by Adam Drake
At the right moment, I shifted into Shadow and vanished. Quickly, I moved around to the side of the giant spider.
Mudhoof jabbed his uber ax toward it. “I can't use my knock-back. It might collapse the ceiling.”
When I was in position, I used my sure-footed ability to help me take several running steps up the cavern wall. Then I pushed off and up.
By attacking, my Shadow dropped, and I became visible again.
The spider caught my movement above it at the last moment and raised its forward legs in defense.
Falling straight down onto it, I plunged my sword through its head. My weapon passed through its body so deep it clinked on the rocky ground beneath it.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
I leapt off the body in a mid-air roll, careful not to touch the vile thing.
The huge spider's legs curled up underneath it in its death spasm and greenish blood oozed from its wounds.
Mudhoof poked at the corpse with the end of his ax in disgust. “Is this thing really dead?”
“Don't worry,” I said, “It's been skewered good. Maybe you can build a fire and cook it up.”
The minotaur looked at me in horror, then stuck out his tongue. “Not cool, Vee.”
“Get me out of here!” The little man pleaded from within the cocoon.
“That's why we're here, apparently,” I said as Feign and I moved over to cut at his sticky bindings. After a few moments he was free.
“Oh, thank the gods you arrived when you did!” He said, giving the spider corpse a look of disdain. “That thing would have eaten me.”
“Who are you?” Feign asked. “And what are you doing here?”
The little man dusted himself off and pulled webbing from his clothes. “I'm Tress, the town jeweler. I'd come here a few days ago to pick up an order of crystals when things suddenly went very bad.”
“What happened?” I said. Mudhoof had moved in position next to the chamber entrance to post a watch. We wanted no more surprises.
Tress shrugged. “I don't understand, to be honest. When I arrived no one was at the entrance to give me the jewels as usual. So I wandered in and ventured down to the lower levels.”
“How many levels are there?” Mudhoof asked.
“Oh, I'm not sure,” Tress said. “But I do know the mines extend all the way under the town. That is where most of the deeper digging takes place.” He sat down heavily and pulled webbing away from his neck. It exposed a necklace with a white crystal dangling from it.
Tress sighed. “The miners had gone mad. That would be the best way to describe it. Black lines in their skin, running around screaming and hollering like it was the end of the world.” He shivered. “When it became clear I was in danger, I hid. Took me forever to work my way back up here. Then that thing,” he pointed at the spider, “came out of nowhere and dragged me in here. Never seen the likes of it before!”
I waited a moment before saying, “So you are unaware of what has happened in Ashbrook?”
Tress looked at me with surprise. “No! What happened?”
“The same as the miners, I'm afraid,” I said. “Nearly the whole town has been infected with that black magic, I'd guess you'd call it. Now the Demon King rules it all.”
Tress stared at me in horror. “But, what about my brother? Did he survive at least? His name is Perrin.”
I perked up at this. “Yes, we met Perrin. He was hiding in a house near the town square alive and well. But I don't know if he's still okay or not.”
“Oh, thank the gods! He's the only family I have left,” Tress said looking slightly relieved.
“Let's blow this joint, Vee,” Mudhoof said, getting nervous.
I pointed at the crystal on Tress's necklace. “What is that? It's quite beautiful.”
“Oh, this thing? It's something Perrin, and I came up with. He'd discovered a good luck chant in some old books he's always buried in. And I found a batch of these white crystals which can hold the chant indefinitely. Has brought little luck, I'm afraid. But it makes for a pretty trinket to wear.”
“Why are we talking about jewelry,” Mudhoof said, getting agitated. “We need to keep moving.”
Feign sensed what I was thinking. “Perrin wore a crystal just like that,” the mage said.
“Why, yes,” Tress said. “He and I are the only ones at the moment. Everyone else lacks good taste.”
I looked to Mudhoof and Feign. “Perrin was wearing one, and he didn't become infected by the Demon King. And Tress, here, hasn't been infected either.”
Mudhoof frowned. “So?”
To Tress I asked, “Do you have more of these anywhere?”
“Why, yes,” Tress said. “In my pack. I dropped it here somewhere.” He looked around and found his pack in a clot of webbing. Feign used his dagger to cut it free.
Tress opened his pack and revealed an inner pocket full of necklaces with the white crystals attached to them. “You can have these if you want,” the jeweler said. “It's the least I can do considering you saved me from such a horrid death.”
I thanked him and passed one each to Mudhoof and Feign. We all put them on.
“What do you think?” I asked Feign who was scrutinizing his crystal closely.
