Delvers LLC- Surviving Ludus

by Blaise Corvin (ed)

  The vicious bronze arrowhead dove into the goblin’s protruding belly, eliciting an earsplitting wail of pain as it fell. Calvin was reaching for another arrow when light pulsed next to him. Turning, he spotted Lydia flicking a hand toward the other green monsters.

  He watched in awe as a small shard of bright-orange fire flew down the wide tunnel and smashed another goblin in the chest. Its crude hide armor burst into flames around the charred, shallow hole.

  “That was awesome!” he shouted, causing the white-haired fire mage to flinch. She glanced at him, her eyes slightly panicked, but flashed a small smile.

  Euphe called back, “If you’re done drooling over my sister’s magic, maybe you could help with the four others rushing in from the far end.” Her sharp tone reminded him that they were currently in the middle of a battle.

  Gotta remember, this isn’t like playing a game. There’s no respawning or extra lives, at least, I don’t think so. Should check that out actually. “Right,” he said, drawing back and sighting in on one of the new arrivals.

  The tunnel was long and reasonably straight. This meant that he and Lydia managed to drop three of the four latecomers before they reached Euphe, as well as the two she’d faced at the start. One had already been down, the goblin’s naked torso a ravaged, bloody ruin where Euphe had slashed it open from shoulder to hip.

  When the surviving two goblins both desperately tried to keep the armored woman between them and the two ranged humans, Calvin hesitated. He’d been practicing archery for years, but he’d never had to worry about hitting the wrong target in the past.

  Don’t even think about it.

  Sighing, he swallowed at the very distressing thought of fighting these little monsters up close, but he handed his bow to Lydia, who accepted it without a word. Then he drew his bronze dagger.

  “Are you two alright back there?” Euphe asked, sounding a little out of breath as she focused on blocking spears. Either these two goblins were more skilled than the first they’d faced, or she was getting tired. When Calvin stepped close enough to see around her, he realized it was likely both.

  Both goblins wielded short spears like many they’d seen so far, but these weapons had bronze-tipped heads. The monsters also wore armor crafted from leather and bone; the macabre equipment made Calvin’s stomach roil. He couldn’t help but stare at the obviously human skull one of them wore on his head.

  I didn’t expect to see a literal fantasy trope like that, even here, he thought. One of the goblins hadn’t noticed him, too busy thrusting furiously at the swordswoman. The other one turned its beady, baleful gaze on him and lunged forward, trying to gut him.

  Calvin jumped back, losing his footing, and almost fell.

  When he’d flinched back, his diminutive opponent cackled and rushed ahead, jabbing again. Worried about tripping over the uneven cave floor, Calvin tried to deflect the vicious thrust. He almost succeeded, but his blade struck the spear shaft a foot further back than he’d intended.

  Instead of knocking the attack aside, he only shifted it, and winced when the sharp bronze caught his side. It sliced through the quilted armor he wore, and he gasped when the cold metal bit flesh. Then following through with his block, he shoved the goblin’s spear out wide and made a grab for it with his free hand. Overextended, the goblin’s eyes went wide, and it started to backpedal, right onto Eupheme’s bloody blade.

  Calvin watched in fascinated horror as the bronze sword erupted out of the goblin’s chest, right where a human heart would be. The monster dropped its spear, dark eyes darting up to stare at Calvin’s. He couldn’t look away, morbidly witnessing the moment when the creature’s life ended, its eyes losing focus, turning glassy.

  “Thanks for the assistance, a few of them were actually pretty dangerous. It was a big shock to see them wielding bronze weapons,” Euphe said casually. She pulled her sword from the corpse, letting it collapse between them and bent to wipe the blade clean.

  “Uh, yeah, happy to help,” he said, forcing down the urge to vomit.

  This is what you wanted as a kid, right? To explore fantasy dungeons, and meet beautiful warrior-women, all while finding lots of sweet loot. No use complaining now that you get to see it up close and personal.

  When the dead goblin voided its bowels, noisily, he was again grateful for the thick fragrance from the mask he’d been given.

