by Wolfe Locke
John left the last door and returned to the one opposite of where the staircase had been.. He opened it and went inside. In front of him were three other doors. He once again took the time to check each one, but once again they were all the same. Each door led to a cube shaped room with four doors.
“What sort of game is this, you old bastards!” John screamed in frustration to the empty room. If any of the gods that dwelled with him, or below heard it, they chose not to answer.
John didn’t know what to do, or how to get through the labyrinth. As far as he knew, there wasn’t one. But no. There had always been an answer before. But if he entered the rooms in a certain sequence, then he would be here forever. There was no way to know which room was which, or which way was right. So instead, John started picking random rooms and going through the doors.
Left. Center. Left. Right. Right. Center.
John raced through the rooms with reckless abandon. Each one was the same. It felt like each time he passed through a door; he was right back where he started. At one point, John went to recheck all four doors of the room he found himself in, thinking that maybe he had never left that first one after all.
John continued. Staying in this one room would not help him any. So, once again, he began to plow through rooms, hoping for some kind of variance.
Only his reflexes saved him from the axe that came swinging toward his face.
John rolled backward into the room he had just come from, the blade missing him by barely an inch. Completing his roll, John sprung to his feet and drew his axes.
Finally, some progress.
But the thought was driven out of his mind when he saw his enemy. It was John. It was him. Another him.
Chapter 32: Face Thyself
* * *
For a moment, the real John stood there with a look of utter shock on his face. But then his other self was coming at him again and his mind took over. He parried each blow that came at him from his double, his mind racing the entire time.
What is this? What’s going on? Why does he look like me?
Eventually, his own thoughts became too much of a distraction. The other John was able to score a glancing blow with the butt of his axe. John grunted and pressed on. I have to be more careful.
“Whatever you are, you are not me.” John screamed as he launched himself at his double, finally going on the offensive. This thing might not have been him, but it sure fought like it. John slashed and parried, trying to find some kind of opening. Then it came. The other John swung an axe and overextended himself. Taking the opportunity, John rammed his own thrice blessed axes into his shadow self’s exposed side.
There was a sickening squelch as the thrice blessed axes bit deep. John yanked it out and was rewarded by the geyser of blood that flowed. This version of John was not fortified with the bond essences of the “gods”, but even if it had been, there was no surviving a wound like that. It was a grim reminder that John himself was one wrong move away from ending up just like the doppelgänger.
But for now, he had won. He had gotten the better of his opponent.
Still, seeing his own lifeless face staring up at him was not something that John ever expected to see. In life, John liked to think that he was a indomitable presence. That he walked into a room and drew stares of respect or even fear. But the man that lay dead before him commanded nothing at all.
There was no use dwelling on it. He had handled the situation well for having been attacked by himself. But then again, what he had been through in the dungeon so far had desensitized him in a way. At this point, he was not sure if he could be surprised.
John waited in that room with his dead self. Surely, he had passed the test. I’ve found and defeated myself. That had to be the trick right? But no, it was not over yet. All of the doors still led to the same identical rooms.
With a sigh, John continued. This time, he went about it a bit more cautiously. So, twenty rooms later, when he came across himself again, he was not surprised.
Just like the last one, this John did not talk, he simply attacked. Though this one differed somewhat from the last John. The doppelgänger’s skin was tinged green and vines continued to extend out away from the doppelgänger. More than once John had to cut them away with his thrice blessed axes to avoid getting tripped up. Who better than a version of myself to take out my frustrations on.
The John’s lunged at each other, axes swinging through the air. Sparks flew as the weapons collided, one set regular, the other enchanted. The men’s axes locked together before them and they each struggled to get leverage. Finally, John simply head butted the other him.
The doppelgänger didn’t even flinch.
What the hell?
The other John saw his confusion and smiled. Then, he glanced to his hand. There, John saw a ring.
“Oh, you’ve got to be joking.” John exclaimed. “I haven’t had that forever.”
The other John finally broke off, and the two began to circle each other. Blood streamed from the other John’s nose. It had been broken, but evidently, he did not feel it.
If this guy has a Ring of Durability too, then this is going to be tough fought battle.
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than the other John attacked. The two struggled back and forth. John managed to score some hits on the other him, but they were mostly flesh wounds. Easily shrugged off by the other John’s ring.
John himself took some damage as well. The only difference was that he had already taken a very good amount on the last floor. I do not know how long the doppelgänger can keep up this fight. I really don’t want to go blow to blow.
So John came up with a plan. John quickly feigned an injury. He allowed the other John to land a minor blow on him and then acted as if it had heavily injured him.
