Death's Chasm

by Constantine Noble

“Yer kiddin me, right?” asked Gilnar incredulously. He ran up and started pushing on the door with David. “Have ya not been paying attention to these fiends? They will rip us apart like we were them lil rocks!”

  The Cleric rushed up to help. The door was making more progress, but was still going to take some time.

  “Lorcan, you’ll have to distract them,” she cried out.

  The green light around Lorcan faded as the beasts started making their way to him and his allies. He frantically checked his stats. What could he do? He didn’t gain any new abilities for being level 12, just an upgrade to his Mirror Image that would make three of him instead of two.

  That’s it!

  Lorcan cast Mirror Image, and three of him popped into existence.

  “Split up, spam firebolt as much as you can,” he called out to his clones.

  Without hesitation, the three Images dashed and ran for separate areas of the room. As they ran, they cast firebolt as quickly as they could down at their feet and up into the air. Just as he had hoped, the crab beasts all turned their heads to follow the Images, and chased after them. The fake Lorcan’s were doing well dodging out of the way, with one jumping from back to back of the crustaceans.

  The others had just gotten the door cracked open enough for them to make it through as Lorcan caught up to them, and he shimmied his way through.

  Chapter 9

  “Good thinkin, lad!” exclaimed Gilnar as they pushed on the door to the previous room to close it shut again.

  “Yeah, you really saved us there,” piped in David. “Even if, you know, you were the cause for the panic in the first place.”

  The Cleric smacked the back of her husband’s head.

  “It’s not his fault he leveled up right then,” she scolded. Turning back to Lorcan, her expression softened. “If anything, this is a good sign! The only reason I can think of for why you would have leveled right then, was Kurt defeating that sea creature in room two. He must have survived the cave in, and taken out the beast!”

  Lorcan couldn’t help but smile. She was right, that did make sense. Even though they weren’t with Kurt when he made the kill, the dungeon would grant them all experience for mobs defeated, as long as they had been there for the initial encounter.

  “I bet you’re right. Let’s get to this next room,” said Lorcan, more confident than when they began the dungeon.

  They followed the tunnel to the fourth room. As they got closer and closer, Lorcan started to sweat. Was he getting exhausted from using up all his mana on his Images?

  “What is this heat?” asked David, trying to give himself some breathing space around his armored collar.

  “I wish I was wearin a fancy robe like you right about now,” said Gilnar with a jealous eye back to Lorcan.

  They came to the end of the tunnel and found out where the heat was coming from. Walls of the room were lined with jets of fire shooting up into the air. Sitting in the middle of the room was a floating ball of fire, approximately 15 feet tall and wide. Aside from the fire, there didn’t appear to be any mobs, and there were no holes for enemies to come out of like in the first room. On the other side of the room was the final door, leading to the final boss’ room. Several bars were in front of it, blocking any potential adventurers from making it through the door.

  “Is this a puzzle room?” asked the Cleric as they all stood in the door way.

  “No.” replied Gilnar. “D’ya see that fire floating in the middle? That there is a fire elemental that is resting. I have a feeling that the only way to get the bars to come down from the door for the final room is to defeat it.”

  “How do you defeat a fire elemental?” questioned Lorcan. He had heard of the mysterious beings before, but hadn’t spent any time studying them. They were rare to come into contact with, and normally lived in high level areas further away from anywhere he had planned to visit.

  “We’re about to find out, lad.”

  The group moved into the room. As the last of their feet cleared the tunnel way, bars like those across the room shot up, blocking their exit.

  “Looks like there’s no escaping this,” shrugged the Warrior.

  The floor shook as the fire elemental woke up. Two pitch black eyes appeared on the top of the ball, and arms materialized to its left and right. The fire below its eyes parted as it spoke.

  “Hu, hu, hu. Food,” spoke the elemental.

  Everyone took out their weapons and fanned out. Lorcan summoned fire to his hands.

  “Hu, hu, hu. Fire, for me? Hu, hu, hu.”

