ancestor of their tribe, commonly worshipped as a god amongst their people. And that only meant one thing. Battle.

It took a lot of quick thinking from both Ann and I to save our lives in the initial exchange. Before the leader had finished his battlecry, I had already thrown my pickaxe directly at him. He dodged, of course, but his compatriot behind him didn’t see it coming, and it got lodged in the base of his throat. This delayed the others, who were now blocked by the flailing of their wounded comrade.

That didn’t stop the creature closest to us from quickly closing the gap, hissing and swinging both swords. I stepped closer to the edge and brought my axe up to guard against one of its’ strikes, stopping it cleanly but leaving myself vulnerable to the other blade. Just as I was about to be run through, Ann stepped into the room that I had given her and held back that strike as well. But the attacks weren’t done.

Thwarted, the beast bit down at my throat but I had been ready, and I shifted at the last second, taking the bite attack on the left side of my chest. My vision was nearly whited out with the pain of its’ teeth sinking in, but I had been ready for it. I held my focus and reached up to grab its’ neck with my left hand, making sure it couldn’t pull away. Airway cut off, the Neidyr’s eyes widened with surprise and involuntarily released me in an effort to get away. I brought my axe to bear before it had the chance, capitalizing on its’ surprise to swiftly decapitate it. Though victorious, I sorely missed my shield, which would have made victory much less painful.

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The others had pushed their wounded fellow over the ledge and out of the way in their haste to come after us, callously letting him burn for the chance to slaughter us faster. There were only three of them left but that was enough to massacre us without a sneak attack, so we had already bolted back into the tunnel after we killed our initial pursuer. My chest was screaming in pain, and I had lost a lot of blood, so I shoveled four berries into my mouth as we ran.

Just as I started to feel the pain recede, my flesh knitting back together at rapid speed, I had a terrible intuition. I spared a backwards glance at our pursuers and saw that they had all opened their mouths, aiming at us from the tunnel’s exit.

“DOWN!” I yelled, hitting Ann with a leaping tackle just before a river of fire appeared right where we used to be. Liquid flame flowed directly over us, tributaries of orange licking at our backs, and I desperately held my breath as I fought the urge to scream. The heat absolutely blistered my back, the medicine I had taken earlier fighting a slowly losing battle to keep me from dying as I roasted.

Weathering that inferno couldn’t have taken more than a few seconds. Those seconds, however, stretched into a subjective eternity as I desperately tried to make sure that Ann, who was more vulnerable, was spared most of the damage. When the attack finally lifted, Ann immediately shoved three more berries into my mouth and got back on her feet.

We both took off running again but at this point my world had narrowed from the pain of my injuries; each step was agony. My back was still on fire as I dashed down the hallway, and I could feel the berries in my stomach working overtime to keep me alive.

I pushed through it, and I eventually the pain started to recede as the treatment started to win the battle. I chanced a look back and saw the Neidyr keeping pace, hissing and snapping their jaws, and redoubled my pace. Ann was, obviously, much faster than I was. But she wasn’t going to leave me to my own devices, and she often stopped and looked back at me, urging me onwards.

I looked back again and saw that the distance between us hadn’t changed significantly despite the fact that I had increased my pace. I looked into the eyes of the lead warrior and caught a glimpse of what looked like mirth.

The Neidyr were toying with their prey.

The moment I thought that they stopped and opened up their mouths again. This time we were more prepared for the breath attack and threw ourselves to the floor as the heat passed over us. I couldn’t get to Ann in time, though, so both of us got some nasty burns. It wasn’t quite as bad as last time, so I only allowed myself one berry to heal but I saw Ann chomping down on two of her own.

After another long and painful running session, punctuated by a third fire attack, I became convinced that we were going to die here. We were out of berries now, having eaten the last of them after the third attack, and I still hadn’t properly healed after the second fire blast. If we got too burned, our pace would slow, and our tormentors would finish us off. They were faster than us, than me, really, so we couldn’t escape. I desperately wished I could tell Ann to leave me behind, but I knew she never would. “Abandoning a friend” wasn’t a concept she believed in. A fact that would probably get her killed.

After more running, we eventually reached the cave where we had originally come from and, wordlessly, turned and ran down the only tunnel we hadn’t explored yet. A dead end would be a death sentence, so this was our only option.

“Someone, anyone, if you’re out there listening, we could use some serious help right now!” I prayed silently as I raced into uncharted territory, the pounding of my pursuer’s feet and their mocking calls my only immediate answer.

Stephen

“What now?” I muttered, looking at Al in frustration for having stopped us again.

“Hey, don’t stab the messenger, fearless leader. I’m just your friendly neighborhood scout.” He muttered right back, frowning slightly. “It sounds like footsteps.”

I strained to listen as well and thought I heard the distant drumbeat of what might have been footsteps.

“They sound strange, though.” He said, before I could get too excited. “There are too many to be just Isaiah and Ann, and some don’t sound like normal human footsteps. They all sound like they are running, as well.”

Thinking quickly, I replied, “It’s probably the others, and it sounds like they’re in danger. Let’s retreat to the Falwyr cave. And turn off the light.”

Without complaint, he obeyed, and we crept back to where we came from. The Falwyr seemed a little agitated to see us again, but they left us unbothered as we took up positions on either side of the tunnel’s exit.

We sat there patiently as the footsteps grew louder and, eventually, the light of a lantern started to bleed into the dull glow given off by the Falwyr. Julia and I readied our weapons and Al stepped back a bit while we prepared for contact.

Ann and Isaiah barreled into the chamber with reckless abandon and simultaneously threw themselves on the floor.

“Were they ready for our backup?” Were my last and confused thoughts before the world exploded.