by Lee Duckett
The elf hesitated, “You really want me to put that next to the rations? Because we’ve only got the one bag. And I’m not sure how much space it has left. And I know I moved the Troglodytes, but in my defence I did that when I was dumb. And-”
“Fine! Aria interrupted, leaving the body. “It’s not like we can take a picture or something, but if you can’t handle it then I’ll drop it.”
Fayne just nodded in thanks, further annoying the cleric, before turning around and heading to the far room. She spun the centerpiece and pressed on the correct places in the wall to open up the escape path down to the reservoir below them. The stairway that was revealed was dark, the only light provided by Aria’s aureole and Rurik’s flaming sword.
Chapter Twenty-One
Reservoir Rumble
They descended stairs in a slow spiral, moving deeper and deeper into the earth. The breeze, which blew damp air up past them, stopped a few minutes in, a grinding sound from above signaling the door they’d come through had closed. “Keep going, I’ll be right back,” Fayne said, grabbing an everburning torch and darting back up the stairs, the green illusion of flame lighting her way. She caught up with them a minute later, bounding down the stairs, not needed to look out for traps the second time. “I was right. It’s locked. We might be able to break it down if we really need to, but I’m not sure how strong it is.”
“That be a theme of this place,” the dwarf agreed. “No way to go but forward.”
“We’re going down,” Badger pointed out.
Rurik shrugged, “Same difference.”
“How far down does this go?” Aria asked.
Rurik shrugged again, “I can tell a bit about stone ‘cause I grew up with it. It’s not like a bloody radar. Wait,” he took a swig from the flask on his hip before giving a drunken belch, pausing to listen to it echo theatrically. “It goes on for a bit.”
His mother started to rebuke him for making fun of her, but paused, unsure if he was or if he somehow could actually tell, opting for the neutral response of “Thank you, Rurik.”
Fayne rolled her eyes and moved to the front of the group, leading the descent down further and further, easily going down another hundred feet, maybe more. The atmosphere became increasingly dank, the lack of any airflow giving it an oppressive feeling. After a few more minutes she held up a hand, ~Do you hear that?~
Rurik shook his head, Badger trying to listen to whatever it was she mentioned, and Aria nodded. ~Flowing water,~ she sent, getting a responding nod from the elf.
~We’re probably close, try to be quiet,~ the scout advised. ~If we get in shooting range it’ll hear us no matter what, but past that we might be able to sneak up to it.~
The others nodded, doing their best as they continued. Two more rotations later they spotted a doorway, rusting hinges the only sign that a door once blocked it, the sound of a stream coming from somewhere on the other side.
Aria’s light spilled out into it as they got closer, illuminating a small cave that opened up to the right, beyond what they could see. Exiting the doorway, they saw it opened up to the right, widening until it was forty feet across, leading to a huge tunnel. The stone had been worn by time and humidity, but the remains of carvings could still be seen on the far side, belying its constructed nature. Seventy feet across and forty feet high, only Fayne and Badger could see the far end. While Aria and Rurik could see in complete darkness, the other two possessed low-light vision, and even the distant shadows created by the aasimar’s light was enough for them to see by.
The party froze as a distant voice echoed down the tunnel, Draconic words like cobwebs brushing against their ears, “Your contributions have been appreciated by the Flight, . . . Vorellian. We shall not forget your contribution to the grand. . . experiment. I am sure you will enjoy your. . . reward. With our business concluded, I wish you. . . well. It appears that you have. . . guests. Good. . . bye.”
The sound of wings flapping echoed down the hall and the party drew their weapons, unsure what they were going to face. The voice, whatever it was, sounded raspy and malicious, each sentence dripping with malice. After a few flaps the sound disappeared, but the party stayed on guard.
Silently, as if it weren’t even there, a gigantic deep-purple dragon glided down the tunnel, wingtips almost brushing the sides. It was looking directly at them as it emerged from one side of the tunnel, not moving as it seemed to drift through the air like a ghost, eyes twin pools of complete darkness. The party froze with fear, sure in the knowledge that if they faced off against this creature, they would surely die. The dragon, and it could barely be called that, looked thin, almost emaciated, but the impression it left was of sleekness and dangerousness, instead of weakness. It flapped, once, and shadows fell from its wings, forming humanoid bodies as they started to drift towards the party. It smiled down at them, full of sharp, pointed teeth, and left, continuing to drift down the tunnel, passing by their alcove as if they didn’t matter.
