by C. M. Carney
It was time to feed.
15
The door seemed too convenient. As did the long passageway beyond it. Gryph attached the small buckler to his left arm, hefted his spear and entered the passage. Fearful of what lay beyond, he slipped into Stealth.
The passageway was long and gave Gryph time to think on the absurd situation he was in and the long list of things that had gone wrong.
What had Aluran done to him? What was the Barrow?
Aluran had been acting normal as far as Gryph could tell. He was just the same start up game avatar that greeted every new player. Nothing odd there. Sure, it showed how egocentric Aluran was, but arrogance was never a real threat.
Then his entire demeanor had changed. It had to be the Godhead, whatever the hell that thing was. The way it had freaked Lex out suggested that it was powerful. Aluran had only noticed Gryph when he’d equipped the odd artifact. Gryph had seen a look of fear in the god’s suddenly aware eyes.
The Godhead. He pulled open his inventory. The icon for the mysterious artifact was hazy this time. When he’d equipped it, the icon had been bright and shiny. Gryph attempted to unequip it but discovered that he could not.
He tried a few of the other icons. His tattered boots, worn shirt and ragged trousers glowed and fell away from his avatar. With a start, he discovered he also stood naked. He re-equipped his avatar.
He looked back at the icon for the Godhead and focused. Other than the Gift of Tongues ability, the description was not at all helpful. Yet, the name Divine Artifact and the fact it was the only magical item he possessed with a Tier suggested that its power could evolve.
That is what drew Aluran's ire. I’m a threat to him.
Somehow, it had bonded with him. Whatever it was, his possession of it had pissed off a god. That meant it would be a powerful tool in his quest to save Brynn. He had to make unlocking its abilities a priority.
Without Lex to guide him he would have to figure out everything on his own. He was surprised how much he missed his irritating banner turned foul-mouthed priest. He was sure that sooner or later he would have punched Lex in the mouth, but now, alone in the bowels of this wretched dungeon, he missed the company.
According to Mo, or should he be calling her Eris, he was meant to spawn in a pleasant town with ample places to grind. The lingo was still new to him, but he understood enough to know despite his impressive list of imported skills, he was still inexperienced and weak.
Gryph hefted his spear, stretched his muscles, and moved down the passage. He kept his pace steady, thankful that the El'Edryn had night vision up to 120 feet. A dull glow appeared up in the distance out of the gloom. It took Gryph a moment to realize it was much further away than any human eyes would be able to register. He forged ahead, and the corridor eventually ended in a large cavern.
The cavern was the size of a high school gymnasium. The area was filled with huge mushrooms that glowed with a dull silver light. Though they stood taller than he, Gryph was able to see beyond them and spot another entrance on the opposite side of the cavern. The continuing passageway appeared to head down.
The stench in this chamber was a notch beyond awful. It was the smell of carrion and decay. Bones of every shape and size littered the floor of the cavern. It was a feeding ground, and one for a creature none too concerned with cleanliness or hygiene.
Gryph scanned the cave for a few moments before assuring himself that he was alone, then he moved forward. He was careful not to step on any of the innumerable bits of bones or shards of rusted metal that lay scattered between the mushroom’s stalks. After a few minutes, he had made a circuit of the room confirming that he was alone. He’d even stabbed into the base of one mushroom to assure himself that the things wouldn’t jump to life and take a bite out of him. The mushroom leaked a silver sap, but otherwise showed no ill effects.
Gryph made his way to the other exit and confirmed that the tunnel went down further into the Barrow, but it turned a sharp corner a few dozen feet, so he couldn’t see much else. Gryph remembered Lex’s conversation telling him to leave no stone unturned.
He returned his attention to the room and checked the remains for treasure.
The work itself was both disgusting and sacrilegious. Gryph wasn’t a fan of looting the dead, but he was also practical. Whatever had turned these into dust and bone must be a deadly foe.
Gryph began his search, finding a variety of useful items.