  Sandy shot Lorcan a nervous look. “Um, I’m not sure that a firebolt will be very effective against a fire elemental.”

  Only one way to see, he thought. He chucked a firebolt at the elemental, who promptly absorbed it. If Lorcan’s eyes weren’t betraying him, he could’ve sworn the fire elemental grew slightly.

  “Hu, hu, hu. More please! Hu, hu, hu.”

  Lorcan frowned. That wasn’t good.

  “Oi, lad,” said Gilnar. “Maybe sit this one out. You’ve only got fire as a ranged attack, and I don’t it wise to run up and try to hit em with lightning.”

  Lorcan fell back to where they came from, leaning against the bars.

  The Paladin, Warrior, and Cleric slowly surrounded the elemental, the light of the fire bouncing off of their heavy armor.

  David rushed in, shield raised, and jabbed his sword at the elemental. It took the shot while trying to beat on the shield.

  90 or 105 HP remaining.

  Gilnar and Sandy rushed in with maces raised, swinging at the back of the enemy.

  70 of 105 HP remaining.

  The elemental growled and slammed its arms into the ground. A wave of fire shot off from it, pushing the three back.

  They were undeterred and rushed in once again: Swing, thump, thump.

  35 of 105 HP remaining.

  The growl of the elemental grew fiercer, and again he slammed his fists into the ground. This wave of fire had a greater push back, giving the weakened fire elemental a little bit of room. It stood in the middle gasping for breath, hate in its dark eyes.

  “This is easy,” laughed David. “One more go and this will already be over!”

  Lorcan leaned forward off of the bars and took a few steps towards them. This almost seemed too easy. The other rooms had proved much more of a challenged, why was this the final room before a boss encounter?

  The fire elemental started to back up close to the wall as the three players move slowly towards him. They had him cornered now.

  “Listen, elemental. Just let us go to the next room and we’ll let you live,” offered the Dwarf. “No need to shed any blood. Or… whatever it is that comes outta ya when you die.”

  “Hu, hu, hu. Stupid invaders. So, so stupid. Hu, hu, hu,” laughed the elemental.

  Why was he so confident in himself still? He had no where left to go but… Lorcan’s eyes lit up. That was it!

  “Guys! Don’t let him walk into the fire! I think it’ll make him stronger,” yelled Lorcan.

  The three glanced back at him, caught off guard from the yelling. By the time they turned back to their enemy, he had jumped into the flames on the wall.

  “Like that,” sighed Lorcan.

  The fire elemental swelled to several times its original size as it absorbed the fire along the wall, extinguishing the rest of the flames.

  “Hu, hu, hu. Now, you die!”

  200 of 200 HP remaining.

  The elemental opened its mouth wide, and fire rained down upon the three. David fell down,

  100 of 150 HP remaining.

  Gilnar fell down,

  85 of 135 HP remaining.

  And Sandy fell down.

  70 of 120 HP remaining.

  The three stumbled to their feet and tried to spread out.

  “Hu, hu, hu. Stupid beings.”

  “Sandy, we could use some ranged damage about now,” said David, holding his chest.

  “Um, right.”
/>   The Cleric focused for a second and then reached out her hand towards the elemental. “Smite!”

  A yellow ray of light fell from the sky and crashed into the top of the giant fire elemental, who roared out in pain.

  120 of 200 HP remaining.

  “Woah, that did a ton of damage,” shouted Lorcan to the others. “Keep doing radiant damage to it, guys!”

  Gilnar nodded and rushed at the towering creature. “Myra’s Astonishment!” The tip of the mace shone brightly with light as the mace swung into the side of the elemental. It roared out in pain yet again.

  70 of 200 HP remaining.

  The fire elemental swung its fist and batted the Dwarf, who rolled away like a tumbleweed. k'12

  50 of 135 HP remaining.

  The elemental was panting again and making a mad dash for the wall on the other side of the room.

  “Sandy, quick!” yelled Lorcan. “Hit him with Smite again before he gets there, or it will be over for us!”

