The outcrop lay at the far end of a long peaceful meadow littered with bright flowers. The trees at the meadow’s edge threw long shadows as the sun sank lower in the sky. It would be dark soon. Max was sure it would be even darker in those caves. He still had a torch in his satchel but no way to light it. As they approached the outcrop, a dark gap at the base was visible, a way into the rock.
Jahrod produced a torch from his bag and lit it with a spark from a flint struck against his axe.
“Ah!” said Max and took out his torch so Jahrod could light it by tapping his flaming torch to Max’s.
“You need a flint,” Jahrod said. “They are abundant in dwarf lands at the north of both continents, Awen and Scarfel.”
“Do dwarfs live on both the western and the eastern continent of Eveirea?” Max asked, his eyes fixed on the dark cave entrance.
“The lands were once joined by vast underground caverns that ran under the Kraken Sea. The routes were closed up ages ago in a great quake. Some dwarfs still search the deep undergrounds for a lost link between Awen and Scarfel. Those who set off never return. Some say the deep fires of Eveirea consume them, but some say they find a fabled lost continent.”
“What do you say?” Max asked.
“I say they are not sufficiently motivated to succeed.” Jahrod dug a flint out from his bag and handed it to Max.
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> Max gains flint tool.
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“Look after it, Max,” Jahrod said. “Dwarfs seldom give gifts. You will have to earn the next one I give you.”
Max approached the cave entrance. Anita was lying on her stomach, peering into the cave.
“It is a way in,” she said, leaning in. “It’s a tight fit. Follow me.”
She slid inside, but Elderon held Max back. “I’ll go next,” he said and slipped inside.
Max compared Jahrod’s size to the width of the cave entrance. The dwarf looked far too bulky to fit through the narrow crack.
“Don’t worry about me,” Jahrod said, shoving Max forward. “Dwarfs can crawl through the tightest gaps in the rock. We are born to it.”
Max crawled in, and once his shoulders were inside, Anita and Elderon grabbed him and lowered him down to a rocky surface four feet below the narrow entrance.
Max took a step away from the crack, his torch overhead.
“Hold there,” Elderon said, grabbing Max by the shoulder.
Max stopped and looked down. The ground disappeared a few inches from his feet, and there was a deep dark drop in front of him. They were standing on a narrow ledge that ran along the edge of the cavern.
Max stepped forward, avoiding the sheer drop to his right. He heard Jahrod grunt and snort as he pushed his way inside, his armor scraping against the rock.
Max walked ahead—and got a sudden shock as a Skarak leapt out of the dark in front of him and jabbed his spear up into Max’s gut.
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> Skarak attacks Max with Surprise Attack causing minor damage.
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Max swung his sword from left to right and knocked the Skarak into the darkness. He listened for the creature to hit bottom but heard nothing.
“Move along,” Elderon said, “and watch for Skarak. They will attack us from the shadows.”
Max thought that two could play at that game. He pulled up his hood and tried to activate his Sneak ability. It wouldn’t work, and he was puzzled. It was so dark that it should be easy to Sneak. Then he realized he was holding a flaming torch.
Elderon must have guessed what Max was thinking, and he took the torch from him.
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> Max activates Sneak ability.
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He hid in the shadows and worked ahead of the party, and he saw a Skarak leap out, making ready to jab with his spear.
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> Max attacks Skarak with Sneak Attack causing heavy damage.
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> Skarak has been defeated.
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He looted a gold coin before continuing to walk ahead. The path sloped downward, seemed to curve, and soon Max was at the base, a wide stone floor surrounded by high rock faces. A defeated Skarak lay there, and he claimed another gold coin.
Jahrod walked around the edge of the cave floor and found a tunnel entrance leading off deeper into the cave system.
A scurrying noise was followed by the sounds of chittering. A group of Skarak appeared at the entrance, spears leveled. With a collective shriek, they attacked.
Max drew his sword. He dodged the two jabbing Skarak spears of the Skarak attacking him and parried their thrusts.
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> This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
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> Skarak attacks Max.
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> Attack dodged; no damage done.
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Even though the Skarak were close to him, because they were such short creatures, they were just out of reach of Max’s shortsword. He swung it, but the Skarak stayed out of reach, taking turns to dash in one step closer to jab with their spears then run back again.
But Max could handle them. He took on the pair, parrying their spear thrusts with ease.
He saw that Anita was fending off three Skarak with her staff. She swung it in a wide arc and struck one of her attackers, sending it crashing in to the rock face, defeating the creature in a single hit.
Elderon was also fighting three of the creatures with his staff as they surrounded him and jabbed at him from all sides.
And Jahrod was surrounded by four of the creatures. Jahrod grabbed at a spear that came too close and pulled it out of the attacker’s claws. The creature leapt at Jahrod’s face, only to be struck down by a thumping fist.
Max took a breath as he felt a little fatigue come on. It was easy to fend off this pair of Skarak, but he realized if he didn’t defeat them soon, he would be too tired, and they would overwhelm him.
So, Max stepped closer.
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> Skarak attacks Max causing minor damage.
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The spear thrust to his leg felt like a pinprick, sharp and painful, but it didn’t slow him down at all.
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> Max attacks Skarak causing heavy damage.
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> Skarak had been defeated.
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The remaining Skarak dashed in to make an attack, but Max was too quick.
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> Max attacks Skarak causing minor damage.
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> Skarak has been defeated.
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Max grabbed the loot from the pair of defeated Skarak.
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> Max gains 2 gold.