You have found 24 gold coins, 38 silver coins and 56 bronze coins.
You have found 3 Non-Magical Jewelry.
You have found a Basic Alchemist’s Kit
Item Class: Non-magical - Item Category: NA.
With this kit you can collect alchemical and crafting ingredients and make Base Tier potions.
You have found an Animate Rope Spell Stone (Air Magic)
This enchanted stone will allow you to learn a spell.
You have found Padded Leather Jerkin (Light Armor)
Item Class: Non-magical - Item Category: NA.
AC Bonus: +8.
A standard padded leather jerkin provides decent protection from attack.
You have found Padded Leather Pants (Light Armor)
Item Class: Non-magical - Item Category: NA.
AC Bonus: +4.
A standard pair of padded leather pants provides decent protection from attack.
You have found Scaled Leather Boots (Light Armor)
Item Class: Non-magical - Item Category: NA.
AC Bonus: +5.
A fine pair of scaled leather boots provides above average protection from attack.
You have found Banded Leather Bracers (Light Armor)
Item Class: Non-magical - Item Category: NA.
AC Bonus: +5.
A standard pair of leather bracers enhanced with small iron plates provides above average protection from attack.
Gryph was most interested in the spell stone. Even a newbie liked him understood that in the Realms magic was the true power. He held the jewel in his hand. It was a blue gemstone, a sapphire perhaps. Gryph stared, drawn in by a swirling glow of white light deep inside the crystal matrix of the gem.
He focused on the light and his vision swam, and he felt the beginnings of a headache. Then he felt a rush of air snake up his arm into his chest and then up into his head. His brain pulsed with the sudden influx of knowledge and he fell to his knees in surprise.
You have learned the ANIMATE ROPE
Sphere: Air Magic - Tier: Base.
Allows the caster to animate rope (or chains, vines, or anything that can be considered a rope). The rope will obey basic commands and can tie, entangle, trip or squeeze opponents. The rope’s AC and HP derive from the quality of the rope. Each Tier mastered adds one rope to the total control limit.
Mana Cost: 50. Damage (Squeeze): 5 points per sec. Duration: 1 minute + 5 seconds per level of air magic mastery. Cooldown: 5 minutes.
You have learned the skill AIR MAGIC
Level: 1 - Tier: Base - Skill Type: Active.
You can now wield the power of air magic. Air magic allows the user to manipulate the wind, the air around us and other gases. Air magic is used for offensive and defensive purposes but can also summon or create creatures made of air and is useful for animating a variety of inanimate objects. Spells that make use of electricity are the province of air magic.
Despite the headache the inrush of information punished him with, Gryph was ecstatic. He had just learned his first magic spell and the accompanying skill. Even though Animate Rope sounded rather silly he could not wait to cast it.
It turned out he’d get his chance sooner than he thought. As Gryph struggled to pull the padded leather jerkin over his head when he heard the heavy thud of footsteps coming from the unexplored tunnel.
16
Even hunched over, the beast was near seven feet tall and muscled like a gorilla who’d failed a steroid test. It had a large mouth, which it was gracious enough to show Gryph as it
chomped down on what appeared to be a child's arm. The casual crunch of bone told Gryph a tale he wished he'd never heard.
The large beast passed him by, its small beady eyes never once glancing his way. It was likely near blind, which made sense this far underground. Its splayed nostrils suggested its sense of smell would be the inverse of its eyesight.
After a few moments the horrible crunching noise stopped and Gryph gave thanks for small miracles. With the cacophony of its meal ended the beast paused as if sensing the interloper in its living room. The massive head swung to the left and to the right, nostrils flared. Gryph hoped that the god-awful smell of the room overpowered whatever stench he exuded.
A few tense heartbeats later the beast lifted the body in its right hand. It wasn’t a child, but a tiny man with striking green hair and an outfit that featured nearly every bright color of the rainbow including the crimson stain of blood.
