Dave had been relegated to torch-holder duty, which freed Tom up to help Mark and Adam with defence. especially since Adam, although he hid it well, was still grimacing with each step.

They had not encountered anything in the last 30 minutes as they walked along the tunnel. The near-constant tension, as they strained their eyes and ears for any sign of more enemies, had led to a few incidents.

Mostly because a certain someone didn’t want to hold the torch.

“All I’m saying is that we should share it; that means that no one would have to carry…” started Dave as he attempted to pass off the torch again.

“We already said no, for the fourth time. We’ve barely even started walking. Just hold it up and stop complaining,” Adam replied tersely, as their back-and-forth continued.

Being hurt probably isn’t helping either of them control their emotions, and the loud noises aren’t a smart idea either, Tom thought as he watched the latest version of their verbal back and forth.

Their bickering had been going on for a while, and Mark and Tom had remained, for the most part, silent observers.

After the latest exchange, Mark, who had been leading them down the tunnel, stopped and turned to face the others.

“Stop, too loud”, he stated, looking between Dave and Adam before pointing back down the tunnel. “Smell is getting worse.”

Tom sniffed the air; the musty scent of the tunnel still hung heavily around him. A mix of earthiness with a mineral sharpness thick with moisture, like wet stone, created a cool feeling as he breathed in. The lingering hint of sulphur from the torch created a sharp edge to the air that stuck to the back of his throat.

Yet underneath all of that, there was something else. It smelt sweet but also not, like a hint of something sour was hiding in the mix of smells. Mark, with his enhanced senses, could pick out the underlying smell much better than the others.

“I can smell something,” said Tom. I'm not sure what it is, though. It smells sweet, like too sweet, almost like fruit that’s been left out for too long. “

“Smells like my dirty clothes basket back home,” said Dave.

Adam looked at him with a wrinkled nose and a raised lip. “How long do you leave your laundry for it to smell that bad?” He asked with an incredulous voice.

“What? I wash it like everyone else,” Dave responded defensively.

“Not what I asked. You know what, I don’t want to know anymore.” Adam said, putting his hands up to signal that he didn’t want to continue the conversation.

“Mark, what kind of smell is it?” Tom asked quickly, hoping to deter Dave from continuing to try to explain his laundry habits.

Mark sniffed gingerly, and Tom wondered just how strong his other senses were. He knew his eyesight could see in the dark or at least provide better vision in low-light areas, but what about his hearing and smell? Just how much would he be able to tell them about what he could smell?

“smells like…” Mark paused for a moment, looking up at the roof of the tunnel. “Rotting meat” he decided, “It smells like rotting meat, really bad rotting meat.”

The others screwed up their noses at his pronouncement, but there wasn’t much they could do about it. The only other way was back the way they came, which would take almost an hour, and then they would need to explore the other tunnel.

For all we know, the tunnels might be connected, and it’s just one giant circle.

“We keep going.” He spoke. The others nodded. Except Dave, who scowled before hiking his shirt up and over his mouth and nose to form a makeshift facemask.

The smell became noticeable after another 5 minutes of walking. 5 minutes after that, Tom was considering adopting Dave’s approach to the situation; another minute later, he had. As he inhaled, the stench hit him, thick and vile, catching in his throat and flooding his senses. It was overpowering, seeping into his eyes, skin and clothes. He wasn’t sure how Mark was able to deal with it because the man was striding forward like nothing was wrong. He didn’t even show a hint of discomfort.

Adam and Dave were suffering alongside Tom. The only difference was that Tom and Adam were doing so in silence, whilst Dave was freely acknowledging the situation. At least he was doing so quietly, reduced to mumbling under his breath after Mark had given him a withering glare and a pointed reminder that Mark was still holding and willing to use his axe.

They had just rounded another bend in the tunnel when Mark suddenly stopped. Tom moved to the side and looked past.

