Dungeons of the Crooked Mountains

by Alexey Osadchuk

  When I heard the last two words, I chuckled skeptically.

  “I understand your sarcasm, young man,” he commented bitterly on my reaction. “If only you could know what our order used to be capable of... The look on your face… But alas, time is merciless...”

  Back in the closet, the ghost walked over to the far wall and pointed at a hidden niche almost at ceiling level.

  “That’s where the last item I can give you is located...”

  “What if I bring up my reputation more?”

  “Alas, this is the last secret this place holds,” Sly shrugged.

  Hm... To be frank, I was hoping for more.

  “Well, alright,” I said, sighing heavily. “Let’s see your secret...”

  The secret was a narrow scroll that gave off a pale blue magical glow.

  “Is that some kind of spell?” I asked, coming to life.

  “Better,” the foxman smiled. “It’s a map.”

  “A map?” I asked, not understanding.

  “Yes, a map,” the ghost nodded. “A map of Stonetown and all its traps. As you remember, I myself was preparing to show you but alas, I was mistaken in my calculations.”

  “What calculations exactly?” I asked, my ears perked up.

  “Hm...” Sly stumbled. “You see, Eric... Here’s the thing... I’m going to have to leave you...”

  “What does that mean? For long?”

  Closing his eyes guiltily, the foxman said quietly:

  “For good...”

  “What do you mean for good?!” I shouted, baffled.

  “If only you knew how bad I feel about this whole thing, youngster... I have expended too much power keeping you in this city... And I overshot... The spells that hold me here are breaking. I cannot continue to power them. Heh... Old Sly the trickster played one last trick — on himself...”

  “And what about your mission?! The portal is still open! And what, if I may be so bold, are Gorgie and I supposed to do?!”

  “Alas, I cannot unlock the Door. It will only open after the portal has been sealed. You’ll have to continue our mission without me... I sincerely believe in you, my brother!”

  Oh, go screw yourself! You’re no brother to me! Brothers don’t lock each other in a gods-forsaken tomb to be devoured by otherworldly creatures!

  Eric, Eric... Looks like this is becoming tradition...

  But out loud I asked:

  “How can I seal the portal?”

  “Did you see the puddle beneath the crack?”

  “Yeah, looks sticky and nasty,” I nodded. “I saw it. I was surprised that it didn’t all drip out.”

  “Sealing magic,” the foxman confirmed. “But the spell needs more power. You need to feed it ghostly crystals.”

  “But how...?” I started, but Sly interrupted me.

  “Simply throw them into the puddle.”

  “And that’s all?” I asked in surprise. “That’s the secret method it took you over a thousand years to come up with?”

  “Yes,” the ghost answered. “I think it should work.”

  “And you’re not even sure?!” I exclaimed, thunderstruck.

  “Well I really hope it will work... It has shown promising results.”

  “What results?”

  “That puddle used to be the size of a small pond. That must give you some hope, doesn’t it?”

  “How many crystals have you fed to that thing so far?!” I asked, astounded.

  “Many. Very many,” Sly answered sadly. “Your predecessor almost completed the mission, but alas he died. And the monster that killed him acquired a body and escaped to freedom. By the way, I see you are using one of its abilities. It must have adapted to the caverns pretty well and multiplied.”

  “I don’t understand,” I shook my head. “Are you talking about the gulper?”

  “Exactly.”

  The ghost nodded and suddenly his body started fading.

  “Well, seems like that’s about it...” Sly Redtail announced sadly, glancing at his quickly disappearing hands. “My thousand years of imprisonment has come to an end... I hope you can cope with your mission, brother... Farewell...”

  I stood there not saying a word, watching my sly and cunning jailer disappear into thin air. It would be even more accurate to call him the one who doomed me to die and yet insisted on calling me a brother.

  I had no desire to say farewell to him. So I turned and walked toward the rack of potions of satiety. The map ran me two tokens, so I had enough for one more of the vials as well.

  After the ghost disappeared, Gorgie and I first ran for the Door one more time. I wouldn’t exactly be surprised if the fox played one last trick on us before leaving. But alas, that cunning jerk’s magic was still active... I had to go back down with a heavy heart and get ready for more uninvited guests. I decided to start with the map...

  To be frank, when I unfurled the ancient scroll, I was afraid it would turn to dust like everything else around here. But the magic artifact didn’t let me down.

  - Attention! Would you like to use item: Map of Stonetown?

  As soon as I gave my consent, the scroll disappeared and I got a new message.

  - Tab created: Map of Stonetown.

