Dungeon Master 3

by Eric Vall

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Rana sighed, and then she leaned against the wall to stuff her fox feet into her fur covered boots quickly.

  “Carmedy was right you know,” I said as we continued to walk through the tunnel. “You really were fantastic.”

  “Aw thanks,” Rana said, and her face turned red for a moment. “You already told me how great I was, but additional compliments are always welcomed.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” I grinned.

  As our group continued through the tunnel, the glow of the red light became even brighter. I navigated our way through the dungeon using the increasing presence of the deity as my compass. We were getting close, I could almost taste their power. Finally, we emerged from the passageway and into the next cavern. Before us lay a vast cave with a floor constructed completely out of a sheet of ice. The light that we had seen seemed to be coming from the walls which were covered in clusters of glowing red quartz-like formations. At the far end of the cave I could see the entrance to the next tunnel.

  “Ugh,” Rana groaned. “We have to walk across that ice?”

  “I do not see any other way,” Morrigan said.

  “It looks like fun,” Carmedy giggled.

  “Uhhh, you remember the ice demons that came out of the frozen lake earlier?” Rana asked.

  “Yep!” Carmedy said. “I feel kinda bad I didn’t get to try my explod-o powder on them, but I had fun fighting the marble men with Master.” The cat girl fluttered her eyelashes at me, and I let out a chuckle as I petted her hood.

  “This way,” I gestured for the others to follow me. “Walk carefully.” I carefully stepped a foot onto the ice. It seemed thick and solid enough to walk on. I picked up my other foot and placed it onto the ice and started to make my way across.

  “Yikes!” Carmedy yelped as her feet slid out from under her. As she fell, the cat grabbed onto Rana’s arm pulling the both of them down in the process. Annalíse, myself, and even Morrigan held back our laughter at the sight of the two women who now resembled a heap of fur and limbs.

  “Thanks a lot Carmedy,” Rana groaned. “And will you please get your tail out of my face?” the fox said as she swatted at the feline’s bottom.

  “Sorry,” Carmedy giggled as they picked themselves up and continued to tiptoe along. “This sure is slippery. Ooh, I have an idea,” the cat said as her eyes shimmered with excitement. “Let’s ice skate.”

  “Ice skate?” Rana snorted. “You’re kidding. We’re in the middle of trying to conquer a dungeon, and you want to take a break to ice skate? We don’t even have any skates.”

  “So unimaginative,” Carmedy laughed, and she took a few long sliding strides forward. “Look see, it’s slippery enough to not even need skates, and we’ll get across faster. Then there will be less chance of the bad ice-demons chomping us.” The feline pumped her arms to give herself some momentum and slid in a circle around the fox woman. She then grabbed hold of Rana’s paws and started to pull the protesting fox along with her.

  “Carmedy, now isn’t the time to be playing around.” Rana frowned as the black-haired alchemist pulled her across the ice, further and further away from us.

  “You can ice skate later,” I shouted to Carmedy. “Come back over here now please.”

  “Aw but it’s so much fun,” the green-eyed woman said gleefully as she and Rana slid along. “Come on you guys, try it! Live a little why don’t you?”

  “Carmedy we don’t have time for this,” Annalíse called in the cat’s direction.

  The princess opened her mouth to say something else but paused when a cracking noise suddenly came to the air.

  “Did you hear that?” the swordswoman asked Morrigan and me.

  “Yes, I did,” I said darkly. With a sinking feeling in my chest I slowly looked down at the ice.

  A large crack had formed just a few feet ahead of us. The crack started to branch out in jagged movements and quickly spread outwardly across the ice.

  “Everyone move!” I shouted as the crooked crevices crawled across the floor. Morrigan, Annalíse and I sprinted forward, and Carmedy and Rana ran diagonally to rejoin us. Suddenly a deafening crunching sound erupted from the frozen ground and the ice started to break apart. The three of us slid to a halt as the ice right in front of us broke off into chunks and floated away on the water. At the same time the area on which we stood also broke away and floated aimlessly. I whirled around to see Carmedy and Rana teetering on another smaller piece of ice several yards away from us. We were separated by a large amount of open water and there were no nearby pieces of ice that we could step on to reach them.

