Wrack and Ruin

by Dave Willmarth

  “Alright, careful now. Let’s not leap before we look. Dylan, move to the doorway but no further. Tell me what you see.”

  Dylan complied, halting at the threshold with his tower shield held in front of him. He leaned his head in just far enough to be able to look to the left and right for any hidden dangers, then withdrew it. “Small room with another door at the other end, maybe ten feet away. Room looks clear, same with what I can see of the next one. Floor’s covered in dust, looks like some kind of animal track going through the other door. Four legs, big like maybe a large cat, or small bear?” He turned to look back at Max, who nodded and made a hand motion indicating he should move forward. He stepped across the threshold, still with his head on a swivel, and moved quickly forward to block the next doorway with his shield.

  Behind him, Max moved in with sword drawn, also checking the corners as he went. Dalia followed, while Smitty remained just outside with an arrow nocked, watching their backs. “Hold.” Max murmured just loud enough for Dylan to hear. He and Dalia spent some time examining the tracks. Not knowing the wildlife of this world beyond the few animals he’d already encountered, Max looked to Dalia.

  “Yeah, I dunno. Nothin’ I’ve seen before, though I’d guess it’s a cat.” Dalia shrugged. “Then again I ain’t no hunter or tracker.”

  “Smitty?” Max called to the archer who was still standing in the outer doorway with his back to them. The orc turned and stepped into the room, crouching down to inspect the tracks, while Max kept an eye on the door.

  “Yup. Seen these tracks before, over by the cave where I spawned. But I never ran into the creature that made them. I found a couple of mutilated bunnies near its tracks one time. Just some fur and bones that were left after it fed.”

  “Alright, next room.” Max motioned toward their tank. “Three steps in, and hold.”

  Dylan nodded and moved forward, Max right behind him. The ogre’s third footfall caused one of the stone floor tiles to sink about four inches, making him wobble before regaining his balance. Even as he looked down, two metal bolts slammed into his torso from his left and his right.

  “Ugh! It’s a trap!” Dylan grunted as he took a step back and then dropped to one knee. The bolt in his left side had deflected off his shield arm, then his ribs, leaving superficial gashes on his arm and side. The one on his right, however, had managed to penetrate between his ribs and deep into one lung. Down on one knee and leaning heavily on his shield, he coughed up a spray of blood.

  Max was instantly by his side, using all of his considerable strength to grab the ogre under his arms and pull him back through the door. Dalia cast a heal on Dylan, but shook her head. The wounds on his left side had closed, but not on the right. “Ye need ta remove the bolt.”

  Max took hold of the six inches of shaft and fletching that were still outside Dylan’s body. “This is gonna hurt, corporal.” He waited for the ogre to nod, then yanked on the bolt, being careful not to turn it as he pulled. Unfortunately, the bolt had turned on its own after it passed between Dylan’s ribs, so that the barbs on the tip caught on those ribs on the way out. The strength of Max’s pull caused both ribs to snap as he forced the bolt out, and Dylan screamed in pain.

  Dalia instantly cast another heal, and the amount of blood pouring from the wound lessened, then stopped. Dylan lay flat on his back, panting from the pain and holding one massive paw against his side. “Son of a… I don’t like this place, boss.”

  Max patted his corporal on the chest. “Don’t blame you.” He moved to stand in the doorway, leaving Dalia to finish healing their tank. “I’m shocked that the mechanism for that trap still works. This place looks ancient.”

  “Could be somebody came and added the traps more recently.” Smitty offered.

  “I suppose, but for what?” Max was studying the floor. The stone that had triggered the trap had risen back to the same level as the others after Dylan had removed his weight.

  “Who cares?” Dylan paused to cough up some residual blood that had pooled in his lung. “Traps means loot. Gimme a minute, boss. I’ll be good to go.”

  Max shook his head. “Not you. You’ve got no armor yet. Hang tight, and I’ll go across.” He didn’t wait for the others to object, producing his own shield and stepping forward. He purposely stepped on the same stone that had triggered the trap before, testing to see if the trap had reloaded.

  It hadn’t.