“I think this is better than nothing. But I'd wager that this crystal, and perhaps the charm within it, negates the Demon Kings magic to some degree.” He shrugged. “Or maybe it does nothing at all.”
I stood and stretched. “Well, we needed to save this guy for some reason or he wouldn't be here. Let's hope it pays off.”
Mudhoof said, “Let's go. I need to bash something before I climb the walls.”
“Tress, you'll need to hide out somewhere. The entrance has collapsed. Can you manage?”
The jeweler nodded. “Yes, yes. Of, course. There are plenty of places to hide down here. I'll be fine.”
He wished us luck and the three of us returned to the tunnel and headed back to the main passage.
“I'm not reading anything off of this,” Feign said holding his crystal up as we walked. “Usually the game gives even a basic description.”
“I dunno,” I said. “But let's hope it doesn't matter. They're good luck charms, and we need all the luck we can get. Whether the game describes them as such or not.”
Back at the main passage we paused to listen. Silence, thankfully. We resumed our progress down the main tunnel, Mudhoof at the front, Feign in the middle, and me taking up the rear.
The tunnel eventually opened up into a huge cavern. Rail lines and ore carts lined the walls at different levels which also extended downward out of sight. Fire sconces spaced out along the walls offered the only light.
We stood on the edge of our level and looked down. To the right the tunnel continue on.
“This is huge,” Mudhoof said. His voice echoed loudly off the walls.
“Shh!” I said, with a finger to my lips.
There was another sound, coming from deep within the labyrinth of mining tunnels.
We strained to make it out. But soon it became apparent what it was.
“Screaming,” Feign said, looking worried.
The sound got louder and became more defined. Screaming, and hollering and high pitched gibberish assailed our ears.
“Douse these orbs, Feign! Quick!” I said.
He did as asked, and our ledge went dark. Suddenly, at a level across from us people came running out of a tunnel.
They looked similar to the townsfolk, black veined and disheveled but their clothing was different. Most of them clutched a pick-ax or shovel and were waving them wildly about with no care if they accidentally hit anyone near them.
“Miners,” I said in a hushed tone.
Dozens of them shot out of the tunnel and followed its rail line alone the edge of the deep abyss. They streamed into another tunnel and were gone.
“Glad those twits are over there and not...” Mudhoof said when a loud scream to our left cut him off.
A small tunnel
entrance I hadn't noticed suddenly vomited up a group of crazed miners. Similar to the others, they were armed and completely insane.
And they ran straight at us.
“They're mine!” Mudhoof shouted. And before I could respond the minotaur lowered his steel-pointed horns and used his charge ability.
Instantly, Mudhoof closed the distance between him and the miners. When he collided with the first one a shock wave blasted out from the point of impact.
All the miners, about six of them, flew back into the air. They all bounced off a rocky wall and tumbled over the edge, legs and arms flailing.
Their screams of rage slowly faded as they plummeted into the darkness.
Mudhoof was panting heavily and his eyes were wide. “Been wanting to do that for a while,” he said and chuckled.
From the tunnel the miners had popped out of came more screams.
“Let's keep moving,” I said. “I don't want to make a last stand with my back to a cliff.”
As the shouting grew with intensity, we hurried down the nearest passageway.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
We delved deeper.
The tunnel continued onward, and I had the sense we were crossing back under the valley. Perhaps toward Ashbrook as Tress had said. Many off shoot chambers and passageways tempted us, but as a group we decided to stick with the main tunnel.
Occasionally, we would hear the screams and ravings of the afflicted miners, but for the moment, they were far away.
But bumbling along through the dim passageways did not sit well with Mudhoof.
“This is boring,” the minotaur said. “When can we start fighting again?”
“I'm happy things have calmed down,” said Feign. “We don't want to lose another group member. There is still the final fight to come.”
He meant the final showdown with the Demon King. Defeating him would give us the Legendary Item. But considering how incredibly powerful the King was, I started to have doubts that we'd ever finish this quest.
“Whatever,” Mudhoof said. “Gimme something to kill and I'll kill it. Prancing along these tunnels is getting to me.”
Up ahead we could see the tunnel ending at a chamber infused with bright light.
“I think you may get some excitement real soon, Muddie,” I said.
With caution we approached the lit chamber.
As we entered I was struck with a strong sense of vertigo. A wide chasm opened up to the immediate left with a sheer drop into blackness. Far across this void was a ledge lit with torches.
