by Jaxon Reed
The creatures attacked them when they reached the bottom of the shaft leading into the city, and never let up until now. The street behind them was littered with rotten body parts, putrid blood splatters and smashed-in skulls.
“This is why the Dungeon Corps was formed, y’know,” he said wearily. “To keep down the monster count, especially near cities. But this place hasn’t been touched by outside forces since I came through half a century ago with Prince Synthan. The monster population has festered in all that time.”
Erik, Tawny, and Nessa nodded. They were all feeling tired, too.
Erik had fought diligently with the Nikos sword, chopping off and slicing open zombie heads until his arms seemed heavy as lead.
Nessa felt exhausted. She had had downed a good two dozen zombies at a distance with her Starhelm Bow. The constant action, as well as worrying about Toby and his safety, had sapped her stamina.
Toby glanced at Percel with a dull look in his eyes. Even he felt winded from cutting down wave after wave of zombies. He had done his part, dutifully dispatching any creature coming close enough to strike. He was covered in bits and pieces of desiccated skin and smelly zombie guts.
The zombies were slow, and dumb, but practically unstoppable unless their heads were bashed in. The first one he met, Toby cut off both its arms, then its legs, and finally stabbed it repeatedly in the chest. The thing still advanced, rocking back and forth on its bloody torso and snarling at him.
Percel stepped in and stabbed it in the eye. When it finally expired, he explained to Toby and the others that the brain had to be pierced in order to stop them.
“Where’d they all come from?” Tawny asked, reflecting on their recent battles.
She sipped on a mana potion. Her Greater Fireball spell had proven quite useful against the undead, saving for the fact they were scattered most of the time and she could not get every zombie all at once. Among the team, she had eliminated the most, but it had drained her.
She had tried pulling in mana from the Abyss, but right now it just felt easier to quickly replenish her reserves the way she always had, with a potion.
“This is what’s left of the population,” Percel said. “All those zombies and skeletons and such used to be people living here in Melody, before the disaster.”
“Oh.”
The thought that the animated corpses they had been fighting had once lived here did not make Tawny feel better.
Nessa shook off her weariness. She stood up straighter and clasped her hands together in front of her chest, closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment.
A warm glow enveloped the entire party. Soft golden flames seemed to lick each person, at odds with the blue glow from the rings everyone except Toby wore.
When the spell finished Nessa opened her eyes and looked up at the giant elf with concern.
“How do you feel?” she said, reaching her hand up to tenderly touch his cheek.
He smiled back down at her.
“Nessa, that was amazing,” Tawny said. “What was that?”
Without taking her eyes off Toby, Nessa said, “Field of Fortitude. Norra explained it to me back in Phanos. It’s really a stronger version of Field of Healing. I don’t know, the pieces just came together. I think I can cast Pool of Mana for you, too, if you need it. That’s a related spell.”
“I might,” Tawny said. “I understand how to tap into the Abyss, in theory. I’ve seen how it’s done. Or at least, I’ve seen it can be done. My mother did it. But, I haven’t quite worked out exactly how to do it myself just yet.”
“We’ve got time,” Percel said. “Can you tell if Ludge has moved from where we last saw him, or do y’need to cast that cartography spell again?”
Tawny shook her head, looking up toward the ceiling for a moment.
“I’ve got him marked. And no, he hasn’t left the general location we saw him.”
Percel nodded, satisfied. He said, “I hope it stays quiet for a while. I’ve half a mind to stop for the night right here. We’ve got a wee bit of shelter.”
“Are you sure we want to be out on the street?” Erik said, casting a nervous glance around.
“I’m not sure inside a building is any better, lad. They’re all haunted, and mayhap infested with worse things. We’ve got tents in the magic bag Toby is carrying for us. I think we’ll stay out here for the night.”
A bat screeched out of the dark air above, making them all jump.
Poof!
Choster appeared before them, smiling as everyone backed away.
“Surprise! Forget about me? Looks like I missed some fun.”
He paused to sniff the guts on Toby’s front and wrinkled his nose.
“Hm. Maybe not. Zombies, by the smell of it. Disgusting.”
“We were just talking about setting up camp, Choster,” Percel said. “If you’re done lazing about and sleeping all day, maybe you can keep up a watch for us tonight.”
“Sure, sure. Glad to help.”
“And don’t wander off exploring, either. There’s little to nothing for you to eat down here, I’m afraid.”
“I think I saw some alpha rats on the way in. But of course, I’ll stay and stand guard. You all eat and sleep.”
Percel began unloading a bag, and soon the humans and elves feasted on jerky and dried fruit. They set up tents and after a while, assured they would not be surprised by wandering zombies and that Choster would keep an eye out for any other threats, they retired for the evening.
Within half an hour, Percel was snoring and everyone else breathed evenly. Choster decided they were all asleep.
True to his word, he kept a watchful eye on their surroundings.
Over the course of the night he killed 18 more zombies that came too close to the campsite, and one skeleton. They were all far enough away that the noise did not awaken the team.
Thus ended their first day in Melody.
-+-
The next morning, Percel broke out some hard-boiled eggs and preserved biscuits for breakfast. When he turned his back, Toby grabbed two dozen eggs and shoved them into his mouth.
