Delvers LLC- Surviving Ludus

by Blaise Corvin (ed)

  Innear descended the stairs first, checking each step as his head disappeared into the light. A few minutes later she heard clicking noises coming from the other side of the heavy stone door that had fallen, and her heart sank. Something was scratching on the other side. Geb hadn’t seemed to hear and motioned for her to go next but before she stepped down, he put a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll mourn their deaths once we’re out. Their families will receive their share.”

  Nodding, Anahi descended down the stairs, the torch nowhere to be seen. Innear greeted her at the bottom, and handed her a small vial of white liquid. “This will remove your night vision. From here on out, we’ll be using torches. With all the noise we’ve made, any element of surprise is gone, and I have a feeling we’ll be needing them.” The scout said nothing more, letting the rest of his suspicions go unsaid.

  Anahi really wished he wouldn’t have told her he was worried if he wasn’t going to elaborate why.

  Geb came down shortly after, and the two men listened for a few seconds. Anahi heard nothing, and it seemed they hadn’t either. Once the night-vision effect had cleared, Innear lit two torches for himself and her. The torch was heavy after holding it aloft a while, but after porting a heavy pack of gear all this way she wasn’t surprised to find that she could handle it.

  Using his tools and a dagger, Innear checked the stone floor but found nothing. The small room opened up into a single passage, less than six feet wide with a stone arch over the entrance. The odor on this floor was worse than above, the air thick and ripe with the smell of death.

  Before they entered the passage, Innear turned to Geb and Anahi. “Don’t touch anything, but check the walls and watch our backs. The walls sometimes have traps, although this is rare. Anahi, Geb will do what he can but if we’re fighting you need to watch behind us and call out when you’re in trouble.” He seemed to be leaving a lot unsaid, but Anahi didn’t question him. Nodding her head, they walked forward.

  The roof of the passage was arched as the doorway had been, and while she kept a close eye on the walls, she didn’t see anything. She did, however, turn around every other step to make sure nothing was sneaking up behind her; up ahead, booming noises were easily audible, and it set Anahi’s teeth on edge. Based on the stiff spines of the men, she wasn’t the only one.

  The passage ended in a room the size of the area above with the sarcophagus, with a single door leading off to the left. Innear first checked all the stones in the room, then the stones along the wall. Anahi ate while she waited, amazed at Innear’s stamina and focus as he checked each individual stone for traps. She wondered if all dungeons had this many traps. It seemed like a lot, but she didn’t have anything to compare it to.

  Finally satisfied, Innear led them into the passage after handing Anahi a second torch, which she shoved into her belt. The stone floor returned to dirt, and the walls quickly opened up until the torch light was barely touching them. The roof of the passage also rose in height; the flicker of their light barely pierced the gloom above.

  The wide passage led into a massive, open room, with a door to the right but only darkness to the left. Booming sounds were much closer now, and Geb pulled his sword free while Innear backed up.

  Not turning around, the armored man called to Anahi. “Throw your torch to the ground if you need both hands. Try not to let the fire go out if you can.” Dirt filtered down from above with each booming sound, and the floor shook slightly. Whatever was out there in the dark was large, and Anahi sheathed her dagger, then pulled her bow off her shoulder.

  She understood why they were using torches, now. The light flickered and made shadows, but she could actually see a bit farther than she’d been able to with the night-vision potion.

  When the sound was upon them, she caught a glance of a foot. It was massive, almost as long as she was tall, with dirty skin hanging off the sides and missing toenails in the front. Then the rest of the zombie body came into view.

  “This dungeon just keeps getting worse,” sighed Geb.

  “A zombie!” said Innear with quiet intensity. “Colossal fireskin demon trolls, but they’ve been turned!”

  Beyond the Village Borders, Chapter Eight

  A first troll appeared, followed by a second and a third. Each had the tattered remains of their skin hanging off their bodies, white bones jutting through in places. Anahi wondered how they could even move, and with all the damage to their bodies, why anything short of killing blows to the head even made zombies pause.

