Wade was strangely quiet for the next few days. Any probes into what he was thinking were met with “Beer and money!” and he'd laugh but his eyes would unfocus into the future just moments later as though deeply focused on something far away.
They'd lost their horses when they'd gained the giswird. The bird didn't seem to like company and had kept nipping them until they'd been forced to let them go which they'd been glad to do and which had turned out to be a boon for the adventurers. The bird was fast in swampland or on plains and the wagon pulled along much faster. Wade had taken quite a liking to it and dubbed the bird Bartholomew.
The next few days were peaceful. Clarke found enough of the old infrastructure, old pillars and statues once marked on the map but now broken down by the elements, to guide them on the right roads and soon enough they left the swamp behind and stood atop a hill looking down on an abandoned city, bright blue skies and sunshine overseeing the scene.
There were smaller homes on the outskirts that led broken stone roads into the city proper. One and two story buildings made crowded streets. The docks had collapsed like a skeleton far off into the water, what was once an extensive network of wooden walkways now just broken logs and planks sticking from the water. Several large, old ships had sunk and now sat as forgotten wrecks in the harbor.
The distance was dominated by a large castle carved into the side of a mountain and rising up above it, a work of integration between natural stone and carved.
“Now THAT'S an abandoned city.”
Wade whistled. The wagon pulled to a stop and they began quickly unloading to make camp.
“We were just in an abandoned city a few weeks ago.”
Clarke said.
“Ahhh, dwarven cities don't really count. The elements can't get to them but I can see three caved in roofs from here. Probably some jewelers shops in there somewhere.”
“You feeling okay? How's the air?”
Gwen paused when she saw Alouella testing the air with a hand and turning this way and that. She'd closed her eyes a moment to concentrate.
“It's definitely here. Clarke, how are we on the potion?”
It was the last thing he unloaded, a big wooden box that rattled with potion bottles made when they'd begun to see the moss growing a day before. He set it near his bed roll.
“We're fine for a while but let's not get anywhere near to emptying this thing or needing to harvest more down there. We get in and we get out.”
He began to walk down the hill waving the others after when he noticed Wormwood hanging back and rubbing his feet.
“What, now?”
“Why not? It's mid day and our camp is set up.”
“But, and I'm sure I'm not the only one, we just got off a wagon and I'm-we're tired.”
He looked to the others who were still heading down the path.
“Just me?"
“We might even end up leaving before night fall.
He sighed and put his shoes back on. That thought spurred his feet moving and they headed down the old road.
The first thing they noticed about the city were the gentle waves lapping around their ankles, the constant movement wearing down the bases of buildings that looked ready to topple in some places. The streets had largely turned to sand and sand banks had built up on storefronts that hadn't seen a customer in years.
“Ooh.”
Gwen and Wade shared a look as they'd both noticed it at the same time. An old sign, almost worn away but inset with glass in a diamond shape, caught their attention. A jewelry shop.
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“Hey, do we have time for a little looting?”
Wade asked, though he was already kicking the door in before getting a response. It broke in two easily. Clarke called after them.
“I thought you guys wanted to go home?”
“Gwen stopped half in the door, Wormwood sliding around her.
“Well, yeah, but you're not paying us and we need to bring something back. Just a few minutes?”
Clarke sighed, looked at Alouella who shrugged.
“We do have to make a living.”
She said and they followed the others inside.
“Alright but lets not make it a habit of stopping everywhere.”
Clarke couldn't resist the siren call of fortune even as he had protested and dug through the shop with them. Every once in a while someone would make an excited noise and pull a gemstone or bit of gold from the floor but to Clarke there was something off about the place.
Something about the place seemed odd to Clarke but he couldn't put a finger to it yet. Part of it were little things. The floor of the shop felt too soft. He'd pushed his hand down as a test and not even a foundation stopped him. Unusual holes around the base of the shop let the water in, each hole worn perfectly smooth except, when he knelt to feel of the stone, parts of it were smooth but the top edge of the hole had an unusual pattern.
Spiral grooves.
