Darkness stirred around my form as we two hobbled along, healing supplies drained dry to sustain weary bodies. We had tentatively triumphed in this battle, if only because Valencia had been physically removed from the battlefield. Yet there was a sick feeling deep within as realization crept upon me. The price of victory in the battle may have cost us the war.

Freshly healed wounds radiated phantom pains across my body, every dark blow struck refusing to let go even as the cleric-shine’s magic compelled it.

“Garek.” Le’rish spoke from beside me.

“Yes?”

“I have shared a secret with you this day. The others do not know. Don’t tell them. Please.”

The words came in short bursts as the huntress looked away. We had not spoken on this, and the knowledge made my mind whirl. So many questions had been raised, and I knew answers would need to wait until we emerged from this place. If we lived to see the day through.

“Your secret will follow me to the grave.” I swore.

Every new obstacle lessened our already slim chances of survival. And now that our only known path had been very clearly collapsed behind us, the only way was forward.

Deeper into the dungeon stone guts.

Destruction passed us by, thrashed chambers and ruined hallways lined with corpses. The road thus far was lined with carnage, every step paid for in blood. Not mine, in ther here and now, but with the ichor that spille from hundreds of Arn’thema corpses. The Overmind hurled swarms upon the party, even though it must know they would be defeated.

Why? To purchase more time through the sheer crush of bodies it might flood these corridors with? To learn more about our fighting patterns? Likely.

We turned through darkened corridors, the only light a torch Le’rish had procured from somewhere. Gone was the luxury of Velton’s mage-lights now. We wandered in the deepest darkness, held only at bay the smallest flicker of light and life.

Le’rish grimaced and sniffed at the air. An open pit of spikes lay before us, I saw a moment later. A glance inside revealed nothing had been swallowed into its depths.

“Move around the side.” She gestured, and I complied. Would be a fool way to die after so much had been overcome, I reckoned. Feet light and step sure, Le’rish stepped past and back onto the main path.

Only for the floor to vanish beneath her as the illusion vanished and the second pit was revealed. Reflexes beyond anything human saved her as the huntress’s body contorted in mid-air and grabbed back onto the ledge. With a grunt, she yanked herself back up, irritated.

“Always think they’re so smart with the double illusion.” She growled.

“It almost did get you this time.” I noted with some wry humor. An attempt to make the most of an increasingly dire situation.

“Startled me.” She grunted. “That’s all.”

The floor flickered back into place behind us, ready to claim an unwitting victim. Would it too fade if we destroyed the shard that supposedly powered this section of this hellish place? I hoped so.

More rubble and ruin passed us by, until we finally emerged into a tall, vaulted chamber filled with magical light. Figures sat within, and after our short time apart, the party was reunited. Velton stared up at massive statues that depicted ancient beings unfamiliar to mine or Garek’s memories. Faceless Gods that stared down from on high, only in the barest resemblance to anything humanoid. Many seemed to have several more limbs than I was used to, one depicted in splendor with a full growth of stone tentacles that swept from it’s back like a cape.

In this dusty chamber, they were almost perfectly preserved, altars beneath every individual statue.

“Garek.” The elf turned. “You have overcome your challenge.”

“For now.” Was all I spoke as Ishila gave a tired wave. The young orc looked positively exhausted, soaked in blood and ichor. She sat slumped atop a stone altar as her mother paced about the cavernous room.

“We awaited your return, for to approach this final fight without our full force would be folly.” Velton explained. “We have a plan.”

“A cruel one.” Ishila frowned.

“A necessary one.” He insisted in return.

“Shall I hear it before we march off then?” I sighed and seated myself. Recovery would come easier once I was seated than if standing, or so I hoped. In truth, I was simply tired. The post-adrenaline crash had set in, and now my limbs felt as stone. The slaughter not even a day before and lack of sleep only further exacerbated this.

“We know with certainty that the Overmind directly commands the Arn’thema swarm.” Velton sighed and weighed his words. “We are in possession of a crucial piece of knowledge. One more swarm will soon be sent to the surface. Not to break through, as we expected, but if the traitor-elf is to be believed, simply gather combat experience.”

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“Several things come to mind. It views these numbers as expandable. Knowledge is gleaned through their eyes and action, which means a direct psychic link, unless their physiology wildly differs from any other such example I may think of.”

“You intend to disrupt it?” I guessed.

“Oh heavens no.” Velton almost laughed. “I am but one elf against an entire swarm of minds all guided by this Overmind. The utter annihilation of my own mind is not a clear path to victory.”

“Think a little..deeper.” Tehalis offered from across the room as she examined ancient statues. “The elf claimed their main purpose is to gather combat experience. But we have learned that they need not be alive to pass that onwards. Neither do they store it and carry it back for extraction like some species.”

