When he mounted this time, he kept the pace quicker, more time to get away before being dragged into another fight. He didn’t want to lose any more HP or stamina outside of a dungeon. Gaining experience from Kanin (however small) put him that much closer to the next level, but Alejander’s preferred method of gaining experience was definitely through the dungeons. Players didn’t yield as many items and coin as dungeons, even if they made for an exhilarating encounter.
The trees tapered off, spreading out into another outcropping of rock and heather, the ground soft and springy underfoot as they climbed the twisted ledge. Hera bounded amongst the grasses like a puppy and even Greta had an extra bounce in her step as she picked her way across the ground.
The outcropping gave way to a steep decline and, for a moment, Alejander thought he would have to backtrack. Hera showed him an alternative. She dropped down out of sight, and Alejander dismounted, peering over the edge. Hera had slipped down a small slope, perched on a path that wound its way down the outcrop.
“Right,” he said, grabbing a hold of Greta’s reins. She looked distressed at the ledge, but Alejander soothed her, rubbing at her neck and inching her forward slowly until she had all of her hooves on the path. Testing the firm ground, shying one way and the next, eventually Greta settled again enough for Alejander to climb onto her back.
Her movements were more careful down the cliffside, with Hera hurrying ahead, bounding and jumping down the path, peering back to see if they were following. As eager as Alejander was to get to the dungeon at the bottom of the cliff, he didn’t want to damage his mount along the way. As difficult as it was for them sometimes, she had been invaluable to him during his game time and he’d be damned if he lost her through rushing things.
As Greta jumped down to solid ground, shaking her head as she trotted a few steps away from the cliff, Alejander looked back over his shoulder. Carved into the side of the rockface was a cavern, looming black and foreboding. There was nobody camped outside, so Alejander supposed the entrance to the dungeon was within the cavern. Turning Greta, he urged her forward, despite her hesitation.
The cavern itself smelt dank and wet, and Alejander had to wrap part of his cloak around his mouth to keep from gagging. Hera kept close to Greta, eyes glinting in the darkness. Alejander was reluctant to shine a torch, on edge already. The only noises he could make out were the dripping of water and Greta’s hooves on the rocks. The deeper they went into the cavern, the more uneven the ground underfoot, so Alejander dismounted and led Greta by the reins.
When the tunnel started to taper, Alejander could see the flickering of a torch and he halted both Greta and Hera, stepping up against the cave wall and peering around the corner. There was a flickering camp fire, and a Sylvaer was hovering off the floor, brushing the fur of a large horned creature that Alejander had never seen before.
There was a swirling vortex of color that Alejander recognized. When Matthew had looked up the dungeons, he had seen a picture of one listed as a dungeon portal. The Sylvaer must have been the guide for this particular dungeon. Satisfied that he wasn’t going to be attacked, Alejander led Greta around the corner, Hera bounding over to the Sylvaer.
“Sorry,” Alejander said, whistling for Hera to come back.
The Sylvaer looked back over its shoulder, a wide smile flashing fangs. “It’s no bother.”
The horned creature, that looked like an oversized bison, rumbled its displeasure and the Sylvaer laughed gently. “Alright, Salroon, I will brush you momentarily.”
Alejander moved Greta over to the hitching post he assumed was for the dungeon-goer mounts. Once he was satisfied she was tied securely, he divested her of her tack and saddlebags, giving her a break from carrying for a while. “I’ll be back soon.”
Hera was impatient, sniffing around the portal, and Alejander rolled his eyes. He was just as impatient – so close – but his eagerness shouldn’t let him forget about good manners.
“My name is Minna,” the Sylvaer said, hovering closer to Alejander. “Level?”
“Nine,” Alejander said. “Almost ten.”
“Ah,” Minna bobbed her head. “This dungeon is a good opportunity to get to the next level. Use the teleportation stone if you run into problems, and your horse will be here when you return, though I may not be.”
