by Paul Bellow
Dream a Little Nightmare
Sarah
My dream shifted as they sometimes do. I appeared in a gazebo overlooking fields of tall grass. They stretched all the way to the horizon.
“Are we still moving in the real world, Charlotte?”
“Yes,” she replied. “We’re in a fresh tunnel. It’s not as nice as the others we’ve been traveling through. Should I bite you again?”
“Quit asking to bite me,” I snapped. “Try to keep track of where we’re going.”
“I am, Sarah, but the tunnels are twisting and turning, moving up and down.”
Had someone cast a spell on me? Maybe another magic trap I’d set off by leaning against the wall? Why hadn’t any of the others noticed me walking away?
A sense of dread washed over me as I stared out at the empty fields of grass surrounding the white, wooden gazebo. The breeze picked up slightly.
“Where are we now, Charlotte?”
“Still in a freshly dug tunnel,” she said.
“I hope Eric and the others notice I’m missing and come after me.”
“They will, Sarah. I’m sure of it.”
More silence followed. I hated waiting, not knowing what was going on.
Had the game taken an even more sinister turn? Was Magi Inyontoo behind it?
Nagged by an itchy spot on my neck where Charlotte had bitten me, I woke.
As my eyes adjusted to the dark tunnel, I stopped walking.
“Whoa,” I said, feeling dizzy.
“Are you okay?” Charlotte asked.
“I’m fine,” I said. “We need to find the others.”
“At least you brought your staff,” she said.
I gripped the weathered wood tighter.
“The extra mana will help keep us safe,” I said.
We’ve got this. Just stay positive. Find the others. Win this.
Up ahead, I heard a strange language punctuated by snarls and hisses. I extinguished my magic light, then gave my elven eyes a moment to adjust. The voices approached a bend in the tunnel.
I looked around for somewhere to hide.
Four bipeds with alligator heads appeared from around the corner. Covered in scales, the reptilian humanoids hissed as soon as they saw me.
Without hesitating, I cast a single Lance of Lightning for thirty mana, aiming to hit as many of the lizard-men as possible. I remembered them from my dreams.
Your Lance of Lightning WOUNDS the troglodyte for 18 damage.
The troglodyte is dead!
Your Lance of Lightning WOUNDS the troglodyte for 18 damage.
The troglodyte is dead!
You have [230/260] mana remaining today.
The other two trogs stepped over their dead companions and rushed toward me. I cast Snares of Dust twice in quick succession for six mana.
Both troglodytes dropped their weapons as they coughed uncontrollably. Using the opportunity, I sent six Golden Bolts to the closest trog.
Your Golden Bolts INJURE the troglodyte for 12 damage.
The troglodyte is dead!
You have [218/260] mana remaining today.
Am I going to get out of this without being hit once?
The last troglodyte standing crouched then ran forward. Its clawed hands swiped through the air.
The troglodyte’s claws HIT you for 9 damage.
You have [37/46] health remaining.
Too close for another spell, I swung my staff.
Your strike GRAZES the troglodyte for 7 damage
Still unable to see clearly, the troglodyte wildly waved his clawed hands. I stepped aside, dodging its blow.
The troglodyte’s claws MISS you.
I stepped back then cast six Golden Bolts to finish him.
Your Golden Bolts WOUND the troglodyte for 18 damage.
The troglodyte is dead!
You have [206/260] mana remaining today.
Combat is Over!
You get 2,000 xp.
You have 59,327 xp
You need 17,673 xp for level 8 Wizard --> Warlock
What? I got all the xp? Am I not in their party anymore? Or is it because they’re not around?
“I’m not complaining, but I wish the game would give us more information.”
“Me, too, Sarah. Me, too…”
Charlotte’s voice brought me back to the moment.
“I think we found those responsible for digging these new tunnels,” I said. “Now we need to find our way back to the others.”
“Maybe we should leave your light off a while,” Charlotte said.
“Good idea.” I extinguished the magical light. “Let me loot these bodies. I doubt they’ll have anything, but you never know.”
I rummaged through the clothes and purses of the four troglodytes. They had a few copper coins between all of them. I sighed, not taking anything.
“Do you think there will be more of them?” Charlotte asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “My mana is good, but we need to be careful because we’re on our own.”
With Charlotte perched on my shoulder, I walked down the tunnel. After wandering a few minutes, I came across the troglodyte bodies.
“We’ve already been through here,” I said. “We’re going in circles.”
“I think it’s magic,” Charlotte said.
“Probably,” I said. “But how do we get out?”
“Good question,” she said, not offering any solutions.
I shook my head and said, “I’m so tired of this game…”
“What do you mean by game?”
I had the Amulet of the Party and the staff, so I didn’t care.
“None of this is real,” I said.
“I’m real, Sarah.”
“You wouldn’t understand, Charlotte. Don’t worry about it.”
“But I’m worried about not being real,” she replied.
Will I go mad in here with a pretend spider?
Charlotte quit talking as I walked forward more slowly. I carefully watched the walls of the tunnel and the floor, looking for anything out of place.