The other John took the bait, eager to end his prey. The doppelgänger rushed in, swinging an axe.
John twisted his back, and the other John’s axe careened off of the Paladin’s shield John still wore on his back. Then, John pushed himself backward with all of his strength, smashing the shield into the other man. He staggered backward, flailing, and that was all the opening John needed.
On nimble feet, he followed the staggering man and brought his axe down on his head. No ring was going to stop a blow like that, but just to be sure, John did it again, and again, until he was sure that his other self wasn’t getting back up.
John stood over yet another dead version of himself. It’s still not over, is it? What is it with this floor? There was not a single sign of progress. No sign of progress. For a moment, John thought maybe he should try to loot the dead version of himself, but as soon as the thought crossed his mind, the body quickly dissolved into green goop and was reabsorbed into the dungeon
Of course, that would happen. In their place, a clear orb was dropped and was quickly absorbed by John. With a sigh, John walked through the nearest door and into the next room.
This time, John was met immediately with a new challenge. As soon as the door closed behind him, the two doors on both sides of him opened and two more versions of John stepped out. One walked on spider like legs and had multiple eyes, while the other blurred like a mirage of twisting shadows.
“Can’t beat me one on one, so you decide to try upping the numbers. Let’s see if it works for you.” John challenged
John dodged left to meet one of the other Johns head on, the Shadow John. It waited, its own axes ready to block his attack, but at the last moment, John pivoted and flung one of his axes overhand toward the spider version of him that had been running toward John’s exposed back.
The spider like doppelgänger was not expecting the weapon to be thrown. The thrice blessed axe tore deep into his face. He crumbled to the ground and did not move.
Quickly, John sidestepped out of the way of avoid the counterattack of the Shadow John. He’d lost control of a axe. Use what I have, right? John reached back and took the shield from his back and put his arm through th
e straps.
The body of Spider John didn’t disappear. Maybe I can loot that one. John’s heart almost soared, but then it dropped again. The axes that Shadow John wielded glowed with a dark smoke, directly the opposite of the enchantment that had been bestowed upon John’s own axes.
Shadow John charged in and swung down. John caught the blades on his shield, but there was a screeching sound as the metal of the shield buckled under the blow.
John did his best to defend himself. The shield bent out of shape under the force of the blows. .
Time to take a chance. John waited until his double brought both axes down, then he thrust the shield forward and up toward the double’s face. It met with a crunch, and the doppelgänger was dazed.
Shields aren’t always for defense. Sometimes, they’re good for bashing. John took advantage of his double’s stupor and ended him quickly.
The shield in John’s hand was dented and buckled to hell, but it might still hold. He strapped it back on his back, and retrieved his other weapon. Time to move forward.
John did not meet the next double until almost an hour later. He had begun to think that there would be no next one, and then he was finally there.
He stood in the center of one of the rooms, smoking axes in hand. On his finger he wore a ring, and on his back was a shield.
Unlike the others, this double did not attack John immediately. Instead, it stood in the center of the room, smiling.
“What are you supposed to be?” asked John. “My ultimate challenge? I’ll take you down like the rest.”
The double did not react, but in the next instant, John watched as he split and split again. In the blink of an eye, one had become three. Splitter John, Axe John, and Shield John. Without hesitation, the Shield and Axe Johns attacked.
On an instinctive level, John suspected that his trick with throwing his weapon wouldn’t work a second time. Instead, he stood firm with his axes at the ready as the two attacked. Splitter John remained standing in the center of the room.
Shield John reached him first, but John sidestepped the swing of the doppelgänger’s axes and then kicked the Smoking John in the chest as he came in for an attack. That double went sprawling away, leaving John to engage the other.
Axes clashed in the air, with each man trying to find an opening. Finally, the Shield John recovered and came at him again. In response, he spun, putting the shield back on his back, allowing the metal to absorb some damage he couldn’t block.
Shield John swung down with both axes. John ducked underneath, but the double could not stop his own momentum. His axes plunged into the chest of the double behind John and stuck fast. Taking the opportunity, John stood up and brought his axe down on the remaining double.
With both doubles defeated, John turned his attention to the one that had spawned them, but Splitter John did not stay alone for long. Three more Johns sprouted from his frame, each with a separate magical item of enchantment.
A newly emerged Smoke John the first to charge. John did not even think to put his back to him. He knew the shield would soon be completely unusable. So instead of using it, John took a chance and threw a thrice blessed axe at Smoke John
The double expected this and batted the thrown axe away with his own. However, he did not expect John to throw his other axe as well, and the blade bit deep into his chest. Now, John faced down two more of his doubles. With both of his axes gone, John drew his shield from his back and held it before him.
