by Drew Jager
Lana ran in between two pillars, shoving Michael behind her as she went to keep him away from the beasts. The Cleric raised his staff above his head to keep any aerial foes away from them, and Wren prepared a spell.
Soon they were in position, and waiting for the other side to make the first move. A small flash of golden-brown went across his vision, and he launched the spell he had prepared. No response, a miss.
Dammit.
One of the Monkeys revealed themselves once his spell wasn't a threat, and landed on the ground on the opposite side of the room from them. It hooted once, and three Monkeys fell from above, in their blind spot.
"Michael!" Lana yelled out.
"I know!" He grunted out while he swung his staff in a wide arc, smashing two of the Monsters out of the air. The third managed to get past the hasty attack and landed directly onto Lana's shield. Before the other two Monsters could get back to their feet, Wren reached for his dagger and yelled out, "Lana! Toss it!"
She huffed in response, and heaved the Monkey from the top of her shield and sent it sailing into the dirt by their feet. He wasted no time, and plunged his blade directly into the Monsters eye.
It twitched once and let out a small howl, then dispersed into experience and mana. The other three Monkeys screeched at this turn of events and all ran towards them at once.
"Step back, boys." Lana called out, both men didn't question her. There was no time for second guessing.
Wren saw her channel the mana in her body, and watched in interest as she pushed it out into a wave in front of her. All three monkeys stumbled as the ground beneath their feet rolled and pushed them away.
He knew she had an Earth affinity, but he didn't expect it to be this strong. It was supposed to be very taxing to use spells on a large scale like she just did.
All the Monsters tumbled into one another from their mad dash, and Michael and Wren wasted no time rushing forward to finish the creatures off.
Lana, however, was using her shield as a crutch.
She must not be able to handle something as powerful as that spell very often, this might be bad without our shield.
The smallest of the Monkeys seemed to realize this as well, as it got up quicker than its brethren and charged at him. Wren was still trying to form his Ice Shard spell when it reached him. Claws much larger than what should have been normal streaked just past his eye, narrowly missing him. He felt relieved, until he saw the other clawed hand come into view, and scrape directly across his face. Forehead to jaw, he felt searing agony from the cut.
Michael was preoccupied with the other two, smashing legs and taking the occasional bite to the leg. He would have to deal with this by himself. Steeling himself, Wren let out a loud shout. The Monkey responded with its own, and dove towards his legs.
"Oh no you don't! Those are short enough as they are without any more being taken off, get back you bastard!" He yelled out as he finished his spell. Instead of firing it off, he grabbed the spell firmly in the palm of his hand and shoved it as deep into the skull of the Monkey as he could.
The blow killed the beast on the spot. It still crashed into his legs, though, knocking him over. At least it would have, but Lana was there to catch him before his head crashed into the ground.
He looked up at her and gave her a smile, blood pouring into his mouth from the wound on his head.
She laughed at him, and he joined in. Then Michael let out another shout, and they turned as one to see him picking a fang out of his calf.
"Good god Wren, how are you alive?!" He yelled out after seeing the state of the Dwarfs face.
"I won't be if you don't do something about it, get over here drama queen." He chided. He knew he wouldn't die from the cut, still hurt like a bitch though.
After some much needed healing, and a few extra curses from Wren while Michael healed him, they were ready to move on.
"I don't think I can heal another injury like that, I'm starting to get worn out. Not to mention Lana nearly fainted trying to play Hero in there." Michael grumbled out.
"It was that, or we feed you to the Monkeys to buy us time to escape." She called out nonchalantly. Michael paled, and he laughed at the poor boys expense.
"Speaking of, what did we get from them?" He asked, they had better gotten their moneys worth for the hassle they just went through.
"A few fangs and ruined pelts. We did get one Uncommon drop though, a large claw from that beast that tore you into shredded meat." the Cleric said.
He ignored the jab, "Good, at least we can afford a round of drinks tonight."
"That is all that matters." Lana added with a laugh.
Once they were ready, they moved through the room and into a hallway of nightmares.
"What the fuck is that?" He yelled out more from impulse than rational thought.
The room was dotted with terrifying statues that all seemed to stare into their very souls. Monsters depicted with more eyes than teeth, and spikes where none should ever be. Antlers and fur seemed to be a common feature, but that was where any semblance of reality ended.
"I swear to the gods if we have to fight whatever that is, I will never Dungeon dive again." Michael said, with more firmness in his voice than Wren had ever heard before.
Lana just rolled her eyes and Wren had to yank her back before she killed herself. "Watch your step, girl. Theres a trap there."
She looked down at her feet. Sure enough, a large Pitfall trap was just sitting there, right at the entrance.