It was another cave, similar in size to the first one they had come across, with another tunnel of the same size as the one they had just waked through on the opposite side. A pedestal stood in the centre between the two tunnels. It was several meters tall and was covered with swirling curls and lines that snaked their way around the entire thing, with spikes jutting out from the four corners. Tom couldn’t make out any more details but Evaluate showed that it was made of the same type of rock as the rest of the walls and floor.

The stench was overwhelming now. It was like the four had stepped into a supermarket trash skip after 2 weeks in summer. The only problem was Tom couldn’t see what was causing the smell. The floor of the cave was barren and empty, just like the other cave and all the tunnels the four had walked through so far.

Adam started to walk forward into the cave; Tom went to follow him until he realised that Mark was still standing still, his eyes darting around and his mouth slightly open.

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“What is it?” Tom asked. Adam and Dave turned to the others at the question, their eyes on Mark as he stood silently, his eyes now locked on the tunnel ahead. Tom could see the man was trembling, his arms and legs twitching while his head stayed still, which didn’t bode well. Anything that could terrify their best fighter to this extent would be bad news.

“Something is down there, something strong”, he whispered, as if he didn’t want the sound of his voice to travel across the cave. He seemed frozen in that moment. It was almost like his body wanted to flee while his mind stayed still like it was paralysed.

Tom turned and stared into the darkness ahead of them. He couldn’t see anything, but Mark was the only one who had Sense, so it made sense that no one else could see as well as he could.

I wonder what it is? Whatever it is, it’s probably much stronger than us if Mark is anything to go by. If this dungeon follows video game logic, we might be approaching a boss or a mini-boss of sorts. Which is weird because we’ve barely fought anything so far. So, what to do now? Go back and try the other tunnel? We should probably at least check out the pedestal, but would that trigger whatever is in the tunnel? What if the room is the trigger? We could test that, actually; there’s nothing behind us. Okay, let’s go with that.

Tom turned to look at Adam and Dave so he could share his thoughts and concerns about the cave and the potential enemies they might face. However, it seemed that not all of them shared Tom’s concern for the situation.

“Well, look at that, the big oaf is scared and needs mummy. He’s actually shaking in his boots,” laughed Dave, who clearly wasn’t taking the situation seriously, or maybe he’d just lost his mind. Tom stood there dumbstruck. He’d already known that the man was a bit unhinged; his outbursts and behaviour had made that clear. But Tom never thought that he might do something this outright dumb.

“Seriously, you have to be kidding me,” Dave’s berating continued. “It’s an empty fucking room. What? Are you scared of a spiky block all of a sudden? Ooooooh, scary, I might scratch myself on the side.”

At this point, Tom decided to step in. Adam was standing off to the side, watching with one hand over his mouth. Tom got the distinct feeling that he was enjoying watching this spectacle. Meanwhile, Mark had recovered somewhat from his previous state and was now staring at Dave with narrowed eyes. His face was uncovered, but somehow, he was able to put up with the smell.

At least he’s somewhat back to normal. I just hope he doesn’t kill Dave, although it would make it quieter around here. And we wouldn’t have to deal with his whining. But I reckon old mate might not be pleased with one of his newly resurrected things being killed again.

“Hey, can we not start this right now?” Tom began. “We’re in the middle of a dungeon, surrounded by things trying to kill us. Let’s not start throwing shit at each other and trying to piss each other off.” He tried to calm things down using a soft voice, something he hoped Dave would listen to. He was wrong.

“Too late for that dickhead. You’ve been pissing me off since we got here. You think you're so smart, but you can’t even hold a fucking shield, right. You are weak! Everything you’ve done since the start has just been relying on someone else to do it for you. Your useless; every fight, you’re hiding behind shit for brains over there.” Dave raged, pointing at Mark. His muffled voice was fiery.

Tom winced. Dave really wasn’t holding back. The painful thing was he wasn’t wrong.

