“Some help here would be nice!” Miles turned and almost tripped. His master had been trying to retreat to safety, but he’d run into a problem: the head of the bone drake. The head was hopping along, snapping and biting at his master. It honestly would have been hilarious if death and serious injury hadn’t been potential consequences. “Miles, help!”
“Run toward me, sir.” As his master ran past, Miles kicked the head as hard as he could. To his dismay, the attack failed to shatter the skull. However, it did send the head spinning across the floor to strike the far wall. “Aria, immobilise it! Roger, blast it!”
Aria turned away from the body and used a Word to summon glowing chains of light that coiled around the bone drake’s head. It let loose a hideous roar, but it was soon silenced as Roger fired off several [Ash Bolts] in quick succession. Miles doubted the Words would be enough to destroy the head, but once the molten ash cooled and hardened, it should be stuck in place. With a lumbering groan – Miles wasn’t sure how the bone drake could groan without a head – the bone drake’s body lashed out and then lunged toward its head. Roger, Eric, and Blue Scales were forced back, but Eileen managed to grab the bone drake’s tail. The bone drake stumbled, and Eileen became a huge serpent and coiled around the bone drake’s legs. The monster tumbled to the ground again, and its wings beat the air wildly in a bid to get free.
“[Discern Weakness]!” Jonathan barked as Aria used [Enduring Protection] on Eileen to help her weather the bone drake’s struggles. In the meantime, Eric and Blue Scales had focused their attention on the bone drake’s wings. Their efforts bore fruit as one of the wings ripped loose from the creature’s body and the other was pinned to the ground by several spires of rock, courtesy of Roger. Interesting. The bone drake wasn’t as durable as the bone serpent they’d faced. Then again, it was smaller. Moreover, it needed to fly, so it wasn’t as heavily armoured. “I think I found the core!”
“Where is it?” Susannah was circling in search of a good angle to loose an arrow from. “Jonathan, where is it?”
“In the chest about a foot above where Blue Scales is hitting. It’s underneath about three feet of bone.”
“I can handle it.” Susannah readied an arrow. “You might want to move, big guy.”
Blue Scales leapt back as Aria summoned more glowing chains of light to help restrain the bone drake. Susannah grinned and loosed her arrow. Once again, Miles felt the raw power of her [Pierce] before her arrow simply went right through the drake – and the far wall behind it too. The monster shivered and gave one last desperate thrash before it fell still. The assortment of bones that made up its body spilled across the floor, and the stifling pressure of necromantic energy in the air lessened. Miles’s eyes narrowed, and he drove one fist into its side to confirm the kill. Unlike before, his attack easily shattered its bones. It was dead.
“Well,” his master said, scratching the back of his head. “We’re all still alive and in one piece. I have to admit, I was worried for a second there.”
Eric went over and prodded the head. It too had crumbled to pieces. Grinning, he slapped Jonathan over the back. “Relax, vampire. What kind of adventurers would we be if we all got killed by a bone drake?”
“Normal ones,” Susannah replied. “This thing was tough enough to scare off normal drakes, and Roger and I have done plenty of clean up missions after some novice adventurers get mangled by drakes.” She smiled at Jonathan. “Thanks for the head’s up about its core. You’re making my life a lot easier, you know.”
“And you’re making all of our lives a lot easier,” Aria replied. “I’ve never seen anyone use [Pierce] at that level before.”
Susannah shrugged. “It’s part of why I use a bow. As long as I know where to aim, I can kill almost anything without too much hassle. Of course, it’s not useful on things without normal internal organs or weak spots – like mud elementals or oozes – and it doesn’t help that much if I’m up against a horde of weaker monsters either. That’s why I’ve got Roger.” The raccoon had finished picking through the remains of the bone drake, and he held up the broken core with a flourish. “Do you mind if he keeps that?”
“Does he need it for something?” Aria asked.
Roger replied, and Susannah translated. “The core won’t ever be stable enough to hold large amounts of magic safely now that it’s broken, but he can still use it as a weapon. If you shove enough magic into it, it’ll destabilise.” She grinned. “It basically becomes an extremely volatile magical explosive.”