  “Help!” Carmedy waved her hands. “We’re stranded.”

  “Don’t worry,” I shouted. “We’ll find a way to get to you both.”

  “Perhaps there is some sort of implement that we can utilize to maneuver our section of ice closer to their proximity,” Morrigan spoke up.

  “Good idea,” I nodded, and I immediately removed the God Slayer from my void pocket. It was a shame that such a weapon be reduced to a mere oar, but it had to be done. Annalíse removed Bloodscale from her back, handed it to Morrigan, and together the three of us started to paddle our way toward Carmedy and Rana.

  “Just hang on,” I said reassuringly. “Try not to make any sudden movements, you don’t want the ice you’re standing on to tip over.”

  “You don’t have to tell me twice,” Carmedy cringed. “I hate getting wet, and I bet this water is freezing to boot.”

  “Yeah, I’m not too crazy about going for an ice-cold dip myself,” Rana said with a dry laugh, but then her jovial expression abruptly shifted into a look of fear, and her blue eyes widened as she stared past us. “Um, guys, what’s that?” The fox pointed behind us and Morrigan, Annalíse, and I stopped paddling and turned to look over our shoulders.

  Tearing through the water was a large blue-ish green fin the size of a sail speeding toward us as it darted in between the chunks of ice.

  Chapter 5

  I gripped the God Slayer tightly in my hand as I turned to face what was pursuing us. Annalíse readied her sword and out of the corner of my vision I saw Morrigan’s eyes become consumed in blackness, and her mage markings started to pulsate with their familiar red glow as she prepared for an attack.

  “What do think it is?” Carmedy whispered from behind us.

  “Whatever it is, it’s big,” Rana grumbled. “And I have a funny feeling it’s not going to be friendly.”

  As soon as the words left the fox’s mouth, the fin disappeared beneath the water. The elf, the warrior, and I stood back to back, and the air was silent as my minions held their breaths waiting for the creature to emerge from the depths. Suddenly a flash of shiny obsidian scales shot out of the water and stretched toward the ceiling. We tilted our heads upward to see a massive serpentine creature with a series of five large turquoise fins down its back.

  Water rolled off the enormous creature’s back, and the serpent blinked its beady piercing blue eyes as it looked down at us. Its face came down to a narrowed point, and its mouth appeared to be a very tiny hole, unusually small for such a large beast. Strangely, it made no move to attack. The gargantuan monster simply waved its body back and forth and gazed at us. It was a fearsome thing to behold, but it seemed curious rather than aggressive at present. I wasn’t going to let my guard down though.

  “See Rana, it’s not mean after all,” Carmedy elbowed the fox.

  “You’re going to have a hard time convincing me that thing isn’t vicious,” Rana hissed as she suspiciously eyed the scaly creature.

  “It’s probably just lonely, aren’t you?” Carmedy crooned to the finned beast. “You just want some company, don’t you?”

  “Do not converse with it as though it is merely a pet.” Morrigan narrowed her eyes. “I do not--” The elf paused when another onyx colored head emerged from the water rose beside the other.

  “Ooh, there’s two of them,” Carmedy said happily. The gar
gantuan things blinked at us with their blue eyes and tilted their heads to one side. Suddenly their tiny mouths started to open, and a series of jagged teeth extended from their lips as they parted. Their jaws stretched back wide and opened up like the petals of some gruesome flower to reveal countless rings of sharp teeth inside of their pink mouths. Their lethal fangs now bared and dripping with drool, and the hideous serpents reared their heads back and released a series of thunderous roars that shook the very walls of the cavern.

  “What was that you said about them not being mean Carmedy?” I heard Rana grumble.

  “Get behind me!” I yelled to Annalíse and Morrigan, and the two women obeyed without hesitation.

