by J E Mueller
“Aside from glory that most probably don’t know about, why would anyone join them? Couldn’t we just clear out the basement and set up a fortress there?” That sounded so much easier.
“Spiders revive at a stupidly high rate, it’s never worked before.” Mare shook her head. “And if it didn’t work at high numbers, can you imagine now? There is like maybe… I don’t know. Less than fifty of us inside. We have about twenty-eight on our team? But really, there's several that sneak between the two so I can’t give accurate numbers.”
I remembered her saying that there were those who were on both sides, but that didn’t bother me as much as spiders that could overrun so many people. “Is there a reason it didn’t work? Numbers usually work against creatures right?”
Ze and her both paused and shared a look, stopping mid crawl before continuing on.
“Well, there are several different kinds of spiders.” Ze gave me a shrug. “Some have shocking webs, some spit acid that eats through your clothes, into your flesh, and dissolves bone. Some paralyze, some are just pesky. Really, the biggest problem is the ones that can shoot acid. No defense is going to work against them aside from magical shields, which are very, very lacking. Anything built up against them gets fairly quickly destroyed.”
Ah. I did not need any more details so I just nodded. Mare started forth once more and I really hoped nothing involved the basement ever. I really hated thinking that I might not be so lucky with that.
After several minutes of silence we were back on the ground, and thankfully not a creature on the radar. We started to investigate rooms, and I quickly noticed how most of them had next to nothing, and the few things they did have were exactly the same objects room to room. Over, and over, and over. The chairs didn’t vary. The knick-knacks were in different spots but still all the same in every room.
I hated how alike everything looked. When I had first started to see the different things, all of it looked so fancy, so intricate and well made. However, I was ready to be done with this floor after a half dozen rooms. Artifact hunting was as boring as could be.
That was when I finally felt it.
Ah, there you are.
The familiar voice was good to hear again, and I truly hoped I was correct and that it was one of the Creators. Only time would tell. Now where was the thing?
Two more doors down from you.
I wanted to just grab it without Ze noticing, but to randomly split up now would make it far more obvious that something was up. I wondered why they didn’t try to reach out to me sooner.
You’ve been less receptive making it harder to create a line of communication.
That sounded horrifying. Maybe I was dying.
It’s too hard to say this early on. A fever is weakening, but it helps get rid of the bad. Healing is full of ups and downs, and I am not anywhere near in my power to check.
I nodded to myself, trying to keep up the search. This room did have a few books, but they were the same three titles I had already seen. How to wield a sword, defense stances, and defense basics. I wondered if it was just this floor with all the same books or was it everywhere but the libraries?
“I’m ready for the next room.” I sighed, shoving the books back into their slot.
“I’m not.” Ze sounded distracted, catching both mine and Mare’s attention.
We crowded around him and saw he was holding a golden spoon with neat little paintings of fruit on it. The fruits were brightly colored, almost popping off the spoon. Ze twirled it around slowly as we inspected it.
“What the heck is that?” I asked curiously. “Did someone leave a spoon here for some reason?” I hated to think why anyone would try to eat here, though maybe they ran here from the dining area.
“That isn’t a kitchen spoon.” Mare smirked, amused by my comment.
Ze gave a nod. “This is likely an artifact. Which means something will likely be on our trail soon since I moved it from its resting spot.”
“Always the truth.” Mare sighed, sounding more tired than usual. “We should get going.”
“I say we press on,” I countered carefully and they both turned to me. “Well, we left the remaining creatures on the other side of the floor and we’ve slayed a good chunk of them recently enough right?”
Ze hesitated. “True, but I don't know, maybe artifacts can reset the timers faster.”
“I doubt the Creators were that cruel.” I scoffed, crossing my arms. I hoped I was right on that.
Well, not all of us. Marella has a bad sense of humor.
Ah… well… I shook my head. “Just a glance and go at least. I just feel like we’re going to miss something otherwise.”
Ze nodded. “Well, if you feel that in your gut, I’ll side with it.”
Mare just shook her head. “Is it really a gut feeling or stupid stubbornness.”
I looked her firmly in the eyes. “Both. Gut feelings are very stubborn.”
“Fine.” Mare opened the door and I could see the magic swirling around her hands and moving slowly up her arms. “We do have some time.”
Ze walked down to the next room and opened it. I went past him, “It’s a quick glance, might as well cover some distance this time.”
Now that at least that problem was taken care of, I opened the door to where the bracelet should be. Where could it be?
I wish I knew. I can’t see a thing in here.
That was fair. It would be creepy if the bracelet could see as well, though I wouldn’t have been surprised at this point anymore.
Nothing stood out on the shelves and nothing in the drawers. Everything looked exactly as it should be when I could hear the sounds of static down the hall. Freaking Moglozas. I did not have time to find this thing and beat a mutant hedgehog.
But that was exactly what I needed to do.
Someone else would find this if I didn’t so I started to move things over roughly, letting them hit the floor as I searched. I heard Mare give a battle call as I saw her charge past the door at the creature. I needed to join her. I couldn’t let her fight everything alone.
Just as I grabbed the handle of the door I thought to check behind it. Resting on the knob was the bracelet.