“Ah.” Aria nodded. “Go ahead then. None of us can really use a broken core, and I have a feeling we might need a giant bomb while we’re here. Just let us know before you set it off.”
“You’re not half bad at this commanding thing,” Susannah said. Miles agreed silently, but he kept his attention on their surroundings. It wouldn’t do to be surprised after their victory.
Aria shrugged. “You get used to it, and we should give our compliments to Miles as well. It would have been a more difficult battle if its head had still been attached.”
Miles chuckled. “You are most welcome. In my prime, I think I could have turned its head into powder with a couple of strikes. Sadly, I am not only rusty but also old.”
“Well, I am most glad to have you around, my friend.” Jonathan patted Miles’s shoulder. The butler’s heart warmed. Once again, his master had addressed him as a friend and not a servant. “We really need to start keeping track of how many times you save my life, Miles.” He looked around. “So… where do we go from here? And who has been making these things? I know that necromantic energy can spontaneously generate bone creatures – there are plenty of historical records about that – but these ones seem to be very well made.”
“You’re right,” Aria replied. “There is definitely something – or someone – here or nearby who has been making them. Natural bone creatures tend to be a mess. The bone drake was far too well crafted to be natural. Think of how well its core was protected. Overlapping and interlocking plates of bone? That speaks of planning and intent.”
“Crabs,” Blue Scales murmured. “I think crabs are making them.”
Miles stopped mid-stride. “Pardon? Did you just say crabs are responsible? What kind of crabs could make bone creatures?”
“And would they be tasty?” Eric asked before wincing at the glare Aria shot him. “Hey, I’m just asking. If we’re going to slaughter a bunch of evil crabs, it would be nice to know if we can eat them. Sure, I’m a werewolf, but I enjoy good seafood just as much as anyone else.”
“I cannot be certain, but it fits. Most of Mordrath is flooded. No normal necromancer would be able to survive.” Blue Scales rapped his trident on the ground. “But amongst the denizens of the Deep, the crabs of the Undersea are well known for both their ability to control water – and their dark talent in necromancy.” He bared his teeth. “My people have faced them before.”
“The Undersea?” Jonathan asked. Miles smiled. His master’s curiosity filled his voice. “What is that?”
“There are seas beneath the ocean floor, hidden even from the Deep in vast, lightless caverns within the earth.” Blue Scales scowled. “It fits the story of Mordrath’s fall far too well.” His gaze was unusually sombre. “More than once my people have been forced to take up arms after the denizens of the Undersea broke through. In all of those battles we have been forced to fight off bone creatures and swathes of our own dead.”
“So… you’re telling me that we might be up against crabs?” Eric gaped. “Crabs that are apparently from some kind of underground ocean that even mermen consider mysterious?” Blue Scales nodded. “Really?” Another nod. “Really?” Yet another nod. “Really –”
“I think he means it,” Aria cut in before Eric could ask again. “Blue Scales, what can you tell us about them? We still don’t know if it is these crabs, but I’d still like to be prepared.”
Blue Scales shook his head at Eric. “Fighting crabs may sound comical, my friend,
but these are no mere crabs. They are far larger, standing perhaps the height of a man or a dwarf. Their shells are thick and sturdy – the equal or better to any armour you can find on land – and their legs can be used to stab and pierce. But their claws are the true danger. They can crush even the scales of my kind with ease.” He gave Susannah and Miles a serious look. “Without armour, a normal person could easily be killed by even a single blow from their claws.”
“But crabs?” Eric was seemingly unable to get over the strangeness of the idea, and Miles was hard-pressed to blame him. It did sound rather ridiculous, but the world was a strange place. For instance, one of the current members of their group was a raccoon war wizard. Moreover, his master was always fond of pointing out the fact that one of the greatest emperors in the history of the lizard people’s empire had been crushed to death by his own paperwork. Compared to that, murderous necromancer crabs didn’t sound that strange. “Crabs?”