  The stone still sank when he stepped on it, but no new bolts emerged to try and kill him. “Well, that’s good, at least.” He spoke to the others as he surveyed the room. “Alright, shortest distance between two points, and all that.” He stepped forward again, making sure to take short steps so that Dalia could follow his footprints without leaping. He kept his shield up on his left side, and kept his eyes to his right and his sword in hand. In his head, he had visions of ninja moves where he’d knock an incoming bolt aside with his blade.

  As he crossed the rest of the distance to the next door, his ninja dreams were dashed. Max tripped three more traps. All three left-side bolts were deflected by his shield, while he completely failed to stop any of the right side bolts with fancy sword slashes. The first bolt took him in the shoulder, the second in the thigh. The last one was aimed even lower, striking the side of his right knee.

  Behind him, Smitty couldn’t help himself. “HA! I used to be an adventurer like you…”

  “Finish that sentence and I’ll cut off the parts of you that your girl Birona likes best.” Max grunted as he yanked the final bolt from his knee. He felt a heal from Dalia, and his troll regeneration was already at work, so the pain was short-lived.

  “Roger that.” Smitty’s tone was clearly disappointed.

  “C’mon boss.” Dylan grinned at Max as he got to his feet. “How many chances are we ever gonna get to use that in real life?”

  “On this world? Probably more than you’d like.” Max grumped back. “Follow my footprints in the dust. Step where I stepped.”

  Dylan did as ordered, followed a few seconds later by Dalia, then Smitty. All three managed to cross without taking any damage. Max waited for them near the rear door, where there was a wide landing formed from a single slab of stone. That doorway opened into a long corridor that stretched easily a hundred feet ahead of them, with three doorways on either side spaced evenly apart.

  “Yeah… definitely traps in there.” Smitty observed. Dylan shot him a dirty look.

  “This is me again.” Max stepped forward. The corridor floor had no small tiles. It was instead several long stone slabs that extended ten feet from front to back, and covered the entire width of the corridor floor. Like the rest of the building they’d seen so far, it had no ceiling or roof, but there was no evidence of debris on the ground, either.

  “Someone has definitely been here and cleaned this place up.” Max observed as he stepped forward. He tested the first floor slab with half his weight, and when it didn’t shift, moved forward onto it. The others moved behind him, following a few feet back. When he reached the first door, which was on the left, he went through shield first.

  The room appeared to be empty. It was small, maybe six paces long and five wide. Along the opposite wall was a small window opening, too narrow for a person to fit through, but tall enough to let in some light. Not that light was currently a problem in the roofless room.

  In one corner was a stone slab built right into the walls at about knee height. Probably a bed. There was no furniture, or even remains of furniture. Just clean but dusty floor.

  “Sleeping quarters.” Dalia observed from the doorway. Max tended to agree. If this had been a place of worship, or a stronghold of some kind, then there would be spartan living quarters for priests or soldiers. And it made sense they would be located between the outer doors and whatever was in the center of the complex.

  The others moved aside to let Max exit the room, and they continued down the hall, checking each of the rooms, which were nearly identical. Outside the fourth room, how
ever, Max spotted something new. A spattering of blood drops on the floor. He squatted down to get a closer look, and Smitty peered over his shoulder.

  “Definitely fresh.” the orc observed. “But no footprints near it.”

  Max stood back up, his gaze rising to the walls. After a moment, he turned to Dylan. “Gimme a boost.”

  The ogre set down his shield and weapon, then cupped his hands and held them out for Max to step into. With almost no effort, he lifted the chimera up until his head and chest were well above the tops of the walls. A quick glance told Max what he’d suspected. “More blood up here. It’s running along the tops of the walls.”

  “Easy for a big cat.” Smitty nodded. “Maybe it got hit by one of those bolts, and jumped up there in a panic?”

  “Or to avoid more traps.” Dylan offered as Max hopped down. He wiped his hands on Smitty’s back with a grin. “This thing could be pretty smart.”

  Max pointed forward down the hall. “It was headed that way. I saw more blood on the wall near the end of the hall.” He led the way, briefly checking each of the remaining two rooms as they passed. The end of the hall was a T-intersection, the corridor leading off both left and right. But in both directions it ended after maybe ten feet in ninety degree turns back toward the center of the structure.