  “Hold nothing back!” growled Geb. “Use anything you have to! It’s better to be broke than dead!”

  Innear didn’t wait for a signal before bursting into action. He stepped forward and aimed his bow at the nearest troll’s head. The arrow exploded upon impact, and the zombie troll staggered. Flames burst out along the remaining skin, but only for a few seconds before they flickered and died. Geb hadn’t waited to see what happened; he charged forward with his sword out. When he reached the troll’s knee, he planted his forward foot and swung like a logger, his muscles strained as the sword whacked into the knee but did no visible damage.

  He struck again and again, until the fire died and he was forced to retreat. An explosive arrow struck a flanking troll in the eye, sending the body to the ground and it rolled its huge bulk in the dirt to put the fire out. The ground trembled.

  “Aim for their eyes!” shouted Innear. Anahi nodded; his words had shocked her back into action. Pulling an arrow from her quiver, she saw the shaft marked for an explosive arrow and nocked it. She glanced over to Innear to make sure he wasn’t shooting at the same troll, but he was gone, nowhere to be seen.

  The lead troll zombie was advancing on Geb, and this close, their size difference was more obvious. He had barely reached the zombie monster’s waist. Anahi held tension on her bow’s string, but hadn’t truly drawn yet; she didn’t want to risk possibly missing.

  Inexplicably, the lead troll stopped and bellowed loudly, and the rear two trolls responded. Their creepy cries were like a variation of the clicking sound the smaller zombies had made. When the lead troll shuffled forward, focusing on Geb, Anahi saw an opening and loosed the arrow toward the troll’s eye.

  She wasn’t sure if she hit her target, but she’d definitely hit its head. The arrow exploded, and the troll staggered, but didn’t burn as Geb hacked at its knee. Anahi understood why he kept attacking the joints. If the adventurer could remove the troll’s mobility, it would help neutralize it.

  Finally, with a splintering crack, the troll’s massive tibia cracked in two with the sound of a fallen tree. The smaller fibula snapped under the pressure too, and the bottom half of its leg came free from the top half as it fell towards the ground.

  Anahi caught sight of a black streak moving behind the right-hand troll, and the zombie bellowed in reaction to something but she hadn’t seen what. It wasn’t hard to reason that the team’s scout had been responsible. Now that she knew where Innear was, she drew her last explosive arrow and aimed at the left-hand troll. The zombie troll was moving forward, its lumbering steps reverberating throughout the chamber until it reached its fallen comrade. The fallen troll tried to crawl its way up the standing zombie troll’s body, but the standing troll was pounding on its fellow’s back.

  Letting her breath out, Anahi controlled her racing heart, finding her archer’s calm. She felt the bow in her hands, the stinky air, and her target felt like it got closer. What had her father always said? Aim small, miss small. She exhaled as she released, and the explosive arrow seemed to crawl through the cavern before striking the troll in the eye. After impact it stumbled for a few seconds, then with the additional weight of the fallen troll pulling it down, it crashed to the ground in a jarring impact. Geb moved behind the second troll, hacking at its neck, and the zombie monster was all but helpless, unable to get its arms out from underneath the first troll’s body.

  Innear suddenly seemed to appear out of nowhere, climbing the last troll’s body until he
reached the shoulder while it tried to reach around to crush him. The scout drew his thin sword and stabbed deep into its remaining eye, all the way to the hilt.

  Anahi had a regular arrow ready but doubted that it could do any damage to the three creatures in front of her—maybe if they hadn’t been zombies. Then again, if they hadn’t been zombies, this fight would likely already be over, one way or another. The explosive arrows would be decimating to living creatures, but living trolls would likely have moved much faster, too. Either way, without more of the explosive arrows, she doubted that the team would have much chance of progressing further into the dungeon.

  This fight was blessedly almost over, though. Bone splinters flew as the last fully functional troll’s head came free, rolling to a stop against the cavern wall. Anahi picked up her guttering torch from the ground, thankful the flame hadn’t gone out during the fight, and watched as Geb moved to the troll pinned under another. He stuck his massive sword deep into the one-legged troll’s brain.