Upon discovering the theft, Percel’s face fell.
“Well, no more eggs on this run. That was supposed to last us, lad.”
Toby smiled at him, his cheeks bulging as he munched them down.
Percel sighed and said, “Let’s pack up.”
They broke camp, taking down tents and throwing them back into a magical bag.
Percel took a long swig of water from his canteen and wiped his lips on his sleeve.
“Right then,” he said. “Let’s see how close we can get to the bastard today.”
They ventured back out into the street and came face to face with a sounder of feral cave hogs rounding the corner.
The pigs squealed, eyes glowing red. They charged, razor-sharp tusks slashing back and forth.
Toby yelped as one tore open his leg at the thigh. He plunged his sword down into its head, killing it instantly.
“Toby!” Nessa yelled. She cast Greater Healing. His wound sealed up and the bleeding stopped.
Choster flitted among the pigs, slashing with his knife, moving too quickly for the animals to react.
He licked his blade after stabbing his last in the throat.
“Ew. Nasty.”
Tawny sent bolts of lightning into the rest, and they all went down.
Percel looked at the bodies and frowned.
He said, “Be a shame to leave ’em. That’s a waste of meat.”
“I wouldn’t eat those,” Choster said. “Cave hogs are particularly nasty.”
Nonetheless, Percel dragged one of them into a bag enchanted with Food Preservation.
“That big lummox there is going to eat everything we got. Better safe than sorry, I say. It won’t taste so bad if we’re starving.”
They made their way down the street another half a block before their next encounter.
A soft sigh and a flicker of light were the first i
ndications of trouble.
A gheist flew out of a broken window from a nearby building and raced up to the group. Tawny cast Spectral Shield before it could reach them, and it bounced off the translucent blue dome.
Twenty more gheists streamed out of windows and rammed into the shield. They looked mostly formless, raggedy white streaks of ectoplasm flying through the air. Night showed through large eyes and wide open mouths turned down into permanent frowns.
They wailed as they flew, slamming into the barrier again and again.
“Toten gheists,” Percel said. “These are souls of those who died violently. They wish to bring a similar death to the living. So long as the lass keeps her shield up, we should be safe.”
“Is it my imagination,” Erik said as they walked forward, the gheists screeching and bumping into Tawny’s shield. “Or, are the threats getting worse the farther we go?”
“Melody is unlike a traditional dungeon, in that it doesn’t really have levels, lad,” Percel said. “But, it does follow the rules of other dungeons, and becomes worse the farther we get from the entrance. ’Tis an odd place.”
They passed the building full of toten gheists slowly. The spirits pushed back against the shield, slowing their progress with howls of anger and frustration.
“It’s like treading through water!” Erik said, grunting. His legs felt heavy, and a weight seemed to press down on the entire team.
All together the group moved slowly, shoving the dome down the street ahead of them.
At last, when they crossed an intersection the toten gheists flew back to their building, disappearing inside through its windows.
Tawny kept the shield up a while longer, just in case, but they saw no more gheists.
“You can lower it, lass. We’re approaching the tutelary.”
Tawny dismissed the barrier. They halted, staring at a different ghostly figure floating in the middle of the street.
Behind it, the way lay hidden from sight in mist the same shade of pale white as the phantom floating before it.
“Can’t we just walk around this?” Tawny said.
“Nay, lass. At this point, by some magic, whatever direction we take we will always return to this spot and face her. It’s the way Ludge set things up. To go forward, we have to get past the tutelary.”
“What’s a tutelary?” Erik said, quietly.
“A spirit guardian. In this case, it’s the spiritual guardian of yonder street we must go down to enter deeper into Melody,” Percel said.
“Was it set here by Ludge? Or, when he was Magos?”
“I know not. But, the way ahead is strewn with traps created by him. Getting through them was the primary purpose Prince Synthan had in mind when he formed the Children Soldiers.”
“Why? How can children get through the traps better than adults? Is it because they’re small or something?”
“Nay, lad. The traps do horrific things based on a person’s sins and desires, not their size.”
“I’m out,” Choster said quietly with a smile.
“What are we going to about that?” Nessa said. “We didn’t bring any children with us.”
Percel turned and stared at Toby. Nessa followed his eyes.
She said, “Oh, no. No way. Absolutely not.”
“He’s without sin, lass. The poor lad knows very little, much less the difference between right and wrong.”
“Tawny! Tell him you won’t let him put your brother in there!”
Tawny looked at Toby and sighed.
“He’s right, Nessa. Toby is . . . like a child in his mind and heart. And if that’s what it takes to get through the traps, then he can do it.”
Nessa’s eyes brimmed with tears.
“It’s not right! Both of you! Don’t you see it? It’s not right to make him go in there. What if he gets hurt? I can’t protect him if he’s away from us!”
She hugged Toby tight, and sobbed into his side, her face buried in his ribs.
He looked down at her, eyes wide, and awkwardly patted her on the back.
Erik walked up and leaned over to speak softly in her ear.
