Depths of Camlan

by A. T. Gilbert

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  When they turn around, I realize TexBadass and SteelFeather are both wearing the same expression of disgust Erinocalypse displayed when the rat was caught in her hair.

  "I hate rats," the Texan blurts out. "Hate 'em. Seems like I can't ever get away from 'em."

  "I hate anything in numbers like this," Balderdash13 says, kicking more corpses out of her way.

  With the auto-loot on, we each get more gold and a handful of weapons, armor and other trinkets saved into our inventories, each distributed according to what the game thinks we can best use. TexBadass equips a garish red amulet that paired with his green cloak makes him look like one of Santa’s elves. I guess some gamers care more about the stats than the look. Callidus carefully examines a new dagger, while SteelFeather and Balderdash13 both equip new belts. The rats have dropped a set of bracers for me, but they're not any better than the ones I have on. I save them for the future; they'll be sold for more gold.

  "Oh, I got a new spell, you guys," Erinocalypse says. Her eyes are unfocused and she's probably reading her stats or the object details.

  "Don't leave us hanging," SteelFeather jokes.

  "That extra Earth affinity will come in handy," she continues. "This is called Petrify."

  Erinocalypse performs a small hand gesture and a bolt of energy shoots out of her palm and immediately turns the targeted rat corpse to stone.

  "Nice!"

  "It's just a temporary transformation on a live target," Erinocalypse says. “Only five seconds of petrification. But definitely useful."

  Seeing her gain new spells like this kind of makes me wish I had pursued a more magical character build, but it's too late to worry about that now. In fact, a quick check of my stats tells me I only need a little more XP to level up. Maybe one more battle and I’ll finally be able to use the magical bow I bought back in town. About freaking time.

  “Are we ready? Can we go?"

  "Hold your horses," TexBadass tells me. "Some of us leveled up and need to manage some things."

  I suppose it makes sense that they're all hitting new levels faster than me, since they're at lower levels, but ... I'm impatient. Let's keep playing.

  The path out of the chamber is another stairwell leading up. Callidus hands the torch back to Balderdash13 and starts to climb.

  "Callidus," I call to him. "Remember we're probably walking into a puzzle or trap or something like that. So, look for trip wires, clues carved into the rock, any of that."

  I find myself relieved that this stairwell is wider than the last one. Being this far underground with walls tightly in on us is too claustrophobia-inducing for me. The single torch light still casts creepy shadows, but at least I'm not forced against a stone wall with no way out. In addition to being wider, this stairwell is significantly less winding. I can keep an eye on Callidus almost the whole time, watching him hesitate before his steps, looking around him everywhere. He’s taking the possibility of traps very seriously.

  For several minutes, the only sound is our cautious footsteps on the stone. Absentmindedly, SteelFeather hums “Ride of the Valkyries” until Balderdash13 shushes him. As we continue to climb, there's no sign of a puzzle or trap, but Callidus does find one thing that makes him pause.

  "Hm. That's interesting," he whispers, pointing to the wall next to him.

  “Great,” TexBadass says sarcastically when he files by.

  There's no need to stop. When I climb up level with it, I see what gave Callidus pause. Several small nooks and shelves are carved into the stone. First just one, then three, four and more as we continue up the stairs. Nearly every shelf holds a human skull staring down at me from shelves high above, or an arm, pelvis or other part of a skeleton. As I continue climbing the stairs, I see movement out of the corner of my eye. A skeletal hand is perched on a shelf about eye level. Did that finger bone just beckon to me? I look again but convince myself it was a trick of the light. The thing is stationary now. Because it’s dead. Duh.

  I hurry to catch up with the others.

  Occasionally we come across a broken shelf, cracked and collapsed on top of the bones beneath. I wonder whose remains these are. I wonder who is supposed to be keeping an eye on this, if the breakage is meant to be deliberately disrespectful or if it is just abandoned.

