“What is wrong with the captain?” asked Voresh.
“ I do not rightly know, but we will not find out any sooner standing here.” Then they both followed after their beleaguered captain.
When they found Belar, she was sitting with her back against the boulder with closed eyes facing the sky. The area around her was covered in ice, melting in the storm. The healer she had defeated laid on her side with her neck and shoulder bent in angles that were not natural and torn flesh on her legs and arms.
“Looks like you had a rough one here,” said Voresh.
“If I hadn’t attacked from her blind spot, it would have been worse,” she somberly answered. She stood up, blinking out the rain from her eyes. “ I take it we’re done here?”
“Yes,” replied Kel’Van. “Everyone loot their kills and meet me in front of the boulder. From there, we head back to our makeshift camp and complete the task so we can head out.”
“Captain, should we seek shelter till this storm passes? It seems it will get worse before it-“
“No Fer’shad,” said Kel’Van cutting him off. “We are almost at the instance entrance. Time is of the essence now. We will finish what we started and head out.” He paused while everyone stared at him.
“When I said that, I meant now.”
“Yes, captain” was repeated by all as they scrambled to loot the bodies. Kel’Van just went back to his first kill. The sky acred streaks of white as the rain intensified, the promise of a raging storm yet to come. Kel’Van found it comforting and poetic since it matched the rage brimming in his own heart.
CHAPTER 37
The team had packed the gear and was riding their mares through the storm. Kel’Van made sure they kept the same formation they had initially been in before they stopped. Belar edged closer to Kel’Van’s mount, then leaned in close to talk more silently.
“Captain, are you well?”
Kel’Van’s face darkened. “No, I am not. We will talk more of this as soon as this mission is over, but not now.” He then turned to look at her, his face resolute. “Things have changed, and not for the better.”
Despite the battle and the storm hindering their progress, they arrived at the cave housing the instance by late afternoon. The cold and dampness on the outside of the cave mirrored their morale and the silence they had proceeding their earlier fight.
“I take it the actual instance is toward the bottom of this cavern?” asked Or’Fan.
“That would be so,” answered Kel’Van. “ That is why for now, we will leave the mounts here. I don’t think taking them will prove helpful when we climb our way back up.”
“You would be correct on that,” said the map maker. “ I already have the entrance marked, so I’m guessing if we take the time to let them rest a bit here, we can make the journey back post-haste.”
“I agree.” Then the captain looked at the rest of his party. “Or’Fan will stay here with the Elkane. The rest of us are going down to get a look at the instance. I doubt that I’m wrong, but maybe the earth witch made it back out of there.”
The terrain turned out to be as rough going down as it was going up. The rain drizzled from outside of the cave, making its floor slick and harder to find purchase for footing. Carefully sliding down its steep descent, They reached the bottom, and the instance gateway shimmered in front of them.
“It looks the same way we left it,” exclaimed Fer’shad.
“Almost, but not quite,” whispered Voresh. He then pointed deeper past the instance gate as two Holmgren garbed in battle leathers, metal helmets, and spears walked towards them.
”This cannot be good,” murmured Belar.
“No, Fers’shad stand in the front with your shield out. The rest of you in a standard diamond formation. If it gets hectic, I’ll signal for Belar and Voresh to head back to the top. Fer’shad and I will cover and follow.”
Two Holmgren passed through the shimmering instance gate with their spears pointing upward and not at the party. The one on the right pushed his arm in the way of its partner from moving forward.
“Wait surface orc!” he yelled. “ We will not attack you!”
Kel’Van still had his hand bathed in flames, ready to send it out. “Steady,” he said to the orcs around him.
The Holmgren who spoke stepped further away from his compatriot. “Are you the one called Kel’Van of the Ulgo?”
“Who wishes to know?” Kel’Van said carefully.