“I know the drill,” Alejander said, clasping his hands together with a smile. “Can I go in? Everything’s good?”
“Of course.” Minna moved back, waving a hand at the portal. “Do you wish to set this as your return point?”
Alejander nodded and handed over the teleportation stone. While he waited, he double-checked that his satchel was empty but for the potions, and then took the proffered teleportation stone. “Thank you.”
“If you’re ready, please feel free.”
Hera growled, and Alejander admonished her. She had been testing his patience lately and he wondered, once she was a fully-fledged adult wolf, if she would be so inclined to stay with him. With a deep breath, he stepped forward into the portal. The experience was not unlike using the Teleportation Stone, and he felt the familiar rush of sickness before stumbling a little on the other side. It looked like the cavern he had just left, but the walls were a different type of rock.
It still smelt bad, felt cold in ways he had come to associate with dungeons, and folded the cloak tighter around him. The tunnel seemed endless, and he set off, Hera trotting at his heels, for once not determined to run headfirst into danger. There was still some poison in his vial, so while they walked, he coated his daggers with it, trusting Hera to let him know if there was something in the tunnel with them. He wasn’t keen on splitting his attention when he was working with poison. Too dangerous.
Satisfied with his job, he slipped the weapons back into their sheath. It was a wonder the poison stayed on them with how well they fit. Hera looked bored with the dungeon, and given his previous forays, Alejander would have expected to see something by now. Instead, there was no noise, no smells, nothing that would betray something just around the corner.
“I don’t like this,” Alejander muttered. “You know the saying about the calm coming before the storm…”
There was no way in a dungeon to know how much time had passed, but it seemed to Alejander as if hours were passing by the time the tunnel finally split off into two. Neither looked particularly inviting and given their experience of the dungeon so far, Alejander was almost ready to get out the transportation stone and try his luck somewhere else.
He settled on the left hand for no discernible reason and Hera seemed happy enough to trot after him, sniffing at the walls and floor. Alejander wrinkled his nose, couldn’t imagine there was anything there that he would want to sniff. Thinking about the people and creatures that had been through here, he shuddered and peered deeper into the darkness. His vision wasn’t perfect and if he was going to keep this up, he would have to put some extra points on night vision, but it gave him enough of an advantage to make out shapes.
“Are we actually gonna run into anything in this godforsaken dungeon?”
As if summoned by his thought, something slammed into the back of him, and Alejander felt a flush of panic as he hit the wall, jarred by the shove.
You have lost: 10HP
Whirling around, Alejander saw a blur of black and balked. Whatever had hit him was making no noise and didn’t even seem to have a corporeal form. Hera was whirling around, growling at the air around them. The wisp was back, smacking Alejander in the face hard. He gritted his teeth against the pain and smacked out with a hand. Though the black wisps looked thin and smoky, there was a figure beneath them; Alejander contacted it.
Shadow wraith
Level: 9
Description: The very air you breathe turned dark, every whisper in your ear a treaty for death!
Hit Points: {unknown}
Damage: ? {scream} ? {slash} ? {slam}
Reach: Close/Range {slash & slam/scream}
Grabbing a dagger from his belt, he lunged at the wraith, slashing at what he assumed was thin air. The dagger managed to make purchase, embedding in the wraith. It looked odd, floating in mid-air, and Hera seemed confused by the lack of a corporeal form, but she was snapping at the wisps anyway, biting down and clearly making contact.
Alejander was just sliding his second dagger from its sheath when an awful noise split the air. It was a screech, intense enough to rattle his teeth and he clamped his hands down over his ears, realizing his mistake as the wraith slammed into him again. His head hit the wall and he was winded, took a few seconds to come back to himself. The scream was still ringing in his ears when he forced his eyes open.
You have lost: 40HP
There was nothing he could do to avoid the screech, nothing in his arsenal that would be helpful. He was just going to have to deal with it.