  The Cleric hesitated and looked over at the Mage. The elemental was nearly to the fire now, and in just a couple of seconds would be refreshed and even bigger.

  “Hurry!”

  Sandy closed her eyes as she reached out her hand again. “Smite!”

  As the elemental jumped to cover the last foot of distance between itself and the wall of fire, a ray of light yet again came crashing down onto its head. Ash exploded out and covered the ground around where the fire elemental had been.

  0 of 200 HP remaining.

  Everyone stared in silence at the spot of the fallen elemental as the bars dropped from the doors leading into and out of the room.

  “Shed any ash. There was no need to shed any ash, is what I shoulda said to em,” mumbled the Dwarf, as he lay his head back onto the ground.

  Chapter 10

  “Now, now, Felix. Surely you know you stand no chance in direct combat with me,” said Gamebreaker from behind his Oni mask.

  Felix didn’t respond.

  “We can resolve this peacefully, if you wish,” offered the demon, still laying down on the table.

  Jacob was trying to figure out what to do. Should he fight alongside Felix? Should he view Gamebreaker as a potential savior, and instead stab Felix in the back?

  Dang, that was dark, thought Jacob.

  He stayed put.

  “Oh yeah? What is it you want from us, scum?”

  “So harsh! Why the anger?”

  “You’re joking, right?” scoffed Felix. He gestured to the rooms in the back. “Two of my comrades are incapacitated in the rooms over there. Who knows what horror you put them through.”

  “Your comrades?” asked Gamebreaker, tilting his head to the side. Suddenly his head snapped straight up. “Oh! That’s right, my illusions.” He snapped his fingers, and a light poof sound came from both of the back rooms.

  “That… that’s impossible!” exclaimed Felix. “They were solid beings! I shook them myself! There is no way they could have been illusions.”

  Gamebreaker hopped to his feet and produced a staff out of thin air. “Is this staff not real, then?”

  He spun the staff multiple times and then, grabbing it over his shoulder, chucked it through one of the monitors above them. It exploded in a shower of sparks as the staff continued on and stuck into the cave wall. He snapped his fingers, and the staff disappeared. Gamebreaker jumped, landing with his left foot behind him and his right in front. He pushed his hands into the air and waved his fingers.

  “Ta da!” he exclaimed.

  Felix was right, thought Jacob. This guy really was crazy.

  Jacob’s hooded accomplice waved his dagger before him, crouching down into an attacking stance. “That’s enough, jester. We are not entertained and don’t have time to waste here with you. Get out of our way, or prepare to fight.”

  Gamebreaker slumped forward, elbows on his knees, with a sigh.

  “Why do none of you people ever wanna play with me? I don’t get it. I’m a pretty cool guy. We have similar goals. I’m just not cool killing people.”

  He didn’t like killing people? What happened to the other members of this secret group, then? Was he implying that they kill people?

  Felix glanced back at Jacob and seemed to read his thoughts. “Don’t listen to him, Jacob. He is just making things up.”

  “Making things up?” asked Gamebreaker. “I left you all because your morals ceased to exist. There is no point in trying to convince the government of our technological breakthroughs if you kill hundreds or thousands of people along the way. I don’t think Jacob would be standing there if he knew what your comrades have done.”

  “ENOUGH!” shouted Felix as he disappeared.

  Gamebreaker looked around casually, and then back to Jacob. “Where’d your friend go?”

  A blue dagger tip jutted through the demon’s heart as Felix materialized behind him.

  “Sorry, but your game ends here.”

  0 of 150 HP remaining.

  Gamebreaker’s hand grabbed the tip of the dagger.

  “Yow! That is pointy! That was a tight line, though.”

  His head slowly spun around and looked Felix in his horrified face.

  “What’s wrong? You seem concerned. I told you I don’t like killing, so there isn’t anything to worry about. Well,” conceded the demon with a knowing nod, “other than letting the big boss down.”

  A second Gamebreaker materialized behind Felix, and, with a simple swing of his staff to the back of the head, knocked Felix out.