  "Um." Callidus hesitates in the doorway a few steps above me, looking around at the chamber he has found. "Wait here."

  In the flickering firelight, Callidus disappears, activating his Stealth mode to scout ahead. I'm curious about what is in the room above me and not for the first time wish I weren't always at the back of the group.

  After a couple of minutes, Callidus returns and comes down a few steps so we can gather around him to hear his report.

  "Well, um, we've discovered tombs, I think … Or whatever it's called. At the top of the stairs, the path levels off and opens up a little, but it's basically just a bunch of hallways filled with skeletons."

  "Is it a maze?" I ask.

  "Maybe? I didn't go far enough to find out. But I still don't see any trip wires or weight plates or anything. Just the path forward."

  "Then let's keep going, huh?" SteelFeather prods. "No way to go but forward."

  I'm slightly unnerved. This seems like a long way to travel in a dungeon without encountering anything. What are we walking into?

  I get my answer almost immediately. We had been expecting a puzzle, but the dungeon pattern changes. Or something has changed it. Callidus, SteelFeather and Balderdash13 get ten steps into the chamber when it happens.

  Instead of dodging hidden blades or solving a riddle, the skeletons 'buried' in the rock shelves climb out from their resting place, their boney legs reaching the floor and propelling them toward us.

  The walls are near enough to us that Callidus is attacked before I realize what is happening. These skeletons must have been knights or warriors in life—every single one of them has been buried with a weapon. From the back of the group I have the perfect vantage to watch as the skeletons, adorned in decaying armor, sit up, swing their legs to the ground, and pick up their swords, axes and maces to attack the tanks.

  As with the rats, in this small space we are immediately surrounded.

  Callidus takes the first hit, a sword to the back across his shoulders, but from that point on SteelFeather takes the lead. He and Balderdash13 push past the scout to take on the skeletons attacking from both sides. Balderdash13 still holds our only torch and swings it at the undead like a weapon. It's effective as a defensive maneuver but it makes the rest of the battle impossible to see in the uneven light. I point out two more unlit torches down the hallway to Erinocalypse who immediately diverts her next spells to lighting them.

  "From this distance? Impressive."

  I shoot off a few arrows, not able to do a ton of damage until I manage to land a head shot.

  [+ 75 XP]

  The skull ricochets off the body and the rest of the bones crumple to the floor in a mangled heap. Yes! I have to be careful aiming around the tanks in this small space, but I successfully fell several more attackers with headshots.

  [+ 73 XP]

  [+ 71 XP]

  SteelFeather and Balderdash13 retreat a little toward us.

  "Well," he says. "Guess we were wrong about that puzzle, huh?"

  “Another mob,” Erinocalypse says. “We can handle this. Especially if they’re only attacking when someone passes them. You know what to do. I’ll light the torches as we go. You all take down the skeletons.”

  “We’re going to go slowly so we can loot as we go,” SteelFeather says with a grin.

  “I would expect nothing less,” Erinocalypse returns.

  There’s no telling how far this hallway goes, or how many opportunities we’ll get to loot, gain some XP and level up. Being able to pull the mob little by little makes this whole section seem kind of easy …

  … And now I’m suspicious.

  Is it supposed to be easy to prepare us for s
omething worse ahead? Is it lulling us into some sense of security so we’ll miss the set trap? I hate having no idea what to expect. I nock an arrow and take aim, ready to shoot the head off the first skeleton that approaches.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  We work our way down the hallway, slowly, looting every few feet. It’s methodical, but it yields the maximum XP and gear for all of us. After a few minutes, SteelFeather reaches a fork in the path.

  “What do you guys think? Right or left?”

  I push my way to the front and peer down the dark passages, using Power Perception to try to get more information. Neither direction yields any clue. Neither direction indicates any difference in sounds, smells or light. Erinocalypse lights the torches down both paths, but we can’t discern any difference.

  “It must be a maze,” I say.

  "Oh god, I hope not," Erinocalypse says under her breath.

