by Adam Drake
The left was cutoff halfway around by several streams of lava which formed spattering waterfalls of death down each tier. The right side it was, then.
To the other two I said, “Stay low and against the wall along the tier. When we reach an obstacle watch how I cross and do the same. Once we're on the other side, we'll help each other down. And if that thing opens its eyes, or moves, make yourself as small as possible and hold still.”
“And if it sees us?” Witt said. Despite being a tough player and a fierce warrior, he looked genuinely worried.
“Then we die,” I said. “Come on.”
As we moved along the tier I stayed out of Shadow so they could see me better. I judged the distance to the other end to be roughly two hundred paces away. My entire focus was to get there as quickly as possible.
I glanced back at the others who were close behind, first Shwenn, then Witt. Their eyes were wide with apprehension. Good. It meant they'd be more careful, or so I hoped.
We slinked along, mindful of wide cracks and loose rocks. About forty paces along was a jagged rock pile of stone which had slide down from the tier above. It looked recent, probably caused by the volcano's eruption.
Taking a quick scan I chose the least cluttered spot, one with fewer exposed stones. I slowly climbed, placing one foot at a time so the others could see what to do. At the top of the pile I perched and watched as they followed. Shwenn appeared to have a higher climbing skill than Witt and easily traced my foot placements. Witt, with his bulkier armor and impatience, grew frustrated almost immediately.
Catching his eye I motioned for him to slow down and take it easy. The proud warrior grunted, but did as I indicated.
Before Shwenn reached the top, I started down the other side. Suddenly, a small slab of stone cracked beneath my weight and crumpled further into the pile.
Everyone froze, our eyes going to the sleeping serpent below. The creature hadn't moved, nor did its eyes open. I gave it to the count of five before continuing down, this time testing the stones before committing my full weight.
Reaching bottom, I stood back to watch the others. They were exceptionally cautious for which I was appreciative. Once they both stood before me, we continued on.
The next fifty paces went smoothly and put us directly at the halfway point. A large crack blocked the way and was about five paces across. For anyone with even a moderate Agility it wouldn't present a problem, like myself. But I wasn't sure about the others.
I motioned them into a huddle, and as we crouched down together I spoke in a hushed whisper. “Any problems for you guys with this jump?”
Witt shook his head. “Not a problem. I only need a small run at it and I can clear it.”
I looked down at his heavy boots which had thick soles. “Take those off first, and make sure there's nothing loose on your body that could make noise as you run, or land.”
Witt looked a little surprised by this, then shrugged and yanked off his boots.
To Shwenn, I asked, “And you? Can you make it?”
The mage looked genuinely bashful at the question. “I've been sinking every spare Ability and Skill point into anything but whatever it would take for me to make that jump. So, no. I don't think so.”
I nodded, expecting as much. “No worries, we'll get you across.”
Witt handed me his boots then took a few steps back. After a few seconds of psyching himself up, he ran. At the edge he jumped and vaulted across the open space without issue. But as he landed, he stumbled and ducked into a roll along the ground. The pommels of the twin swords on his back clanked loudly against the stone. Coming to a stop, his head snapped in the direction of the snake. So did mine.
Sisoria was awake.
I caught my breath and heard Shwenn do the same. Instinctively, I went into Shadow, knowing that one less intruder to potentially detect might help.
I prayed to the Gaming Gods for the coiled terror to close its eyes. If it did, I promised to always be a good Shadow, and never do anything bad again.
The Gods were not listening.
The huge snake lifted its head and turned in our direction. A forked tongue flickered from its mouth, testing the air. For several moments its slitted eyes remained locked on us.
There was no way of telling if it could actually see us, or was simply looking in the direction the sound came from. But it didn't matter as she started to move and slithered toward us.
Shoot, I thought, looking for a way out of this. The only option I could think of was to run back to the tunnel entrance, but that only contained a terrified explorer and a literal dead end.
Suddenly, Witt stood, shouting and waving his arms.
I wanted to ask what the heck he thought he was doing, but it was obvious. He was acting as a distraction.
“Hey, over here FILTERED! Come give daddy a kiss!” He shouted. Without looking in our direction he said, “Get into that tomb and loot the FILTERED out of it. I'll see how long I can keep this FILTERED entertained.” Even before he finished speaking he pulled himself over the edge of the tier and dropped to the next one down.
Shwenn grabbed my arm, eyes wide in shock.
The serpent was now moving quickly, first arching its head up over the first tier, then sliding up onto the next. Her eyes were locked on the crazy warrior making a scene.
At the other tier, Witt turned back in the direction we'd come, then ran and jumped over the crack again. Landing on the other side, he ran as fast as his socked feet would let him.