"Thanks..." She said, now far more cautious.
"I see another trap in the center of the room. Other than that, not much else." He whispered to the two.
They moved past the two traps and noticed a large dried blood stain right at the center of where the second trap was. They then came face to face with a set of glowing, golden eyes.
"Are those jewels?" Michael asked in a small voice.
"Yes, but they look to be stuck into the wood. I don't see a way to remove them without breaking apart the Dungeon, and we will NOT be doing that." It was common knowledge that if you tried to damage a Dungeon or its Crawl, the entirety of the Dungeon would be sent to remove the people causing the harm.
Both just nodded, they knew well enough when to let some treasure be. "I think this is going to be the Boss." He said to the both of them.
"We have no idea what the Monster is, nor are we in any fighting shape for anything stronger than what we already faced." He said.
"We should at least see what it is though!" Lana whined beside him.
"I didn't say we wouldn't. We will NOT fight though, unless no other option is available. I want both of you to be ready to turn around and run like hell if something happens." They all agreed, and positioned themselves to take a peek into the first floor Boss room.
The door proved to be one of the heaviest the Dwarf had ever encountered. It took all of his muscle just to begin to inch the thing open, and Lana had to step up with a chuckle and help him.
Her laughter died out when she started sweating trying to open the thing too. Michael stood in the back, ready to pull them away, should anything happen.
Sunlight began to seep through the crack they had opened, and once the door was open wide they all gasped.
It was a sea of yellow-green grass, with rolling hills dotting the landscapes with rocks and an occasional flower. Trees ringed the entirety of the room, and the light coming from the ceiling seemed brighter than the rest of the Dungeon.
"Amazing..." Lana whispered.
"It's like I'm back in the Ferst Plains!" Michael exclaimed.
"Where is the boss, though?" He said, continuously scanning the room.
As if on cue, an earsplitting roar sounded out somewhere away from their field of view.
That was all the motivation they needed to turn around and begin high-tailing it away from the door. The last thing they needed was to have that door close on them while they were stuck admiring the room.
"Run you tall
bastards! We can let some other fool Party fight it first." He yelled out from behind them.
He and the two Humans were running towards the room with the Monkeys when he took one last look behind him.
He caught a glimpse of something that would give him night terrors for over a month.
A slobbering beast twice the size of any bear he had ever seen was barreling towards them. He saw fangs as long as his forearm and just as thick dripping with saliva. Golden eyes that screamed of unnatural intelligence were fixated directly on him, and he could swear they looked amused.
Fuck. That.
"RUN FASTER!" He screamed towards his companions.
Michael moved to turn around, but Lana just shoved him forward before he could get a good look at what Wren had. They ran until they came to the vine pit, and all leapt over one after the other without a second glance behind them. He couldn't hear the beast behind them anymore, but he wouldn't take that chance.
Once back to the Flower room, he gave the signal to slow and catch their breath. All three collapsed and took heaving breaths.
"What did you see, Wren?!" Lana asked between gasps for air.
"When we get out of this cursed place, I'll tell you, along with the Guild Officer." He replied.
Lana and Michael both nodded, and set off to exit the Dungeon at a more cautious pace. Just because they had killed the Monsters earlier didn't mean one wasn't waiting for them after they were on their way out. Many Adventurers had lost their lives that way, and Wren had instilled caution into them the month prior to their dive.
All three were just outside of the entrance when they heard an excessively loud female voice call out, "They're back!" Followed by a towering woman coming forward and embracing them, checking for injuries.
"Stop worrying, you over sized Mama Hen, our Cleric here already took care of us just fine." Lana said between forearms the size of her legs.
Michael just rubbed the back of his head, looking embarrassed.
"How far did you three get?" Joy, the Beast-woman, asked them.
"To the Boss room, but we didn't go inside. I saw it though. I saw the Beast." He said that last part in a hushed tone, and the two Veterans got the message.
"Go see Brian, and report your findings." Joy ordered.
All three nodded once, and set out towards the Adventuring Guilds main building in the fledgling town.
It was a three story structure made mainly out of the local wood and stone, but it would do for now. Inside were sparse furnishings and uncomfortable waiting chairs. A small child ushered them into the Guild Officers room, and then left out a back door.
Brian was sitting waiting for them. A mountain of a man, he was well known by the younger Adventurers for being one of the strongest in the Expert rank. He looked over all three of them, then nodded for the report.
Not one for talking, just like everyone said.
"Sir, we've explored the Dungeon up to and including the Boss room. We received minor injuries consistent with what the other groups reported, and encountered a new type of Monster. They seemed similar to the local Monkeys in the forest, but with sharper fangs and claws." He took a deep breath, then steeled himself for the next unpleasant memory.
