“So you’ve…” It looked around “You’ve finally… Wait… Miri? Miri’kenian, you are here, aren’t you? I sensed magic just a moment ago. COME AND LET US FACE EACH OTHER ONCE AGAIN IN GLORIOUS COMBAT. THEN FREE ME AS YOU PROMISED!”
‘Yup… Definitely just going to hide here… Why is this place so bloody insane!’
He let out a soft hum and then stood up, swishing his robe back and plucking me from his side. “There you are little dragon born. You thought you could— Wait… No scales, no tail. No divine power? No, you couldn’t be Miri.”
I winced in pain as he held me up in the air. ‘What now? If I try I can probably open a path into the abyss.’ I started focusing my power, but before I could do anything I suddenly felt my feet touch the ground again, slowly starting to bear my weight as he let go.
“Sorry about that little one, I didn’t hurt you did I?”
I just stared back at him blankly. “What…”
“Well, you just looked like you were in pain.”
“I… Uhm, think I broke a few ribs… Fighting a demon…” I slowly pointed back the way I had come from. “Over there…”
The giant skeleton casually leaned forward. “You don’t say. So then you’re the tiny person? You aren’t with a giant strange-looking lizard folk girl that calls herself a Dragonborn for some reason, are you?”
“Uhm… No, I’m alone. W-well I came with two other humans and an Oni, so—”
“OOOH, an Oni you say? What’s that? Is it a new subspecies of trolls? Or maybe orc.”
“O-ogre I think…”
He leaned back, giving me space as he let out a sigh. “Apologies again, I’m probably startling you. Sometimes I forget that I’m a giant skeleton… Ogre you say, yes, that would make sense. I imagine they look relatively human though.” He murmured. “You said you have broken ribs… Oh my, and your armor is in quite a state. Young girls like you shouldn’t go around dressed like that. Ah, here. He reached around his belt and pulled out a small sack from behind, dropping it with a massive thud as it slammed into the ground in front of me. “You can take anything you want from this. There are lots of goodies inside, trophies from some of the idiots I’ve killed over the years..”
I cautiously opened it up and sure enough it was all good… But it was all armor designed for people 3 to 4 times my size… “I don’t think any of this will fit me…”
He grimaced taking it back. “Here I am, completely immortal and insurmountably strong, and yet I can’t even help a lost little girl… Pity… Well, I suppose looks can be deceiving. I should get this out of the way now. I mean, you did say you killed a demon.”
For a moment it froze completely still, then the pressure in the very air changed around us, like gravity had suddenly tripled. “Have you come here to challenge me little one…” He said strongly, nearly leveling me and making me take a knee in pain from my injuries.
“I’d… Really… rather not…” I muttered.
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I didn’t understand how he could understand me from so far away, but I was glad that he could. In an instant the pressure released and everything was fine again. “That is a shame… Well then, I have a favor to ask.” He took the book out of the satchel and set it in front of me. “This is what you were after, so take this, and head to the left wall behind the throne for a passageway up. When you get out of here, if you find that girl I mentioned, the self-proclaimed dragonborn paladin, daughter of the lightning god, remind her of the promise she made to me. I am known as the dark eater, the great skeleton lord, and the grandfather of gravity. My name is Aelfamer!” His eyes glowed a bright red and once again I winced in pain as the pressure changed in the whole room. “S-sorry, I got a bit carried away…”
‘What’s with this guy?’ I looked at the book and as I touched it the whole thing shrank down in my hands. “The magic ramblings of an old fool.” It read. ‘It’s in my language?’ I placed my hand on it, and as if it reacted to my manna starting to glow, “I have so many questions…”
He chuckled in a deep bellowing voice. “I would love to answer them if you can best me in a challenge…”
‘Maybe… Never…’ “Maybe some other time… Although if I’m being honest I’d really rather not come back here… Zombies are gross, and so are those corpse-eater things… And I really haven’t had a great time.”
He sighed again, assuming his original position. “A pity… Well then, please, if you ever do find that girl, send her back here. Otherwise, one of these days I may break out of here myself and wreck havoc…”
With his final words, his eyes went black again, and it was as if we had never spoken at all…
‘So… What about the treasure then…’ I slowly picked up the sack, tying it over my shoulder, and carefully snuck away toward the door. ‘I guess this is ok? He’s not waking up…’ Opening the door he mentioned, sure enough, there was a staircase, although it looked more like it had been carved with blasting magic, and the words “MIRI WAS HERE,” were written in huge letters, carved into the rock. Just under them was a much more delicate sentence that read. “Written in stone.”
‘She certainly seems like a character…’ I stared at the steep steps, readying my leggs for what was surely going to be a bit taxing. ‘She got dragonborn paladin… And I rolled frail midget… That hardly seems fair.’
The upward staircase felt as though it might go on forever, but I didn’t mind so much, after all, the farther up it went the fewer floors I had to sneak through to get out. By the time I made it to the top, the stone shifted and connected me to a room I recognized. ‘I’m above floor 10, so the enemies shouldn’t be too dangerous relatively. This was the last skeleton Airsidh killed before I fell down that hole, so I’m actually pretty close to where this all started.’
I turned in each direction, slowly remembering the layout of the level. ‘Now for the hard question… Would they have gone back down deeper into the dungeon? Or… Would they have just left…’
I paused. ‘They wouldn’t have… Right?’
‘Marks on the ground… They put their packs down here… Maybe camped while figuring out what to do. Drag marks… from what though?’
The stone wall that flipped over had been completely smashed to pieces. The edges of the tunnel had been chiseled away as well. ‘They must have desperately tried to fit through the hole. But it’s far too small, it was hardly even big enough for me.’
I let out a sigh. ‘If I was faster, I probably could have stopped myself from falling down at all… Well… Maybe not since it closed behind me.
I heard bones rattling further down the hall, snapping me out of my thoughts. ‘That’s what I was afraid of… I’d rather not fight if I can avoid it.’ Quickly scanning my surroundings I found a small crevice I carefully wedged myself into.
Two more skeletons appeared around the corner, totaling three. There was no point in taking a fight like that when I didn’t have to. Of course, if they found my hiding spot that would be even worse, but I was pretty confident they wouldn't, and they soon proved me right.
All three of them walked right by, eventually turning and walking away, back to where they had come from.
‘Well, if I’m avoiding them, then I should head the other way right? Even if they are looking for me they would have to give up eventually, so this is for the best. I’ll head back up to the surface, and burn a note into the stone somewhere with my magic.’
I took another look at the tracks, there wasn't much I could make out but… ‘Of course, Keigan would keep going towards the entrance…’
‘Did Airsidh go back though? Deeper into the dungeon? That doesn’t seem right.’
I followed the larger footprints of my father and stealthily avoided the skeletons, all the while carrying my bag of treasure. Without light, there were actually a lot of hiding spots in those walls and crevasses, but it also meant I had to use dark sight nonstop in order to see, and my eyes were starting to strain.
One time I even had to climb into the bag of loot to pretend to be something that was discarded by an adventure party. Surprisingly enough it worked… Although it certainly didn't help my self-esteem. After all, I couldn’t help but feel a bit discarded myself, wondering what exactly might have happened, or if they were even still searching for me.
For a while I just stayed there, curled up in my hiding spot, almost not even wanting to come out. ‘Sometimes being small has it’s perks.’ Eventually, the enemy patrols seemed to thin and then stop altogether. There was no point in hiding when it was safe so I convinced myself to finally continue. Not long after that… I saw him… ‘I guess I don’t get to say I was abandoned by him after all… Well, this time at least.’