  I need to learn everything I can from her, he thought. Certainly didn’t think to bring something for the smell.

  ***

  After checking the cut to Calvin’s ribs, and verifying it was already healing, the group spent a few minutes breaking off the bronze spearheads and searching the bodies for any other valuables before continuing. Calvin hadn’t expected to find any goblins still in the caves. Now that they had, he couldn’t resist imagining them popping out around every corner. I wasn’t this scared last time, was I?

  He tried to think back to coming through the dungeon with Rufus. Granted, he was obviously strong enough to survive the place, but that wouldn’t have made me feel safer. Maybe now I’m worried about losing my new friends. Shouldn’t I be worried about myself? Both sisters are far more experienced than I am.

  “Are you alright?” Euphe asked, shaking him out of his thoughts.

  “Yeah, sorry, let’s get going. It’s not much further now,” he said, smiling and moving faster. He’d been lagging behind.

  Like he’d said they would, they spotted the crossing tunnel around the next bend. Euphe went first, carefully peering down each side before beckoning them to follow. “I see the bow you were talking about,” she said, sounding impressed. The armored woman pointed down the long hall.

  When he reached her, he saw the bow, still illuminated brightly at the far end, and his shoulders relaxed. He hadn’t realized he’d been so tense until he laid eyes on the beautiful weapon again.

  As his entire body seemed to unwind, he stared at the work of art, marveling at the intricate design. It still looked like a functional recurve bow, but the body gleamed with inlaid metal and what looked like gems.

  “And you are confident your plan will defeat that trap?” Euphe asked, pointing at the gaping floor in front of the pedestal.

  Calvin swallowed, trying to ignore the butterflies frolicking in his stomach. “Yeah, I think so.”

  “That’s not exactly reassuring, you know,” she replied, then started walking down the hall.

  “And there aren’t any other traps in this hallway?” Lydia asked, casting her eyes about like a wary animal.

  “No, at least we didn’t manage to trigger any others. Plus that asshole Rufus said he’d already tried for the bow twice before. Both times the guys that went for it made it about halfway across the pit before falling,” Calvin said, thinking back to the explanation he’d received.

  “Well, there’s no use wasting any more time hanging around here, let’s get closer and you can try out this plan of yours,” Euphe said, already moving ahead of them.

  The tunnel wasn’t long, but it felt like it grew longer with every step.

  Will this work? Calvin shook his head, biting his lower lip and forced his thoughts to be positive. This will work! That bow is mine. Going to get it and then punish Rufus!

  “Okay, orb-Bonded, it’s your time to shine,” Eupheme said, drawing him back to the real world, and the fact that he was standing a couple feet from the edge of a spike-filled deathtrap.

  “Right,” he said, exhaling forcefully. Focusing his mind on his magic, first he activated his Darksight. Once he verified that he could see through any shadows, including getting a too-detailed view of the lethal spikes at the base of the deep pit, he constructed a dense, shadowy globe of darkness around himself.

  The sisters gasped in surprise, shuffling their feet carefully as they backed up further.

  Calvin looked around again, this time avoiding glancing up or down to the spikes, and ensured that he could still see the room clearly. Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward and grinne
d as several stone tiles shot out of the wall and formed a makeshift floor across the pit.

  Now all I have to do is avoid falling.

  Despite his confidence the day before, the moment he stepped onto the first square tile, he noticed his hands trembling wildly. Reminding himself why he was doing this, and that the only friends he had on the entire planet were watching him, expecting him to succeed, he forced himself to take the next step. Several tiles dropped out, floating under the stationary ones before rising up in new locations. It was like a magic, hanging walkway.

  At the far end of the room, the glow around the bow intensified.

  He advanced to the next row, this time having to move diagonally as the tile in front of him dropped out. Slowly, his nerves frayed more with every step, Calvin kept working forward. Twice he had to backtrack a few tiles to find a new path that didn’t run out. Whatever force held up the stone tiles kept them solid as the ground, so he thought it might be safe to leap, but he didn’t want to chance it with the spikes overhead.