“Our leader would very much like to speak with you. Please wait here as we summon him. I promise you no harm will come to your men by our hands.” He put the spear down while gesturing to the other Holmgren to do the same. Once both spears were on the ground, they walked back into the instance gate.
“I wonder what this is about?’ Belar said aloud.
The two came back shortly with a third Holmgren in tow. Its face was covered by a brown hood, a body whose muscles could be seen even through the fabric. The Holmgren slowly removed its hood with a familiar face greeting them.
“Olgan of the Batoor,” smiled Kel’Van. He put his sword and away and snuffed the fire emanating from his hand.
“Kel’Van of the Ulgo,” answered Olgan as he clasped the captain's hand with his own. “It is good to see you, though I wish it was under better circumstances.”
Kel’Van raised his eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“I think it’s best if we talk inside. I think it will make sense there.”
Kel’Van nodded and followed the Holmgren inside into the glowing gate entrance.
“ This is a lot of people,” murmured Voresh.
“As the door closed behind them, the dust and dirt began to settle on the ground once more. Fer’shad’s coughing began echoing throughout the deep chamber.
"There are a lot people here for a camp, Olgan"
Voresh was not the only one noticing the number of people in this cave. Some wore leather, often a hodgepodge mix of both leather and metal, but they were all armed. They settled at a table not far from the exit, but enough that they had some privacy from the others in the area. As soon as the two were seated, he started questioning Olgan on his situation.
"How and why are all these Holmgren here?"
"Hmph, all these Holmgren you see here is mostly what is left of the Batoor sect," Olgan said softly. " The Orakai Lady who ruled over our people died of an illness. Maybe poison, but it no longer mattered. To preserve ourselves from being absorbed into another sect, or traded to one worse than the rule we had previously, we acted as if she still lived."
Kel’Van face scrunched up in disbelief.
"When you said earlier that you needed the weapons and armor we sold you, I actually thought you were trying to start an insurrection against your ruler."
"Oh, we did," smiled Olgan. " After she died, we killed all the priests and delegates loyal to her!"
"Oh...well, you’re welcome?"
Olgan patted Kel’Van on the shoulder. "It was only a matter of time before someone found out about it though. But we thought we still had aways to go before that occurred. That is, until what happened to the guardian of this cave. I'm thinking you had something to do with that since coincidentally, you were no longer meeting us at the bottom of the ravine. Am I correct?"
Kel’Van put a hand to his face. He would not accept responsibility for putting a kink in Olgan's apparent revolution. He had a mandate to his teammates and no one else.
"It would be fair to say that," he conceded. "Though you did tell me to get my affairs in order, and so I did. We were both running out of time, if I remember it right?"
Olgan nodded in agreement. "Fair enough. Factions blaming each other for treachery and the like. But it did alert the Orakai Council, for when our sect leader refused to make an appearance at the Council heads, a delegate showed up at our doorstep."
"I take it they didn't like what they found?"
"What they found was swords in their belly," smirked Olgan. But it was a moot point by
then. It was only a matter of time before they would attack since their delegate didn't return. It was from those delegates that we found out what happened in this cave. Their description of the perpetrators fit your orcs too closely."
"So you decided to come here."
"We had no other place to go," Olgan answered gravely. "If we stayed, two clans would have wiped us out. At least moving, we stood a chance of finding shelter. We lost many on the way, but we made it here. A defensible location, with an escape route to the surface if it came to that."
Kel’Van couldn't argue the tactile sense of it. It was a small entrance that bottle-necked how many soldiers could attack them en masse. Even if they could overpower them with sheer numbers, it would be at such a tremendous cost to life, that unless they could attack through a back door, it almost wasn't worth it.
"I see your point," Kel’Van mused, " but where do I fit in here?"
The grey-skinned orc breathed heavily before he spoke. "Right now, between the in-fighting between the sects, there isn't a concentrated effort to confront us. It is too costly now. But it won’t take too long before 3 or more sects get together and find a way to attack us from our rear."
