Chapter 237

This was their third room on the second level of the dungeon, and just as there was in the first room on this level, this room held a set of stairs that led up to a sealed trap door in the ceiling.

The rest of the room was what drew the attention of the group however.

Four ticks, each the size of a large adult dog, were spread out in an arc between Jay's group and the stairs that would lead them to the next floor. The ticks had colored bands about their midsections, each of the four with one color. One had a red band, another blue, one white, and the final one had a sickly green colored band.

The two groups stood motionless for a moment as they stared at their opponents. It didn't last, and a heartbeat later the room devolved in to chaos.

The sickly green tick scuttled towards Norri at a jogging pace – not very fast. Norri watched as it approached and waited for it to move within attacking distance. Right as it came within range of her staff however it stopped and began to vomit up a strange green goop that quickly spread in to a pool around it.

The green banded tick didn't appear fazed at all by the presence of the goop, but Norri was immediately sick and threw up.

The tick attacked as she did so and Norri was forced to defend herself while still being sick. The green goop on the ground was rancid and everyone immediately moved away from the green pool on the floor that was now roughly three feet across.

The other ticks took that as their cue and they all attacked at once. The blue banded tick moved towards M'redith and she moved to meet it with her sword held high. She delivered a brutal blow to the back of the creature's carapace just as it breathed out a white mist that created a cloud in front of it which enveloped M'redith.

Her strike glanced off of the creatures carapace just as M'redith was suddenly frozen and unable to move as ice formed along her legs and arms. The blue banded tick approached closer and was reaching with its head towards M'redith's face. M'redith struggled but couldn't break free from the frozen ice.

Just as the monster was about to reach her M'redith suddenly disappeared and left a field of sparkles that hung in the air where she had just been. The tick stopped in confusion as a tinkling of ice breaking was heard just as the sparkles appeared. The tick swung its head to the side just as M'redith reappeared behind it.

M'redith's sword was held high, over her head, and she delivered a blisteringly fast overhead strike from behind the tick.

The carapace was split in half as M'redith cleaved the tick in two. It let out a high pitched shriek which momentarily stunned the other ticks. The blue banded tick collapsed to the ground in a mess of blood and viscera.

M'redith looked around for her next target just as Norri struck out with her staff and hit the green banded tick in its mouth-parts. Delicate pieces of the monster were crushed and shattered by the strike and the tick's shriek was ear piercing.

It began to scuttle back in forth in pain as Norri continued to strike at its mouth and head until it finally stopped moving and slumped to the floor.

The remaining two ticks rushed past M'redith and Norri while they were busy and attacked Jay, Aiden, and Carly.

The red banded tick moved towards Aiden before it suddenly pulled to the left and spat out a fiery red bolt that shot through the air towards a somewhat unprepared Carly.

Carly tried to dodge but the bolt caught her in the shoulder, which would have been fine if all it had done was strike her armor, but that wasn't what happened. Instead, when the bolt struck her shoulder it exploded like a fireball and injured not just Carly, but Aiden and Jay as well. They had all been gathered somewhat close together.

Carly was thrown to the ground and hit her head on the ground with a sick sounding thunk. The skin along one side of Aiden's face was burnt off. Jay was momentarily blinded from the flames as his face was scalded.

That didn't leave a lot of options for the group combat-wise. Jay didn't have any combat abilities and couldn't currently see much, if at all. Aiden had a hybrid combat ability but was in too much pain to use it at the moment. Carly was addled and stunned from the blast and was just shaking it off when she saw the white banded tick scuttle towards Jay.

Carly didn't think but immediately cast her Class Ability – Starburst.

Starburst – rare - a six inch across star descends and strikes a target. The star then bursts in to 100 smaller stars that then attack the same target, burrowing in to it before they themselves detonate.

As far as combat abilities went, it was incredibly powerful, and would most likely be Carly's ticket in to a good group once she graduated. At the moment however she was just trying to keep her group alive.

A six inch star suddenly formed above them and began to fall almost gently. It came to rest on the back of the white banded tick just as the tick's mouth-parts twitched obscenely.

A sudden fork of lightning formed and struck out from it's mouth and towards Jay, who couldn't see it at all. He could however feel it and was suddenly electrocuted for a short time.