  A deep rumbling rattled the ground as the back wall opened up, revealing a dark chamber beyond. Torch light reflected off the nearest columns, but that was all that Anahi could see.

  Geb and Innear joined her, each taking deep draughts from their canteens.

  “Final chamber?” Innear asked.

  Geb only nodded in reply. He turned to Anahi and said, “Come on, lass, let’s get prepared for the final chamber. We are almost out of this.”

  Anahi nodded, knowing that nothing was certain, but also appreciating the need for a positive attitude. After Innear was ready checking his own gear, he passed her a half-dozen enchanted arrows of varying effects. She recognized the explosive arrows, which made her feel a lot better about their odds of survival, but one arrow was wrapped in gold and another wrapped in silver. She had no idea what either did. Anahi wanted to ask about them, but before she could, the two adventurers had already begun moving forward.

  “You ready?” asked Innear.

  Geb nodded, and as he advanced, the group’s torches cast more light into the cavern. Anahi had so many things she wanted to ask, but the words didn’t come out. Her head pounded, and her entire body began to ache. She knew she wasn’t thinking as quickly as she normally did. The stress, both mentally and physically, of the last few hours was having a toll on her.

  Now that she was closer to the door, she saw what she thought was a faint green glow deep within the chamber, but figured it was also fatigue-related. Her eyes were playing tricks on her. She was tired, dirty, and the smell from the entire dungeon ensured that she would never smell anything good ever again.

  Innear went to the right and Geb to the left. Anahi stood at the threshold but didn’t cross yet. Innear placed a torch in handy metal brackets within the chamber and lit another, revealing more of what lay inside.

  Pews ran in parallel rows down three aisles facing towards the far wall, the wood old and decaying. Black marks covered the walls, giving the impression that other adventurers had been there before them. Geb lit a second torch too, but the light didn’t reach the back of the cavern.

  Innear called out, “Hold!” Geb immediately stopped walking and Anahi’s breath caught in her throat. Leaning down, Innear worked at the stones in front of him for a few long minutes before standing up again.

  Geb and Innear looked at each but said nothing, but Geb backed up and waited at the entrance while Innear continued down the aisle on the right. He lit another torch, then another, and another, the last torch revealing the broken remains of an altar. Anahi wondered if the man had any torches left. He might have materials to make more, but she wondered if that would even work down here.

  The revealed altar was disturbing. A large, smiling face with oversized teeth had been engraved into the stone behind it. Decay could be seen everywhere but on the engraving, which shone brightly once the light reached it.

  A door opened in the back and a woman in a black cloak walked out, stopping once she reached the remains of the altar. The scene was so unexpected that Anahi didn’t even move at first, and reacted slowly. The strange woman raised her hands, chanting in a language that Anahi had never heard before.

  “Tartix es gortha lebt totingen nablia.” The woman repeated the phrase, her voice growing in volume and echoing around the room as she said it over and over. Innear shot an arrow that passed through the woman’s dark form, clattering against the stone wall and leaving a scratch on the engraving behind the altar.

  Suddenly, dozens of skeletons stood up from the pews where none had been before, all of them turning to look at the adventurers. Anahi’s breath caught in her throat—this was evil magic. Innear backed himself toward the opening as the skeletons raised their bony hands in time with the cloaked man. Two living orks that must have been hiding rose on each side of the cloaked woman, and the hollow tapping sound of the rats they had fought not long ago clawed at Anahi’s mind.

  “No, no, no. Not again,” whispered Anahi.

  Geb rested his arm on her shoulders. “It’ll be fine, lass. A tough fight no doubt, but not much different than what we’ve been through before.”

  She wanted to believe him, and if he’d actually been looking at her, not the enemy, and if she hadn’t heard the stress in his voice, it would have been easier.

  Innear loosed a second arrow, this one striking one of the orks in the head. The arrow had flown with such force that it penetrated the monster’s skull, and its body fell to the stones.