“Nessa, listen to me. We have to do this. If Megalos, or Ludge, ever heals and regain his old self, he will not stop until he hunts down and destroys Toby and Tawny. We have to get him now so they can both be safe. You should want this for him, Nessa. He has to do it.”
He gently pried her hands away from the big elf. Tawny walked over and wrapped her arms around Nessa.
“We’ll all be out here, waiting, Nessa. And Toby will make it through. Won’t you, Toby?”
He smiled down at all of them and nodded.
Tawny looked at Percel and said, “What does he have to do?”
“As luck would have it, I stood here myself fifty years ago, lass. And I was one of the children Synthan chose to face the tutelary. So, I know first hand what we need to do.
“Toby, lad,” he paused and looked up at the elf. “You’ll pass the spirit’s inspection and be allowed to proceed down the street. You’ll face many distractions, but there is only one thing you need to do. You’ll find a lever about 30 paces past the tutelary. All you have to do is pull it, and the rest of us can pass this spot and carry on with our quest.”
Toby’s eyes narrowed as Percel spoke, and for a moment the old man thought he was getting through.
He said, “Do y’understand, lad?”
Toby smiled and shook his head no.
“Go past the spirit, and pull the lever.”
Toby’s eyebrows shot up and his mouth formed an O.
“D y’understand? Do y’think you could do that for us?”
He nodded happily.
Percel sighed, unconvinced. He turned to the others and said, “I wish we had a spell or something that could help him. It’s not very far, but he could easily get lost in there.”
“What kind of distractions will he face?” Tawny said.
“I think it’s different for everyone. For me, there was candy. I loved candy, and I didn’t get many opportunities before joining the Children Soldiers to have any. There was . . . so much. I spent a couple of hours just trying different things, licking lollipops and gobbling down sugary treats.
“T’was all an illusion. Afterward I wasn’t any more satiated than before. In looking back, I should have gotten sick I ate so much, but since I wasn’t really eating anything, except mayhap air . . .
“Next I found my family. Or at least, that was the illusion. My ma and pa and all me brothers. Everyone was laughing and having a grand ole time, and I was right there with them for no telling how long until I realized it was all a vision. An incredibly life-like vision.”
Erik glanced up at Toby and said, “Yeah, no way he’s going to make it.”
“How did you make it through?” Tawny asked.
“I had resolve. The Prince himself sent me on the mission. He spoke to me about it at length before sending me in. When I remembered that, I snapped out of it and ignored all else. I found the lever and pulled it. It’s in the middle of an old fountain. The tutelary goes away when it’s pulled and all the traps are dispelled, at least for a while. We were able to continue.”
“That’s phenomenal you were able to do it, especially while so young.”
Percel’s ear reddened a little at Tawny’s compliment.
Erik said, “How long did it take you?”
“Several hours.”
“Several hours?”
“They told me four. Something like that. To me, it felt more like 15 minutes. All to go 30 paces in and pull a lever. I was the first one to do it. We found the remains of four others when the spells dissipated. They had all starved to death, caught by the distractions of desire in there.”
Everyone’s face fell at this.
“Yeah, he’ll never make it.”
“Stop saying that, Erik,” Nessa said, wiping her eyes dry. “Of course he’ll make it. We’ll just tell him it’s important, that’s all. Isn’t that right, Tob
y?”
Toby smiled down at her and nodded.
“See?”
“Yeah, he’ll—”
Tawny stopped Erik by placing her hand on his chest.
She said, “I have an idea for a spell that may help.”
-+-
Toby watched the tutelary. She floated a few feet off the ground, a pale white specter, her dress rustling in an unseen wind.
Her eyes observed them all, dark and intelligent inside her ghostly face. It seemed as if she sized them up. She measured their worth, silently judging. She watched and waited.
Tawny finished casting a complicated spell on Toby. It had no name. She had to invent it on the spot in order to do what she wanted. Thus it took a while to prepare and cast.
When she was done, Percel led him by the hand up to the spirit and stopped a few paces shy.
He pointed at the ghost and said, “Now, go up and face her, lad. She’ll let you past. When you get back there, go straight for the lever. It’s 30 steps past the tutelary. Well, for someone like you it’s more like 15 or 20 steps.”
Toby did not say anything. He stared at the spirit with a very concerned expression on his face, his eyebrows deeply furrowed. He slowly put his finger in his mouth.
“Stop that,” Percel said, pulling his arm down. “Now, go. And remember what we told you, lad!”
Toby nodded, reluctantly, then took a hesitant step toward the ghost woman.
Her spectral eyes shifted to him, and he stopped.
“Go on, lad! Remember, pull the lever! You’ll find it in the fountain.”
Toby took another step forward, and that was close enough to set off a proximity spell.
The spirit looked him up and down and spoke. Her voice seemed to travel from a great distance. It sounded faint, although everyone could hear it plainly spoken somehow.
“I bid welcome unto thee. Only enter if ye be . . . sin free.”
Toby gulped, his entire throat bobbing up and down in the motion.
He took another step forward.
The spirit bent down and touched the top of his head with her fingertips. For a moment, his body glowed in an otherworldly light.
“Toby!”
Tawny held onto Nessa’s left arm while Erik held her right. She struggled in their grip.