We stood on a ledge very similar, lined with torches along the rock wall to our right. A rail line started here and went to the other side of the chamber. There was a large hopper set in the ground at the end of the rail line. It was meant to store ore dug up by the miners. Against the far wall was a small metal door. Finally, there was a large ore cart on the start of the rail line.
“Wow,” Mudhoof said with dripping sarcasm. “Exciting.”
I was about hit back with a little sarcasm, too, when Feign shouted, “Look! Over there!”
We looked were he pointed.
Way over on the far ledge four figures entered. They weren't too distant to make out exactly what they were. Two looked like ninjas, one in blue garb, the other green.
“Ninjas!” Mudhoof spat. “I hate ninjas more than spiders.”
The third figure walked in a stilted manner and resembled a humanoid statue carved from marble.
“A stone mage,” Feign said with a frown. “That's not good.”
The final figure was all to apparent. A centaur. His human torso clad in samurai armor.
“Our old buddy,” I said. “Mr. Centaur-Samurai. Well, this should make for a lovely reunion.”
The rival group noticed us, too, and glared across the vast expanse.
“And they're not down a man, like us.” Mudhoof scowled at them. “I don't have an attack with range. Why don't you try shooting at them, Vee?”
“I don't know what good it will do...” I said before Feign pushed me.
“Look out!” The mage shouted.
Before I knew what happened a pillar of ice instantly appeared at the edge of the chasm next to where I had stood. A shuriken, a ninja throwing star, had buried itself deep inside it. It had been aimed at me.
I blinked in surprise from the ground, not just from the attack but also the quick movement the mage had just pulled off.
“Sorry about that,” Feign said offering me his hand and pulled me up.
“No problem, speedy,” I said. “And thanks.”
Mudhoof looked at the shuriken. “Nice block, Snowball. But do you have enough juice to make more of those?”
Across the chasm, the other group hollered and shook their fists. Even from here I can see little tiny FILTERED labels covering the fingers they held up.
“Not for many more, I'm afraid,” Feign said. “Let's not make ourselves targets any longer than we must. Which begs the question. What now?”
It was then I noticed that the other ledge had an ore cart, too. As well as a hopper with a metal door beside it.
Realization then struck me. “Oh, no,” I said. “Don't tell me.”
“What?” Asked Mudhoof.
“Group Challenge To Begin,” said a silky voice. It was the same one we heard when we first entered the quest zone.
“The heck is this?” Mudhoof said looking around bewildered.
The voice continued. “Place ore in the cart, then put the ore in the hopper. The first group to complete this task will be allowed to continue.”
“FILTERED!” Mudhoof said.
Piles of blue ore faded into existence around us and along the rail line. Ore also appeared on the other group's ledge.
“Now this is unusual,” Feign said, giving the piles of blue ore a worried look.
“Begin!” The voice declared.
“Okay, grab the ore!” I shouted unnecessarily as the other two leapt into motion.
We each grabbed the blue ore and tossed it into the cart with a loud clatter. But when I grabbed an ordinary stone, I couldn't lift it and got a message on my view screen. “Blue Ore Only.”
“Fine,” I said, and switched to a large chunk of blue ore.
Within a few minutes we'd picked up all the ore on this end of the line. More ore was a little further down the rail.
“Push the cart!” I said.
Mudhoof and I pushed against the massive ore cart, but it barely moved. The wheels were old and rusted.
I stopped and tried to think. “Feign, can you put ice on the rails just in front of the wheels? It might help us move it.”
“I will try,” the mage said. He rubbed his fingers together and fine snow sprinkled down. It landed on the rails and formed slick ice on the metal.
We pushed again. This time the cart moved, but with great effort. Once we got it further down the line, we stopped and shifted to scooping up ore.
I gave a quick glance across the chasm. The other group were moving at top speed, throwing ore into their cart. They'd even had it further down the line than ours.
“They're ahead of us!” I said.
“Keep working!” Mudhoof said, tossing armfuls of ore into the cart.
Once we'd grabbed all the ore in that section Feign worked his ice magic on the rails again. The cart was a pain to move but we could still make progress to the next section of the line.
We did this two more times, and the cart was about half full.
“How much do you think we need?” Mudhoof said, panting. His large hands allowed him to grab more ore which I took for a blessing.
“I think we're expected to get all of it off the line,” I said. “Then we move it to that hopper thing.”
I looked again at the other group. They were farther ahead of us by at least one section by my guess.
I shook my head. “Maybe their cart's wheels aren't as messed up as ours.”
The centaur-samurai pressed his should up against their cart.
The other members simply stood back, not attempting to help.
“What are they doing?” I said.
The centaur pushed, and the cart moved down the line with ease.