  About halfway across, his heart racing, he jerked, almost tumbling off when one of the sisters gasped. Looking around as he wobbled, he spotted one of the side rods shooting out behind him.

  Those are the real threat, he thought grimly.

  “Be careful!” Euphe called out as he struggled to regain his balance.

  It’s a lot easier if you don’t surprise me like that, he thought, but didn’t say it out loud. His breathing grew increasingly erratic and shallow, but he didn’t want to stay on any one tile too long, just in case.

  When he recovered, he continued forward, eyes peeled for any of the narrow rods that slowly extended from the walls. The rods were slow enough you could dodge them if you saw them coming, but with the increasingly brilliant glow from the far wall, that would be really hard, almost impossible to do. This trap blinded anyone moving across, killing them before they could reach the prize. The same fate would likely be waiting for Calvin right now too without the Dolos orb he’d found hidden in the loot room.

  He made it almost three quarters of the way across before the next stage of the trap activated. Keeping his eyes on the stone tiles, he stepped onto the next one when they all began to glow. The light was not as bright as the glare from the pedestal, but harsh enough that he said a silent prayer to whoever had hid that magic orb where he could find it.

  So far his globe of darkness was working, blotting out the light so he could see. He ducked under another rod that darted out of the left wall, then stepped onto another tile. All the stones grew brighter, and he began to worry what would happen if his shadowy construct vanished before he got across. Not wanting to find out, he focused and cast another globe of darkness, anchoring it to his dagger before taking another step.

  A panicked scream from behind him had him twirling to see what happened. Euphe and Lydia were both waving frantically, pointing at the ceiling. His heart plummeting, Calvin looked up.

  The spikes on the ceiling were getting closer.

  Unlike the rest of the trap, the pillars coming down were uniform. If he didn’t speed up, those spikes would crush him. Suddenly, this trap had become a timed challenge.

  Unable to breathe, his mind racing with thoughts of impending doom, Calvin rushed to the next tile. The moment his foot struck, he looked for the next. Again he pushed off and leapt to another. Three tiles from the solid floor at the base of the pedestal, he slipped.

  Calvin heard more screams, but ignored them, clawing at the edge of the tile. His fingernails stung, and he tasted blood as he struggled to hold on. At last, he stopped sliding, and quickly pulled himself fully onto the tile.

  Glancing up, Calvin shuddered as the spikes dropped low enough he couldn’t stand up. Terrified, lungs refusing to draw breath, he scrambled on hands and knees, zigzagging until he collapsed on the solid stone floor. He’d expected the ceiling to stop descending, so when it didn’t he rolled over and stared up.

  Friends and Enemies, Chapter Six

  The lighting in the room shifted, brightening oddly, and he blinked several times before he realized that the effect was his magic ending, not the light itself.

  At least it’s not glowing like the damn sun anymore.

  A quick glance up revealed there were no spikes over the solid ground and the ceiling was still far overhead, here at least.

  Calvin forced himself to his feet, staggering over to the displayed bow. “What are the odds this thing is booby trapped?” he asked aloud, hand outstretched, but unwilling to actually grab the bow. He reached forward twice more before sighing and turning to look back.

  The spiked ceiling had finished descending and now blocked off the pit trap entirely. With the path back blocked, there’s nothing to do but grab the bow and hope it disarms the trap, otherwise I’ll die of thirst in this little room.

  Despite the logic of his theory, it still took him several minutes to work up the courage to grab the weapon. Finally, he thrust his arm out, grabbing the bow and pulled it to his chest.

  Freezing, he waited, listening for the sound of flooding water, or a big boulder rolling toward him. A silent minute passed. Then another. He remembered the need to breathe. Gasping for air, Calvin laughed maniacally and turned his attention to his new bow.

  Euphe had told him about how handling an enchanted weapon lowered its resale value. He didn’t care. Focusing on the gleaming bow, he gently rolled the weapon over, lovingly taking in its beauty. As he’d suspected, it appeared to have some kind of gemstone material layered in among bronze, and a rich gray-and-black wood.

