Running blindly from a threat was neither my brightest nor my bravest moment.

All I knew was that the creature, or creatures, as it turned out, were closing in. Sharp claws scraped against the stone as they came after me, tongues lulling like a pair of grotesque dogs.

“This was a bad idea,” I told the Jumping spider, who was now bounding in front of me at skittering leaps.

Razor hound level 9

Razor hound level 10

The creatures were roughly the size of bears and their black sinewy bodies were corded with rippling muscle. White bones encased their hides like armor, and their heads were masked behind gleaming white skulls.

I tore through the tunnel back towards the small cavern lit with crystal light. From several feet in front of me, my little spider companion gave a squeak of alarm. Without thinking I let instinct take over. I twisted, bringing up the palm of my right hand and aiming at the Hound’s masked face. It accelerated speed, leaping for me. Sharp white bone fangs protruded from paws the size of dinner plates.

My sand spike released with a hiss of magic. It tore through the air, catching the lead hound in the shoulder. There hadn’t been enough time to form the spike into a super-hardened weapon so the damage was minimal. The impact made the creature stumble and go down in a spray of rocky dust.

I pumped my fist in the air, but my triumph died when I saw the second hound vault the first’s struggling form and come at me with renewed vigor. Oh boy, that was not good.

I sprinted faster as the tunnel mouth came into view. I could see the green glow of the crystals beyond and knew that light was my salvation. Reaching down I snatched up the jumping spider, who made an indignant squeak, and tucked her under my arm like a football.

“Yeah, Yeah. You can complain later,” I huffed as she put up a useless struggle. She? What was I going to do next name the damn thing?

I tore out of the middle tunnel like a bat from hell, and, pausing briefly to asses my options I saw little choice. I knew nothing of the leftmost tunnel, other than that it seemed to slope down into darkness. That left the cave on the right. It seemed narrow, but right now it might be what we needed.

Swearing in my head I ran for the mouth of the tunnel and into its claustrophobic confines. The walls of the cave were slick and moist. The cold dampness soaked the front of my hoodie as I raised the jumping spider over my head and forced myself farther into the crevice. She had stopped struggling now and was watching me with large round eyes as I pushed myself farther into the cave. I could feel the press becoming tighter and with it, my nerves began to spike. On the one hand, I didn’t want to end up a corpse feast for the razor hounds from hell. On the other, the thought of becoming trapped in an underground cave deep beneath the surface made cold sweat prickle at my neck.

From the entrance of the cave, a shadow loomed outside. I saw the flash of a white skill and a gold-red eye peered in at me, hungry. Claws scratched and scrabbled at the stone as it tried to wedge itself in after me. It was too close for comfort.

“Shit,” I hissed as I forced myself deeper. The jumping spider began to struggle again and at some point, I lost my grip on her. I expected her to scamper away but instead, she crawled down the rock face and deeper into the cave, pausing to wait for me to follow.

Easier said than done. Rough stone pulled at the fabric of my clothes and by now the cold water had soaked through the front and sides of my hoodie. If I survived for much longer I’d have much more serious concerns – like dying of hypothermia.

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The Razor hound wedged itself in deeper, its jaws hanging open as its red tongue lulled. It was eerie seeing a creature so driven by its need to eat. I considered shooting another sand spike at the beast, but I was loathed to waste more mana. Especially without knowing just how long I’d have to survive down here.

Partway through pushing myself further backward and away from the bloodthirsty hound, I encountered a block. The tunnel had narrowed drastically and I would now have to hunch to continue forward. I grimaced as I slid further and further in. I could feel the cold wet rock face pressing me from all angles. My chest, my back, and even the top of my head were scraping along the stone.

The hound, unable to force itself deeper, growled and backed out of the crevice. After a moment, the shadow at the front of the tunnel disappeared. My shoulders sagged in relief. Truth be told, I wasn’t sure whether or not my spells would have had much of an effect. The bone armor may have been stronger than it had appeared at first glance.

A light had appeared at the other end of the tunnel. It was faint, but the relief I felt was enough to slow my cantering heart.

I slid my left hand forward, feeling along the wall until my fingers encountered empty air. Finally, there was an end to this. I grunted, shifting my body forward until my shoulder came free from the stone, then my torso. With the resistance suddenly gone, I fell sideways and ended up banging my head on a boulder.

“Ah,” I said, raising a hand to my head. That was when I saw it. I had been too focused on my own immediate concerns to pay much attention to my surroundings. The nearby source of light was a lantern, that contained a strange sort of yellow light.

It lay on its side on the stone, casting strange shadows on the walls. But it wasn’t the lantern that had drawn my eye, but its owner. He was a short man, with broad shoulders, heavyset eyes, and a large full beard. The beard itself was woven with what seemed to be beads made of stone. He might have looked like some sort of Viking if it wasn’t for his unusually short stature. He was propped against the side of the tunnel, and I might have assumed he was dead if it wasn’t for the slow ragged breathing.

“He’s here,” the gruff sound of the voice was jarring in the former silence. Shadows flitted across the cave as three figures emerged from the darkness. Dwarves, I realized as I examined them. And all of them were armored and armed.

From where I had just emerged the figures had their backs to me. Unless they turned and squinted into the shadows I’d be hard to miss.

The injured dwarf gave a pained laugh that turned into a cough.

“So,” he said, his voice resigned. “It’s come to this. Thorval must be desperate indeed if he sends the likes of you to kill me.”

The leader didn’t respond. Instead, he stepped forward and gestured to the other two.

“Hold him,” he said. “We need his finger as proof. The one with the signet ring.”

Well, this took a dark turn… had I just walked into the middle of a mugging? Beside me I felt the jumping spider brush up against my leg, her dark eyes wide and curious. I willed her not to make any noise as I saw the gleam of a sharpened axe in the lanternlight.

Not a mugging, I realized as my stomach sank. I was witnessing a murder.

The injured dwarf put up a struggle. He managed to headbutt one of his assailants leading to a string of curses in a language I didn’t recognize. This guy wasn’t going down without a fight.

“It will only be worse for you if you struggle,” growled the leader. “We were asked to kill you, but how quickly never came into question. Perhaps we should cut your tendons and leave you to crawl the caves in penance. Tell me Dane would that teach you the humility you’ve always lacked?”

The struggling ceased. Dane held a hand to the wound on his side, now oozing blood between his fingers, and stared up at his would-be killer.

“Tell me,” he rasped, licking his dried lips. “What did Thorval offer you in return for my murder? Did he promise you one of his daughters? Or the clan seat, perhaps?”

The leader’s face twitched and Dane grinned, teeth smeared with blood.

“And here I thought you were clever.”

“Hold him still,” growled the leader. “And if he speaks again, cut out his tongue.”

In New York, I’d learned to mind my business. A man gets dragged into an alleyway for an overdue beating? Not my problem. Witness a parked car get hit? Not my issue. But this… this felt different.

I was squatting here in the dark about to witness a murder in cold blood, and what was worse, it was 3 against one. Foul play if you asked me. I glanced down at the spider now tilting her head at me in curiosity. Then I sighed and stood.