by Pirateaba
“Those ruins could be deep, though. No telling how far down they go.”
“We’re not clearing out every room. As soon as we strike a treasury or find enough to justify the costs we’ll leave.”
“Hah! Tell that to the other teams. Gerald is saying his team won’t quit until they reach the bottom floor. A big change from what he was saying earlier.”
“Well, if we’re going in we might as well go all in.”
“Speaking of which…Gerial, is it time?”
Ceria glanced meaningfully at the sky. Gerial nodded.
“I suppose we should be going. The meeting is about an hour’s time away and we don’t want to be late. Is everyone finished?”
They were. Or they were once he spoke. The strange skeleton walked around the room collecting dishes while Erin saw the Horns of Hammerad off.
“Good luck. Don’t get uh, killed by a dragon or anything.”
Gerial and the others had to laugh at that.
“There are no dragons on this side of the world, miss. Probably anywhere.”
“Um. There are. I’ve seen one.”
Their laughter stopped abruptly. Gerial stared into Erin’s honest expression. He opened his mouth to say something—
“Hello? Hello! I’m sorry I’m late!”
A figure dashed up the hill. A pale blue Drake wearing leather armor ran up the hill. He was desperately trying to buckle his sheathed sword to his belt as he stopped before the Horns of Hammerad.
“I’m not late, am I? I forgot we were supposed to meet here.”
“Olesm?”
Erin stared incredulously at the Drake.
“What are you—you’re going on the expedition too? But you’re not an adventurer!”
Olesm, the [Tactician] they’d hired on yesterday widened his eyes and his tail began twitching as he noticed Erin.
“Oh, Erin. I didn’t—well of course you’d be here. This is your inn—yes, I am going on the expedition! I’m hoping to raise my level. I was so inspired by you that I decided it was time to break out of my shell, so to speak.”
“But can you defend yourself? I mean, I don’t want to be rude but…”
The way Erin looked at Olesm spoke very plainly of her opinion of his fighting prowess. The Drake blushed, but stuck out his chest.
“I may not be a good fighter, but my skills should help quite a bit. Believe me, I will come back better than ever. And perhaps then I’ll win a game against you.”
“But it’s chess. That’s not the same as—as fighting.”
“I’ve stayed the same level for far too long, hiding in the city rather than joining the army or adventuring myself. Today I’m going to change that.”
“Enough talk.”
Calruz growled, making Olesm jump and stammer. He pointed.
“We have to go. Follow us but don’t lag behind.”
“Oh of course. My apologies.”
Olesm sidled behind the Minotaur and smiled toothily at Gerial. The man tried to smile back, unsure of whether he should bare his own teeth.
Erin was talking to Ceria while she tried to offer the Horns of Hammerad a basket of food to take with them.
“I’ll be happy to serve you if you guys come back tonight, no matter how late. Just knock, okay? I’ve got guests coming anyways.”
“Oh? Who?”
“We’re going.”
Calruz poked Ceria in the back, making her stumble. She turned and kicked at the Minotaur, but it was time to go. Gerial bade farewell to Erin as the Horns of Hammerad began descending the hill.
They saw Erin’s guests about fifteen minutes after they’d began walking. Five Antinium were making their way from the city. Two of them were carrying one Gerial recognized. His stomach still clenched to see Pawn’s mangled limbs, but the Antinium greeted them without any inflection of pain in his voice.
“Greetings, adventurers. Olesm.”
“Oh? Pawn! Are you going to play chess at Miss Erin’s?”
Olesm greeted the Antinium cheerfully as the other adventurers mumbled awkward greetings. Pawn nodded at him.
“Yes. We do not have any duties so we go to play.”
“Oh? I thought you always worked in the morning. Is something wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong. We have no tasks because we are waiting.”
“Waiting? Waiting for what?”
Calruz growled and started walking again. Olesm followed, but Pawn and the other Antinium simply followed their group, continuing the conversation.