Slapping it on my wrist, I summoned my bow and charged out of the room, ready to do battle. To my surprise, Ze was already helping with his sword. I knew he didn’t feel confident in his swordsmanship, but he looked to be doing well.
Letting them take the brunt of the battle, I nocked back an arrow and sent it flying. When it hit the creature between the eyes Ze looked back at me surprised as the creature gave a shriek of pain.
“What, did you forget I was here?” I laughed, pulling back another arrow, ready to loose at the right moment.
Ze gave a hesitant laugh, “You seemed busy or I’d have let you take over from the start.” He backed a few feet away.
I let the arrow loose and hit it in its left eye. Mare got in close and sliced its throat, silencing it’s cries of pain to gurgles, then nothing.
“Good to see you trying.” I smiled at Ze. “I bet you could be good with your sword with some practice.”
Mare chuckled. “She’s got a point. This could be practice for you too, not just her.”
Ze rolled his eyes at Mare but smiled at me. “That is a fair point.”
Mare turned sharply as she sensed something new. “As much as I want to stay and play, let’s not.”
“I’m fine with that. Let’s get out of here,” I agreed, giving her a firm nod.
Mare glanced down at my wrists before taking off, knowing full well why I was ready to go now. Ze gave me a curious look before quickly following Mare as well. For now, I was not going to explain any of this nonsense if I could avoid it.
Down this hall, and that, we reached the first floor only for Mare to curse and keep up the pace. After going down a few side halls she took us back up stairs.
“What’s going on?” I breathed heavily.
“Canton has a stupid larg
e crew out,” Mare huffed, hardly slowing her pace.
“Let’s use a passageway to lose them,” Ze suggested.
With a nod, Mare took a sharp turn and flung open a door. Moments later we were in another passageway where Mare finally let us breathe for a moment.
“We should keep going,” she insisted after just enough time passed to barely catch our breaths.
“I hate this game,” Ze grumbled but nodded, cracking his knuckles. “Let’s do it.”
Ze seemed to understand the running game a bit better than I did, but he had been here nearly a month already.
“What could Canton be up to?” I grumbled.
“Likely no good,” Mare grumbled in return.
“That’s not descriptive.” I sighed, but it was really anyone's guess what he could be up to.
“If it’s Canton my best guess is murder. With the large group he was with maybe an artifact mission, maybe something else. I don’t really know.” Mare sighed, pausing. “I think we’re hidden enough for a moment.”
“I really don't want to deal with Canton tonight.” Ze groaned tiredly.
I wanted to ask what run-ins he could have had, but it seemed they were all similar enough unless Benz was there.
“What is our plan then?” I didn’t have much to suggest, but if they followed us up here, they would find us as soon as we dropped back down.
“It’s hard to say. Canton has been at this for a while. Not nearly as long as me, but probably over a year.” Mare sat as best as the tight space would allow.
Ze nodded. “He could just as easily get into a passageway or assume we may cut across the floor this way and try to ambush us there.”
“Exactly. It would be pointless to follow our exact trail, but who knows what exactly he has planned and if he’ll try and split the group up or not.” Mare shook her head, ready to be done with this.
“Maybe just wait here for a bit, and then drop back and leave the way we came?” I suggested. “Canton doesn’t seem like the guy that waits.”
“But he is the divide and conquer kind if he doesn’t have to do the waiting. I’m sure several of his crew would rather just chill by the stairs,” Mare argued reasonably.
“But are they the ‘I’m going to kill you’ kind of waiting crew or can we slip by?” I countered. I was really curious to see what her reply would be.
Mare nodded slowly. “That could honestly go either way. They may not care at all. Honestly, if we charge them, we might just get by without a fight entirely.”
“Woohoo no death!” I cheered happily just as the ceiling collapsed around us.
I hadn’t realized we took that much time and looked up to see the ceiling looking absolutely normal.
“That was not what I was wanting today,” Ze groaned as he pulled himself up off the floor.
Mare wasn’t any happier. “Damn it. That hasn’t happened to me in ages. I really wish there was some warning beforehand.”
I glanced around and was excited to see we were alone. “No monsters at least.”
Mare nodded, magic lightly lighting her hands. “Nope, we’re good, and the stairs are clear. Let’s go.” Mare pulled herself up from the ground as Ze offered me a hand up.
“What if they’re at the bottom of the stairs?” I asked, finally on my feet once more.
“Then we rush them and keep going.” Mare shrugged. “That one does accidentally happen a lot. If we take the stairs quickly it’ll be fine.
I nodded. “Let’s get going then.”
Ze hesitated. “When did you get that thing?” He pointed to my wrist.
Oh. I shrugged. “Oh, it’s an old artifact that was found when I first got here.”
“But you died…” Ze vaguely motioned. “So, those things get reset…”
Well, that didn’t work. “Yes, I found it again while we were searching. Clove had stated Cane had a theory it could be in the basement. They’ve been trying to track how and where they turn up. Guess they were wrong. It was a floor below where they originally found it.”
Ze nodded slowly. “I did hear that conversation. Guess it’s a lucky find.” He dropped the conversation and I breathed a little easier.