  "So, what do you think? Right? Left? Should we split up?" SteelFeather asks.

  "Does it matter? I mean, let's not split up but each hallway looks the same. It might not matter,” Erinocalypse answers.

  "It might just be copied and pasted over and over again,” I suggest.

  "You mean, like, when they designed it?"

  "Maybe." I shrug. "What better way to make a maze difficult than to make each hallway look exactly the same?"

  “Ugh. I hate mazes.” Erinocalypse closes her eyes as she massages her neck. “Just seems like such a waste of time.”

  “Maybe we’ll get lucky. Or maybe it’s not a maze.”

  “Yea, let’s hope.” SteelFeather looks both ways. “Right? I guess? Why not?”

  “Sure. Let’s go right.” Erinocalypse sighs.

  SteelFeather and Balderdash13 lead us down the hallway to the right until we come to another fork.

  "Right again," Erinocalypse calls.

  It's not a bad strategy—just follow the wall on one side. Eventually we'll find something. As we fight our way through the catacombs, I try the map again. I try Cho again. Nothing. Not only are we completely cut off, but the game is drawing us deeper and deeper in. Soon we’re so far into the underground graveyard that I'm not sure I could find my way out.

  Fighting, looting, choosing the path to the right, more fighting, more looting. It almost begins to get monotonous. I keep hoping that the next skeleton will give me the XP to kick me up to the next level, but I must have too far to go and the reward for killing these is too small.

  There's one small exception to the monotony and it’s really so obscure I don't even know what to make of it. I keep up with killing the skeletons, though not in nearly as high of volume as SteelFeather and Balderdash13. Nevertheless, there are plenty of bodies for me to loot. As we are passing through another curving catacomb path, I pause to loot one of the fallen and come up with:

  Acquired: Stone of Shrouding

  Item Type: Singular

  Description: Unknown. You do not currently possess the skills necessary to identify or use this object.

  I stare at it for a good thirty seconds, thinking. It looks like the twin of the stone I picked up in Foyle Forest during the Challenge. Which I still don't know what I'm supposed to do with. I activate my Power Perception skill, but it doesn't reveal anything beyond what the description told me. I stow the Stone of Shrouding in my bag. I suppose if I never figure out what it’s for, I can always sell it to a merchant.

  Once we get out of this maze, if we ever do. Right turn, another right turn. Coming to a dead-end and having to back track. I'm still not convinced this is a maze—it may just be an elaborate catacomb system—but this does seem like the most straight-forward way to get through it.

  After hitting a dead end for the third time, backtracking to take the alternate path leads us to a wider chamber that opens up with a wide staircase taking us even further up into the rock.

  SteelFeather pauses at the doorway.

  "This is different. Everyone on their toes."

  I redouble my grip on my bow and nod, willing to follow him into battle. As soon as we cross the threshold, skeletons stumble toward us from all sides. Some are full bodies, some are missing limbs. Some walk more upright than others. But the entire army of the dead is reaching toward us, claw-like boney hands outstretched, swords and maces swinging at us.

  We make our way toward the center of the room, the tanks hacking and slashing as we go, until we are directly in front of the wide stairs. The door frame is decorated with skulls and columns carved directly into the rock. This seems to be the ceremonial entrance. The wall decor is fancier, there are decorative tiles laid into the floor and even the shelves that the skeletons are climbing out of seem better cared for.

  As we slowly work our way across the room, I take a closer look at the patterns on the floor. Most of the floor is dirt and rock, but there is a winding pattern of small, square, beige tiles set into the floor. The swirls of tile lead toward a wide iron circle in the middle of the floor, like a manhole cover that exhibits further decoration. A seal of some kind. The winding paths of tile are easy to overlook, blending in as they do to the surrounding rock, but that iron seal stands out.