“I sorely hope I am mistaken, but I fear I am right. It fits too well. If they are responsible, then we will not have an easy time of it. Their soldiers are not especially clever or cunning, but their leaders are known for their guile and cruelty. Moreover, they are fierce and fight well in large numbers. If you must face them, then aim for their joints or whatever soft tissue is exposed. Their underbellies are also somewhat weaker than the rest of them, especially along the seams of their shells. Thankfully, they draw strength from water, which means they will be weaker outside of it.” The merman smiled grimly. “That is how we will know if they are about to attack. They will surely try to flood the area as they approach.” He lifted his trident. “I doubt I can hold off the water they bring and use my magic to attack at the same time, but merely repelling their water will give us an advantage.”
The possibility of murderous crustaceans aside, shouldn’t we get moving? Eileen nodded at a nearby passageway. Beneath her fur, Miles could see a glimmer of metallic scales. She was clearly anticipating further trouble. The passageway had survived the battle, and it was mercifully free of water. If there are things in here with us, I doubt the sounds of battle escaped them. We should leave before they arrive. She looked at Aria and Jonathan. And you two should put your armour back on.
Some shadow imps appeared and helped Jonathan and Aria don their armour again. A few more of the creatures slinked down the passageway.
“You’re right,” Aria said. “At the very least, we should avoid lingering in any open spaces where we could get surrounded.”
Miles was about to say something when he saw a glimmer out of the corner of his eye. He turned and frowned. There was nothing there. He could have sworn he’d seen something, perhaps a dwarf in the armour and regalia of old. He shook his head. Maybe he had seen something. It wouldn’t surprise him at all to discover the ghosts of long-dead dwarves wandering this accursed place.
“What is it?” his master asked quietly.
“I might have seen a ghost,” Miles replied.
“Ah.” Jonathan grimaced. “That makes sense given the… unpleasantness that happened here.” He paused. “It was a dwarf ghost, right?”
Miles nodded. “I think so.”
“Then we should be fine. The dwarves have no reason to be mad at us.”
According to the map, the passageway Eileen had suggested should lead them to another chamber from which they could get to a hall where they should have a choice of several other passageways to get further down. If they were lucky, then at least one of those would be free of water. Despite Eric’s continued disbelief at the thought of being murdered by crabs, Miles was wary. Blue Scales was powerful and skilled. Regardless of how comical it sounded, anything that could make him wary was not to be underestimated.
“We’d better not die here,” Eric muttered as they continued down the passageway. The walls were covered in faded frescoes depicting scenes from the dwarves’ past. “Because if my pack finds out I got killed by crabs, I will never live it down. Tell them I got eaten by a dragon or something.”
“My friend,” Blue Scales pointed out. “If you get killed down here, you won’t have to worry about living it down.”
Eric’s lips twitched. “You know what I mean.”
Blue Scales grinned. “Yes, I know exactly what you mean.”
“Look at all of this.” Jonathan nudged Miles with his elbow as he stared at the battered frescoes. “Oh, it’s such a pity we can’t take more time to study it.”
“Surviving comes first, sir,” Miles said. “And you are a vampire. Perhaps the time will come – far in the future – when it is truly safe to walk these halls. You could come back then and give this place the attention it deserves.”
They reached the chamber with only a few minor encounters. There were some lesser skeletons and other – less identifiable creatures – wandering around. However, they handled them easily enough. No, what concerned Miles was that there was no avoiding these creatures, and any good necromancer would know if their minions were destroyed. It reminded him of an old saying his instructor had once shared with him: never, ever give a necromancer time to prepare.
In direct combat, necromancers were generally easy to slay. They often lacked skill in hand-to-hand combat, and necromancy was not designed for combat the way fire magic or lightning magic was. However, a necromancer with time to prepare could bring forth all manner of nightmares, from wave after wave of skeletons, to nightmarish composite zombies, and spirits of all kinds. As a vampire, his master was also at a disadvantage.
Technically speaking, vampires were members of the undead, which meant necromancy could be used to attack them directly, bypassing some of their otherwise formidable resistance to magic. On the upside, they had Aria. Her magic should be good against a necromancer, provided she got the time to use it. However, it was also likely that she and Roger would be the necromancer’s first targets.