  Max mumbled, “Okay, left, or-”

  “Left!” Both Smitty and Dylan interrupted before he could finish, then fist-bumped. Dalia looked at the two of them with raised eyebrows, then just shrugged, not caring to argue.

  Max turned left and followed the hall down and around the corner. Just a few feet further on was a large chamber with a stone pyramid in its center. The structure was made of the same stone as the rest of the building, but here and there were hints of bright color, as if it had been painted at one time.

  Sitting upon the topmost level of the pyramid was a large cat. Its fur was black as night, with a slight sheen reflecting in the sunlight. From nose to the base of its tail it was maybe eight feet long. It lay on its right side, its head stretched back as it tried to grab hold of a bolt stuck in its front left shoulder. The moment it noticed Max and the others, it got to its feet a bit unsteadily, crouched low, and growled.

  “First miniboss?” Smitty asked.

  Dylan shook his head. “I don’t think it belongs here any more than we do. We saw the tracks leading in… and it obviously didn’t know about the traps. I think it wandered in just before we did.”

  Max cast Identify on the cat.

  Panthera female

  Level 17

  Health: 1,490/2,000

  “Please, let me.” Dalia stepped forward. When Max put a restraining hand on her shoulder, she looked back at him. “Druid, remember?” Nodding once, Max let her go.

  “Hey there, big kitty. You’re a pretty girl, ain’t ya?” She spoke in a soft voice as she took a couple steps up the pyramid. The cat ceased its growling, but otherwise didn’t move. Jet black eyes stared at the dwarf that was a third of the cat’s size. “I bet that hurts, eh? I could fix that for ya.” Dalia took a few more steps up, her hands empty and held out in front of her. “Here, let me show ya.” She cast a heal on the cat, and it shivered as the magic moved through it. On reflex, it settled onto its stomach and licked at the bolt still jammed in its shoulder.

  Max and the two corporals were tense as Dalia stepped closer to the oversized cat. It took all the restraint Max could muster to sit back and let Dalia risk her life. He would much rather have just killed the cat and moved on.

  Dalia continued to speak softly to the panthera, and the cat actually seemed to be listening. It ceased bothering the bolt in its side and stared at the dwarfess, blinking occasionally as she took the last several steps and reached forward. She gently stroked the creature’s neck, saying, “That’s a good girl. See? I’m not here to hurt you. Don’t be frightened by the big scary monster boys behind me. We’re here to help.” She moved her hand to the injured shoulder, and paused. “I won’t lie to ye. This is gonna hurt. I need to pull that bolt from ye, but I’ll heal ye right up as soon as it’s out.”

  The cat stared for a moment longer, gazing directly into Dalia’s eyes, then nodded her head once. It was a clear sign of intelligence, and it surprised all three of the Battleborne. Smitty was the first to give it voice.

  “Did… the kitty just talk to the dwarf?”

  “Looked that way to me.” Dylan replied. Max remained silent, considering the implications as Dalia patted the injured shoulder with her left hand and took hold of the bolt shaft with her right.

  “Okay pretty lady, here we go. Don’t eat my face when I do this…” She quickly yanked the bolt free of the panthera’s hide, the cat screaming in pain as the barbed head ripped a wider hole on the way out. “Eaaaasy girl.” Dalia cast another heal on the cat. Max did as well, wanting the pain to stop before the cat decided to take a bite out of his healer. The bleeding stopped, but Max was too far away to see the wound through all the dark fur.

  Dalia stepped to her left and reached out, petting the cat’s neck again, then moving up to scratch one ear. “There we go, girl. That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Purring now, the cat head-butted Dalia’s chest, nearly knocking her off balance. “Good kitty. I think we’re gonna be friends!”

  When Max and the others stepped forward, though, the cat bristled. She got to her feet and stepped back slightly, dropping into a crouch and growling at the males. All three stopped where they were, not wanting to aggravate the big cat with Dalia standing right next to it.