The beast eased back onto its haunches and with a fibrous tear of muscle and skin being wrenched apart the beast shoved another arm into its mouth.
Then things got worse.
At that moment, Gryph’s nose decided that playing hide and seek was a bore. A huge sneeze erupted followed by a stream of tears. The sound tore through the cave. Gryph ran.
He staggered and slipped and bounced off another mushroom stalk as he ran blindly through the cavern. Behind him the beast bellowed and tore off after him. Reaching down to the bandolier on his chest, Gryph pulled one of the throwing knives and pitched it wildly behind him. The knife bounced off the beast, unable to penetrate its thick hide.
Gryph sensed the beast’s swing and did a duck and roll as the massive body rumbled past him. He spun up to his feet and thrust his spear towards the beast. The point took the creature high in the thigh and sunk in several inches.
With a howl that pierced Gryph’s ears, the creature stumbled and fell to one knee. A meaty fist swiped back at the offending spear before Gryph could retrieve it, snapping the shaft a few inches below the spearhead.
The beast spun and swung a fist. Gryph ducked, lost his balance and fell to his rear, scrambling backwards as fast as his frantic legs and arms would crab walk him, the broken haft of his spear clutched near useless in his hand.
The monster tugged the broken spearhead from its leg and flung it at Gryph. It sank deep into the hard-packed dirt of the cavern floor an inch from his crotch. The spearhead vibrated and hummed from the impact before falling silent. Gryph looked at the beast to see the gash in its leg close and knit before his eyes.
“What the hell?”
The beast dropped to all fours and charged. In a panic, Gryph scuttled back further until he bumped into the stalk of another mushroom. There was nowhere else to go. The beast got close, and Gryph held the broken spear shaft in front of him, a pathetic defense against the onrush of a locomotive sized bull. The beast must have sensed the easy prey as it ducked its head and increased speed. Gryph noticed the two curved horns on the beast's head.
Perfect, Gryph thought and braced the broken spear against the base of the mushroom. He held it at an angle, gripping it with every ounce of strength. It was a desperate move with surprisingly concrete results.
The beast, full of stupidity and rage, charged ahead, paying no heed to the pathetic weapon. It lowered its head, preparing to batter Gryph to a pulp. Pain exploded in the beast’s head. Gryph's desperate last attack, braced against the base of mushroom stalk sent the broken shaft deep inside the beast’s left nostril, where it buried itself in the soft flesh of its brain. The beast did not fall, did not die.
"Come on," Gryph said in disbelief.
The beast reared on its hind legs and bellowed. It stumbled, flailing back and forth, straining to find the source of the excruciating pain.
“That has to do it,” Gryph thought.
The beast howled again, arms spasming back and forth as it sought the spear shaft. Its eyes opened and closed as it lost control of parts of its body.
“Die, die, die,” Gryph yelled at the top of his lungs. The sound drowned by the monster's rage. Not wasting the opportunity, Gryph stood and his hands found the throwing knives at his chest. He took careful aim and threw one, two, three, four of the small enchanted blades.
Two bounced off the thick hide of the monster's face, but two more found their mark. Tiny eyeballs ruptured, and a viscous mix of ocular fluid and green blood flowed down the beast’s face.
Another howl exploded from the beast. One of its massive mitts found the spear shaft and yanked it free, drawing a fountain of blood, snot, and what may have been brain matter out. The beast tossed it aside and roared again.
Gryph moved quickly and silently, attempting to make his way to the exit, which led further down into the Barrow. He had no clue what awaited him below, but there was no way it was worse than his current situation.
But the beast’s sense of smell, even with one ruined nostril, was incredible. It looked right at him, metal shards glinting in the dim glow. Gryph made himself as rigid as a statue and held his breath. After several thunderous heartbeats, the beast turned away, cocking its head to the side.
Gryph was sweating and knew the stench pouring off of him had to be an easy mark for the beast’s sense of smell. A thought hit him. The smell of the dust. That earthy smell. It covered him, mixed with and masking his sweat.