“We wait for the Queen.”
“The Queen? Is she…is she doing something?”
“Yes. She is close to completing her task.”
“I heard about that. She didn’t talk to anyone and sent that new Prognugator out. Ksmvr, right? What was she doing that was so important.”
“We do not know. But it will be tomorrow.”
Olesm stared at Pawn. Gerial saw Ceria glance swiftly backwards at the Antinium.
“What will be tomorrow?”
“It will be. Good luck on your mission Olesm.”
“Oh, um bye—”
The Antinium left. Calruz growled and stomped onwards, muttering about delays while Gerial pondered the conversation. What did it mean? Did it even matter? The Antinium were strange. Gerial had learned long ago how dangerous they could be, and how strange they were. But Pawn didn’t seem evil. Odd, perhaps but—
Whatever thoughts he had, they were put out of Gerial’s mind when he saw the ruins in the distance. Even from miles away, the dark, grey and black stone of the huge structure stood out against the hill it had been excavated from.
The Horns of Hammerad paused, and then began walking faster. Suddenly this morning, their small concerns, and indeed, everything else in the world had ceased for them. They had been waiting patiently, these last few days. They had enjoyed themselves, gotten into small trouble or out of it, but what they had really been doing behind it all was waiting.
Waiting for this. The ruins loomed, massive, unexplored. It called to them. They were adventurers.
They resumed their march. Unconsciously, their pace increased. They felt it in their blood, in their bones, and the beating of their hearts.
Danger and glory, waiting for them in the darkness below.
—-
The ruins had first been discovered a few months ago by a shepherd tending his flock. Drakes kept sheep and other animals just like humans, and one of them had been walking over a hill when he’d tripped over a rock.
After he’d nearly broken his foot trying to kick the rock, the Drake had dug a bit of it up and realized the rock wasn’t so much a rock as part of a building. And when he’d dug further with the help of his friends, they had discovered that the bit of the building was in fact an entire structure hidden in the earth.
And after the Antinium had been called and days of excavations had gone by, the city had found that the hill the building had been found on wasn’t so much a hill as the entire structure itself.
Today, the ruins sat half-uncovered against the large hill, black stone entrance gaping open in the light of the sun. Ceria, Gerial and the other Horns of Hammerad stared up at it.
A wall of black rock. A carved stone doorway and in places, open windows that allowed some ventilation into the massive structure.
From up close the massive stone doors were even more imposing. Although some of the dirt that had once covered the structure had been excavated, it was clear that this—building was huge on a completely different scale than the structures in Liscor.
The roof had not been excavated, and nor had the lower half of the structure. Apparently, an Antinium had dug down but had gone over a hundred feet without reaching the bottom of this massive structure. The city had decided to only dig up what was necessary, and so the doorway had been uncovered and the rest of the building left alone.
That made the sight of the black entrance poking out of the hillside covered in grass and flowers all the more odd.
And disturbing. The massive doors could easily hold two creatures twice Calruz’s height and you could push two wagons through at the same time. It dwarfed even the large group of adventurers standing in front of the entrance.
Perhaps there had once been a fresco or decorative front of some kind, but age had worn away any details. And besides, there was really only one message the giant stone doors told. No one was meant to easily enter this place—or exit.
“Gods, I saw it from far away but up close this is something else entirely.”
Gerial shook his head as he and Ceria stood looking up at the ruins. She nodded.
“The Ruins of Albez seem tiny compared to this one. Well, they’re more spread out but still.”
“Look at that.”
Sostrom pointed to one side of the doors. Aside from the miniature village that had popped up around the ruins full of enterprising shopkeepers, adventurers, and curious watchers, another group had already occupied this space.
Around fifteen armed warriors, mainly Drakes and a few Gnolls – sat together around an open fire, talking and eating while two of them stood watch at the doors.
Hunt growled under this throat and gripped the mace at his side as he eyed the other group.