Sisoria was in full hunter mode and turned away from us to give pursuit. She was four tiers below Witt and moving like a grav-train at full speed.
Watching the insane drama unfold before me, I had the presence of mind to shake my head. To Shwenn I said, “We go! Now!”
The mage blinked away her shock then nodded. “What do we do?”
I motioned for her to get up on my back, which she did after a moments hesitation. Then, holding onto her legs with her arms around my neck, I ran at the crack. At its edge I jumped using my Leap ability. Without it, the extra weight would have pulled us short. Instead, we landed on the other side with a grunt from Shwenn.
As she slid off my back we both looked to the other end of the colosseum.
Witt was tearing along at a great speed, but the serpent was much faster. The snake was nearly even with the fleeing warrior and quickly moved up two tiers, closing the distance between them.
I pulled at Shwenn's arm. “Come on!”
Fully intent on taking advantage of this opportunity, we ran down to the end of the tier. Then I dropped down to the next level and motioned for Shwenn to do the same.
She looked at the drop and blanched. “I can't!”
“Yes you can, I'll catch you.”
Grimacing, she spun around and hung over the edge by her hands, then dropped. True to my word I caught her by the waist and kept her on her feet.
Sisoria moved up to the same tier as Witt and was sliding up behind him like a missile. The warrior was still shouting, like it still mattered. But just as the snake was about to catch up to him, he reached a tunnel entrance and bolted inside.
The snake didn't even slow down before she plowed her head into the narrower space. She didn't slide in, but she wouldn't give up. Her momentum and colossal size imploded the stone around the tunnel entrance as she struggled to get in. Her body wiggled and thrashed about, kicking up rocks and crushing the ruins beneath it.
Aware we were running out of time, we dropped down two more times until we reached the bottom tier with the tomb.
We ran to the entrance, and I used my Shadow to peek inside. It was a long vaulted tunnel the same shape and size of the entrance and vanished from sight.
The sound of screaming made us look back. Incredibly, Sisoria had pushed herself into the tunnel nearly half her immense length. I couldn't tell if the sound I heard was actually screams from Witt or noise from all the carnage the serpent wrought.
Shwenn and I stared at the
thrashing tail of the serpent as it slowly disappeared into the tunnel.
I gave the mage a nudge, then together we reluctantly turned away and went inside.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
We moved through the huge entryway tunnel keeping close to the walls. The sounds of the ruins crumbling outside soon faded as we got deeper.
Quest complete. 'Enter the tomb'
Reward: 1,500 experience points
Shwenn called up her light orbs again, illuminating an architecture identical to what we'd encountered before. The only difference was the size of it.
“This is Sisoria-sized,” I said, realizing what it meant.
“What?”
“The tunnel. Its design so she can come in and out without a problem.”
Shwenn didn't look thrilled by this bit of information. “Maybe she'll get stuck back there and we won't have to worry about her again.”
“They come back,” I said. “Monsters always do.”
The tunnel continued straight into the base of the mountain and I was very aware lava was potentially flowing just beyond the walls. If the lava got behind us, we'd be in big trouble.
“Hey,” Shwenn said. “I need a little break, please. This has gotten me all hot and sweaty in my simulation suit. I need to give it a little time to air itself out.”
“Okay,” I said. As much as we needed to be moving, I could understand. My simulation suit was also having trouble keeping up with drying my sweat away. This game made for a heck of a workout sometimes.
We crouched in a small alcove. I kept looking back toward the entrance, but didn't see any movement. I wondered how Witt was doing and checked his party profile. His health was at full, so there was that.
“He's not dead,” I said. “Guess he's good at running.”
“He's got the motivation to get better at it,” Shwenn said, and we laughed a little. “He may be able to avoid Sisoria, but I don't think he'd last long against another group of natives.”
“There weren't any natives in the colosseum back there, not that I'm complaining,” I said. “My guess is they're out looking for us.”
We were quiet for a few minutes, then Swhenn asked, “Hey, can I see your Cloak's stats? I've always been curious.”
I wasn't surprised she knew about my Cloak. Most people did by now as Legendary items were hard to keep a secret. I suspected that was part of the reason she took me up on my offer to get the statue from Xorrox in the first place.
“Sure,” I said. “Lay your eyes on this.”
