Kirisaka Raksin

Adventurer Level: 11

Orc - Nulevan

"Been a while since I was last in the dungeon," Alurn said as we reached the collapsed wall.

"Same. Not since I reached level nine," Rirnu replied.

"I was in here last year," Pakin the vile added.

I remained silent. Why would it matter how long it had been? The dungeon changes frequently, passageways shifting and sliding to reveal new threats and rewards. Monster materials, magic cores, gems, precious metals, and even weapons and armor were all up for grabs by those who had the tenacity to brave the depths. Woe be to any who became complacent and assured of victory, though. The dungeon you entered yesterday may very well not be the same dungeon you enter today.

Rookie adventurers that learned this fact about dungeons were terrified of being present within the dungeon when the changes took place. It's a natural fear, being deep within the dungeon with no hope of return would end only in a terrible death. Their fears are allayed when they learn that the dungeon forcefully teleports those within to its entrance when it begins to change.

It was for this reason that Alurn and I had been opposed to waiting until the morning to enter the dungeon. If the dungeon had shifted in such a way as to block the passage, we would never know what happened to the lost party if they weren't teleported to the entrance. We would only know that they had died. The chief had forced us to wait, though. To make certain we were properly supplied and to give the lost party one last chance to make it to the entrance.

I looked at the pile of bricks that laid on the floor of the dungeon. The mortar had come loose, and the weight of the bricks had pulled this section of wall down, exposing a previously hidden passageway. The passageway was lit by stones that had been inserted into the ceiling and gave off a bright white light. It struck me as odd and out of place.

Magical stones that gave off light were not cheap. But these were installed every twenty bricks, and provided enough light that one would swear a window were nearby. It was far brighter than the rest of the dungeon, and indeed even brighter than most buildings I had been in. I had never seen nor heard of anything like it before. Gluhern was a fool to send under-tens to investigate.

"This feels wrong," Rirnu said as we entered the hall. "I can't quite figure out why, though."

"There is a suspicious lack of dust," I added.

Silence fell over the party as they came to the same realization. It had also been the first time I had spoken since we entered the dungeon. I would have been more verbose if our party hadn't included Pakin the vile. One's magic tells tales of one's mind, and necromancy was evidence of a twisted mind. She had gained renown by making herself useful to the village, and many believed her to be a valuable adventurer. But I knew the truth.

I knew of her sojourns to the wastes to find corpses to experiment on. I had watched as she revived her former comrades as mindless husks to fight her battles for her. I had seen her disregard them after those battles without a second thought. Her magic told a tale of egomania and narcissism, but she masked it well with strategically utilized friendliness and kindness.

She was with us only because she was also skilled with offensive and healing magic. Her zombies are much weaker than the bodies that supplied them, so her necromancy would be useless in the rescue of adventurers over level five. Or the pacification of monsters that could kill those adventurers.

"This is the fork that Nash mentioned. He went left, so they probably went right," Alurn said. "See, Kirisaka? It wasn't a waste of time to interview him after all."

"A rare occurrence indeed, for it not to be a waste of time to speak with Nash," I replied.

Chuckles came from the rest of the party. Nash was well known for being rambunctious and annoying. When paired with his brother, he became conniving as well. The Alta brothers were troublemakers, of this there was no doubt. Still, their antics brought about good humors most of the time. I was glad that they weren't a part of this rescue team. I have a foreboding feeling about what's to come.

We followed the passage without incident until we came upon sheer and utter darkness. The next part of the passage seemed to be lacking the stones that lit the rest of it. The other party members activated their various lighting mechanisms. The two magic users created small balls of light, and Alurn activated his own magical stone inlay on his armor's pauldron.

These lights were bright enough to allow us to see that the rest of the passage looked much like that which we had already travelled. I did not activate any lights of my own. The shadows are my allies, and by shunning them I would weaken my combat effectiveness. This darkness nearly set me at ease, for it was far more natural for a dungeon to be dark than for it to be well lit.

"Do you think a collapse might've prevented their return?" Rirnu asked.

"It's possible," Alurn responded.

"I hope that's the case. Any other reason for delay would be unfortunate," Pakin the vile added.

I remained silent as we continued on. Like the party we were sent to rescue, we had been travelling for about a day. A sudden sense of dread came over me. What if the reason that Nash had teleported hadn't been picking up the human? What if it had been because the dungeon was shifting, and the discovery of the human had been coincidental? Then the reason that the rest of the party hadn't been teleported as well would be that they were dead.

I opted to keep this line of thought to myself. Nothing good could come of voicing my concerns, and the rest of this party likely had come to the same conclusion. It wouldn't change what we had to do. We had to find the lost party and determine their fate.

"If it is a collapse, they'd stay nearby the blocked portion of the passage," Alurn said.

"So we just have to find the collapse and dig them out. Easy," Rirnu said. "Do you think we'll have to share our food?"

"No, they should have enough. They would've brought seven days worth of rations. It's only been four," Pakin the vile said.

"Pakin's right," Alurn chimed in. "There's no reason to worry about them going hungry. The only..."

Alurn cut his sentence short as a soft sound began emanating from ahead of us, just out of sight. We stopped and listened to the squelching and crunching. Our gazes met, it was a sound that we were all familiar with. The sound of a predator eating its prey. We quietly armed ourselves and continued forward slowly and with steady feet.

As we crept down the passageway, I noted that the lights hadn't been missing at all. They had been slashed and rendered ineffective. I quietly pointed this out to the rest of the party. We spent a moment quietly guessing to ourselves if the slashing had been done by blade or claw. Then we continued moving, following both the passage and the unnerving sounds of consumption.

