Chapter 351: The Dark Cave

  Tauri and Plum stood around the edge of the giant burrow, staring down at the dark tunnel that went straight into the earth and seemed to have no end. A hollow wind whistled quietly from the tunnel.

  “…So, this hole leads to some kind of cave?” Plum mumbled.

  “How deep does it go? Are we sure there’s anything even living down there?” Tauri asked skeptically.

  “At least two lamias,” Stryg said. He had dropped his backpack on the ground and tucked Blossom into one of its pockets.

  Tauri glanced up at the setting sun, the last rays of sunlight were fading away. “It’ll be dark soon. We should wait until morning before we mount an attack. Until then, we’ll set up a perimeter around the tunnel and figure out a plan.”

  Plum nodded in agreement, “We’re all exhausted, let’s first eat, rest the night and talk about plans in the morning.”

  “There is only one plan. You two stay up here while I go down. This is my fight,” Stryg said and walked to the edge of the vertical tunnel.

  “What do you mean you go down? Alone?” Tauri stepped in front of him and crossed her arms. “The only reason I came with you on this ridiculous trip was to keep you safe. I’m not about to sit still while you waltz into a cave of monsters!”

  “I appreciate you coming this far, I really do, but this isn’t your fight,” Stryg said solemnly.

  “Then who’s fight is it?”

  “The Blood Fang’s.”

  “Ugh, dammit! Lamias are incredibly dangerous! You know that!” Tauri said angrily. “You can’t even see down there, but they’ll still be able to hear you coming! They probably already know we’re here!”

  “I’m aware of how sharp a lamia's ears are. But so long as I can see them coming I’ll be just fine,” Stryg said.

  “We didn’t bring any torches, you idiot!” Tauri said exasperatedly. “Do you plan on holding a fire over your palm the entire time you're down there?”

  Stryg chuckled to himself, “That sounds familiar.”

  “What?” Tauri furrowed her brow.

  “There’s no need for torches,” Plum sighed. “Stryg can see in the dark just fine. It's one of his many odd talents.”

  “Are you serious?” Tauri frowned. “E-Even if that’s true, why aren’t you helping me try to stop him!”

  Plum shrugged, “I’ve known Stryg for a long time. I know how stubborn he can be. But I also know what this cave means to him, the scars it left behind… I won’t stand in his way, not for this. If he needs our help I’m sure he’ll let us know.”

  Stryg smiled softly and nodded in Plum’s direction in appreciation.

  “This is a terrible idea.” Tauri sighed deeply and stepped aside.

  “Thank you,” Stryg whispered.

  “If you’re not back soon we’re going down there ourselves,” Tauri said adamantly.

  “Uh, we’re?” Plum grimaced. “I’m a purple mage. You do know lamias are said to be immune to mind spells, right?”

  “I’ll be back soon,” Stryg smiled, then took off his boots and socks. The sand and dirt were cold underneath his bare feet. He got down on all fours and began to slowly climb down the seemingly endless tunnel, hands first.

  Tauri and Plum watched him descend in worried silence. The blue goblin’s figure quickly disappeared into the darkness.

  The tunnel’s edges were sharp and damp. It would have been easy to slip and fall if one could not see where exactly to place their feet, or hands. Stryg felt no such worry. He could see the rough edges of the limestone and the cracks where water and time had slowly eroded the rocks.

  Stryg recalled how terrified he had been the first time he had descended the eerie tunnel. It had only darkness at first, the unknown waiting hungrily in the depths of the earth.

  His senses were far sharper than they were three years ago and now more than ever he realized how deeply this place smelled of death.

  Why did Crovor ever want us coming down here? Stryg wondered to himself.

  The Blood Fang shaman had been so obsessed with this place that he had led some of the tribe’s greatest hunters to their deaths.

  And for what? A treasure that did not exist?

  This place had always been nothing more than a trap, a lure set by the hungry serpentine creatures.

  He reached the end of the tunnel and jumped down the last 10 ft, landing with a heavy thud. Down in the depths of the cave, the darkness was absolute, it wrapped around him like water. Only his lilac eyes were visible in the sea of darkness, the faintest of glows emanating from his irises.