  My heart aflutter, I opened the new tab. Before my eyes appeared a diagram of the whole city. The foxman wasn’t lying. This place really was one big trap. For example, I was standing not far from the statue of Gunnar the Destroyer, and it was actually a device for killing otherworldly creatures. According to the description, the stone image of the order’s founder would turn into a battle golem upon activation. To be fair though, that place on the map was marked gray and labeled “out of order.” To my deep disappointment, almost the whole map was covered with gray spots.

  But there was also good news. The pit trap which had so effectively handled the ice rover was still marked with green and labeled “in operation.” There were maddeningly few such places on the map. But still there were a few more, which was hard to be upset by...

  Other than green and gray spots, there were also a few blue ones. In their description, it said they were magical traps, requiring mana to activate. And I must say, a huge amount of mana! I had never heard of anyone with such an insanely large mana supply. So I didn’t really understand how the former masters of the city ever managed to use them.

  So in the end, as the fox said, I could only use the very simplest devices.

  Within an hour I had visited all the green spots. There was some good news and some bad news. To my eye, it was good that the ancient devices were in decent shape, murderous and quite simple. But most of them could only be used one time - that was the bad news.

  But in one way or another, the devices significantly improved our chances. All that remained was to decide which of the traps we would lure the next monster into. And based on the sudden onset of queasiness, we weren’t going to be kept waiting long.

  * * *

  - Attention! You have absorbed Longtailed Ysh spirit!

  - Congratulations! Your reputation with the Order of Monster Hunters has been increased by 200 points! Happy Hunting!

  - Present value: 860.

  - Spirit of Longtailed Ysh.

  - Type: Magical spirit.

  - Rarity: Rare.

  - Effect:

  - Snakeskin.

  - Description:

  - Summons a spirit that surrounds you with a magical shield capable of absorbing 20000 units of damage.

  - Summoning requires 600 mana points.

  Remember! You may only appeal to the power of the Longtailed Ysh 1 time every 5 days!

  It’s been seven days since the fox disappeared, may the abyss tear him to shreds... In that time, I earned fifteen large and ten small crystals. And I managed to buy up all the Blots and potions from the arsenal. The only things left were the scrolls of Fury, which I had no need for yet. Starting today, I’ll start spending tokens on them as well.

  Right now, I have twenty vials of satiety p
otion in hand and fifteen energy traps. Well, and seventy tokens. For the record, that’s enough for seven scrolls...

  A few hours ago, using a trap with a falling spiked ceiling, Gorgie and I took down a giant snake, and it’s what dropped the second spirit vial. I won’t hide it, I was nursing a hope in my soul that I’d get something with more basic requirements this time. But alas, summoning the snake’s spirit cost even more than the ghoul’s.

  And a new mark appeared on my body. On my stomach, legs, sides and, by all appearances, back there was now a green imprint from the Ysh’s scaly body. When I drank the vial on the altar, its spirit tried to constrict around my body. And this time I had worse luck. I never lost consciousness, so I experienced the whole thing... I felt like a wet rag being wringed out...

  One drop of potion and my supplies were full again. Phew... I felt better right away...

  “Hrn,” Gorgie quickly piped up as if to say, “don’t forget about me.”.

  “Well of course,” I muttered sweetly, pouring the rest of the potion into the cat’s mouth. “How could I forget about you?”

  Getting up heavily, I slowly walk over to the crack. There are five large crystals in my knapsack, which I got for defeating the Ysh. I’d have to throw them into the puddle which, by the way, had grown noticeably smaller in my seven days here.

  I opened the map as usual. There were just three green spots left. The first pit trap, where the ice rover died ignominiously. And another two deadfalls. The rest of the traps have either been activated or were destroyed by the monsters caught in them.

  In my time here, I’d seen my fill of otherworldly creatures. If not for these devices, Gorgie and I would no longer be among the living.

  “Hm, bro...” I said sadly to Gorgie, walking next to me. “What are we gonna do when we run out of traps?”

  “Hrn,” the cat answered calmly.

  “Hunt like we used to?” I chuckled. “Without traps, how would we have ever killed the Ysh for example? You saw that giant snake! Or that slimy thing we stuck on the spikes? Its blood was clearly toxic. Remember how it ate through the rock?”

  I pointed at the fearsome tracks left on the street by the Acid Worm.

  “One bite and you’d be beyond saving.”

  “Hrn...”

  “And don’t argue. You know I’m right.”

  Chatting calmly like that, we first reached the arsenal, where I bought seven scrolls of Fury, then walked toward the portal.

  We had a few hours before it would open again, but my mouth suddenly filled with bitter saliva with a slightly rotten taste... How?! But that was all I was able to think before my mind was plunged into darkness...

  I woke up to someone slapping me on the cheeks. And they weren’t trying to be nice about it. The slaps were straight from the shoulder, impertinent. I opened my eyes...

  There was a dead pale face hunched over me. Ears sticking up, a bare scalp, eyes narrow and black, a straight nose. Thin bloodless lips clamped shut in impatience.