The passage soon opened into a spacious chamber, held up by smooth, brown pillars. The floor and walls were also brown. The light glinted off of something metallic on the floor. I gestured for my fellows to halt and edged closer to get a better look at the object, the squelching and crunching getting louder with each step. What I saw, I could barely make sense of. My confused eyes studied the object until realization made my blood run cold.

It was a piece of breastplate, shorn cleanly just above the pectoral guards. The metal of the breastplate was thick, but the cut was smooth. As if someone had taken scissors to a piece of cloth. Whatever had done this was unbelievably powerful or sharp. Or both. I looked at Alurn, realizing that his armor would likely only be a hindrance in the coming fight. Our eyes met, and by his steely gaze I could tell he had realized it as well.

We continued further into the chamber, and I glanced around for signs of the enemy. I noticed patches of white on the ground, walls, and pillars. I looked closer and realized that the room had originally been white, and with a sniff I came to the conclusion that the brown staining was from blood. I looked around with horror, the bloodstains covering nearly every inch of the chamber. It was more blood than one orc could possibly provide.

The light suddenly shined upon a figure, hunched over with its back to us. Its skin was sickeningly pale with thin white fur. So thin that the fur was largely absent with the exception of the creature's crown. The hair upon its head was so abundant that it fell past its shoulders, moving almost hypnotically with the twists and jerks of the beast. These movements aligned with the squelching and crunching, and I soon realized it was holding what was left of an arm.

We froze. The horror before us finished its grim meal and turned to face us, rising as it did so. It was as tall as I was, and stood on two legs just as I did. I looked upon a face that could have been my own, were it not so pale. The only color on this creature were its blackened eyes, sunken into its skull from disuse, and the fresh blood dripping from its maw. From the tips of its stiffened fingers extended long claws, discolored by blood both new and old. They were the size of daggers and almost assuredly just as sharp.

I quickly stepped into the shadows as the rest of the party readied themselves to fight the creature. It turned his head to follow my movements, as if it knew where I was without having to see me. It was... smiling at me.

"Pakin, burn the bastard!" shouted Alurn.

Pakin the vile took a stance and shouted, "Onrefni Retaerg Tsa..."

I was barely able to follow what happened. I watched helplessly as the creature moved in one swift motion, closing the distance between itself and Pakin and separating her from her head before she could finish her spell. I watched as her face grew confused and then shocked, before it stopped moving entirely. Her body crumpled to the ground, her magical ball of light snuffing out and shrouding the creature in darkness once again.

"RUN!" I shouted as I charged the creature.

My blades met claws with a sound similar to thunder. The creature was just as strong as I had feared, and it pushed me until my back pressed against the nearest pillar.

"Kirisaka!" Alurn shouted, hefting his sword to ready a blow.

"NO! RUN! RUN NOW! GO!" I shouted, struggling against the creature's might.

They have to go. They need to warn the chief. The lost party is dead, and any further rescuers will die as well. I'm the best match-up against this creature's strength and speed. They have to realize this!

"GO WARN THEM!" I screamed as the creature tilted its claws to dig into my shoulder.

With pained expressions, they turned and fled. I sent a bone shattering kick into the knee of the creature. Instead of collapsing as it should have, it merely lost its balance long enough for me to free myself. I ran deeper into the chamber, trying to draw it away from my fleeing comrades. It followed me into the darkness.

"Noisiv Wodahs Stac," I said, casting shadow vision just in time to dodge a wild slash from the creatures clawed hand.

I counter-slashed and scored a blow on its outer thigh. It didn't go as deep as I had hoped. I slashed and dodged again and again, the creature matching my movements with impossible skill. The macabre smile never left its face. I tapped into every fight I'd ever fought, every training session I'd ever been in, every trick I had learned or seen trying to find a way to score a decisive blow. The creature managed to dodge most of them. Those that it didn't weren't enough to even give it pause.

I'm getting tired. I don't know how long its been. I hope they managed to get away. It's a fair trade. No, there's no time for melancholy! An opening! I perform a standard double slash with all of my strength, aiming for the creature's exposed neck. The creature slashes at my swords just before the blow hits home in an attempt to block.

I use the momentum from the slash to roll and put some distance between us. I hear pieces of metal strike the ground and bounce. I look at my swords and to my horror, I'm only holding the hilts. The creature turns to me and I cast the broken blades aside and draw my knives. As the beast approaches, I throw one of them as hard as I can.

A palpable blow! The knife sinks directly into the creature's eye! It stops dead in its tracks, and I breathe a sigh of relief. Then the creature reaches up to its face and pulls the blade out of its skull, tearing its own eye out with it. The bastard is still smiling, even as its own blackened blood flows down its face.

"FUCK YOU!" I shout defiantly as I bring my final knife to bear.

It charges at me. I barely manage to dodge the strike, slicing into its arm as I do. Another shallow blow, barely enough to draw blood. Curse this vile fiend. It slashes at me once again but this time it anticipates my dodge and kicks at me as well. I am sent flying, the shock stifling the pain. I slam into a pillar, dropping my knife, but I manage rise fast enough to grab the creatures hands, temporarily preventing it from impaling me.

I struggle against its strength, trying to move the claws away from my chest. But the creature is strong, and they inch closer and closer. I stare into its remaining eye with determination. But the claws inch closer and closer. I scream at the beast as I feel the claws pierce my armor and then my skin and then my bones and finally, my scream is cut short as the claws rip into my lungs.

I let go of one of the hands and reach for the creatures head, grasping its ear and tearing it off. The creature rears back in pain, pulling its claws from my chest. Too late, though. Even as the creature fills the air with shrieks, I can no longer breathe. The ear falls from my hand to the ground along with my blood. As my vision fades, I see my prize for the first time. I mentally chuckle at the absurdity of the shape of the ear.

Whoever heard of a round ear?