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So, it only took minor damage to defeat a Skarak and they were so very weak that it seemed too easy. But then Max saw another group of Skarak scurry out of the cave. Three made straight for Jahrod, who had five of the beasts already attacking him. He defeated one instantly and turned on the next.
Anita had two defeated Skarak at her feet, but still, she faced three as yet more arrived.
Max now faced three. He stepped forward and swung his sword.
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> Max attacks Skarak causing minor damage.
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> Skarak has been defeated.
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> Skarak attacks Max causing minor damage.
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Max turned on another, sweat breaking on his brow. This was ridiculous. No sooner had he defeated a Skarak than another arrived. He stepped up to his target and swung his sword in a rage, roaring as he did so.
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> Max attacks Skarak causing critical damage.
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> Skarak has been defeated.
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Max realized the little spears were not the most dangerous thing about these Skarak, it was the numbers of them. Yet more arrived. Max held off five of the little beasts, and Jahrod had them crawling all over him, so many that he was picking them off one by one and throwing them against the cave wall.
“Stick together,” Max said. He edged toward Anita. “Force them back into the cave,” Max said.
Jahrod threw a pair of Skarak deep into the cave entrance. He stepped closer to Elderon. The group came together in a line facing a dozen Skarak, all jabbing forward with their little spears.
“Push them back to the cave entrance so they can’t surround us,” Max said.
“Hold them off me for a moment,” Elderon said. He started casting a spell, his hands twirling, and he uttered the incantation under his breath.
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> Elderon casts Fierce Wind.
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The wind leapt forward from Elderon’s hands and blew the Skarak deep into the cave.
With the Skarak gone, Max took stock of his wounds. He’d only taken a few hits of minor damage, but his Health was reduced.
Anita laid her hands on Max and cast Basic Healing, and he was back to full Health.
“They will be back,” Jahrod said. “And if we want to find the farmer’s daughter, we will have to head into the tunnel.”
“Are you sure?” Max said.
Jahrod cast his eyes upward as if exasperated. “Yes. I can smell her. Humans all smell so bad that a dwarf can smell one a mile off.” He pointed into the tunnel. “She’s in there, about half a mile away.”
Anita cast Bonus on the party. Max felt his sword arm grow accurate and strong, and then Elderon cast Summon Light and lit up the cavern.
“If we stick together, the tunnel will keep the Skarak in front of us, and we can reduce the impact of their numbers,” Max said.
“You speak like a great general,” Anita said. “Such wise tactics.”
They walked together. In the darkness on the edge of the light cast by Elderon’s spell, they could hear the Skarak scratching about.
And then they came, shrieking as they rushed.
Max grabbed his catapult.
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> Max attacks Skarak causing minor damage.
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> Skarak has been defeated.
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But they came on too fast, and Max had to switch back to his shortsword.
As the Skarak leapt at them, Anita struck them down with a swipe of the staff. Jahrod moved into them so fast, he defeated several of them with huge swings of his axe, taking little pinpricks of minor damage as they surrounded him.
“Stick together,” Max said.
Elderon cast a Magic Missile. The six missiles raced into the first Skarak. Two of the missiles defeated the creature while the other four raced on and defeated another, and the final two continued to defeat a third and final Skarak.
Max parried a thrust by a Skarak. He heard a heavy scratching.
Farther down the cave tunnel, Max saw a huge shape, six feet tall at least. He looked up into the face of a giant rat.
Max checked its stats quickly.
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> Name: Giant Cave Rat
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> Status: Aggressive
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> Attack: Piercing teeth, Slashing claws, Tail whip.
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> Threat level: Dangerous
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Max cast Magic Missile at the Giant Cave Rat. The glowing missile slammed into the monster.
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> Max casts Magic Missile on Giant Cave Rat causing minor damage.
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Max could smell the stench of burning hair on the giant rat.
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> Giant Cave Rat attacks Max causing major damage.
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Max felt the tail strike him in the ankle and knock him off his feet, the dark cave whirling about him as he spun in the air. He landed heavily and looked up into the blackness. He felt calm, at ease. A distant point of light appeared.
“Janet, what are you doing down here?” Max said.
“You’re out cold, Max,” Janet said, coming closer. “I’ve been working on the problem we have.”
“What, how to save the farmer’s daughter?”
“No, how to shut down the experiment. When the experiment activated, you focused all the energy on the dense carbon you were holding.”
“Carbon?”
“The industrial diamonds. We use a fragment of a diamond to create a transport portal of just a few yards. One diamond loses a few atoms to the transport portal. You had thousands of times more diamonds than we’ve ever used. I’ve been doing some math, and . . . now, I can’t be sure I’m that accurate, because I have to do it all in my head.”
“You are wasting your time doing mental math?” Max said.
“Well, I’ve got nothing else to do. I’m trapped in the transport portal, locked out of time and space. And you could be on the other side of the galaxy or even in a distant galaxy. I keep losing track. The point is, if the transport portal shuts down with you on one end, I’ll be lost forever, and you’ll be stuck wherever you are.”
“It’s not too bad here,” Max said.
“Last time I saw you, you were being sucked to death by some nasty-looking creatures, and that’s not too bad? What was it like for you back here?” Janet said.
“At least I’ve got friends here,” Max said.
“And enemies.” Then she spoke with sudden urgency. “Max, you’ve got to wake up. Quickly, you are in danger!”
“I know. From the first moment I arrived here.”
“Wake up,” Janet said.
“Wake up,” Max heard Elderon calling to him.
Max’s eyes slid open, and he froze. A Skarak was standing on his chest, a spear raised over its head and the point aimed for Max’s throat, ready to be brought down with deadly force.