Chapter 15

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[Sigurd]

We entered the rain forest, tired and frightened. Well, not afraid per se, but on edge at the very least. Vigilant, guarded and suspicious. What was hiding in those trees?

I didn’t like the look of them. Immediately upon exiting the swamp level, the feelings that the stairs had exuded had put me on edge. They had a rich, tropical wooden façade joining into a glossy plank on top. The wood had a depth of colour that intimidated me. I didn’t know why. The finely crafted stairs told me that the floor that followed would be constructed to this and more.

Logically, I should be fine. We should be fine. I was in the company of experienced adventurers that delved new dungeons frequently. Nothing had really troubled us as of yet and why would this be any different? It wouldn’t. it couldn’t. Yet I couldn’t dislodge the thought that we were stepping from the frying pan and into the fire.

Extremely dense jungle abutted the exit and we had had to climb over the buttress roots of the trees for a good 20m before we reached the clearing. I was beginning to feel that that it was a standard feature that this dungeon had instituted. A staging area for us to set up in. Hopefully it would continue to do so, it was very useful. I suspected that in later levels, it would not be the case. Mayhap the dungeon would realise there was no benefit to giving us time to prepare and they would be removed.

Looking out over the rainforest from our clearing was daunting. From the soft green grass and the firm clear ground of the clearing in which we stood, to the matted, tangled, nest of branches that wove in and out of each other like a tapestry. A spider’s web waiting for the fly. We were the fly.

Looming, like a monolithic machine of some unknown purpose, it waited. Waited for us. Like the ever-present void or the grey mists of time it stood, motionless and apathetic, looking on with quiet detachment.

Stepping into the forest was a nerve-wracking endeavour, but like swimming in cold water, it was best to jump in quickly.

Though it was the best choice, it wasn’t easy. Even the fearless Kael, the unshakeable Seb and the rock of the team; Jackson, seemed to be feeling it.

What became apparent quite quickly how tough the journey was. The army of trees, vines, shrubs and mud forced us to slow to a crawl, battling for each meter of progress.

All the foliage would have to be hacked through with our axes. Not the purpose of a battle axe but it served to clear our path well enough. Though, it would need a professional touch up when we were done as chopping through the woody environment would dull the edge beyond my sharpening skills, and beyond the skills of Tarran, the Littlebrook blacksmith, it was just a hobby and weaponsmithing was significantly harder than making horseshoes. I satisfied my annoyed side by telling him that I could get it repaired or replaced in the capital once I went back.

Hopefully they would have a good stock of weapons to choose from, my current battle-axe needed retiring. I had had her since my adventuring days, and those were a few years ago now. If I was to get back into the game, then a replacement was sorely needed.

Once the treeline was gone, the world seemed to come alive. Like the swamp the ambiance was one of life. It buzzed and chirped and croaked and growled so much so that I thought that perhaps it was the very vegetation we chopped through that was alive.

It wasn’t.

I checked. Several times.

But it felt like it nonetheless.

It kept me on guard, the constant vigilance wearing at my mind as nothing sprang out at us. I took a few calming breaths and focused my mind.

The floor was tough in terms of both the physical movement of chopping our way through and the mental strain of the rainforest environment.

You knew there was going to be an attack, you knew it was going to come as a surprise, you knew to be on edge, yet the absence of such attacks played havoc with me and the others alike.

The buzzing insects and constant barrage of sounds took all of your attention as you snapped around to track it focusing on this and that, your mind in a nervous flurry.

But it was nothing. Nothing ever seemed to come out of the trees along our path, nor the shadows that clung like clothing to their wooden skin.

They didn’t erupt from the ground or fall from the sky. They didn’t stand waiting for us in clearings or hidden in ambushes, they just weren’t there. But, of course they were. There was something waiting for us, of that I was sure. It was inconceivable that the floor was empty.

Unless it wasn’t finished yet. Yes, perhaps that was it.

As if mirroring my own thoughts, the others spoke up.

“Do you think this is the last level? You know, since we’ve encountered no monsters then perhaps it’s not finished.” Jenna queried, hope filling her voice.

“I wouldn’t count on us being so lucky Jenna. I have a feeling there’s more to this dungeon than we’ve seen. Keep your guard up, just cause we’ve seen nothing yet doesn’t mean it’s not coming.”

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“I know, I know. You don’t have to say it Seb.”

“I do. Got to make it fresh. Keeping you lot alive is a damn difficult task, especially Kael. Crazy bastard.”

“Hey!” he protested.

“What?” they all responded in perfect synchronisation. I snorted in semi laughter at their antics.

“Nothing.” He replied. Then in a more subdued tone “not that crazy” he protested muttering under his breath to himself. I was sure I was the only one to hear, being the closest to him.

Since they didn’t respond I felt I was correct about that assumption.

I looked at the others a final time before concentrating on the forest once again.

We had made it a long way now, and the tension that had once been suffusing the very air we breathed was thick enough to cut.

The awkward silence of my companions and the sounds of the forest had slowly built up into crescendo, a looming storm cloud on the horizon. A trembling bubble buffeted by the wind.

It would have to break.

The restrained forces that battled for freedom would win; the bubble pop and the storm rage. The crash of the cymbal echoing out the coming conflict would ring out.

And it did.

As if we were within that very cymbal, the world shook as the storm took hold.

