“Shit,” Niko growled, staring at the wall before him. The secret passageway was, oddly enough, still open, as was the short path back to the sealed off entrance, but the rest of the dungeon was closed off to them, sealed behind a series of thin but sturdy crisscrossing walls.
“Vivi may be on to something,” Ferris observed. “Either that, or Lucas is not only cursed one.”
“I categorically refuse to believe that what I said had any effect on what happened,” Niko said flatly. A distant roar immediately followed the statement, accompanied by the return of the strange scraping noise.
One that was much, much closer this time.
“You were saying?” Lucy asked cheerfully as a bulllike humanoid covered in chains rounded a nearby corner.
It was 9 feet tall at the very least, with a sort of rusty red-brown fur covering everything but its hands. At least, team Ignis thought it was covered in fur. It was a bit hard to tell, owing to how the crisscrossing links of countless chains, all made of the same dull, black iron, were wrapped around it in a sort of makeshift armor.To make matters worse, each of its hands had a long strip of spike-studded chain wrapped around it twice over - once at the knuckles, and again at the wrist. For a moment, the massive beast stared at the party, as if surprised to see a living creature in its home. Then, it shook itself violently, rattling its chains in a display that would’ve been intimidating if the people observing weren’t stunned into dumbstruck silence at its bizarre appearance.
“... Well fuck,” the pyromancer muttered as the monstrosity charged towards him.
Monika swept the caster’s legs out just in time as the beast skid to a halt, whipping one hand out towards him in a sweeping arc. The long, serrated chain wrapped around the hand ripped itself free of the monster’s knuckles, tearing through air with startling speed and precision. Niko rolled backwards as the razor sharp weapon just barely missed him, leaping to his feet as Ferris intercepted the weapon with his absurdly dense shield. Lucy scowled as she launched a shining arrow at the thing.
“This thing’s a crossbreed,” she shouted. “Bull demon and chain demon - anyone have lightning?”
Niko shrugged, casually tossing handfuls of flame at the monstrosity. “Why would I? Fire’s better.”
“Not against demons!” the elf snapped. “These things literally bathe in fire, genius!”
The pyromancer smirked as a gleaming ball of brilliant white flames sprang to life in his palm. “Sounds like the perfect chance to show off,” he said humbly. He launched a searing sphere at the beast with his other hand, but it batted the blaze aside with its bare hands, bellowing in rage as its fingers began to smoke.
Before it could take as much as a step in the pyromancer’s direction, though, a blindingly bright ball of flame shattered one of its horns, staggering it. It snarled in a way that belied its bovine face and charged blindly towards the mage, only to slam once more into a wall as he dodged around it the beast.
“What’s wrong, big guy?” he mocked as the monster lashed out at him with its extended chains once again. He snatched the chain in once flame coated hand, smirking at the towering demon. “Not a fan of barbeque? What a shame! Ah, well - more for us!” As Niko finished speaking, half a dozen small but blindingly bright balls of flame manifested above the creature and slammed into its skull, eliciting another roar of pain and fury.
“What the hell?!” Niko complained as he dodged yet another charge from the furious beast. He unleashed wave after wave of flames at the bizarre monster, scorching the beast’s hide with a volley of blazing spheres, but it refused to fall. “This spell’s literally designed for burning demons! The brute should be charcoal by now!”
“Maybe the minotaur half is just actual minotaur, and not bull demon?” Lucy suggested as she counted her arrows. 8 left.
“That would explain why banishment fails,” Ferris agreed as he tried to cast a spell, only for it to abruptly flicker out. “But it looks tired. We will win soon. And on bright side, would make bet a draw.”
“How’s that a bright side?” Niko snapped.
“Bright for me,” the dwarf clarified as he blocked an earth shattering blow from one of the beast’s oversized fists. “You are annoying when proven right.”
Niko scowled as he appraised the situation, setting the banter aside as his mind raced through every option available to them.
They’d been down here for a while, but they were still fairly fresh, all things considered. Niko was sure he could burn his way through this thing given enough time, but how long could his friends hold out?
Ferris barely even bothered to use magic as he fought the brute - probably trying to make sure he had enough power to patch them all up afterwards. Monika and Lucy were both breathing more heavily as the fight raged on, the enclosed space the new walls had formed forcing the pair to rely on sheer speed to stay a step ahead of the beast. If he didn’t end this soon…
“Unacceptable,” he said quietly. Raising his voice, he called out to his team.
“Ferris! Time for Lethal Force.” Waves of heat rolled off him as he channeled most of his remaining energy into his hands. The Demon snarled and tried to gore him with its remaining horn.
Exactly as he expected.
Niko rolled out of the way, throwing one last spell - not at the Demon, but at Monika. Ferris, who’d been smirking ever since Niko spoke the name of their preferred backup plan aloud, finished murmuring the chant to his own spell just as the flames landed at the swordswoman’s feet. Monika blurred into motion, vanishing just as a thin layer of holy light wrapped around her blade. A trail of sputtering flames was the only sign that she hadn’t simply teleported as she sheathed her blade on the far side of the abruptly still half demon. “Well fought,” she said softly as the monster’s severed head fell to the floor.
