Distance wasn’t easy to gauge on the system map, but the grey mark couldn’t be more than a few minutes north of us, even in this slow-going terrain. Alan and I took to the front again while my abominations took each flank.

We did our best to find the shallowest water, but it was impossible to avoid soaking our footwear. I had to hold up the demonic garb to keep it from trailing through the murky dirty water. Thomas rolled up his jeans to his knees, which was enough to keep them from getting soaked when the water reached shin high levels.

A mere two or three minutes of walking through the swamp and we spotted the feature: inconspicuous at first, merely a mound of earth whose peak was some six or seven feet into the air.

The entrance was on the opposite end of us, and we had to circle around the mound before getting a good look at it. An arch of stones with a dark center was embedded in the earth. Each stone was dark and dirty, caked with a slimy layer of algae that appeared older than each of us. Vines twisted and slithered between every crevice giving it an ancient feel.

“This doesn’t look like it’s appeared here since the apocalypse; it could easily have been here for a century,” Alan traced his hands carefully along the stone. The feel… the look, nothing was ‘fresh’ about it.

We walked behind him slowly as a group before standing just in front of the entrance. Being closer to the arch didn’t help me see into it at all. Instead, the darkness just made me more weary and more anxious of what might wait beyond the arch. If it were a passage, then it felt like one that went on without end.

All that I could see were two or three steps of a staircase that led downward into the earth. What lay below, none of us could possibly know. Suddenly, there was flicker at the edge of my vision followed by a series of cracks like rolling thunder that made everyone jump with fright, “Jesus!” Lucas yelled.

Every single one of us turned back to look at the culprit, Maria, whom was wiping fresh dirt from her hands. “What?” she asked innocently. “I just thought tossing a stone in would give us an idea of how deep it was…”

“A bit of warning would have been nice…” Lucas was wiping the sweat from his brow, and he received nods of agreement from his statement from nearly everyone. He was the closest besides Alan to the entrance, and had jumped nearly six feet in fright.

“So, did anyone actually hear Maria’s rock stop?” I chipped in. In our fright not a single one of us was able to determine just how far down the tunnel the rock Maria had thrown went. What was clear though, was just how on edge everyone was.

Alan turned to Maria once again, this time urging her to chuck something else, “Get a bigger stone and¾” he was cut off.

“Yeah, yeah.” Maria sounded aggrieved, “Just a second ago you guys were chastising me…” Her voice trailed off into an inaudible mutter as her fingers pried out a melon-sized stone. “How’s this?”

“A bit gentler this time…” Jessica urged, calmly. She, at least, didn’t sound like she was filled with anxiety. Perhaps her and Thomas had their worries under control. Alan was clearly agitated though, and a bit fearful maybe.

Maria nodded at Jessica’s suggestion and walked forward slowly before leaning forward and pushing the rock away from her, so that it hit the top stair and bounced down the staircase.

The cracking sound of thunder came again, but less intense this time. I listened intently as the stone tumbled away, each bounce knocking on the staircase like a distant drumming echoing outward and disappearing into the forest around us.

Although the principle was the same as tossing a rock in a well, I didn’t hear any splash to allow me to estimate the depth… the rock kept tumbling until we could no longer hear the knocking. “How deep is that!” Face white, Alan looked more scared than the rest of us now. He would be at the frontlines if we decided to enter below.

No one answered his question, and instead Lucas countered with one of his own, “…What is it? Is this a dungeon?”

“That’s… a likely possibility,” I responded. This place was marked so clearly on the map: the atmosphere, the decrepit and uninviting look… it screamed danger… and adventure.

“Well, there’s no indication that dungeons exist… and we’ve seen no announcement about them either.” Thomas offered a different view. There was merit to every question asked, and none of them had clear answers.

There was only one answerable question currently to consider, “Do we dare go inside?” I asked with a sense of excitement. Dungeons could be great danger, but also great experience and rewards. The timing was bad, though.