"The Boss room is located right after the Monkeys, after a trapped hallway filled with statues similar to those by the entrance." All three shuddered at the thought of those horrific visages.
"We opened the Boss door, and inside was a grassland, fit with trees and small hills. As well as an artificial sunlight brighter than the rest of the Dungeon. We left shortly after, but I got a good look at the Boss before we did."
The Officer just motioned with his hand, clearly impatient.
"It appeared to be a Bear, twice the size of one that I've ever seen. With fangs longer and thicker than my arm. The eyes... The eyes were gold, and seemed to understand more than the beast would let on. I believe it is a semi-intelligent boss capable of strategy and tactics. After, we encountered no more Monsters until we exited the Dungeon." By the end he was rambling, and his Party members were just as shocked as he was about the Boss information.
"I see. Good job coming back without risking yourselves." At this his vision flickered to Lana for the briefest moment, then returned to Wren.
"Rest for tonight, you three aren't scheduled to dive again for a few more days. Dismissed." He turned his gaze away from the three Adventurers and focused on a mound of paperwork on his desk. He sighed once he looked back to it, and the three took this as their cue to leave.
They all nodded once and exited the building, then immediately turned towards the tavern. It was time to forget and enjoy themselves.
Chapter 13 - Friendship and Pajamas
* * *
In the Crawl room, Sol watches the Adventurers run from the Boss.
"Wow. They are really booking it out of here." Will said appreciatively. He didn't think a Two-legs could move that fast when it was so low to the ground. Bel had told him that the short one was a Dwarf, but to him they all still looked the same. Different sizes didn't matter when they see Grizzly. That marks the second time an Adventurer has run away from the Boss.
"I think it was a smart choice. Didn't you see how tired they looked? Especially that one with the shield, she was practically hobbling after the Troops room!" She started sighing at the memory. It was sad that the Troop had to die like they did, but they put on a great show for both of them.
"Once these three finish running with their tail between their legs we should give them a reward for doing so well!" She suggested
"I am not giving a reward to Adventurers for running away." He said with finality.
She turned over on her stomach and smacked the top of his Crawl. "The Troop, you over-sized rock. I think they get bored, cooped up in that room, it's high time we added some small quality of life changes for our Monsters."
"I didn't know they could get bored, I thought they would be fine with whatever we gave them." This seemed strange to Will, but his Herald was known to leave out small important facts in the past.
"Well... They can! They will be fine with whatever we give them, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't appreciate some small changes." She said, cheeks tinged red.
"Poor Grizzly, though, he still hasn't gotten to fight anyone." She said with a small frown.
He agreed; he had really been looking forward to seeing the Boss in action. So far, though, none of the Adventurers had managed to get up the courage to fight the beast.
Just then, he felt another presence enter his Dungeon, the large woman he was told was named Holly. She had run right into the entrance and was trying to suffocate the other three.
I believe in you, over-sized mutant, end their lives and feed me!
Sadly, she seemed to lose her strength and let go of them.
Damn. Better luck next time, Two-legs.
After the last of the Adventurers exited the Dungeon, he felt all of his powers return and he knew he could now edit the Dungeon at will again.
Throughout all of this, Sol had managed to climb up onto one of the many shelves ringing the Crawl room. He was sitting with his legs dangling a few feet off the ground, and using a strip of Silk cloth as a blanket.
He had watched the three Adventurers run through Will's Crawl.
After she had told him that he could project an image of whatever he wished inside his Dungeon through his Crawl he had nearly screamed at her. Then forgave her once he saw how Sol had decided to watch the show, blanket in hand.
Will turned his focus back onto Sol. "We have until Sunrise to get you situated with the Dungeon. Are you ready to meet everyone?"
They had both decided to introduce the new addition to the other Monsters, and hopefully along the way they could convince him not to leave the Dungeon before he could take care of himself.
Sol just nodded and hopped off the shelf and onto the ground. He was fairly graceful, for a tree anyways. Will did notice that he took the strip of Silk cloth with him whe
n he leapt down, and saw him hastily stuff it into the many leaves making up his hair.
That might be the cutest thing I'll ever see in my entire life.
Bel, however, was waiting at the door. "Will, are they ready?"
"Yep, I just told all the other Monsters to come. I think they are struggling to open the Boss door though, so they might take a second." He said.
"Perfect! Then let's give Sol and Grizzly a proper introduction. Come on little one." She said this last piece towards Sol and he began slowly moving towards her. He took long steps, proportionate to his body, and looked like he was going at a slow walk.