Sliding the second dagger from its sheath, he lunged once again at the cloud, while Hera seemed to have a good grip on it. There was blood matting the fur around her ears, and Alejander almost wanted to wince in sympathy if his own weren’t throbbing with pain, but she was still biting down and hanging on.
Slicing down with the blade, he made the wraith shriek again, but the sound was cut off with a choke as Hera started to shake the smoky wisp. Later, when they were done with the fight, Alejander would probably find the situation amusing, fighting something he couldn’t see, but for now it was incredibly frustrating.
Dislodging both daggers from the wraith, Alejander readied himself to plunge them down again when the wraith slammed into him, knocking him once more against the wall. He stumbled for balance and felt something cut down his face. Shoving down the pain, he reached up with one of the daggers, thrusting into the smoke and feeling the satisfaction of landing a blow. The wraith’s shriek was more of pain than attack, but Alejander had jarred his elbow and he shook it off, wincing.
You have lost: 25HP
The other dagger in front of him in defense, he kept moving, driving the wraith back towards Hera, who leapt up and clamped her jaws around part of the wraith. Together, they tore into the wraith, hearing the dying choked gasps as the smoke dissipated, forming a ragged, dirt cloak that had a face set deep, still made of smoke. But it fell to the floor in a heap as Alejander tore his daggers free.
Shadow wraith (lv 9) has died
You have earned 1600 experience points. Congratulations!
You have lost: 40 Stamina
There was nothing to wipe off of the daggers, and staring down at the rags Alejander doubted there was anything there. Toeing at the remains of the wraith, he scowled but there was definitely nothing else in there. Hera was swiping a paw over her ears and Alejander knelt down, checked as best he could. She was happy to let him, whining, and he sighed. He stepped back and waited till she was staring down to whistle at her. She raised her head and her tongue lolled out, so Alejander was satisfied that she could still hear adequately.
The lack of noise made sense when he thought about it. He’d read a book once, a long time ago, that had a wraith in it, and this particular monster sucked the noise out of an area. It wasn’t exactly the same – the book had been fiction after all, not that the game was real, or was it? – but there was enough logic behind it.
More credence was given when they continued on down the corridor, and there was a steady pattering of something on the floor. It didn’t sound like water, so he assumed it was something living, and immediately put a hand on Hera’s neck, stilling her. He narrowed his eyes, even though it didn’t help make anything in the tunnel clearer. There were visible shapes moving against the background, spilling into the tunnel. They reminded Alejander of the spiders from the previous dungeon and he dropped into a defensive stance. These weren’t spiders, looked more like giant cockroaches, and he felt bile rise in his throat.
Tunnel roach(es)
Level: 5
Description: Carapaces of steel, senses heightened by the dark, but just as easy to step on as their household counterparts – or are they?!
Hit Points: ?
Damage: ? {bite} ? {pinch}
Reach: Close {bite & pinch}
These were something Alejander could fight with enthusiasm. They had carapaces, but nothing that he couldn’t penetrate with time. He still had enough HP and stamina to last him. There were three of them, clambering over each other in their haste to race down the tunnel. Hera was immediately up and jumping at them, bowling one over, tumbling down the tunnel. Alejander braced for the other two, daggers in hand. Neither had poison on anymore, but they could do enough damage on their own.
One of the cockroaches barreled into him, and he went with the momentum, falling to the ground but using his shoulder to push back up, throw the cockroach off of him. The other landed on his back, something pinching the back of his neck and he hissed.
You have lost: 15HP
Jabbing with one of the daggers, he landed a hit on the cockroach that let out a shriek and thrust back, trapping Alejander between the two bodies. It was disgusting – they smelt terrible, and he could feel the spines on their lower bodies digging into him. He shoved down the pain, something he was getting much better at doing, and thrust up with the other dagger, tugging them both so that they cut into the carapace of both roaches.