He pointed to the entrance Kel’Van had just come in from. Olgan's statement mirroring his own thoughts on their predicament.
"All of which means we need a more permanent place for us. We might have found such a place here."
"I'm still not understanding what you want from me Olgan," he pressed." No disrespect intended, but I'm pressed for time here, so please get to the point."
"That is what I'm doing now, Kel’Van of the Ulgo. There is a temple behind this dungeon. A vast one. It still remains locked, which means it hasn't been defeated."
Kel’Van looked at his hand and the red and black insignia on the back of it. His personal key.
"Yes," said Olgan watching him intently. "Your team has the key to open it. Once you conquer the dungeon, both the temple and the dungeon will belong to you."
"You want me to beat a dungeon so that I can just hand it over to you? Is that what you asking me?" Kel’Van said dryly.
"No, we couldn't do that if we wanted to. No, we will commit ourselves under your rule and of that of the god of this temple," he answered.
Kel’Van was not at all comfortable with what Olgan was asking of him.
"You’re willing to subjugate your people to me and some god you know nothing about?!"
"And live where?" Olgan said plainly. "I've already explained it's just a matter of time before they find that outside entrance. The surface orcs are not going to welcome us among them. Our best hope lies with the temple behind this dungeon. As long he doesn't need the blood of my people for payment. I will gladly take that deal."
Kel'Van said nothing. This was not a complication he needed. There was enough on his plate, and the responsibility of taking care of a group of orcs of this size was not helping him either. He was about to tell Olgan that he was wasting his time. Then he froze as he realized the Holmgren did have something he needed.
"I'll consider your offer Olgan," he said quietly as he watched the orcs face. "If you give me your healer to help me in this dungeon."
Olgan face froze. Then it began to crinkle his brow, his mouth almost forming a growl as the orcs fanglike teeth shown in the dark.
"That is unacceptable Ulgo."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" snarled Kel’Van. "You were all too ready to sell your people out to some god, but you get squeamish to spare your healer to actually help you see this through?"
"He is not just the only healer here, but the only one capable of magic at all!" We risk too much sending him in there with you!" he argued.
"You risk everything keeping him out here with you!" There is little to no chance we survive in there to face a boss fight with no healer Olgan!'
"But you have already done so! The guardian is gone. Surely you can do the same inside!"
"It doesn't work that way Olgan!" Kel’Van shouted," We beat that guardian by the skin of our teeth, and that's with the healing potions we scavenged from our enemies and bought from you. Hell, it still wasn't enough! We had the Orakai woman who was trapped with us in the spiderkin den as the support. We would have died without her, and you stand here telling me I should go in with just the four of us?"
Olgan shoulders slumped. "You cannot ask me of this Kel’Van."
"Oh, don't worry about me asking cause I'm TELLING you what's going to happen," he snarled. "In five minutes, me and my team are going to walk towards that gate and unlock it. If I don't see Lan'kar standing behind me waiting to go in, You better believe that if by some miracle, we defeat the bosses in there, Kel’Van of the Ulgo will leave you and your people out here to get slaughtered. These caves will run red with Holmgren blood...and no one will be to blame but you. Make a choice.”
Kel’Van then walked away from the table with the rest of his team following closely behind him to the gate, leaving Olgan standing with his shoulders slumped in defeat.
Lan'kar was standing ready, garbed in battle leathers 3 minutes later.
Olgan stood silently, staring at Kel’Van with daggers in his eyes. Kel’Van only spared him a glance before he began preparing himself for the dungeon. Inside the Ulgo’s heart, he was somewhat torn. Truth be told, he didn't want to risk the boy either and fully understood the real reason Olgan didn't want to release the boy. But with Lan'kar, his hopes of beating the dungeon became manageable even with his low level.
As he placed his palm on the ideogram that resembled the insignia on his hand, a low rumble could be heard as the door started turning clockwise as dust and small debris began raining down on them.