The remaining doubles circled John, one brandished a shield while the other carried axes as the last stood in the center of the room, watching. The two Johns charged him together.
John launched a kick at Shield John, but the doppelgänger was able to block the blow while Axe John attacked. John twisted just in time to catch a glancing blow on his shield, but it left his back exposed.
Seeing the opportunity, Shield John brought his sword down, forcing John to duck and roll away. He had to abandon the shield but was able to recover one of his blessed axes.
He got back up on his feet just in time to launch a savage attack against Shield John, an attack the doppelgänger was ready for. Shield John easily blocked the attack while Axe John jumped forward, both axes swinging through the air.
John backpedaled, desperately parrying each blow until he felt solid wood behind him. The door. That’ll have to do. He had learned before that the doors opened both ways, John found himself back into the previous room.
Axe John swung a weapon downwards in the doorway, but John dodged and used a free hand to slam the door shut on the doppelgänger’s arm and cut the arm clean off with a swing of his thrice blessed axe.
Still, Axe John did not scream. John tried to grab the fallen doppelgänger’s axe but as soon as his fingers brushed the handle, it collapsed and was reabsorbed by the dungeon. Of course. John shook his head and opened the door. Axe John was bleeding out on the ground, but before he could finish him, Shield John charged at him in an attempt to do a bashing attack.
John rolled out of the way and popped back to his feet and ran straight towards his other thrice blessed axe. Shield John was behind him, forcing John to bring his weapons up, ready to defend.
Then, Splitting John finally moved and called out in a guttural voice “I’ve seen enough.” With one fluid motion, he stepped up behind the doppelgänger with the shield and brought his axes down on his back. The double died, and John watched with his mouth agape. Splitter John repeated it with the still bleeding Shield John.
Just the two of us now. I think I’m approaching the end; he won’t spawn more. John was battered and broken and tired. The ring on his hand now burned so hurt that he could not even feel it.
Still, there was another challenge to overcome. I’m not done yet.
Nemesis – Do not delay. Your death here and now would have no benefit for me.
Lachesis – Nemesis is right. This is the place to let yourself become the monster. This other is beyond you.
I’ll make that decision. John readied himself as he joined the last of the doppelgängers in battle.
. The last double readied himself, and the two engaged in battle.
It became clear quickly that this double was better than all of the others. It did not attack carelessly, but efficiently and with calculation.
The double brought both of its axes down from on high, and when John raised his own axes to block them but the doppelgänger was ready for it and kicked out, planting a boot on his chest.
John went sprawling end over end. It was all that he could do to get back to his feet in time to block the double’s next blow. But he did it. John launched a flurry of blows at the double, but each was deflected.
The two fighters matched each other with speed and precision, neither finding an opening. But John knew the end would come sooner rather than later. He was already exhausted from the previous fights.
In that moment, John knew that he’d need to do something unconventional to win, something that if he lacked, the strength gained from his bonds, he’d never survive.
Instead of trying to dodge the next attack, John let it land. Hoping that the doppelgänger would think he had slowed. Pain exploded in John’s body as the axe bit deep into his chest. The only thing keeping him alive was the Body of the Depths ability and that the axe had missed his heart. The double smiled, but that was what John had been waiting for. With his right arm, John gripped the doppelgänger tightly against his body and rapidly let the monster within him off of its leash.
John’s body hardened and elongated as teeth spawned within the hole in his chest and spread further open, revealing a massive mouth where his torso used to be. The doppelgänger tried to escape, but it was too late. John held on as the struggling doppelgänger was consumed in a series of brutal bites.
With the last of the doppelgängers dead, John let the transformation go and let the magic within him heal his body. He stood there with an axe in his chest, whe
ezing. In a flash of light, John suddenly found all the dead versions of himself laid out in front of him. He could feel power radiating off of them. There were ten and John was certain most of them had represented the consequences of the choices of alternate bindings. But why, though? It’s almost like a warning. Why now?
All the doors disappeared except for one. That’s what I’ve been looking for. John walked toward the lone door, yanking the axe in his chest free along the way. He didn’t even feel it.
John opened the door, trying as best he could to prepare for what lay on the other side.
Chapter 33: In Fields of Green
* * *
John wasn’t expecting what he saw. Instead of a stairway leading down, he found himself at the edge of a lush meadow. It was green with tall grasses and dotted with the colors of various flowers. Nearby he spotted an Inn with a plume of smoke coming out of its chimney.