In the hall, Miles kept one eye on his master who was taking in all of the archaeological details and another on the bodies that littered the area. Most of them were obviously ancient, but some were more recent. Unless he missed his guess, the more recent ones were only a few years old.
“Sir,” he said quietly. “I understand the priceless archaeological value of the reliefs and carvings, but perhaps another time.” Jonathan had almost wandered off in his pursuit of the reliefs that depicted the origins of the dwarves according to the dwarves of Mordrath.
With visible effort, he restrained himself. “Of course. You’re right. But think of what we could learn, Miles! The thought of having to wait until this place is somehow made safe… who knows how long that will take?”
“In the future, once your fortunes have recovered and you have regained your castle, you could always hire adventurers specifically to capture all of this using memory magic.”
“That’s not a bad idea, Miles.” Jonathan smiled. “Maybe once I’ve gotten my castle back and built up a decent nest egg.”
Still, his master’s wandering had drawn Miles’s attention back to the ancient bodies. Now that he took more time to examine the damage, he couldn’t help but recall what Blue Scales had said. He was no expert in armour, but he knew enough to make some educated guesses. After all, even a fool could tell the difference between a blow made by a sword and one made by a mace. Stooping down, he lifted up a mangled breastplate. Despite its age, the metal was thick and heavy and virtually free of rust. His brows furrowed. This was good steel – and it had been completely crushed from both sides in a manner befitting the use of huge, crushing claws.
“Look at this,” he said, motioning for the others to come over.
Aria’s lips firmed into a thin line. “Blue Scales is sounding more and more right. The damage is exactly what crushing claws would leave.” She pointed to some other pieces of armour. “And all of those have the same sort of marks.”
“Then let us keep our wits about us,” Miles said. “We cannot afford to be caught off guard here.”
They continued on until they reache
d the hall, and Miles took a long moment to savour the sight of it once they arrived. At his side, his master gasped. Undamaged frescoes covered every inch of the walls, and they depicted scenes from the history of the kingdom. The detail and artistry were impeccable, especially since the dwarves had never been known for the skills of their painters. It made him wonder if they’d commissioned an artist or if the dwarves here had managed to produce one of such skill. From the humbling beginnings of the kingdom to the great project of draining the sea, the frescoes showed everything. Miles had to put one hand out to stop his master from simply rushing over. Yet as his gaze fell upon the last of the frescoes, unease stirred within him. The last frescoes were left unfinished, and they depicted a much darker fate. Oh, they didn’t show what the dwarves had been fighting, but they did show the devastation they left in their wake. Still, the lack of detail had its own disturbing quality, and there was no doubting the eerie, lingering menace that radiated from the paintings of dark, turbulent waters awash with shadows and blood.
“We are in luck,” Blue Scales rumbled. “The passageways ahead of us are not flooded. That, in itself, might be considered suspicious, but we must still choose which path to follow.”
“We’ll take the one that goes the furthest.” Aria’s eyes narrowed. Even in the gloom, her determination was easy to see. “If we’re going to be ambushed – and it looks more and more like we are – I’d rather it be somewhere dry.”
The Blood Blade was further down than any of the passageways could take them. They’d have to continue onward and hope they could find a path free of flooding. Their best bet was to get as deep as they could and hope for the best. If they were forced to swim, it would be best to minimise the distance.
As they proceeded, Miles’s unease increased. The deeper they went, the more battered their surroundings became. Claw marks lined some of the walls, and there were cracks and dents everywhere. Battered suits of armour filled with petrified bones littered the chambers and halls they passed, and more than once he could have sworn he saw ghosts out of the corner of his eye again. Worse, they had yet to run into anything tougher than some lesser bone monsters and some mutated sea creatures. There was no way their luck could remain this good for much longer. Mordrath had acquired its fearsome reputation for a reason. It was only a matter of time before the enemy moved against them in earnest or they encountered something truly dangerous. If the crabs were as evil and cunning as Blue Scales said, they could simply be withdrawing and gathering their strength for a single decisive attack.
Attempted Adventuring (The Attempted Vampirism Series Book 2) Page 15