“More adventurers? I thought we were the only ones entering. If they’re trying to steal a march on us—”
Olesm shook his head before anyone else could.
“They’re not adventurers. That’s the local Watch.”
“The Watch? Why are they out here?”
Ceria nodded to the group of guardsmen and then pointed to another group of warriors sitting across from them. They had no fire, but they were watching the doors as well.
“There are several Bronze-rank adventuring teams on permanent guard duty as well as several members of the Watch. Seems like this place disgorges monsters every few days. Nothing more dangerous than a mob of zombies or the local wildlife, but they’re being cautious.”
Hunt relaxed and the other Horns of Hammerad nodded. They weren’t used to a city militia taking such an active role, but none of them were strangers to the idea of guarding a dungeon.
“Good thing we’re going in today. Otherwise the city’d probably put up a request to clear out this place in a month or two.”
“It still might come to that. Unless they destroy this damn place something’s going to make its nest here.”
“True.”
Gerial nodded in agreement as he studied the massive building. It was certainly inconvenient to have so close to the city. It would surely attract monsters and worse, provide a lair for them to reproduce.
It wasn’t as if monsters popped out of thin air. Except for the ones that did, of course. But caves, abandoned buildings, and magical sites tended to attract monsters like honey followed bees. Monsters would breed in the darkness or reanimate in the case of the dead. Sometimes they fought each other but often they lived in disturbing harmony—until the unlucky adventurer intruded on their lair.
“There’s Yvlon. Move up.”
Calruz finally spotted the person he was looking for. He began walking towards Yvlon and her group of female adventurers wearing polished silver metal. Gerial picked up his pace so he arrived just as his Captain did. Calruz had no time for minor details like that, but proper courtesy was important. It was one of Gerial’s few complaints that the Minotaur so often forgot that.
But Yvlon was not the kind of petty person to be bothered by such things in the first place. She smiled at Gerial and Calruz as they approached and his heart skipped a beat. She was truly beautiful. Almost as beautiful as Ryoka, but different of course…
“Calruz. Gerial. I’m glad your team is here on time. Everyone else has already assembled. Shall we begin?”
“Why waste time waiting?”
Yvlon nodded. She stepped back and let Calruz precede her. Gerial called to to the Horns of Hammerad and they joined the group of adventurers waiting outside the doors.
Ceria walked with the Horns of Hammerad, merging with the main body of adventurers as she stared up at the dark doors. It was hard—even for someone who had lived as long as she had—to stand still in this crowd. And indeed, the other adventurers around her were constantly shifting, moving around with the same energy she felt.
There were so many! It was a crowd of adventurers like a full day at the Adventurer’s Guild, but in this case every single one of them was Silver-rank. They let the Horns of Hammerad move next to them, calling out good naturedly and exchanging slaps on the back in the case of the warriors, polite nods and only the occasional spine-shattering slap in the case of the mages.
At the head of the crowd, Yvlon and Calruz joined three other captains. Lir, Gerald, and Cervial nodded at the Minotaur and female adventurer as the crowd grew silent.
The blonde adventurer raised her hands for silence, but it was already present. The adventurers – and come to that, the large crowd of onlookers waited in breathless expectation.
“Captains, I am pleased to see you all here. May I inquire if you are all ready?”
They nodded. Calruz was the first to speak. The Minotaur’s rumbling voice was loud enough to be heard quite audibly even from the back of the crowd.
“The Horns of Hammerad are all here.”
“The Flawless Fight are ready to go.”
“Kyrial’s Pride is armed and ready to fight!”
“We of the Circle of Reneë have prepared our spells.”
“And the Silver Spears are assembled.”
Yvlon nodded to the other adventuring Captains and raised her voice to address the crowd.
“I’m pleased to see everyone is present. But I expected nothing less of the best adventurers on this side of the continent! We are here today to make history by entering the Ruins of Liscor. We don’t know exactly what is down there, but we do know something dangerous lurks below. And where there is danger, there is treasure and fame to be found.”