Jay's muscles clenched tightly as the electricity coursed through his body. It was gone almost as fast as it appeared but it was more than enough to throw Jay to the floor in a heap.

The white banded tick prepared to follow up with a bite to the face when Carly's star, which had by now nestled itself in to the tick's back as it ate away at its carapace. A sudden muffled whomp was heard and a plethora of tiny stars burst from its back only to then burrow back in and explode themselves.

The creature screamed and everyone grimaced from the high pitched sound. The white banded tick was a mess, its back was riddled with wounds from the exploding stars. It used one leg to pull itself forward towards Jay with what little strength it had left.

A second shot of electricity shot out and hit Jay's slumped form on the floor once again and his body tensed up from the shock before it wore off and he sagged in relief once again.

Norri hopped forwards in a burst of speed and attacked the white banded tick's wounds on its back. The tick shrieked and spun about as it quickly forgot all about trying to kill Jay. Norri continued to hammer at it with blows from her staff as it tried to escape the barrage.

Turning about only served to bring its head and mouth-parts within striking distance of Norri's staff and it was only a short time later when the white banded tick fell to the floor in a mess of blood.

The red banded tick had just opened its mouth and spat out another bolt of fire which raced towards Carly once again. This time Carly was ready and easily dodged the projectile, which struck the wall behind them in an explosion of fire that threw Carly away from the wall and on to the floor.

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M'redith was by then close enough to engage the red banded tick and began to hack away at it. Instead of going for the thickly protected back she cut off the legs, one at a time. Then she flipped it on its back, whirled her sword around and held it in a reverse grip, and then plunged the blade with both hands in to the tick's underbelly.

The tick popped in a shower of blood and stopped moving.

Everyone was exhausted, some were injured, some weren't even moving. There would be no rest however as the door to the adjoining room burst in to flames and the wall around it caught fire. The raging inferno had been held off for a time, but was now free once again to pursue them.

The temperature in the room rose sharply as smoke began to pour in all around them.

“Help me with Jay!” M'redith said as Carly forced herself up off the ground and stumbled over to help M'redith lift Jay up. The two carried him up the steps before M'redith realized they might be in trouble.

Jay couldn't see and wasn't currently conscious. Someone else would have to check for traps.

“Norri! Check for traps, quick!” M'redith ordered as she and Carly held Jay up between the two of them.

Norri looked very worried but didn't argue and climbed up to the trap door.

They had all been through the Guild traps course in basic training – it was a requirement for graduation. Still, taking a class and being good at something were two completely different things. Norri was intimately aware of just how different those two things could be as she carefully began to inspect the door, its frame, and the surrounding area for anything that shouldn't be there.

The fire continued to rage as she searched for traps and the others were coughing constantly by the time she finished.

She was about to say everything was clear when she saw it. A thin line pulled across the top stair. Norri touched it gently with one finger. It didn't feel taught and was a little loose even. Norri tried to remember what Jay always said about lines under tension vs. lines not under tension.

“I can't remember what to do with a line not under tension! Do I cut it? I can't think!” Norri said. She was injured still from the earlier fire blasts and wasn't thinking clearly.

The fire wasn't cooperating either and had by that time almost fully engulfed the far side of the room. They weren't just running out of time – they were out of it completely.

“What? If its not under tension you just cut it!” M'redith shouted up to her over the sound of the roaring flames. Thick black smoke began to fill the upper half of the room.

Norri coughed as she went to cut the line and paused. “Are you sure?”

M'redith opened her mouth but did not speak. Was she sure? She was pretty sure. M'redith wasn't especially great at disarming traps either but they should all know how to handle a line not under tension – if they could remember their lessons.

“Cut it! Cut the damned thing and get us out of here!” M'redith finally shouted over the sound of flames and coughing.

Norri didn't hesitate but cut the line.

Nothing happened.

“Move! Open the door! Hurry!” M'redith insisted and Norri quickly returned to the task at hand. The trap door opened easily and oxygen rushed in to the room. The flames in the room burst in to brilliance as the sudden influx of fuel fed the flames until they covered the room.

The group ran up the stairs as fast as they could until they were all on the third level. Aiden was the last one through and he shut the door and immediately the group could breath easier as the smoke and flames were sealed away below them.