In each of the fights so far, Tom had always been behind someone or something. In the first fight, he’d only been in it because the skeleton had charged at him, and he had to be saved by the three others. He’d only survived because he had insisted that he take the shield, even though he could barely wield it.

In the 2nd fight, he’d basically used Adam and Dave as a shield and a distraction so that he could try and sneak up on it; even then, he’d failed at his sneak kill and only managed to kill it due to dumb luck and fire.

In the last fights, he had relied on Mark to take the initial hit, deflect the skeleton’s swords, and flip it off balance; then and only then had Tom actually stuck his neck out to try to fight.

It had been the same years ago when he was a teenager. Hiding behind friends at school to stand up to bullies, folding to his parents and sisters at every turn because he didn’t want to fight them or rather, he hadn’t had the courage to stand up to them. He would rather fold and give in. It was only when someone else was willing to stand up that he was willing to stand behind them.

Dave was right. He was a coward.

Tom had thought he was doing well to adapt and take advantage of the chance this represented. He’d thought he could use this as a way to improve himself. Yet here he was, already back in his old habits.

“So, if you're too scared to do anything on your own, and he’s too scared to walk into an empty room because of the big scary spiky pole, then I’ll do it for him,” Dave yelled over his shoulder as he turned and started stomping his way into the cave.

Tom moved to stop him, but Dave was too quick. Before he could get close to him, Dave had crossed the threshold and stepped into the cave.

Nothing happened. Tom stared at the cave, waiting. Yet Dave kept walking right up to the pedestal until he slapped his hand straight onto the flat surface. Keeping his hand on the surface, he turned until he faced others and gave them the one-finger salute.

“What do you think of this, huh? Look at the big scary rock. Look at me touching it. You cowards going to come and join me?” He taunted.

Adam looked at Mark and Tom; he still had his mouth covered by his hand, as if he was thinking or was shocked by what was happening. But Tom could see the crinkle around his eyes and the slight dimples in his cheeks despite the hand trying to hide them.

“Well? Shall we join him now since nothing bad has happened?” Adam’s tone was mocking. He was enjoying every second of watching them squirm. Tom felt his jaw clench as he glanced at Adam, whose barely contained smirk did nothing to hide his satisfaction. It was as if Adam knew exactly how uncomfortable this made Tom, and he was revelling in it. Tom shifted uncomfortably but forced himself to stay put, refusing to let Adam get under his skin.

He heard Mark move up next to him. He moved with small, rapid steps, his hands clutching and unclutching his axe and shield constantly. He looked at Tom and nodded a few times. Tom nodded back.

Together, the 3 of them stepped forward into the cave. Tom was waiting for something to happen, for the other shoe to drop.

And it did. Several things did. All at once.

A shimmering purple and pink veil slid into place behind them as they stepped out of the tunnel, but they didn’t have time to look at it. At the same time, an enormous roar resounded through the cave. Around the circumference of the cave several dirt mounds suddenly appeared, slamming up through the rock floor, creating giant fractures in the floor that spread over the outside 10 meters of the cave. The entire cave quaked from the simultaneous impacts.

Tom looked at one of the mounds that had busted through the rock. As he watched, a human hand broke through the top of the mound, followed by a second. He looked at the other mounds to find that the same thing was reoccurring at each mound.

Dave was still standing in the middle of the cave, touching the pedestal. His shirt had fallen from his face, revealing a look of abject terror spread across his features. Recovering his wits, Dave started to spring back to the group, the torch and spear still in hand.

Just then, Tom began to feel the ground shake. A rhythmic stomping that grew louder with each beat reverberated through the cave.

Mark, still standing beside Tom, hadn’t moved at all. His eyes never even left the gaping maw that was in the tunnel opposite them.

With a quivering voice, he announced to the group, “It’s here. It’s here.”

Tom looked over to the source of the stomping, the same thing that Mark had seen and been terrified of.

“Oh, you have got to be shitting me!”