"Everyone diamond formation, Lan'kar in the middle so that we can protect him," he ordered.
The team got in their regular positions after the young Holmgren found his way to Kel’Van’s side. As the door opened, they walked through together and the stone entrance began closing as soon as Kel’Van closed rank behind them.
Olgan stared at the door minutes after its closing, praying to any god that would hear him to bring his nephew back safely to him before he walked away.
“Okay people, we move as one,” Kel’Van whispered. “Lan’kar, I need you to stay in the middle of us no matter what unless I state otherwise. Understand?”
“Yes,” the boy answered.
They continued walking together in the familiar diamond formation. Fer’shad at the front, shield out. Voresh and Belar flanked the sides as Kel’Van manned the rear, while Lan’kar stayed in the middle of all of them. As they left the front corridor, they entered what appeared to be a long spacious hallway. Dusty marble columns could be seen on both sides of the hall, with darkness above and below. Each column was 8 feet across and was spaced twenty feet from one to the next. Kel’Van could not count how many there were, but the sheer amount was enough that the view of the far sides of the hall could not be seen. The torches on both ends of the hall were the only sources of light around them. The dim glow showing dancing shadows illuminating all around them. A door with a lock similar to the entrance awaited them at the end of the dark passage.
“Be ready everyone,” whispered Kel’van. “If there ever was a place for a likely ambush, it’s this.”
As if on cue, low growls could be heard from behind the darkness of the columns on each side. Yellow pairs of eyes blinking in the blackness began creeping forward until you could see misshapen, thin bodies made of dirt slowly skulk out of the shadows.
“Steady orcs…”
But as the dirt made thin creatures approached, pebbles of rocks began to float quickly to their flesh from the ground. It coalesced around the limbs, making them seem fuller and stronger. By the time it stopped, the yellow-eyed thin things looked like tall manlike rock creatures. The waif-like arms and legs became stones. The fingers became talons of sharpened rock.
“Everyone back up towards the door. Lan’kar, keep your back against the wall while we form a shield
around you. Let’s tighten up to keep these things from separating us. Stay in this formation and attack as soon as they get within striking distance. Fer’shad, only taunt enemies to you if you see one of us getting overwhelmed!” barked Kel’Van as the rock creatures crept closer.
Times like this is when he saw the weakness of his team make-up, Kel’Van lamented. When you are surrounded by multiple enemies attacking you, their inability to quickly use ranged attacks became evident. None of them were mages. They could not cause wholesale DPS from afar. Their abilities were almost all melee-based. Voresh had some leeway since his sword was massive enough to hit multiple targets, but the rest of the team were close-quarter fighters. Even his mage skills were midrange at best. Lan’kar attack abilities were the only ones that had quick ranged attack power. Looking at the situation, it will have to work. You deal with what’s in front of you and make do.
The door they entered was at their backs. As they completed a semi-circle around Lan’kar, Kel’Van scanned a monster creeping closer with his D.S.
“Their health bars are small, so they can’t take a lot of punishment.” Kel’Van mused. Just as he was about to communicate that information, Voresh slashed through several of them, sending dirt and rock debris in chunks using his Ulgo Cleave ability. The creatures seemed to moan rather than scream as they fell apart. He then reversed his grip and then tore through two more as he swung his sword. Fer’shad had shield bashed two off of himself, as one raked its dark rock talons across it. Then he swiftly countered with a downward slash, severing the head of another reaching out towards him.
“They are just dust and rocks!” Fer’shad yelled.
“Dust and rocks that are surrounding us!” Voresh screamed back.
“More fighting, less talking!” Belar roared as she kicked one of the creatures away from her and punched another in the face. The blow knocked it back as another of the lesser elementals tried to bury its sharped claws in her throat. She blocked the offending hand with her forearm and then did a spinning side kick to its mid-section. The creature flew back into its brethren in a heap. The move gave her some space, but they only stood back up and began their slow march again.
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