When I saw the four dead troglodyte bodies, I stopped again and sighed.
“I don’t have any magic to get us out of this one,” I said.
“Do you hear that sound?” Charlotte asked.
I tilted my head and listened.
“More trouble…” I muttered.
“We should see where they’re coming into the tunnel,” Charlotte said. “It might help us find a way out of this trap.”
That’s not a bad idea.
I rushed down the tunnel toward the noise. A hundred feet away, I saw a half-dozen troglodytes spilling out of an opening in the tunnel wall.
I gripped my Staff of the Cavern and stood my ground.
All six troglodytes noticed me. They ran forward, hissing and snarling.
I cast another spell, hoping to maximize my mana usage.
Your Lance of Lightning WOUNDS the troglodyte for 17 damage.
The troglodyte is dead!
Your Lance of Lightning WOUNDS the troglodyte for 19 damage.
The troglodyte is dead!
Your Lance of Lightning WOUNDS the troglodyte for 16 damage.
The troglodyte is dead!
Your Lance of Lightning WOUNDS the troglodyte for 20 damage.
The troglodyte is dead!
You have [170/260] mana remaining today.
Not too shabby.
I smiled as the two remaining trogs looked at each other then fled through the opening in the tunnel wall. As it slammed shut, I ran forward.
Without a moment to spare, I reached the passageway and slipped through. On the other side, I saw the two trogs running down another tunnel.
They were likely going for help, so I cast a dozen Golden Bolts, six at each one of the foul underground creatures.
Your Golden Bolts WOUND the troglodyte for 18 damage.
The troglodyte is dead!
Your Golden Bolts WOUND the troglodyt
e for 16 damage.
The troglodyte is dead!
You have [146/260] mana remaining today.
Combat is Over!
You get 3,000 xp.
You have 62,327 xp
You need 14,673 xp for level 8 Wizard --> Warlock
“Good job, Sarah,” Charlotte said.
“Don’t congratulate me yet,” I said. “This isn’t over. We should keep moving.”
As I crept down the new tunnel, I hoped my mana didn’t run out before I found the others. When it ran out, the trogs could overwhelm me easily.
Solo gaming had never been my thing in the real world, and I didn’t want to change that in the Tower of Gates. But did I even have a choice in the matter?
“I hear something ahead,” Charlotte said.
Fearlessly, I took a few steps toward the now familiar sounds of troglodytes talking amongst themselves. The voices got louder as I approached a bend in the tunnel.
I slowed down, sticking close to the wall.
Eric would be so proud.
I stopped as a brightly lit cavern came into view a few hundred feet down the tunnel. Hisses filled the air.
“We should go back, Sarah. This isn’t the way.”
“Nonsense. We got this. Maybe we’ll find some powerful magic items.”
The closer I got to the enormous cavern, the faster my heart beat.
If we weren’t trapped inside it, this game would be so cool. Stay calm. Be ready. You got this.
I reached the end of the tunnel and glanced around the enormous cavern. Mysterious glowing orbs floating in the air lit everything brilliantly.
Four massive marble pillars stood in middle of the cavern. Still seeing nobody, I inched forward as the strong, steady light from above lit the way.
The pillars were set about ten feet apart from each other, forming a square. I noticed an intricate mosaic formed from different colored on the floor.
“It’s so beautiful,” I whispered.
“We should go,” Charlotte said.
“Not yet,” I said.
The troglodyte sounds I heard were coming from between the pillars, but I couldn’t see anything or anyone between them. Was it more illusion magic?
“Sarah, watch out,” Charlotte said. “Behind us.”
I turned, ready to let loose another Lance of Lightning or two as needed. A dozen or more troglodytes scrambled into the room. They got into formation four-wide and four-deep.
Well, there goes my chance to line them all up and take them out with a single strike. I glanced over my shoulder in the other direction and saw another tunnel leading off.
As the troglodytes marched forward, I turned and walked onto the mosaic tiles between the pillars. The moment I did, a white mist shot up from the floor, freezing me in place.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Charlotte said.
While still aware of what was happening around me, I couldn’t move. My eyes had frozen open, so I saw as the troglodytes circled around outside the pillars.
Their long, teeth-filled snouts yapped and hissed as I wondered whether they would kill me…or do something even worse.
I stared forward, unable to close my eyes or look away.
Whatever was about to happen, I’d have a front-row seat to the action.
18
Standard Troglodyte Infestation
Eric
When I woke up for my shift, I saw Ryu staring at me from beside the door he was guarding. He looked away when he noticed me waking up.
I sat up then stood, stretching and looking around the room where we’d camped for the night.
Where’s Sarah? I wondered, since I didn’t see her.
“Something wrong?” Ryu asked then snickered.
“Yeah,” I said, turning. “Where’s Sarah?”
“No idea.” He shrugged. “Maybe she wanted privacy?”
“You saw her walk away?” I asked.
“Keep it down,” Axelrod grunted then resumed snoring.
“I’m watching for enemies to arrive, not for friends to leave,” Ryu said.
