Grimacing, Evelyn analysed the invaders as they repelled the tide of undead. It wasn’t enough. The rabbit skeleton had worked perfectly to set up the fight, but they just didn’t have the numbers needed to wear down such high levelled individuals. The slingers had done some damage, but had been neutralised by the giant, any inefficiency of using flame to slay the skeletons being more than made up for by the zombies. Speaking of which, those with the enhanced leg musculature taken from one of the beastkin seemed particularly effective. Ivy insisted on dubbing them “leapers” which seemed apt, if a little reductive.
A bellow of pain seized her gaze, a circular blade Ivy called a chakram embedded in the dwarf’s chest between dented and missing plates of the brigandine. The skeleton who made the throw was quickly dispatched as the dwarves either side attempted to support him. While most of the creatures had spears, a few other weapons had been created before Div’s warning. As the captain’s polearm shattered a cleaver wielding skeleton before it could get into effective range, she had to admit they were generally much less effective. A pair of rat skeletons distracted the dwarves for a moment, she saw a disarmed skeleton grab the chakram and drag it free before slicing towards another dwarf. The target took the blow on his vambrace before kicking the skeleton to pieces, however the wound the chakram was torn from was spurting weakly as the first dwarf swayed, struggling to stay on his feet. Finally, they’d taken one down, but the horde of undead had mostly shattered.
They had one last trick. A weapon. Ivy's breathing paused beside her as a four-legged skeleton (based on the spider beastkin) twisted the cap sealing a gem of crystalised air within. Ivy had put a lot of thought into its design, only some of which Evelyn understood as she expounded on pressures, screw threads and tolerances. What was clear to Evelyn, despite its tiny projectile, Ivy believed this air rifle would be a great equaliser if it worked. Unfortunately, they hadn’t had a chance to test it.
The skeleton lined up the tube, concealed by the darkness. Evelyn could barely perceive the swirling striations inside the barrel that Ivy deemed so vital. The finger wrapped around the trigger, squeezed, and a terrifying crack cut through the din. Gouts of air swirled visibly in front, the weapon and arm holding it flung backwards, crashing to the ground; the projectile just a blur. A clang and groaning shifted her focus to the dwarves even as she wrapped an arm around Ivy who was beginning to panic and apologise about the skeleton. If it had taken out a dwarf it would be well worth it.
The dwarf fell upon his rear but his grumbling and furious fidgeting with his helmet as he attempted to squirm out of it precluded any hope of his timely demise. A tiny hole at the centre of a new dent in his shield proved that the projectile could indeed pierce armour but the combination of shield and helmet had proved too much. With a drawn-out groan the dwarf twisted the dented helmet free, revealing a bloody patch of hair about half the size of a fist. As he tenderly explored the wound with his fingers Evelyn was pleased to realise it was slightly concave.
“… I’m really sorry. If we’d had more time to test I could’ve –“
“Peace Ivy. Your weapon worked.”
“But he’s still up, it’s just a bruise and the skeleton lost an arm!”
As if she could hear them, the giant took that moment to hurl an orb of black flames into the darkness, consuming the skeleton and burning deep into the stone below.
“We were unfortunate the skeleton targeted the only one with a shield, but I believe it still managed to crack the skull.”
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“Really? I guess that’s something then, and he lost his helmet at least but we didn’t manage to kill any.”
“The one with the chest wound isn’t going much farther, but more importantly, notice how they are all breathing heavily? They are getting tired, starting to sustain injuries. Even the giant looks a little paler following all that fire with a burst of destruction.”
“But now they’ll just rest up as they navigate the maze.” Ivy pouted.
“That’s more draining than you give credit, maintaining vigil for threats in the dark is not a restful experience. Besides,” Evelyn let a feral grin slip as she felt the dungeon reset, “they’ve lost track of time.”
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Tommy staggered as the bone beneath his foot disappeared. A frantic glance confirmed that all the bodies had, apart from a single skeleton that was upright once more.
“I got it!” one of his companions shouted, completely missing the point.
His weariness was shattered by the jolt of panic as he frantically searched for the damn rabbit. Seeing it raising its foot in the alley once more, he did the only thing he could and hucked his dagger at it. Desperate though it was, the impact shattered the rabbit, cutting its thump short as it began. There was a moment of stillness as the sound faded, the skill (for that’s what it must have been) had let it reach them before it faded, but how much further?
“We need to move.” The captain stated, already hustling towards an alley.
“We can’t just leave…”
“Go on, I’ll distract them here as long as I can.” The [explorer] said, the wound in his chest seeping blood and his face pale even in the light of the flames.
“Where to?”
“Somewhere that’s not here.” Tommy replied flatly, realising with frustration that the dungeon had absorbed the thrown dagger.
What followed was a dash through a dark maze of buildings, smashing aside any undead that crossed their path, only to accelerate once more as they tried to escape the noise of those confrontations. Noise from the direction of the dwarf they left behind confirmed for him that moving was wise. He was also vaguely aware of one of the dwarves struggling to keep up behind them, he wouldn’t care but the fool was clattering and clanging so much he wondered why they were bothering to run in the first place. As the one carrying the torch, when they entered more open spaces he became a prime target for opportunistic slingers concealed in windows and on roofs. He mostly dodged, but he’d have a few new lumps in the morning. In his peripheral vision he spied a glass ball fly from a window and leapt aside, just in time for it to shoot through the space where he was standing and shatter on the ground. Even through the acrid smoke he smelt the oily fumes from the splattered liquid within and couldn’t help an involuntary glance towards the torch in his hand. A blast of flame from Ingrid likely dealt with the threat but the group kept moving rather than confirm.
It seemed there were undead spread throughout, all waiting to collapse on them wherever a rabbit signalled. They found another of the blighters and vented their frustrations before it had a chance to act. To his surprise, the goat skeletons (or ibex as one of the dwarves called them) proved to be a hassle, somehow clambering on top of buildings or miniscule ledges only to jump down from above. It slowed them down, made noise, and gave them one more place to look. Of course, that was also what saved him when it was suddenly a beastkin zombie leaping from above, spearpoint first. He’d have another scar for his collection but once its sneak attack failed the group mobbed it quickly enough.
They were increasingly tired and lost, charging from place to place, discovering buildings fully ablaze to small fires piled up in alleyways with no clear goal in sight, even stumbling across remains from previous fights. As Ingrid stepped over a corpse left lying in the street it suddenly lunged, biting at her thigh. A blast of black flame annihilated it with terrifying speed. Still, each set of remains from then on raised Tommy’s hackles. As the next pyre came into view, he saw a small pile of corpses beside it and prepared himself, only to realise they were back where they left the dwarf. The pile showed he’d managed to take a few with him, but his own brutalised corpse had long been absorbed by the dungeon just like Tommy’s dagger. Tommy knew which he considered the greater loss.