  To him, the darkness wasn’t filled with the unknown, but limestone lining the walls and stalagmite formations hanging above him. Two tunnels lay ahead of him, two unknown paths. He didn’t know which way to go, but he didn’t need to. Four lamias slithered silently out from the left tunnel. He recognized two of them, a male and a female with wine-red scales. The other two were female with forest-green tails wrapped in rings of black scales.

  Stryg noted each of their positions quietly and stood still as the lamias began to surround him, eyeing him hungrily.

  As they grew close, he channeled yellow mana and created durability scales underneath his clothes, out of sight from the serpentine creatures.

  “I know you’re there,” Stryg whispered, though he made sure to stare at a wall as he spoke. “What is your name?”

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  “Name?” the male lamia hissed. “Why does food need a name?”

  “So I can remember,” Stryg said calmly.

  “Brother, wait,” the other red-scaled lamia said.

  “Why, Agee?” the male lamia snapped angrily. “Unlike you, I don’t enjoy playing with my food.”

  “Yes, kill him already!” “Just snap his neck, I’m hungry!” the two green-scaled lamias complained in sultry voices.

  “Agreed,” the male lamia grinned maliciously.

  “Wait, Brother!” Agee hissed. “Do you not remember what happened the last time ‘food’ came down into our cave? Our sister died.”

  “…That was a long time ago,” the male lamia said. “I lead us now. And I say we eat.” He curled his tail around Stryg’s legs and bent down, his jaw wide open over the goblin’s shoulder. His fangs dripped with black venom and his mouth watered with saliva as he drew his mouth closer and closer to the goblin’s neck.

  “…What are you waiting for, Szet!?” one of the green-scaled lamias asked impatiently.

  Szet hovered over Stryg’s neck, crimson eyes wide open, the black sclera clear to see. “I… can’t… move!” Szet gasped in a choked voice.

  “Lysaila was the same. I’m pretty certain it was the same for your sister too,” Stryg whispered thoughtfully.

  Some part of Stryg had hoped his strange bond with Lysaila was unique, an anomaly. Clearly, he was wrong. But right now the ramifications of that truth were too much to consider.

  Stryg looked at the lamia in his red eyes, “This is for Second Mother, Szet.”

  With a single quick motion, Stryg drew Nameless from its sheath and sliced the lamia’s throat with the broken jagged blade. Szet clutched at his throat in shock and collapsed unceremoniously on the floor, blood pooling around his neck.

  The other lamias jumped back in fear and turned to escape.

  “Don’t move,” Stryg said in a commanding voice.

  The three lamias stiffened to a halt as if they had been encased in ice.

  “Are there any more lamias in this cave or anywhere nearby?” Stryg asked.

  “No,” the three lamias said in unison.

  “We are all that’s left of our brood,” Agee whispered mournfully. “Please, you already killed my brother, just let us be!”

  “What are your names?” Stryg asked calmly.

  “Neela.” “Risu.” “Agee.”

  Stryg walked over to Neela, “This is for Ostroz.” He drove Nameless into her stomach and stabbed her abdomen four more times in quick thrusts.

  Neela gasped a hollow breath of pain before she collapsed on the ground, convulsing as her innards began to spill out.

  “No! Stop!” Agee screamed, tears streaming down her face. “Why are you doing this!?”

  “Do you think I’ve forgotten? ‘I’ll rip you all apart!’ That’s what you shouted as you killed my tribemates,” Stryg recalled.

  “You were there…!” Agee’s eyes widened with dread.

  “I am the one who drove a spear through your sister’s throat.” Stryg walked over to Risu and placed the tip of Nameless below her breasts.

  Risu’s face paled in terror. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.

  “Wait! Please! Risu is innocent! She wasn’t there that night!” Agee yelled in desperation.

  Stryg glanced back at Agee, “I know. This is for Bril.” He then ever so slowly buried Nameless through Risu’s rib cage and up to her heart.

  A raspy gasp escaped Risu’s red lips. Her body lurched forward and leaned on Stryg’s shoulder. He shoved her away, seamlessly pulling Nameless out in the same motion.

  “Did you think I came down here to spare a single one of you?” Stryg asked in a cold eerie voice.