You have lost: 20HP
He could feel both cockroaches pinching at him and biting down. He absorbed the damage and shove back hard, toppling the roach off his back. He got to his feet and immediately thought about the shadows in the tunnel. It took long enough to initialize that the roach beneath him got in another quick pinch, but then he was melting into the shadows and away from the roaches.
You have used: Spectral Agility.
You have lost: 10HP
He popped out of the darkness, a few meters down the tunnel that he and Hera had traveled through. He repositioned both daggers in his hands, getting a better grip. Though he wanted to throw them – better to keep a hold of his HP – he didn’t trust that the daggers would cause much damage given the outer shells. Instead, he started a run, using the momentum to thrust the daggers into the soft underbelly of the roach he had overturned. He slashed downward, feeling them both snag, and thrust again, the roach letting out a scream as its legs flailed in mid-air.
The other had been startled by Alejander’s abrupt departure. Hearing its fellow roach scream, it turned on Alejander, pincers flailing wildly and gripping Alejander’s arm. He hissed, feeling them break through his cloak and skin. He tried to shake it off, grabbing a dagger to slice at the underbelly now exposed to him. The roach screamed, tried to buck away, but its pincers were caught in Alejander’s cloak. It was painful, yet Alejander forced himself to bite it down, to hold on to the roach and stab it repeatedly, waiting until the creature was still in his arms.
It was only when Alejander was free and had shoved both roaches to the ground that he could see Hera had finished with hers, and she was shaking it back and forth in her mouth. Falling back onto the ground, Alejander covered his face with an arm, taking stock of his hurts and pains.
Tunnel roach(es) (lv 5) have died
You have earned 1500 experience points. Congratulations!
You have lost: 20 Stamina
Running low on stats, Alejander took three of the healing potions; consuming two himself for a boost to HP and stamina, and giving the third to Hera, who looked a little worse for wear. She looked happy enough, licking at her muzzle and allowing him to rub some of the worst of the blood from her fur. It only served to make it look more intimidating, something he figured couldn’t hurt. The carcasses of the roaches didn’t yield much. He grabbed some meat and a bit of the shell, just in case it would be worth something.
The tunnel was empty the rest of the way, until it split off once again. The right went into a small room and the other was another tunnel that tapered off, almost back on itself. Alejander headed for the room – it would break up the monotony of travel
ing tunnels. Hera kept close as they approached the doorway, a torn curtain tacked to the wall. Alejander pressed himself to the wall, peering around the corner. There was low light in the room, shadows flickering against the wall. It seemed to be a lair of some kind; there was a bed in the corner, sheets shoved back against the wall, a few pots and plates littering the floor, and an upturned chair. Whoever had left, had done so in a hurry.
Alejander nudged Hera to let her know she should go first. If there was something he couldn’t see from his vantage point, or someone in hiding, they could get away with Hera being a wild wolf, especially where her bloody muzzle and paws were concerned. She complied, keeping low to the ground, eyes on the room ahead. Alejander watched her, one hand on a dagger, keeping part of his attention on the tunnel behind him. He didn’t want to run the risk of being snuck up on.
Hera sniffed out the rest of the room and when she let out a huff, Alejander crept out of the shadow of the wall and into the room. The upturned chair had once sat under a table, which had a couple of items strewn about its surface. There was a trunk propped open by the bed, clothes half-hanging out of it, and Alejander headed for that first, rooting through for anything not worn. Near the bottom, he could feel something similar to his coin pouch, and tugged it out, grinning when his intuition turned out to be correct. Before counting the coin he could hear inside, he made sure there was nothing else but the clothes in the trunk.
Most of the clothes were worn, tattered, or unusable and he didn’t have the room for them anyway. Turning back to the rest of the room, Alejander zeroed in on the table, to where Hera was currently sniffing around the legs and the chair. There was a book on the table that just seemed to be a diary of whoever lived here – Alejander pocketed it anyway, just in case. There were two vials without labels.
You have acquired: Tome
Quality: Poor
You have acquired: 2 Longevity Potions
Rogue Games Page 21