“All right. We’ve got a spoon. We’ve got a bracelet. Let’s get home already.” Mare sighed, leading the way. She didn’t turn to see if we were following.
“As much as I don’t want to do this, should we just sprint for it?” I hated myself for even asking.
“Probably the best bet. Let’s do it.” Mare instantly picked up the pace from a walk to a jog.
“I really hate this suggestion,” Ze grumbled, keeping up easily.
I really hoped after three weeks I’d have this running thing down as easily as he did. Something told me that was unlikely, and that Ze probably did a lot of running before this stage of his existence.
Quietly, we made our way to the stairs and slowly descended the spiral until we hit the bottom. No one was in sight. My heart skipped a beat. The plan had worked! Maybe I could actually get around here fairly well.
The second Mare’s foot hit the ground floor she cursed,pulled both of us back on the stairs and started to move fast. We didn’t need to ask why. It was instantly obvious when five people appeared from around the corner. None I knew, and while I was glad not to hear Canton, I still knew this was in fact trouble.
We rushed up the stairs, with the group hot on our tail. I wasn’t sure what would happen if we hit a creature, but I had a feeling they would use the opportunity to their advantage.
I hated the truth we were about to face. “Can we out navigate them?”
Mare shook her head. “The routes back down or up stairs have creatures near them.”
“Then we fight,” Ze declared.
I hated that it was true, but I supposed we couldn’t avoid it. “Fight to injure,” I replied firmly. If we could at least not kill them, I’d sleep better.
Ze had summoned his sword as did Mare. Neither looked like they were going to follow my statement. Sighing, I summoned my bow and readied myself to fight.
With a look I barely caught, the two of them stopped. I stopped a few feet later and spun around to see the others continuing to run at us. Quickly, I readied an arrow and as Ze and Mare met the first two for combat. I shot the first knee I saw. The guy screamed in agony, dropping to the floor. I saw his comrade behind him just step over him as if nothing had happened.
What the heck.
Hardly an alliance it seemed. They had the goal to fight us and worry about anything else later. I hoped they wouldn’t just leave someone behind like that, my gut churned at the thought of being left to the creatures that roamed. Who would be the monsters then?
And that action can decide a soul's fate in an instant.
Thanks, voice. As useful as that information was, I did not need it now. I nocked another arrow and as soon as someone from the other team moved just within my sights I managed to get them in the thigh.
I watched as Ze pushed someone back with more ease than I had imagined. The adrenaline must be serving him well or he was better than they gave him credit for. Mare was also effortlessly dueling and -oh. She stabbed someone in the gut and shoved them aside.
Surprise caught up in my throat and distracted me as she began to engage the other fighter that I didn’t notice. The guy I had shot in the thigh at first had recovered enough to charge at me, sword in hand. I didn't have a chance to get the arrow nocked back correctly when he began to swing down. I released the arrow in surprise right into his neck, causing the momentum of the sword to angle away as he collapsed to the ground.
What had I done?
I stared in disbelief as he choked up blood for a moment and his eyes went foggy. This wasn’t what I wanted at all. I just wanted to defend myself and escape, not kill them. I didn’t even know his name.
“Remi, let’s go!” I heard Ze shout as he gave me a firm shake.
Mare grabbed the hold of my wrist. “Come on.” She dragged me along,
my legs moving automatically.
12
I didn’t know how long it took to get back, or even what path we took. All I knew was that we didn’t see hide nor hair of person or creature for the rest of the way back.
When we arrived in the safe room -when did we pass through the painting?- I collapsed on the first open sofa I saw. I was physically and mentally exhausted, and too unsure how I felt about myself anymore. Mare said nothing at first, and just sat on the floor in front of me while Ze took a seat across from us. I did not want to deal with myself right now and buried my face in a throw pillow.
“You did what you had to to survive,” Mare said softly after several minutes, giving my leg a soft pat.
“At what cost?” I mumbled back, refusing to remove my face from the pillow.
“A small one. They chose to harm, and you chose time and time again to protect. You’ll save others. I firmly believe it,” Mare replied, leaning her head back onto the cushion.
After the silence stretched on for a long while Clove, Cane, Sans, and Lo appeared. Their voices were loud upon entering but quickly quieted down as they passed by us. They grumbled about some trouble with Canton as they were getting ready to head back and it appeared the bullet we dodged tried to strike them. I could only imagine it would have been worse facing Canton head on.
Clove made her way over to us while the others continued to complain about their adventure. “Good afternoon!” she called loudly, almost excitedly, to us but when she got no reply, she continued on. “Anyway, did you find anything?” Clove asked Mare. I glanced over the pillow to see how the conversation would play out.
“Not really.” Mare shrugged off. “We also saw Canton and ended up spending some time on the second floor but nothing worthwhile came up.”
Clove sighed. “Figures. What a waste of a day. I need a nap.” She waved and headed off.
As Sans, Lo, and Cane milled about elsewhere I glanced over at Mare. I didn’t want to bring attention to the fact we had found a new artifact or found the old one, but I wanted answers all the same. Why did she cover for us like that? Was Ze hiding something too?