by Adam Drake
Witt and Shwenn laughed and gave each other a high-five.
“Serves that FILTERED right!” Witt said, keeping Nigel moving along. “Looks like he got that transfer he wanted, but straight to the newbie zone.”
The natives had made short work of his idle avatar, but were they still interested in us? The acoustics in the tunnel were warped, and the sounds of our footfalls and breathing masked any signs of pursuit.
We moved quickly through the darkness, Shwenn's light orbs barely revealing what was a few steps ahead.
I was still a little in shock over Bozar's fate. It happened too quick with no way to help him. Just like that, a tough, geared up level 52 Slayer had been essentially nuked out of existence.
“I can't see how this is a six-person instance,” I said, constantly checking behind us. “What sort of groups have survived this craziness?”
“Tough ones,” Shwenn said, peering ahead as we moved. “My guess is they didn't have the restrictions we got stuck with.”
“Or lost their healer the moment they landed on the beach,” Witt said. “This would be a totally different situation if Grumm were still with us. We might have even been able to mulch through that lot back there.”
“Something is ahead,” Shwenn said. Several dozen paces further down, the tunnel ended in a t-junction. From the left turn came a bright red glow.
“Lemme take point, Shwenn,” Witt said, moving up front. We followed him as he carefully approached the junction. He glanced around the corner in both directions, and his shoulders sagged. “Well, this makes our choice easier.”
The left tunnel had collapsed a dozen paces down, cut in half by a hissing stream of lava which bubbled out of a crack in the wall.
To the right was more tunnel.
As we turned to go down Nigel stopped. “Wait,” he said. “I think this direction is a bad idea. The main temple structure is that way.”
“So?” I said, keeping a nervous eye on our flank. There was still no signs of pursuit, but it didn't mean they weren't coming.
“Sisoria is there!,” Nigel said, eyes wide. “If we encounter her, then that would be the end of us.”
“It's not like we can go back the way we came,” Witt said. He pointed a thumb at the lava. “And that way ain't an option either.”
As they spoke my eyes fell on a cluster of yellow lichen which grew in a stone crack. On impulse, I picked a wad of it off.
You have taken an item: Deep Earth Lichen This lichen can be used in various high level potions and salves.
Value: 2 Gold Pieces.
Herbology Skill Increased! Level 1, 27%.
Nigel still looked nervous. “I'm at a loss as to what to do. Maybe the natives have left and we can go back?”
I knew he was speaking out of fear. He wasn't an armed adventurer like the rest of us. “We're here for the treasure, which means the tomb is our destination. You can come with us, or stay here. Up to you.”
I didn't intend to sound mean about it, but it was true. His options were limited.
Nigel blinked his eyes and looked at us a little sheepishly. “Yes. Yes, of course. Foolish of me to suggest otherwise. I wasn't thinking. It's just that I've never found myself in such a life or death situation before.”
“It will be a death situation if we don't start moving again,” Witt said, nudging the man forward. “So let's keep putting those feet one in front of the other.”
With no other choice, we continued down the tunnel which leveled out. In a few minutes it ended at a small alcove. A large, featureless door was set into the opposite wall.
Shwenn stopped at the edge of the alcove, her light orb floating forward to illuminate it better. “Careful, might be traps here.” She pointed at two elevated stones in the middle of the floor.
“If it's a trap, then it's being a little too obvious,” I said, peering inside.
The door was blank, with no hint as to how to open it. The tapered walls extended high above forming the alcove into a hollow pyramid. No reliefs or glyphs adorned the walls.
Witt crouched down, examining the floor. “Can't believe I'm saying this but we could really use Holpa right now.” He turned to me. “You're a thief, aren't ya? Don't you have Detect Trap?”
“Not anymore,” I said, shaking my head. “Once I switched to Shadow at level 20, I paid a heap of gold to redistribute my points into the abilities best suited for my subclass. Sorry.”
Shwenn looked to Nigel. “Any ideas what this is?”
Nigel shrugged his bony shoulders. “None, other than to step on one of those stones and see what happens.”
Suddenly, there was a loud cracking sound from behind. A section of the wall a dozen paces down collapsed inward and a stream of lava spilled forth into the hall.
“Okay,” Witt said. “We need to hurry this up!”
“Wait,” I said. “Everyone back up a bit from the alcove.”
We shuffled down tunnel as far as we dared, all eyes on the growing flow of lava. Aiming at the left stone with my bow, I fired.