“There exists a continuous link at all times, which I theorize is how the Overmind directly commands and modifies the Arn’thema mid-fight. Unless it is a horrendously powerful being -to a degree we cannot hope to defeat anyway- it was be an immensely taxing process to command the swarm.”

“We can all see where this is goin’.” Ishila grimaced, her arms crossed.

The plan was simple, yes. Even with what little context provided, one could piece it together.

“You intend to let the swarm march on the defenses and then attempt to slay the Overmind.” Not a question, a statement. Even in my exhausted state, the potential for this to go horribly wrong was clear to me. Others agreed, I could see. Ishila sat, her arms folded and expression flat.

“We came here to save lives, not endanger them further.” She grumbled at her father. Yet for her bravado, she was willing to go along with this foolhardy plan. Even I was.

“Would you rather face this Overmind and its entire swarm, or have those forces split and the Shard’s power divided both literally and mentally?”

Silence followed this question. And I pondered something. Just how many lives was I willing to sacrifice for this victory.

“To make something abundantly clear.” Le’rish stood and gazed dead at the crimson-haired elf. “You are in full mental faculties, and aware of the disastrous consequences should we fail?”

“Yes. We came here to stop it before another swarm was unleashed on the fortress, yet this new knowledge changes several things. It will be forced to choose between maintaining control of the swarm or its own preservation, and as a being who has lived just as long as this shard has, I believe it will choose the latter option.”

“Or it could be that the elf lied, and that all we heard in that laboratory were honied words meant to lure us to certain death.”

Velton snorted and waved that off.

“She was a high elf, Garek. Her kind is too arrogant to lie. A final twist of the knife before she slipped away, rather. Truth, but for her own ends, meant to hurry us towards the Shard and not in pursuit of her.”

“Valencia saw fit to end that loose thread.” I nodded.

Le’rish was clearly on the fence, and so was I. But I too relented and agreed that while his plan was rife with risk, it was our best chance of success. We were battered and low on supplies, frankly. Every advantage we might eke out could be the crucial point that tipped the scales in our favor.

“Can you teleport out of here?” I posed the question to Velton as Ishila strode across the gap between us. The elf simply shook his head, then explained a moment later.

“Teleportation requires clear knowledge of both locations. The point of origin and destination, as well as a mental path between the two. With how violently dungeons reject the laws of reality and culminate distance, to attempt it would be both insanity and certain destruction.”

“So no.”

I accepted the flask Ishila handed me with a thankful smile, and found healing milk within. The lass ordered I drink the last of her own reserves, just to be ready for the battle that awaited us. A kind gesture, and one that I would remember.

And we waited. Velton stood still amidst the chamber’s inner circle, wreathed in an aura of magic. Tehalis stalked the shadows in silence, not content to be still. Ishila and Le’rish sat together, perhaps a final moment of each other’s company in the likely event none of us returned alive. Content in my own silence, I rested and let my wounds heal. It seemed oddly..peaceful down here in the darkness. The occasional far-off sound drifted through the stone corridors, but here beneath the gaze of ancient, foreign gods I found rest.

Sharp was the hand upon my shoulder that jerked me awake. Sleep had claimed me, I realized. I felt heavy now. Tired. With weary hands, I forced myself upright and gazed around. Noise struck me first. The dungeon moved around us, the sounds of a thousand feet on stone in every direction.

“The Overmind awaits.” Tehalis pointed one axe down a side corridor. “It’s lair lies not far away.”

“Miss anything?” I grunted, too tired for proper courtesy.

“A few scouts meant to probe us. It has decided against sending its swarm to confront us directly, it seems. The way ahead lies empty. The traps I found were disabled, and the doors are opened.”

“It desires conversation, I think.” Velton frowned. “I did not plan for this.”

“The Overmind of the Arn’thema awaits us to bargain.” The words rolled through the chamber as I stood. “Who are we to keep it waiting?”

“We will hear it out.” Velton agreed. “But first, battle plans.”

Silence enveloped us as the elf’s magic took hold, and then the discussion began. There were..rather good plans within. Risky, sure. But most were simple and safe. In the end, all roads led to the same conclusion. The methods of arrival were simply varied in their complexity and danger. But we had come prepared for death.

“Triumph or death. One or the other, no other end to this journey.” I rumbled. Grim resolve weighed upon me now, and this I would see through.

“If nothing else, I am glad to have met you.” Le’rish addressed me and Ishila. An sad, uncharacteristic smile lay upon the huntress’s features, her one good eye upon the orc lass.

“We will..speak about this if all of us live through this day.” Tehalis promised, a thumb upon her axe blade as she regarded the two.

Naught more needed to be said as we left to approach the heart of darkness. Convictions were set, outcomes known, and now, only this task needed be carried out. I prayed we were strong enough to see it through.