  “You’re a monster!” Agee screamed helplessly.

  “That we have in common.” He licked the blood off his broken blade and sheathed Nameless. Stryg wrapped his outstretched fingers around Agee’s neck and dug his claws into her soft flesh.

  “W-wait!” Agee choked.

  “This is for Srixa,” Stryg whispered and slowly tightened his grip.

  “Stryg…?” Plum called out worriedly.

  “What the…?” Stryg cocked his head to the side, listening to the faint voice.

  He ran back to the cavern’s entrance and spotted Tauri climbing down the tunnel’s wall, Plum on her back. Plum held a makeshift torch in one hand, no doubt some branch Tauri had lit with her magic.

  Tauri’s red skin was covered in shimmering bronze vigor magic, enhancing her strength severalfold. Still, despite the extra strength and source of light, the duo was still struggling to climb down, they had barely made it halfway.

  Stryg cursed under his breath and placed his hand on the edge of the tunnel. He poured green mana into the earth and a set of uneven stone slabs jutted out of the tunnel’s rim resembling a spiraling stairway that reached all the way up to the women.

  Tauri blinked. “You could have done this from the beginning!?” she shouted angrily.

  “Thank you, thank you!” Plum muttered repeatedly in relief and got off Tauri’s back. She hugged the wall and quickly clambered down the steps.

  Tauri grumbled under her breath and followed the drow down.

  “What are you two doing down here?” Stryg frowned.

  “We came to help you,” Tauri glared at him. “But I now feel like hurting you.”

  “What she said, the first part, not the second,” Plum adjusted her glasses. “Hey, you're bleeding!”

  Stryg glanced at his red-stained tunic, “Not my blood.”

  Plum stiffened, “Then you’ve already…?”

  “I’m not done,” Stryg turned around and walked back into the tunnel.

  “W-wait, where are you going!” Tauri called out. “Dammit, this kid never listens,” she muttered, annoyed.

  Agee was in the same place Stryg had left her. Her body was still frozen in place by the Prime Edict or so Stryg guessed. Agee stared at him silently, whether out of resignation or something else he didn't know.

  “Holy shit, what did you do, Stryg?” Plum whispered in fear as she spotted the three bloodied corpses lying on the ground.

  “Why isn’t that one attacking us?” Tauri pointed at Agee warily and gripped her flail tightly.

  “She can’t,” Stryg said.

  Tauri’s amber eyes widened in understanding, “It’s like Lysaila, isn’t it?”

  “…I think so,” Stryg nodded.

  “So you really are some kind of Mortem mage, huh?” Tauri stared at Stryg thoughtfully.

  Stryg shrugged uncomfortably.

  “You two still need to explain that all to me,” Plum said. She tried her best not to look at the bodies on the ground and shined her torch somewhere else. “H-Hey, where do those tunnels lead?” she pointed at the two tunnels ahead of them.

  “I’m not sure.” Stryg glanced at Agee, “Where do the tunnels go?”

  Agee clenched her jaw tight, but her lips trembled and suddenly she found herself speaking, “The left tunnel leads to our home.”

  “And the right one?” he asked.

  “Our sacred treasure…”

  “Wait?” Stryg frowned. “There’s actual treasure down here?”

  “Your kind wouldn’t consider it a treasure,” Agee glared at him.

  “…Show me,” Stryg said suspiciously.

  Agee hissed under her breath, but she turned around and led them down the right tunnel.

  The tunnel was wide, growing wider with each step until the ceiling was several dozen meters above them. Plum stared at the odd rock ring-like pattern that lined the tunnel walls.

  “I don’t think this tunnel is natural,” Plum said cautiously.

  “What do you mean?” Stryg asked.

  “She’s saying this tunnel was created with magic, or maybe the entire cavern was,” Tauri said. “And I’m inclined to agree with her.”

  “We’re here,” Agee said bitterly from the end of the tunnel.

  Stryg walked past her and into a large chasm. His feet stumbled to a halt and his body stiffened in surprise. “Is that…?”

  Plum’s jaw hung open, “No fucking way…!”

  Tauri’s flail slipped out of her numb fingers as she stared in shock.

  An enormous draconic skeleton lay sprawled over the chasm’s floor.