The arrow bounced off its surface, but the stone didn't move and nothing exploded. I did it again with the other stone and got the same results.
“We should throw something heavier at it,” Shwenn said, casting furtive glances at the advancing lava.
“Okay, who wants to part with some loot?” I said.
“Not me!” Witt said with a grin. Even in the face of certain death his greed won over.
Nigel said, “Here, try this.” He reached into the satchel at his hip and pulled out large bunch of bananas. “I was going to save it for later, but I think they would make a worthy sacrifice to the cause.”
I took the bananas, hoping they would be heavy enough. Carefully, I walked to the edge of the alcove and threw them the short distance to the stone.
The bananas landed, and the stone sunk down, stopping flush with the floor. Somewhere over the bubbling and hissing of the lava, came the sound of a loud click.
“Okay,” I said, looking to Nigel. “Got anything else?”
He dug around for a few moments then produced a large coconut. “Will this do?”
I laughed and took it. “Got a turkey dinner stuffed in there, too?”
“Well, you never know when you're going to get hungry,” he said.
“Any time, guys!” Shwenn said. A short distance behind, a section of the hallway's ceiling fell into the lava.
I threw the coconut onto the other stone which pressed down as well, followed by another click. But nothing happened.
We looked around in confusion, and Nigel said, “It's obvious both stones cannot be pressed at the same time. Might I suggest removing the bananas as a test.”
I reached out with my bow and used it to snag the bananas. Even as I did it, I could feel the growing heat of the molten pool behind us. Quickly, I yanked them off the stone. The stone depressed to its original position, and another click sounded. This time, the stone door opened, slowly retracting into the ceiling.
I nocked a bow and Witt stood beside me, swords at the ready. But the new entrance only revealed the tunnel continuing on.
Carefully, I stepped over the stone plates and checked the doorway for anything dangerous. Satisfied, I stepped through. I didn't die.
“Okay, let's keep going! Quickly!,” Witt said.
As the others passed through the alcove, Nigel said, “Can I have my coconut back?”
“Not this time, buddy,” Witt said.
Once on the other side we paused, and I said, “Should I knock that coconut off and see if it closes the doorway?”
Witt looked to me and said, “Do it.”
I shot at the coconut shattering it with my arrow. The stone depressed and the door slowly ground down to a close. I noticed Nigel giving the door a plaintive look. “This is a one way trip for all of us,” I said.
We continued on, following the new tunnel which looked identical to the ones before it.
As we hustled along, Shwenn sudde
nly cursed.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I'm multitasking here,” she said. “I got a notification that Holpa, or rather the player behind him, has filed a complaint against me and Witt.”
“What the FILTERED for?” Witt asked.
She said, “He's claiming we bullied him into entering an instance we knew to be RR, and then forced him to log off in a dangerous area. Because of that, he says we got his avatar killed. He's seeking an Administrator to step in and restore his character.”
“What a FILTERED!” Witt shouted. He went off for several moments with a stream of filtered words.
Shwenn said, “He's also asking that we have our accounts reviewed and we're either banned outright or heavily penalized. The rat is also demanding his share of any loot we get.”
Keeping my eyes ahead on the hallway, I said, “It won't happen. I've never heard of such a thing going too far past an Administrator.” The game company received complaints similar to this all the time. Usually, it came from spiteful players looking to cause grief to others.
“We should file a complaint against him!” Witt said.
“For what? Being a coward?” I said.
Witt said, “For abandoning us like he did. There's got to be something in the Player Code of Ethics, right?”
“Hate to say it,” I said, “but that's even weaker than Holpa's case. Who reads the PCE anyway?”
Witt knew I was right and launched into another filtered tirade.
Throughout all this, Nigel was silent, as if the conversation didn't even register with him. As an NPC he wouldn't be expected to comment, or even recognize, real life related talk between players.
As if to remind us where we were, the tunnel suddenly ended at a large rectangular chamber. We carefully entered, watching for raised stone plates on the floor.
The light orbs showed another tunnel on the other end, from which a faint light could be seen.
Shwenn waved her hand for everyone to be quiet. “We'll talk about this later.”
“That's guaranteed,” Witt said.
Cautiously, we crossed down the length of the room to the other tunnel entrance. Dipping into Shadow, I peeked around its corner. The tunnel extended away about two dozen paces to a brightly lit exit leading outside.
“This is it,” I told the others.
