WUMP!
The room bent and folded again and then it was dark. Calista’s eyes adjusted slowly. They were in a small cave with a pair of tables against the opposite wall and a set of shelves to their left. Herbs, plants, powders, and potions decorated the long table while the smaller, shorter table was decorated with carved runes and a single unlit candle. Sitting on the ground beneath the shelves was their gear.
Without a word, she and Lefty gathered their things. Before equipping anything, she checked her inventory. Everything looks to be here. She immediately scrolled to where she had stored the keys. No … wait. I’m missing one. Not one, I’m missing two. She was missing the gold key with the blue gemstone she had taken from the treasure room as well as the little silver one she had first found in the horrid-smelling room with the glammours. Nylvani must have taken them. Then she noticed something else. The green gemstone with the Greater Ruin enchantment was gone as well. By Yanar … She cursed herself. She hadn’t taken the chance to check her inventory since the little waif had stabbed her.
Silently, she cursed herself. “Lefty, I have really bad news.”
The mage’s face fell. “What?”
“I lost two of the keys,” she said.
“Which ones?” He asked.
“The gold one I stole from the treasure room while you were captured and the little silver one I found way back at the beginning,” she said. “I think this weird prisoner I set free stole it from me after she stabbed me and left me for dead. I didn’t even think to check after we got our gear back the last time. I’m so sorry.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it. What’s done is done.” Lefty finished pulling on his robes, “Let’s just hope we don’t need them.”
“She got the gemstone too,” Calista said despondently.
“The gemstone bomb?” Lefty asked.
“Yeah.”
“Well, let’s hope we can get out of here before she uses it.”
Then a flash of blue fire lit up the cave entrance, followed by a howl of pain. There’s the dragon. This was followed by a shriek of anger and fury. There’s Narene.
Armed and dangerous now, she checked her short sword and then loaded her crossbow. No Emberblade, but that was to be expected. Narene had likely taken it and Calista was gaming out her strategy in her mind. I’ll probably try to kill her first before I go after Severin. If she could sneak up on the medusa while Severin was busy with the dragon … well that would be the ideal outcome. If not, they would just have to make due.
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Delvers got bonus damage when attacking while undetected. If their plan worked and she could get in behind Severin without him seeing her, then they had at least a puncher’s chance at taking him down. Whatever happened after that, would happen.
With a nod, she and Lefty crept silently to the cave mouth where they both knelt and looked out at the battle. Their little cave was high on the side of a cavern wall where a narrow bridge made of rope and planks led down to a wide slab of rock the size of a fortress. Below was the lake of lava and to their left were five smaller plateaus of rock that stood up out of the lava.
Below, on the main slab, a full squad of knights had backed the dragon named Vevic into a corner. As they watched, the dragon spat a stream of fire that washed over the front line of the knights, but as the flames receded, the knights remained unharmed. Enchanted. The knights are somehow immune to the fire. She remembered the trolls that had pursued them through the library. Severin wasn’t fighting fair, just like any regular old villain. As the dragon recovered its breath, four of the knights scrambled forward to hack at the dragon’s side, but as the first sword bit into the beast’s leg, Vevic swept his tail out and batted two of the knights into each other. She then pinned one with its claw and snatched the fourth in its mouth, picked the knight up, and tossed him aside.
Lefty then touched her on the shoulder. “What’s the plan?”
She pointed to where the dragon was ripping the entrails out of a knight, “Well first, I think we’re going to stay far, far away from that.”
“Agreed,” Lefty replied, “but where’s Severin and Narene?”
“That’s a good question.”
And it was. The cavern was huge and the largest slab was three levels with a building atop it. A wide stone walkway connected to the lowest level and then traveled around the outer edge of the lowest level like a bridge to nowhere. Stairways connected the bottom, top, and middle layers of the slab while angular support pillars shot up from every level to the ceiling of the cavern. And nowhere among any of that could they see Severin or Narene.
Below, Vevic was still fighting the knights. One knight lay dead, disemboweled on the rock, while another lay dying with his head caved in. Two more knights had advanced but Vevic swiped her tail, knocking them both aside as she shot out another blast of blue flame that washed over the knights. Then a knight with a spear tried to stab the beast in the eye, but Vevic knocked the warrior flat with his claw and then snatched the next knight with his maw and crushed the offending warrior’s skull. Why doesn’t she just take off? However, as Calista wondered about this, she noticed the dragon’s wing. Bent and broken, the dragon couldn’t fly any more than Calista could. Vevic had been trapped and was now surrounded by knights with spears and swords.
Then something circled high near the ceiling of the cavern. Human-sized and winged, it drew back its bow and show a flaming arrow down at the second level. From her vantage point, Calista could not see what the target was, but as she watched the archer draw back a second arrow that caught flame, allowing her to pick out the outline of a fallen angel wielding a long bow.
As the fallen being loosed her arrow, Calista motioned back to Lefty. “I would bet anything they’re shooting at Narene.”
“You’re probably right,” Lefty said, “but where’s Severin?”
“I haven’t spotted him yet,” she said, “but if I think that if we don’t get down there now, our two unwitting allies might soon be dead.”
“Wait,” Lefty said. “Do you have any more of those invisibility potions?”
That’s a good idea. She checked her inventory. One left. “I do, but just the one.”
Lefty shook his head, “Best to save it then. I can cast it if we need it. I just wanted to save my mana if I could.”
Calista looked back out at the cavern. The bridge was clear, but two more winged women had now joined the first and were shooting arrows down at something big on the second level. Calista wasn’t sure what it was, but it was moving slowly between the shadowy structures. Otherwise, the only other enemies in their view were the dragon and the knights.
“I think we can at least make it down this bridge without being seen.” Calista said, “Let’s go.”
Down they went then, Calista in the lead, as they climbed down the rope bridge as fast as they could. The planks wobbled beneath their feet as they held steady to the rope.
Calista pointed toward where their bridge met the second level, “My plan is to make for that stairway right there and then see if we can’t climb to the top level.”
Lefty hefted his staff, “And what exactly do you propose as our goal?”
“We either find Severin and kill him while he’s busy with the rest of this mess, or we find Narene and I kill her to retrieve my Emberblade.”