We needed to return to our new fort and continue preparing for what was to come. Walking that distance when we didn’t have our bearings? It could take up to two weeks. Two weeks was a long time in this new world, and a lot could change. I had given those people my word I’d keep them safe, and intended to keep it.

“How about just a look?” I asked. It was what we previously agreed upon. And knowing that Maria and Lucas had very little gear, I anticipated they would agree with me in the hope of getting good items. “Hands up if you are willing to see what it’s like in there.”

Only Alan failed to raise his hand. He looked at all of us, hesitant even to speak, there was a short silence before he voiced a complaint, “It’s easy for you all to say…” His voice trailed off in a mutter, but I did manage to hear him muttering about the dangers of leading the front.

When his rambling had no effect on our desire to enter, he let out a sigh and gave us all a death stare before turning and facing the opening. “Just a look.” His stern and serious voice wasn’t all that reassuring, but everyone gave a few words of encouragement to give him that extra bit of courage.

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One hand held that door frame while the other grasped the algae-covered stone. His head peered into the darkness and paused for a moment, “Can’t see a damn thing.” He complained. “Stay close behind me.”

We huddled in a line behind him and, one-at-a-time, entered into the darkness of the swampy pit. I had no choice but to cast Vast Shadows and park my squad of undead. They couldn’t fit down this narrow corridor. That thought was slightly worrisome, but I bottled it up.

The darkness was overwhelming at first, but my eyes quickly acclimatized. There was nothing on the walls or the steps but more algae and dirt.

Alan swatted at cobwebs at the front with his spear, while his other hand sternly held his shield out front. The usual sturdiness with which he held it was gone, and instead I could see it trembling in his hand. “Careful, the steps are getting slicker.” His voice was shaky and low.

There was a growing dampness as we traveled lower, and yet after about twenty steps there was no new features: just a narrow, dark descent that continued deeper with no sign of it ending.

The entrance behind us was the only source of light, and my visibility grew more and more limited as we continued. In almost pitch darkness, I guessed that the only thing allowing Alan to move forward was the knowledge that one stone step followed the next. A drip of water occasionally pattered onto the stone below, or splattered into a cheek or shoulder.

“Can you see anything?” Jessica asked. There was no doubt she was scanning the area for any enemies. If there were any, she would have alerted us already.

“Just what is this place…?” My hand traced the wall with curiosity, but came free with nothing but grime and a slimy substance.

“Just more steps” Alan whispered from below us. “Wait, I think we’re coming to the end!” He said, “Stop, stop! Don’t push!”

Everyone came to an as abrupt a halt as possible on these slippery steps. Hands grasped the wall and each other’s shoulders in an attempt to keep from toppling over in one big mess. “What is it? What do you see?” shouted Maria from the back.

“Flat ground, there are no more steps.” I could hear his spear tip tracing the ground slightly. The visibility was so bad he was basically walking blind and had no other option but to use the wooden spear as a cane. “It’s just a hallway of darkness in front of me…” His face turned back and all I could see were his eyes, their moisture reflecting the barely visible entrance light.

“Well… we’ve come this far, should we go a bit further?” I asked. I was of the mind to keep going, but so far we’d seen nothing that suggested we were in a special – and potentially rewarding – dungeon. We were no doubt a decent depth underground. It was possible we could end up lost if this hallway turned into anything more than a single path.

“Let’s just see what’s at the end and make a decision then…” offered Jessica. We decided as a group, well… mostly.

“Are you alright Alan?” Lucas was directly behind our tank, and must have also sensed the discomfort he was facing.

“I forgot to mention… I don’t really like enclosed spaces.” His voice was shaky and uncertain. I suddenly realized that he had been struggling to make it this far, and we were only moving deeper into the darkness, with no end in sight. It wasn’t monsters he feared, but the confinement.

“You’re claustrophobic?” Maria asked.

“Very,” Alan replied.