We moved toward the exit, mindful of our steps. I was in front with Witt directly behind me, followed by Nigel and Shwenn.
Through the exit, I could see a rocky slope far across an open space, a trickling of lava cascading down its surface. Telling the others to wait, I tiptoed forward until I was at the edge of the tunnel.
Outside, was a large sunken colosseum, shaped like a bowl as Nigel had described. Comprised of concentric levels of cut stone, it was the size of a sports stadium. Other tunnel entrances dotted the ruins, of which many were expelling lava.
Directly across was the mountainside. Its shattered peak vomited massive plumes of smoke high into the sky. Huge rivers of lava gushed forth and down its rocky face, threatening the ruined colosseum.
All this was a lot to take in, but what was at the very bottom of the huge, open air structure got my full attention.
There was an entrance leading into a portion of the ruins set into the mountain, the same triangular shape of the tunnels.
In front of the entrance, resting peacefully in a massive coiled pile was the single largest snake I had every seen. It was so long and large, it rivaled the grav-trains of Mars which raced between its domed cities.
I was even more awestruck at the sight of the creature than I had been with the leviathan. They were of equal titanic proportions. This was the god the natives worshiped and I could see why. The thing demanded respect and fear and got both in equal measure from all who gazed at her.
Sisoria.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
I stepped into the tunnel and walked back to the others, dropping my Shadow.
Seeing my expression, Shwenn asked, “What is it?”
“We're doomed,” I said.
“Why?” Shwenn said.
“Take a look for yourself,” I said, motioning to the exit.
Witt and Shwenn moved to look outside while Nigel trailed behind.
“I've seen her before,” Nigel said. “I don't need to do so again, if you don't mind.”
“I don't blame you,” I said, and went to stand behind the other two.
Witt was beside himself. “That's guarding the FILTEREDing entrance? It's a monster!”
“Keep your voice down,” Shwenn whispered. “We don't know if it can hear us up here. But you're right, she's a monster.”
We stared at the gargantuan creature at the bottom of the ruined colosseum. Simply looking at it one could tell it was worthy of a much bigger group, like an army.
“I don't think we're meant to kill it,” I said.
Witt looked at me, hopeful. “What do you mean?”
“Look at the quest to enter the temple,” I said. “It specifically says to sneak past or kill her. Gaining entrance doesn't mean we have to fight, not that we could.”
Shwenn reread the quest text and smiled. “Oh, I like that.” She looked down at the slumbering beast. “Well, Viv, I think this is something you could do in your sleep, but what about us?”
“Yeah,” Witt said. “What about us? My sneaking skill is like level 1 at four percent and the last time I used it was back in the newbie zone.”
“Same here,” Shwenn said. She looked to me. “Any suggestions?”
There was a part of me that wanted them to just go away. I could sneak in there myself and retrieve the Shadow Blade, but I had no idea what I may encounter. I doubted it would be something a solo player could handle alone. If there was a chance for me to get the Blade, I'd need these two just in case.
I looked at Sisoria and the ruined tiers that led down to her. The entrance to the tomb was not on the same level as her, but the next one above. Getting these two down there would be a heck of a task.
I pointed at the tomb's entrance. “See how the entrance is not right at the bottom? That means we don't have to cross paths with her at all. If we stay quiet and move slowly down, tier by tier, we should make it.”
Sisoria's head was pointed southward, more or less in our direction. “Let's move around to the other side of her before moving down.”
“Why?” Witt asked.
“Because if she opens her eyes, we'll be behind her. And if she does, freeze. I think it would reduce our chance of being detected.” Or so I hoped. Honestly, I had no idea if that was true, but it sounded good and it made the others a little more confident in what amounted to a suicide attempt.
Shwenn nodded, staring at the huge serpent. “Okay, sounds like a plan. Why don't you lead the way, Shadow?”
Nigel cleared his throat. “If you don't mind, I will remain here until you return. Climbing about anywhere near that devil will make me lose my nerve. I've seen what she can do and the furthest away I can't get, the happier I'll be.”
I looked to Shwenn and Witt who both shrugged. “Okay,” I said to Nigel. “Stay out of sight and whatever you do, don't make a sound.”
Nigel said, “That will not be an issue in the slightest, my dear. I've learned the art of being inconspicuous over the last several days.”
As Nigel retreated into the tunnel, I surveyed the colosseum. Following the tier to the right meant crossing over some gaps and rubble, but would take us all the way to the other side behind the serpent.
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.