Lucy whistled appreciatively as she walked over to the massive corpse. “It’s not vanishing,” she said with a smile. “That means it really was half minotaur… and that we have found ourselves one hefty payday. Dibs on the horn!”
“What is it with you and horns?” Niko muttered as he pulled out a skinning knife. “You’ve called dibs on the last 12 monster horns we’ve harvested!”
“It’s an homage to her default mood,” Ferris said, stonefaced. Monika, who’d been drinking a healing potion at the time, spluttered and coughed, her face going bright red.
“Ferris!”
Her embarrassment only made the joke funnier - especially to Lucy, who was barely able to keep her footing as she doubled over with mirth.
Niko smiled as he watched his team bicker, but it didn’t reach his eyes. The fight had been closer than he would’ve liked. He tried to calm his racing heart as he skinned the massive beast, trying not to imagine what might happen if a second one was still lurking in the depths of the shifting labyrinth.
He hoped Valorous was having a better time of things than he was.
----------------------------------------
“Shatter!” Vivi cried, slamming a magically enhanced fist against the wall that now stood between the two teams. “I said shatter! Why isn’t it working?!” She slammed her hand against the stone again and again even as the magic surrounding it fell apart and her bones screamed in protest. She could faintly hear the sounds of battle from just beyond the stone, small tremors making their way through the stone walls as something slammed into them with outrageous force.
Lucas put a calming hand on her shoulder as she pulled her fist back once again, shaking his head.
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“Only thing about to shatter is your hand,” he rumbled. “Stay calm. Remember, they’re by the door. If we can find another way out, we can open the doors for them from the other side.”
Zen spluttered, coughing up a lung full of dust. “He’s right,” the scholar rasped. “Our best chance of getting everyone out of here is to push forwards.”
“Because that’s worked so well so far,” Jubel replied sarcastically.
“The situation has changed,” the bandaged man said tersely. “We solved another part of this test when we found that pressure plate, I’m sure of it! All we must do now is forge ahead!”
He took a confident step forward, only to stop as a raspy, high pitched laugh filled the air. The voice that had mocked them during the fight with the ghouls had returned, and, much to their annoyance, seemed to be in fine spirits.
“Yes, yes!” it urged them. “Get a little closer! What could go wrong, right? Come, let’s play for a bit while there’s still time!” The strange voice shifted as it spoke, a playful, somewhat suggestive feminine voice replacing the obnoxious whine.
Vivi spun towards the empty passageway, her eyes narrowing. “Stop that.”
“Awwww,” the irritating voice called out, “did I upset you? Was it something I said? Or maybe… how I said it?”
“That voice,” the elf snarled bitterly, “is not yours.”
The voice laughed, a cold, mocking sound that echoed through the narrow halls of the makeshift maze. “How rude!” it said in a mock offended tone. “And after all we’d been through! I’m hurt, hun!” Lucas spun around. That time, the voice had a clear source - one that was quickly approaching them.
“Vi-”
Vivi slammed one hand into the stone wall, the air around her shimmering with a seething mass of barely suppressed magic. She could barely even hear her friends now.
“YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO USE HER VOICE!” the elf shrieked as the sound of laughter drew closer.
“You want me to stop?” the voice said from down the hall.
“Make me.” This time the voice shifted, a distinctly masculine, if somewhat juvenile, voice replacing the previous tone and catching the party off
Damaia screamed in pain as a small gray creature fell from the ceiling, landing on her back and sinking it’s fangs into her cheek. The gaunt, twisted creature had demonic horns not unlike the engineer’s sticking out of its skull and a single, emerald green eye set in the middle of its face. It was covered, from malformed head to bony toe, in runes that appeared to have been tattooed onto its withered flesh, but in spite of the lack of visible muscle, it was clearly strong, effortlessly clinging to the engineer in spite of her mechanically enhanced attempts to remove it.
Lucas leapt towards the creature, shifting in a blur as he tried to tear through its frail arms, but it easily ducked under the blow, using the engineer as a living shield. Damaia, thinking fast, slammed her back against the wall, forcing the critter to drop to the ground to avoid being flattened against the unforgiving stone. Skittering out from behind her, the bizarre imp laughed, its voice shifting once more as it spoke. “You missed, sis!” it taunted the engineer in the voice of a teenage boy as it darted away. “Just as slow as you ever were!”
Vivi darted towards the thing, clumsily swiping at it with the edge of her rapier as anger washed away her better judgment. The imp cackled madly, darting between her legs and slicing at her thighs with its tiny claws, drawing a cry of pain and surprise from the elf.
Jubel leapt forwards as the tiny beast pulled itself up to its full, utterly unimpressive height of three feet and opened its mouth, hate shining in its single eye. He reached for the cold, furious part of himself that always seemed to respond best to his magic, and focused.
Jubel gave the astonished monster a vicious smile as he swung the blade down, calling on Nihlus’ most recent gift.The pitch black blade in his hand gleamed as the world seemed to grow darker, and an icy chill filled the air as sword cut effortlessly through the glowing green eye that was glaring his way.
