Fragment of Divinity

by Jamey Sultan

  He was about to ask Arik what was going on when the Dwarf held a finger to his lips and shushed him. He got a rope out of his bag and looped it around a tree. Then he gestured for the group to follow and they descended into the chasm.

  The bottom of the chasm was dark and wet, filled with a red mud that sucked James’ feet down to the ankles. Arik held out a hand for silence and pointed to his feet, showing the group how to wade through the mud without making a sound.

  As they wound through the chasm James glanced back at the rope and looked to Arik. “Won’t the Goblins know where to find us if we—"

  “Shhh,” Arik hissed. “This isn’t the place to talk.”

  James nodded. While they walked, he checked his notifications for the run. After scrolling through a bunch of stamina depletion notifications, he found that he had unlocked a new achievement.

  Achievement Unlocked: Mad Dash

  Mad Dash:

  + 5 Endurance

  + 5 Constitution

  A red plant growing out of the chasm wall caught his eye, and he stopped to examine it. It was a rich red color and long and slimy, reminding him of seaweed. He touched one of them and quickly wiped his hands off against his leather tunic. It was disgusting.

  Red Silkweed (x5):

  Rank: Unusual

  This weed can be used in a healing potion.

  It was Red Silkweed! James smiled to himself as he plucked all five strands of the plant out of the chasm wall and stored them in his bag.

  Quest Update: Learning to Brew (5/2 Red Silkweed)

  Sweet!

  When he found a place to rest, he would try to brew up a health potion.

  James was so focused on his harvest that he hadn’t noticed that they stopped, and he ran into Lucien’s back. The youth glared at him before returning his gaze to Arik.

  “Stay quiet,” the Dwarf whispered. James didn’t see anything especially interesting about this particular wall, but he trusted Arik, so he watched and waited.

  The Dwarf held his war hammer over his right palm and concentrated. A silver glow built up around his hands and a tiny droplet of metal formed on the tip of the weapon. It slowly ran down the length of the shaft and dripped into Arik’s hand. He pressed his palm against the dirt wall and the silvery droplet expanded, spreading more than it should have been able to. Dirt rained from the wall as the droplet exposed a circular carving with three inner circles of runes. The droplet sank into the carvings, which glowed silver for a second, then the runic circles spun like the lock on a safe. Click.

  A segment of the wall detached, revealing a hidden doorway into darkness.

  One by one, the group entered the tunnel.

  Chapter 29

  With a quiet thud, the door closed behind them, leaving them in a pitch-black corridor inside the chasm wall. With his Night Vision, James could just barely make out the silhouettes of his companions clustered together as they all read the prompt that had just popped up in the corner of each of their visions.

  You have entered the Dungeon: Abandoned Aqueducts

  Recommended level: 25-35

  Great. It wasn’t enough that they were in a dungeon. They were in high-level dungeon. James glared at Arik. Not that his ire was visible, but it was the thought that counted.

  James was looking forward to spending some relaxing time in the Dwarven city and learning more about this world. Sure, he had nearly died a few times and been captured and put into slavery, but Goddamnit, there was magic here, and that was awesome.

  Thinking about magic reminded him of his burnt Mana channels, which sent him into a spiral of depression. The only reason he hadn’t figuratively lost his mind after being plucked from Earth and dropped here was because of the wonders of magic. If I can’t use magic, what’s the point?

  With a soft whoosh a small sphere of flame appeared, slowly rotating around Nidra’s head, startling James out of his thoughts. The orb gave off a warm, red light, illuminating the long passageway into the darkness. Blood red droplets leaked eerily from the tunnel walls and ceiling. Arik explained it was only water, dyed red from the iron in the soil. Whenever one of the droplets dripped into Nidra’s flaming light, it would let out a hiss and tiny cloud of steam. Somewhere in the distance James could hear the rushing of water.

  Nidra looked at Arik curiously. “What is this place?”

  Arik ignored her question, addressing the group first. “Before we go any further, I need each of you to swear by the System that you won’t tell anyone about this. You won’t mention it in passing, you won’t write it down, you won’t send a coded message. You won’t try to reveal your knowledge of this to anyone.” He paused. “Unless they already know about it. Then I guess it’s okay.”

  A system message that James hadn’t seen before popped up.

  Arik has asked you to swear to never reveal your knowledge of the Dwarven Aqueducts to anyone. Do you accept?

  He thought about it for a second, wondering what the implications of the promise were. Clearly, there would be consequences if Arik was willing to use it as a way of swearing a secret that he seemed so serious about.

  “Why is this so important?” Nidra insisted, interrupting James’ musings. “I’m not going to agree without more information.” She crossed her arms and glared at the Dwarf.

  Arik met her gaze. “This isn’t a negotiation,” he said firmly. “Either submit the pledge, or I’ll kick you out.”

  “You’ll kick me out?” She replied angrily, orange light building up around her fingertips. “I’d like to see you try.”

  Arik stared at her for a second before completely ignoring her and turning to the others. “How about you two?” He asked.

  Lucien nodded. “Better here than dead.”