  The monstrous scaly brutes let out ear splitting screeches and curved in the air before they launched their heads at us with outstretched jaws. I gripped the God Slayer in both hands and spun it over my head. As the weapon twirled, I pumped my dark energy into it, and a disc of crimson light formed around the spinning halberd. The circle of light began to stretch downward and around me to form a dome. It glowed intensely and hummed loudly as my sinister energy pulsed through it.

  I continued to spin the God Slayer faster and faster over my head. Then I bellowed as I pumped more of my power into the weapon. The finned leviathans reeled back and hissed as my magical barrier glowed with more and more intensity until the dome radiated a blinding blood-colored light. It hummed even louder and fizzled and crackled with my superior energy. With a mighty cry, I pushed it out toward the towering monstrosities. An immense wave of red light shot out from the dome and stretched toward the enormous creatures. The finned fiends screeched and tried to move their hulking bodies out of my reach, but they were too late and the dark energy that I had called forth wrapped around their bodies. The obsidian scaled worms roared in pain as my power engulfed them.

  Their tormented cries were escalated as the sinister red energy continued to wrap around their frame, squeeze around them tightly, and suffocate them. Within seconds their scaly features were no longer visible. Their bodies had been completely consumed by my dark magic and became nothing more than wriggling red silhouettes as my power strangled them. The behemoths roared and writhed in the air, but to no avail. With one last clutch I squeezed my victims even tighter, and one by one I felt the life draining from their bodies. Suddenly they ceased their thrashing, and their bodies plummeted over into the water sending waves crashing.

  I released my grip on the scarlet magic that had consumed the scaly brutes and it slowly started to fade away. As it dissipated, the stripped carcasses of the monsters were revealed, and their massive skeletons slowly sunk beneath the waves.

  “Fantastic,” Morrigan whispered with awe. “Master continues to amaze me with his power.”

  “Yeah,” Annalíse agreed as she glanced up and down my armor. “Sometimes I forget that you can pretty much do whatever you want.”

  “I cannot do whatever I want… yet,” I chuckled. “But I can help you take vengeance on your father.”

  “Um, a little help over here?” Rana yelled, and I whirled around to see a large fin tearing through the water toward her and Carmedy. The feline quickly plucked a few bundles from her belt and poured the contents of one pouch into another. At the speed at which the creature was coming, the alchemist wouldn’t have time to mix up something potent enough to do any serious damage. It was up to me then.

  I stopped spinning my halberd and brought the pole down on the ice, extinguishing the protective barrier that surrounded us. A fearsome roar erupted as the black scaled head rose from the water and stretched open its terrible mouth. Giant waves ran across the water with the creature’s emergence and knocked the piece of ice on which Rana and Carmedy stood back and forth which threatened to send them to a watery grave. The violently churning waters caused Carmedy to drop the bundles in her hand and she and the fox crouched down to grab hold of the chunk of ice that carried them. The gargantuan beast thrust its head toward them and Carmedy screamed as she and Rana desperately held on to the edges of the ice for dear life as the relentless waves tossed them back and forth.

  There was no time to lose. I quickly raised a hand to the air and focused my energy on the monstrosity. I had used up some of my strength creating the barrier and with the last attack, but still had plenty left to save the rest of my minions. With a loud grunt I summoned my powers of necromancy once more and just when it looked as though the vile beast was about to consume the women, it lurched to a halt, shook its great head, and screeched in anguish as its fins started to disintegrate into gray ash.

  The creature wriggled its scaly frame and writhed in the water as my magic ate its way through the monster’s body. Parts of its toothy gaping mouth disintegrated into gray matter and scattered into the air before they floated down into the churning waters. Chunks of its shiny armor-like skin were whittled away. The serpentine behemoth’s savage hisses withered away to mere shrieks and yelps. My dark power continued to devour its way upward through the brute’s body until all that remained was its head. With nothing left to support it, the massive head full of fangs plummeted into the water with a loud splash and sent one last wave careening across the water.

  The creature now vanquished, Carmedy and Rana released their hold on the chunk of ice that held them and breathed sighs of relief.