Maybe I’ll get out of this after all, Gryph thought, realizing that, until now, he had accepted his imminent death. The beast slowed and turned its head from side to side, nostrils expanding and contracting as it sought its prey. The damage to the left nostril had healed. Whatever this thing was, it regenerated quickly.
He had to move silently, a task far easier imagined than executed on a floor littered with bone. He took a slow step back, foot landing with a crunch. The sound, so small, drew the attention of his enemy. The blinded beast turned to him, and a low growl rose from deep inside its chest.
Shit, Gryph thought. He grabbed what he guessed was a large femur and hurled it towards the back of the cavern, opposite the exit. The bone clattered against the wall and the beast’s head snapped towards the sound sniffing.
Gryph eased himself up onto a moss-covered boulder, struggling against the slick wetness and saw a path out. He grinned as the plan coalesced in his mind. This will never work, he thought. Then he jumped from the rock to the top of the closest mushroom. He swayed for a moment on the spongy cap, forcing himself to fight for balance. Then he leapt from one mushroom to another, and then to another, like that guy Mario from an ancient video game he and Brynn had played at his grandfather's house as a kid. The irony of playing a game in a world he’d accessed via a game was not lost on him.
He’d traversed the top of a dozen mushrooms before the beast tracked him. It howled and Gryph laughed in triumph. He knew he’d reach the other side of the cavern long before the beast reached him. All he had to do was leap the last few caps and sprint down the tunnel to whatever lay in store for him down its dim passage.
Then a large bone smashed into his back, knocking him forward and off the mushroom. He hit the ground with a thud, his breath forced from him like a fist to the gut. His face landed in a heap of moldy clothing, shards of bone and rusted metal. Blood welled up from a dozen tiny nicks along his face and neck. Do they have tetanus in the Realms? he wondered, but the sound of the beast’s howl pushed the idiot thought from his mind.
The monster charged. Gryph scrambled to his feet, rocks skittering underneath him. The beast’s rage induced speed was tremendous and within mere seconds it was upon him. Gryph attempted to leap towards the entrance of the tunnel, remembering how stooped over and slow the beast had been as it emerged. If he could only reach it, perhaps he would be fast enough to get away.
A few feet from the entrance, the beast caught him by the ankle and dragged him backwards. A desperate howl of fear filled the room, and Gryph realized it had come from him and not the monster. He kicked with one foot, the heel of his boot smashing into the tender fl
esh of the beast’s damaged eye.
The beast roared again and pulled Gryph back, tossing him against the base of a mushroom. Gryph gasped for breath as the beast charged, mouth open wide like the maw of hell.
On instinct, Gryph shot his left arm up to protect his face and the beast’s mouth came down hard on the small buckler attached to Gryph’s forearm. The beast chewed like a dog on a bone, all slobber and intensity. The wood and iron of the small shield splintered and cracked.
Gryph was about to die. Again he was resigned to this fate. The human brain does odd things when it has accepted death. We examine our regrets and sometimes think on those we love. Gryph’s thoughts drifted to Brynn and the look of fear on her face in her video. He wanted to see her again, her face split by a smile instead of darkened by fear and worry. He was going to die in a realm of magic and wonder and hadn’t even had a chance to use magic.
You idiot, Gryph thought. He set his mind to casting Animate Rope and the fingers of his right hand, as if commanded by an outside force, moved through a series of motions. A cool rush of air shot down his arm as he grabbed the loop of rope. The rope throbbed with power, and Gryph tossed it at the creature.
The rope moved like a snake and coiled around the beast's legs. It slithered up its torso, pinning one arm against the creature’s bulbous head. The rope was cheap and Gryph suspected that it would not last long, but he had bought himself a few moments.
He had seconds to act, so he pulled the dagger from his waist with his right hand. He thrust up and into the beast’s open mouth, sinking the eight-inch blade into the roof of the creature's mouth just as its teeth bit into Gryph’s forearm.