  James took a few more seconds to think about it. On one hand, he didn’t know what he was signing up for, but on the other hand it couldn’t be worse than what was currently going on.

  Oath accepted:

  Never speak of the Dwarven Aqueducts to anyone who doesn’t already know about them.

  Nidra’s expression softened, and she sighed. “Fine. But this better be worth it.” She turned to Arik. “Now can you finally tell us what’s going on?”

  Arik nodded. “Thank you, everyone for agreeing. Knowledge of the Aqueducts is guarded fiercely by my people. You’ll understand why in a second, but first some history.” He stopped to take a sip of water from the flask at his hip before continuing. “The Dwarven kingdom used to span the entire mountain range. Our cities overflowed with gold and drink, and these tunnels were the key to it all.” Arik patted the wall sadly. “They allowed us to quickly and safely transport goods between our cities and the outside world without braving the harsh environments of the mountains.”

  “You’re not saying…” Nidra stared at Arik in astonishment. “No. That would be impossible.”

  Arik nodded, clearly proud of his race. “These tunnels span the entire range of the Crimson Mountains. From these tunnels you could enter any of the dead cities.”

  At that, Lucien’s eyes widened. “The dead cities? They’re real?” he asked, fear evident in his eyes.

  Arik nodded. “Real as you or me.”

  “The dead cities?” James questioned.

  “Do you know anything?” Lucien snapped at James.

  “I must have missed that lesson back in my world,” he replied drolly. He waited for Lucien to continue explaining, but clearly the youth wasn’t in a talkative mood. James felt sorry for him. Clearly Lucien was still having trouble coping with his twin’s death, which made sense. Still, James was curious about Dwarven history, so he turned to Arik to continue the discussion. “What happened?” James breathed. With the way the group was talking about it, it was clear that the Dwarven history was tumultuous and grim, but he had no idea what the dead cities were, or why these tunnels were so amazing.

  “War.” Arik replied, almost too softly for James to hear. It was difficult to see in the dim light, but James thought he coul
d make out a teardrop run down the Dwarf’s face and into his beard. James shut up. He wasn’t amazing at picking up social cues, but even he knew when it was time to leave a subject alone.

  “Well, let’s go.” Arik said with an embarrassed cough.

  “Hang on,” Nidra said. “I don’t understand. Even walking straight to the city, it would take months. How are you planning on getting us there in less than two weeks?”

  Arik winked at her. “You’ll find out soon. Now keep your eyes peeled. We don’t know what’s moved in here since this place was abandoned.”

  “Months?” James asked. “Just how large are these tunnels?”

  Arik proudly replied. “From where we are to the Iron City is about 3,000 kilometers.”

  “That’s impossible.” James said. If Arik was telling the truth, then this tunnel system ran under a mountain range for almost the distance of the entire eastern United States. And that was just one tunnel. “How many tunnels are there?” James asked.

  Arik thought about it for a second. “Well, right now we’re in a small branch off of one of the main tunnels, but there are six main tunnels, and too many branches to count.”

  James gave up on comprehending the sheer scale of the tunnel system. If someone had gone up to him and told him the United States government had decided to create an underground metro system across the entire country, he would have laughed in their face at the sheer impossibility of a project that large. Now this Dwarf was telling him that they had done the equivalent project without modern technology. It was incredible. Even with magic, James couldn’t imagine how a project like this worked. And to keep it secret from the rest of the world. “This is amazing.”

  The Dwarf grinned at him with genuine appreciation. “Glad you like it. It’s our crowning achievement.” His face went grim when he next spoke. “Saved a lot of lives when the Orcs attacked.”

  James, putting two and two together, surmised that there had been a conflict with the Orcs leading to the Dwarves abandoning a bunch of their cities. “So, can you tell me a little more about your people’s history?” James asked.

  As the group continued through the dungeon, Arik obliged. About the first city, the expansion, the endless war. James listened with rapt attention, holding back the barrage of questions that he wanted to ask as he tried to put the information together into a cohesive picture of the world’s history.

  They were just getting into detail about the fall of the first Dwarven city and the undead plague, when Lucien held up a hand and the party came to a sudden halt.

  “Hang on,” he whispered, interrupting Arik. “There’s something up ahead.”

  James stared into the darkness but couldn’t make out anything, even with his Night Vision skill. “I can’t see it.” he said. “What level is your night vision?”

  Lucien gave him a rare smile. “Level 53. I used to go out at night with my brother and—” At the mention of his brother, Lucien went back to his usual sullen silence.

  “I’ll go check it out.” James offered, dropping into Stealth. Quietly he made his way forward, glad they weren’t walking through ankle-deep mud anymore.

  As James got closer to the shapeless form, he caught the stench of rotting flesh. James coughed, choking on the putrid air.

  When he got closer, James started to make out bits of bone and patches of matted, oily hair. It was the corpse of some sort of Humanoid, covered in a dense black fur. Its top half was completely picked bare, with small fragments of fur left on the bottom half and bones scattered across the passage. James picked up the creature’s skull and examined it. It was vaguely Human, but thicker and with horns.

  A minotaur!

