Chapter 75: Dungeon Dive, part 4

As the rising section of wall came to a halt, followed by the settling of dust in the other direction, the companions began to move through into the newly revealed corridor beyond. “We should get in and out fast,” said Leppie, moving over to pick up one of the lanterns and then the other.

“Aye. So come on,” said Ubund, leading the way.

Soon they had all moved through into the sloping corridor except for Etienne. The halfling proceeded to spend another minute looking at the mechanism at the side of the hidden door, dotting back to the statues, and then looking again.

But then the little rogue froze and looked up as two of the statue heads swivelled out of position once again of their own accord, without being touched. As Alcar watched on, the hidden section of wall beside them straight away began to descend.

And it was falling rapidly.

Etienne gave a yelp and rushed towards them; he fell to the ground and skid forward rapidly as the door approached the ground, sliding under just as it slammed downwards.

Etienne had just made it inside unharmed. He raised himself to his knees, panting, then cursed and walked to the head of the group.

"Someone taller would have been stuck inside," muttered Ubund, then turned and began to lead the way down.

“How do we...” began Alcar, glancing around to see whether there was a mechanism for opening the door from the other side.

But the others were already moving away, and he hurried to keep up.

The corridor they were now in was around two yards wide, circular in cross section, and it sloped down at a gentle angle. At present, there were no markings on the wall, and their only light came from the two lanterns that Leppie was still holding.

“You’re sure the codex is down here?” said Alcar, looking ahead.

Leppie looked around and nodded. “Ubund saw the map. If it’s anywhere in these caves, this is the way. There are some ancient treasures down there, so they say”

“Okay – ‘down there’... so, what does this tunnel lead to, then?”

“A place called The Dungeon of van Zorika, per the map,” supplied Leppie. “I’ve heard of it before, actually.”

“You have?” Alcar looked around at his friend.

“Yep. Frankly, it has a grim reputation.”

“Hmm,” said Alcar thoughtfully. “But why? What exactly is it?”

“Didn’t you listen in class?” said Olynka, her eyes lighting up cheerfully, as if a favorite teacher had asked her a question. “After the fall of Dathmir, the remnants of the Dathmiri army retreated to the mountains, as the Varians took over their land. There they were joined by freedom fighters from Vyalia, and a few loyal Jhornians, too.”

“All the provinces that hated the Varians, then,” said Alcar.

“More or less,” said Olynka.

Leppie nodded. “She’s right. This area was their base. They hoped to rebuild, and overthrow the Varians, who at that time were led by King Zoltan the Third.”

“Until Guthram smashed the place up in a rage, after being ejected by the gods,” added Ubund.

Alcar rolled his eyes. “Yeah. Whatever, dude.”

Despite Leppie’s best efforts of healing, has shoulder and ear still hurt where Ubund’s boots had landed upon him.

“Guthram is an outcast god,” said Leppie, as they continued to walk on. “But I think that if what you say is true, my dear, it must have happened long before the Dathmiri revolution. The mountains and caves of this area were already in place – how else would the rebels have come to hide here?”

“She has a point,” put in Etienne.

Ubund just grunted.

***

The path wound down with a persistent curve to the left, making Alcar wonder if perhaps it was spiralling deeper and deeper. It felt likely. The pathway itself was rough, and he stumbled a couple of times. The walls were even rougher; whoever had mined this route had not taken the time to smoothe or decorate it.

The destination must have been their only concern.

The group continued with Ubund and Leppie in the lead, talking together quietly. Etienne walked behind them, now holding the lanterns, and then Alcar, Brutus and Olynka towards the back. Olynka kept her bow at the ready, but so far, they hadn’t seen or heard any threats. Alcar pulled the knife clear from where he had lodged it in the tip of his staff, and placed it loosely in an outer pocket of his now-ragged robes.

After another hour of walking in this fashion, the group came to another round area, though this time there were no statues, and they could see two further ways out, both similarly-sized pathways. Set into the wall were two unlit furnaces, and there were empty, long-abandoned torch sconces in the wall.

”Progress,” said Ubund with a nod.

“Then let’s pause and have something to eat,” replied Etienne, putting down the lanterns.

Ubund frowned at this, and shook his head.

Alcar moved over towards the furnaces. “Sure. I think we could cook something on these,” he said. “What food do you guys have left?”

“A fair bit,” said Olynka, coming to his side. “Yes – there’s a kind of chimney here, bored into the rock. Who knows where it vents to.”

“Not our problem,” replied Alcar. He pulled one of his waterskins clear. “Do you still have that powdered stew?”

Olynka nodded. Etienne came over, and pulled an iron pot from his backpack. “And I have a pot, but not much water. We’ll be using the last of ours.”

Alcar patted his two waterskins. “I have water fresh from the river.” He decided not to mention that Ubund had been immersed in the same river.

Soon the companions were all tucking into reconstituted stew, Alcar using his newly acquired bowl. He passed one of the remaining bones to Brutus, and the dog was also permitted to lick Etienne’s pot before they progressed.

“Idiots,” murmured Ubund, his arms folded. “We are almost there.”

Alcar shrugged. “I need to eat, man. I’ve been walking for hours.”

The guide moved to the opposite side of the chamber, still glaring.

Soon though, the group were underway again. This time, they had a much shorter stretch of corridor to progress along. Ubund led the group down the right fork this time, and after just a further three or four minutes, they came to a sudden end of the corridor – a sheer drop. A vast, dark area lay ahead, most of it beyond the reach of the pair of lanterns.

“That must be a huge cave,” murmured Etienne, lifting the lanterns.

“Damn this darkness,” murmured Olynka, shouldering her bow and running her hands through her curls as she looked ahead. “We can’t see a thing.”

“I can,” growled Ubund, “but there’s a problem.”

The guide was standing to one side of the corridor, where Alcar now noticed a large wooden post with a winch atop it. A frayed rope hung down.

“What’s wrong, man?” asked Etienne, approaching.

“It should be attached to the other side,” said Ubund.

“We should have been able to go across and down using the rope,” explained Leppie, turning the winch as she spoke and letting a little more rope unspool, then cutting off a couple of feet of frayed rope at the end. “But clearly it’s broken – rotted away in the century or so since the Dathmiri revolution.”

Ubund looked at the healer. “Less.”

“Yeah. It must have worked more recently than that,” said Olynka. “Ubund told us he has been this way.”

“Uh... guys,” said Etienne, who was the only one looking down over the edge in front of him.

Alcar then reached into his pocket, pulling out a pinch of razor root. His supply of the power, he noticed, were running concerningly low. “I might be able to try something,” he said, picking up the cut-off end of the rope.

“Guys,” hissed Etienne again. The halfling took a step back, put one of the lanterns down, and drew out a dagger.

Just then, a pair of clawed hands reached up over the edge at their feet, and a huge gray toothy head with deep folds of skin rose up.

“Shit. Cave gremlins,” called Ubund. He stepped forward and kicked the creature full in the side of the head, causing it to slump backwards and fall away to the depths below, only for two more to crawl in at either side of the tunnel.

“They can climb the cave walls,” called out Etienne shrilly.

“And they can fly!” said Leppie. As she spoke, a cave gremlin swooped in and grabbed on to her arm. It was almost as large as she was, and flew on gray leathery wings, clawed feet hanging below it. Somehow, Leppie shook the creature off, then slammed down her warhammer onto the back of its head and kicked it towards the edge.

It, too, fell into the darkness below.

Alcar could see more of the creatures on the way, some clambering from both sides of the tunnel’s end, and others hovering just out of reach, wings beating with a slow clapping sound. He raised his staff, and Olynka came to his side, bow in hand.