Cloak Of Shadows (Legendary)
(Shadow Class Only)
(Level 40 required)
(Agility 45 required)
Bonuses:
+100 Hit Points
+5 Constitution
+1 Dodge Skill Level
Abilities:
Summon Shadow Steed (Mount)
Teleportation (Level 1)
Invisibility (Level 1)
Phase (Level 1)
Void Portal (Level 1)
Shadow Master, Legendary Set Pieces: (1/4)
Cloak of Shadows (set bonus +1 Sneak Skill Level)
Shadow Blade (set bonus - unknown)
Boots of Shadow (set bonus - unknown)
Shadow Guard (set bonus - unknown)
Full Set bonus - unknown
Shwenn's eyes widened. “Impressive. And it's part of a set, too. Good luck finding the others.”
I wanted to say one of them was right here on the island, and most likely within this very tomb. Instead, I said, “You never know when you might come upon one in this game, now that they're everywhere.”
“Not quite everywhere,” Shwenn said. “I don't have one.”
Fight a god, I thought. “Maybe that can be your next quest chain to chase after.”
A crumbling noise a short distance ahead made us jump to our feet, weapons at the ready. Keeping Shwenn behind me, we waited.
Several moments passed and the crumbling sound came again, this time closer.
“What is it?” Shwenn said, wand held in front of her.
“Sounds like something in the walls up ahead on that side.”
“Lava?”
“Dunno, but we need to move.”
We headed down the tunnel, keeping to the opposite wall from where the crumbling came from. As we passed by, the wall behind us suddenly collapsed inward, revealing another smaller tunnel.
“A secret tunnel?” Shwenn said, peering into its darkness.
“It's not a secret anymore,” I said, then jumped back as something emerged from the tunnel's blackness.
A large snake slithered forward and entered the main hallway. Shwenn and I backed up, ready for this new threat.
This snake was nowhere near the size of Sisoria, but it was big enough to be a problem.
“May I?” Shwenn said as the snake reared its head up. It towered over us both.
“Be my guest.”
The mage cast her Fireball, and it shot across the hall at the snake. The flaming orb exploded against its raised neck and the creature hissed in pain, collapsing to the floor.
Quickly, I ran over and hacked at it with my sword. The thing snapped at me and I rolled out of the way, just in time.
Dodge Skill Increased! Level 7, 13%
Coming out of the roll, I swung around to strike its flaming flesh. The creature rolled away, twisting and contorting in agony.
Stepping back, I switched to my bow and fired several shots into its head.
You have killed a Giant Viper. You have gained 400 shared experience points.
Next to its body appeared two small gems, one red, the other blue. I picked them up.
You have acquired an item: Small Opal
Value: 250 Gold Pieces.
You have acquired an item: Small Ruby
Value: 250 Gold Pieces.
I held them out to Shwenn in my hand. “Go ahead, pick a color.”
She crooked a brow in contemplation. “I always liked blue, so I take that one.”
Tucking our loot away, I gave the new tunnel a look. It appeared to go on for a dozen paces or so, but beyond that was darkness.
“We can check this out on the way back. For now, let's keep going, okay?” I said.
“Sounds good to me,” Shwenn said.
We followed the tunnel until it suddenly ended at a massive chamber. It was shaped like a hollowed out pyramid with its upper reaches hidden in darkness. There weren't any entrances or doors along its walls. At its center was a raised dais on which a large golden chest sat.
Shwenn whistled at my side. “This looks like the place.”
“Yeah, but what surprises might it have?” I picked up a couple of rocks and rolled one along the floor until it bounced off the edge of the dais.
“Wait here,” I said.
“If you insist,” Shwenn said with an impish grin.
Frowning, but sword at the ready, I stepped into the huge chamber. Carefully, I padded across the floor until I reached the chest. I glanced up and was struck with a sense of vertigo looking at the empty void above me. Shaking my head, I examined the chest closer.
It looked like a fairly standard issue chest, like a trunk. There didn't appear to be any clamps or locks on it. As for traps that was anyone's guess.
“It's safe up to here,” I said.
Shwenn walked over, her eyes drinking in the sight of the chest. “Oh, I wonder what's inside!”
“Should I open it?”
“Are you sure it's not trapped?”
“Not at all.”
“Then, please, be my guest,” she said with a laugh.
Carefully, I opened the chest.
Inside was a heap of gold coins and items. Although not even close to the size of Xorrox's treasure, it was enough to make me smile.
I waved at the loot. “Why don't you do the honors again.”
“Are you sure?”
“Why break with tradition?”
Shwenn stepped up to the chest and ran her h
ands through its gold which vanished.
You have received 955,256 Gold Pieces.
I whistled. It had been a while since I was flush with cash and this put me back on top, again.
She took each item out one at a time.
Item: Staff of Resistance
Required Level: 45
Durability: 35/35
Damage: 125-155
+85 Mana