  Upon further examination, the Minotaur’s bones were picked clean and covered in deep gouges that appeared to have been made from two sharp incisors. Whatever had killed the minotaur was clearly carnivorous, and judging by the state of the corpse, not a tidy eater.

  At least it’s not bugs this time.

  James turned back to his companions. “We have company. Not sure what, but I’d wager it isn’t friendly.”

  “That’s disgusting,” Arik said, his voice muffled as he spoke with a hand over his mouth.

  “Suck it up,” Nidra laughed, seemingly unaffected by the smell. Maybe elves had a natural immunity.

  “Let’s move on,” James said, trying to hold back another cough. “Lucien is looking a bit green.”

  They continued their trek, and James jogged to catch up with Arik. “So, what do you think made those bites?”

  “Not sure.” Arik replied. “Hungry bugger.”

  The group proceeded through the tunnel cautiously, with James scouting ahead. After about five minutes, the tunnel walls widened, changing from red dirt to yellowed bricks. The sound of rushing water also got louder as they approached the source.

  They exited the tunnel into a new, much different passage. This new area was a semicircular tunnel made from a yellowed brick that ran in both directions for as far as the eye could see. They were standing on a raised platform that ran parallel to a slow-moving channel of water. The thundering sound of the rushing water was much closer, but James still couldn’t see its source.

  As one, the group turned to Arik, waiting for him to lead the way. The Dwarf took one step into the room when they all heard a slight click. Arik scowled at the brick under his foot. He swore.

  James slapped his forehead. “We forgot to check for traps.”

  “Thank you for that insightful observation,” Arik replied. “Nothing gets by this guy, does it?”

  “Hey, you didn’t think of it either,” James pointed out as he bent down to examine the trap. “Sorry man, looks like you’re stuck there forever.” James grinned at Arik.

  “What do you mean?” The Dwarf looked panicked. “We need to—”

  His speech was cut short by James, who launched himself at the Dwarf, grabbed him around the waist, and tackled him into a pool of water.

  The sputtering Dwarf rose out of the water, swearing and yelling at James for being so irresponsible. A metal contraption that reminded James of a bear trap shot out of the mortar surrounding the brick and snapped shut on the spot Arik had recently vacated.

  There was a brief moment of silence as everyone processed what had just happened and then Arik resumed his tirade, punctuating it with angry swats at James’ kneecaps.

  “Why didn’t you just replace Arik’s foot with a rock or something?” Nidra asked.

  Examining the trap, James guessed he probably could have stopped it from working if he had jammed his dagger into the mortar around the brick. It would have prevented the bear trap from being able to spring open. The system seemed to agree, because James got a skill notification.

  You have gained 1 Skill Rank in Traps.

  You are now Skill Rank 2.

  The notification reminded James he still had points to assign. He hadn’t wanted to risk assigning his points while running - he was clumsy enough as is.

  “Hang on a second.” He said to his friends. “I still have to assign some points from the fight earlier.”

  James had five stat points and two ability points to assign. He ended up putting three in Endurance and two in Constitution, because both of those stats were lagging behind. That brought Endurance up to 20 base, 33 with bonuses and Constitution up to 21 base, 34 with bonuses. After assigning his stat points, James debated where to put his ability points. It was tough, because he was already level 16. He only had 9 more levels until he chose his advanced class, which meant that he would only get 18 more ability points total. If he wanted any of the Tier III abilities, he would need to start planning.

  James wanted to put his points into damage because his fighting style had been quick attacks and fast kills, but now that he couldn’t access his mana, it seemed like a bad idea. Luckily his injured Mana channels didn’t seem to be affecting his passive abilities like Arcane Armor and Imbue Darkness, but he still decided to hold off on spending his points until he
figured out if they could be repaired. If he got lucky and they were fixable, he would invest in damage. If not, he would invest in armor.

  “Does he know we’re in the middle of a dungeon? What’s taking so long?” Nidra whispered to Arik, who walked over to James and slapped him, bringing him back to the present.

  “Right. Sorry,” James apologized. “I forgot where we were for a second.” He closed his status sheet, smiling at his progress, and rejoined the group as they marched deeper into the dungeon.

  Chapter 30

  They were still walking along the same tunnel two hours later. The scenery hadn’t changed, and James was starting to get hungry. “Can we stop to eat?” He asked the group. “This is the most boring dungeon in existence.”

  “I wouldn’t mind,” Nidra agreed. “I’m pretty hungry.”

  “That might be a bad idea,” Arik said ominously. “I would hold off on the food for a few hours.”

  “Why?” James asked suspiciously.

  “You’ll see,” The Dwarf said mysteriously, waggling his eyebrows.

  James pondered the Dwarfs words. He could only think of a few reasons that he would need to stay hungry and none of them pleasant. James really hoped they weren’t going to ride something fast. He hated fast rides with a passion.

  “Come on, we’re getting close.” Arik said, motioning for them to follow.

  Lucien gestured for them to stop. Initially, James couldn’t tell why, but then he heard it too. A low scraping sound, barely discernible above the roar of the water. It sounded like nails on stone. Without further warning, three enormous rats crawled out of the darkness ahead of them.