I spoke, “Let’s just take a quick peek and turn around then.” Everyone agreed. No doubt we all wanted to know what this was, what was located here. This was definitely out of the ordinary and must have some special reason for existing.

It took a while for Alan to begin moving again but at last I heard his spear scrapping on the floor and the clink of his step. Lucas began to move and then stopped, almost as if expecting something to happen. We were all expecting something… anything. But nothing did happen.

A sigh of relief came from Alan, and then he started to move forward again. It was that next step that caused him to let out a yelp. “The ground just gave way a little, under my right foot!”

Then from all around, the sound of slow-moving stones, grinding deep within the walls of this pit filled our ears. “Turn around now and run!” Alan shouted frantically.

He was already at his wit’s end, and the sudden commotion caused him to barge into Lucas who staggered against me. “Stay calm. We’ll get out quicker without pushing. Turn back Maria please, lead us out.”

To be fair to Alan, his panic stopped and we could begin climbing the steps. Unfortunately, it quickly became obvious there would be no easy exit.

The light atop the staircase, our ticket out, grew thinner and fainter, even though we were climbing fairly rapidly. It should have been getting lighter. It was then I realized what the stone moving commotion was. The entrance way was being sealed up, and soon after I had that thought darkness engulfed us completely.

My heart was in my throat, and the sound of Alan nearly hyperventilating drowned out all sounds except the droning mechanism of moving rock. I guessed he was on the verge of having a panic attack, but how could I offer any reassuring words? There was nothing reassuring I could say.

Alan hadn’t been in favor of this journey below once he had seen the entranceway, and he had been dragged down from our nagging. If I tried to urge him to calm down and he exploded in anger, I wouldn’t blame him for reacting that way.

Evidently, no one wanted to be the first to cut the tense atmosphere by saying something, and I was wondering what I could say to offer encouragement when lights suddenly appeared. The inside of the corridor began to glow as purple flames floated off the walls.

They started near the entrance and slowly lit up on each side one at a time before racing past us and into the distance. “What in the world—” muttered Lucas.

“This can’t be re—” Maria stopped herself from even finishing that thought out loud. We weren’t living in a logical world anymore.

“Is that a gate in the distance?” It seemed only Jessica was still fully in control of the situation. We all turned to look at what appeared to be a jail-cell type entrance about one hundred feet in front of us. What lay behind it, none of us could make out.

“Alan, are you okay?” I asked. There was only one path to take, and that was to keep moving ahead. We had to keep traveling deeper to get out of this place.

There was a moment before he responded, “Just a few moments… please.” He was kneeling against the wall and calming his breathing.

“It’s likely this pathway will open up into a bigger area. The system can’t expect us to fight in such a narrow hallway,” Lucas offered, patting Alan on the shoulder.

“I think so too.” Jessica said. Everyone began giving their reassurances, and that little bit of hope seemed to give Alan some relief.

“Right…” Alan said. “It should definitely open up into a wider area.” He pushed himself off the wall and took a deep breath before giving us all a glance.

“Everyone keep up your guard, we can’t know for sure what lies ahead. There’s no guarantee there aren’t traps here as well,” Lucas said.

“Once we can get into a more open area, I can summon one of my skeletons to lead the front,” I suggested. “It should be able to trigger any traps for us. That way Alan can stay out of unnecessary danger.”

“Does anyone have some extra potions?” Maria asked a bit timidly from behind. There was a shy interior underneath the thorny exterior she displayed. It was hard being a young girl in a world that was falling apart. Ghost Hand had been a cruel reality of a type that no doubt others still faced.

“I have a few extra,” Jessica turned back and passed her three to keep hold of in case of emergencies.

I gestured at the door. “Let’s take it slow, one step at a time. We can figure out our best course of action once we know what we’re facing.” Everyone nodded in agreement.

Alan picked up the shield and spear from the ground and steadied his shaking hands. “One foot in front of the other…” He mumbled beneath his breath. It wouldn’t have been audible if there was any other sound besides the pattering of small water droplets.