“Which way did she go?” I asked, not lowering my voice.
Some of the others stirred where they slept on the floor.
Ryu nodded his head toward the door we’d come through to get into the room. We’d passed so many side passages and walkways. She might be anywhere.
“Wake up,” I said, clapping my hands. “Sarah’s missing.”
The others woke at their own paces, everyone except for Axelrod.
“Five more minutes,” he said then pulled his blanket over his head.
“Do what you want, but I’m going to find her,” I said.
“Criminy Cricket.” Axelrod threw his blanket off him then stood. “We can’t go looking for her and split the party. She’ll come back.”
“How do you know?” I shook my head. “Something’s wrong. We’re going.”
“I agree,” Josh said.
“Hold on,” Bernard said. “Did anyone see anything?”
“Ryu saw her leave.” I turned to him. “Anything you’re not telling us?”
“I’ve told you everything I know,” he said in an even tone as he stared into my eyes.
“She’ll come back on her own,” Axelrod said. “If not, we’ll go looking when I wake up.”
“What if it was you?” I asked. “You’d want us to come after you. What other traps and monsters are down here? She’s too low-level to solo by herself as a mage.”
Axelrod sighed then ran a hand through his mohawk, flattening it down slightly.
“Fine,” he said. “We’ll split into two groups.”
“Bernard, Sheldon, come with me,” I said.
“You’re getting too excited,” Axelrod said. “This stuff always works out.”
“Like the friends you lost?” I asked.
Axelrod frowned but said nothing.
I lit a torch then motioned for Bernard and Sheldon to follow me. Josh and Ryu stayed behind with Axelrod to look in another direction.
“We’ll go right at the first intersection,” I said as I opened the door out of the room. “We’ll meet back here in a few hours.”
“She’ll be okay,” Bernard said from behind me.
“I hope so,” I said as I walked down a long, stone tunnel.
At the first fork, I went right, not knowing whether it was east, west, north, or south. The only thing that truly mattered was finding Sarah.
If she gets killed…
I pushed the thought aside and concentrated on the path ahead. The ten-foot wide tunnel had been constructed masterfully by someone. Maybe the programmers?
A few hundred yards down the hall, I noticed a freshly dug side-tunnel.
“What do we have here?” I asked, slowing down and holding my torch out.
“It’s not the same craftsmanship,” Bernard said.
“Looks like troglodyte work to me,” I said as I examined the roughly hewn cuts in the rock. “They tend to swarm in groups.”
As I glanced into the fresh tunnel, I heard hissing voices coming our way.
“Hide,” I said, moving to the side of the tunnel opening. “Something’s coming.”
Bernard and Sheldon stood on the other side of the roughly hewn entrance. I extinguished my torch, dropped it, then pulled my second, smaller sword.
Time to grind.
I took a deep breath as the voices got closer. When a tall, humanoid lizard with the head of an alligator stepped out, I attacked without hesitation.
Your slash INJURES the troglodyte for 13 damage.
Your pierce HITS the troglodyte for 9 damage.
The troglodyte is dead!
I heard loud hissing as Sheldon cast a light spell to make it easier for us to fight. Two more troglodytes rushed out of the smaller tunnel. Bernard attacked one while I hit the other.
Your slash INJURES the troglodyte for 11 damage.
Your pierce GRAZES the troglodyte for 6 damage.
; The troglodyte is dead!
Bernard took down the other one.
This is too easy. Four more trogs rushed out, followed by a fifth in tattered green robes. Feathers hung all over his body.
Or maybe not so easy.
“Get the shaman!” I yelled then attacked the nearest troglodyte.
Your slash HITS the troglodyte for 8 damage.
Your pierce HITS the troglodyte for 8 damage.
The troglodyte is dead.
The troglodyte GRAZES you for 7 damage.
You have [117/124] health remaining.
I swung again as five more troglodytes rushed out to protect their shaman.
Your slash INJURES the troglodyte for 12 damage.
Your pierce HITS the troglodyte for 8 damage.
The troglodyte is dead.
Sheldon cast Golden Bolts, taking two of the remaining five down, not including the shaman. The latter raised his hands, palms out.
“Incoming,” I shouted.
Flames shot out of the shaman’s hands.
The shaman’s Burning Hands INJURE you for 12 damage.
You have [105/125] health remaining.
A burning sensation raced through my body. I rushed forward as Bernard and Sheldon took care of the last foot soldiers. My swords swung through the air, both connecting.
Your slash INJURES the troglodyte shaman for 12 damage.
Your pierce GRAZES the troglodyte shaman for 6 damage.
The troglodyte shaman is barely bothered by you.
Well, he’s not going down as easy, I thought.
The shaman turned and bent over while mumbling strange, arcane words with an emphasis on hissing sounds.
A noxious cloud formed around him, knocking me back.
The shaman’s Stinking Cloud stuns you.
I kept my swords up to protect myself as I stumbled backwards.
“What’s that smell?” Bernard yelled.
“Get…him,” I stuttered as I gasped for air.