As the end of its long tail disappeared from sight, the party let loose a sigh of relief, almost forgetting about the shadows that were picking up speed as they closed on the group. Fayne shot at one of the dozen dark ghosts that approached them, piercing the creature which shrieked in pain, a ragged hole torn in its insubstantial body. As if a spell was broken, both sides burst into motion: the shadows charging the group, the injured one lagging behind, and the rest of the party being brought into the fight as well.
Rurik charged forward, sword flaming. While his wakizashi passed through the lead shadow to no effect, his katana cut deep, the amaranth flames running its length spreading to the wraith, burning the spirit. It screamed as it expired, not destabilizing like the one he’d fought in their first Lair, but turning to ash instead. Fayne put a second arrow through her foe, this shadow destabilizing into nothing as it died. Aria strode forward, golden holy symbol in hand, and commanded “In the name of Solus begone, shades of undeath!”
The cleric’s eyes glowed gold, as did the eyes on her holy symbol, and a near palpable wave of light burst from her, crashing down on the shadows, illuminating the chamber as holy radiance filled the space. After it passed the shadows were gone, as if they never existed. Aria blinked in surprise, a self-satisfied grin spreading across her features. “Well that was eas-Aah!” she cried as another shadow emerged from the floor and stuck its black hands into her chest, trying to drain her of her life.
While the others had been vague, ephemeral things this one seemed composed of solid darkness, completely opaque and well-defined. “Aria!” Badger cried, sending a Flame Bolt into the creature, which barely seemed to notice, the fire striking its flesh to little effect. Fayne shot it, the arrow sinking partially into the darkness before clattering to the ground, the damage minimal.
Before Rurik could run back to help Aria’s look of shock shifted to murderous rage. “You seek to steal my light, foul abomination? Have as much as you want!” Once more her eyes glowed gold, though instead of Light expanding out from her, channeled outwards, it suffused her body, causing her skin to glow. Golden Light started to flow into the creature from its hands which gripped her heart, radiance starting to shine from the darkness like an eclipse.
It started to shriek in pain, trying to pull its hands back, but Aria dropped her mace, grasping its insubstantial arms and holding them in place with glowing digits. More and more divine radiance flowed into the creature, which thrashed and wailed like a trapped animal, filling it until it looked like a living sun sheathed in shadows.
With a deep, bassy thrum it detonated, exploding from the inside out as it could no longer contain the energy within it, the underground chamber once again, momentarily, turning to day as the sound reverberated in every direction.
Where once stood a greater shadow, a small star in its place, lighting the chamber. The party watched, unsure, as the star moved to her holy symbol, whose face animated as it swallowed the tiny ball of light, moving back to its previous state before the eyes stopped gl
owing, Aria’s eyes returning back to normal at the same time.
She gave a shuddering breath as she shoulders, which had been held high in righteous rage, dropped in momentary exhaustion. She glanced down at her holy symbol before looking at her gob-smacked companions. “Well,” she commented, “That was different.”
“What the bloody ‘ell was that, Lassie?” Rurik requested, unbelieving of what he’d just seen. “I know I not be knowin’ a lot ‘bout kneelers, but I ain’t never be hearin’ ‘bout that!”
She just shrugged. “I, I don’t know,” she admitted. “It grabbed me, and I was just so angry, and so was Solus, so we. . . purified it.”
Badger looked at her holy symbol, then to the seemingly solid metal staff in his hands, and shook his head. “We really don’t understand what these things are at all, do we?”
~Where would the fun in that be?~ Fafnir answered, smiling, ~Though I myself do not know exactly what the cleric’s amulet did either, if it makes your gnomish ego feel better.~
“It’s not ego!” he objected, “Its. . . cautious curiosity! It’s wanting to know what the tools we have do! Especially since sometimes what they do, they do to us!” He received no response. “Either way, I think it’s heard us,” he gestured down the tunnel, in the direction the dark dragon came from. “Everyone ready to fight whatever that horrible thing was talking to?”