  “Now can we get out of here?” Rana said to the feline with a wry grin as they carefully stood to their feet to avoid tipping over the ice. “Or do you still feel like ice skating?”

  “Uh, no, I’m good for now,” Carmedy laughed. “I think I’ve done enough skating for today.”

  Annalíse, Morrigan, and I started to row toward our companions once more. Before long we reached the two of them, helped them onto our piece of ice, and started to paddle toward the other side of the cavern. It took some time to cross the body of frigid water but finally we reached the other side. We climbed onto the solid rock at the edge of the cave and entered into the next tunnel.

  Just like the cave, the walls were lined with glowing red formations that lit our path. As we continued on our way, the deity’s presence grew stronger and stronger, I could almost taste it. My mouth watered at the thought of the sensation that came with harvesting another deity’s power and joining it with my own. There was no other feeling in this world that compared to it. I had collected six other deity’s powers so far on our travels, and each time my thirst for their power increased.

  And soon I’d be adding another to my collection.

  The passageway in which we traveled was shorter than the others, and it didn’t take long for us to reach the end of it. The deity most likely hadn’t expected anyone to survive the obstacles that they’d put in place. They were in for an unpleasant surprise. As we stepped out of the tunnel, we were met with yet another vast cavern with the same glowing red walls, this time however the ground was made of solid rock, something which I was certain my minions were grateful for. This particular cavern also resembled the first in that there were snow-dusted pine trees scattered across the rocky floor, however there was no snow falling this time.

  “Where to next?” Carmedy asked as she glanced around the scarlet lit cavern.

  The five of us looked around at our surroundings and quickly discovered that there were no other tunnel openings save for the one from which we had only just emerged.

  “It appears as though this is the end of the line as they say,” Morrigan said as she gently stroked the feathers of her winged pets on her shoulders.

  “Yes, it appears so,” I mumbled. My eyes darted in every direction in anticipation of the deity’s appearance.

  I would not be caught off guard.

  Just then, I noticed that the red clustered quartz formations in one particular section of the towering wall had started to flicker. A loud crack came to my ears, and the wall started to split apart and slide away into two halves revealing a dark chasm within it.

  “Here we go,” Rana said under her breath, and she along with the others b
raced for attack.

  The sound of slow heavy thudding footsteps came toward us from somewhere in the darkness behind the wall. Whomever those footsteps belonged to was certainly big for every step that took caused the ground to tremble beneath our feet. The steps thundered closer and with them, the ever increasing presence of the deity. Carmedy gulped, and her hands quivered a bit as she readied her slingshot. Morrigan’s eyes narrowed as they turned wholly black, and her mage markings gave their menacing red glow. Annalíse gripped each of her swords tightly in her grasp with a fearsome scowl, and Rana stood with her daggers poised in her paws, her face pinched into a look of determination. They were ready and so was I.

  A large pair of glowing pale blue eyes pierced the darkness as the deity approached, the same blue eyes that the sculptures had possessed, as well as the ice demons and the serpent creatures. A humongous boot finally emerged from the darkness and the other moved to rest beside it. I heard a gasp from among my minions as our gaze panned up the giant that stood before us. The enormous man looked to be over fifty feet tall, only a few feet of space between the top of his helmeted head and the ceiling. The helmet in question had large white horns on either side that curved upwards to threatening points and at the top of the helmet was a silver spike. The god who wore it had a weather-beaten face and a long red scar ran from the top center of his forehead through his right eyebrow and stopped just above his eyelid. From his lip sprouted a long braided brown mustache and each of the braids rested on top of a rather bushy chestnut beard that reached to the center of his great chest. He wore an immense cape of grey-ish brown fur draped over his mighty shoulders and it flowed down to the backs of his knees. His hulking frame was outfitted in silver armor and in his huge hands clutched a battle axe whose shaft resembled a tree trunk. The god’s glowing blue eyes squinted down at us, and he clutched his weapon tighter in his grasp.

  “That is one big fella,” Rana whispered unable to break her gaze from the deity’s towering frame.