  The cloaked woman chanted, the words changing and lengthening and the dead ork stood back up again. Green light flowed from the woman, and as the light touched each thrall, their bones thickened and they seemed to stand a bit taller.

  “Anahi!” shouted Innear. “Shoot something magical at the mage. Do it now!”

  “Wait, she’s really there?” Her body involuntarily shivered at hearing the word mage. When she’d seen the scout shoot before with no effect, she’d assumed the cloaked figure was an illusion or something like that.

  “Yes! Shoot!”

  The situation confused her and she felt like reality had been turned sideways but she did as she’d been told. After drawing an arrow with a blue line around it, she pulled the string taut as she aimed. Just as Innear had taught her, she fell into a good stance while slowing her breathing and released her breath. Then she let the string roll off her fingers.

  Even as the arrow left the string, she knew it’d been a good shot, and watched the missile fly true toward the necromancer. While Innear’s arrow earlier had seemed to fly right through, this one impacted against the mage’s body. The necromancer was flung against the wall before lying in a crumpled heap at the bottom, the green lights around her hands disappearing. Force from the projectile had also knocked the remaining living ork to one side into a pew with bone-jarring force. A moment later, one of Innear’s arrows had taken the monster through the throat.

  All the skeletons that had been enhanced by the light returned to their normal size. Geb waded into the mass, heading off the middle and left columns. Innear had dropped his bow and stood tall as he fought against the endless stream of undead on the right, a thick layer of bones around his feet.

  Anahi waited for the necromancer to stand up but nothing happened, so she turned instead to assisting Geb. His massive sword swung like a pendulum, moving back and forth as it struck the skeletons down. Anahi stood back and to one side, trying to make a difference with her bow.

  If she struck the socket of where eyes had once been, the skeletons sometimes fell in one strike, but for the most part, archery didn’t seem very effective. She gave up quickly, not wanting to waste arrows, and watched Geb fight for a second. The skeletons had numbers, but not a lot of weight. They seemed strong but their lack of mass allowed Geb to keep the area clear before him with his wide, sweeping strikes.

  Anahi got an idea. Her comrades were blocking the skeletons from advancing, so she quickly ran around the room, grabbing heavy pieces of rock or even wood to throw at the skeletons.
The attacks were crude, but they worked. Every time she threw something, the heavy objects would pulverize old bone, removing limbs, or even putting a skeleton down for good.

  Already sore from shooting so many arrows, her fingers quickly blistered as she grabbed anything she could get her hands on. She carried on despite the pain, and Geb and Innear didn’t stop, either. Over half of the skeletons lay in pieces on the floor, shards of bones covered everything. Without the pews, or the skeletons’ awkward movement, the three of them would have been overrun, but they were hanging on.

  Innear finally finished his row and moved to assist Geb, who shifted, and now each man had one row. Anahi continued to throw heavy stones. A blood blister on her finger broke; the aching pain was a shock to her focus but she just kept working, like a machine.

  Her last few throws flew wild, the pain in her fingers too much for her to maintain her focus. Less than a dozen skeletons remained, so she fell back to wrap her aching hands while Innear and Geb finished up the last of the horde.

  As the last thrall fell, the room fell quiet. Her fingers securely wrapped, Anahi followed Innear and Geb up toward where the necromancer had fallen, but now she was nowhere to be seen.

  “You know this can’t mean anything good,” said Innear. Geb nodded stoically, having pulled a whetstone from his pack to hone his blade. The door the necromancer had entered through was now closed, the smiling face on the wall deeply disturbing in a way that Anahi couldn’t describe.

  Innear sighed and said, “Geb, I don’t think we should ever pay for information that is so old ever again, much less act on it. We basically prepared for an entirely different, easier dungeon.” In response to that, Geb just nodded again.

  Everyone drank their fill and ate some jerky before they began looking for loot between the pews. Now that the battle had ended, the smell of death was overpowering, and firmly lodged in Anahi’s nostrils. She thought she had become immune to the odor, but this room smelled far worse than any they had come across yet.