  The string was dark-gray, and he tested it, drawing it back carefully. It felt perfect. Grinning like an idiot, he released the string, then straightened up and practiced a proper draw. Like it wanted him to use it, the bow responded perfectly.

  When he noticed a translucent arrow nocked on the bow, his eyes slammed open and he reflexively let go. The magical arrow shot across the room, slamming into the stone wall.

  After recovering from the shock, Calvin went over to inspect the impact. The projectile had shattered upon impact, but it left a small divot in the stone. He looked down at the bow in his left hand and grinned.

  Rumbling behind him caused Calvin to spin around, facing the trapped corridor. Now the heavy stone pillars were rising again, opening the room back to the corridor beyond. Moments after it began, the rumbling stopped, the stone spikes once again uniform across the ceiling.

  “Calvin, you okay?” Euphe yelled, waving.

  “Yeah, and look,” he said, holding up the magical weapon.

  “You did it!” she replied, jumping excitedly. She turned to her sister, hugging her tight.

  “It seems he’s still alive,” said Lydia. Then she turned to Calvin. “Now how do you get back across?” she asked, smirking slightly. She pointed behind her sister’s back at the completely uncovered pit.

  Thrilled at being unsealed from the small alcove, Calvin hadn’t considered how to cross the pit again. If the rods don’t come back out, we could just use a rope right? Curious, he stepped closer to the edge.

  Once again the tiles began to form a floor, only this time they kept sliding out of their hidden storage slots until they fully covered the pit. “Could it be that simple?” he muttered, tentatively stepping out onto a tile. When it didn’t give and none of the others dropped out, he kept walking.

  He moved slowly at first, keeping his eyes on the walls, waiting for a rod to dart out and trip him. But once he made it halfway across, he sprinted the rest of the way.

  Euphe rushed over and hugged him the moment his feet landed on solid ground. Face flushed from the excitement, he hugged her back, deeply enjoying the feel of her in his arms, even if the sensation would have been a lot better had she not been wearing her bronze armor.

  Lydia cleared her throat loudly, and Euphe pulled back. “Ah, so yeah, you got the bow,” she said, blushing slightly as her sister stared at her.

  Calvin nodded, still grinning widely. “Which mea
ns we’re done here.”

  “Yes, we should head back,” the swordswoman said, striding purposefully toward the main tunnel.

  “Thanks again for agreeing to help me get this,” Calvin said. He was barely able to take his eyes off the beautiful bow in his hand.

  Euphe still seemed happy, but she growled, “We’re both looking forward to seeing you use it on that scumbag Rayburn.”

  ***

  The trip out of the dungeon didn’t take as long, especially since they didn’t encounter any more goblins. Lydia did spot the hidden tunnel the stragglers must have been hiding in back when he’d first came through with Rufus.

  Once they were in the forest again, Calvin was on the lookout for monsters to test his bow on. He shot at a few trees, but it wasn’t the same. For the first few hours he twitched at every sound of nature, but finally curbed his jitters when he became aware that the sisters were both watching him, highly amused.

  It turned out they had to make camp in the forest, not something any of them had looked forward to. Still longing to test his bow, but hoping to let the more experienced sisters get the better rest, Calvin took the middle watch. When he woke Lydia to switch, he dropped off to sleep instantly, grateful the night had been boring.

  The next morning they gathered their supplies and headed straight back for Clarkston.

  They made it back before midday. Calvin once again donned the hideous leather helmet, but also covered his fancy new bow in a burlap sack before walking through the gates. Eager to test out his bow, but also looking forward to a proper night of sleep, Calvin followed the sisters back to their rented house.

  Unsurprisingly, Euphe insisted on continuing to school him in the basics of swordplay, and the three of them spent two days going through the same routine as before. Calvin was just starting to wonder what they were going to do about hunting Rufus when Eupheme rushed into the house, breathless.

  “Calvin, Lydia, hurry!” she cried, already heading back out the door.