blacksmithoftheapocalypse
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1174. The Worm Mountain(3)
🕑 Added 2024-09-15 15:49:35 +0000 UTC“Just walking 3-4 kilometers- Easy!” he cursed himself. It was hard to gauge how long he walked when he suddenly faced an insurmountable obstacle.
No wonder nothing had pursued him, there was no way to run! This tunnel was blocked! It had completely collapsed and there was no way past it. The tunnel itself had blocked his path. But he didn't despair. All he had to do now was backtrack.
The were more tunnels branching out or crossing this one. Tunnels other teams took. Going back would at least raise his chance to find other teams. With that in mind, he walked back, taking the first fork where he knew that one of the teams had taken it.
He had not walked far when he saw a bright light from one of the vertical tunnels crossing his current one. This had to be a party! Finally other people! He hurried over, only to come to a quick halt at the steep drop of the hole leading down.
The other party was easily 30-50 meters below. At his level, this was survivable...theoretically. He hesitated a moment. He wanted to call out to them, but if he called out, he might lure in the monsters. They were a group of scouts, four undead knights and there were even two undead dire wolves with them.
Was that enough? he doubted that he was lucky enough that there was only one such monster in this mountain. if he cried out, how many could they defeat? Was he willing to sacrifice his comrades for a vague sense of security?
Yes, but not if it was more likely that it would cause his own doom. Conflicted, he watch the group below pass by. Although he didn't dare to call out, it didn't mean he noted the direction they were going. They were not directly heading back outside.
They were gathering. Command knew what was going on. That had to be it. He had to follow them. if he could join the group later, it would still be enough. he just needed to find a place to fix the rope to, then he could descend down to their tunnel and follow them from behind.
Nodding excitedly, he started to look around, but the smooth tunnels had no places to tie a rope to. He didn't know whether there would be any other ways down, he had to take this one. He weighed the risks, before taking out his spare dagger.
Using <Mighty Stab> he lodged the weapon deep into the wall of the tunnel. The whole blade vanished in the rock, all the way up to the guard. He winced at the scratching sound quietly echoing in the tunnel. Still, it was his most silent solution.
Hurrying, he tied the rope to the handle of the dagger and started roping down the vertical tunnel, to enter the path he had seen the party. He had to suppress his happy chuckles as he was looking forward to getting to safety.
Just a few more meters down, then he would drop into the tunnel. he would see the light at the distance, where the other scout party was going, and follow them to the gathering point. Yes and then-
Clank! Argh! Clank! Crunch! “Help!” “FUCK!”
The echoes from below quickly dashed his hopes. He was dangling just above the tunnel when he witnessed the light quickly returning back to where he was. In a panic, he started pulling up the dangling end of his rope, that reached down into the tunnel, while also trying to get back up.
“Ahhh!” someone carrying an arcane torch ran by screaming. They didn't even notice him up above. probably because a cloud of darkness was following right behind them. His heart pounded all the way up in his throat as the beats bast by, seemingly not noticing him.
The tunnel below had fallen dark again. He stared down for a while, then back up in the darkness where he came from. Then he dropped down into the dark tunnel. He had to reach the gathering point. It was his only hope and if there wasn't one...then it was all over anyway.
...
By the time she realized that everything was a trap, she had lost 15 scout teams, despite the new strategy showing results.
She was gnashing her teeth when one of the scout teams called on the communication orb. The remaining teams had finally gathered and united with the riders and the wolf squad. All they had to do now, was come to meet up with the excavation team that was burrowing its way inside.
~Master, we have a problem...~ the hell knight at the helm of the riders suddenly contacted her foreboding. She shared his vision and found the tunnel separated in a stark divide between magical lights surrounding the lines of scouts and insurmountable darkness filling the tunnel ahead of them.
Her people were not the only ones that had gathered. She was getting annoyed by the hold-up and made a decision.
...
The hell knight at the front of their procession suddenly cramped and shook, as his shape and aura changed distinctively. His whole figure became more graceful and his mannerisms gained more ego.
“Well, then, let's take care of this and waste no more time,” the undead suddenly said in a very feminine voice. “Had the princess descended onto her undead?”, several people among the scouts thought in shock.
It was the skill of some high-ranking necromancers, to be able to take control of their servants and transfer part of their power. It came at the risk of a tremendous backlash and a loss in level if they died in this state, but this was not important to them.
The chosen of Kali had decided to come personally! They actually had a chance to survive now! Of course, nobody would have voiced their doubts about the undead to protect them, but that didn't change that they didn't believe that the undead could get them out of these tunnels alive.
The hell-knight was covered in a purple aura as he stepped forward and four additional arms appeared from the aura surrounding it. Each arm carried an orb or a staff, while the two original arms held the knight's original sword and a saber made of aura.
No undead were summoned, instead she turned into a storm of magic and blades as she rushed into the darkness. In rapid succession, the creatures clinging to the walls and ceiling of the tunnel were dismembered without a chance to resist.
A mix of cold blades and purple magic fire ripped them apart like toys. Natina carved a path through the creations of Minas Mar, showcasing the strength she had worked hard to attain. At this pace, they would soon be able to leave this place, the scouts thought hopeful, unaware of what lurked in the darkness.
...
Light, he saw it. How long had he walked in the dim light of his lighter? And this was a big light, this had to be the gathering place! He had made it! He had dodged the beast and found safety! Hope bloomed in his heart.
Hope that he would be able to really get out of here and survive! He charged towards the group in the light as quickly as he could. He was already able to see the undead knights making up the rearguard when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his back. He heard a notification but was unable to comprehend it.
No, no, he was so close! So...so close. He could not feel his legs anymore when he felt a pull lifting him away from the floor and away from the light. Just like the shine of the party in front, his hope quickly waned.
Darkness swallowed him, but he wouldn't be the last one.