Aria nodded and Fayne moved forward, scouting the way. Peering into the tunnel, it had ten-foot-wide walkways on either side, the middle fifty being a low, slowly moving underground river. The way they wanted to go was a long corridor that turned slowly to the left. The way the dragon went extended for forty more feet, before it was a wall of rubble, the tunnel having caved in.
“Wait, what?” Badger asked, staring at it. “Did we miss the collapse? I know we were noisy, but we weren’t that loud!”
~Look again, wee man,~ Rurik prompted, pointing at the lichen growing on the rocks. ~These fell a long time ago.~
~Then where did it go?~ Aria sent, ~Did it shrink?~
~That was a shadow dragon,~ Fayne explained, understanding now that she had time to think. ~They live on the plane of shadow, a different plane of existence. That. . . That thing would’ve killed us all easily. As big as it was, even if we were fifteenth level it might kill us. At five, we weren’t worth its time.~
The cleric looked down the tunnel fearfully, ~And it was thanking what we’re going to fight?~
~It did the shifty lizard a favor, from what it sounded like. Doesn’t mean it be tougher, just that it could do somethin’ for the shady bastard.~ Rurik pointed out. ~Either way it don’t matter. Only way out be through it, so we need ta keep goin’.~ Aria held onto her mace, taking comfort in its weight, and nodded.
They walked down the side of the tunnel, trying to keep a lookout, but not seeing anything out of place, or at least anything that looked like it would be dangerous. The tunnel curved one way, then another, slowly descending even further, the smell of rot slowly increasing.
Turning one last corner the tunnel opened up, revealing a vast underground lake, the ceiling curving up above them into the darkness. The walkway they were on receded into the wall, a stone bridge extending over the river, though it was in an advanced state of disrepair. On the other side the walkway curved around the edge, hopefully continuing around the edge of the reservoir.
Rurik waved the others over the bridge first, wanting to go last as he was the heaviest. Fayne and Badger moved across just fine, Aria moving slowly while watching the dark water below her with trepidation. Rurik took his time, carefully moving across the stones, several starting to give way under his weight. One dropped into the stream below, the splash echoing across the chamber ominously. Getting to the other side, he waved for the rest to keep walking, staring out across the dark water.
Moving around the left wall, the walkway curved backwards, the lake extending a bit in that direction as well. Badger held a hand up, commanding, ~Wait.~ He moved to the walkway near the water, raised fifteen feet above the surface, and peered into the darkness. With a murmured incantation his staff glowed, the light spell turning it into a staff-sized torch. A small wave, only a few inches high, rolled up from the otherwise still surface, causing him to pale and back up quickly.
~Fayne?~ he asked, voice shaky over the connection. ~The bigger a dragon gets, the more dangerous it gets, right?~
~Yeah?~ she asked, trying to see whatever he had spotted. ~Did you see it?~
~No, but if the reservoir is close to circular, and it’s not right next to us, then the displacement something would need to make to have that little wave reach us. . . It’d be. . . big. Not as big as the other dragon, but one my size almost killed us, what’s one that big gonna do to us? Fayne, you know dragons, is this one of those ‘talk our way through it’ things?~
Fayne frowned, deep in thought. ~If it’s what I think it is. . . no. If it’s aquatic, likes the darkness, and that smell. . .~ she trailed off.
~You mean the rot?~ Rurik asked. ~We all be smellin’ it. Ye be sayin’ that be on purpose?~
She nodded, thinking, ~Badger, do you have any magic that will help the rest of us resist acid?~
Aria, with her innate resistance, sighed in relief, earning a disapproving look from Rurik that she missed. Badger nodded, ~Yeah, a communal resist energy. It’ll only last for twelve minutes, but I can. Should I cast it?~
The elf nodded, still trying to look out over the water, glancing upwards just in case it was trying to sneak up on them that way. The wizard murmured to himself, hands moving back and forth as he cast a spell of the third order, inscribing a symbol into the air in front of each of them quickly. Finishing with himself he twisted the arcane symbol in front of his chest, the purple-white rune turning lime green as it warped into a new configuration, the others changing to match his. With a wave of his hand the symbol destabilized into a green glow that sunk into his body, the other symbols doing the same to his companions.