“Alright guys, let's get out of here. We can save the treasure hunting for after we get the rest done-”
Gwen yelled and jerked upwards, swinging a huge shape through the air, the sound of metal screeching on metal breaking the quiet.
“What is that!?”
Someone yelled. Gwen smashed her arm against a wall and the entire thing crumbled, the building teetering dangerously, stone and wood cracking as the wall fell away. Gwen grabbed the thing and pulled it, the sound worse as dozens of little teeth scraped on her armor and she flung the thing away.
“OUT, OUT!”
Wade yelled, holding the door frame even as it warped and the others dashed past him. He let it go and the whole building collapsed in the direction of the wall, a sound like thunder echoing out against the dead city.
Gwen rubbed her gauntlet, long scratches worn around it in circles.
“Looked like some kinda shark thing. I think we can all agree we're lucky it went after me.”
“Shark!?”
Alouella squeaked out, whirling round and round looking for any signs that it had come back. Clarke spotted it first, water rushing into depressions in the sand as something tunneled towards them.
“Oh god, ohgodohgod.”
Alouella freaked out, turning her staff in their direction and her hair rising around her for a brief second before Wormwood swiped the staff out of her hand as sparks began to crackle around the tip.
“Are you trying to kill us all!? We're standing in water!”
“Run!”
They dashed the opposite way, down the streets and towards the castle. The sharks would surface behind them, chasing quickly as the water and unstable sand slowed them.
“We're not getting away!”
Gwen yelled. They were nipping at her heels now, leaping after her as they closed the distance and she trailed the pack with her short legs. Clarke ran through his pockets finding nothing of any use except a bottle that was as dangerous to them as it was to the beasts.
“AHH!”
Gwen had stopped, swarmed as she swung and punched them off, grinding shrieks coming off her gauntlets as she swatted them away. Alouella froze in place, her arms shaking as no plan came to her but Wade turned back with mace in hand, swinging and attacking as they jumped but missing as they slid into the ground and circled them, attacking from blind spots.
We can't outrun them and we can barely fight them if they can pop up under us. If we weren't-
It wasn't a good idea but it was about the only one they had. Clarke swiped three bottles from his coat and dashed to join them.
“Wormwood! Alouella!”
Wormwood ran, jerking the wizard along as they joined the embattled pair and Clarke flicked the bottles. One at the corner of a building, the second at the other and the third at the front.
The explosions blasted worn rock and dried beams apart, the whole front of the building now leaning over them like a wave.
“Wade, Alouella, the stones!”
Wade turned to the pouring down building face, his shield battered down as he struggled to keep standing under the assault. Alouella swung her staff up and blasted a prolonged bolt that tossed the stones aside around them until the ground was covered in what was once a building save for the singular spot they stood in.
“Up, up!”
Clarke directed them, climbing up into the rubble to the safety of the rubble pile, the sharks below them bumping and grinding on the stone.
Clarke was the last up, the stones slipping under them as the sand behind him exploded up, one of the sharks flying through the air, coming down on him like so many teeth. He put his hand up, the hole he carried opening just wide enough to act as a shield and the shark sliding into where his chest would have been on the other side.
He was hauled up the rest of the way to where the group was sitting in tired silence except for the thrashing of the beast inside Clarke's lab. He winced every time something broke and finally rolled it up when he felt there was nothing left.
“I wish I hadn't done that.”
Gwen clapped his arm.
“Hey, you saved us and all it cost you was...how much was your lab?”
“About one thousand gold pieces counting my specialty equipment”
Gwen flinched and Alouella patted him on the shoulder.
“Oh, Clarke...”
“Well-”
Gwen continued. Her whole business didn't cost that much to run for several months and she truly felt the pain of the loss.
“-if that's the worst thing that happens to you today-”
Her words cut short as the buildings creaked, heads and eyes popping out of windows and doors, fish faces and lips, tentacles and teeth of every marine sort surrounding them followed by the weapons at the ready.
“Let's do hope that was the worst thing that happens.”
Gwen finished.