M'redith and Carly lay Jay gently on to the floor. The room was just as all the others had been – one third of a circle. This one had only one door leading to the adjoining room.

“We don't have much time – Aiden, start healing people up the best you can – start with yourself though, ok?” M'redith said as she turned to Aiden and then visibly startled at his appearance. One half of his face had been burnt badly and Aiden was in immense pain.

Aiden went to work healing himself and shortly after one half of his face had been covered in bandages from his Class Ability, Patchwork.

Aiden then looked up and held out one of his hands as he cast his other Class Ability – Physician's Blast. He aimed the best he could and cast it a few more times until the entire group had been hit with a glassy green bolt. The bolts turned in to a green gel when it struck a person, and the gel melted in to any wounds present and healed them.

A few minutes later everyone was healed except for Jay. Aiden had hit him with a few bolts and they had worked but it hadn't been enough to bring Jay back to consciousness. Aiden rolled Jay on to his side and arranged his limbs in to what his instructors had referred to as the recovery position.

Then Aiden began to cast Patchwork on Jay's head as well as his chest.

“What are you doing?” M'redith asked as she watched Aiden's ministrations carefully.

Aiden didn't look up but continued to work on Jay as he spoke. “Jay got hit with the fire blast – he's got some major burns to his face. The electrocution didn't help him either. I'm healing him the best I can. I need to level up if we're going to be fighting things like this – I need better abilities,” he said almost as a curse under his breath as he worked.

Everyone was keenly aware that there was a fire following them. They couldn't hear it or feel it or see it but they all knew it was below them. It was working its way up and would reach them soon. They had to get moving.

Aiden cast one last patchwork that covered one of Jay's burnt eyes and then leaned back. Jay stirred a bit and groaned painfully. He raised one arm slowly to his face and touched the patchwork stuck there. He let his arm drop back to the ground and just breathed in and out for a moment.

“I'd like to give you more time to recover but we don't have any more time. Come on, up and at 'em – you have to get up and we have to get moving,” Aiden said to Jay insistently as he tugged him in to a seated position.

The group looked like a mess and they were covered in blood, some of which was their own but most of which was not, guts, and soot from the flames. It would have been the perfect time for an aura cleaning if Jay were awake enough to do so.

“What happened?” Jay asked as he gradually regained consciousness.

“You got your ass kicked,” Aiden said with a crooked grin and the others chuckled with the exception of M'redith who just looked worried.

“Urg – I feel like I got beat up. I remember an explosion?” Jay mumbled.

“You got hit by lighting after that,” Norri offered helpfully as they all enjoyed the momentary pause in their dungeon run.

Jay looked surprised, “Lightning? I don't remember that.”

“Probably because you got hit by lightning.” Norri pointed out with a tiny smile and it was Aiden's turn to laugh. “It'll do that to ya.”

Jay reached out and held M'redith's hand after he'd looked up and saw her facial expression.

“Hey! I'm ok, really!” he said in as strong a tone of voice as he could muster, and M'redith finally stopped frowning and nodded.

“You scared the hell out of me,” M'redith said with a shake of her head.

“Yea – I'm sorry about that. I'll try not to do it again,” Jay said as he turned and winced at a sudden pain. While he had been healed the injuries weren't entirely gone just yet – that would take a little time – not a lot, but some.

M'redith finally smiled and shook her head at him. “You're a fool Jay. Stop getting hit by things!”

The others laughed just as a crackling could be heard from the trap door. The fire was eating away at it. They had little time left.

“Come on,” M'redith said as she pulled Jay to his feet. “Time to move – everyone take a drink and then we're moving.”

Everyone obediently took out their canteens or water flasks and had a quick water break. Then they returned them to their packs and lined up behind M'redith who had waved Jay forwards.

“You're up. Norri had to check for traps while you napped – we're glad to have you back,” M'redith said as Jay headed to the door and began to check for traps.

“Napped?” Jay said with a teasing smile as he checked the door for trigger lines. “I was shocked in to unconsciousness. Hardly a nap.”

“Well, I had to do your job and I hated it. Please stay awake for the remainder of the dungeon,” Norri said in a professional no nonsense tone of voice which made everyone else laugh.

“Looks clear to me,” Jay said with a smile as he returned to his place in line.

“Ok, here we go,” M'redith said as she opened the door and led her group through to the next room.