~The water breathin’ potions,~ the dwarf asked. ~How long do they be lastin’?~
~Five hours minimum,~ The wizard replied, fishing his own potion from his belt, pulling off the wax-covered cork. Drinking it, the others did the same, just in case. Looking to his wife, he asked, ~Any spells you want to cast?~
She shook her head, ~Everything I have lasts for moments, not minutes.~
~Well, I guess we should keep going,~ Fayne stated, leading the others around the corner. Their path extended, hugging the wall, for another hundred feet before starting to curve around the northern edge, out of sight even with Aria’s enhanced aureole.
Even though they were keeping an eye out on the water, it was only the aasimar’s cry of ~Look out!~ that gave them a chance to try to dodge, though there was nothing to hide behind. Rurik shoved Badger behind him as a torrent of acid came from the water to their side, the line of corrosive liquid hitting all of them. Aria caught the brunt of it while Fayne tried to leap clear, however there was nowhere to go but into the water, and she wasn’t going there.
Their magical protections took the brunt of it, but they all grit their teeth in pain as their skin reddened and blistered. Metal corroded, and leather armor was partially dissolved, with the exception of Fayne’s armor, which seemed untouched, though her hands and face were still hurt. The elf drew and fired at the black shape in the water from which the attack had come from, unseen as its coloration had matched the dark lake.
The projectile went wide, the electricity in the arrow lighting up the dragon, fifteen feet long from tooth filled jaw to spike-studded tail. ~Oh we are screwed!~ she cried out, trying to hit it again but missing, burst of light showing it slipping down and away, out of sight.
~Why?~ Aria demanded, Badger already casting Enlarge Person on Rurik, who grew to eight feet tall, unsheathing his swords.
~It’s a large size-class dragon,~ she explained, eyes wide as she held an arrow back, ready to fire. ~That means its CR, its challenge rating, will be, like, nine or something
. That means it’d be a dangerous fight for a group of four level nine adventurers. We’re level five.~
Aria healed herself first, Badger asking, ~Are you sure we can’t talk to it, like the roper?~
Fayne shook her head, firing into the water. The burst of illumination the lightning arrow created revealed nothing. ~No. If it were red or blue, then maybe but black dragons are usually sadists. It’s getting exactly what it wants. Our panic, paranoia, and pain.~
Rurik nodded, staring out into the waters. ~That be whyin’ it be lettin’ us heal then? So it can be burnin’ us with its breath all over again?~
She shrugged, grimace lessening as Aria healed her burned hand, but her fear not abating. ~Probably.~ She shot another arrow, surprising Aria, the light showing the tip of a long tail as the dragon backed off into the darkness.
~We need ta keep movin, lad and lasses,~ Rurik prompted, moving down the path. ~We be sittin’ ducks out ‘ere.~
The rest of the party followed, all trying to stare out into the darkness to see the black dragon in the lightless lake. The walkway, following the curve as they reached the northern wall of the lake, lead to an artificial beach. Instead of the sheer ten-foot drop there was a ramp running the length of the walkway and giving them easy access to the water, which was the opposite of what the party wanted.
~Be ready, and spread out a bit,~ Rurik commanded, moving forward. ~This be a prime ambush spot for the stupid salamander, and we don’t want it gettin’ us all with its halitosis again.~
They made it fifty feet before Fayne spotted something approaching the ramp. ~There!~ She cried, firing at the shape. Her arrow glanced off a dark horn protruding from the dragon’s skull, the creature wincing from the unexpected shock as the lightning grounded itself into its skull.
It surged up with a roar, another torrent of acid spraying from its mouth, hosing down the gigantic dwarf and the elf that had been warding it off. Fayne was barely able to dodge, used Rurik for cover, the caustic breath missing her completely. The dwarf covering his exposed head with his arms, which burned as the acid, weakened as it was by Badger’s magic, still ate small holes in his armor, dripping onto his skin.