Winds whipped around, flicking the branches and leaves around with deadly speeds. A whirlwind of plant matter, raining down cuts and bruises as it circled our little group now missing one member.

On unsteady feet I clenched my axe as the floor seemed to tip and sway, trying with all its heart to dislodge me.

With shaking steps, I moved over to Jackson and tried to support him. The large man with his towering shield was the last defence for the mages. His lumbering size and armoured hide kept them from danger.

If he fell it would be disaster.

I may have only been slightly dwarven, but as sure as the blood in my body runs red, the dwarves are built for the earth and I would stand strong.

I looked over at the others as I endured. Both the mages were curled up on the floor behind us. Safe and sound.

Thank god.

Sebastien was ok. Trapped on the outside of the storm somehow, he was busy battling something. They were diminutive humanoids though they fought fiercely enough. Like some distant cousin of the kobolds or goblins perhaps.

Though they fell to his sword at a decent rate he was slowly being picked off from afar with arrows and bolts. Already they were punching holes in his armour and nicking his extremities.

With a sickening squelching sound, a bolt lodged itself in his bicep, tearing out the muscle.

I watched stoically as the storm resurged and obscured my vision and I had to focus on supporting Jackson.

If it didn’t end soon perhaps it would be the end of us.

The storm resurged again, batting at us as a cat toys with a mouse, enticing it to run away just to cruelly catch it moments later. But it fizzled out and the world grew still. It seemed like hours, yet it could only have been seconds and the plight of Sebastien seemed a million miles away.

A tiny speck at the edge of my vision.

A growing brightness. It stemmed from my waist, blooming and blossoming until the light touched all that I could see and flowered, suffusing me with energy.

I looked down as I pushed Jackson away to stand. A small, pale white hand clutched my waist. I smiled at its owner before wading into battle, letting the tide of fury power my swings as I chopped my way to Sebastien.

The kobold looking things were about chest high for me, though that would have been waist high for Jackson and had scaled limbs from what I could see sticking out of the furred clothes that had been roughly hacked out of the animals of the forest.

It covered them modestly, offering little protection though and my axe sunk into them with ease, smashing chests and chipping bones.

Absently I noticed the arrows clink of my armour or thud into me, but I paid them little notice. It hadn’t hit anything vital and I could be patched up later.

So, I continued.

The blood of my enemies sprayed out in arterial spurts, bathing me in a life-filling warmth as I hacked away at the creatures. Sparing them no more thought than that of a bug as I ended their lives, extinguishing the hopes and dreams that they had surely had.

What had the one whose head I split like an apple had for breakfast?

What had he dreamt last night as he laid his head down?

The woman he was looking for?

The mother that had cared for him?

The father that had groomed him into the warrior that had faced me today, only to be cut down in short order?

One body among many.

Perhaps that was it?

Or maybe he had dreamt of the dark clothed giant that would mercilessly wade through the night, bodies falling in the darkness. The only sign, the leaking blood that salted the meadows and fields, killing a people and massacring those he had loved?

Perhaps that was it?

What about the one who had had his arms chopped off and his throat slashed?

What had he thought and felt and lived?

How had he thought and felt and lived?

What had he hoped for?

What had he lived for?

I wouldn’t know.

I would never know, and if I was being honest, I didn’t care to know.

No, I didn’t feel for them. I didn’t think about them or agonise over them as I lay down to rest. They were there and then they were gone, as transient as a stray thought or a leaf in the wind.

There one moment gone the next, ashes.

And ashes didn’t matter. They blew away with the wind, the fading echo all that was left, until even the ones that had heard it were ashes.

That was life, and I enjoyed it immensely.

Once Seb was safe, I felt the smile creep over my jaw as I fought. The rush, the adrenalin. The superiority of facing death and emerging triumphant. Oh, man. I had missed this so much.

There was a reason no-one retired from delving, I had been kidding myself if I thought it was over.

“Come over here little beastie and let’s see who’s better!” I taunted, revelling in the whole experience.

It growled, furious at me, baring its teeth and rushing.

Laughing, I pivoted on my back foot, turning around and slashing brutally at his back, crushing the spine and severing it, killing the beast on its feet. With light filled eyes I watched it stumble and fall.

It was over. Whew. What a rush. I loved it. I absolutely loved it.

“Thank you Dungeon. Thank you.” I said smiling as I walked back over to the group, dripping red and grinning like a madman.

“I missed this.”

“Yep, looks like it” lore said, eyebrow raised at the frenzy I’d displayed.

“How’s Seb?”

“Good, good. It wasn’t much damage though the bicep will need serious work once we’re out. If you hadn’t rushed in, then it would have been a lot worse.” Jenna said, glancing down at Seb fondly.

“Come here, you’ve got a few scratches I can sort out.”

“Nah, I’m fine” I replied confidently. Though I winced internally as I rolled my shoulder.

Jenna sighed. I was in for it now.

“I was being polite. You’ve got a damn arrow in your shoulder, you silly man. Now get the hell over here and let me heal it before I shoot you myself.” She demanded.

“Fine, fine. I’ll come fair lady, don’t shoot.”

“Arrrgh” she threw her hands up in mock annoyance.

“You like me really” I replied, pretending not to notice her slight blush as I sat down for her to heal me.

“Infuriating man” I heard her whisper gently.

I smiled.