Two days of dungeon combat will tire you out. Being back near the surface again is a relief even if I can’t see it yet. Thankfully we didn’t run into any more spider nests. Boars had fallen before us countless times throughout the trip, along with some new monsters that thankfully I had gotten explained to me before we met them.
Centipedes are my least favorite of them, they crawl everywhere with way too many legs, and have a nasty habit of throwing acid at you from around seven feet away.
Also included in the list of new things to dislike are bats, by the sole virtue that they can fly. Thankfully they only have small fangs and claws to try to attack you within their strafes which don’t do much damage to my skeletons but they scratch you if they ever make contact.
The former band of skeletons is now more of a mob than ever before. I have about seventy with me and progress is slow moving in such a giant group, but it makes sure that we always have enough skeletons to keep us covered.
The last day especially has been a cakewalk. Slow but steady progress through the tunnels. We don’t even get to see most monsters before they’re dead on the floor of the tunnel.
But even so, I’m tired. I need to see the sun and something other than the shadows of the darkness and the mass of moving bones, so I was very thankful that we were heading to the surface again.
The first skeletons start to push their way through the gap in the ground leading to the surface and the rest of the mob presses around them as the small hole constricts the flow of bones more than it already had been by the tunnels.
A few seconds later a high pitched scream echoes into the tunnel.
Why is it that we cant ever do anything without a surprise event happening at some point? Just once I want a trip just about anywhere to be something you could say was normal.
BOOM
An explosion rock the tunnel and heat sears my cheeks as a warm shockwave rushes into the tunnel.
“What in the hell is happening?!”
“Some adventurers probably took notice of the skeletons crawling up.”
“I thought you found this place? Did you tell someone else?”
“No, I found this place. It doesn’t mean nobody else has!”
“Should we run?”
“I don’t know another way out. We’ll be stuck here for a while if we can’t get out this way. We might not have enough water left to find another exit.”
BOOM
Another blast and another wave of hot air.
“Well, there’s no way in hell I’m going up there right now. I’ll be in pieces before I can even see who was fighting!”
“We’ll keep the skeletons coming for now until their mage is drained and then try to head up before things get messy ok?”
“If that doesn’t work?”
“We take our chances with the tunnels.”
With that note from Vanessa, we continued to stand there as more skeletons vanished into the small hole.
It’s a miracle that that thing hasn’t collapsed yet now that I think about it. That might be a side effect of the dungeon though, some of the tunnels down here didn’t look too stable yet always managed to stay uncollapsed.
BOOM
For the next three minutes we stood there listening to the explosions and watching the skeletons throw themselves towards the unseen threat, only to be undoubtedly reduced to shards of bone when the next explosion came.
Eventually, though they stopped, and the skeletons kept pouring through as fast as they could, which mind you wasn’t very fast, given their composition and the space available.
Without talking again we turned to each other and nodded before carefully moving towards the exit of the dungeon.
When we eventually clawed and crawled our way through the loose dirt and bones we stood before the small clearing we had made camp in.
I was blinded for a second, but with the adrenaline and focus that I had on this situation, it wasn’t long before I could see again.
In the clearing, surrounded by twenty or so skeletons were five people. Two swordsmen and a man with a tower shield made up a vague front line and one more danced along the edges, throwing bags of powder and small throwing daggers at the skeletons. In the rear line, a girl in mages robes was on a knee with her head down, looking exhausted.
You could tell at a glance that they had fought together many times before. Their movements were as sure as they could make them and they nodded at each other and moved as a cohesive unit. These people seemed skilled.
Despite this, the unit wasn’t used to fighting so many things at once, and they looked like they weren’t enjoying the situation at the very least.
More skeletons kept coming up behind us and the group was having trouble as the mob started to stretch around them. With only three frontliners it’s hard to maintain anything other than a straight line wall.
Perfect for fighting in the enclosed spaces of the dungeon, but not so much in the open.
“Can we negotiate with them?”
“That’s up to you. If they go back now they’ll definitely pass on what happened here today. If they die here, no one will know. And if we talk to them, we might get attacked for it.”
“That’s a rather grim outlook to have towards your adventuring comrades.”
“They aren’t my friends. I don’t know them, and I’m just telling you that they might not have as good of an outlook on your situation as I do.”
That’s true. They would probably think I am a terrible person, if they would even give the title of the person to anyone who they assume to have killed at least seventy or more people.
“I don’t want to kill them just off that. They haven’t attacked us directly. If I explain things to them and they still choose to attack then I won’t have any choice.”
“If you’re sure…”
Despite Vanessa’s reluctance I really don’t want to become a murderer. I have killed in this world but only in self defense or in defense of my benefactors.
“STAND DOWN”
My shout goes out over the din in the clearing to both sides and my skeletons immediately stop swinging their weapons. Likewise, probably more so from shock than anything else, the party of adventurers stopped what they were doing to quickly focus on me.
I really hope we can work something out.