  “Hold on, fellas. Gimme a minute.” She spoke over her shoulder, holding both hands up in front of the panthera’s face. “It’s okay lady cat. They’re friends of mine. Nobody here will hurt you.” She gently placed a hand back on the cat’s neck and began to scratch. The cat settled back down, tucking its front legs under its chest, and began to purr again.

  “Max, got any of that spidorc meat left?” She asked without turning her head.

  Max quickly checked his inventory, but there was no spidorc meat. There was, however, still a stack of manticore meat from their fight in the arena. He pulled out a steak-sized chunk of that and held it out. Immediately the cat’s nose started twitching. “You want me to bring it to you?”

  “Walk slowly, and hold it out in front of you. Speak softly, say something nice to the kitty.”

  “Sing Soft Kitty to it!” Smitty offered, a wide grin fully exposing his tusks. Dylan snorted.

  “Not in this lifetime, corporal.” Max replied before taking his first slow step forward. “Nice panthera, are you hungry? We killed a nice juicy manticore a while back, and I haven’t tasted it yet, but I bet you’d like it…” He rambled on as he moved closer. Dalia continued to scratch the cat’s neck, and the purring grew louder.

  When Max got within reach of the cat’s head, he extended his hand a bit and let the creature sniff the meat. After just a few seconds she opened her mouth, exposing six-inch fangs, gently grabbed hold of one edge and took it from his hand. Moving back a bit, she pinned the meat with one massive paw and began to tear pieces off.

  As she ate, Max asked, “Did you bond with her, or something?”

  Dalia shook her head. “I tried, but it didn’t work. I’m not sure why. I’ve never bonded an animal companion before, so maybe I missed somethin’.”

  The cat finished the snack and let out a chuffing sound. A moment later she seemed to shimmer in the sunlight as her body grew smaller. Max blinked a few times, not sure what he was seeing. Five seconds later the giant black cat had transformed into a humanoid.

  She rose from her sitting position. “You couldn’t bond with me because I’m no simple animal, druid.” She stood a little over five feet tall, covered neck to toe in form-fitting black leather armor. There were a dozen small daggers set in a bandolier across her chest, and several more stuck in various sheaths built into her wrists, legs, and boots. Her exposed face was covered in fur, and she retained the ears and whiskers of a panther. She wore fingerles
s gloves that exposed sharp claws at the end of each digit. “I am Nessa. Panthera beastkin.” She bowed her head slightly toward them. “Thank you for healing me, and for the meat.”

  “You’re most welcome.” Dalia smiled up at her. Max just nodded.

  “I assume you are here seeking the treasure as well?” She half-growled at them, watching carefully as Smitty and Dylan moved forward to join them.

  “Treasure?” Smitty perked up.

  “We were just exploring.” Max cut in. “I am Max, King of Stormhaven, and we recently claimed new territory near here. Our scouts noticed this ruin, and we came to investigate. We know nothing about it, or any treasure.”

  Nessa growled deep in her throat. “And now I’ve told you it exists. Well, I suppose I owe you for healing me. You may join me in seeking the treasure, and share it. Though I get a full half share, and the rest of you will have to divide your half among yourselves!”

  Dalia cleared her throat. “About the healing. I saw ye trying to grab the bolt with yer mouth. Why didn’t ye just transform and pull it out with yer hand?”

  Nessa looked uncomfortable. “I… could not. My ability to fully transform is rare among my people, and quite powerful. But there are disadvantages. Like not being able to transform with a foreign object jammed into my shoulder.”

  “Makes sense.” Dylan and Smitty, the two gamers, nodded their heads in unison.

  “You have experience with transformation magic?” Nessa raised an eyebrow at them.

  “Uhm, you could say that.” Dylan gave her a big ogre grin. “Smitty and I both used to be human. Max, too.”

  “Interesting. I sense a tale worth hearing there.” Nessa looked them up and down. “Orc and ogre I recognize, but I have never encountered one such as yourself, King Max.”

  “Neither have I.” Max chuckled. “I’m a chimera, a mixture of four races, and I don’t know if there are more like me out there anywhere.” He changed the topic. “So you came to seek a treasure, and got hit by one of the traps?”