  100 of 180 HP remaining.

  Status: Stunned.

  Felix collapsed off of the table and onto the floor, his dagger still sticking in the first Gamebreaker. The second one hopped down and rummaged through his pockets, pulling out the small silver disk that Felix used to communicate to the faceless man earlier.

  Jacob stood there with his mouth open. He stood no chance against this man, this demon. He had completely outclassed Felix, who had completely outclassed him.

  “Mind taking this dagger out of my back?” asked the first Gamebreaker with a giggle.

  The second Gamebreaker waved his hand next to Felix’s body, and a green portal opened up. He unceremoniously kicked the body in, and the portal collapsed immediately afterward. He glanced back up at the first.

  “Oh, sorry about that, buddy!” He hopped up and pulled out the blue dagger. The first Gamebreaker nodded his thanks, and promptly disappeared.

  “Come on Jacob, let’s head upstairs. We’ve got to head to Benelica as soon as possible.”

  Jacob hesitated. “What did you do to Felix?”

  Gamebreaker didn’t look back as he made his way for the stairs. “Oh, I just put him in a little time out. That’s where I put all of his ilk that I’ve run into before. I told you: I don’t like to kill people.”

  He didn’t understand it, but Jacob didn’t feel like he was going to. This wasn’t an ideal situation, but the crazy Gamebreaker seemed a little more trustworthy than the slimy Felix. He followed him up the stairs.

  When he arrived at the top, Gamebreaker handed over the blue dagger and the silver disk to him.

  “Take these. We want the Council and the boss man to think that you are still with them, and that you escaped with Felix’s good wishes. This helps you out, allowing you to eventually get the ability to log out back. It also helps me out, because I then have an informant within their organization.”

  Jacob took the two items, but before he could respond, they were interrupted by a snickering sound.

  “Hee, hee, oh good, I found you!”

  A rat like, scaled creature appeared out of the shadows. A Kobold?

  “The name is Darrion, I believe you were waiting for me?”

  Gamebreaker jumped back and hid behind Jacob. “Ewwwww.”

  “Oh, right,” said Jacob. “You’ve got the Orb of Agner, is that correct? How did you get it, if you don’t mind me asking.”

  The creature relaxed when Jacob spoke the orb’
s name. “Hee, hee, not at all! I stole it from this weakling Mage back in the town of Drax. It was nothing, really, hee, hee.”

  “Lorcan is still alive!” exclaimed Jacob, beaming with excitement. “I knew Felix was lying, it made no sense that he would have to run away from those bandit scrubs.”

  “Oh, you know the holder, hee, hee?” asked Darrion nervously, his eyes darting around the room. “Well, he and his friends should be here soon, hee, hee, and I’m sure that’ll be fun. I… I think I’ll take my pay now. I’ve got some other places I need to be, hee, hee…”

  Jacob looked at Gamebreaker. “Can we wait for them to show up? They could help us get to Benelica.”

  Gamebreaker shook his head. “If the Council catches you with them, they will suspect you have betrayed them. It is best if we stay ahead of your friend, if only by a day or two, so that you can get in with the right people early on.”

  “Um… are you two not my contact?” asked the Kobold, backing away uncomfortably.

  “Unfortunately we aren’t, little gross dude,” said Gamebreaker as he snapped his fingers. His staff appeared above the thief’s head, before smacking down lightly. The Kobold collapsed as Gamebreaker snapped again, and ropes appeared around the creature’s wrists and ankles.

  He turned back to Jacob. “We should get going. Go ahead and write a short message for your friend in the ground, and we’ll leave the orb on the runt’s lap.” He wasn’t sure, but Jacob felt like Gamebreaker was smiling under his mask. “We’ve got some training to do before we reach Benelica.”

  Chapter 11

  The group was slow to get to their feet and gather back together. David stumbled over and collected the gold from what remained of the elemental. Another 500 hundred was added to the growing pool. Gilnar grabbed his arm and closed his eyes. A yellow light flashed in his hand, and he stood up a bit straighter.