For a moment, it appeared as if nothing had happened. Then, the very air seemed to shudder, and the imp shattered, falling to pieces with a sound like breaking glass before crumbling to dust.
Before anyone had a chance to say or do anything further, though, a second creature, identical to the first save for the addition of a pair of small, black, feathered wings, landed on Lucas’ head and clawed at his eyes. The shapeshifter snarled, instinct saving his sight as he violently shook the creature loose.
“What’s wrong, bro? You don’t wanna play anymore?” The remaining imp asked in the voice of a prepubescent boy. Lucas snarled as the tiny monster mocked him in his brother’s voice, smashing his head against the wall in an attempt to crush it. The beast danced gracefully across his back, avoiding his clumsy attempts to destroy it, even as Jubel moved in. The thing turned its gleaming green eye towards the half elf - and froze.
“You…” it whispered, its eyes going wide as its voice returned to the scratchy, whining tone it first spoke to them in. “There’s nothing? How?!” It scrambled away from the swordmage, practically tripping over itself as his eyes shifted in dark, star-filled voids.
Lucas cut the imp off as it tried to flee, snarling at it with a hateful gleam in his eyes as he sank to all fours, his bones cracking as they shifted positions. “You won't be getting away,” the shapeshifter promised darkly.
Before he could make good on his threat, though, Vivi stepped in to do it for him. The elf swung her rapier like a club, a crackling wave of condensed sound sweeping out along its edge and tearing through the air as she shrieked in incoherent fury. The sudden blast of raw magic caught the demon off guard, tearing one thin arm off at the shoulder… and nearly deafening the nearby werewolf, who howled in pain. He lashed out blindly, the Beast overwhelming him for just long enough to toss the elf into a wall, where she slumped to the floor.
A familiar giggle drew her attention as the creature slowly stalked towards her, razor sharp claws held high.
She held up one shaking hand as it drew near, the palm held outwards. She muttered something under her breath as the thing darted forwards, ready to punish her for daring to wound it. This was its chance to turn the tide - it refused to waste it.
The imp's clawed fingers were mere inches from her throat when a sound like thunder filled the air again, hurling it across the hallway. It lay there for a moment, battered and broken, before slowly dissolving into a crimson mist.
Vivi smiled weakly as silence fell across the hall. “That fucking hurt.You guys ok?”
She looked at Lucas as she spoke, and the shapeshifter stared blankly at her. “YOU’LL HAVE TO EXPLAIN IN WRITING! YOU SORTA DEAFENED - gah!” The lycan cut himself off as her latest spell took effect, rapidly healing his burst eardrums.
“Sorry,” she muttered as she healed her own ears, sighing with relief as sound returned to the world. “I kinda lost it for a minute back there.”
“I wasn’t exactly a paragon of patience and good will back there, myself,” the werewolf admitted.
“It’s understandable. They were using the voices of people we knew.”
Jubel shrugged. “At least it wasn’t some mind warping trap this time! That’d be too many coincidences for my taste.”
“It may as well have been, though. How’d that thing know who to sound like or what to say?”
Lucas looked troubled by the elf's words. “Fuck! I must be having an off day - I hadn't even considered that. It had to have read our minds!”
“Which would make this the second time a Dungeon monster was able to get inside my head,” Damaia grumbled. She wore a scowl of her own now, trying - and failing - to hide how uncomfortable the idea made her. “The similarities here are really starting to pile up. If I didn’t know any better I’d have thought Deena built this place!"
The bard nodded emphatically. "That’s my point exactly. The longer we stay here, the more this place reminds me of that sewer Dungeon. Getting trapped inside the Dungeon, I can look past. This place was meant to test people, so there were probably ways to open it from the outside or something back when it was still in use. Everything looking sorta similar makes sense too - sewers are practically a maze to begin with, so some similarities are to be expected, but monsters that both read your mind and use that to mimic voices?” The elf shook her head. “Something’s strange about all this.”
Zen cleared his throat, glancing nervously between each of the adventurers as they turned in unison to face him. “I hate to interrupt, but I may have found something,” he offered hesitantly, gesturing towards one of the walls. “It’s old and faded, but there’s an inscription here. It says, ‘The Trial is no place for cowards or fools. Pay no heed to any voice save your own.’ Then, just below that, there seems to be an indentation, roughly in the shape of a humanoid hand.”
A frustratingly long pause followed the statement. “What the hell does that mean?!” Lucas snapped, his patience already worn thin from the day's events.
The scholar took a nervous step back. “G-given what just happened, I’d ha-hazard a guess that th-there may have been some reward offered for ignoring those things. We’ll never know for sure, though, since-”
An audible click rang out as Jubel casually pressed his hand into the spot Zen had indicated, silencing the astonished scholar.
Then, the wall collapsed, dispersing in a now familiar cloud of dust and revealing a tunnel that spiraled downwards.
As the hauntingly familiar glowing runes that were the only source of light in the spiraling passageway flickered to life, Valorous couldn't help but feel like Nico might've been right.
The were definitely cursed.