Myraeon opened the door, revealing a swirling portal of purple that covered the tunnel. Friedrich could just about see through the translucent vortex to the cavern behind, but what lay inside was mere silhouettes cloaked in shadow.
“What is the meaning of this?” asked Blackjack, still holding her bow and arrow at the ready. “You told us that we would not be going into Nar’zularth, Myraeon.”
“And you will not,” said the minotaur. “This is a one-way seal that is bound to Balgreuh. It is a failsafe to keep him locked away. Once you step through, you will be unable to return until he is dead.”
“And if we die?” asked Marina.
“Then your bodies will remain there until someone, someday defeats him.”
“Fine,” said Friedrich, stepping forward.
“I fear we are making a mistake, Friedrich,” said Blackjack.
“Feel free to wait here,” he said, “but I’m going in.”
“Friedrich!” called Marina as he walked through the portal alone.
“Bring him back!” demanded Blackjack.
“That is something I cannot do,” said Myraeon solemnly.
“Fine,” said Blackjack, walking through the portal herself. Marina hurried after her, clutching her staff that was already crackling with sparks.
Friedrich stood in the cavern where a large stone heap sat in the centre. He did not move, keeping a careful eye on it even as Marina and Blackjack joined him.
“Wha—” began Marina, but Friedrich held up a hand to silence her and then slowly shook his head.
The heap looked like a large pile of stones, but Friedrich could see the faint outline of joints from the glowing light of the portal. On a large, segmented rock near the front was a pair of stone horns. This was a creature of some sort; Balgreuh.
Spread throughout the cavern were piles of bones, many of them broken, but they clearly belonged to humans with perhaps a couple of the slenderer ones being the remains of elves. There were tattered and torn rags upon the bones and even the dented remains of an old shield lying in a corner.
Friedrich walked forward with his own shield raised and sword held back by his side. Marina kept close to him while Blackjack hung back with her bow raised and her arrow readied. Was the stone beast sleeping or was it watching them?
Marina tapped Friedrich on the shoulder with her staff, then pointed to the edge of the cavern, sweeping her staff around. There were ruins here, destroyed pillars, columns, tablets, plinths, and all sorts. It looked like the remnants of a temple or a ritual site and it was all housed in this cavern where Balgreuh was locked up. The one thing Friedrich expected to see wasn’t there—nether ore.
He turned back to Balgreuh and spotted a faint twinkle in the inanimate golem’s neck. He was the source of the nether ore that Myraeon had spoken of. It would have been nice to have been informed of that, but they were stuck in this cavern until Balgreuh was dead anyway.
Friedrich edged closer still and Marina strafed around the edge of the cavern so that nobody was too close together. Blackjack’s eyes remained fixed on the creature, but she had a fear that her arrows would do nothing to the stone.
Friedrich looked around at his companions and gave them a small nod. He silently leapt and thrust his sword forward, where it clanged against Balgreuh’s head, vibrating vigorously. With a scraping grunt of stone, the creature opened its eyes and they lit up with fire. Friedrich struck it again as it stood up on four legs, revealing itself to be an enormous bull golem that further ignited itself in flame. It stared down at Friedrich who raised his sword again, then charged forwards.
The young man leapt aside, keeping his shield high. Balgreuh was running straight for Blackjack. She fired an arrow at it, but the arrow plinked off the flaming beast’s head. The high elf desperately dove aside as the bull rammed into the cavern wall, shaking the entire room.
It roared loudly as though enraged beyond belief. It leapt and pivoted, slamming its feet against the ground. Blackjack walked backwards, continually firing arrows at the creature while Friedrich stood ready to face it while Marina remained frozen in fear.
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“What do we do?” asked Friedrich.
“This was your idea,” remarked Blackjack, putting a hand in her bag and rummaging for something.
Balgreuh charged towards Friedrich, but the young man leapt aside. It rammed into the far wall and turned around without hesitation to run at him again. As it closed in on the young man, it suddenly stopped and breathed out a wave of fire. Friedrich threw himself backwards, keeping low. The bull moved towards him and lifted its feet, but he rolled aside as it brought them down and it hit the stone floor.
Blackjack uncorked a small vial from her bag and poured it on one of her arrows. She took careful aim as the beast aimed for Friedrich once again and then unleashed it. The arrow struck Balgreuh’s head and reared back up, groaning horrifically. The flames upon its head briefly turned blue before returning to their flickering orange.
“What did you do?” asked Friedrich from behind his shield.
“Not enough,” said Blackjack, coating another arrow. “Strike his head!”