The adventurers shifted at that. Yvlon was speaking their language, and her gaze was open and honest. She didn’t lie about the danger and that they appreciated.
“Some of us may perish on this expedition. Lords willing, it will be few or none. But I swear that each of you will receive a portion of the reward, and your families and loved ones will not be left penniless should you fall. That is the pledge I make towards each of my Silver Spears and I offer the same to you today.”
She shook her head, and her golden blonde hair shook in the air, catching the light. Ceria smiled at that; Yvlon had to know exactly what she was doing and how her armor and hair shone.
“But enough dire thoughts. We are about to head in. Steel yourselves. Trust in each other. We know what must be done. Calruz, your Horns of Hammerad and Gerald, your Kyrial’s Pride have been chosen to lead the expedition. Would you do the honors?”
Calruz and Gerald nodded. They stepped towards the doorway and gestured.
“Kryial’s Pride—form up!”
“To me, Horns of Hammerad.”
That was their signal. Ceria walked out of the crowd, ignoring the gazes of the other adventurers. Some of their group weren’t so graceful and stumbled or blushed, but they formed up behind Calruz as the Minotaur stood next to Gerald.
The massive, armored man who carried a battleaxe almost as large as Calruz’s scowled when he saw Olesm tagging along with the other adventurers.
“Who’s the Drake? I thought we agreed not to hire anyone else, Yvlon.”
Olesm jumped and his scales faded in color, but Yvlon shook her head.
“He’s a [Tactician], not a warrior Gerald. A Level 24. He came to us yesterday. I thought you’d agree we could definitely use him.”
Gerald scowled, but Yvlon was right. He nodded grudgingly.
“Hmph. Very well. Just so long as he doesn’t start giving orders to the rest of us.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t do that. I’m just here to help.”
“Fine.”
“Are you done?”
; Calruz growled at Gerald. He was breathing harder, and his gaze was narrowed as he stared into the darkness of the ruins. Gerald opened his mouth to snap something back, and then paused.
“I’m done. Shall we?”
“Yes. Let us begin.”
The two Silver-rank Captains shared a glance. Then, as one they unholstered their battleaxes. It was pure showmanship—none of the adventurers expected to be attacked the instant they entered, but the crowd loved it.
The adventurers and civilians cheered as Calruz and Gerald advanced into the ruins, weapons at the ready. Their vice-captains, Gerial and a big man named Ulgrim followed. Ceria was right behind Gerial as they stepped into the darkness. She held her glowing wand at the ready as the adventurers around her ignited torches or cast [Light] spells.
The darkness enveloped the adventurers even as Yvlon and the other two captains began following their teams in. Ceria felt the air change; grow dead and stale as the darkness closed around them. The grass and dirt became carved stone, and their footfalls echoed in the silence.
The adventurers readied themselves for anything. They could sense it. They had broken the sanctity of this dark place, and they would not leave until they had uncovered its every secret.
It had begun.
—-
“You know, I would have expected something to happen by now.”
“Oh really? You haven’t explored many dungeons, then.”
Even in the flickering light of their torch, Ceria could see Olesm blush.
“This is my first one, actually.”
“Oh? Don’t freeze up and you’ll be fine. Besides, once this is done you can tell all your friends about it. I’m sure Erin would be very impressed. Everyone loves experienced…adventurers. Especially ones who have big…swords. And explored a lot of dungeons of course.”
It was quite entertaining to Ceria, seeing how red she could make Olesm’s scales. The Drake cleared his throat and quickly cast around for something else to say.
“These rooms—are quite odd, aren’t they?”
Ceria nodded. It was fifteen minutes into their expedition, but so far the adventurers had seen very little. They’d passed through a long entrance hall of some kind, into large, open rooms with little ornamentation and a lot of dust. Their group had split up – scouts from Cervial’s group going ahead while the main group went through the various rooms, but they’d found little.