  Seeing that I’d come to my senses, the being addressed me in an unfamiliar language. I couldn’t shake my head because I was completely immobilized. The unknown figure repeated its question, but the intonations and words changed. I still don’t understand... I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the harn was lying next to me. His chest is rising measuredly. Thank the gods, he’s alive! Clearly he’s also immobilized like me. I can’t sense his emotions. That must mean he’s unconscious.

  I slanted my eyes right. The paleface isn’t alone. There’s two more with him — a man and a woman. Like the first, there’s not a single hair on their heads. Their figures are lithe. Gaunt, but strong. Based on the gear, these are not hunters or scouts. These are warriors. For weaponry: short curved swords, taut bows and daggers. All the items the uncanny strangers carry are coal black.

  The paleface that tried talking to me turned to his companions and made something like a croak and a hiss. Based on the intonations, he’s very mad. While he was busy chatting, I lowered my eyes. Hm... Doesn’t seem like I’m tied up... Then... It finally reached me — magic...

  I open my messages. Strange... The Great System says the harn and I were immobilized and made unable to use spells by some unknown sorcery. So that means one of these three is a mage.

  They work quick... They got the drop on Gorgie... He didn’t even manage to get one kick off...

  “You understand me, worm?” the stranger asked, changing to Orchusian. “I see that you do.”

  He ran his hand smoothly before my face and I gave a loud cough.

  “Who are you? And what do you want?” I rasped.

  “Shut your mouth, worm,” he rudely interrupted. “I’ll be asking the questions here.”

  The paleface squinted in anger and I saw four sharp fangs.

  “Are you alone here?” he asked.

  I fell silent, but the stranger seemingly took that as enough. He turned to his companions and said something in his vile tongue. They just gave a short nod, and something happened I was not expecting. Faster than a bolt of lightning, they all reached for their blades and started attacking one another.

  My mouth gaping, baffled, I watched them fight. It was everyone for themselves, sometimes turning into two on one. And the former allies, their eyes peeled for good opportunities, would turn back into opponents in an instant.

  The palefaces fought in silence using weaponry and magic. The spell flickers, clang of steel, and heavy breathing all blended together into a whirlwind of death. They’re so blindingly fast, it’s hard to follow their movements.

  Based on the bitter taste in my mouth, these things must have come from the fissure. Hm... But why didn’t they kill us? Why are they fighting each other?

  A sonorous feminine scream of pain announced that the woman had taken a wound. Her left arm was hanging down limp as a lash. But that didn’t stop her from making a long lunge and sticking her curved blade deep into the one who wounded her... The thin coal-black strip of metal went straight into his heart.

  Fortunately for me, that was the mage who rendered Gorgie and me motionless. As soon as his body disappeared, I was able to move again. And I was overcome with a desire to slam both of them with a Ram.

  “Gorgie,” I whispered, activating the Fury scroll and a spell. “Glad you’re awake.”

  - You have attacked Twilight Vampire (16)!

  - Critical hit. You have dealt 83 damage!

  - You have attacked Twilight Vampire (17)!

  - Critical hit. You have dealt 79 damage!

  The two remaining vampires, no longer fighting, were caught completely off guard by my attack. Tossed a few paces back like broken dolls, they were frozen in awkward poses.

  The harn was on the scene in a second. A long pounce and the cave cat’s scaled body landed on the nearest vampire’s chest. A moment later, the Great System informs me the first kill has been made.

  Meanwhile, the vampire lady came to her senses and easily dodged the harn’s claws, running in my direction with unexpected speed. Her pale face turned into a grimace of death.

  She shouted something in her croaking language. I meanwhile took out another vial of potion and took a sip. My life and energy supplies jumped upward, restoring my mana instantly.

  The body of the running fury was enshrouded in black smoke. Probably some ghastly spell.

  The harn, angry that he missed, was already a step away from the attacker.

  A ravenous smile appeared on the woman’s pale grinning face.

  “Is that all you have in your bag of tricks, worm?!” She suddenly screamed.

  When I was just fifteen feet from her I answered, my voice quavering:

  “Not quite.”

  The eel shock, a bolt of pale yellow lightning, streamed off toward the vampire, making her stumble and somersault a few yards ahead out of inertia. Then Gorgie, feisty and hot on her heels, capped off our standoff with a big fat period.

  With a heavy sigh, my legs shaking, I fell to t
he ground... My heart was about to burst out of my chest.

  - You have killed Twilight Vampire (16).

  - Congratulations! You receive:

  - Monster Hunter token (30).

  - Large ghostly crystal (5).

  - You have killed Twilight Vampire (17).

  - Congratulations! You receive:

  - Monster Hunter token (40).