Blackjack’s second arrow hit the beast again and Friedrich thrust his sword upwards, smashing into the fiery bull’s chin, chipping a large chunk of stone from it. Blackjack fired another couple of arrows and Friedrich continued smashing the beast, but Blackjack suddenly found herself without any more liquid inside her vial.
The beast slammed down and took the full brunt of Friedrich’s attacks, now barely phased as it was before. It thrust itself forward, pushing itself against his shield and knocking him backwards with ease. He rolled backwards and sprinted away as the bull charged at him. He threw himself behind one of the columns and Balgreuh smashed it to pieces.
Friedrich was backed into a corner as Blackjack tried to shoot Balgreuh, but her arrows pinged away without leaving as much as a scratch on his stone body.
“Marina!” called Friedrich, slamming the edge of his shield into the smashed remnants of Balgreuh’s face.
Marina stood trembling, terrified by the flaming creature nearby. She held out her staff and sent a weak lightning bolt in its direction. It struck its back, distracting it long enough for Friedrich to scurry between its legs and free himself, but the beast was angered.
It turned to face Marina, brushed its feet against the stone and then barrelled towards her with all of its might. Friedrich chased after Balgreuh, but it was too fast for him and Blackjack’s arrows were once again useless. She tried to run to Marina, but Balgreuh got to her first.
In a blinding flash of lightning, the flaming bull exploded into dozens of chunks. Blackjack dove at Marina, knocking her out of the way of one of the boulders falling from the sky. Friedrich raised his shield to protect his head as his body weathered a couple of the rocks.
A few seconds later, Friedrich peeked out from behind his shield to make sure that he, Marina and Blackjack were now safe.
“Is…is it dead?” muttered Marina as Blackjack climbed off her.
“It must be,” said Blackjack, helping Marina to her feet and then pointing towards the portal.
“It’s gone,” said Friedrich.
“You have succeeded,” said Myraeon, stepping through the doorway that was now just a doorway. “I must admit…I am surprised by this. I have seen so many fail before you. You are much more powerful than I believed.”
“I’m not so sure we did anything,” said Friedrich, looking at Marina who was trembling.
The minotaur stopped by each of the chunks of Balgreuh and examined them closely. “Yes,” he muttered excitedly. “This is exactly what I needed. It is perfect.”
“You’ll give us the prizes you promised?” asked Friedrich.
“Of course,” said Myraeon as he stood up. “That was the deal, was it not? I have more than enough nether ore to last me for years. Come with me, brave warriors.”
Myraeon led the trio out of the cavern and back through the series of tunnels.
“What was in that vial?” Friedrich asked Blackjack, curious about what other tricks she had hidden up her sleeve.
“It is a type of acid derived from the Gilderoot plant,” she said. “It is mostly intended for flesh, but I thought it was worth trying in a desperate situation like that.”
“Well, it worked.”
“But not well enough.”
“We’re alive, aren’t we?”
“Yes, we are. Thanks to Marina and not either one of us.”
“Are you alright?” Friedrich asked Marina, who looked spooked.
“Yes,” she said uncertainly. “I…I just don’t like fire.”
“You’re fine when we camp.”
“That’s not the same as a…monster on fire.”
“Thank you for saving us,” said Friedrich. “We would have been done for if it wasn’t for you.”
“You’re welcome,” said Marina, avoiding eye contact with him.
Upon arriving back in Myraeon’s cavern, they stood before his stable as he retrieved their rewards from his trunk. He placed the amethyst, the quiver of arrows and the black minotaur mask upon the table. He held out his hands and gestured for each of them to take their respective items.
“I am grateful that you fulfilled your end of the deal,” he said. “But I must ask you all to leave me to my work.”
“That’s all you’ve got to say?” asked Friedrich.
“Yes,” replied the minotaur, walking over to his forge and retrieving his hammer.
“What about the way out?” asked Friedrich.
Myraeon held up his hammer and pointed towards a small tunnel to his right. “Go that way,” he said.
“Well…farewell, Myraeon,” said Friedrich.
“Yes, farewell,” said Marina.
The party walked away from the minotaur, who got straight back to work, and headed for the tunnel he had indicated. They were tired, but they were alive and they were richer for it. Friedrich could tell that there was something bothering Marina, but he also knew that no matter how much he pried, she wouldn’t tell him what it was.
They followed the tunnel which took them in mostly a straight line. It wasn’t long before daylight reached them and they were outside, free to breathe the clean air once more. Even after the delay, they were now one step closer to reaching Akatfall.