  Everyone else in the group is fighting the skeletons and no one is paying attention to where they are stepping. I hang back, since I'm supposed to be doing ranged damage anyway, and visually trace the path of the pattern way out along the edges of the room. At first it seems chaotic, made up of random tendrils winding aimlessly around. But as the stripes of tile get closer to the center of the room, they form more of a deliberate pattern. The swirls tighten and become uniform stripes. My eyes trace them to the middle where a large, round seal is situated.

  I squint at it.

  It's hard to tell from this distance, amongst all the firelight and between all the movement, but I think I see the faint glow indicating a magic of some kind in the metal circle seal. I get up on my tiptoes to see if I can read what's on the seal from this distance. I walk far to one side and then swing wide to the other side, in case I can see the magical glow better from a different angle around the tanks.

  I'm still not positive, but our group is inching ever closer to the seal. As SteelFeather parries and hacks, his feet shuffle closer and closer. Because of the way the room is set up the skeletons just keep coming. Unless he retreats from the room completely, he's not going to get a break before destroying them completely.

  The heel of his foot just barely crosses the line so he's standing on the seal. I'm sure now. I've been watching the metal circle long enough, I see the magical red glow around it.

  Attention: You have unlocked Active Skill: Power Perception Level 2

  Description: Your senses are getting stronger. Glowing light indicating the presence of magic is now +10% visible to you.

  Requirement: Focus Level 1, Magic 12 points

  Reward: + 70 XP

  As soon as I wave that message away, I realize the glow of light around the seal has changed to a sickening bright green. As he’s fighting, SteelFeather loses his balance and is about to fall backwards.

  “SteelFeather! No!”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  I’m too late; he steps fully back onto the metal circle in the center of the floor. The magical glow flashes brightly once, as though something has activated it.

  A heavy rumbling noise surrounds us.

  “What the …?” TexBadass asks, looking around.

  "The ground," I yell over the thundering noise. "I think he set off a trap." When I point to the ground under SteelFeather's feet, his eyes widen briefly before shutting tight against whatever is about to happen.

  There is only a split second to brace myself before the ceiling begins to fall. I watch a skeleton rises from its resting place and raises its sword above its head, inches away from attacking Erinocalypse and maybe severing her arm, when a wide piece of rock falls from above and knocks it down.

  There's no pattern to the collapse the randomness makes it impossible to guess where we will be safe. The
only thing I know is I don't want to be stuck in here. The ceiling near the stairs seems to be collapsing just as quickly as the rest of the room.

  "To the stairs," I yell at the group. "Run!"

  SteelFeather and Balderdash13 are closest, but they pause to fight off more skeletons.

  From the back of the group, I physically push Erinocalypse toward the stairs. She’s trying to fight off the skeletons that just keep coming amidst the chunks of ceiling falling around them. Ahead of me, TexBadass has already made it to the doorway. He gets hit with the occasional falling rock, but manages to continue sending healing casts to the others.

  [- 340 HP]

  Ow! Damn it! A huge piece of ceiling falls on my head and shoulder. I'm too stunned for a moment to move, my shoulder aching so much I am unable to even lift my arm to hold the bow.

  Erinocalypse turns toward me and without hesitating aims her next spell at me. I freeze in place. Her attack misses me by mere inches and knocks over the skeleton that had been about to attack me from behind.

  “Go!” she yells.

  I don't hesitate, managing to avoid more falling rocks and dodging past a couple more skeletons. Callidus has reached the stairs ahead of me and the two tanks are mere steps away.

  The floor begins vibrating; the rumble around us grows even stronger than before. I lose my footing briefly in the earthquake and stumble the last few steps to the doorway, where I fall into Callidus. I hear the ceiling cave in behind me. I hear Erinocalypse scream and TexBadass curse. I turn to find a mountain of rock and dirt where the room used to be, and no sign of her.

  "Erin!"

  I'm not sure she can hear anything over the thunder of the room falling apart. Callidus and SteelFeather call for her as well, but there's no sign. No movement. No flash of her yellow cloak.